Sci-Tech news

• Self-Driving Cars Go Public; Uber Offers Rides in Pittsburgh

  18-08-2016 23:46
  
  The option to hail a ride in a self-driving car will soon be available to Uber users in Pittsburgh
  
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• Twitter to Let All Users Filter Tweets for Higher 'Quality'

  18-08-2016 23:44
  Twitter to let all users filter tweets for higher 'quality,' hiding content that appears automated or spammy or contain abuse and threats
  
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• Gawker.com to shut down next week

  18-08-2016 23:38 via rss.cnn.com
  
  Gawker.com, the flagship site of Gawker Media that typified the company's candid and unapologetic brand of journalism, will be shuttered next week.
  
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• McDonald's Pulls Fitness Tracker Toy on Skin Rash Reports

  18-08-2016 23:12 via nbcnews.com
  
  McDonald's is pulling its "Step It" fitness trackers from Happy Meals after reports the wearable may cause some children skin irritation.
  
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• Pacific sea level predicts global temperature changes

  18-08-2016 23:09
  
  The amount of sea level rise in the Pacific Ocean can be used to estimate future global surface temperatures, according to a new report led by University of Arizona geoscientists.
  
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• Turning textbook highlighting into time well-spent

  18-08-2016 22:32
  
  College students love highlighting textbook passages while they study, and a team of researchers in three states will apply the latest techniques from machine learning and cognitive science to help turn that habit into time well-spent.
  
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• NASA 'Mars Day' Puts Spotlight on How We'll Get There

  18-08-2016 22:15 via nbcnews.com
  
  Getting humans to Mars, one of Earth's nearest planetary neighbors, has been an endless source of fascination for NASA.
  
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• Best Buy kicks off 50th birthday with 50 deals for 50 hours - CNET

  18-08-2016 21:40
  
  CNET
  Best Buy kicks off 50th birthday with 50 deals for 50 hours
  CNET
  To celebrate its 50th anniversary, Best Buy will offer 50 deals for 50 hours. Best Buy. Best Buy is hitting the big 5-0 on August 22 and the electronics retailer is celebrating with major discounts on 50 products for 50 hours. In-store and online ...
  Best Buy kicks off 50 hour sale, but are the deals worth it?SlashGear
  Best Buy Celebrating 50 Years With 50 Hours of DealsPC Magazine
  Best Buy Turns 50, But Will It Turn 60?Motle
  
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• New study shows logging, not fire, is degrading our national forests

  18-08-2016 21:20
  
  Monica Bond has spent the past 15 years studying spotted owls and forest fire. This week, Bond published an article summarizing existing science about what happens to spotted owls when forests burn, in the hope of averting a major US forest management policy disaster.
  
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• Self-driving car race sees flurry of partnerships

  18-08-2016 21:07
  
  Uber announced Thursday that it will partner with Volvo to make autonomous vehicles. The tie-up is the latest between automakers and tech companies hoping to speed driverless cars to market. Here's a rundown of who's working with whom:
  
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• Rare Tyrannosaurus rex skull arrives at Seattle museum

  18-08-2016 21:07
  
  Paleontologists with Seattle's Burke Museum have unearthed the bones of a Tyrannosaurus rex that lived more than 66 million years ago.
  
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• Paleontologists discover major T. rex fossil (Update)

  18-08-2016 21:07
  
  Paleontologists with the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture and the University of Washington have discovered a Tyrannosaurus rex, including a very complete skull. The find, which paleontologists estimate to be about 20 percent of the animal, includes vertebrae, ribs, hips and lower jaw bones.
  
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• Video: The science of spotting fake foods

  18-08-2016 21:06
  
  There's not much that can top a big bowl of spaghetti and meatballs—except, of course, for what belongs on top: parmesan cheese. But, it turns out, what we're eating might not be parmesan at all—the Food and Drug Administration recently found that several sellers in the U.S. were filling their batches with lower-cost cheeses or even cellulose, also known as wood pulp.
  
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• NASA sees Tropical Depression 10W form near Guam

  18-08-2016 21:05
  
  NASA's Terra satellite captured an infrared image of the developing Tropical Storm 10W in the Northwestern Pacific Ocean near Guam.
  
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• A rare iodine polymer discovery is key to starch-iodine mystery

  18-08-2016 21:04
  
  In the pursuit of a new class of photovoltaic materials, researchers at UC Santa Barbara happened upon an entirely different discovery that addresses a centuries-old mystery of chemistry: Why does an iodine solution turn blue-black when starch is added to the mix?
  
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• Lava meets the sea, puts on fire-spitting show in Hawaii

  18-08-2016 21:01
  
  For the first time in three years, lava from a volcano on Hawaii's Big Island has crept down miles of mountainside and is dripping into the Pacific Ocean, where it's creating new land and putting on a crackling, hissing, fire-spitting show.
  
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• Biologists remove dead conjoined twin from endangered turtle

  18-08-2016 21:01
  
  Marine biologists in southern Italy have separated conjoined twin loggerhead turtles and released the surviving newborn into the Mediterranean Sea.
  
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• A new way to display the 3-D structure of molecules

  18-08-2016 21:00
  
  Researchers at the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and UC Berkeley have created a sort of nanoscale display case that enables new atomic-scale views of hard-to-study chemical and biological samples.
  
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• Are urban black males shortchanged in classroom?

  18-08-2016 20:56
  
  Giving special treatment to young urban black males in the high school classroom runs the risk of shortchanging these students academically once they get to college, indicates a new study by a Michigan State University education scholar.
  
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• Brazil's environmental licensing under threat

  18-08-2016 20:54
  
  In a paper published in Science this week, Philip M. Fearnside of Brazil's National Institute for Research in Amazonia (INPA) explains how the country's environmental licensing is under threat from a flurry of proposed laws and constitutional amendments.
  
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• Tool or weapon? New research throws light on stone artifacts' use as ancient projectiles

  18-08-2016 20:52
  
  A team of psychologists, kinesiologists and archaeologists at Indiana University and elsewhere are throwing new light on a longstanding archaeological mystery: the purpose of a large number of spherical stone artifacts found at a major archaeological site in South Africa.
  
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• NASA sees Tropical Storm 12W over the open Northwestern Pacific Ocean

  18-08-2016 20:51
  
  Tropical Storm 12W formed over the open waters of the Northwestern Pacific Ocean, far southeast of the big island of Japan. NASA's Aqua satellite captured an image of the small storm on Aug. 18, 2016.
  
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• 'Baby, it's hot outside': Why birds sing to eggs

  18-08-2016 20:50
  
  Much like parents who talk to a pregnant woman's belly, some birds sing to their eggs before they hatch, and the reason may be to prepare them for a warming world, researchers said Thursday.
  
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• Scientists combine satellite data and machine learning to map poverty

  18-08-2016 20:00
  
  One of the biggest challenges in providing relief to people living in poverty is locating them. The availability of accurate and reliable information on the location of impoverished zones is surprisingly lacking for much of the world, particularly on the African continent. Aid groups and other international organizations often fill in the gaps with door-to-door surveys, but these can be expensive and time-consuming to conduct.
  
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• Engineers program human cells to store complex histories in their DNA

  18-08-2016 20:00
  
  MIT biological engineers have devised a way to record complex histories in the DNA of human cells, allowing them to retrieve "memories" of past events, such as inflammation, by sequencing the DNA.
  
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• Carbon molecular sieve membranes could cut energy in hydrocarbon separations

  18-08-2016 20:00
  
  A research team from the Georgia Institute of Technology and ExxonMobil has demonstrated a new carbon-based molecular sieve membrane that could dramatically reduce the energy required to separate a class of hydrocarbon molecules known as alkyl aromatics.
  
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• Gawker.com dies next week, killed by an unhappy subject (Update)

  18-08-2016 19:27
  
  Gawker.com, the brash New York website that broke new ground with its gossipy, no-holds-barred coverage of media, culture and politics, is shutting down after 14 years, brought low by an unhappy, but deep-pocketed, subject.
  
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• Gawker.com dies next week, killed by an unhappy subject

  18-08-2016 19:27
  
  Gawker.com, the brash New York website that broke new ground with its gossipy, no-holds-barred coverage of media, culture and politics, is shutting down after 14 years, brought low by an unhappy, but deep-pocketed, subject.
  
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• Gawker to shut down next week

  18-08-2016 19:27
  
  Gawker is going to shut down.
  
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• NASA sees formation of Atlantic Ocean's Tropical Storm Fiona

  18-08-2016 19:24
  
  NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite passed over Tropical Storm Fiona as it developed in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean and captured a visible image of the strengthening storm.
  
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• Mussel flexing: Bivalve save drought-stricken marshes, research finds

  18-08-2016 19:18
  
  As coastal ecosystems feel the heat of climate change worldwide, new research shows the humble mussel and marsh grass form an intimate interaction known as mutualism that benefits both partner species and may be critical to helping these ecosystems bounce back from extreme climatic events such as drought.
  
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• Neural stem cells control their own fate

  18-08-2016 19:13
  
  To date, it has been assumed that the differentiation of stem cells depends on the environment they are embedded in. A research group at the University of Basel now describes for the first time a mechanism by which hippocampal neural stem cells regulate their own cell fate via the protein Drosha. The journal Cell Stem Cell has published their results.
  
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• Gawker Will Shut Down Next Week

  18-08-2016 19:09 via nbcnews.com
  
  Gawker.com, the gossip blog that began 14 years ago in New York City and grew into a media empire, will shut down next week.
  
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• No new rate hints as Federal Reserve joins Facebook

  18-08-2016 19:08
  
  The Federal Reserve expanded its communications strategy Thursday by launching a Facebook page, but there were no fresh hints on the direction of interest rates.
  
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• Twitter axes 235,000 more accounts in terror crackdown

  18-08-2016 19:07
  
  Twitter on Thursday announced that it has cut off 235,000 more accounts for violating its policies regarding promotion of terrorism at the global one-to-many messaging service.
  
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• New York Times shuts down NYT Now smartphone app

  18-08-2016 19:03
  
  The New York Times is shutting down its NYT Now smartphone app because the company says it hasn't lived up to its hopes in the two years since it was launched in an effort to reach a younger audience.
  
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• Harley-Davidson in $15m pollution settlement with US

  18-08-2016 17:49
  
  Motorcycle giant Harley-Davidson on Thursday entered a $15 million settlement with US authorities who accused the company of making and selling illegal devices that increased air pollution from its bikes.
  
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• Exoplanet GJ 1132b Might Have a Thin Oxygen Atmosphere

  18-08-2016 17:49 via scitechdaily.com
  
  New research from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics reveals that the Venus-like Exoplanet GJ 1132b might possess a thin, oxygen atmosphere – but no life due to its extreme heat. The distant planet GJ 1132b intrigued astronomers when it was discovered last year. Located just 39 light-years from Earth, it might have an atmosphere despite […]
  The post Exoplanet GJ 1132b Might Have a Thin Oxygen Atmosphere appeared first on SciTech Daily.
  
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• Blue Cut Fire in California spreads quickly

  18-08-2016 17:47
  
  The Blue Cut Fire, just outside of Los Angeles, is a quickly growing fire that is currently an imminent threat to public safety, rail traffic and structures in the Cajon Pass, Lytle Creek, Wrightwood, Oak Hills, and surrounding areas. An estimated 34,500 homes and 82,640 people are being affected by the evacuation warnings that have been issued. This wildfire started on August 16, 2016 and the cause is unknown. In the last two days the fire has grown to 31,689 acres with 1584 personnel on scene.
  
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• How Technology Can Help You Travel and Save

  18-08-2016 17:44 via nytimes.com
  Tips from the Frugal Traveler columnist on apps, cellphone plans and more.
  
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• Specialized cameras capture the Perseid meteor shower from points around the globe

  18-08-2016 17:43
  
  Time-lapse images captured during the peak of this summer's Perseid meteor shower have been released by the SkySentinel project, in which students at Florida Institute of Technology monitor the night sky from a network of up-looking, wide-angle cameras around the globe.
  
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• Chandra Data Raises Questions about the Timing and Origin of Supernova Remnant G11.2-0.3

  18-08-2016 17:37 via scitechdaily.com
  
  New Chandra data of the supernova remnant G11.2-0.3 raise new questions about the timing of its origin. Chandra observations show that dense gas clouds lie along the line of sight between Earth and G11.2-0.3, meaning that the supernova explosion would have been too faint to be seen with the naked eye from Earth. A new […]
  The post Chandra Data Raises Questions about the Timing and Origin of Supernova Remnant G11.2-0.3 appeared first on SciTech Daily.
  
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• Was 'Iceman Otzi' a Copper Age fashionista?

  18-08-2016 17:35
  
  The 5,300-year-old Alpine mummy known as the Tyrolean Iceman died wearing leather clothes and accessories harvested from no less than five wild or domesticated species, a DNA analysis published Thursday revealed.
  
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• Study finds ancient Iceman wore hat made of bear skin

  18-08-2016 17:35
  
  Scientists say Oetzi the Iceman wore clothes made of brown bear pelt and roe deer when he died in the Alps 5,300 years ago.
  
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• T-Mobile phasing out data limits—but will you save money?

  18-08-2016 17:34
  
  T-Mobile is phasing out data limits and pushing people toward unlimited data plans—which will mean higher prices for many new customers.
  
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• T-Mobile axes data limits, but low-data users might pay more

  18-08-2016 17:34
  
  T-Mobile is getting rid of data limits for new customers, while making unlimited data plans cheaper.
  
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• Volvo and Uber form driverless car venture

  18-08-2016 17:32
  
  Sweden-based manufacturer Volvo Cars said on Thursday it would team up with ride-sharing service Uber in a $300 million (265 million euro) joint venture to develop driverless automobiles.
  
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• X-ray optics on a chip

  18-08-2016 17:27
  
  Waveguides are widely used for filtering, confining, guiding, coupling or splitting beams of visible light. However, creating waveguides that could do the same for X-rays has posed tremendous challenges in fabrication, so they are still only in an early stage of development.
  
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• Innovative device simulates cataract replacement experience

  18-08-2016 17:27
  
  Today, patients with cataracts can choose from several types of artificial lenses, which are surgically implanted in the eye to replace cloudy lenses that obstruct vision. A new vision simulator could help these patients see how the world would look with each type of implanted artificial lens, before they have surgery.
  
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• New technologies show how cancer cells protect chromosomes from decay

  18-08-2016 17:26
  
  As the rope of a chromosomes replicates, it frays at the ends. No problem: A chromosome's ends have extra twine so that fraying doesn't reach into the body of the rope where the important information resides. This extra twine is called a "telomere". Over time and across replications, this telomere twine breaks down until the chromosome loses its protective ends and this "fraying" reaches into the rope, wrecking the chromosome and resulting in the death of the cell.
  
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