Sci-Tech news

• Supernova ejected from the pages of history

  17-08-2016 23:16
  
  A new look at the debris from an exploded star in our galaxy has astronomers re-examining when the supernova actually happened. Recent observations of the supernova remnant called G11.2-0.3 with NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory have stripped away its connection to an event recorded by the Chinese in 386 CE.
  
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• NASA prepares to launch first U.S. asteroid sample return mission

  17-08-2016 23:13
  
  NASA is preparing to launch its first mission to return a sample of an asteroid to Earth. The mission will help scientists investigate how planets formed and how life began, as well as improve our understanding of asteroids that could impact Earth.
  
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• Study finds bias, disgust toward mixed-race couples

  17-08-2016 23:10
  
  Interracial marriage has grown in the United States over the past few decades, and polls show that most Americans are accepting of mixed-race relationships.
  
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• Greece opens ancient water clock in Athens to visitors

  17-08-2016 22:48
  
  Greek heritage authorities have opened up to the public, for the first time in decades, a landmark 2,000-year-old clock tower in a major Athens archaeological site.
  
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• Networking titan Cisco cuts 5,500 jobs as profit climbs

  17-08-2016 22:45
  
  Cisco on Wednesday announced plans to cut seven percent of its global workforce as it shifts its focus from networking hardware to software and services.
  
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• Giant helium-filled airship Airlander takes off for first time

  17-08-2016 22:45
  
  A blimp-shaped, helium-filled airship considered the world's largest aircraft flew for the first time Wednesday with a short but historic jaunt over an airfield in central England.
  
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• Cisco laying off 5,500 employees, or 7 percent of workforce

  17-08-2016 22:45
  
  Cisco Systems says it will lay off 5,500 employees as the internet gear maker scrambles to adapt to technology changes that have reduced demand for its main products.
  
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• Cisco laying off 5,500 employees amid tech upheaval

  17-08-2016 22:45
  
  Cisco Systems is laying off 5,500 employees as the internet gear maker scrambles to adapt to a technology upheaval that has triggered similar cutbacks to other storied tech companies.
  
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• Employers who promote ethics should reward workers who exhibit them, study suggests

  17-08-2016 22:41
  
  Tying company values such as honesty and respect into employee awards and job evaluations is being championed by public relations, marketing and human resources departments in some prominent companies, a Baylor University study has found.
  
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• Lab team spins ginger into nanoparticles to heal inflammatory bowel disease

  17-08-2016 22:39
  
  A recent study by researchers at the Atlanta Veterans Affairs Medical Center took them to a not-so-likely destination: local farmers markets. They went in search of fresh ginger root.
  
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• Interscatter enables first implanted devices, contact lenses, credit cards to 'talk' WiFi

  17-08-2016 22:36
  
  We might be one step closer to the vision of Internet-connected wireless implanted devices.
  
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• Sulfoxaflor found to be less harmful to insect predators than broad-spectrum insecticides

  17-08-2016 22:33
  
  A new study appearing in the Journal of Economic Entomology has found that the selective insecticide sulfoxaflor is just as effective at controlling soybean aphids (Aphis glycines) as broad-spectrum insecticides, without causing significant harm to some beneficial predators of the aphid.
  
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• NASA-funded balloon mission begins fourth campaign

  17-08-2016 22:30
  
  The BARREL team is at Esrange Space Center near Kiruna, Sweden, launching a series of six scientific payloads on miniature scientific balloons. The BARREL team launched the first balloon of this campaign - the fourth for BARREL - on Aug. 13, 2016. The NASA-funded BARREL - which stands for Balloon Array for Radiation-belt Relativistic Electron Losses - primarily measures X-rays in Earth's atmosphere near the North and South poles. These X-rays are produced by electrons raining down into the atmos
  
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• Lab-Created Black Hole Supports Theory They Can Shrink

  17-08-2016 21:35 via nbcnews.com
  
  A lab-created black hole has shown evidence that one of Stephen Hawking's most important predictions about the cosmic phenomena may hold true.
  
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• Pizza Hut built turntables into a pizza box - The Verge

  17-08-2016 20:45
  
  The Verge
  Pizza Hut built turntables into a pizza box
  The Verge
  Pizza Hut is following in the international pizza chain tradition of including tech-infused features along with its sub-par pies (don't @ me), but its newest product may be the best one yet. The company's UK division has built a working turntable into ...
  Put the needle on the … pizza? Pizza Hut introduces playable DJ boxDigital Trends
  Pizza Hut Delivers the Pizza Party With the First-Ever 'Playable DJ Pizza Box'TIME
  Want to
  
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• Intel explains how USB-C could be far better than the headphone jack - The Verge

  17-08-2016 20:14
  
  The Verge
  Intel explains how USB-C could be far better than the headphone jack
  The Verge
  The impending death of the 3.5mm audio port is one of the more contentious tech industry narratives this year. With Apple rumored to remove the jack with the iPhone 7 and devices like the Moto Z already having ditched the port altogether, consumers are ...
  Intel pushes USB-C as 3.5mm jack replacement, touts better sound, thinness & power managementAppleInsider (press release) (blog)
  Intel praises k
  
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• Two Barbados bird species enter the select club of string-pullers

  17-08-2016 20:00
  
  The Barbados bullfinch and Carib grackle can pass the popular animal cognition test of string-pulling, but this ability may be unrelated to performance on six other cognitive tests, according a study published August 17, 2016 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Jean-Nicolas Audet from McGill University, Canada, and colleagues.
  
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• Recent connection between North and South America reaffirmed

  17-08-2016 20:00
  
  Long ago, one great ocean flowed between North and South America. When the narrow Isthmus of Panama joined the continents about 3 million years ago, it also separated the Atlantic from the Pacific Ocean. If this took place millions of years earlier, as recently asserted by some, the implications for both land and sea life would be revolutionary. Aaron O'Dea, staff scientist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI), and colleagues writing in Science Advances firmly set the date at 2.
  
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• Pre-Hispanic Mexican civilization may have bred and managed rabbits and hares

  17-08-2016 20:00
  
  Humans living in the pre-Hispanic Mexican city of Teotihuacan may have bred rabbits and hares for food, fur and bone tools, according to a study published August 17, 2016 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Andrew Somerville from the University of California San Diego, US, and colleagues.
  
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• Watching a star explode after 'hibernating' - CNN

  17-08-2016 19:56
  
  CNN
  Watching a star explode after 'hibernating'
  CNN
  (CNN) Amidst the billions of stars in the Milky Way, astronomers have witnessed the evolution of one as it exploded in what's known as a classical nova after hibernating for years, according to a new study (PDF). It is the first time the transition of ...
  Star snapped before and after nova explosionBBC News
  Astronomers see the before and after of an exploding white dwarf starThe Verge
  A Zombie Star Just Went ThermonuclearGizmodo
  The Guardian&n
  
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• How do the blind watch the Olympics? NBC helps them hear it

  17-08-2016 19:39
  
  Two people in a recording booth deep inside a Connecticut office park are helping millions of blind Americans feel part of the Olympics like never before.
  
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• Pinterest rolls out video ads at online bulletin board

  17-08-2016 19:35
  
  Pinterest on Wednesday introduced video ads as it moved to cash in on a growing appetite for videos at the popular online bulletin board.
  
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• Nuclear puzzle may be clue to fifth force

  17-08-2016 19:35
  
  In a new paper, University of California, Riverside theoretical physicist Flip Tanedo and his collaborators have made new progress towards unravelling a mystery in the beryllium nucleus that may be evidence for a fifth force of nature.
  
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• People ignore software security warnings up to 90 percent of the time

  17-08-2016 19:32
  
  Software developers listen up: if you want people to pay attention to your security warnings on their computers or mobile devices, you need to make them pop up at better times.
  
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• Flowering meadows benefit humankind

  17-08-2016 19:31
  
  The more it swarms, crawls and flies the better it is for humans. This is the finding of a study published in Nature. More than 60 researchers from a number of universities were involved, including the Technical University of Munich, the Institute of Plant Sciences at the University of Bern and the Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre in Frankfurt. A diverse ecosystem populated by many species from all levels of the food chain provides higher levels of ecosystem services, the tea
  
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• AT&T hikes prices for some plans, but raises data caps (Update)

  17-08-2016 19:17
  
  AT&T is joining Verizon in raising the prices of some of its data plans.
  
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• AT&T hikes prices for some plans, but raises data caps

  17-08-2016 19:17
  
  AT&T is joining Verizon in raising the prices of some of its data plans.
  
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• Analysis: CEO denies Ford is lagging on self-driving cars - USA TODAY

  17-08-2016 19:16
  
  USA TODAY
  Analysis: CEO denies Ford is lagging on self-driving cars
  USA TODAY
  DETROIT -- Ford CEO Mark Fields wanted there to be no doubt that the automaker is absolutely not lagging competitors in the development of self-driving vehicles. In fact, Ford hinted it could be ahead of some competitors but — at least until now ...
  Ford's Upcoming Autonomous Car Likely To Be More Like Series Than Mass ProductionForbes
  Ford to offer self-driving cars without steering wheels by 2021Computerworld
  
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• US social media strategy can weaken ISIS influence on Twitter

  17-08-2016 19:11
  
  Opponents of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria are six times greater in number on Twitter than ISIS supporters, but those sympathetic to the group are more active on the social media platform, according to a new RAND Corporation study.
  
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• NASA sees sixth tropical cyclone form in Atlantic

  17-08-2016 19:10
  
  Tropical Depression 6 developed in the far eastern North Atlantic Ocean and NASA and NOAA satellites provided infrared and visible views at the storm.
  
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• Scientists uncover origin of high-temperature superconductivity in copper-oxide compound

  17-08-2016 19:00
  
  Since the 1986 discovery of high-temperature superconductivity in copper-oxide compounds called cuprates, scientists have been trying to understand how these materials can conduct electricity without resistance at temperatures hundreds of degrees above the ultra-chilled temperatures required by conventional superconductors. Finding the mechanism behind this exotic behavior may pave the way for engineering materials that become superconducting at room temperature. Such a capability could enable l
  
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• New techniques boost understanding of how fish fins became fingers

  17-08-2016 19:00
  
  One of the great transformations required for the descendants of fish to become creatures that could walk on land was the replacement of long, elegant fin rays by fingers and toes. In the Aug. 17, 2016 issue of Nature, scientists from the University of Chicago show that the same cells that make fin rays in fish play a central role in forming the fingers and toes of four-legged creatures.
  
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• Environmental datasets help researchers double the number of microbial phyla known to be infected by viruses

  17-08-2016 19:00
  
  The number of microbes in, on, and around the planet - on the order of a nonillion, or 1030 - is estimated to outnumber the stars in the Milky Way. Microbes are known to play crucial roles in regulating carbon fixation, as well as maintaining global cycles involving nitrogen, sulfur, and phosphorus and other nutrients, but the majority of them remain uncultured and unknown. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is targeting this "microbial dark matter" to better understand the planet's microbial d
  
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• AT&T is getting rid of annoying overages with its latest mobile plans - The Verge

  17-08-2016 19:00
  
  The Verge
  AT&T is getting rid of annoying overages with its latest mobile plans
  The Verge
  AT&T is finally phasing out overages fees on its mobile data plans. Today the company unveiled a revised lineup of monthly service plans — now called Mobile Share Advantage — that will launch on August 21st with prices starting at $30. AT&T is also ...
  AT&T boosts prices for data plans, and throws in more data to bootCNET
  AT&T Introduces Mobile Share Advantage(SM)PR Newswire
  
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• Top European lab probes fake human sacrifice video

  17-08-2016 18:56
  
  The European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) has launched an investigation into a video filmed at night on its Geneva campusdepicting a mock ritual human sacrifice, a spokeswoman said Wednesday.
  
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• Tesla isn't alone with cars that can nearly drive themselves

  17-08-2016 18:55
  
  With all the attention paid to Tesla Motors' Autopilot system, you'd think the company was the only one making cars that can almost drive themselves. But many automakers have rolled out cars that do what Teslas do.
  
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• NASA sees Tropical Storm Chanthu moving over northern Japan

  17-08-2016 18:54
  
  Tropical Storm Chanthu was bringing heavy rainfall and gusty winds to the big island of Japan when NASA's Aqua satellite passed overhead.
  
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• Google Searches Spike for Naming a Baby 'Simone'

  17-08-2016 18:53 via nbcnews.com
  
  Get ready for the next generation of Simones to enter the world sometime next summer.
  
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• Can cell phones make you feel less connected to your friends and family?

  17-08-2016 18:53
  
  In this digital age, with phones at our finger tips, you would think that access to constant communication would make us feel closer to one another. But a new study by researchers at Kent State University shows that may not be the case. In fact, cell phone use might actually lead to feeling less socially connected, depending on your gender or cell phone habits.
  
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• Annual wind report confirms tech advancements, improved performance, and low energy prices

  17-08-2016 18:51
  
  Wind energy pricing remains attractive to utility and commercial purchasers, according to an annual report released by the U.S. Department of Energy and prepared by the Electricity Markets & Policy Group at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab). Prices offered by newly built wind projects are averaging around 2¢/kWh, driven lower by technology advancements and cost reductions.
  
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• Isotope research opens new possibilities for cancer treatment

  17-08-2016 18:50
  
  A new study at Los Alamos National Laboratory and in collaboration with Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource greatly improves scientists' understanding of the element actinium. The insights could support innovation in creating new classes of anticancer drugs.
  
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• New report on Arctic species that will help guide future research and management decisions

  17-08-2016 18:32
  
  Little did Charles Dickens know when he penned "Barnaby Rudge" in 1840 that the name of his character Dolly Varden would spawn the moniker for a red-spotted trout. Following the book's publication, a "Dolly Varden"came to describe a dress of sheer muslin worn over a bright petticoat. Years later, when the distinctive spots of Salvelinus malma, a distant relative of salmon, brought to scientists' minds that familiar fabric pattern, a new name for the fish was born.
  
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• Long-term exposure to female scents changes courtship behavior in male mice

  17-08-2016 18:00
  
  Few things are as interesting to a male mouse as the scent of a female. Pheromones released by females draw the attention of male mice and trigger courtship and mating behavior.
  
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• Amateur drone operators soon could face high-tech barriers

  17-08-2016 18:00
  
  Something weird happened to Duncan Sinfield's drone shortly after he was told by a security guard to stop flying over a tech company's campus in the heart of Silicon Valley.
  
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• The beat and heat goes on: NOAA says July hottest on record

  17-08-2016 17:58
  
  More federal scientists have confirmed we just sweated through Earth's hottest month on record.
  
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• July was Earth's hottest month in modern times: NOAA

  17-08-2016 17:58
  
  Soaring temperatures worldwide made July the Earth's hottest month in modern times, setting a new high mark for global heat in 137 years of record-keeping, US government scientists said Wednesday.
  
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• Logging can decrease water infiltration into forest soils, study finds

  17-08-2016 17:55
  
  Soil water infiltration, or the ability of soil to absorb water and allow it to move through different soil layers, is an important environmental factor in forests, especially forests undergoing logging operations. This property can affect how quickly those forests can regenerate after being logged. Now, University of Missouri researchers have found that logging operations can negatively affect soil density and water infiltration within forests, particularly along makeshift logging roads and lan
  
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• UA engineers twist physics laws to boost sonic science

  17-08-2016 17:54
  
  For decades, advances in electronics and optics have driven progress in information technology, energy and biomedicine. Now researchers at the University of Arizona are pioneering a new field—phononics, the science of sound—with repercussions potentially just as profound.
  
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• FCC complaint: Baltimore police phone trackers disrupt calls

  17-08-2016 17:51
  
  Civil rights groups filed a federal complaint against the Baltimore Police Department's use of a portable technology that mimics cell towers to locate suspects and their cell phones.
  
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• Troy Wolverton: Virtual world meets virtual reality as Minecraft heads to Oculus Rift

  17-08-2016 17:50
  
  If you have an Oculus Rift, you can now use it to explore and build in the world of Minecraft.
  
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