Sci-Tech news

• Saharan Addax antelope faces 'imminent extinction'

  06-05-2016 22:54
  
  The Saharan Addax antelope has been pushed to the brink of extinction by poaching and loss of habitat to the oil industry, the international organisation that tracks threatened species said Friday.
  
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• Champs-Elysees in Paris goes car-free on Sunday

  06-05-2016 22:54
  
  The constant thunder of cars on Paris' most famous boulevard will be silenced Sunday when the Champs-Elysees goes pedestrian-only for the day in the first instalment of a monthly effort to tackle pollution.
  
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• Study offers clues to better rainfall predictions

  06-05-2016 22:48
  
  The saltiness, or salinity, of seawater depends largely on how much moisture is pulled into the air as evaporative winds sweep over the ocean. But pinpointing where the moisture rains back down is a complicated question scientists have long contended with.
  
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• Simulation tool uses FinTech quant techniques and big data to guide best health insurance plan

  06-05-2016 22:45
  
  Using technologies originally developed to evaluate complex investments and portfolios, a new data-driven simulator is being developed to help individuals and families evaluate health plans and select the health insurance policies most likely to meet their projected needs, with realistic cost estimates under a wide range of potential healthcare outcomes. The simulator's ability to predict usage and costs for a variety of health services—both typical and unexpected—and to be tailored
  
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• Deadly fungus threatens African frogs

  06-05-2016 22:40
  
  Misty mountains, glistening forests and blue-green lakes make Cameroon, the wettest part of Africa, a tropical wonderland for amphibians.
  
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• Rare Whale Calf Found Dead; Boat Strike Could Be Responsible

  06-05-2016 21:06
  Rare North Atlantic right whale calf found dead off Cape Cod; vessel strike could be to blame
  
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• SpaceX Lands Rocket at Sea 2nd Time After Satellite Launch

  06-05-2016 21:01
  For the second time in a row, SpaceX has successfully landed a rocket at sea
  
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• Scientists track Greenland's ice melt with seismic waves

  06-05-2016 20:00
  
  Researchers from MIT, Princeton University, and elsewhere have developed a new technique to monitor the seasonal changes in Greenland's ice sheet, using seismic vibrations generated by crashing ocean waves. The results, which will be published in the journal Science Advances, may help scientists pinpoint regions of the ice sheet that are most vulnerable to melting. The technique may also set better constraints on how the world's ice sheets contribute to global sea-level changes.
  
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• 'Hammerhead' creature was world's first plant-eating marine reptile

  06-05-2016 20:00
  
  In 2014, scientists discovered a bizarre fossil—a crocodile-sized sea-dwelling reptile that lived 242 million years ago in what today is southern China. Its head was poorly preserved, but it seemed to have a flamingo-like beak. But in a paper published today in Science Advances, paleontologists reveal what was really going on—that "beak" is actually part of a hammerhead-shaped jaw apparatus, which it used to feed on plants on the ocean floor. It's the earliest known example of an her
  
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• Galaxy-sized peanuts? Astronomers use new imaging software to detect double 'peanut shell' galaxy

  06-05-2016 19:49
  
  Astronomers at Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, have discovered an unusually shaped structure in two nearby disc galaxies. The Swinburne team recently developed new imaging software, making it possible to observe the double "peanut shell shape" formed by the distribution of stars bulging from the centres of these galaxies. The results are published in a new paper in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
  
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• First global topographic model of Mercury among MESSENGER's latest delivery to the planetary data system

  06-05-2016 19:46
  
  The MESSENGER mission has released the first global digital elevation model (DEM) of Mercury, revealing in stunning detail the topography across the entire innermost planet and paving the way for scientists to characterize fully the planet's geologic history.
  
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• Warner Music says streaming revenue bigger than downloads

  06-05-2016 19:30
  
  In a further sign that the download era is waning, Warner Music Group says it made more money from streaming platforms than any other single source of recorded music revenue in the latest quarter.
  
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• Square sinks as Dorsey-led firm's earnings disappoint (Update)

  06-05-2016 19:29
  
  Shares in online payments firm Square took a pounding Friday after the group led by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey reported earnings that fell short of investor expectations.
  
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• Square sinks as Dorsey-led firm's earnings disappoint

  06-05-2016 19:29
  
  Shares in online payments firm Square took a pounding Friday after the group led by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey reported earnings that fell short of investor expectations.
  
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• Penguin that wore a wetsuit and starred in kid's book dies

  06-05-2016 19:29
  
  A San Francisco penguin that once sported a wetsuit after losing his feathers and who starred in a children's book has died at the age of 33, officials said this week.
  
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• New Horizons Reveals a Distinct Water-Ice Signature on the Surface of Hydra

  06-05-2016 19:29 via scitechdaily.com
  
  NASA’s New Horizons Spacecraft reveals a distinct water-ice signature on the surface of Pluto’s outermost moon, Hydra. NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft has sent home the first compositional data about Pluto’s four small satellites. The new data show the surface of Hydra, Pluto’s outermost small moon, is dominated by nearly pristine water ice – confirming hints […]
  The post New Horizons Reveals a Distinct Water-Ice Signature on the Surface of Hydra appeare
  
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• Suomi NPP satellite continues to monitor Alberta's huge wildfire

  06-05-2016 19:26
  
  The Fort McMurray wildfire in Alberta, Canada, continues to burn and the smoke and heat from the intense fires are detectable by satellite. The Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership satellite carries an instrument so sensitive to low light levels that it can detect wildfires in the middle of the night as well as during the daytime and captured day and night images.
  
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• Team highlights ways to address global food system challenges

  06-05-2016 19:21
  
  Agriculture now produces more than enough calories to meet basic human dietary needs worldwide. Despite this seeming abundance, one out of eight people do not have access to sufficient food.
  
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• Astronomers Examine the Processes Involved in Generating Turbulence

  06-05-2016 19:13 via scitechdaily.com
  
  A new study of turbulence in galaxies concludes that in many cases it is generated not by star formation but by gravitational effects alone. The gas in galaxies is typically seen to be moving at very rapid, even supersonic velocities, providing clear evidence that the medium is highly turbulent. Looking more closely at gas clouds […]
  The post Astronomers Examine the Processes Involved in Generating Turbulence appeared first on SciTech Daily.
  
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• Photos: Panda Plays With Her Newborn Cub

  06-05-2016 18:49
  
  Absolutely adorable baby animals!
  
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• Finding Zika one paper disc at a time

  06-05-2016 18:00
  
  An international, multi-institutional team of researchers led by synthetic biologist James Collins, Ph.D. at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University, has developed a low-cost, rapid paper-based diagnostic system for strain-specific detection of the Zika virus, with the goal that it could soon be used in the field to screen blood, urine, or saliva samples.
  
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• Marchionne: Self-driving cars could be on roads in five years (Update)

  06-05-2016 17:50
  
  Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne says working with Google convinced him that self-driving technology is closer than he thought and could be on the road in five years.
  
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• Marchionne: Self-driving cars could be on roads in five years

  06-05-2016 17:50
  
  Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne says self-driving cars could be on the road in five years.
  
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• Marchionne: Self-driving cars could be on roads in 5 years

  06-05-2016 17:50
  
  Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne says working with Google convinced him that self-driving technology is closer than he thought and could be on the road in five years.
  
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• In scientific first, researchers visualize proteins being born

  06-05-2016 17:50
  
  For the first time, scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine have developed a technology allowing them to "see" single molecules of messenger RNA as they are translated into proteins in living mammalian cells. Initial findings using this technology that may shed light on neurological diseases as well as cancer were published online today in Science.
  
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• Bright dusty galaxies are hiding secret companions

  06-05-2016 17:24
  
  A new University of Sussex study has cleared the air on what lies behind hot dust visible in the distant universe.
  
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• Google front page celebrates Sigmund Freud's 160th birthday

  06-05-2016 16:52
  
  Google is celebrating Sigmund Freud's 160th birthday with a special doodle.
  
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• Effect of the Van-der-Waals and intramolecular forces

  06-05-2016 16:50
  
  In modern microelectronics, nanobiotechnology, nanorobots increasingly have being used both organic biomacromolecules and fragments, as nucleotides, peptides, DNA, and inorganic elements, like as metallic nanoparticles, carbon nanotubes.
  
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• Understanding tiny droplets can make for better weather forecasts

  06-05-2016 16:49
  
  When you see how difficult it is to get even next week's weather forecast right, you can imagine the challenges researchers are faced with when it comes to predicting the weather decades from now.
  
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• Nevada company to pursue purchase of unfinished nuke

  06-05-2016 16:41
  
  A Nevada company said it will try to purchase an unfinished nuclear power plant from the Tennessee Valley Authority and use the site in northeast Alabama to produce electricity with new technology.
  
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• World's largest particle smasher set to push physics into unknown

  06-05-2016 16:30
  
  The world's most powerful proton smasher is preparing for its biggest run yet which scientists hope will uncover new particles that could dramatically change our understanding of the Universe.
  
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• How did birds get their wings? Bacteria may provide a clue, say scientists

  06-05-2016 16:28
  
  How did birds get their wings? Bacteria may provide a clue, say scientists
  
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• US attorney: Two Belarusians took in $1.35M from phishing scam

  06-05-2016 16:13
  
  Federal authorities in Pittsburgh say two men have been charged by authorities in Belarus with receiving $1.35 million stolen in a phishing scheme from the bank account of a Pennsylvania oil and gas drilling company.
  
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• Small explosion detected at Cleveland Volcano

  06-05-2016 16:13
  
  Scientists have detected a small explosion at the Cleveland Volcano on Thursday night.
  
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• Sonic net could save birds and aircraft, study suggests

  06-05-2016 16:12
  
  Introducing a noise net around airfields that emits sound levels equivalent to those of a conversation in a busy restaurant could prevent collisions between birds and aircraft, saving passenger lives and billions in damages, new research has found.
  
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• Skygazers prepare for rare Mercury sighting

  06-05-2016 16:10
  
  Earthlings will witness Mercury make a rare passage between our planet and the Sun on Monday, appearing as a black dot tracking the surface of the star we share with the solar system's smallest planet.
  
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• Researchers investigate Chladni patterns in a liquid at microscale

  06-05-2016 16:00
  
  (Phys.org)—A team of researchers with Université Grenoble Alpes in France has discovered that there are differences in patterns created in tiny particles immersed in water over a vibrating drum head, than in dry sand particles dropped on a metal plate and vibrated. In their paper published in Physical Review Letters, the researchers describe their experiments and the differences they found between the submerged particles, the patterns that developed and the mechanisms behind them.
  
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• Air power now weapon of choice

  06-05-2016 15:53
  
  Air power has become the weapon of choice for Western politicians because it causes maximum destruction with the minimum of commitment, according to new research from a University of Exeter academic.
  
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• Fanciful 'Boaty McBoatface' passed over for vessel name

  06-05-2016 15:44
  
  Boaty McBoatface had captured the public's fancy but British officials said Friday the country's newest polar research vessel will be christened Sir David Attenborough, in honor of the prominent naturalist and broadcaster.
  
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• Design tool enables novices to create bendable input devices for computers

  06-05-2016 15:39
  
  A software tool developed collaboratively by Disney Research and ETH Zurich makes it possible for non-experts to design and build flexible objects that can sense when they are being deformed and thus be used to control games, provide feedback for toys or otherwise provide input to a computer.
  
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• Self-Proclaimed Australian Bitcoin Founder Backtracks

  06-05-2016 15:38 via nbcnews.com
  
  The man who claimed to be the mysterious founder of bitcoin appears to be stepping back into the shadows, leaving numerous questions in his wake. Three days after Australian entrepreneur Craig Wright came forward as " Satoshi Nakamoto," the unknown creator of the digital currency bitcoin, he has backtracked in a dramatic fashion. He wrote in a blog post that he does...
  
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• Experts decipher the disease behind one of the world's most famous paintings

  06-05-2016 15:35
  
  It is one of the most famous paintings in American history: Christina's World, by Andrew Wyeth. The painting, which hangs in the Museum of Modern Art in New York, depicts a young woman in a field, gazing at a farmhouse on an idyllic summer day.
  
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• A crack in the mystery of 'oobleck'—friction thickens fluids

  06-05-2016 15:25
  
  By revealing missing details behind the odd behavior of a science fair favorite—a soupy mixture known as "oobleck" that switches back and forth between liquid and solid—scientists from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and Georgetown University could help to end a long-running scientific debate and improve processes ranging from pouring concrete to making better body armor.
  
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• How jokes and silence speak volumes in protesting dictators, oppression

  06-05-2016 15:20
  
  Before 1999 when their country finally returned to civil rule, people in Nigeria faced odds similar to those often encountered by citizens in societies living under oppressive regimes. Among other obstacles, they had little to no means to ventilate their grievances.
  
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• Want to build better computer games? Call an architect

  06-05-2016 15:11
  
  If I said I was a licensed architect helping to fight dementia, you'd probably assume I was designing a care home or some similar building. Actually, I've been working alongside neuroscientists, psychologists, doctors and programmers to produce a computer game that could lead to better diagnoses for the condition.
  
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• Pregnancy—cooperative paradise or conflict-driven battle between mother and child?

  06-05-2016 15:10
  
  Pregnancy sounds like the ultimate form of animal cooperation – mothers share their own bodies to grow and support their children's prenatal development. But in reality, embryos use every trick in the book to take more than their fair share. Mothers, in turn, marshal their best defensive tactics.
  
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• Opinions on fracking linked to political persuasion—study

  06-05-2016 15:10
  
  New research by a team from Plymouth University and Ryerson University in Canada indicates how important a person's political affinity is to their opinion about hydraulic fracking.
  
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• An analysis of electric vehicles to optimise the in- and out-of-car experience

  06-05-2016 15:08
  
  An international research team led by the Universidad Miguel Hernández (UMH) in Elche, Spain, has been working to acquire, pool and develop knowledge on various aspects of electric and hybrid vehicles, such as vehicle dynamics, drivability, and noise, vibration and harshness (NVH). Brought together under the European COST Action TU1105, the aim of the four-year project was to propose and develop new analysis techniques and tools for use at the design stage of electric vehicles in order to
  
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• Survey finds social media contribute to increased sexist comments for women in television

  06-05-2016 15:00
  
  A national survey has found that social media have increased the amount of criticism television broadcasters receive about their appearance.
  
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• Looking to light highways with light-emitting cement

  06-05-2016 15:00
  
  In order to light roads, highways or bicycle lanes without electricity, Ph.D. José Carlos Rubio, from Michoacan's University of San Nicolas Hidalgo, UMSNH in Spanish, created a light-emitting cement that has a lifespan of 100 years.
  
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