Sci-Tech news

• Can Police Protect Their Drones From Hackers?

  13-04-2016 22:58 via feeds.nbcnews.com
  
  Much of the battle over police drones in the United States has been over privacy. Recently, however, a new concern has come to light: hackers.
  
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• Encryption Bill Would Mandate Companies Assist Cops

  13-04-2016 22:16 via feeds.nbcnews.com
  
  Two Senate lawmakers have released a draft bill that would require companies like Apple to provide 'technical assistance' when ordered by a court.
  
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• Mexican experts find early burial in first colonial cathedral (Update)

  13-04-2016 21:17
  
  Archaeologists have found a massive stone slab covering the tomb of one of the first Catholic priests in Mexico following the 1521 Spanish conquest, a grave sunk into the floor of what appears to be an Aztec temple.
  
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• Mexican experts find early burial in first colonial cathedral

  13-04-2016 21:17
  
  Archaeologists have found a massive stone slab covering the tomb of one of the first priests in Mexico following the 1521 European conquest, a grave sunk into the floor of what appears to be an Aztec temple.
  
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• Blood flow measurements in microfluidic devices fabricated by a micromilling technique

  13-04-2016 21:14
  
  The researchers show the ability of a micromilling machine to manufacture microchannels down to 30 µm and also the ability of a microfluidic device to perform partial separation of red blood cells from plasma.
  
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• Physicists analyze first electron neutrino data from NOvA Experiment

  13-04-2016 21:10
  
  Mayly Sanchez clicked to a presentation slide showing the telltale track of an electron neutrino racing through the 14,000-ton Far Detector of the NOvA Neutrino Experiment.
  
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• Twentieth century warming allowed moose to colonize the Alaskan tundra

  13-04-2016 20:31
  
  The establishment of moose in tundra regions of Alaska was the result of warmer and longer summers that increased their shrub habitat, according to a study published April 13, 2016 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Ken Tape from the University of Alaska, USA, and colleagues.
  
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• Reflective Saharan silver ant hairs thermoregulate, create bright color

  13-04-2016 20:31
  
  The body hairs of the Saharan silver ant cause total internal reflection of light to make the ants almost ten times more reflective, preventing overheating and yielding their silver sheen, according to a study published April 13, 2016 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Quentin Willot from the University Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium, and colleagues.
  
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• Thick-skinned bed bugs beat commonly used bug sprays

  13-04-2016 20:28
  
  The global resurgence in bed bugs over the past two decades could be explained by revelations that bed bugs have developed a thicker cuticle that enables them to survive exposure to commonly used insecticides, according to University of Sydney research published today in PLOS ONE.
  
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• EPA: No changes to federal lead water rule until next year

  13-04-2016 20:23
  
  The Environmental Protection Agency's top water regulator said Wednesday that officials are working urgently to strengthen a federal rule limiting lead and copper in drinking water—a key focus in the ongoing lead-contamination crisis in Flint, Michigan.
  
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• On-the-go diagnosis of HIV and HCV co-infections

  13-04-2016 20:22
  
  HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections are among the leading causes of death worldwide, and an estimated one-third of people with HIV/AIDS are co-infected with HCV. This makes them more likely to suffer worse outcomes and poses severe public health challenges within Kenya and other African countries as well.
  
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• Using data to protect coral reefs from climate change

  13-04-2016 20:17
  
  Coral reefs are early casualties of climate change, but not every coral reacts the same way to the stress of ocean warming. Now a Northwestern University research team is the first to provide a quantitative "global index" detailing which of the world's coral species are most susceptible to coral bleaching and most likely to die.
  
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• New Discovery Challenges Dark Matter, Stellar Acceleration Models

  13-04-2016 20:12 via scitechdaily.com
  
  Astronomers have discovered a hypervelocity binary star that challenges dark matter and stellar acceleration models. A team of astronomers at the Friedrich Alexander University led by Péter Németh has discovered a binary star moving nearly at the escape velocity of our galaxy. There are about two dozen so-called hypervelocity stars known to be escaping the […]
  The post New Discovery Challenges Dark Matter, Stellar Acceleration Models appeared first on SciTech Daily.
  
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• Words for snow revisited: Languages support efficient communication about the environment

  13-04-2016 20:00
  
  The claim that Eskimo languages have many words for different types of snow is well known among the public, but it has been greatly exaggerated and is therefore often dismissed by scholars of language.
  
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• New imaging technique reveals vulnerability of coral reefs

  13-04-2016 20:00
  
  Corals, the primary reef builders on coral reefs, are often the star player in research studies addressing the impacts of climate change on coral reefs because they are the foundation of coral reef ecosystems. However, the breakdown of coral reefs from borers (such as bivalves, sponges, and marine worms) and grazers (such as parrotfish and urchins)—called bioerosion—and growth from encrusting algae and invertebrates (for example, oysters and barnacles) - called secondary accretion&md
  
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• Headdress reconstruction throws light on hunter-gatherer rituals

  13-04-2016 20:00
  
  A research team led by archaeologists at the University of York used traditional techniques to create replicas of ritual headdresses made by hunter-gatherers 11,000 years ago in North Western Europe.
  
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• Location data on two apps enough to identify someone, says study

  13-04-2016 19:54
  
  Stripping a big data set of names and personal details is no guarantee of privacy. Previous research has shown that individual shoppers, Netflix subscribers and even taxicab riders are identifiable in heaps of supposedly anonymous data.
  
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• Fin24.com | Website hacks drive government cyber security re-think

  13-04-2016 19:54
  
  Hacking of government websites has prompted the State Information Technology Agency to move them to secure web servers.
  
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• Exposure to American Indian mascots activates stereotypes

  13-04-2016 19:52
  
  Ethnic brand imagery, including American Indian mascots, can strengthen stereotypes, causing detrimental societal consequences, according to a newly published study conducted by a University of Montana researcher.
  
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• Researchers pinpoint chemical compound that gives rare animal its popcorn-like scent

  13-04-2016 19:50
  
  The bearcat. The binturong. Whatever you call this shy, shaggy-haired creature from Southeast Asia, many people who have met one notice the same thing: it smells like a movie theater snack bar.
  
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• Study links gang membership and depression

  13-04-2016 19:48
  
  Kids who decide to join gangs are more likely to be depressed and suicidal - and these mental health problems only worsen after joining, finds a new study co-authored by a Michigan State University criminologist.
  
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• Electrons slide through the hourglass on surface of bizarre material

  13-04-2016 19:48
  
  A team of researchers at Princeton University has predicted the existence of a new state of matter in which current flows only through a set of surface channels that resemble an hourglass. These channels are created through the action of a newly theorized particle, dubbed the "hourglass fermion," which arises due to a special property of the material. The tuning of this property can sequentially create and destroy the hourglass fermions, suggesting a range of potential applications such as effic
  
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• Stars Strip Away the Atmosphere of Super-Earths

  13-04-2016 19:46 via scitechdaily.com
  
  Even a super-Earth can fly too close to the sun, according to a new study from Yale University. An international team of astronomers has found a new category of planets beyond our solar system whose atmosphere has been stripped bare by the radiation from their own sun. The findings will appear in the journal Nature […]
  The post Stars Strip Away the Atmosphere of Super-Earths appeared first on SciTech Daily.
  
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• Trap and neutralize: A new way to clean contaminated groundwater

  13-04-2016 19:45
  
  A team of researchers from Washington University in St. Louis have helped discover a new chemical method to immobilize uranium in contaminated groundwater, which could lead to more precise and successful water remediation efforts at former nuclear sites.
  
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• Downwind safety on the farm

  13-04-2016 19:40
  
  Consumers don't buy leafy greens and other healthy supermarket produce anticipating the food might make their families sick. Or at least, they didn't used to.
  
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• Volcanologists discover how bubbles accumulate in magma

  13-04-2016 19:00
  
  In 1816, summer failed to make an appearance in central Europe and people were starving. Just a year earlier, the Tambora volcano had erupted in Indonesia, spewing huge amounts of ash and sulphur into the atmosphere. As these particles partly blocked sunlight, cooling the climate, it had a serious impact on the land and the people, even in Switzerland.
  
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• Vital nutrient has key role in keeping body clocks running on time

  13-04-2016 19:00
  
  An essential mineral in our diets has an unexpected role in helping living things remain adapted to the rhythms of night and day, scientists have found.
  
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• Genetic diversity helps to limit infectious disease

  13-04-2016 19:00
  
  New research by University of Exeter academics shows that genetic diversity helps to reduce the spread of diseases by limiting parasite evolution.
  
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• Elusive state of superconducting matter discovered after 50 years

  13-04-2016 19:00
  
  Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory, Cornell University, and collaborators have produced the first direct evidence of a state of electronic matter first predicted by theorists in 1964. The discovery, described in a paper published online April 13, 2016, in Nature, may provide key insights into the workings of high-temperature superconductors.
  
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• Are humans the new supercomputer? Team blurred the boundaries between man and mac

  13-04-2016 19:00
  
  The saying of philosopher René Descartes of what makes humans unique is beginning to sound hollow. 'I think—therefore soon I am obsolete' seems more appropriate. When a computer routinely beats us at chess and we can barely navigate without the help of a GPS, have we outlived our place in the world? Not quite. Welcome to the front line of research in cognitive skills, quantum computers and gaming.
  
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• 300 million year old 'Tully Monster' was a vertebrate, researchers identify

  13-04-2016 19:00
  
  A 300 million year-old fossil mystery has been solved by a research team led by the University of Leicester, which has identified that the ancient 'Tully Monster' was a vertebrate—due to the unique characteristics of its eyes.
  
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• A ‘Big Science Guy’ Named Obama Hosts Young Innovators One Last Time

  13-04-2016 18:44 via nytimes.com
  The president will host his final White House Science fair on Wednesday to emphasize the importance science, technology, engineering and math.
  
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• Sorting the wheat from the chaff

  13-04-2016 17:48
  
  Physicists from Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet (LMU) in Munich report that temperature gradients within pores in rock could have separated primitive biopolymers on the basis of their sequences—a vital precondition for the formation of self-replicating systems in the primordial ocean.
  
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• Protecting crowds from bombings in public spaces

  13-04-2016 17:48
  
  Airport scanners can detect the explosive compounds that have been used in recent terrorist bombings, but these attacks didn't happen inside the protected spaces of terminals. They occurred in crowded public places where detection is a huge challenge. An article in Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN), the weekly newsmagazine of the American Chemical Society, explores whether new portable detectors could be a solution.
  
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• In wide range of species, longevity proteins affect dozens of the same genes

  13-04-2016 17:40
  
  Whether a creature is a worm, a fly, a mouse, or a human, death inevitably awaits. And not only do these organisms share a common fate, but also, according to a new study, they may share some of the specific mechanisms of mortality. The researchers found that in all four species, there are 46 genes regulated by the same family of "FOXO" proteins known to be central in aging and longevity.
  
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• Earthquake may have been manmade, but more data needed to assess hazards in Texas

  13-04-2016 17:31
  
  The most comprehensive analysis to date of a series of earthquakes that included a 4.8 magnitude event in East Texas in 2012 has found it plausible that the earthquakes were caused by wastewater injection. The findings also underscore the difficulty of conclusively tying specific earthquakes to human activity using currently available subsurface data.
  
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• Being systematic about the unknown: Grid-based schemes could improve butterfly monitoring

  13-04-2016 17:31
  
  Butterfly monitoring schemes are at the heart of citizen science, with the general public and researchers collaborating to discover how butterfly populations change over time. To develop the concept further, a new paper in the journal Nature Conservation shows how systematically placed, grid-based transects can help schemes by reducing habitat bias.
  
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• The economic crisis has worsened the hard lives of homeless people

  13-04-2016 17:30
  
  Until now, no large-scale scientific studies had been done into the impact of the economic crisis on homeless people. A study by the University of the Basque Country has explained how, between 2008 and 2012, the employment situation, together with cuts to certain state benefits, has put the brakes on the reintegration of homeless people into society, especially if they are foreign.
  
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• Rising CO2 levels reduce protein in crucial pollen source for bees

  13-04-2016 17:28
  
  Rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide have reduced protein in goldenrod pollen, a key late-season food source for North American bees, a Purdue University study shows.
  
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• GPM sees heavy rain in Tropical Cyclone Fantala

  13-04-2016 17:28
  
  Tropical Cyclone Fantala continued to strengthen in the Southern Indian Ocean and NASA/JAXA's Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) satellite found very heavy rain in the system.
  
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• Stephen Hawking and Billionaire on the Hunt for Alien Life

  13-04-2016 17:26
  
  Stephen Hawking and Russian billionaire Yuri Milner are teaming up in a $100 million hunt for alien life using a postage stamp-sized spacecraft.
  
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• Trump Spokeswoman Takes a Swing at Mark Zuckerberg

  13-04-2016 17:10 via feeds.nbcnews.com
  
  Katrina Pierson said she can't take Mark Zuckerberg seriously after the tech billionaire made a thinly-veiled reference to her candidate's positions.
  
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• Watch: The Future of Facebook

  13-04-2016 17:00
  
  Artificial intelligence, drones and virtual reality will play a big role in Facebook's future.
  
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• After 18 million years, a new species of extinct rodent discovered in Israel

  13-04-2016 16:27
  
  A handful of tiny teeth found in Israel's Negev desert led an international team of researchers to describe a new species of rodent which has been extinct for nearly 18 million years.
  
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• Bees diversify diet to take the sting out of nutritional deficiencies

  13-04-2016 16:26
  
  While pesticides and pathogens pose clear threats to honey bee health, the need of bee colonies for balanced nutrition is gaining increasing appreciation. As colonies are kept in agricultural areas for crop pollination, they may encounter nutritional deficits when foraging predominantly on one pollen source. In California almond orchards for instance, 1.6 million colonies are kept every year, despite the risk of low floral diversity, which can reduce the life expectancy of bees.
  
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• Students win international prize for sustainable aquaculture idea

  13-04-2016 16:25
  
  Aquaculture, if practiced sustainably, could greatly increase Kenya's food supply, but the techniques the industry uses to produce feed for fish farms—such as dynamite fishing and trawling—are ecologically destructive. In Switzerland earlier this month, two Brown students and their collaborators received a $10,000 international prize for their innovative idea for an alternative.
  
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• Asiagomphus reinhardti: A newly discovered insect is named after a TU Dresden researcher

  13-04-2016 16:25
  
  The Russian insect researcher Oleg Kosterin and his Japanese colleague Naoto Yokoi have traced the dragonfly in a remote mountainous border region between Cambodia and Laos and named it "Asiagomphus reinhardti". They honour his merits and achievements for the promotion of the international dragonfly research. The dragonfly, about six centimetres long, lives close to mountain streams. So far, only male examples are known: a black body with yellow spots and green eyes. As a larva they live for num
  
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• Riddle of missing efficiency in zinc oxide-based dye-sensitised solar cells solved

  13-04-2016 16:24
  
  To convert solar energy into electricity or solar fuels, you need specialised systems of materials such as those consisting of organic and inorganic thin films. Processes at the junction of these films play a decisive role in converting the solar energy. Now a team at HZB headed by Prof. Emad Aziz has used ultra-short laser pulses and observed for the first time directly how boundary states form between the organic dye molecules and a zinc-oxide semiconductor layer, temporarily trapping the char
  
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• How to launch a rocket into space... and then land it on a ship at sea

  13-04-2016 16:20
  
  On Friday 8 April 2016, SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket launched a mission to deliver a spacecraft called Dragon with its payload of supplies and experiments into a trajectory towards the International Space Station (ISS). Most remarkably, the first-stage booster then landed on a ship (see below).
  
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• Simulating CO2 saturation in rocks gives potential breakthrough in carbon capture, storage

  13-04-2016 16:18
  
  Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is a relatively new method for capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from power stations and industrial processes and pushing the greenhouse gas underground to prevent it from entering the atmosphere. Suitable locations for CCS include depleted oil and gas fields or deep aquifers. A detailed understanding of the passage of fluid within the rocks of these target locations is imperative for ensuring that CO2 is stored effectively and leakage risk is minimized.
  
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