Sci-Tech news

• Researchers improve performance of cathode material by controlling oxygen activity

  06-07-2016 23:02
  
  An international team of researchers has demonstrated a new way to increase the robustness and energy storage capability of a particular class of "lithium-rich" cathode materials—by using a carbon dioxide-based gas mixture to create oxygen vacancies at the material's surface. Researchers said the treatment improved the energy density—the amount of energy stored per unit mass—of the cathode material by up to 30 to 40 percent.
  
  Read more

• NASA selects Global Aerospace Corporation and Northrop Grumman for Titan Atmospheric Rover

  06-07-2016 22:59
  
  Global Aerospace Corporation (GAC) announced today that, in collaboration with Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems, it will be developing a new exploration vehicle for Saturn's moon, Titan. Under a 2016 Phase I NASA Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract, the GAC-NGAS team will develop the Titan Winged Aerobot (TWA) concept and produce a proof-of-concept prototype for Earth-based testing. TWA, inspired by Northrop Grumman's Titan Lifting-Entry Atmospheric Flight (T-LEAF) platform, inc
  
  Read more

• Half a Million 'Hoverboards' Recalled Due to Fire Risk

  06-07-2016 22:30 via nbcnews.com
  
  More than 500,000 self-balancing scooters are being recalled due to fire hazards related to the products' lithium ion batteries, said the CPSC.
  
  Read more

• 2016 will be one second longer

  06-07-2016 21:56
  
  On December 31, 2016, a "leap second" will be added to the world's clocks at 23 hours, 59 minutes 59 seconds Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). This corresponds to 6:59:59 pm Eastern Standard Time, when the extra second will be inserted at the U.S. Naval Observatory's Master Clock Facility in Washington, DC.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• New study calls for old methods of coastal management

  06-07-2016 21:50
  
  Almost 90 years ago, the Mississippi River showed the world its power for destruction with the Great Flood of 1927. Now the river's power is once again on display, this time as a stabilizing force to maintain Louisiana's disappearing coastline.
  
  Read more

• Wal-Mart now lets you pay with phone at all 4,600 US stores

  06-07-2016 21:36
  
  Wal-Mart will now let you pay with your phone at all 4,600 stores nationwide.
  
  Read more

• Astronomers find evidence of water clouds in first spectrum of coldest brown dwarf

  06-07-2016 21:31
  
  Since its detection in 2014, the brown dwarf known as WISE 0855 has fascinated astronomers. Only 7.2 light-years from Earth, it is the coldest known object outside of our solar system and is just barely visible at infrared wavelengths with the largest ground-based telescopes.
  
  Read more

• Pelleting and extrusion increase digestible and metabolizable energy in diets for pigs

  06-07-2016 21:27
  
  Scientists at the University of Illinois using co-products from the ethanol and human food industries are helping shed light on ways processing high-fiber animal feed ingredients can enhance pigs' utilization of the nutrients and energy they contain. The co-products from these industries typically contain more fiber than the standard corn-soybean meal diet.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Vanishing message app Snapchat lets Memories linger (Update)

  06-07-2016 21:08
  
  Vanishing message app Snapchat on Wednesday began giving users the option of storing images as "Memories" they can look back on or share anew.
  
  Read more

• Snapchat introduces new way to save old snaps

  06-07-2016 21:08
  
  Snapchat's commitment to the ephemeral message was ... ephemeral. The popular visual messaging service is giving users a new way to save old "snaps" they shared with friends.
  
  Read more

• A sharper focus for plasmonic lasers

  06-07-2016 21:07
  
  Lasers have become indispensable to modern life since they were invented more than fifty years ago. The ability to generate and amplify light waves into a coherent, monochromatic and well-focused beam has yielded applications too numerous to count: laser scanners, laser printers, laser surgery, laser-based data storage, ultrafast data communications via laser light, and the list goes on.
  
  Read more

• NASA gets an eyeful of Hurricane Blas

  06-07-2016 21:04
  
  Satellites eyeing powerful Hurricane Blas in the Eastern Pacific Ocean revealed a large eye as the powerful storm continued to move over open waters.
  
  Read more

• California City's Curb Fix Disappoints Earthquake Scientists

  06-07-2016 21:02
  A faulty curb that perfectly illustrated the seismic forces at work underneath a San Francisco Bay Area neighborhood has been fixed, stunning scientists, who say a curbside laboratory for studying earthquakes was destroyed
  
  Read more

• Snapchat lets users re-share old snaps

  06-07-2016 20:55 via rss.cnn.com
  
  Snapchat is making a dramatic change to its app that makes it feel more like conventional messaging services.
  
  Read more

• Verizon Hikes Prices, but New Options Could Save You Money

  06-07-2016 20:52
  Verizon is hiking prices on its cellphone plans, though the new rates come with more data and other changes that might actually save you money
  
  Read more

• Bangladesh coal plant threatens World Heritage mangrove: petition

  06-07-2016 20:44
  
  The world's largest mangrove forest, a World Heritage Site, should be listed as endangered due to a coal-fired power plant under construction in Bangladesh, urged a petition signed by 50,000 people and submitted to the UN Wednesday.
  
  Read more

• New study upends a theory of how Earth's mantle flows

  06-07-2016 20:26
  
  A new study carried out on the floor of Pacific Ocean provides the most detailed view yet of how the earth's mantle flows beneath the ocean's tectonic plates. The findings, published in the journal Nature, appear to upend a common belief that the strongest deformation in the mantle is controlled by large-scale movement of the plates. Instead, the highest resolution imaging yet reveals smaller-scale processes at work that have more powerful effects.
  
  Read more

• Ancient Brazilians occupied the same homes for centuries

  06-07-2016 20:26
  
  Ancient inhabitants of the southern Brazilian highlands were no strangers to the types of home improvements we enjoy today, academics from the University of Exeter have found.
  
  Read more

• Archaeology suggests no direct link between climate change and early human innovation

  06-07-2016 20:25
  
  Environmental records obtained from archaeological sites suggest climate may not have been directly linked to cultural and technological innovations of Middle Stone Age humans in southern Africa, according to a study published July 6, 2016 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Patrick Roberts from the University of Oxford, UK, and colleagues.
  
  Read more

• RIP BlackBerry Classic: Company Will Stop Making Iconic Smartphone

  06-07-2016 20:22
  
  "We are ready for this change," said the company's COO.
  
  Read more

• Up to 50 pilot whales killed in Faroes: activists

  06-07-2016 20:15
  
  A militant conservation group claimed Wednesday that up to 50 pilot whales have been killed in the first traditional whale hunt of the year in the Faroe Islands, but authorities there defended the practice and slammed the activists.
  
  Read more

• More than 500,000 hoverboards recalled after fires, burns

  06-07-2016 20:15
  
  More than 500,000 hoverboards are being recalled after some of the motorized scooters overheated, burned riders and damaged property.
  
  Read more

• Verizon hikes prices, though new options could save money

  06-07-2016 20:13
  
  Verizon is hiking prices on its cellphone plans, though the new rates come with changes that might save you money.
  
  Read more

• Verizon hikes prices, but new options could save you money (Update)

  06-07-2016 20:13
  
  Verizon is hiking prices on its cellphone plans, though the new rates come with changes that might actually save you money.
  
  Read more

• Agroforestry helps farmers branch out

  06-07-2016 20:11
  
  Imagine an agriculture field. Most are planted with row upon row of tidy cash crops. Now imagine that same field with rows of trees between the rows of crops. This forested field concept is called alley cropping. Alley cropping helps farmers diversify by growing long-term tree crops alongside short-term cash crops like wheat.
  
  Read more

• Rapidly intensifying typhoon examined by NASA's GPM, RapidScat

  06-07-2016 20:10
  
  NASA looked at winds and rainfall within the first typhoon of the Northwestern Pacific 2016 hurricane season called Nepartak as it continued to intensify. On July 6, Nepartak strengthened into a super typhoon.
  
  Read more

• Mysterious death of software pioneer explained

  06-07-2016 20:10 via rss.cnn.com
  
  Ian Murdock, the Linux programmer who died under mysterious circumstances after claiming he was beaten by police, hanged himself.
  
  Read more

• Lessons of lager: Yeast origin becomes a complex tale

  06-07-2016 20:00
  
  Without question, the domesticated hybrid yeast that gives us lager beer is an organism worth many billions of dollars.
  
  Read more

• New Study Improves Our Understanding of Intercellular Communication

  06-07-2016 19:39 via scitechdaily.com
  
  New research reveals how cells can pack and release active ephrins and Eph receptors through extracellular vesicles, improving our understanding of intercellular communication and paving the way for new therapeutic strategies. Eph receptors and their partner proteins, the ephrins, are vital for intercellular communication. In the developing brain, they guide young neurons to the right […]
  The post New Study Improves Our Understanding of Intercellular Communication appeared first on SciTec
  
  Read more

• Astronomers Discover Evidence of a ‘Direct-Collapse Black Hole’

  06-07-2016 19:23 via scitechdaily.com
  
  A newly published study details evidence for a direct collapse black hole in the Lyman α source CR7. Astronomers Aaron Smith and Volker Bromm of The University of Texas at Austin, working with Avi Loeb of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, have discovered evidence for an unusual kind of black hole born extremely early in […]
  The post Astronomers Discover Evidence of a ‘Direct-Collapse Black Hole’ appeared first on SciTech Daily.
  
  Read more

• Verizon overhauls its data plans

  06-07-2016 19:01 via rss.cnn.com
  
  Verizon wants to give customers more control over their monthly data plans, but that control will come at a price.
  
  Read more

• Flipping crystals improves solar-cell performance

  06-07-2016 19:00
  
  In a step that could bring perovskite crystals closer to use in the burgeoning solar power industry, researchers from Los Alamos National Laboratory, Northwestern University and Rice University have tweaked their crystal production method and developed a new type of two-dimensional layered perovskite with outstanding stability and more than triple the material's previous power conversion efficiency.
  
  Read more

• Anatomy of a decision—mapping early development

  06-07-2016 19:00
  
  In the first genome-scale experiment of its kind, researchers have gained new insights into how a mouse embryo first begins to transform from a ball of unfocussed cells into a small, structured entity. Published in Nature, the single-cell genomics study was led by the European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) and the Wellcome Trust-MRC Cambridge Stem Cell Institute.
  
  Read more

• A new look at the galaxy-shaping power of black holes

  06-07-2016 19:00
  
  Data from a now-defunct X-ray satellite is providing new insights into the complex tug-of-war between galaxies, the hot plasma that surrounds them, and the giant black holes that lurk in their centres.
  
  Read more

• A new kind of black hole, once a theory, now firmly within observers' sight

  06-07-2016 18:34
  
  Astronomers Aaron Smith and Volker Bromm of The University of Texas at Austin, working with Avi Loeb of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, have discovered evidence for an unusual kind of black hole born extremely early in the universe. They showed that a recently discovered unusual source of intense radiation is likely powered by a "direct-collapse black hole," a type of object predicted by theorists more than a decade ago.
  
  Read more

• Amdocs founder named chairman of biometrics start-up

  06-07-2016 18:30
  
  A founder of Israeli software company Amdocs has been named chairman of the board of Israeli startup FST Biometrics.
  
  Read more

• Your smartwatch is giving away your ATM PIN

  06-07-2016 18:29
  
  Wearable devices can give away your passwords, according to new research.
  
  Read more

• People with student loan debt oppose Obama's tuition-free college plan, study finds

  06-07-2016 18:19
  
  A recent analysis of online conversations about President Obama's proposed plan for tuition-free community colleges, America's College Promise, indicates that a significant number of people oppose the plan because it lacks measures to help them and the millions of other borrowers currently mired in student loan debt.
  
  Read more

• Local consumption, global consequences: Examining impacts of an interconnected world

  06-07-2016 18:16
  
  Everything, from the food we eat to the clothes we wear to cars we drive, has global implications, requiring resources from distant places and generating pollution far from our homes. But while these impacts have been known for a long time, our understanding of the complex ripple effect throughout the global economy and on natural and social systems remains rudimentary.
  
  Read more

• Researchers and farmers collaborate to prevent E. coli

  06-07-2016 18:09
  
  A collaborative Michigan State University study involving microbiologists, epidemiologists, animal scientists, veterinarians, graduate students, undergraduates and farmers could lead to better prevention practices to limit dangerous E. coli bacteria transmissions.
  
  Read more

• Old specimens establish a new bamboo worm genus and species

  06-07-2016 18:02
  
  Bamboo worms (family Maldanidae) comprise an easily recognizable family of bristle worms (class Polychaeta). Their common name they receive because of their elongated segments, ending with an appendage, which gives them the joint appearance of slender bamboo-shoots. These often fragile marine inhabitants can be found in mud-walled tubes in shelf sediments.
  
  Read more

• Experts listen in on noisy Falmouth seas

  06-07-2016 18:00
  
  A long-term plan for managing noise in shallow parts of the ocean such as Falmouth Bay is needed to protect the environment, scientists have said.
  
  Read more

• Evolution may have moved at a furious pace on a much warmer Earth

  06-07-2016 17:59
  
  Early life forms on Earth are likely to have mutated and evolved at much higher rates than they do today, suggests a new analysis from researchers at the University of North Carolina.
  
  Read more

• Biodiversity data import from historical literature assessed in an EMODnet Workshop Report

  06-07-2016 17:58
  
  While biodiversity loss is an undisputable issue concerning everyone on a global scale, data about species distribution and numbers through the centuries is crucial for adopting adequate and timely measures.
  
  Read more

• Finding the Right Time to Upgrade Your iPhone

  06-07-2016 17:57
  
  When it comes to smartphones, the two-year upgrade cycle is a relic on the past.
  
  Read more

• ESA releases position statements on managing insect resistance to pesticides and GMOs

  06-07-2016 17:57
  
  Insects that damage crops and transmit diseases can have a devastating impact on food security and human health. Insecticides are a critical tool for mitigating insect pests, as are crops that have been genetically modified to be resistant to certain insects. However, continuous exposure to insecticides with the same mode of action can lead to reduced effectiveness if the insect population develops resistance. Likewise, insects can become resistant to genetically modified crops if resistance man
  
  Read more

• Public urinal generates electricity from urine

  06-07-2016 17:53
  
  Pee can be transformed into electricity with the help of bacterial metabolism, thanks to a device created by researchers at the University of the West of England, where Spanish researchers are working. A test cubicle was installed at Glastonbury festival, but the final aim is to improve sanitation facilities in Developing World countries or in areas where there is limited electricity generation, such as refugee camps.
  
  Read more

• Bees' ability to forage decreases as air pollution increases

  06-07-2016 17:38
  
  Air pollutants interact with and break down plant-emitted scent molecules, which insect pollinators use to locate needed food, according to a team of researchers led by Penn State.The pollution-modified plant odors can confuse bees and, as a result, bees' foraging time increases and pollination efficiency decreases. This happens because the chemical interactions decrease both the scent molecules' life spans and the distances they travel.
  
  Read more

• Fin24.com | Zim taps SIM cards in WhatsApp clampdown

  06-07-2016 17:33
  
  Zimbabwe’s telecoms regulator has threatened to disconnect mobile subscribers it says are spreading information via WhatsApp about the protests that have rocked the country.
  
  Read more

• Escalade adds communications and safety features for 2016

  06-07-2016 17:32
  
  Cadillac has added new communications and safety equipment to the outsized Escalade for 2016, making it the first version to integrate Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, allowing drivers easy access to their cellphone contacts, music and apps.
  
  Read more

Follow @NewslockSciTech on Twitter!