Sci-Tech news

• MOOC instructors may need more support for successful courses

  29-02-2016 23:50
  
  Supporting instructors of massive open online courses—MOOCs—may be just as important to the creation of long-term, successful courses as attracting and supporting students, according to a group of researchers.
  
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• When less is more: Study tracks down lingering source of carbon tetrachloride emissions

  29-02-2016 23:20
  
  Carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) was once commonly used as a cleaning agent and remains an important compound in chemical industry. CCl4 is responsible for that sickly sweet smell associated with dry cleaning solvents from decades ago. It's a known air toxin and it eats away at the ozone layer—the gas accounts for about 10-15 percent of the ozone-depleting chemicals in the atmosphere today. As a result, production across the globe has been banned for many years for uses that result in CCl4 esca
  
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• Unlocking the secrets of squid sucker ring teeth

  29-02-2016 23:00
  
  A squid has more in common with a spider than you may think. The razor-sharp 'teeth' that ring the suckers found on some squid tentacles are made up entirely of proteins remarkably similar—and in some ways superior—to the ones found in silks. Those proteins, called suckerins, give the teeth their strength and stretchiness, and could one day be used as the basis for biomaterials with many potential biomedical applications.
  
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• Shaving time to test antidotes for nerve agents

  29-02-2016 23:00
  
  Imagine you wanted to know how much energy it took to bike up a mountain, but couldn't finish the ride to the peak yourself. So, to get the total energy required, you and a team of friends strap energy meters to your bikes and ride the route in a relay, then add up your individual energy inputs. Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, Calif., are currently using a similar approach, powered by LLNL's world-class supercomputers, to simulate the energy requirements for c
  
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• Apple ready for encryption 'conversation': lawyer

  29-02-2016 22:50
  
  Apple wants a "conversation" to help settle a standoff with US law enforcement over accessing an encrypted iPhone, according to testimony prepared for a congressional hearing.
  
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• Romanian police seize stolen archaeological treasures

  29-02-2016 22:40
  
  Romanian police have seized gold coins and a treasure trove of statues which are over 2,000 years old allegedly stolen from archaeological sites and destined for auction, prosecutors said Monday.
  
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• MAVEN observes Mars moon Phobos in the mid- and far-ultraviolet

  29-02-2016 22:40
  
  NASA scientists are closer to solving the mystery of how Mars' moon Phobos formed.
  
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• Appeals court upholds designation of polar bear habitat

  29-02-2016 22:38
  
  The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service followed the law when it designated more than 187,000 square miles—an area larger than California—as critical habitat for threatened polar bears in Alaska marine waters and its northern coast, an appeals court ruled Monday.
  
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• A new way to discover DNA modifications

  29-02-2016 22:30
  
  DNA is made from four nucleosides, each known by its own letter—A, G, C, and T. However, since the structure of DNA was deciphered in 1953, scientists have discovered several other variants that are often added to the DNA sequences to replace one of the usual four letters.
  
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• New insights into how antiarrhythmic drugs work

  29-02-2016 22:20
  
  If you suffer from atrial fibrillation (AF)—a condition where disorganized electrical signals cause the heart's upper chambers to contract quickly and irregularly—your doctor may prescribe an antiarrhythmic drug. While these drugs have long been prescribed for AF, which has been linked to an increased risk of stroke, chest pains and even heart failure, their complete mechanisms for restoring action and mitigating these risks have been unclear.
  
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• How useful are microsatellites?

  29-02-2016 22:20
  
  Understanding genetic diversity and evolutionary dynamics of organisms can have important implications for designing successful conservation efforts and understanding potential effects of future climate change. For scientists seeking to illuminate these dynamics and uncover genetic diversity within plant species, microsatellites are an often-used tool. These repeated segments of DNA sequences offer a glimpse into the evolutionary history of organisms at a very fine scale, providing a valuable da
  
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• First evidence that constant stress causes organisms to program changes in offspring

  29-02-2016 22:10
  
  Researchers have known for decades that the environmental stress experienced by one generation induces changes in behavior, shape, biochemical properties and rates of development of their offspring. But the precise ecological conditions that produced these responses were not known.
  
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• GE tries to woo investors with 'digital industrial' vision

  29-02-2016 22:09
  
  General Electric is promising to boost its earnings by about 15 percent in each of the next three years and dole out $67 billion to shareholders as CEO Jeffrey Immelt tries to create a sleeker, "digital industrial" company.
  
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• Insider Q&A: Bank of America's Moore on mobile banking

  29-02-2016 22:06
  
  Banking customers are on the move, and the big national banks are scrambling to keep up. They are working to update their technology and offerings in hopes of nabbing increasingly mobile customers.
  
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• White lion shot dead near Canadian capital

  29-02-2016 22:00
  
  An African white lion was shot dead after escaping from its enclosure at a small private zoo near Ottawa over the weekend, the facility's owner announced Monday.
  
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• New theory of deep-ocean sound waves may aid tsunami detection

  29-02-2016 21:58
  
  Acoustic-gravity waves are very long sound waves that cut through the deep ocean at the speed of sound. These lightning-quick currents can sweep up water, nutrients, salts, and any other particles in their wake, at any water depth. They are typically triggered by violent events in the ocean, including underwater earthquakes, explosions, landslides, and even meteorites, and they carry information about these events around the world in a matter of minutes.
  
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• Syracuse chemists combine biology, nanotechnology to create alternate energy source

  29-02-2016 21:50
  
  Chemists in Syracuse University's College of Arts and Sciences have made a transformational advance in an alternate lighting source—one that doesn't require a battery or a plug.
  
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• Microorganisms duke it out within algal blooms

  29-02-2016 21:49
  
  An unseen war rages between the ocean's tiniest organisms, and it has significant implications for understanding the ocean's role in climate change, according to a new study.
  
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• Black widows are color-coded to deter predators without tipping off prey

  29-02-2016 21:47
  
  Secret codes and hidden messages aren't just for computer security experts or kids passing notes in class—animals use them too. The telltale red hourglass of the black widow spider sends a warning signal that some animals can see but others cannot, finds a Duke University study.
  
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• New Geosphere article examines massive 2014 Colorado avalanche

  29-02-2016 21:40
  
  On 25 May 2014, a rain-on-snow-induced rock avalanche occurred in the West Salt Creek valley on the northern flank of Grand Mesa in western Colorado (United States). The avalanche mobilized from a preexisting rock slide in the Green River Formation and traveled 4.6 km down the confined valley, killing three people.
  
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• Engineered swarmbots rely on peers for survival

  29-02-2016 21:27
  
  Duke University researchers have engineered microbes that can't run away from home; those that do will quickly die without protective proteins produced by their peers.
  
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• Imaging algorithm gathers information about how cells move

  29-02-2016 21:00
  
  Brown University engineers have developed a new technique to help researchers understand how cells move through complex tissues in the body. They hope the tool will be useful in understanding all kinds of cell movements, from how cancer cells migrate to how immune cells make their way to infection sites.
  
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• 520-million-year-old fossilized nervous system is most detailed example yet found

  29-02-2016 21:00
  
  Researchers have found one of the oldest and most detailed fossils of the central nervous system yet identified, from a crustacean-like animal that lived more than 500 million years ago. The fossil, from southern China, has been so well preserved that individual nerves are visible, the first time this level of detail has been observed in a fossil of this age.
  
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• Watching new species evolve in real time

  29-02-2016 20:20
  
  Sometimes evolution proceeds much more rapidly than we might think. Genetic analysis makes it possible to detect the earliest stages of species formation and to gain a better understanding of speciation processes. For example, a study just published in PLOS Genetics by researchers from Eawag and the University of Bern - investigating rapid speciation in threespine stickleback in and around Lake Constance - shows that a species can begin to diverge very rapidly, even when the two daughter species
  
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• Where In the World is This Photo? Google's PlaNet Can Guess

  29-02-2016 19:35 via feeds.nbcnews.com
  
  Google unveiled a new artificial intelligence project called PlaNet that has outpaced humans in testing the software's capabilities.
  
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• German court fines Facebook over site's terms of service

  29-02-2016 19:20
  
  A court in Germany has fined Facebook 100,000 euros ($109,000) for failing to amend its terms of service.
  
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• Forensic botany uses plant DNA to trace crimes

  29-02-2016 19:10
  
  Sam Houston State University is advancing the field of forensic botany with the publication of two recent studies that use marijuana DNA to link drug supplies and pollen DNA to aid in forensic investigations.
  
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• Yale Researchers Identify Gene That Regulates the Growth of Melanoma

  29-02-2016 19:03 via scitechdaily.com
  
  New research from Yale University identifies a gene in melanoma that can dramatically affect the growth of the disease. The findings, published in the journal Cell Reports, provide new insight into how melanoma grows and identifies a new target for treatment of melanoma and other cancers. Enzymes that chemically modify DNA, known as DNA methyltranferases, […]
  The post Yale Researchers Identify Gene That Regulates the Growth of Melanoma appeared first on SciTech Daily.
  
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• 'Paywalls' become the norm at US newspapers: survey

  29-02-2016 19:00
  The vast majority of US newspapers have implemented digital subscriptions or "paywalls" to cope with the decline in print, a survey showed Monday.
  
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• Google self-driving car strikes public bus in California

  29-02-2016 19:00
  
  An accident report filed with California's Department of Motor Vehicles says a self-driving car being tested by Google collided with a public bus on Feb. 14.
  
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• Astronomers Take A Closer Look at the Milky Way’s Central Molecular Zone

  29-02-2016 18:54 via scitechdaily.com
  
  New research confirms that the Milky Way’s Central Molecular Zone is not centered on the black hole, but is offset; they also confirm that the gas motions throughout are supersonic. The center of our Milky Way galaxy lies about 27,000 light-years away in the direction of the constellation of Sagittarius. At its core is a […]
  The post Astronomers Take A Closer Look at the Milky Way’s Central Molecular Zone appeared first on SciTech Daily.
  
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• EU unveils details of data privacy pact with US

  29-02-2016 18:50
  
  The EU on Monday unveiled details of a new deal with the US to curb government spying on the personal Internet data of European citizens, but critics said it fell short and threatened fresh legal action.
  
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• The Bumpy Road to New Technologies

  29-02-2016 18:41 via nytimes.com
  It is becoming increasingly clear that companies and investors are busy figuring out what happens after our mobile obsession.
  
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• Study defines social motivations of urban farms

  29-02-2016 18:40
  Two thirds of urban farmers have a social mission that goes beyond food production and profits, finds new research led by NYU Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development.
  
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• Americans would pay more to support biodiversit

  29-02-2016 18:20
  
  Most Americans are willing to pay more taxes to support biodiversity conservation in the Gulf of Mexico, according to a national survey conducted by researchers at Duke University and the University of Virginia.
  
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• NASA’s MAVEN Spacecraft Observes Mars Moon Phobos

  29-02-2016 18:18 via scitechdaily.com
  
  New observations from NASA’s MAVEN Mission has scientists closer to solving the mystery of how Mars’ moon Phobos formed. In late November and early December 2015, NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) mission made a series of close approaches to the Martian moon Phobos, collecting data from within 300 miles (500 kilometers) of the […]
  The post NASA’s MAVEN Spacecraft Observes Mars Moon Phobos appeared first on SciTech Daily.
  
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• Plankton feces could move plastic pollution to the ocean depths

  29-02-2016 18:09
  
  Plastic waste could find its way deep into the ocean through the faeces of plankton, new research from the University of Exeter and Plymouth Marine Laboratory shows.
  
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• Study celebrates the success of EU air quality policy amidst Brexit uncertainty

  29-02-2016 18:07
  
  A study led by the University of Leeds has found that about 80,000 deaths are prevented each year due to the introduction of European Union (EU) policies and new technologies to reduce air pollution.
  
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• Is rare wildlife traded on the darknet?

  29-02-2016 18:07
  
  Unlike illicit trade in drugs, guns or pornography, illicit trade in rare wildlife doesn't have to hide on the 'darknet' because people can find whatever rare species they want in the open marketplace.
  
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• Hubble Image of the Week – A Stellar Fingerprint

  29-02-2016 18:05 via scitechdaily.com
  
  Showcased at the center of this newly released NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image is an emission-line star known as IRAS 12196-6300. Located just under 2300 light-years from Earth, this star displays prominent emission lines, meaning that the star’s light, dispersed into a spectrum, shows up as a rainbow of colors marked with a characteristic pattern […]
  The post Hubble Image of the Week – A Stellar Fingerprint appeared first on SciTech Daily.
  
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• Biofuels from algae: A budding technology yet to become viable

  29-02-2016 17:53
  
  Despite high expectations and extensive research and investment in the last decade, technological options are still in developing stages and key resources for algal growth are still too onerous for economically viable production of algal biofuels, according to a JRC literature review. No large-scale, commercial algae-to-biofuels facilities have been implemented up until the end of 2015.
  
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• Three 'twisted' photons in 3 dimensions

  29-02-2016 17:52
  Researchers at the Institute of Quantum Optics and Quantum Information, the University of Vienna, and the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona have achieved a new milestone in quantum physics: they were able to entangle three particles of light in a high-dimensional quantum property related to the 'twist' of their wavefront structure. The results from their experiment appear in the journal Nature Photonics.
  
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• Researchers make key improvement in solar cell technology

  29-02-2016 17:51
  Researchers have reached a critical milestone in solar cell fabrication, helping pave the way for solar energy to directly compete with electricity generated by conventional energy sources.
  
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• Research demonstrates that air data can be used to reconstruct radiological releases

  29-02-2016 17:39
  
  New research from North Carolina State University demonstrates that experts can use data from air sampling technology to not only detect radiological releases, but to accurately quantify the magnitude and source of the release. This has applications for nuclear plant safety, as well as national security and nuclear nonproliferation monitoring.
  
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• 5 cool technology leaps about to change aviation

  29-02-2016 17:33 via rss.cnn.com
  
  Given the terrifyingly airline seat patents filed in recent years, the future of flying often looks bleak.
  
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• No Romance: These Apps Want to Find You a Best Friend

  29-02-2016 17:10 via feeds.nbcnews.com
  
  Feeling lonely? A new generation of apps is matching people looking for friendship, not romance.
  
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• Offsetting climate change's effects

  29-02-2016 17:00
  Grasslands across North America will face higher summer temperatures and widespread drought by the end of the century, according to a new Harvard study on the effects of climate change.
  
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• In emergencies, should you trust a robot? (w/ Video)

  29-02-2016 16:54
  In emergencies, people may trust robots too much for their own safety, a new study suggests. In a mock building fire, test subjects followed instructions from an "Emergency Guide Robot" even after the machine had proven itself unreliable - and after some participants were told that robot had broken down.
  
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• Moth genitalia is the key to snout grass borers from the Western Hemisphere

  29-02-2016 16:50
  Two scientists have produced an illustrated key to define the subtle differences between the 41 species of snout moth grass borers that currently dwell in the Western Hemisphere. The researchers conclude that the adults moths are too tough to tell apart by external characters, and therefore, the only way to identify the species is by dissecting and comparing genitalia. The study is published in the open-access journal ZooKeys.
  
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• Undergraduate student takes to Twitter to expose illegal release of alien fish in Japan

  29-02-2016 16:36
  
  Posing a significant threat to the native biodiversity in Japan, specifically that of threatened aquatic insects, some alien fishes, such as the bluegill, have become the reason for strict prohibitions. All activities potentially capable of introducing the species into the wild are currently punishable by either a fine of up to 3 million yen for a person (100 million yen for corporations), or a prison sentence of up to 3 years.
  
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