Sci-Tech news

• Moral dilemma of self-driving cars: Which lives to save in a crash - CBS News

  24-06-2016 23:02 via cbsnews.com
  
  CBS News
  Moral dilemma of self-driving cars: Which lives to save in a crash
  CBS News
  Would you ride in a self-driving car that has been programmed to sacrifice its passengers to save the lives of others, in the event of a serious accident? New research has found that people generally approve of autonomous vehicles (AV) governed by ...
  Self-driving vehicles present dilemma for insurance companiesTribune-Review
  Drivers Prefer Autonomous Cars That Don't Kill ThemInformationWeek
  Where Technolo
  
  Read more

• Study on a novel fault diagnosis method of rolling bearing in motor

  24-06-2016 22:46
  
  It is important to diagnose the faults of rolling bearings, because they may lead to the failure of motors, and even entire system-wide problems and failures. In order to diagnose the early faults of bearings, a novel method for early diagnosis of rolling bearing faults based on resonance-based sparse signal decomposition and principal component analysis is proposed in the present paper.
  
  Read more

• Hairs, feathers and scales have a lot in common

  24-06-2016 22:29
  
  The potential evolutionary link between hairs in mammals, feathers in birds and scales in reptiles has been debated for decades. Today, researchers of the University of Geneva (UNIGE) and the SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Switzerland, demonstrate that all these skin appendages are homologous: they share a common ancestry. On the basis of new analyses of embryonic development, the Swiss biologists evidenced molecular and micro-anatomical signatures that are identical between hairs, feath
  
  Read more

• Beach replenishment helps protect against storm erosion during El Niño

  24-06-2016 22:27
  
  A team of researchers at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego compared sand levels on several San Diego beaches during the last seven winters. The El Niños of winter 2009-10 and 2015-16 were the two most erosive. Three San Diego County beaches that received imported sand in 2012 were about 10 meters (33 feet) wider, and one to two meters (three to six feet) higher in 2015-16 than in 2009-10, with the coarseness of the sand apparently aiding the eff
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Obama: Young People Need Right Tools to Start New Businesses

  24-06-2016 21:23
  
  More than half the global population is under age 30, President Barack Obama said Friday, and it is vital to make sure they have the right tools to start new businesses
  
  Read more

• Skeletons, coins found in dig of ancient Pompeii shop

  24-06-2016 21:00
  
  Italian and French archaeologists have discovered four skeletons and gold coins in the ruins of an ancient shop on the outskirts of Pompeii, officials said Friday.
  
  Read more

• Lottery firm says its 'most-prized' secrets have been taken

  24-06-2016 20:30
  
  A key executive of a company that works with more than 40 state lotteries in the U.S. orchestrated a "massive theft" of its most-prized secrets before he resigned to accept a position with a rival company, his former employer said in a federal lawsuit.
  
  Read more

• Scientists uncover route for finding out what makes individuals nice or nasty

  24-06-2016 20:23
  
  A University of Exeter scientist has helped develop an innovative mathematical model for exploring why some individuals evolve to be genetically programmed to be nice, while others stay nasty.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Insects were already using camouflage 100 million years ago

  24-06-2016 20:21
  
  Those who go to a masked ball consciously slip into a different role, in order to avoid being recognized so quickly. Insects were already doing something very similar in the Cretaceous: They cloaked themselves in pieces of plants, grains of sand, or the remains of their prey, in order, for example, to be invisible to predators. An international research team, with participation from the University of Bonn, has now investigated such "invisibility cloaks" encased in amber. The custom-tailored "cos
  
  Read more

• For nature, gravel-bed rivers most important feature in mountainous western North America

  24-06-2016 20:20
  
  Gravel-bed river floodplains are some of the most ecologically important habitats in North America, according to a new study by scientists from the U.S. and Canada. Their research shows how broad valleys coming out of glaciated mountains provide highly productive and important habitat for a large diversity of aquatic, avian and terrestrial species.
  
  Read more

• What did Earth's ancient magnetic field look like?

  24-06-2016 20:16
  
  New work from Carnegie's Peter Driscoll suggests Earth's ancient magnetic field was significantly different than the present day field, originating from several poles rather than the familiar two. It is published in Geophysical Research Letters.
  
  Read more

• Neonicotinoid pesticides cause harm to honeybees

  24-06-2016 20:16
  
  One possible cause of the alarming bee mortality we are witnessing is the use of the very active systemic insecticides called neonicotinoids. A previously unknown and harmful effect of neonicotinoids has been identified by researchers at the Mainz University Medical Center and Goethe University Frankfurt. They discovered that neonicotinoids in low and field-relevant concentrations reduce the concentration of acetylcholine in the royal jelly/larval food secreted by nurse bees. This signaling mole
  
  Read more

• Investors Fuming as Some Broker Sites Crash After Brexit

  24-06-2016 19:34 via nbcnews.com
  
  Social media users flooded TD Ameritrade's and Fidelity Investments' Twitter feeds with irate messages on Friday, as customers struggled to access their accounts.
  
  Read more

• 'Move to Gibraltar' Among British Google Searches After Vote

  24-06-2016 19:22
  The United Kingdom's historic vote to exit the European Union is dominating the conversation online as well as global headlines
  
  Read more

• Fin24.com | Naspers profit climbs on Tencent, e-commerce boost

  24-06-2016 18:47
  
  Chinese internet giant Tencent and e-commerce businesses have helped lift Naspers’ revenues by 6% to $12.2bn for the financial year ended March 31 2016.
  
  Read more

• Tiny algae ideal for sniffing out nutrient pollution in water

  24-06-2016 18:37
  
  The key to effectively measuring damagingly high levels of nutrients in freshwater streams lies in the microscopic organisms living in them, according to a group of Drexel University scientists.
  
  Read more

• New Horizons Reveals a ‘Super Grand Canyon’ on Charon

  24-06-2016 18:30 via scitechdaily.com
  
  Images from NASA’s New Horizons Spacecraft reveal an unusual canyon system that’s far longer and deeper than the Grand Canyon. The inset above magnifies a portion of the eastern limb in the global view of Charon at left, imaged by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft several hours before its closest approach on July 14, 2015. A […]
  The post New Horizons Reveals a ‘Super Grand Canyon’ on Charon appeared first on SciTech Daily.
  
  Read more

• Does eating bamboo make it harder for pandas to reproduce?

  24-06-2016 17:50
  
  Most people get upset stomachs from time to time. Usually, a few trips to the bathroom or antibiotics solve the problem. For pandas, it's an entirely different story. Our research into panda digestion shows that pandas get upset stomachs so frequently it may help explain why it's so hard for them to reproduce. Our work may, as a result, highlight a new way to boost pandas' breeding success in captivity.
  
  Read more

• NASA launches suborbital rocket carrying student experiments

  24-06-2016 17:37
  
  NASA says it has successfully launched a suborbital rocket carrying student experiments from its Wallops Flight Facility on Virginia's Eastern Shore.
  
  Read more

• Report: Lead levels higher in Flint kids after water switch

  24-06-2016 17:30
  
  Blood-lead levels in Flint children under the age of 6 were significantly higher after the city switched its water in 2014 in a cost-saving move, according to report released Friday by U.S. disease experts.
  
  Read more

• $1,000 device 3D-scans body fat

  24-06-2016 17:30 via rss.cnn.com
  
  Naked Labs makes a 3D body scanner for your home. Founder Farhad Farahbakhshian tells CNN's Samuel Burke that the company's device will tell you if your diet or workout is making a difference, before you'd see results on a scale.
  
  Read more

• Obama to encourage international entrepreneurs to think US

  24-06-2016 17:20
  
  President Barack Obama is encouraging aspiring entrepreneurs from more than 140 countries to connect their ideas with U.S. businesses.
  
  Read more

• New orchid species found in Philippine forest guerrilla zone

  24-06-2016 17:10
  
  Five new orchid species have been discovered in remote Philippine mountains, protected from poaching because of an insurgency in the region, conservationists said Friday.
  
  Read more

• Atlas rocket launches for 1st time since March grounding

  24-06-2016 17:10
  
  America's Atlas rockets are flying again, launching a communications satellite for the Navy.
  
  Read more

• Computer sketches set to make online shopping much easier

  24-06-2016 17:09
  
  A computer program that recognises sketches pioneered by scientists from Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) could help consumers shop more efficiently.
  
  Read more

• New study highlights hidden values of open ocean

  24-06-2016 17:00
  
  What is the value of the open ocean? While commercial fisheries may be one of the most obvious sources of economic value the ocean provides, they are not the only one.
  
  Read more

• Research signals start-up boost for laptop users

  24-06-2016 16:50
  
  A British tech start-up has invented a world-first multi-function antenna for laptops that fits into the extremely limited space of the hinge cavity.
  
  Read more

• Image: Hubble gazes at stars of the Large Magellanic Cloud

  24-06-2016 16:50
  
  This colorful and star-studded view of the Milky Way galaxy was captured when the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope pointed its cameras towards the constellation of Sagittarius (The Archer). Blue stars can be seen scattered across the frame, set against a distant backdrop of red-hued cosmic companions. This blue litter most likely formed at the same time from the same collapsing molecular cloud.
  
  Read more

• Germany shuts door to fracking

  24-06-2016 16:50
  
  German lawmakers Friday approved a law that essentially bans fracking, ending years of dispute over the controversial technology to release oil and gas locked deep underground.
  
  Read more

• Fin24.com | Icasa to probe SA pay-TV market

  24-06-2016 16:43
  
  The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa is launching a competition inquiry into the country’s television subscription market.
  
  Read more

• Time for NASA to double down on journey to Mars

  24-06-2016 16:40
  
  Since the Authorization Act of 2010, NASA has been pushing ahead with the goal of sending astronauts to Mars by the 2030s. The latter part of this goal has been the subject of much attention in recent years, and for good reason. Sending crewed missions to the Red Planet would be the single-greatest initiative undertaken since the Apollo era, and the rewards equally great.
  
  Read more

• The Dead Sea—depletion of a shared natural resource

  24-06-2016 16:40
  
  Travel to Jordan raised a lot of expectations, including that I would find a land somewhat familiar to my birthplace, Ashgabat, Turkmenistan—perhaps because of the Muslim majority of both places and the hot weather that shapes the climate of those countries.
  
  Read more

• Siberian larch forests are still linked to the ice age

  24-06-2016 16:40
  
  Bremerhaven/Germany, 24 June 2016. The Siberian permafrost regions include those areas of the Earth, which heat up very quickly in the course of climate change. Nevertheless, biologists are currently observing only a minimal response in forest composition. In the places where, when considering the air temperature, pine and spruce forests should be growing, Siberian larch trees are still thriving. The cause of this paradox has been tracked using million-year-old bee pollen by scientists at the Al
  
  Read more

• Russia adopts controversial counter-terrorism amendments

  24-06-2016 16:30
  
  The Russian parliament on Friday adopted a set of controversial counter-terrorism amendments which have sparked alarm among rights activists.
  
  Read more

• Can Boeing launch a crewed starliner by February 2018?

  24-06-2016 16:30
  
  Boeing thinks it can have its Starliner spacecraft ready to fly crewed missions by February, 2018. This is 4 months later than the previous date of October 2017. It isn't yet clear what this will mean in Boeing's race against SpaceX to relieve NASA's dependence on Russian transportation to the ISS.
  
  Read more

• California fire destroys 80 buildings, closes highways

  24-06-2016 16:30
  
  A fast-spreading fire in central California has destroyed at least 80 buildings and is threatening 1,500 more, prompting the evacuation of 10 neighborhoods, the authorities said Thursday night.
  
  Read more

• Breakthrough in lupin genetics secures legume's future

  24-06-2016 16:30
  
  Breaking the genetic bottleneck of the domesticated lupin plant could open up a world of possibilities for the legume in the global food industry.
  
  Read more

• Watch: Instagram Rolls Out New Channel

  24-06-2016 16:22
  
  Swiss college students invent electric car built for speed; New tech pet named Spot moves like a dog and can help with chores.
  
  Read more

• Scientists' breakthrough in modelling universe

  24-06-2016 16:20
  
  Research teams in Europe and the USA – including a cosmologist from the University of Portsmouth – have begun modelling the universe for the first time using Einstein's full general theory of relativity.
  
  Read more

• Image: Countries in the Mediterranean Sea captured by the Sentinel-3A satellite

  24-06-2016 16:20
  
  Various countries in the Mediterranean Sea were captured last 10 May by the Sentinel-3A satellite, in this false-colour image.
  
  Read more

• Coal to solar: Retraining the energy workforce

  24-06-2016 16:17
  
  As more coal-fired power plants are retired, industry workers are left without many options. There is a light at the end of the tunnel, though.
  
  Read more

• Study analyses situation of migrant workers

  24-06-2016 16:10
  
  Care work in German families is increasingly being taken over by female migrant workers. Their precarious situation is now analysed in an industrial and organisational sociology study from TU Darmstadt.
  
  Read more

• Researchers put manganese's role in coastal waters under the microscope

  24-06-2016 16:10
  
  The St. Lawrence Seaway extends more than 2,300 miles from the Atlantic Ocean to the top of the Great Lakes, connecting Canada and the United States.
  
  Read more

• Researchers devise new tool to measure polarization of light

  24-06-2016 16:10
  
  Researchers from North Carolina State University have developed a new tool for detecting and measuring the polarization of light based on a single spatial sampling of the light, rather than the multiple samples required by previous technologies. The new device makes use of the unique properties of organic polymers, rather than traditional silicon, for polarization detection and measurement.
  
  Read more

• Remote control actuation goes down to nanoscale

  24-06-2016 16:10
  
  Researchers of the Nanomagnetism Group and Electron Microscopy Group at CIC nanoGUNE devised and demonstrated a novel approach to nanoactuation that relies on magnetomechanics instead of the conventional electromechanics utilized in micro and nanoactuated mechanical systems. The work was reported in Small.
  
  Read more

• Plasmapour technology set to revolutionise the metal industry

  24-06-2016 16:10
  
  The "just in time" principle applied to temperature control promises gains in energy efficiency and product quality.
  
  Read more

• New evidence that forest fires do not threaten spotted owls

  24-06-2016 16:10
  
  New Research on the California spotted owl has found that severely burned forests that have not been post-fire salvage logged are used by the threatened raptor when foraging for their small mammal prey. Stand-replacing fires, also called crown fires or high-intensity fires, do not harm spotted owl foraging habitat.
  
  Read more

• Molecular scissors help evolutionary investigation

  24-06-2016 16:10
  
  Scientists at KIT (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology) detected an important mechanism in the evolution of plant genomes: Using Arabidopsis thaliana as a model organism, they studied the formation of tandem repeat DNA sequences and found out that these sequences form if both DNA strands are broken at a significant distance from each other. For their experiments, the scientists used CRISPR/Cas system, working like a "pair of molecular scissors." The results are presented in the PNAS journal. (DOI:
  
  Read more

• Researchers discover the key to optimizing information transfer

  24-06-2016 16:00
  
  EPFL researchers have come up with a way to optimize information transfer, solving a problem that has confounded researchers for 60 years. Their breakthrough could enhance the quality of our communications, from smartphones to satellite transmissions and data storage.
  
  Read more

• Possibility of new particle discovery at LHC fading

  24-06-2016 16:00
  
  The physics community is apparently starting to lose its buzz over the possibility of the discovery of a new particle by researchers working at the CERN LHC facility near Geneva. As more data is studied, it appears more and more likely that the blip that was seen last December was simply an anomaly in the data.
  
  Read more

Follow @NewslockSciTech on Twitter!