Sci-Tech news

• Alphabet's 2Q earns soar despite rising 'moonshot' losses

  28-07-2016 23:40
  
  Business is booming at Google's parent company, Alphabet Inc., even as it loses billions of dollars on kooky-sounding projects that may never produce any revenue.
  
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• Review: Universe2Go like Pokemon Go for astronomy geeks

  28-07-2016 23:26
  
  I've been interested in astronomy since I was a wee lad.
  
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• Hollywood starts to see a role for virtual reality

  28-07-2016 23:10
  
  On a recent weekday, Hollywood director Ivan Reitman was in the bowels of the Madame Tussauds wax museum here talking up an unlikely passion.
  
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• Russian Intelligence Hacked DNC Emails: U.S. Officials

  28-07-2016 23:05 via nbcnews.com
  
  Many officials also believe the Russians provided the emails to WikiLeaks, but there's no definitive proof.
  
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• Bay Area girls stream into summer coding camps

  28-07-2016 22:53
  
  It already feels like the dead of summer, but the girls over at Adobe's coding camp are making it snow.
  
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• Alphabet Tops Street 2Q Forecasts

  28-07-2016 22:51
  Alphabet posts 2Q profit, results top Wall Street forecasts
  
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• SpaceX will spend $300 million on Red Dragon Mars mission, NASA says

  28-07-2016 22:50
  
  SpaceX is likely spending about $300 million on its unmanned Red Dragon Mars mission, according to NASA estimates.
  
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• Alphabet/Google profit jumps 43% to $4.9 bn

  28-07-2016 22:43
  
  Google parent Alphabet said Thursday its second quarter profit jumped 43 percent from last year to $4.9 billion, in results that lifted shares of the internet giant.
  
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• Compromise nearly guaranteed when a woman is involved in decision-making pairs

  28-07-2016 22:40
  
  More isn't necessarily better when it comes to men making decisions together, especially if you want a middle-of-the-road compromise. That's according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research which finds that compromise always occurs among two decision makers when a woman is involved (female-female pairs or mixed gender pairs), but hardly ever when the pair of decision makers are men. The findings could be pertinent to marketers, managers, and consumers alike.
  
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• Amazon tops Street 2Q forecasts

  28-07-2016 22:32
  
  Amazon.com Inc. on Thursday reported second-quarter profit of $857 million.
  
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• Amazon quarterly profit jumps ninefold to $857 million

  28-07-2016 22:32
  
  Online giant Amazon said Thursday profit in the second quarter surged ninefold to $857 million, lifted by cloud services as the tech giant expanded its offerings.
  
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• Team helps African scientists to use remote sensing and climate data to predict poor harvests and prevent severe

  28-07-2016 22:29
  
  In 1984, drought conditions in Ethiopia led to the country's worst famine in 100 years. The picture was even more dire last year, but food aid from the international community staved off a full-blown crisis.
  
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• Big cats returned to California sanctuary threatened by fire (Update)

  28-07-2016 22:10
  
  About a dozen lions, tigers, cougars and other big cats came home to a sanctuary north of Los Angeles days after they were evacuated in the teeth of an advancing wildfire.
  
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• Facebook agrees to refunds on in-app purchases by minors

  28-07-2016 22:06
  
  Court documents show Facebook has agreed to allow users to request refunds of in-app purchases made by minors as part of a settlement of a class-action lawsuit.
  
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• Wild animals evacuated due to fire in LA, return home

  28-07-2016 22:05
  
  Kuba the tiger paces in his cage, pawing at the metal floor and growling. He's in a bad mood.
  
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• Scientists unveil fundamental properties of spin Seebeck effect

  28-07-2016 22:01
  
  Thermoelectric effects are a fundamental building block for the conception and development of new processes for information processing. They enable to re-use waste heat obtained in different processes for the operation of respective devices and thus contribute to the establishment of more energy-efficient, ecofriendly processes. A promising representative of this effect category is the so-called spin Seebeck effect, which became prominent within recent years. This effect allows to convert waste
  
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• Butterflies use differences in leaf shape to distinguish between plants

  28-07-2016 22:00
  
  The preference of Heliconius butterflies for certain leaf shapes is innate, but can be reversed through learning. These results support a decades-old theory for explaining the evolution of the exceptional diversity of leaf shapes in passionflowers.
  
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• Study finds reporting crimes to police reduces likelihood of future victimization

  28-07-2016 21:59
  
  As law enforcement agencies, community organizations, and public health officials work to develop effective crime-prevention strategies, new research from the University of Iowa finds that individuals who report being victims of crime to police are less likely to become future victims of crime than those who do not report their initial experiences.
  
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• First whale detected by newly deployed acoustic buoy in New York Bight

  28-07-2016 21:59
  
  A new acoustic buoy recently deployed by scientists from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and WCS's (Wildlife Conservation Society) New York Aquarium to listen for some of the world's biggest animals in the New York Bight has detected its first whale species, and it's a really big one.
  
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• Vortex laser offers hope for Moore's Law

  28-07-2016 21:58
  
  Like a whirlpool, a new light-based communication tool carries data in a swift, circular motion.
  
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• Production area does not affect phosphorus digestibility in soybean meal fed to pigs

  28-07-2016 21:56
  
  Research at the University of Illinois is helping to determine the effect of growing conditions on the nutritional value of soybean meal. "The digestibility of phosphorus is the same in soybean meal grown in various regions in the United States," says Hans Stein, professor of animal sciences at Illinois.
  
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• Chorus of black holes radiates X-rays

  28-07-2016 21:46
  
  Supermassive black holes do not give off any of their own light, hence the word "black" in their name. However, many black holes pull in, or accrete, surrounding material, and emit powerful bursts of X-rays. Collectively, these active black holes throughout the sky can be thought of a cosmic choir, singing in the language of X-rays. Their "song" is what astronomers call the cosmic X-ray background.
  
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• Big Cats Returned to California Sanctuary Threatened by Fire

  28-07-2016 21:43
  About a dozen lions, tigers, cougars and other big cats came home to a sanctuary north of Los Angeles days after they were evacuated in the teeth of an advancing wildfire
  
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• Earth's mantle appears to have a driving role in plate tectonics

  28-07-2016 21:40
  
  July 28, 2016—Deep down below us is a tug of war moving at less than the speed of growing fingernails. Keeping your balance is not a concern, but how the movement happens has been debated among geologists.
  
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• Team of biologists discovers cellular mechanism through which fruit flies sense food texture

  28-07-2016 21:39
  
  Some people love avocados. Others hate them. For many of the latter, the fruit's texture is the source of their intense dislike. What gives?
  
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• Evolution drives how fast plants could migrate with climate change

  28-07-2016 21:35
  
  New research from the University of British Columbia suggests evolution is a driving mechanism behind plant migration, and that scientists may be underestimating how quickly species can move.
  
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• New Process Could Keep Milk Fresh for 63 Days

  28-07-2016 21:26 via nbcnews.com
  
  Don't you hate it when you open milk you just bought and it's already bad? Now science has figured out how to make milk last two months.
  
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• Google Wants to Thwart Those Annoying Robocalls

  28-07-2016 21:09 via nbcnews.com
  
  The phone rings and an unfamiliar number comes up on the caller ID. Do you answer it?
  
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• Chinese Rocket Sends Streak of Light Across Western US Sky

  28-07-2016 20:43
  A Chinese rocket body streaking across the night sky over the Western United States lit up social media as people shared photos and video of the bright object
  
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• 'Pokémon GO's' Creator Answers All Your Burning Questions (Except That One About Finding Pokémon) - Forbes

  28-07-2016 20:32
  
  Forbes
  'Pokémon GO's' Creator Answers All Your Burning Questions (Except That One About Finding Pokémon)
  Forbes
  Read more on the inside story of the creation of Pokémon GO here. Last Thursday afternoon, I sat in the office of Niantic Labs with its CEO John Hanke across from me at a conference room table. He looked like he hadn't had a good night's sleep in a few ...
  Pokémon Go's paying user base has reached a plateauTechCrunch
  'Pokemon Go' May Block Apps That De
  
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• Breakthrough solar cell captures carbon dioxide and sunlight, produces burnable fuel

  28-07-2016 20:00
  
  Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago have engineered a potentially game-changing solar cell that cheaply and efficiently converts atmospheric carbon dioxide directly into usable hydrocarbon fuel, using only sunlight for energy.
  
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• A step closer to understanding the 'switch' that triggers flowering in plants

  28-07-2016 20:00
  
  Scientists at the John Innes Centre have taken another crucial step towards understanding how plants initiate flowering.
  
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• How comets are born

  28-07-2016 18:58
  
  Detailed analysis of data collected by Rosetta show that comets are the ancient leftovers of early Solar System formation, and not younger fragments resulting from subsequent collisions between other, larger bodies.
  
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• NASA finds Tropical Cyclone Frank fading

  28-07-2016 18:48
  
  Tropical Storm Frank weakened to a tropical storm on July 28, 2016 and satellite imagery shows that winds and thunderstorms have continued to weaken.
  
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• Latest El Nino weather pattern over, but storms could follow: UN

  28-07-2016 18:33
  
  The latest El Nino weather phenomenon, which was one of the most powerful on record, has ended but could be replaced by its stormy sister La Nina in the coming months, the UN meteorological agency said Thursday.
  
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• Samsung extends lead over Apple in smartphone market

  28-07-2016 18:32
  
  Samsung extended its lead in the global smartphone market over Apple in the second quarter, gaining from the launch of its updated flagship handsets, surveys showed Thursday.
  
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• Thomson Reuters sees higher profits, revenue slips

  28-07-2016 18:30
  
  Financial information giant Thomson Reuters on Thursday reported a jump in profit in the second quarter, while revenues declined in a "challenging" backdrop for its key financial sector clients.
  
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• Planting time, flurprimidol treatments recommended for Lachenalia

  28-07-2016 18:29
  
  In order to introduce new flowering plants to market, breeders and growers need proven strategies for producing healthy, compact plants during times of highest consumer demand. Determining optimal planting times to produce true-to-type, high-quality potted plants or cut flowers also translates to higher revenues for growers. A new study in June 2016 issue of HortTechnology offers recommendations about production practices for lachenalia, an ornamental plant that is gaining popularity among consu
  
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• Sustainable sensors to detect, predict muscle fatigue

  28-07-2016 18:28
  
  It may be clammy and inconvenient, but human sweat has at least one positive characteristic - it can give insight to what's happening inside your body. A new study published in the ECS Journal of Solid State Science and Technology aims to take advantage of sweat's trove of medical information through the development of a sustainable, wearable sensor to detect lactate levels in your perspiration.
  
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• Mulching plus remediation corrects contaminated lawns

  28-07-2016 18:28
  
  Petroleum-based spills on turfgrass can occur during lawn care and maintenance, primarily as a result of equipment failure or improper refueling. When these spills happen, hazardous hydrocarbons can contaminate soil and compromise the chemical balance of the grass and soil. The authors of a study in the June 2016 issue of HortTechnology found that application of mulching materials after soil remediation and reseeding was effective in reestablishing perennial ryegrass in 6 weeks after diesel and
  
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• New non-invasive imaging method for showing oxygen in tissue

  28-07-2016 18:25
  
  Learning how to look inside a body without having to cut it open is still an important part of medical research. One of the great challenges in imaging remains the visualization of oxygen in tissue. A team led by Prof. Vasilis Ntziachristos, Chair for Biological Imaging at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and Director of the Institute for Biological and Medical Imaging at the Helmholtz Zentrum München , has developed a new approach to this task.
  
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• Virtual rocks: A new spin on virtual geology

  28-07-2016 18:12
  
  Over the past decade, the number of virtual field trips created to simulate in-person field excursions has grown, but one aspect of physical fieldwork is not commonly replicated: Virtual explorers do not often return to their desks with collections of virtual rocks. Three-dimensional virtual samples can enhance just about any geoscience activity, from online college courses to remote research collaboration.
  
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• Cuttlefish do not bluff in battle

  28-07-2016 18:11
  
  Male cuttlefish do not bluff. When their body language shows they are agitated, they are. This was one of the findings from a study on the giant Australian cuttlefish in Springer's journal Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, led by Alexandra Schnell of Macquarie University in Australia.
  
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• PR officials should utilize Twitter, social media during crises to gauge public response

  28-07-2016 18:07
  
  Previous research on crisis communications strategies has examined how and why organizations develop specific stances toward their audiences or "publics" during crisis situations. However, little is known about how various audiences themselves develop attitudes toward organizations during such crises. Now, researchers from the University of Missouri School of Journalism have found that unorganized and semi-organized groups use Twitter to communicate and develop stances toward organizations who a
  
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• Plumbing the possibilities of a camera that 'sees around corners'

  28-07-2016 18:06
  
  The Morgridge Institute for Research and University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers are working to optimize a camera capable of a slick optical trick: Snapping pictures around corners.
  
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• Hiroshima Unhappy Atomic-Bomb Park Is Pokemon Site

  28-07-2016 18:06 via nbcnews.com
  
  'Pokemon Go' players are descending on an atomic bomb memorial park in Hiroshima, and officials of the western Japanese city are displeased.
  
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• With too little to eat, 'massive number' of reef sharks depend on delivery

  28-07-2016 18:00
  
  It stands to reason in a healthy environment that prey should always vastly outnumber the predators that eat them. But researchers reporting in the Cell Press journal Current Biology on July 28 have found that sometimes, even in the most untouched environments on the planet, that food pyramid can be turned upside down.
  
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• Two proteins safeguard skin stem cells

  28-07-2016 18:00
  
  Our skin renews, heals wounds, and regenerates the hair that covers it thanks to a small group of stem cells. These cells continually produce new ones, which appear on the skin surface after a few days. A study led by ICREA researcher Salvador Aznar Benitah and undertaken at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) has identified two proteins that are fundamental to conserve skin stem cells and has shown that without these proteins these cells are lost. The study, which has been
  
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• Songbirds' epic migrations connected to a small cluster of genes

  28-07-2016 18:00
  
  Scientists from the University of British Columbia have shown that there is a genetic basis to the migratory routes flown by songbirds, and have narrowed in on a relatively small cluster of genes that may govern the behaviour.
  
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• Physicist offers leading theory about mysterious Large Hadron Collider excess

  28-07-2016 18:00
  
  In December of last year, scientists at the Large Hadron Collider in Europe announced startling results hinting at the existence of an undiscovered subatomic particle—one with a mass six times heavier than the Higgs boson, the particle that made headlines in 2012.
  
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