Sci-Tech news

• Cameras around Lake Tahoe change fight against wildfires (Update)

  20-04-2016 23:50
  
  A growing network of cameras trained on the mountains around Lake Tahoe is changing the way crews fight Western wildfires by allowing early detection that triggers quicker, cheaper, more tactical suppression than traditional war-like operations, experts said Wednesday.
  
  Read more

• Officials watching 'high risk' dams after Houston storms

  20-04-2016 23:40
  
  Two aging dams deemed "extremely high risk" by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are at record pooling levels in Houston's west side after this week's torrential rainfall, but are working well and have undergone improvements in recent years, authorities said Wednesday.
  
  Read more

• Comcast customers won't need cable box with upcoming apps

  20-04-2016 23:30
  
  Comcast says later this year you won't need a cable box to watch cable as the company follows its rivals in offering TV-watching apps.
  
  Read more

• Orca tagging stops after dead whale found with fragments

  20-04-2016 23:11
  
  Federal biologists have temporarily stopped tagging endangered killer whales in Washington state's Puget Sound after a dead orca was found with pieces of a dart tag lodged in its dorsal fin.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Ivory Coast deploys rangers to protect dwarf elephants

  20-04-2016 23:10
  
  Ivory Coast has deployed teams of rangers to protect the country's last surviving dwarf elephants from extinction, the head of the national park service told AFP Tuesday.
  
  Read more

• Chemists create battery technology with off-the-charts charging capacity

  20-04-2016 23:01
  
  University of California, Irvine researchers have invented nanowire-based battery material that can be recharged hundreds of thousands of times, moving us closer to a battery that would never require replacement. The breakthrough work could lead to commercial batteries with greatly lengthened lifespans for computers, smartphones, appliances, cars and spacecraft.
  
  Read more

• Cellphone principles help microfluidic chip digitize information on living cells

  20-04-2016 22:58
  
  Phone calls and text messages reach you wherever you are because your phone has a unique identifying number that sets you apart from everybody else on the network. Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology are using a similar principle to track cells being sorted on microfluidic chips.
  
  Read more

• Google expands speedy news page program

  20-04-2016 22:57
  
  Google announced Wednesday an expansion of its program which delivers sped-up versions of news stories to smartphones and other devices.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Virgin Galactic returns to Spaceport America for exercises

  20-04-2016 22:56
  
  It was nothing but clear, blue skies as the sleek, jet-powered plane approached the runway at Spaceport America in southern New Mexico, only to briefly touch down and then thrust off again.
  
  Read more

• Creator of malware used to drain bank accounts gets 9 years

  20-04-2016 22:55
  
  The Russian creator of a computer program that enabled cybercriminals to infect millions of computers and drain bank accounts in multiple countries was sentenced Wednesday to serve 9 ½ years in federal prison.
  
  Read more

• New tool calculates economic costs of methane leak detection

  20-04-2016 22:40
  
  A new "virtual gas field simulator" developed by Stanford scientists aims to help companies and government agencies weigh the economic costs and benefits of different methane leak detection technologies and pick the best one for a given situation.
  
  Read more

• Google Records 700,000 'Hijacking' Breaches in One Year

  20-04-2016 21:52 via nbcnews.com
  
  Over 700,000 websites were breached between June 2014 and July 2015, according to a new study by Google and the University of California, Berkeley.
  
  Read more

• Lonely Planet Unattached to a Star Found in Deep Space

  20-04-2016 21:20
  
  The planet is believed to be five to ten times the mass of Jupiter.
  
  Read more

• Muskoxen hair analysis shows diet suffers during snow-heavy Arctic winters

  20-04-2016 20:00
  
  Analysis of hairs from muskoxen in the Arctic tundra indicates they had limited amounts of forage available and relied heavily on body stores during snow-heavy winters, according to a study published April 20, 2016 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Jesper Bruun Mosbacher from the Arctic Research Centre at Aarhus University, Denmark, and colleagues.
  
  Read more

• Mice flown in space show nascent liver damage, researcher says

  20-04-2016 20:00
  
  In a discovery with implications for long-term spaceflight and future missions to Mars, a researcher at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus has found that mice flown aboard the space shuttle Atlantis returned to Earth with early signs of liver disease.
  
  Read more

• Discovery of 13-million-year-old croc suggests parallel evolution of 'telescoping' eyes

  20-04-2016 20:00
  
  Fossils of a 13-million-year-old extinct crocodilian from the Peruvian Amazon suggest that South American and Indian species evolved separately to acquire protruding, "telescoped" eyes that helped the animals conceal their bodies underwater while scanning the river's edge. The new study, published today in the journal PLOS ONE, provides a long-sought insight about the extremely long and slender-snouted gavialoids—one of the three major types of crocodilians, along with alligators and croco
  
  Read more

• 13-million-year-old 'storyteller' crocodylian fossils show evidence for parallel evolution

  20-04-2016 20:00
  
  The 13-million-year-old fossils of an extinct crocodylian, named 'the storyteller,' suggest that South American and Indian species evolved separately to acquire protruding, 'telescoped' eyes for river-dwelling, according to a study published April 20, 2016 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Rodolfo Salas-Gismondi from the University de Montpellier, France, and colleagues.
  
  Read more

• Chrome turns 50 and stands at a crossroads - PCWorld

  20-04-2016 19:50 via pcworld.com
  
  PCWorld
  Chrome turns 50 and stands at a crossroads
  PCWorld
  Google's Chrome browser has just reached a major milestone, hitting its 50th release. For Google, it's a moment for positive reflection. To emphasize Chrome's might, the company points to the browser's 771 billion page loads per month, 1 billion ...
  Wait! The Web Isn't Dead After All! (Google Made Sure of It)WIRED
  Google Keep now supports labels and saving websites directly to notesVentureBeat
  Google says Chrome now has more than 1 bill
  
  Read more

• Google Hit With Antitrust Charges Over Android Apps

  20-04-2016 19:40
  
  Google has been slapped with antitrust charges that could change the way the company does business in Europe.
  
  Read more

• Google Has Stopped Rating 'Google.com' as 'Partially Dangerous' - Fortune

  20-04-2016 19:37 via fortune.com
  
  Fortune
  Google Has Stopped Rating 'Google.com' as 'Partially Dangerous'
  Fortune
  Guess coast is clear? Well, that was awkward. On Tuesday morning, users noticed that Google was rating its own website as “partially dangerous.” Entering “google.com” into the search engine's Safe Browsing tool, which scans URLs to identify potentially ...
  Fail: Google says Google.com is 'partially dangerous'Computerworld
  Google lists its flagship site as no longer dangerous to malwareSF
  
  Read more

• Achievement locked: Microsoft ceases Xbox 360 production - Ars Technica

  20-04-2016 19:34 via arstechnica.com
  
  Ars Technica
  Achievement locked: Microsoft ceases Xbox 360 production
  Ars Technica
  We imagine this is the way the Xbox 360 would say goodbye to us if it could talk. Tomasland. Xbox chief Phil Spencer took to the company's primary blog to make a hardware announcement on Wednesday, but it had nothing to do with recent rumblings about ...
  Microsoft Officially Discontinues Sales Of Xbox 360Tech Times
  The Xbox 360 era is officially overUSA TODAY
  UPDATE 1-Microsoft says game over for Xbox 360Reu
  
  Read more

• Study: Warming Giving US Type of Weather We Prefer _ for Now

  20-04-2016 19:32
  A new study says the average weather over the past 40 years has become more pleasant, more what Americans want because of global warming
  
  Read more

• Fin24.com | Google faces new EU anti-trust charges

  20-04-2016 19:27
  
  The European Union has opened a new anti-trust battle with Google, charging the tech giant with abusing the dominance of its Android mobile phone operating system.
  
  Read more

• EU hits Google with second antitrust charge - Reuters

  20-04-2016 19:27 via reuters.com
  Times LIVE
  EU hits Google with second antitrust charge
  Reuters
  The European Union charged Google on Wednesday with using its dominant Android mobile operating system to squeeze out rivals, opening a second front against the U.S. technology giant that could result in large fines. EU antitrust regulators said that ...
  Pastors' Daughter Vestager Trusts Head, Stomach in Google FightBloomberg
  EU Files New Antitrust Charges Against Google Over Android AppsNPR
  Google Hit With Antitrust Charges Over An
  
  Read more

• Scientists sharpen view of gene transfer between pathogenic bacteria

  20-04-2016 19:25
  
  Bacteria possess the ability to take up DNA from their environment, a skill that enables them to acquire new genes for antibiotic resistance or to escape the immune response. Scientists have now mapped the core set of genes that are consistently controlled during DNA uptake in strep bacteria, and they hope the finding will allow them to cut off the microbes' ability to survive what doctors and nature can throw at them.
  
  Read more

• Scientists Identify a Free-Floating, Planetary-Mass Object in TW Hydrae

  20-04-2016 19:25 via scitechdaily.com
  
  New data from WISE and its predecessor, the Two Micron All Sky Survey, reveals the lowest-mass free-floating object in TW Hydrae family — a likely brown dwarf called WISEA J114724.10−204021.3. In 2011, astronomers announced that our galaxy is likely teeming with free-floating planets. In fact, these lonely worlds, which sit quietly in the darkness of […]
  The post Scientists Identify a Free-Floating, Planetary-Mass Object in TW Hydrae appeared first on SciTech Daily.
  
  Read more

• Study: Warming giving US type of weather we prefer — for now - Washington Post

  20-04-2016 19:23 via washingtonpost.com
  
  Washington Post
  Study: Warming giving US type of weather we prefer — for now
  Washington Post
  WASHINGTON — Global warming has mostly made the weather more pleasant for Americans over the last 40 years, which may explain why much of the public doesn't rank climate change as big a threat as do scientists and the rest of the world, a new study ...
  Global warming has made the weather better for most in US -- but don't get used to it, study saysLos Angeles Times
  Because the weather i
  
  Read more

• New method enlists electricity for easier, cheaper, greener chemistry

  20-04-2016 19:23
  
  Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have found a new and better way to achieve a chemical reaction that is used widely in the pharmaceutical as well as flavor and fragrance industries.
  
  Read more

• New material combines useful, typically incompatible properties

  20-04-2016 19:22
  
  Mild-mannered Dr. Jekyll and malicious Mr. Hyde were opposite aspects of the same man, and their story ended in tragedy because the two couldn't peacefully coexist.
  
  Read more

• Modern styling, new tech, fuel economy highlight new Malibu

  20-04-2016 19:17
  
  Chevrolet revamped the Malibu for 2016, making the family sedan look more modern and giving it more safety and technology features, including software that helps keep teen-agers safe and parents in the know.
  
  Read more

• Daily Mail publisher says has not submitted Yahoo bid

  20-04-2016 19:16
  
  The parent group of British tabloid The Daily Mail said Wednesday it has not made a bid for struggling US Internet giant Yahoo, but remained in talks with interested parties.
  
  Read more

• NASA sees birth of Tropical Cyclone 20P, threatens American Samoa

  20-04-2016 19:10
  
  As Tropical Cyclone 20P formed in the Southern Pacific Ocean NASA's Aqua satellite analyzed storm cloud top temperatures while the RapidScat instrument looked at surface winds. The National Weather Service in Pago Pago expects the tropical storm to affect American Samoa by the weekend.
  
  Read more

• Land grant university programs helped keep farmers on the farm

  20-04-2016 19:10
  
  Federal cooperative extension programs have helped more than 137,000 farmers stay in business since 1985, according to economists.
  
  Read more

• Silicon Valley Heavyweights Say Encryption Bill Is 'Unworkable'

  20-04-2016 19:03
  
  Congress may be the next frontier when it comes to trying to compel many technology companies to help authorities access data when it could help in certain cases.
  
  Read more

• Recent warmer winters may be cooling climate change concern

  20-04-2016 19:00
  
  The vast majority of Americans have experienced more favorable weather conditions over the past 40 years, researchers from New York University and Duke University have found. The trend is projected to reverse over the course of the coming century, but that shift may come too late to spur demands for policy responses to address climate change.
  
  Read more

• First North American monkey fossils are found in Panama Canal excavation

  20-04-2016 19:00
  
  Seven fossil teeth exposed by the Panama Canal expansion project are the first evidence of a monkey on the North American continent before the Isthmus of Panama connected it to South America 3.5 million years ago. A team including Carlos Jaramillo, staff scientist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI), published this discovery online in the journal, Nature today. They named the new monkey species Panamacebus transitus in honor of Panama and the monkey's movement across the ancien
  
  Read more

• Senate OKs Bill to Promote Wide Variety of Energy Sources

  20-04-2016 18:51
  The Senate has approved a wide-ranging energy bill that would promote a variety of energy sources
  
  Read more

• Mitsubishi Motors admits manipulating fuel economy data, shares tumble - Reuters

  20-04-2016 18:22 via in.reuters.com
  
  New York Times
  Mitsubishi Motors admits manipulating fuel economy data, shares tumble
  Reuters
  TOKYO Mitsubishi Motors Corp admitted to manipulating test data to overstate the fuel economy of 625,000 cars sold in Japan, knocking its shares down more than 15 percent and wiping $1.2 billion off its market value on Wednesday. The automaker said it ...
  Mitsubishi Motors finds falsified fuel mileage testsCBS News
  Mitsubishi falsified its fuel milage data. Now what?Christian Science Monitor
  Mitsu
  
  Read more

• Replica of 5,000-year-old 'Iceman' made on 3D printer

  20-04-2016 18:14
  
  Scientists presented Wednesday a life-sized copy, made using a 3D printer, of Oetzi the mummified 5,000-year-old "iceman" found in the Alps 25 years ago.
  
  Read more

• Damien Hirst works leaked formaldehyde gas: study

  20-04-2016 18:14
  
  Iconic works of art by British artist Damien Hirst involving dead animals preserved in giant tanks leaked potentially-dangerous formaldehyde gas during a show at London's Tate Modern gallery, it emerged Wednesday.
  
  Read more

• Damien Hirst artworks leaked formaldehyde gas: study

  20-04-2016 18:14
  
  Iconic works of art by British artist Damien Hirst involving dead animals preserved in giant tanks leaked potentially-dangerous formaldehyde gas during a show at London's Tate Modern gallery, it emerged Wednesday.
  
  Read more

• Model makes designing new antennas orders of magnitude faster

  20-04-2016 18:13
  
  Researchers at North Carolina State University have developed a model that allows antenna designers to identify efficient configurations for antenna designs in minutes, rather than days. The model is designed to expedite development of next generation "multi-input, multi-ouput" (MIMO) antennas, which allow devices to get more use out of the available bandwidth.
  
  Read more

• EU Expands Battle With Google With Android Antitrust Probe

  20-04-2016 18:07
  The European Union is broadening its battle with Google, alleging that the technology giant rigs the global market for mobile apps by making its Android operating system give preferential treatment to its own products
  
  Read more

• Lessons of Chernobyl disaster, 30 years on

  20-04-2016 18:04
  
  Ukraine next week marks the 30th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster, when human error and flawed Soviet reactor technology led to the world's worst nuclear accident.
  
  Read more

• Scientists develop multicolored labeling system to track genomic locations in live cells

  20-04-2016 18:02
  
  CRISPRainbow, a new technology using CRISPR/Cas9 developed by scientists at UMass Medical School, allows researchers to tag and track up to seven different genomic locations in live cells. This labeling system, details of which were published in Nature Biotechnology, will be an invaluable tool for studying the structure of the genome in real time.
  
  Read more

• Google's Inbox now tracks your events, newsletters, and saved links - VentureBeat

  20-04-2016 18:01 via venturebeat.com
  
  VentureBeat
  Google's Inbox now tracks your events, newsletters, and saved links
  VentureBeat
  Google today updated its Inbox email service with streamlined events, glanceable newsletters, and saved links. The improved version is rolling out now on the desktop as well as on Google Play and Apple's App Store. First up, Inbox now gathers together ...
  Inbox Gets Support For Streamlined Events, Glanceable Newsletters, And Saved LinksAndroid Police
  Google adds features to Keep, Inbox by Gmail apps
  
  Read more

• Bringing nitrogen out to pasture

  20-04-2016 18:01
  
  Cows in Brazil might start bellowing "leguuume" rather than "moo." That's because Jose Dubeux Jr. wants to plant more legume trees in cow pastures.
  
  Read more

• With simple process, engineers fabricate fastest flexible silicon transistor

  20-04-2016 18:00
  
  One secret to creating the world's fastest silicon-based flexible transistors: a very, very tiny knife.
  
  Read more

• American tech giants under EU cosh

  20-04-2016 18:00
  
  US technology giants Google, Amazon, Apple, Intel and Microsoft have all come under the often costly scrutiny of European Union (EU) authorities in Brussels:
  
  Read more

• Intel gambit aims for position in post-PC world

  20-04-2016 17:50
  
  The massive shakeup announced by Intel reflects the rapid changes in the tech sector and aims to position the Silicon Valley titan for a post-PC world.
  
  Read more

Follow @NewslockSciTech on Twitter!