Sci-Tech news

• Rainfall following drought linked to historic nitrate levels in Midwest streams in 2013

  07-06-2016 23:54
  
  Drought periods followed by rainfall caused nitrate levels to increase to the highest ever measured in some Midwest streams during a 2013 study, according to a U.S. Geological Survey report published today in the Journal of Environmental Quality.
  
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• The social media profile of the Black Lives Matter movement

  07-06-2016 23:14
  
  Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology looked at nearly 29 million tweets surrounding four recent Black Lives Matter (BLM) events to identify the social media patterns of its activists. They found that the community is unlike many other social movements because of its ability to bond over the course of many months. More than a third of those who participated via social media for the first time continued their participation during the next BLM event. The study also found being from a
  
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• New baby warthogs get ready for Oakland Zoo debut

  07-06-2016 22:50
  
  The Oakland Zoo has welcomed two litters of baby warthogs and will soon put the seven piglets on display.
  
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• An update on natural products with carbonic anhydrase inhibitory activity

  07-06-2016 22:00
  
  Carbon (C) is essential in biology as it forms up to four bonds per atom in an endless variety of complex organic molecules, which are the basis of living cells and viruses (DNA, RNA, proteins, etc.). In biology the carbon cycle is mainly regulated by the hydration of CO2.
  
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• Laboratory breakthrough may lead to improved X-ray spectrometers

  07-06-2016 21:42
  
  Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute's Swiss Light Source in Villigen, Switzerland, have developed a new design for X-ray spectrometers that eschews a commonly utilized component to lowers overall production costs and increase the efficiency of x-ray flux, which may lead to faster acquisition times for sample imaging and increased efficiency for the system. This is essential for biological samples which may be damaged by continued x-ray exposure.
  
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• US counties could gain $1 million in annual health benefits from a power plant carbon standard

  07-06-2016 21:40
  
  Nearly all U.S. regions stand to gain economic benefits from power plant carbon standards that set moderately stringent emission targets and allow a high level of compliance flexibility, according to a new study by scientists from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Syracuse University, Resources for the Future, and the Harvard Forest, Harvard University as a project of the Science Policy Exchange.
  
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• NASA sees slow-moving Tropical Depression 1E over Southern Mexico

  07-06-2016 21:05
  
  Tropical Depression 1E or TD1E continued to hug the coast of southwestern Mexico as NASA's Aqua satellite passed overhead and caught a look at the extent of the slow moving storm's clouds.
  
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• A new molecular toolkit for the de-novo design of bioactive agents

  07-06-2016 21:05
  
  Nature provides mankind with a wide variety of valuable bioactive agents ranging from vitamins over vital fatty acids to cancer inhibiting substances. Many of these substances are difficult to obtain directly from the environment or can not be produced effectively by chemical total synthesis.
  
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• New cheap method of surveying landscapes can capture environmental change

  07-06-2016 21:03
  
  Cheap cameras on drones can be used to measure environmental change which affects billions of people around the world, new research from the University of Exeter shows.
  
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• Study finds magnetic material could host wily Weyl fermions

  07-06-2016 21:02
  
  An elusive massless particle could exist in a magnetic crystal structure, revealed by neutron and X-ray research from a team of scientists led by the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Tennessee.
  
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• How 4D simulation can help construction projects come in on time—and on budget

  07-06-2016 20:57
  
  Massive public transportation infrastructure projects are notorious for exceeding both budgets and deadlines. Think Boston's Big Dig, finally completed eight years late and billions of dollars over budget.
  
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• Fish can recognize human faces, study shows

  07-06-2016 20:08 via rss.cnn.com
  
  Can your pet fish recognize your face?
  
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• Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Reveals Frosted Dunes on Mars

  07-06-2016 20:01 via scitechdaily.com
  
  NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captured this image of sand dunes on Mars. Sand dunes cover much of this terrain, which has large boulders lying on flat areas between the dunes. It is late winter in the southern hemisphere of Mars, and these dunes are just getting enough sunlight to start defrosting their seasonal cover of […]
  The post Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Reveals Frosted Dunes on Mars appeared first on SciTech Daily.
  
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• 20 planes every aviation fan should experience

  07-06-2016 19:56 via rss.cnn.com
  
  We're flying more than ever.
  
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• CEMP Stars Could Host Carbon Planets

  07-06-2016 19:52 via scitechdaily.com
  
  A newly published study from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics suggests that planet formation in the early universe might have created carbon planets consisting of graphite, carbides, and diamond. Our Earth consists of silicate rocks and an iron core with a thin veneer of water and life. But the first potentially habitable worlds to form […]
  The post CEMP Stars Could Host Carbon Planets appeared first on SciTech Daily.
  
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• We may soon finally know what a black hole actually looks like

  07-06-2016 19:44 via rss.cnn.com
  
  Despite what Christopher Nolan's "Interstellar" and fancy NASA visualizations may have led you to believe, we've never actually seen a black hole.
  
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• Girls learn science in defiance of Boko Haram

  07-06-2016 19:43 via rss.cnn.com
  
  A female electronics engineer in Nigeria is defying Boko Haram in the region, by encouraging girls to pursue careers in science and technology.
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• NFL Says Hacker Posted Tweet on Goodell Death

  07-06-2016 19:34 via profootballtalk.nbcsports.com
  
  The fake tweet said: "We regret to inform our fans that our commissioner, Roger Goodell, has passed away. He was 57. #RIP."
  
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• GM wants to keep steering wheels, pedals in self-driving cars

  07-06-2016 19:14
  
  General Motors chief executive Mary Barra came out strongly Tuesday for regulations requiring the retention of steering wheels and foot pedals in self-driving cars.
  
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• Climate change will affect farmers' bottom line

  07-06-2016 19:12
  
  Over the next 70 to 100 years, our climate is projected to change dramatically, with major impacts on a wide variety of economic sectors. But the sector that is most likely to be affected by these changes is agriculture. A number of studies support this assertion, but relatively few look at the effect of climate change on agriculture from a comprehensive economic perspective.
  
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• On common ground: Liverpool and Palmyra, World Heritage in danger

  07-06-2016 19:04
  
  As the world anxiously awaits a report from restoration experts on the condition of the ancient Syrian City of Palmyra, now recaptured from ISIS control, a University of Kent heritage lawyer warns that, much closer to home, the Maritime Mercantile City of Liverpool is also on UNESCO's List of World Heritage in Danger.
  
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• Deep learning helps to map Mars and analyze its surface chemistry

  07-06-2016 19:02
  
  Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Mount Holyoke College are teaming up to apply recent advances in machine learning, specifically biologically inspired deep learning methods, to analyze large amounts of scientific data from Mars.
  
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• New research on snakes may provide insights on evolution

  07-06-2016 19:01
  
  Pythons and boas are distantly related, but new research indicates that they have evolved convergent physical characteristics when living in similar habitats—meaning that they evolved similar solutions to similar problems.
  
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• 'Missing tooth' hydrogels handle hard-to-deliver drugs

  07-06-2016 19:01
  
  A gap-toothed peptide created by bioengineers at Rice University may be an efficient way to deliver insoluble drugs to precise locations in the body.
  
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• NASA sees Colin come calling on the US Southeast

  07-06-2016 18:59
  
  Tropical Storm Colin moved fast after making landfall in northwestern Florida on June 6 and by the morning of June 7, 2016 it was centered off the coast of North and South Carolina. NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites and NOAA's GOES-East satellite provided a look at the storm before and after landfall in Florida.
  
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• Scientists craft an artificial seawater concoction

  07-06-2016 18:57
  
  Microbiologists have concocted an artificial seawater medium that can be used to successfully cultivate abundant marine microorganisms, many of which have not been genetically characterized before. The recipe and study led by LSU doctoral candidate Michael Henson from Sylvania, Ohio and LSU Assistant Professor Cameron Thrash with support from LSU undergraduate researchers David Pitre from Houma, La., Celeste Lanclos from Opelousas, La. and Jessica Lee Weckhorst from Denham Springs, La. was publi
  
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• Research finds offender risk assessment tools in US are promising, but questions remain

  07-06-2016 18:56
  
  The criminal justice system in the United States uses a variety of tools to assess the behavior of criminal offenders, and those risk assessments can have a significant impact on an offender's fate. A new meta-analysis of the research conducted in the U.S. on these tools shows that—while promising—it is still unclear whether these tools reduce bias against offenders based on race or other factors.
  
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• Infiniti Considers Highway Self-Driving on New Models

  07-06-2016 18:08 via nbcnews.com
  
  Infiniti, the luxury division of Japanese carmaker Nissan, is considering rolling out highway self-driving capabilities for most new models.
  
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• Video: Why do onions make you cry?

  07-06-2016 17:50
  
  Common in cuisine all around the globe, onions are renowned for their ability to make us all look like cry babies. In Reactions' latest video, we get to the bottom of this teary phenomenon and reveal exactly what chemical mechanisms trigger it.
  
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• Universe's first life might have been born on carbon planets

  07-06-2016 17:39
  
  Our Earth consists of silicate rocks and an iron core with a thin veneer of water and life. But the first potentially habitable worlds to form might have been very different. New research suggests that planet formation in the early universe might have created carbon planets consisting of graphite, carbides, and diamond. Astronomers might find these diamond worlds by searching a rare class of stars.
  
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• Space feat opens 'new window' onto Universe

  07-06-2016 17:34
  A ground-breaking physics mission has opened up space as the next frontier for exploring a ubiquitous, invisible force predicted by Albert Einstein a century ago, project leaders said Tuesday.
  
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• So 1 dog year equals 7 people years? Not so fast...

  07-06-2016 17:29
  
  Everyone says it: One year for a dog equals seven years for a human. But like a lot of things everyone says, it's wrong.
  
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• Researchers find weak spots in Europe's 'Right to be Forgotten' data privacy law

  07-06-2016 17:26
  
  Under Europe's "Right to be Forgotten" law, citizens there can petition Internet search providers such as Google to remove search results linked to personal information that is negative or defamatory. In many cases, these links lead to information about accusations of criminal activity or financial difficulties, which may be "delisted" if the information is erroneous or no longer relevant.
  
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• Is there a good way to deliver bad news? Psychologists examine layoff interviews

  07-06-2016 17:21
  
  'Jones, you're fired!' or 'Mr Jones, I'm afraid I've got some bad news: Unfortunately, we're going to have to let you go. Please, take a seat and I'll explain the situation to you.' As in so many areas of life, it's not so much what you say, but the way that you say it that counts - even if you have to tell someone that they are being laid off. If a manager adopts an aggressive tone, the employee is far more likely to react to the bad news in a confrontational manner than in cases in which the m
  
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• How did ignoring people for our smartphones become the norm?

  07-06-2016 17:20
  
  It's common now to see people snubbing social companions to concentrate on their smartphone. But what causes this behaviour - known as 'phubbing' - and how did it come to be regarded as normal?
  
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• Deer make collision-free escapes thanks to inbuilt 'compasses'

  07-06-2016 17:19
  
  Why do deer in a group, when startled, suddenly bolt away together and never collide with each other? It's because these deer have an inner compass that allows them to follow a certain direction in order to make their escape. Their getaway is almost always along a north-south axis, thanks to their ability to sense the magnetic field, says Petr Obleser of the Czech University of Life Sciences in the Czech Republic. He and Hynek Burda of the University Duisburg-Essen, Germany, are lead authors of
  
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• Towards building next-generation batteries using a pigment electrode

  07-06-2016 17:07
  
  Calcium ion batteries (CIBs) have attracted much attention as next-generation batteries to replace lithium ion batteries (LIBs) because the theoretical capacity of CIBs is twice that of LIBs. This doubled capacity can be explained by the difference between monovalent and divalent ions. In addition, CIBs possess advantages such as a lower cost and higher safety because calcium is more abundant than lithium and because CIBs have a higher melting point than LIBs. However, there is one major obstacl
  
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• Spintronics development gets boost with new findings into ferromagnetism in Mn-doped GaAs

  07-06-2016 17:02
  
  A research group at Tohoku University's WPI-AIMR has succeeded in finding the origin and the mechanism of ferromagnetism in Mn-doped GaAs. The discovery is significant as it will accelerate the development of the spintronic element.
  
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• UNIST introduces the world to the smart urban vehicle concept

  07-06-2016 17:00
  
  Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) is ready to bring nimble, urban-friendly motoring to South Korea's crowded city centers with a fleet of its brand new ultra-compact foldable electric vehicle for urban mobility. Besides its absolutely innovative design, this electric vehicle concept will feature lightweight body and stunning performance.
  
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• Transmission electron microscope technique reveals atomic movements useful for next-generation devices

  07-06-2016 17:00
  
  Life in the nano lane is fast and just got faster in terms of knowledge of fundamental mechanisms working at the nanoscale—where processes are driven by a dance of particles such as atoms and ions one-billionth of a meter in size.
  
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• New tool could help investors pick the clean energy project right for them

  07-06-2016 17:00
  
  In 2013, Serbia announced its goal of having 27 percent of the country's power be generated from renewable sources by 2020. Hitting that target will require building additional clean energy facilities, but figuring out what type of project—solar, wind, hydropower or other renewable sources—to support can be a daunting task for investors.
  
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• Coral reefs fall victim to overfishing, pollution aggravated by ocean warming

  07-06-2016 17:00
  
  Coral reefs are declining around the world because a combination of factors—overfishing, nutrient pollution, and pathogenic disease—ultimately become deadly in the face of higher ocean temperatures, researchers have concluded.
  
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• You are not as anonymous as you think online

  07-06-2016 16:59
  
  You may not be anonymous as you think you are online; reveals a new study published on Frontiers in ICT. Your browsing behavior can indicate your personality and provide a unique digital signature which can identify you, sometimes after just 30-minutes of browsing.
  
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• Recent research uncovers surprises about antibiotic resistance

  07-06-2016 16:51
  
  It's thought that antibiotic resistance is associated with a fitness cost, meaning that bacteria that develop antibiotic resistance must sacrifice something in order to do so. Because of this, proper use of antibiotics should result in susceptible strains eventually replacing resistant ones.
  
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• Don't Be Like Mark Zuckerberg. Change Your Passwords

  07-06-2016 16:07 via nbcnews.com
  
  Mark Zuckerberg can be hacked and so can you. The Facebook founder's rarely used Twitter, LinkedIn and Pinterest accounts were briefly compromised on Sunday, serving as a reminder that everyone is susceptible to hacking. Hackers routinely troll Facebook and Twitter for clues to passwords like these.
  
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• From living computers to nano-robots: how we're taking DNA beyond genetics

  07-06-2016 16:00
  
  DNA is one of the most amazing molecules in nature, providing a way to carry the instructions needed to create almost any lifeform on Earth in a microscopic package. Now scientists are finding ways to push DNA even further, using it not just to store information but to create physical components in a range of biological machines.
  
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• Innovative drone technology to tackle deforestation

  07-06-2016 15:50
  
  A UK start-up is developing a high tech concept that it believes will one day enable it to plant one billion trees every year, contributing to efforts to tackle global deforestation and contributing towards greater overall sustainability.
  
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• Researchers map 6,000 years of urban settlements

  07-06-2016 15:46
  As the growth of cities worldwide transforms humans into an "urban species," many scholars question the sustainability of modern urbanization. But in reality there aren't much data on long-term historical urbanization trends and patterns.
  
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• Study links tobacco microbials, carcinogens

  07-06-2016 15:40
  
  University of Kentucky researchers have found a link between changes in microbial communities on tobacco leaves and the development of carcinogens during the curing process.
  
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• Opinion: India's water crises demand more than grand projects

  07-06-2016 15:37
  
  India is facing one of its most serious droughts in recent memory – official estimates suggest that at least 330m people are likely to be affected by acute shortages of water. As the subcontinent awaits the imminent arrival of the monsoon rains, bringing relief to those who have suffered the long, dry and exceptionally warm summer, the crisis affecting India's water resources is high on the public agenda.
  
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