Sci-Tech news

• Tropical fires fuel elevated ozone levels over western Pacific Ocean

  24-02-2016 23:17
  
  A diverse team of atmospheric chemists, meteorologists and modelers, including scientists from NASA, has traced the origins of mysterious pockets of high ozone concentrations and low water vapor in the air above the western Pacific Ocean near Guam to fires burning in Southeast Asia and in Africa, half a world away.
  
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• James Webb Space Telescope coming together over next two years

  24-02-2016 23:16
  
  The year 2015 marked big progress on NASA's James Webb Space Telescope and there are still a number of large milestones before the next generation telescope is launched in 2018. Recently, all of the 18 segments of the Webb telescope primary mirror segments were installed on the observatory's backplane at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. But that's just one component of the Webb.
  
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• Science-based data collection key to better wildland fire defense, NIST report says

  24-02-2016 23:14
  
  A new report by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) describes how researchers analyzed a major 2011 Texas wildland fire using a rigorous and scientifically based post-fire data collection approach, a system they believe will lead to improved defensive measures and strategies for significantly reducing structural damage and property loss.
  
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• NASA contributes to global standard for navigation, studies of Earth

  24-02-2016 23:14
  
  The surface of Earth is constantly being reshaped by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, landslides, floods, changes in sea levels and ice sheets, and other processes. Since some of these changes amount to only millimeters per year, scientists must make very precise measurements of the landscape and ocean in space and time in order to study their evolution and help mitigate their impacts.
  
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• Africa's first music download service launches in Senegal

  24-02-2016 22:50
  
  Africa's first home-grown platform for legal music downloads launched in Senegal on Wednesday with a mission to promote African artists, pay them properly, and fight internet piracy.
  
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• Google funds 128 news projects in Europe

  24-02-2016 22:35
  
  Google announced Wednesday it would provide 27 million euros ($29.7 million) to 128 news organisations in Europe as part of its "Digital News Initiative."
  
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• Apple CEO: Helping Unlock iPhone Would Be 'Bad for America'

  24-02-2016 22:32 via feeds.nbcnews.com
  
  Apple chief Tim Cook on Wednesday said that complying with a court order to help the FBI break into an iPhone would be 'bad for America.'
  
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• One-third of US tech 'innovators' are immigrants: study

  24-02-2016 22:25
  
  More than one-third of America's technology "innovators" are foreign born, according to a study released Wednesday that debunks many commonly held beliefs about the sector.
  
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• Lockdown: Apple could make it even tougher to hack Phones

  24-02-2016 22:24
  
  Suppose the FBI wins its court battle and forces Apple to help unlock an iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino killers. That could open all iPhones up to potential government scrutiny—but it's not the end of the story.
  
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• UCI maps methane leaks across Los Angeles Basin

  24-02-2016 22:09
  
  Hundreds of methane-emitting hot spots have been identified across the Los Angeles Basin, including a "clean ports" truck refueling facility near the Port of Long Beach, power plants, water treatment facilities, and cattle in Chino, according to new findings by the University of California, Irvine.
  
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• Watch: Kelly Twins Talk Latest Space Mission

  24-02-2016 21:58 via abcnews.go.com
  
  After Scott Kelly spends a year in space, scientists will compare his body to his Earth-bound brother Mark.
  
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• Google speeds news to smartphones, challenging Facebook

  24-02-2016 21:34
  
  Google on Wednesday began delivering "blazingly fast" articles to smartphones and tablets in a stepped-up challenge to Facebook to be the leading mobile news hub.
  
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• Google boss backs Apple in encryption battle with FBI

  24-02-2016 21:34
  
  Google chief Sundar Pichai on Wednesday expressed his support for Apple in its standoff with the FBI over unlocking an iPhone as part of a terror probe, warning that creating so-called "backdoors" into encrypted communications could have "bad consequences".
  
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• The prolonged death of light from type Ia supernovae

  24-02-2016 21:28
  
  Three years after its explosion, a type Ia supernova continues to shine brighter than expected, new research finds. The observations, made with the Hubble Space Telescope and published today in The Astrophysical Journal, suggest that the powerful explosions produce an abundance of a heavy form of cobalt that gives the heat from nuclear decay an extra energy boost. The work could help researchers pinpoint the parents of type Ia supernovae—a type of stellar explosion that is frequently used
  
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• Autonomous cloud seeding aircraft successfully tested in Nevada

  24-02-2016 21:27
  
  A team of Nevada scientists and unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) engineers have successfully flight tested the first-ever autonomous cloud seeding aircraft platform.
  
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• Study identifies factors that affect state-owned enterprises' welcome overseas

  24-02-2016 21:24
  
  When a multinational company is a state-owned enterprise, the choice of where to expand may hinge on more than just economic considerations, according to a new paper by strategic management experts at Rice University's Jones Graduate School of Business.
  
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• Ruling raises objections to release of personal student data (Update)

  24-02-2016 20:40
  
  A recent federal court ruling ordering the release of personal data on more than 10 million California students highlights the growing amount of information schools now collect—and the loopholes that allow it to be released.
  
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• Ruling raises objections to release of personal student data

  24-02-2016 20:40
  
  A recent federal court ruling ordering the release of personal data on more than 10 million California students highlights the growing amount of information schools now collect—and the loopholes that allow it to be released.
  
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• Evidence of early medieval Muslim graves found in France

  24-02-2016 20:26
  
  Archaeological and genetic analysis may indicate that three skeletons buried in medieval graves in France may have been Muslim, according to a study published February 24, 2016 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Yves Gleize from the French National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research (Inrap) and University of Bordeaux, France, Fanny Mendisco from University of Bordeaux, France, and colleagues.
  
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• Adult male gorillas call more during feeding than females, juveniles

  24-02-2016 20:25
  
  Gorillas in the wild frequently 'sing' and 'hum' during feeding and adult males call more than their younger or female counterparts, according to a study published February 24th, 2016 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Eva Maria Luef and Simone Pika at the Humboldt Research Group at the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Germany, and their colleague Thomas Breuer from the Wildlife Conservation Society in New York.
  
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• Apple: Congress, not courts, must decide

  24-02-2016 20:24
  
  Apple Inc. will tell a federal judge this week in legal papers that its fight with the FBI over accessing a locked and encrypted iPhone should be kicked to Congress, rather than decided by courts, The Associated Press has learned.
  
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• Climate of Jupiter and Saturn may yield clues to Earth's weather

  24-02-2016 20:20
  
  What can the climates of other planets tell us about the Earth's weather? According to a researcher at the University of Houston, data being collected from Jupiter, Saturn and Saturn's largest moon, Titan, can offer clues to the Earth's past and future atmospheric conditions.
  
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• Study: Lexus, Porsche and Buick are most dependable

  24-02-2016 20:18
  
  Lexus, Porsche and Buick are the most dependable vehicle brands based on the number of problems reported by owners, according to a study released Wednesday by the consulting firm J.D. Power.
  
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• A mathematical advance in describing waves

  24-02-2016 20:18
  
  One of the great joys in mathematics is the ability to use it to describe phenomena seen in the physical world, says University at Buffalo mathematician Gino Biondini.
  
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• CIA chief Brennan supports FBI in Apple encryption case

  24-02-2016 20:17
  
  America's top spy said in an interview Wednesday that he supports the FBI's high-profile battle to force Apple to unlock an iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino attackers.
  
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• Honeybee hive collapse mystery rooted in hive size

  24-02-2016 20:16
  
  University of Idaho professor Brian Dennis is helping scientists understand a baffling but vitally important puzzle: What is causing the decline of honeybees? Working in collaboration with William Kemp, a U.S. Department of Agriculture scientist and UI alumnus, Dennis has built a mathematical model that lays the blame squarely on the bees themselves.
  
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• Researchers grow cyberforests to predict climate change

  24-02-2016 20:09
  
  It can take Mother Nature 1,000 years to grow a forest. But Nikolay Strigul, assistant professor of mathematics and statistics at Washington State University Vancouver, can grow one on a computer in three weeks.
  
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• Google's 'Next Generation' Atlas Robot Turns Heads

  24-02-2016 19:56 via feeds.nbcnews.com
  
  The video also shows Boston Dynamics employees shoving and knocking over the robot, which can pick itself up off the floor.
  
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• School buildings designed as 'teaching green' can lead to better environmental education

  24-02-2016 19:55
  
  The energy used to create electricity to power lights, heating and air conditioning, and appliances within buildings causes nearly 50 percent of all fossil fuel emissions in the United States. Educating children about the importance of having environmentally friendly, or "green," buildings could be a key factor in whether they grow to up to own and operate buildings that are green. Now, a researcher at the University of Missouri has found that students who attend school in buildings specifically
  
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• Short-lived killifish reveals link between gene expression and longevity

  24-02-2016 19:54
  
  It's well known that genetic differences among individuals influence lifespan, but a new study appearing February 24 in Cell Systems suggests that differences in patterns of gene expression in youth may also predict longevity. Researchers of the shortest-lived vertebrate—the African turquoise killifish—found that when genes involved in a cell's energy production are less active at a young age, the animals tend to live longer.
  
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• Nitrogen is a neglected threat to biodiversity

  24-02-2016 19:54
  
  Habitat destruction and the direct exploitation of species often occupy center stage in discussions of biodiversity perils. However, indirect harms, such as that posed by nitrogen pollution, remain underappreciated and poorly understood despite playing a key role in species declines. In an article for the journal BioScience, a team of environmental researchers led by Daniel Hernández of Carleton College, in Minnesota, outline the challenges associated with nitrogen.
  
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• Team discovers fabric collection dating back to Kings David and Solomon

  24-02-2016 19:53
  
  The ancient copper mines in Timna are located deep in Israel's Arava Valley and are believed by some to be the site of King Solomon's mines. The arid conditions of the mines have seen the remarkable preservation of 3,000-year-old organic materials, including seeds, leather and fabric, and other extremely rare artifacts that provide a unique window into the culture and practices of this period.
  
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• EU decision process hinders use of genetically modified trees

  24-02-2016 19:52
  
  Just like other crops, trees can also be genetically modified in order to introduce new, useful characteristics. Although such trees offer many socio-economic and environmental benefits, complex and unpredictable EU procedures are hindering their introduction to the market. This is the conclusion reached by researchers in a joint text drawn up as part of a European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) project about genetically modified trees. The researchers state that Europe is lagging
  
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• Research challenges Darwin, shows how a gene cheats Mendel's law of segregation

  24-02-2016 19:50
  
  R2d2 is selfish. It is a true selfish gene. It propagates itself through generations but not for some evolutionary advantage. Quite the opposite.
  
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• New interactive guide tells the story of forest products in the South

  24-02-2016 19:48
  
  A new storymap developed by U.S. Forest Service researchers allows users to interactively chart the ebb and flow of forest products across the southern states—and visually tells the story of the decline of the forest products industry in the South over the last decades.
  
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• Wild potatoes bring increased calcium for better tubers

  24-02-2016 19:46
  
  Have you ever cut into a potato to find a dark spot or hollow part? Early research shows that these defects are likely the result of calcium deficiencies in the potato—and that tuber calcium is genetically linked to tuber quality.
  
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• NASA sees strong vertical wind shear battering a weaker winston

  24-02-2016 19:45
  Tropical Cyclone Winston has moved into an area with strong vertical wind shear in the Southern Pacific Ocean. The wind shear is battering the storm and has weakened it significantly. NASA's Aqua satellite passed over Winston and infrared data showed that the northerly wind shear had pushed the bulk of strongest storms to the south of the center.
  
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• Study predicts salt marshes will persist despite rising seas

  24-02-2016 19:08
  
  A new study in Nature Climate Change contends that traditional assessment methods overestimate the vulnerability of salt marshes to sea-level rise because they don't fully account for processes that allow the marshes to grow vertically and migrate landward as water levels increase.
  
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• Fin24.com | Budget speech sparks Google search spike

  24-02-2016 18:45
  
  As Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan presented his 2016 Budget Speech, South Africans have expressed their interest with online searches.
  
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• New Research Shows LIGO’s Twin Black Holes Might Have Been Born Inside a Single Star

  24-02-2016 17:54 via scitechdaily.com
  
  Newly published research from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics suggests that the burst detected by LIGO occurred because the two black holes lived and died inside a single, massive star. On September 14, 2015, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) detected gravitational waves from the merger of two black holes 29 and 36 times the […]
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• Scientists Develop a Light-Driven Three-Dimensional Plasmonic Nanosystem

  24-02-2016 17:43 via scitechdaily.com
  
  Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems have developed a nanoplasmonic system in the form of a pair of scissors that they can open using UV light. Nanomachines could take over a variety of tasks in future. Some day they may be able to perform medical precision work in the human body or […]
  The post Scientists Develop a Light-Driven Three-Dimensional Plasmonic Nanosystem appeared first on SciTech Daily.
  
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• Got MasterCard? 'Selfie' Passwords Are Coming Soon

  24-02-2016 17:38 via feeds.nbcnews.com
  
  MasterCard customers will soon be able to replace their passwords with a 'selfie' and fingerprint to verify their identity and make payments online.
  
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• Astronomers Complete the ATLASGAL Survey of Milky Way

  24-02-2016 17:24 via scitechdaily.com
  
  Astronomers have completed the APEX Telescope Large Area Survey of the Galaxy (ATLASGAL). A spectacular new image of the Milky Way has been released to mark the completion of the APEX Telescope Large Area Survey of the Galaxy (ATLASGAL). The APEX telescope in Chile has mapped the full area of the Galactic Plane visible from […]
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• AG Lynch Seeks $38 Million to Fight Terrorists 'Going Dark'

  24-02-2016 16:44 via feeds.nbcnews.com
  
  Attorney General Loretta Lynch is asking Congress for $38 million to help the federal government maintain access to communications that are fading from the reach of law enforcement.
  
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• Fin24.com | Facebook's 'like' button gets 'angry' and 'sad' as friends

  24-02-2016 16:24
  
  After tests in several countries, alternatives to Facebook's 'like' button arrive in the US and the rest of the world on Wednesday
  
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• Solid Support for Apple in iPhone Encryption Fight: Poll

  24-02-2016 15:19 via feeds.nbcnews.com
  
  Nearly half of Americans support Apple's decision to oppose a court order demanding that it unlock a smartphone, according to a Reuters/ Ipsos poll
  
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• Fin24.com | Huge increase in African mobile money transfers

  24-02-2016 15:15
  
  A Western Union spokesperson says Kenya's Mpesa mobile phone-based money- transfer service is becoming more sophisticated.
  
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• Fin24.com | MTN in R3.8bn ‘good faith payment’ to Nigeria

  24-02-2016 15:09
  
  Africa’s biggest mobile network has paid the amount to Nigeria’s federal government in light of a multi-billion dollar fine.
  
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• Watch: Volvo Plans to Replace Car Keys with Mobile App

  24-02-2016 14:55 via abcnews.go.com
  
  Automaker Volvo plans to replace car keys with an app on your smartphone.
  
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• Apple's Fight Feeds Rise of Government-Proof Phones

  24-02-2016 14:49 via feeds.nbcnews.com
  
  The legal showdown between Apple and the FBI will likely accelerate tech company efforts to engineer safeguards against government intrusion.
  
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