Sci-Tech news

• This cell phone assembles itself

  22-08-2016 23:05 via rss.cnn.com
  
  Cell phones can do a lot of amazing things. But they still rely on people and machinery to put them together and bring them to life. Researchers at MIT are trying to fix that.
  
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• Apple boosts health while Microsoft revs machine smarts

  22-08-2016 22:11
  
  Microsoft on Monday announced it bought a startup to boost its artificial intelligence capabilities, and rival Apple confirmed it has boosted its health focus with an acquisition of its own.
  
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• Carnegie Mellon and Near Earth Autonomy robots and drones put on a show at Clemson

  22-08-2016 22:09
  
  A rumbling robot and several high-flying drones recently made an on-site appearance at Clemson University to burrow through and buzz above 15 acres of experimental sorghum plots containing more than 2,800 replicated entries.
  
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• This Tree Started Growing During the Viking Age - Live Science

  22-08-2016 21:52 via livescience.com
  
  Live Science
  This Tree Started Growing During the Viking Age
  Live Science
  "Adonis," A Bosnian Pine living high in the mountains of Greece, is Europe's oldest officially dated tree, at 1,075 years. Credit: Dr Oliver Konter, Mainz. Europe's oldest officially dated tree has been uncovered in Greece, and despite living more than ...
  Pine tree is Europe's oldest living organismScience Recorder
  Europe's 'Oldest Living Inhabitant' Is Looking Pretty Darn GoodHuffington Post
  Meet 'Adonis,' Europe's Olde
  
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• With Delta's New Chip Tags, You Can Track Your Own Luggage

  22-08-2016 21:49 via nbcnews.com
  
  Tracking technology being rolled out by Delta this year could make missing luggage a thing of the past.
  
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• U.S. Ready to Hand Off the Internet Naming System

  22-08-2016 21:43 via nbcnews.com
  
  The United States will officially relinquish its authority over the internet's naming system on October 1.
  
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• Light and matter merge in quantum coupling

  22-08-2016 21:22
  
  Where light and matter intersect, the world illuminates. Where light and matter interact so strongly that they become one, they illuminate a world of new physics, according to Rice University scientists.
  
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• Study: Global Warming Means Smoggier Autumns in US Southeast

  22-08-2016 21:15
  The drier, warmer autumn weather that's becoming more common due to climate change may extend summer smog well into the fall in the Southeastern U.S., according to a study published on Monday
  
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• New research solves a mystery behind the gunk that sticks to the bottoms of boats

  22-08-2016 21:00
  
  The coating of barnacles and other growth along the bottoms of boats is more than just an eyesore. Biofouling, as it is known, slows down ships and impedes the readiness of emergency response and military vessels.
  
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• New mechanism clarifies how cells migrate

  22-08-2016 21:00
  
  Similarly to cars, cells need a steering mechanism that guides them towards a certain target or direction. Scientists at the Center for Cognition and Sociality (Institute for Basic Science, IBS), and KAIST, led by Prof. HEO Won Do, have discovered the function of a key protein involved in cells' movement and clarified how cells migrate. These findings recently published in PNAS provide a deeper understanding of cells' movement and can benefit several biological fields, such as cancer, immunologi
  
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• Climate change may extend ozone season in the Southeastern US

  22-08-2016 21:00
  
  Extreme weather conditions associated with climate change may extend the ozone season in the Southeastern United States as drought-stressed trees emit more of the precursor compound that helps form the health-threatening pollutant. July and August have traditionally been peak ozone months, but a new study suggests those peaks could extend well into the fall as weather becomes warmer and drier.
  
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• Chimpanzees choose cooperation over competition: Study challenges distinctiveness of human cooperation

  22-08-2016 21:00
  
  When given a choice between cooperating or competing, chimpanzees choose to cooperate five times more frequently Yerkes National Primate Research Center researchers have found. This, the researchers say, challenges the perceptions humans are unique in our ability to cooperate and chimpanzees are overly competitive, and suggests the roots of human cooperation are shared with other primates. The study results are reported in this week's early online edition of the Proceedings of the National Acade
  
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• PPPL and Princeton help lead center for study of runaway electrons

  22-08-2016 20:59
  
  Runaway electrons, a searing, laser-like beam of electric current released by plasma disruptions, could damage the interior walls of future tokamaks the size of ITER, the international fusion experiment under construction in France. To help overcome this challenge, leading experts in the field have launched a multi-institutional center to find ways to prevent or mitigate such events.
  
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• The science of diffusion and the spread of public policy

  22-08-2016 20:20
  
  Most of us think of diffusion in the context of its scientific definition as the process whereby particles of liquids, gases or solids intermingle and in dissolved substances move from a region of higher to one of lower concentration. However, it also applies to the spread of policies between and among cultural, social and governmental systems.
  
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• In the ocean, clever camouflage beats super sight

  22-08-2016 20:20
  
  In a matchup of animal superpowers, a clever form of camouflage might beat super sight—at least in the ocean.
  
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• The Latest: Court Rules Against Gold Mining Technique

  22-08-2016 20:14
  The California Supreme Court has upheld a state ban on using powerful underwater vacuums to extract gold from rivers
  
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• Fin24.com | Minister Muthambi 'distances' herself from SABC woes

  22-08-2016 20:06
  
  The Ministry of Communications has washed its hands of the SABC’s internal problems in what has been described as a move to distance itself from chaos at the broadcaster.
  
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• AT&T Latest Provider to Offer Roaming in Cuba

  22-08-2016 19:47 via nbcnews.com
  
  AT&T said it had signed a deal with Cuba's state-owned telecoms provider to offer direct roaming services to its customers visiting Cuba.
  
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• Fin24.com | Cable theft is ‘treason’, say Fin24 users

  22-08-2016 19:30
  
  The imprisonment of a Telkom cable thief has sparked support from Fin24 users.
  
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• Strong external governance makes top managers more prone to cheat

  22-08-2016 19:11
  
  When top-level managers find governance mechanisms too coercive, they're more likely to commit fraud, according to a new paper by strategic management experts at Rice University's Jones Graduate School of Business, Auburn University's Harbert College of Business and Indiana University's Kelley School of Business.
  
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• Researchers reduce expensive noble metals for fuel cell reactions

  22-08-2016 19:10
  
  Washington State University researchers have developed a novel nanomaterial that could improve the performance and lower the costs of fuel cells by using fewer precious metals like platinum or palladium.
  
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• NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP Satellite sees two Tropical Cyclones near Japan

  22-08-2016 19:09
  
  Tropical Storm Lionrock was east of Kyushu, the southwestern-most of Japan's main islands while Tropical Storm Mindulle was southeast of Toyko when NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite passed overheard on Aug. 21. The storms are each headed in different directions.
  
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• N. Koreans Can Now Binge-Watch Kim Jong Un Movies

  22-08-2016 18:47 via nbcnews.com
  
  North Koreans will soon be able to binge watch "documentary films about the country's dear leaders" on a new Netflix-style service.
  
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• MIT Biological Engineers Program Human Cells to Store Complex Histories in Their DNA

  22-08-2016 18:31 via scitechdaily.com
  
  Newly published research details how biological engineers from MIT developed a way to record complex histories in the DNA of human cells, allowing them to retrieve “memories” of past events by sequencing the DNA. This analog memory storage system — the first that can record the duration and/or intensity of events in human cells — […]
  The post MIT Biological Engineers Program Human Cells to Store Complex Histories in Their DNA appeared first on SciTech Daily.
  
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• Study Suggests Habitable Zone Alone Isn’t Sufficient to Support Life

  22-08-2016 18:19 via scitechdaily.com
  
  New research from Yale University suggests that simply being in the habitable zone isn’t sufficient to support life. A planet also must start with an internal temperature that is just right. The search for habitable, alien worlds needs to make room for a second “Goldilocks,” according to a Yale University researcher. For decades, it has […]
  The post Study Suggests Habitable Zone Alone Isn’t Sufficient to Support Life appeared first on SciTech Daily.
  
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• Russian and US scientists collaborate to map migration paths of Arctic breeding birds

  22-08-2016 18:12
  
  Conservation of intertidal habitat—65 percent of which has been lost over the last 50 years— is critical to the survival of countless birds during migration on the East Asian Australasian Flyway.
  
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• Hubble Views Dwarf Galaxy NGC 5264

  22-08-2016 18:07 via scitechdaily.com
  
  This new Hubble image captures the glow of distant stars within NGC 5264, a dwarf galaxy located just over 15 million light-years away in the constellation of Hydra (The Sea Serpent). Dwarf galaxies like NGC 5264 typically possess around a billion stars — just one per cent of the number of stars found within the […]
  The post Hubble Views Dwarf Galaxy NGC 5264 appeared first on SciTech Daily.
  
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• Some signs of induced seismicity spotted in Salton Trough's geothermal production fields

  22-08-2016 18:00
  
  In some parts of Southern California's Brawley Seismic Zone, geothermal energy production may be increasing the background seismicity rate, but changes in earthquake rates elsewhere in the area seem to have natural causes, according to a report published online August 23 in the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America.
  
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• How cell nuclei squeeze into tight spaces

  22-08-2016 18:00
  
  As cells move throughout our bodies, they often have to squeeze through tight nooks and crannies in their environment, reliably springing back to their original shape. The structures involved in this process are still a mystery, but in a study published August 22 in Developmental Cell, a research team reports one protein responsible for giving a cell's nucleus its durable, deformable nature. These results, the authors say, may explain the invasiveness of certain cancer cells.
  
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• Survey finds vast majority of Americans think US is divided over values and politics

  22-08-2016 17:48
  
  Americans see their country as deeply divided over values and politics—a gap they do not expect to diminish any time soon, according to a new survey conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. But the survey also finds that most Americans report agreement on important values among members of their local communities.
  
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• Study measures methane release from Arctic permafrost

  22-08-2016 17:31
  
  A University of Alaska Fairbanks-led research project has provided the first modern evidence of a landscape-level permafrost carbon feedback, in which thawing permafrost releases ancient carbon as climate-warming greenhouse gases.
  
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• Survey finds deep concerns among young people of color about crim justice and gun violence

  22-08-2016 17:26
  
  A new survey released today highlights how race and ethnicity shape the opinions of the country's most diverse generation by exploring the most critical and timely political, social, and economic issues impacting the United States. The GenForward survey is from the Black Youth Project at the University of Chicago with The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
  
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• NASA sees Tropical Storm Fiona weakening from wind shear

  22-08-2016 17:17
  
  NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite passed over Tropical Storm Fiona as it was being weakened by wind shear in the Central Atlantic Ocean.
  
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• Logged rainforests can be an 'ark' for mammals, extensive study shows

  22-08-2016 17:08
  
  Research reveals that large areas of 'degraded' forest in Southeast Asia can play an important role in conserving mammal diversity.
  
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• New flexible material can make any window 'smart'

  22-08-2016 17:05
  
  Researchers in the Cockrell School of Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin have invented a new flexible smart window material that, when incorporated into windows, sunroofs, or even curved glass surfaces, will have the ability to control both heat and light from the sun. Their article about the new material will be published in the September issue of Nature Materials.
  
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• Sponge creates steam using ambient sunlight

  22-08-2016 17:04
  
  How do you boil water? Eschewing the traditional kettle and flame, MIT engineers have invented a bubble-wrapped, sponge-like device that soaks up natural sunlight and heats water to boiling temperatures, generating steam through its pores.
  
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• Bubble-wrapped sponge creates steam using sunlight

  22-08-2016 17:04
  
  How do you boil water? Eschewing the traditional kettle and flame, MIT engineers have invented a bubble-wrapped, sponge-like device that soaks up natural sunlight and heats water to boiling temperatures, generating steam through its pores.
  
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• Single-celled fungi multiply, alien-like, by fusing cells in host

  22-08-2016 17:00
  
  Microsporidia cause diarrhea, an illness called microsporidiosis and even death in immune-compromised individuals.
  
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• Hibernating pygmy-possums can sense danger even while dormant

  22-08-2016 16:39
  
  What happens to hibernating or torpid animals when a bushfire rages? Are they able to sense danger and wake up from their energy-saving sleep to move to safety? Yes, says Julia Nowack of the University of New England in Australia, lead author of a study in Springer's journal The Science of Nature about the reaction of pygmy-possums in such instances. The study is the first to investigate in detail the physical response of hibernating animals to smoke and fire.
  
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• Fin24.com | Telkom stops awarding share purchase loans to directors

  22-08-2016 16:30
  
  Telkom has agreed to stop giving financial help to directors to buy shares in the company after a loan to a former CFO was found to have breached the Companies Act.
  
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• City centre seagulls could help plan drone flight paths

  22-08-2016 16:10
  
  Seagulls are the bane of many city dwellers' lives. From snatching sandwiches, to tearing up rubbish bags, for many they are far worse than traditionally unpopular pigeons or rats. The issue of gulls in cities is an interesting one, as populations of herring gulls and lesser black-backed gulls are declining in many rural areas, while increasing in many urban locations.
  
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• German Greens call for end to coal power in 20 years

  22-08-2016 16:06
  
  Germany's opposition Green party unveiled Monday a 10-point plan to end electricity generation from coal within 20 years, a key plank of its campaign heading into next year's general elections.
  
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• Antarctica's past shows region's vulnerability to climate change

  22-08-2016 16:04
  
  Fresh understanding of West Antarctica has revealed how the region's ice sheet could become unstable in a warming world.
  
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• Drought and fire activity—what's climate change got to do with it?

  22-08-2016 16:00
  
  It's mid-August and east of Los Angeles, the Blue Cut fire is burning through the mountains of San Bernardino, California. So far it's blackened 30,000 acres and forced more than 80,000 people to evacuate their homes. Several days before, NASA announced that July 2016 was Earth's warmest month since record-keeping began in 1880; it appears that 2016 is likely to beat 2015 for the dubious distinction of being the hottest year on record. And late last week, torrential downpours fell on southeaster
  
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• 'Artificial atom' created in graphene

  22-08-2016 16:00
  
  In a tiny quantum prison, electrons behave quite differently as compared to their counterparts in free space. They can only occupy discrete energy levels, much like the electrons in an atom - for this reason, such electron prisons are often called "artificial atoms". Artificial atoms may also feature properties beyond those of conventional ones, with the potential for many applications for example in quantum computing. Such additional properties have now been shown for artificial atoms in the ca
  
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• Samsung's hot new Galaxy Note 7 still isn't as fast as last year's iPhone 6s - BGR

  22-08-2016 15:56 via bgr.com
  
  BGR
  Samsung's hot new Galaxy Note 7 still isn't as fast as last year's iPhone 6s
  BGR
  Yes, the Galaxy Note 7 is gorgeous, and it's the phablet to beat this year. Check out our in-depth Galaxy Note 7 review if you want to learn about all of the fantastic features that make Samsung's new phone so great. But the smartphone isn't the ...
  Verizon's Galaxy Note 7 Another Example of Carriers Interfering for No Good ReasonDroid Life (press release) (blog)
  Seriously, don't drop your Galaxy Note 7The Verg
  
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• Beetles pollinated orchids millions of year ago, fossil evidence shows

  22-08-2016 15:52
  
  When most people hear the word "pollinator," they think of bees and butterflies. However, certain beetles are known to pollinate plants as well, and new fossil evidence indicates that they were doing so 20 million years ago.
  
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• New visualization of waves in Saturn's rings

  22-08-2016 15:50
  
  Fans of astronomy are no doubt familiar with the work of Kevin Gill. In the past, he has brought us visualizations of what the Earth would look like if it had a system of rings, what a "Living Mars" would look like – i.e. if it was covered in oceans and lush vegetation – and an artistic rendition of the places we've been in our solar system.
  
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• Pro-nuclear countries making slower progress on climate targets

  22-08-2016 15:44
  
  A strong national commitment to nuclear energy goes hand in hand with weak performance on climate change targets, researchers at the University of Sussex and the Vienna School of International Studies have found.
  
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• If you're going to ridicule research, do your homework

  22-08-2016 15:43
  
  Sydney's Daily Telegraph is suffering one of their frequent relapses into frothy-mouthed panic about government wastage on research grants. Poking at layabout academics for 'wasting' tax dollars on seemingly frivolous projects reminds me of nothing more than the schoolyard bully who secretly knows he peaked in year 9. Today, the Tele flattered me by holding up one of my own projects for ridicule, ironically illustrating their point that rusted-on ideology, and patronage provide the most direct r
  
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