Sci-Tech news

• Prosecutors Push Again for Apple to Open Brooklyn iPhone

  07-03-2016 23:55 via feeds.nbcnews.com
  
  Prosecutors are seeking to overturn last week's ruling from a federal magistrate denying the government's request.
  
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• New material can control excitons at room temperature

  07-03-2016 22:22
  
  A team of physicists from the University of California, San Diego and The University of Manchester is creating tailor-made materials for cutting-edge research and perhaps a new generation of optoelectronic devices. The materials make it easier for the researchers to manipulate excitons, which are pairs of an electron and an electron hole bound to each other by an electrostatic force.
  
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• NASA analyzes US Pacific Northwestern storm system

  07-03-2016 22:21
  
  During this season of El Nino influenced Pacific storms, NASA has been analyzing the storms that brought rain and snow to the U.S. West Coast.
  
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• Surgical tools made smaller with origami to make surgery less invasive

  07-03-2016 22:20
  
  Brigham Young University mechanical engineering professors Larry Howell and Spencer Magleby have made a name for themselves by applying the principles of origami to engineering. Now they're applying their origami skills to a new realm: the human body.
  
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• Multi-scale simulations solve a plasma turbulence mystery

  07-03-2016 22:14
  
  Cutting-edge simulations run at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC) over a two-year period are helping physicists better understand what influences the behavior of the plasma turbulence that is driven by the intense heating necessary to create fusion energy. This research has yielded exciting answers to long-standing questions about plasma heat loss that have previously stymied efforts to predict the performance of fusion reactors
  
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• Drug-loaded nanocarriers in tumor targeted drug delivery

  07-03-2016 22:12
  
  Cancer is a group of diseases characterized by the uncontrolled growth and spread of abnormal cells. It is a leading cause of death and the burden is expected to grow worldwide due to the growth and aging of the population, mainly in less developed countries, in which about 82% of the world's population resides. By 2030, the global burden is expected to grow to 21.7 million new cancer cases and 13 million cancer deaths simply due to the growth and aging of the population. Current cancer therapy
  
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• Google opens access to mobile phone service Project Fi

  07-03-2016 22:10
  
  Google on Monday opened its Project Fi mobile phone service to anyone in the United States using its latest model Nexus smartphones.
  
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• Shipwrecks, tree rings reveal Caribbean hurricanes in buccaneer era

  07-03-2016 21:00
  
  Records of Spanish shipwrecks combined with tree-ring records show the period 1645 to 1715 had the fewest Caribbean hurricanes since 1500, according to new University of Arizona-led research. The study is the first to use shipwrecks as a proxy for hurricane activity.
  
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• Potential Western Atlantic spawning area found for Atlantic bluefin tuna

  07-03-2016 21:00
  
  Scientists from NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries) and the University of Massachusetts Boston have found evidence of Atlantic bluefin tuna spawning activity off the northeastern United States in an area of open ocean south of New England and east of the Mid-Atlantic states called the Slope Sea.
  
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• Russian explorers claim world-record dive into icy waters

  07-03-2016 18:57
  
  The Russian Geographical Society says two of its explorers have achieved the deepest dive ever recorded below ice.
  
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• 'Female traders can reduce market crashes', research says

  07-03-2016 18:56
  
  Researchers in the Department of Economics at the University of Leicester have found that male traders on average earn less than their female counterparts but, as they were more comfortable taking bigger risks, the best performing individual overall was likely to be male. The research also showed that increasing the proportion of female traders makes the market more volatile, but at the same time can reduce the occurrence of the most extreme crashes.
  
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• Scientists have discovered a code of signals that regulates genome duplication

  07-03-2016 18:55
  
  Three years ago, the research team directed by Óscar Fernández-Capetillo, head of the Genomic Instability Group at the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO), obtained, for the first time, a panoramic view of the proteins that intervene in one of the most important and delicate cellular processes: the copying of genetic material during cellular division. They observed that the parts of the genome where the DNA was copied were also very rich in the modification by some very
  
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• Even plant-supporting soil fungi affected by global warming, study finds

  07-03-2016 18:54
  
  On a cool, fog-shrouded mountain of Costa Rica, University of California, Irvine biologist Caitlin Looby is finding that warming temperatures are becoming an increasing problem for one of the most ecologically diverse places on Earth.
  
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• What should medical researchers study next? You can help decide

  07-03-2016 18:53
  
  If you wish scientists would figure out a solution for a medical problem you face, or find answers for a loved one who struggles with a health condition, here's your chance.
  
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• FBI Wants to 'Turn Back the Clock,' Apple VP Says

  07-03-2016 18:06 via feeds.nbcnews.com
  
  The FBI wants Apple to build a piece of software that would then be loaded onto an iPhone used by one of the shooters in the San Bernardino massacre.
  
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• Verizon to pay $1.4M in 'supercookie' FCC settlement

  07-03-2016 17:58
  
  Verizon will pay a $1.35 million fine over its "supercookie" that followed phone customers on the Internet and the government says it's required to get an explicit "yes" from customers for some kinds of tracking.
  
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• BMW shows off concept car for the self-driving future

  07-03-2016 17:58
  
  Luxury automaker BMW AG is showing off a sleek concept car aimed at a future in which drivers choose between the pleasures of high-performance driving and letting the car take control.
  
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• Big data for text: Next-generation text understanding and analysis

  07-03-2016 17:57
  
  News portals and social media are rich information sources, for example for predicting stock market trends. Today, numerous service providers allow for searching large text collections by feeding their search engines with descriptive keywords. Keywords tend to be highly ambiguous, though, and quickly show the limits of current search technologies. Computer scientists from Saarbruecken developed a novel text analysis technology that considerably improves searching very large text collections by m
  
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• Catholic schools that fail to serve fast-growing Hispanic population put futures at risk

  07-03-2016 17:50
  
  The slow pace of change in Catholic schools as they adjust to an increasingly Hispanic Church poses significant barriers to Hispanic families when considering enrolling their children in parochial schools, according to a new Boston College study that reveals complex challenges for school leaders and clergy trying to serve the fastest-growing population of U.S. Catholics.
  
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• The Realm of Buried Giants – Star Formation Region RCW 106

  07-03-2016 17:49 via scitechdaily.com
  
  This new ESO VLT Survey Telescope image shows the vast nebula where giant stars were born, known as RCW 106. The brightest part appears just above the center of the image. In this huge new image clouds of crimson gas are illuminated by rare, massive stars that have only recently ignited and are still buried […]
  The post The Realm of Buried Giants – Star Formation Region RCW 106 appeared first on SciTech Daily.
  
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• Down the drain: Here's why we should use rainwater to flush toilets

  07-03-2016 17:49
  
  If you live in one of four major U.S. cities chances are you're letting the benefits of a ubiquitous natural resource go right down the drain—when it could be used to cut down your water bill. Research by a team of Drexel University environmental engineers indicates that it rains enough in Philadelphia, New York, Seattle and Chicago that if homeowners had a way to collect and store even just the rain falling on their roofs, they could flush their toilets often without having to use a drop
  
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• Book examines commodification of feelings, love in Tokyo's host clubs

  07-03-2016 17:48
  
  Centuries ago, the original Japanese geishas were male and would advise feudal lords as well as entertain the court.
  
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• This Company Lets You Shop Around for Healthcare Procedures

  07-03-2016 17:47 via feeds.nbcnews.com
  
  Most people don't realize that it is possible to comparison shop even on big-ticket medical costs, including surgeries.
  
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• New York harbor's oyster beds once protected against severe storm and extreme wave damage

  07-03-2016 17:34
  
  A recent study of past disturbance of the oyster beds in New York Harbor led by geoscientist Jonathan Woodruff and his doctoral student Christine Brandon of the University of Massachusetts Amherst is the first to link Europeans' overharvesting and disturbance of the ancient shellfish beds to loss of natural coastal defenses against floods and storm waves.
  
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• Hop, skip and a jump: Researchers reveal molecular search patterns

  07-03-2016 17:29
  
  Like an albatross scanning for pods of squid in a vast ocean, molecules on solid surfaces move in an intermittent search pattern that provides maximum efficiency, according to new research from the University of Colorado Boulder.
  
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• Neuroscientists Discover a Behavioral State Gene That May be Linked to Autism

  07-03-2016 17:21 via scitechdaily.com
  
  In a newly published study, neuroscientists from MIT reeval a gene that plays a critical role in controlling the switch between alternative behavioral states – which for humans include hunger and fullness, or sleep and wakefulness. This gene, which the researchers dubbed vps-50, helps to regulate neuropeptides — tiny proteins that carry messages between neurons […]
  The post Neuroscientists Discover a Behavioral State Gene That May be Linked to Autism appeared first on SciTech
  
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• Molecule induces lifesaving sleep in worms

  07-03-2016 17:14
  
  Sometimes, a nematode worm just needs to take a nap. In fact, its life may depend on it. New research has identified a protein that promotes a sleep-like state in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. Without the snooze-inducing molecule, worms are more likely to die when confronted with stressful conditions, report researchers in the March 7, 2016 issue of the journal Genetics.
  
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• Unlocking the secrets of Shark Bay's stromatolites

  07-03-2016 17:10
  
  Look at the world-renowned stromatolites protruding from saline seas at Hamelin Pool in Shark Bay and you could be forgiven for wondering what all the fuss is about.
  
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• ScienceCasts Video: Close Encounters with Jupiter

  07-03-2016 17:03 via scitechdaily.com
  
  This new four minute ScienceCasts video details the coming close encounter between Earth and Jupiter. On March 8th, 2016 Earth and Jupiter will have a close encounter. The giant planet will be “up all night,” soaring almost overhead at midnight and not setting until the sky brightens with the twilight hues of sunrise on March […]
  The post ScienceCasts Video: Close Encounters with Jupiter appeared first on SciTech Daily.
  
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• Zebrafish and humans have new biomedical friend in the spotted gar

  07-03-2016 17:00
  
  The genome of a slowly evolving fish, the spotted gar, is so much like both zebrafish and humans that it can be used as a bridge species that could open a pathway to important advancements in biomedical research focused on human diseases.
  
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• Urgent need to transform key food producing regions in Africa by 2025

  07-03-2016 17:00
  
  Agriculture in parts of sub-Saharan Africa must undergo significant transformation if it is to continue to produce key food crops, according to a new study published today in Nature Climate Change.
  
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• Team simulates the expansion of the Universe

  07-03-2016 17:00
  
  The Universe is constantly expanding. It changes, creating new structures that merge. But how does our Universe evolve? Physicists at the University of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland, have developed a new code of numerical simulations that offers a glimpse of the complex process of the formation of structures in the Universe. Based on Einstein's equations, they were able to integrate the rotation of space-time into their calculations and calculate the amplitude of gravitational waves, whose existen
  
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• Study suggests impact of climate change on agriculture may be underestimated

  07-03-2016 17:00
  
  One of the most critical questions surrounding climate change is how it might affect the food supply for a growing global population. A new study by researchers from Brown and Tufts universities suggests that researchers have been overlooking how two key human responses to climate—how much land people choose to farm, and the number of crops they plant—will impact food production in the future.
  
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• 'Person-on-a-chip': Engineers grow 3-D heart, liver tissues for better drug testing

  07-03-2016 17:00
  
  Researchers at U of T Engineering have developed a new way of growing realistic human tissues outside the body. Their "person-on-a-chip" technology, called AngioChip, is a powerful platform for discovering and testing new drugs, and could eventually be used to repair or replace damaged organs.
  
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• Non-natural biomedical polymers produced from microorganisms

  07-03-2016 17:00
  
  Renewable non-food biomass could potentially replace petrochemical raw materials to produce energy sources, useful chemicals, or a vast array of petroleum-based end products such as plastics, lubricants, paints, fertilizers, and vitamin capsules. In recent years, biorefineries which transform non-edible biomass into fuel, heat, power, chemicals, and materials have received a great deal of attention as a sustainable alternative to decreasing the reliance on fossil fuels.
  
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• Mercury's mysterious 'darkness' revealed

  07-03-2016 17:00
  
  Scientists have long been puzzled about what makes Mercury's surface so dark. The innermost planet reflects much less sunlight than the Moon, a body on which surface darkness is controlled by the abundance of iron-rich minerals. These are known to be rare at Mercury's surface, so what is the "darkening agent" there?
  
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• Faults control the amount of water into the Earth during continental breakup

  07-03-2016 17:00
  
  New light has been shed on the processes by which ocean water enters the solid Earth during continental breakup.
  
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• Daily dose of antibiotics helps bacteria develop multi-drug tolerance

  07-03-2016 17:00
  
  Antibiotics do not easily eradicate the gut bacteria Escherichia coli, as some bacteria survive treatment in a dormant state. Once treatment is stopped, these dormant cells can become active again and recolonize the body. Researchers from KU Leuven, Belgium, have shown that the more frequently bacteria receive antibiotics, the more of them survive. What is more, these survivors have evolved into bacteria with multi-drug tolerance.
  
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• Creation of first practical silicon-based laser: Researchers take giant step towards 'holy grail' of silicon photonics

  07-03-2016 17:00
  
  A group of researchers from the UK, including academics from Cardiff University, has demonstrated the first practical laser that has been grown directly on a silicon substrate.
  
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• Novel reprogramming factor yields more efficient induction of human pluripotent stem cells

  07-03-2016 16:59
  
  Kejin Hu, Ph.D., of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, has found a robust reprogramming factor that increases the efficiency of creating human induced pluripotent stem cells (HiPSCs) from skin fibroblasts more than 20-fold, speeds the reprogramming time by several days and enhances the quality of reprogramming.
  
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• Southwest Australia loses its Mediterranean climate

  07-03-2016 16:58
  
  Rainfall monitoring data shows WA's south-west has been losing its Mediterranean climate over the past 16 years and now has considerably less winter rainfall and a corresponding increase in summer rains.
  
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• Assessing GM canola's threat to native bushland

  07-03-2016 16:58
  
  Can genetically modified (GM) canola (Brassica napus) survive outside a controlled paddock environment, and is it a biodiversity threat to our remnant bushland?
  
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• Research team achieves controlled movement of skyrmions

  07-03-2016 16:55
  
  A joint research project being undertaken by Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has achieved a breakthrough in fundamental research in the field of potential future data storage technologies. The idea is that electronic storage units (bits) will not be stored on rotating hard disks as is currently standard practice but on a nanowire in the form of magnetic vortex structures, so-called skyrmions, using a process similar to that of a shift
  
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• Hubble Image of the Week – Swimming in Sculptor

  07-03-2016 16:54 via scitechdaily.com
  
  This newly released Hubble image shows thousands of colorful galaxies. Peering deep into the early Universe, this picturesque parallel field observation from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope reveals thousands of colorful galaxies swimming in the inky blackness of space. A few foreground stars from our own galaxy, the Milky Way, are also visible. In October […]
  The post Hubble Image of the Week – Swimming in Sculptor appeared first on SciTech Daily.
  
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• Amazon Restores Fire Encryption After Outcry

  07-03-2016 16:44 via feeds.nbcnews.com
  
  Amazon said it plans to restore an encryption feature on its Fire tablets after customers and privacy advocates criticized the company.
  
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• Researchers say they've likely found Confederate shipwreck

  07-03-2016 16:27
  
  Marine archaeologists in North Carolina say they think they have found the wreck of a Confederate ship near the mouth of the Cape Fear River.
  
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• Swaths of Britain, Germany treated to northern lights

  07-03-2016 15:58
  
  Parts of Britain and Germany have been treated to a display of the northern lights, a colorful phenomenon that is usually only seen further north.
  
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• Supreme Court rejects Apple appeal over electronic books

  07-03-2016 15:57
  
  The Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from Apple Inc. and left in place a ruling that the company conspired with publishers to raise electronic book prices when it sought to challenge Amazon.com's dominance of the market.
  
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• Supreme Court Rejects Apple E-Books Conspiracy Appeal

  07-03-2016 15:54 via feeds.nbcnews.com
  
  The court's decision not to hear the case leaves in place a June 2015 ruling by the New York- based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that favored the U.S. Department of Justice and found Apple liable for engaging in a conspiracy that violated federal antitrust laws. Apple, in its petition asking the high court to hear the case, said the June decision by the 2nd U.S....
  
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• Fighting food poisoning in Las Vegas with machine learning

  07-03-2016 15:42
  
  It's happened to many of us. We eat at a restaurant with less than ideal hygiene and come down with a nasty case of food poisoning.
  
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