Sci-Tech news

• Delta Outage Left a 'Hole in the Sky'

  09-08-2016 23:32 via nbcnews.com
  
  The enormous scope of Delta's system outage can be seen on flight radar as a busy day in the skies came to a virtual standstill.
  
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• Study pushes back the origin of HIV-related retroviruses to 60 million years ago

  09-08-2016 23:10
  
  Lentiviruses cause a variety of chronic diseases in mammals —- ranging from the most notorious example of HIV/AIDS in humans to various neurological disorders in primates——yet little is known of their evolutionary history and origin.
  
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• NASA's IMERG measures Hurricane Earl's deadly rainfall in Mexico

  09-08-2016 21:40
  
  Hurricane Earl began as a tropical wave that was tracked by the National Hurricane Center (NHC) from the African coast to the Caribbean Sea. The tropical wave drenched the Dominican Republic, where it was blamed for the deaths of six people. Southwest of Jamaica on Aug. 2, 2016, the tropical wave developed a closed circulation, and Earl was upgraded to a tropical storm.
  
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• NASA spots Tropical Storm Javier at southern tip of Baja California

  09-08-2016 21:30
  
  When Tropical Storm Javier was closest to the southern tip of Baja California, Mexico, NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite passed overhead from space and provided a look at the storm's extent. Today, Aug. 9, Javier has weakened to a depression.
  
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• NASA measures winds of Tropical Storm Omais

  09-08-2016 21:20
  
  NASA's RapidScat instrument provided measurements of sustained wind speeds as Tropical Storm Omais was moving past Japan.
  
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• Many more species at risk from Southeast Asia tree plantations, study finds

  09-08-2016 21:10
  
  As more of Southeast Asia's natural forests are cleared and converted into plantations for growing oil palm, rubber and other tree crops, a Duke University-led study finds that 42 percent of species endemic to the region's forests face a much higher risk of extinction from habitat loss than previously thought.
  
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• Portugal's Madeira Islands and mainland fires

  09-08-2016 21:01
  
  There are several large fires burning on Portugal's Madeira Island and mainland and NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite captured an image of the smoke generated from them.
  
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• Curiosity has disproved 'old idea of Mars as a simple basaltic planet'

  09-08-2016 20:33
  
  As NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) celebrates four years on the Red Planet Leicester planetary scientist Professor John Bridges recounts the mission's success and explains what is next for the one-ton nuclear-powered science robot.
  
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• Study highlights serious security threat to many internet users

  09-08-2016 20:30
  
  Researchers at the University of California, Riverside have identified a weakness in the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) of all Linux operating systems since late 2012 that enables attackers to hijack users' internet communications completely remotely.
  
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• University collects medical samples via drones in Madagascar

  09-08-2016 19:50
  
  A suburban New York university is using drone technology to improve the health care of people in remote parts of Madagascar.
  
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• WATCH: Pokemon GO Beats Candy Crush

  09-08-2016 19:44
  
  Pokemon Go generates 200 million of revenue in first month of launch.
  
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• Facebook sidesteps ad-blocking on desktop computers

  09-08-2016 19:40
  
  Facebook on Tuesday began letting marketing messages slip past ad-blocking software on desktop computers.
  
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• Many drought-resistant plants also draw pollinators

  09-08-2016 19:30
  
  Water-wise gardens don't have to resemble sterile moonscapes, devoid of anything but layers of rock and gravel. They can feature scores of attractive drought-resistant plants that invite bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, and other pollen- and nectar-gathering species to your yard.
  
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• GM begins autonomous car tests in Scottsdale, Arizona

  09-08-2016 19:30
  
  General Motors and its autonomous technology company Cruise Automation are testing self-driving cars on the streets of Scottsdale, Arizona.
  
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• Court deals blow to Berlin's Airbnb ban

  09-08-2016 19:23
  
  An attempt by Berlin to clamp down on properties being rented out as holiday homes on internet platforms like Airbnb suffered a setback on Tuesday as a court ruled in landlords' favour.
  
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• Team digs deep to answer water-safety questions

  09-08-2016 19:20
  
  Inside the 11 stainless steel cylinders lined up in David Freedman's lab at Clemson University are rock samples that were pulled from deep below the Earth's surface and could help shed light on one of the world's most widespread environmental challenges.
  
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• New technique leads to improved perovskite solar cells

  09-08-2016 19:10
  
  Scientists at the Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), in collaboration with researchers at Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU), devised a method to improve perovskite solar cells, making them more efficient and reliable with higher reproducibility.
  
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• General support for science doesn't always correlate with attitudes toward specific issues

  09-08-2016 19:10
  
  U.S. adults perform comparably to adults in other economically developed countries on most measures of science knowledge and support science in general, says a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. However, attitudes toward some specific issues, such as climate change or genetic engineering, may be shaped by factors such as values and beliefs rather than knowledge of the science alone. Despite popular assumptions, research shows that increasing science li
  
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• Talking back: Countering terrorist narratives may reduce recruitment

  09-08-2016 19:00
  
  Recruiters for violent extremist groups, just like screenwriters and marketers, use storytelling techniques to craft their messages. Analyzing those narratives and producing counter-narratives may be one way to cut the success of terrorist recruitment, according to researchers.
  
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• 3-D Galaxy-mapping project enters construction phase

  09-08-2016 19:00
  
  A 3-D sky-mapping project that will measure the light of millions of galaxies has received formal—approval from the U.S. Department of Energy to move forward with construction. Installation of the project, called DESI (Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument), is set to begin next year at the Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory near Tucson, Ariz., with observations starting up in January 2019.
  
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• Why are New England's wild blue mussels disappearing?

  09-08-2016 18:52
  
  The Gulf of Maine coastline, historically home to one of the richest shellfish populations in the U.S., is undergoing a dramatic change, with once-flourishing wild blue mussels all but disappearing, according to a study led by University of California, Irvine ecologists.
  
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• DNA dominos on a chip

  09-08-2016 18:51
  
  Normally, individual molecules of genetic material repel each other. However, when space is limited DNA molecules must be packed together more tightly. This case arises in sperm, cell nuclei and the protein shells of viruses. An international team of physicists has now succeeded in artificially recreating this so-called DNA condensation on a biochip.
  
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• Mimicking luxury goods

  09-08-2016 18:50
  
  The luxury goods market for the ultra rich encompasses jewelry, cars, clothes, tableware, ornaments and much more. If luxury hotels, travel and other services are included alongside retail sales, this sector amounted to $1 trillion dollars in 2015. As such, there is a vast grey market for goods that mimic the priciest brands but sell to people who are less well off. Ian Phau and Min Teah of Curtin Business School, at Curtin University in Perth, Western Australia, explain how, "brand familiarity
  
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• Slowly pulling proteins apart reveals unexpected path to stability

  09-08-2016 18:48
  
  Proteins are long strings of amino acids jumbled together like earphones left inside of a pocket for too long. But while a protein's mess of intertwined knots may look haphazard, their specific folds are extremely important to their biological functions. Misfolded proteins are thought to be the genesis of diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, Huntington's and cystic fibrosis, just to name a few.
  
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• Deer evolution: Ancient DNA reveals novel relationships

  09-08-2016 18:44
  
  Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet (LMU) in Munich researchers have sequenced mitochondrial DNA from museum specimens of rare species of deer. Analysis of partial nucleotide sequences has enabled the team to refine our picture of the evolutionary history of cervids.
  
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• 1967 solar storm nearly took US to brink of war

  09-08-2016 18:41
  
  A solar storm that jammed radar and radio communications at the height of the Cold War could have led to a disastrous military conflict if not for the U.S. Air Force's budding efforts to monitor the sun's activity, a new study finds.
  
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• Video: How to make fish less fishy

  09-08-2016 18:30
  
  Freshly caught fish is delicious. But with every passing day, the nice filet in your fridge smells a little fishier, thanks to a stinky molecule known as trimethylamine. Is there any hope? This week, Reactions helps make fish taste and smell less fishy with chemistry. Learn about the amino acids that give fresh fish its sweet and savory flavor, and get three chemistry-backed tricks to cut down the fishy taste and smell.
  
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• Researchers have developed a new class of artificial proteins

  09-08-2016 18:29
  
  In the journal, Nature Communications, a team of Danish researchers reports that they have developed a new class of artificial proteins. In the long term, the results could lead to better treatment of cancer and diabetes.
  
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• NASA spots Tropical Storm Conson facing wind shear

  09-08-2016 18:08
  
  Soon after Tropical Depression 08W strengthened into Tropical Storm Conson, NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite passed overhead from space and provided a look at the storm, revealing it was battling wind shear.
  
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• In D.C., Girls Get a Crash Course in Coding

  09-08-2016 17:59 via nbcnews.com
  
  Working alongside tech giants like AT&T and AOL Charitable Foundation, Girls Who Code just launched a summer immersion program in 11 cities.
  
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• Saving Troops' Lives Starts With This Cutting-Edge Dummy

  09-08-2016 17:08
  
  These mannequins are extremely lifelike.
  
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• Researchers immobilize underwater bubbles

  09-08-2016 17:00
  
  Controlling bubbles is a difficult process and one that many of us experienced in a simplistic form as young children wielding a bubble wand, trying to create bigger bubbles without popping them. A research team in CINaM-CNRS Aix-Marseille Université in France has turned child's play into serious business.
  
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• Latest study of Tabby's star offers more weirdness

  09-08-2016 17:00
  
  A pair of researchers has added more evidence regarding the oddity of KIC 8462852, aka Tabby's Star. Benjamin Montet with the California Institute of Technology and Joshua Simon with Observatories of the Carnegie Institution of Washington have uploaded a paper to the arXiv preprint server detailing their study of the star by analyzing data from the Kepler space observatory over the past four years. They found that the star has been decreasing in brightness at an unprecedented rate.
  
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• Man Uses Tesla Autopilot to Drive Himself to the E.R.

  09-08-2016 16:15 via nbcnews.com
  
  A Missouri man says his Tesla helped saved his life by driving him to the hospital during a life-threatening emergency.
  
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• Double whammy for important Baltic seaweed

  09-08-2016 16:08
  
  Wherever ecosystems rich in species develop on the rocky shores of the Baltic Sea, the bladder wrack Fucus vesiculosus has provided perfect groundwork. By colonizing pebbles and rocks, it creates habitats for many other species. Other algae grow on the seaweed to be grazed by snails, isopods and amphipods. Crustaceans, mussels and predatory fish as well as many smaller organisms that are important for the Baltic Sea ecosystem thrive in submarine Fucus forests. Fucus vesiculosus is one of the mai
  
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• Perseid meteors could see 'surge in activity' on Aug. 11-12

  09-08-2016 16:07
  
  Friday 12 August sees the annual maximum of the Perseid meteor shower. This year, as well as the normal peak on the night of 12/13 August, meteor scientists are predicting additional enhanced activity in the shower the night before, as the Earth passes through a dense clump of cometary debris.
  
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• Rising water temperatures and acidification affect important plankton organism

  09-08-2016 16:06
  
  Ocean acidification, rising temperatures, eutrophication and loss of oxygen: Life in the oceans has to cope with a variety of factors. How will plants and animals react when global climate change alters their environment? Laboratory and field experiments, observations at naturally extreme habitats and modelling approaches help researchers to evaluate the reactions of the ecosystem ocean.
  
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• Swarm of satellites to explore Earth's shield from International Space Station

  09-08-2016 16:01
  
  A flotilla of 50 small satellites - known as cubesats and weighing an average of two kilos each - will be launched from the International Space Station in the European-led as QB50 mission to explore the little-understood region above Earth known as the thermosphere.
  
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• Ocean sediment sample holds iron believed to be from a supernova

  09-08-2016 16:00
  
  A team of researchers from several institutions in Germany and Austria has found possible evidence of iron from a supernova in sediment cores taken from the floor of the Pacific Ocean. In their paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the team describes how they analyzed the core samples and why they believe they hold evidence of an ancient supernova.
  
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• Tiny Asian beetle wreaking havoc on North America's ash trees

  09-08-2016 15:50
  
  Over the next two years, grounds crews in St. Louis will cut down nearly one out of every five trees, altering the US city's leafy landscape for at least a generation.
  
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• Illuminating sulfides' roles in the body

  09-08-2016 15:40
  
  For the first time, researchers at Washington State University have created an injectable compound or "probe" that illuminates hydrogen sulfide and hydrogen polysulfides in different colors when they are present in cells.
  
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• Dubai eyes Hyperloop-style system

  09-08-2016 15:38 via rss.cnn.com
  
  Congested Dubai is looking to the future with a radical new mass transit system able to carry passengers at speeds faster than some airliners.
  
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• Researchers expect no major red tide outbreaks on Florida's west coast this year

  09-08-2016 15:30
  
  Research conducted by a team from the University of South Florida College of Marine Science and the Florida Fist and Wildlife Conversation Commission suggests conditions are such that no major red tide outbreaks should be expected along Florida's west coast this year. Their conclusions are based on elevated nutrient levels in the Gulf of Mexico that favor the emergence of organisms other than those related to red tide.
  
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• MIDA boronates react via two different mechanisms

  09-08-2016 15:30
  
  (Phys.org)—In natural product and pharmaceutical chemistry, one goal is to find a modular reaction to put together complex products, similar to how amino acids combine to form a peptide. Ideally, this modular reaction could couple key building blocks used for many of these processes. N-methylimidodiacetic acid boronic esters, or MIDA boronates, have become the platform of choice for many automated platform small-molecule coupling reactions.
  
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• Boeing starts assembly of first flightworthy Starliner crew taxi vehicle at Kennedy Spaceport

  09-08-2016 15:20
  
  The next generation of America's human spaceships is rapidly taking shape and "making fantastic progress" at the Kennedy Space Center as Boeing and NASA showcased the start of assembly of the first flightworthy version of the aerospace giants Starliner crew taxi vehicle to the media last week. Starliner will ferry NASA astronauts to and from the International Space Station (ISS) by early 2018.
  
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• Development of standard gas barrier films to evaluate ultrahigh gas barrier properties

  09-08-2016 15:10
  
  Hajime Yoshida (Senior Researcher), the Pressure and Vacuum Standards Group, the Research Institute for Engineering Measurement (Director: Toshiyuki Takatsuji), the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST; President: Ryoji Chubachi), and Takeo Ebina (Prime Senior Researcher), the Research Institute for Chemical Process Technology (Director: Satoshi Hamakawa), AIST, have developed standard gas barrier films (SGB films) with a water vapor transmission rate of 10-6 g
  
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• Researchers uncover new insights on Great Lakes monuments

  09-08-2016 15:05
  
  Merging an innovative modeling technique with old-fashioned sleuthing, researchers from the University of New Hampshire have shed new light on the mystery of pre-European archaeological monument sites in Michigan, even though 80 percent of the sites they're studying no longer exist. The study, published recently in the journal PNAS, provides an important new geospatial approach for archaeologists and other cultural heritage professionals who have grappled with the fact that many significant anci
  
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• Positive teacher-student relationships boost good behaviour in teenagers for up to four years

  09-08-2016 15:00
  
  The first study to look at the impact of the relationship with teachers on adolescent behaviour finds that a positive teacher-student relationship can be as effective as anti-bullying programmes at improving wellbeing in young people.
  
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• New findings and research methods leading to elucidation of fertilization mechanism

  09-08-2016 15:00
  
  A Japanese research group has determined the crystal structure of the JUNO protein, an egg surface protein essential for fertilization. These structure-based mutational analyses elucidated a mechanism of the interaction between egg (JUNO protein) and sperm (IZUMO1) on a molecular level. These studies will provide a framework toward an understanding of the fertilization mechanism.
  
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• Fin24.com | Virtual reality roller coaster comes to US theme park

  09-08-2016 14:51
  
  New Jersey's Six Flags Great Adventure theme park plans to open what it says will be the world's first interactive gaming coaster adventure
  
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