Sci-Tech news

• Watch: Solar-Powered Plane Lands in Spain

  23-06-2016 23:23
  
  An experimental solar-powered airplane landed in Spain Thursday, completing an unprecedented three-day flight across the Atlantic in the latest leg of its globe-circling voyage.
  
  Read more

• Twilio's Big Day on Wall Street

  23-06-2016 22:22
  
  Twilio may not have mainstream name recognition, but chances are you've used their services.
  
  Read more

• Photos: Hubble Spies New Dark Spot on Neptune

  23-06-2016 22:03
  
  Spacecraft telescopes offer rare looks at the solar system and beyond.
  
  Read more

• Bones, Pugs and Harmony: Pets Get In on 'Brexit' Vote

  23-06-2016 21:27 via nbcnews.com
  
  As Brits head to the Brexit polls, now man's best friend has been enlisted to support the "rufferendum."
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Astronomers Discover X-Ray Echoes from a Black Hole That Shattered a Passing Star

  23-06-2016 21:13 via scitechdaily.com
  
  Using data from the Swift Satellite, astronomers have identified the reflections of X-ray flares erupting from a star that was shattered by a black hole. Some 3.9 billion years ago in the heart of a distant galaxy, the intense tidal pull of a monster black hole shredded a star that passed too close. When X-rays […]
  The post Astronomers Discover X-Ray Echoes from a Black Hole That Shattered a Passing Star appeared first on SciTech Daily.
  
  Read more

• Twitter's Periscope Plays Crucial Role in Democratic Sit-in

  23-06-2016 20:51
  
  The Democratic sit-in over gun control almost fell into a broadcasting black hole until representatives took out their smartphones and began broadcasting on Periscope.
  
  Read more

• Chemists join forces to develop cheap, complementary method for classic reaction

  23-06-2016 20:50
  
  A team of researchers at Princeton University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Merck & Co. has developed a cost-effective and complementary approach to a fundamental chemical reaction known as a C-N bond coupling, which is a staple of modern drug development.
  
  Read more

• Agency hopes apps will keep drones away from wildfires

  23-06-2016 20:50
  
  Federal authorities are seeking a high-tech solution for the increasing problem of hobby drones flying over active wildfires and endangering airplane and helicopter pilots trying to put out blazes.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Agency enlists high-tech help keeping drones from wildfires (Update)

  23-06-2016 20:50
  
  When Brian Cresto and his fellow firefighters fly toward a wildfire at just a few hundred feet off the ground, he's scouting for the best spot for them to land when they parachute down.
  
  Read more

• Nanoscientists develop the 'ultimate discovery tool'

  23-06-2016 20:42
  
  The discovery power of the gene chip is coming to nanotechnology. A Northwestern University research team is developing a tool to rapidly test millions and perhaps even billions or more different nanoparticles at one time to zero in on the best particle for a specific use.
  
  Read more

• Volcanoes get quiet before they erupt!

  23-06-2016 20:39
  
  When dormant volcanoes are about to erupt, they show some predictive characteristics—seismic activity beneath the volcano starts to increase, gas escapes through the vent, or the surrounding ground starts to deform. However, until now, there has not been a way to forecast eruptions of more restless volcanoes because of the constant seismic activity and gas and steam emissions. Carnegie volcanologist Diana Roman, working with a team of scientists from Penn State, Oxford University, the Univ
  
  Read more

• Hubble Telescope Confirms New Dark Spot on Neptune

  23-06-2016 20:33 via scitechdaily.com
  
  NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has confirmed the presence of a dark vortex in the atmosphere of Neptune. Though similar features were seen during the Voyager 2 flyby of Neptune in 1989 and by the Hubble Space Telescope in 1994, this vortex is the first one observed on Neptune in the 21st century. The discovery was […]
  The post Hubble Telescope Confirms New Dark Spot on Neptune appeared first on SciTech Daily.
  
  Read more

• Self-Driving Cars May One Day Face Decision of Who to Save, Kill

  23-06-2016 20:22
  
  The social dilemma researchers are exploring when it comes to autonomous tech.
  
  Read more

• Ultrathin, flat lens resolves chirality and color

  23-06-2016 20:20
  
  Many things in the natural world are geometrically chiral, meaning they cannot be superimposed onto their mirror image. Think hands—right and left hands are mirror images but if you transplanted a right hand onto a left, you'd be in trouble. Certain molecules are chiral, including DNA and amino acids.
  
  Read more

• Hubble confirms new dark spot on Neptune

  23-06-2016 20:19
  
  New images obtained on May 16, 2016, by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope confirm the presence of a dark vortex in the atmosphere of Neptune. Though similar features were seen during the Voyager 2 flyby of Neptune in 1989 and by the Hubble Space Telescope in 1994, this vortex is the first one observed on Neptune in the 21st century.
  
  Read more

• Better information needed to understand extreme weather

  23-06-2016 20:19
  
  Scientists need more credible and relevant information to help communities become more resilient to extreme weather events such as floods, a University of Exeter expert has said.
  
  Read more

• Fin24.com | MTN bets on mobile banking with new CEO

  23-06-2016 20:15
  
  MTN's new boss Rob Shuter has been brought in to boost profits by persuading its 200 million clients to use their handsets to store money and pay bills.
  
  Read more

• The arms race at the plant root: How soil bacteria fight to escape sticky root traps

  23-06-2016 20:00
  
  Soil is full of microbes. Specialized border cells at the outer surface of plant roots fight off these microbes as the roots penetrate the soil in search of water and nutrients. A study published on June 23rd in PLOS Pathogens reveals how plant pathogens fight back against entrapment by sticky root border cell secretions.
  
  Read more

• Good bacteria vital to coral reef survival

  23-06-2016 20:00
  
  Scientists say good bacteria could be the key to keeping coral healthy, able to withstand the impacts of global warming and to secure the long-term survival of reefs worldwide.
  
  Read more

• Fix for 3-billion-year-old genetic error could dramatically improve genetic sequencing

  23-06-2016 20:00
  
  For 3 billion years, one of the major carriers of information needed for life, RNA, has had a glitch that creates errors when making copies of genetic information. Researchers at The University of Texas at Austin have developed a fix that allows RNA to accurately proofread for the first time. The new discovery, published June 23 in the journal Science, will increase precision in genetic research and could dramatically improve medicine based on a person's genetic makeup.
  
  Read more

• Driverless cars: Who gets protected? Study shows public deploys inconsistent ethics on safety issue

  23-06-2016 20:00
  
  Driverless cars pose a quandary when it comes to safety. These autonomous vehicles are programmed with a set of safety rules, and it is not hard to construct a scenario in which those rules come into conflict with each other. Suppose a driverless car must either hit a pedestrian or swerve in such a way that it crashes and harms its passengers. What should it be instructed to do?
  
  Read more

• A strategy for 'convergence' research to transform biomedicine

  23-06-2016 20:00
  
  What if lost limbs could be regrown? Cancers detected early with blood or urine tests, instead of invasive biopsies? Drugs delivered via nanoparticles to specific tissues or even cells, minimizing unwanted side effects? While such breakthroughs may sound futuristic, scientists are already exploring these and other promising techniques.
  
  Read more

• Starving stem cells may enable scientists to build better blood vessels

  23-06-2016 19:45
  
  Researchers from the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine have uncovered how changes in metabolism of human embryonic stem cells help coax them to mature into specific cell types—and may improve their function in engineered organs or tissues.
  
  Read more

• Leading statisticians establish steps to convey statistics a science not toolbox

  23-06-2016 19:41
  
  Convinced that better use of data will improve research, innovation and literacy across other disciplines, six leading statisticians recently published "Ten Simple Rules for Effective Statistical Practice" in the journal PLOS Computational Biology. Part of the popular open access "Ten Simple Rules (TSR)" series, this piece surpassed 51,000 views in only two weeks.
  
  Read more

• Dutch crops grown on 'Mars' soil found safe to eat

  23-06-2016 19:30
  
  Dutch scientists said Thursday crops of four vegetables and cereals grown on soil similar to that on Mars have been found safe to eat, amid plans for the first manned mission to the planet.
  
  Read more

• Why Uber Is Better at Geolocation Than 911 Dispatch Centers

  23-06-2016 19:23 via nbcnews.com
  
  Pizza Hut and Uber have this advantage over the 911 system.
  
  Read more

• Mysterious 'zombie bee' scourge reaches southern US

  23-06-2016 19:20
  
  Researchers announced this week that the mysterious "zombie bee" parasite that kills honeybees has spread to Virginia. It's the first southern state to record the phenomenon, which was first discovered in California in 2008 and has affected bees in states including Oregon, South Dakota and New York.
  
  Read more

• Solar-Powered Plane Completes Historic Atlantic Crossing

  23-06-2016 19:17
  
  Swiss adventurer Bertrand Piccard landed Solar Impulse in Seville, Spain this morning after completing a three-day historic trip across the Atlantic Ocean.
  
  Read more

• How Social Media Fueled House Lawmakers' Sit-In

  23-06-2016 19:15 via nbcnews.com
  
  This already was shaping up to be an election year dominated by opinions declared on Facebook and barbs traded via Tweet.
  
  Read more

• Pipeline spews crude in California but none reaches beach (Update)

  23-06-2016 19:12
  
  An underground pipeline spewed thousands of gallons of crude oil Thursday near the Southern California coast but the foul-smelling goo was contained in a lengthy stretch of ravine and never reached nearby beaches.
  
  Read more

• California pipeline spills thousands of gallons of crude oil (Update)

  23-06-2016 19:12
  
  Thousands of gallons of crude oil spilled Thursday from a pipeline and flowed down a ravine in Southern California but did not reach the ocean, officials said.
  
  Read more

• California pipeline spills about 29,400 gallons of crude oil

  23-06-2016 19:12
  
  An estimated 29,400 gallons of crude oil spilled Thursday from a pipeline and flowed down an arroyo in Ventura County, California, officials said.
  
  Read more

• Eating air, making fuel: Scientists engineer bacteria to create sugar from the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide

  23-06-2016 19:11
  
  All life on the planet relies, in one way or another, on a process called carbon fixation: the ability of plants, algae and certain bacteria to "pump" carbon dioxide (CO2) from the environment, add solar or other energy and turn it into the sugars that are the required starting point needed for life processes. At the top of the food chain are different organisms (some of which think, mistakenly, that they are "more advanced") that use the opposite means of survival: they eat sugars (made by phot
  
  Read more

• Sex with the lights on: Sexual selection increases the number of species and impacts global diversity

  23-06-2016 18:56
  
  When you're a firefly, finding "the one" can change the world. Literally. A new study by UCSB evolutionary biologists Todd Oakley and Emily Ellis demonstrates that for fireflies, octopuses and other animals that choose mates via bioluminescent courtship, sexual selection increases the number of species—thereby impacting global diversity. Their results appear in the journal Current Biology.
  
  Read more

• Probing giant planets' dark hydrogen

  23-06-2016 18:53
  
  Hydrogen is the most-abundant element in the universe. It's also the simplest—sporting only a single electron in each atom. But that simplicity is deceptive, because there is still so much we have to learn about hydrogen.
  
  Read more

• BlackBerry sales fall, losses pile up

  23-06-2016 18:20
  
  Blackberry continued bleeding red in the three months ending May 31, extending a two-year losing streak as the Canadian smartphone maker restructures, according to quarterly financials filed Thursday.
  
  Read more

• Twilio shares soar 70 percent in stock market debut

  23-06-2016 18:11
  
  Twilio shares soared 70 percent after the technology company's debut on the stock market Thursday.
  
  Read more

• Tech company Twilio soars over 70 pct in stock market debut

  23-06-2016 18:11
  
  Twilio shares soared more than 70 percent after the technology company's stock market debut Thursday.
  
  Read more

• How molecules can do statistics

  23-06-2016 18:10
  
  Mobile phones have become commonplace. Modern communication devices like mobile phones need to exchange huge amounts of information. However, what is hidden underneath the elegantly shaped plastic casings is quickly forgotten: Complex signal processors constantly fighting against noise and steadily adapting themselves to changing environment.
  
  Read more

• Researchers unveil new ATV virtual reality simulator

  23-06-2016 18:04
  
  A new virtual reality simulator will help University of Iowa researchers study how and why people lose control while driving all-terrain vehicles.
  
  Read more

• 'Smoke alarm' one of 36 genes newly found to play role in pain sensation

  23-06-2016 18:00
  
  Indiana University researchers have that found a suite of genes in both fruit flies and humans—including one dubbed "smoke alarm"—plays a role in nerve sensitivity. The study could help lead to new drug targets in pain management.
  
  Read more

• Smell tells intruder mice how to behave

  23-06-2016 18:00
  
  Male mice appear to be precisely wired to know when they are intruders in another male's territory, according to a study published June 23 in Cell Reports. The smell gives it away. But this study found that a genetically specific cluster of hypothalamic cells is wired to the olfactory system and responds only when a male mouse enters another male's cage.
  
  Read more

• Monkeys get more selective with age

  23-06-2016 18:00
  
  As people get older, they become choosier about how they spend their time and with whom they spend it. Now, researchers reporting in the Cell Press journal Current Biology on June 23 find, based on a series of experimental and behavioral studies, that similar changes take place in Barbary macaques. The findings offer an evolutionary perspective on why aging humans behave as they do, according to the researchers.
  
  Read more

• Fin24.com | Muthambi in bid to appeal Motsoeneng ruling

  23-06-2016 17:18
  
  Communications Minister Faith Muthambi has moved to appeal a High Court ruling that upheld that SABC COO Hlaudi Motsoeneng’s appointment was irrational.
  
  Read more

• Instagram to allow users to translate posts with button

  23-06-2016 17:14
  
  Instagram is aiming to increase interaction with users across the globe through a new translation button it plans to roll out in the next month.
  
  Read more

• Solar Plane Lands in Spain After Trans-Atlantic Voyage

  23-06-2016 16:41 via nbcnews.com
  
  An experimental solar-powered airplane landed in Spain Thursday, completing an unprecedented three-day flight across the Atlantic.
  
  Read more

• The complex material engineering of NASA's Webb Telescope sunshield

  23-06-2016 16:30
  
  The shiny silver material of the five-layer sunshield that will fly aboard NASA's James Webb Space Telescope is a complex and innovative feat of material science and engineering. Each layer is made from a unique composite material, each has a specific thickness and size, and they must be precisely separated in space. There are even special seams and reinforcements to limit meteorite damage.
  
  Read more

• Warning from the past: Future global warming could be even warmer

  23-06-2016 16:25
  
  Future global warming will not only depend on the amount of emissions from man-made greenhouse gasses, but will also depend on the sensitivity of the climate system and response to feedback mechanisms. By reconstructing past global warming and the carbon cycle on Earth 56 million years ago, researchers from the Niels Bohr Institute among others have used computer modelling to estimate the potential perspective for future global warming, which could be even warmer than previously thought. The res
  
  Read more

• Migratory bears down in the dumps

  23-06-2016 16:14
  
  University of Utah biologists working in Turkey discovered two surprising facts about a group of 16 brown bears: First, six of the bears seasonally migrated between feeding and breeding sites, the first known brown bears to do so. Second, and more sobering, the other 10 bears stayed in one spot all year long: the city dump.
  
  Read more

• Cockatoos make economic decisions about tool use depending on the current 'market' situation

  23-06-2016 16:10
  
  As animal tool use events are extremely rare, is often quickly rated as intelligent. Nevertheless, some types of tool use can be controlled by much simpler processes that are a part of the respective animal's inborn behavioural repertoire. Intelligent tool use requires the ability to flexibly adapt a behaviour to changing environmental situations. The Indonesian Goffin's cockatoo has even the rare capacity to use two different types of tools (sticks for probing and raking food into reach as well
  
  Read more

Follow @NewslockSciTech on Twitter!