Sci-Tech news

• Survival of quake victims depends on many factors

  26-08-2016 23:40
  
  How long can people survive in the rubble of an earthquake?
  
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• Pokemon doughnuts, exercise classes tap game's popularity.

  26-08-2016 23:33
  
  Weeks into the "Pokemon Go" craze, demand remains strong for "Poke Ball"-shaped treats made by a high-end doughnut company, one of many businesses and organizations coming up with creative ways to lure players in their search for the elusive "pocket monsters."
  
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• Crystal unclear: Why might this uncanny crystal change laser design?

  26-08-2016 23:32
  
  Laser applications may benefit from crystal research by scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and China's Shandong University. They have discovered a potential way to sidestep longstanding difficulties with making the crystals that are a crucial part of laser technology. But the science behind their discovery has experts scratching their heads.
  
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• NASA examines System 99L over Hispaniola in infrared light

  26-08-2016 23:30
  
  When NASA's Aqua satellite passed over the tropical low pressure area known as System 99L it was located over Hispaniola. The AIRS instrument aboard Aqua analyzed the low pressure area in infrared light.
  
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• GPM examines Tropical Storm Lester

  26-08-2016 23:30
  
  The Global Precipitation Measurement mission or GPM core satellite analyzed Tropical Storm Lester after it became the 12th named storm of the 2016 eastern Pacific Ocean on Aug. 25.
  
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• AT&T is rolling out Marshmallow to the Galaxy S5 (build MMB29M) - Android Police

  26-08-2016 23:30 via androidpolice.com
  
  Android Headlines
  AT&T is rolling out Marshmallow to the Galaxy S5 (build MMB29M)
  Android Police
  The Android update news this week has been all Nougat all the time. But what of the lowly Samsung Galaxy S5? AT&T is rolling out an update during Nougat week, but it's only Android 6.0 Marshmallow. I mean, not that Marshmallow is bad, but running just ...
  Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 gets Marshmallow update tooGSMArena.com
  Samsung Galaxy Note 4/5, S6, S6 Edge, S7, S7 Edge: Android 6.0 Marshmallo
  
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• Businesses that show commitment to sustainability inspire greener customers

  26-08-2016 23:28
  
  Spending a little to prove a commitment to sustainability can help tourism industry businesses such as hotels inspire customers to conserve resources—and save money in the process, according to new research from SFU's Beedie School of Business. The study found that hotel guests' willingness to conserve resources—such as turning off lights, reusing towels, or setting the thermostat at a specific temperature—is affected by how "green" they perceive the hotel to be.
  
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• Probing how CRISPR-Cas9 works: Study examines DNA targeting dynamics in live cells

  26-08-2016 23:27
  
  A study in The Journal of Cell Biology by scientists at the University of Massachusetts Medical School reveals important new details about the inner workings of the CRISPR-Cas9 machinery in live cells that may have implications for the development of therapeutics that use the powerful gene editing tool.
  
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• Shifts in the microbiome impact tissue repair and regeneration

  26-08-2016 23:26
  
  Researchers at the Stowers Institute have established a definitive link between the makeup of the microbiome, the host immune response, and an organism's ability to heal itself.
  
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• Study provides voice for evacuation needs of mobility impaired

  26-08-2016 23:25
  
  A fire alarm sounds. An announcement comes over the office public address system: "A fire has been reported in the building. This is not a drill. Please move to the nearest stairwell and exit the building."
  
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• From rigid to flexible

  26-08-2016 23:24
  
  In order for cells to function properly, cargo needs to be constantly transported from one point to another within the cell, like on a goods station. This cargo is located in or on intracellular membranes, called vesicles. These membranes have a signature, and only those with the correct signature may fuse with the membrane of another organelle into one compartment. The membrane itself must be recognized by a target membrane, which employs long tethering proteins to find its match.
  
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• The sound of a healthy reef

  26-08-2016 23:22
  
  A new study from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) will help researchers understand the ways that marine animal larvae use sound as a cue to settle on coral reefs. The study, published on August 23rd in the online journal Scientific Reports, has determined that sounds created by adult fish and invertebrates may not travel far enough for larvae —which hatch in open ocean—to hear them, meaning that the larvae might rely on other means to home in on a reef system.
  
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• Typhoon Lionrock threatening Japan

  26-08-2016 23:21
  
  Depending on the intensity track of Typhoon Lionrock, it could pass over Japan with the strength of a lion or or the weakness of a lamb. The intensity track is not clear as yet and some forecasters have it remaining a stronger storm while others have it downgrading significantly in intensity. Lionrock is still a distance away from Japan, currently 307 miles southeast of Kadena AB, Okinawa, Japan, and is moving east northeast at 9 knots per hour. Maximum sustained winds are 105 knots gusting to 1
  
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• Structural, regulatory and human error were factors in Washington highway bridge collapse

  26-08-2016 23:21
  
  When an important bridge collapsed on Interstate 5 near Mount Vernon, Washington, in 2013, questions were raised about how such a catastrophic failure could occur. A new analysis by a team of civil engineering faculty at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign outlines the many factors that led to the collapse, as well as steps that transportation departments can take to prevent such accidents on other bridges of similar design.
  
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• Two NASA satellites take a bead on Gaston's movements

  26-08-2016 23:20
  
  Gaston is currently sitting smack in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean churning away. Currently it is not near any landmasses and is at tropical storm status having weakened slightly from hurricane force.
  
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• Study finds air contamination near fracking sites result of operational inefficiencies

  26-08-2016 23:17
  
  Chemists at the University of Texas at Arlington have published a new study that indicates that highly variable contamination events registered in and around unconventional oil and gas developments are the result of operational inefficiencies and not inherent to the extraction process itself.
  
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• Force triggers gene expression by stretching chromatin

  26-08-2016 23:16
  
  How genes in our DNA are expressed into traits within a cell is a complicated mystery with many players, the main suspects being chemical. However, a new study by University of Illinois researchers and collaborators in China has demonstrated that external mechanical force can directly regulate gene expression. The study also identified the pathway that conveys the force from the outside of the cell into the nucleus.
  
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• Uber bleeds more than $1 billion in six months

  26-08-2016 23:14 via rss.cnn.com
  
  Uber may be the most valuable privately held company in the world, but that doesn't mean it's making money.
  
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• Facebook ditches helpful Trending Topic descriptions for global scale - TechCrunch

  26-08-2016 23:14 via techcrunch.com
  
  TechCrunch
  Facebook ditches helpful Trending Topic descriptions for global scale
  TechCrunch
  Twitter's “Trends” are often confusing. Why is #MPBMS or #TechMunch trending? You had to click through and figure it out for yourself. When Facebook copied Twitter's trends in 2014, it vastly improved them by adding human-written descriptions right ...
  Facebook says it will stop writing descriptions for Trending TopicsThe Verge
  Facebook Scaling Back Human Intervention of 'Trending' FeatureWal
  
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• Inside 'Pegasus,' the impossible-to-detect software that hacks your iPhone - Business Insider

  26-08-2016 22:54 via businessinsider.com
  
  Business Insider
  Inside 'Pegasus,' the impossible-to-detect software that hacks your iPhone
  Business Insider
  The hacking software that completely takes over an Apple iPhone and turns it into a mobile surveillance device is pretty terrifying. Built by a shadowy company called NSO Group, the software called "Pegasus" — discovered after being used against a ...
  Why can't Apple spend its way out of security vulnerabilities?The Verge
  Why You Should Update Your iPhone ImmediatelyFortune
  iPhones
  
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• How to Stop WhatsApp Sharing Your Info With Facebook

  26-08-2016 22:42 via nbcnews.com
  
  WhatsApp plans to start sharing user's phone numbers and when they last used the app with its parent company Facebook.
  
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• SpaceX's Dragon cargo ship splashes down in Pacific

  26-08-2016 21:47
  
  SpaceX's unmanned Dragon cargo ship splashed down Friday in the Pacific Ocean, returning a load of NASA research from the International Space Station, the US space agency said.
  
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• Alaska Identifies First Case of H5N2 Bird Flu

  26-08-2016 21:44
  The bird flu strain that wiped out millions of turkeys and chickens in the Midwest last year has been found in Alaska for the first time
  
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• What If Scientists Found Life on Closest Alien Planet Proxima b? - Live Science

  26-08-2016 21:41 via livescience.com
  
  Live Science
  What If Scientists Found Life on Closest Alien Planet Proxima b?
  Live Science
  This artist's impression shows the planet Proxima b orbiting the red dwarf star Proxima Centauri, our closest star. The double star Alpha Centauri AB is also visible in the image. Credit: ESO/M. Kornmesser. The discovery of a potentially Earth-like ...
  Proxima Centauri b: Earth-sized? Earth-like? Or Habitable?Huffington Post
  Is there another Earth out there? Maybe — and it's not far89.3 KPCC
  Yes, We
  
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• Rumored iPhone 7 feature would bring tap-to-pay to Japan's transit systems - Macworld

  26-08-2016 21:40 via macworld.com
  
  Macworld
  Rumored iPhone 7 feature would bring tap-to-pay to Japan's transit systems
  Macworld
  Every day, multiple times a day, I have to swipe a paper Metrocard to get on the New York City subway. Each time I swipe—and occasionally when I don't nail the swipe and get the dreaded “please swipe again” error message—I curse everyone involved for ...
  'iPhone 7' production affected by low yields on waterproof speaker, dual camera - reportAppleInsider (press release) (blog
  
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• Google Adds Airbnb Executive In Latest Step To Start Self-Driving Car Business - Forbes

  26-08-2016 20:59 via forbes.com
  
  Forbes
  Google Adds Airbnb Executive In Latest Step To Start Self-Driving Car Business
  Forbes
  Google X's Self-Driving Car unit hired Shaun Stewart, a high-level Airbnb executive, in a move that appears to underscores the Alphabet Inc. project's transition from R&D initiative to commercial operation. Stewart, who was global head of vacation ...
  Google hires Airbnb's Shaun Stewart to help bring self-driving cars to marketTechCrunch
  Google hires Airbnb executive to commercialize self-driving ca
  
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• Meet Octobot, a soft-bodied robot that moves like an octopus - Los Angeles Times

  26-08-2016 20:48 via latimes.com
  
  Los Angeles Times
  Meet Octobot, a soft-bodied robot that moves like an octopus
  Los Angeles Times
  Our future robot overlords never looked so squishy. A team of scientists led out of Harvard University have managed to build an entirely soft robot — one that's inspired by an octopus. The octobot, described this week in the journal Nature, could pave ...
  Meet Octobot: Squishy, Adorable and RevolutionaryNew York Times
  This amazing robotic octopus is the first made entirely of squishy partsWash
  
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• Online Fishing, Hunting License Sales Halted in Northwest

  26-08-2016 20:14
  Idaho, Oregon and Washington have shutdown online sales of hunting and fishing licenses amid concerns a vendor's computer system has been hacked and personal information is at risk
  
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• A Billion or More Jupiter-Like Worlds Could Be Orbiting Stars in the Milky Way

  26-08-2016 19:56 via scitechdaily.com
  
  Using data from NASA’s Juno probe, astronomers hope to gain a better understanding of Jupiter and the the many Jupiter-like planets in our galaxy. Our galaxy is home to a bewildering variety of Jupiter-like worlds: hot ones, cold ones, giant versions of our own giant, pint-sized pretenders only half as big around. Astronomers say that […]
  The post A Billion or More Jupiter-Like Worlds Could Be Orbiting Stars in the Milky Way appeared first on SciTech Daily.
  
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• Harvard Researchers Identify a Key Instigator in Lou Gehrig’s Disease

  26-08-2016 19:42 via scitechdaily.com
  
  A team of scientists from Harvard Medical School has identified a key instigator of nerve cell damage in people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a progressive and incurable neurodegenerative disorder. Researchers say the findings of their study, published in the journal Science, may lead to new therapies to halt the progression of the uniformly fatal disease […]
  The post Harvard Researchers Identify a Key Instigator in Lou Gehrig’s Disease appeared first on SciTech Daily.
  
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• Stop fretting about the Note 7's performance - The Verge

  26-08-2016 19:34 via theverge.com
  
  The Verge
  Stop fretting about the Note 7's performance
  The Verge
  The Galaxy Note 7 is this year's best new phone, edging out Samsung's own S7 Edge, and easily the most talked-about new device of the summer. But with great fame comes great scrutiny, and this week has seen the Note 7 subjected to allegations of having ...
  Does it even matter that last year's iPhone 6s is so much faster than the new Galaxy Note 7?BGR
  Galaxy Note 7 vs. S7 Edge drop test video - CNETCNET
  Review: Samsung Galaxy
  
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• SpaceX Dragon Returns to Earth With Station Science, Gear

  26-08-2016 18:25
  
  A SpaceX Dragon capsule is back on Earth with scientific gifts from the International Space Station
  
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• Research pair create two-atom molecules that are more than a thousand times bigger than typical diatomic molecules

  26-08-2016 16:50
  
  (Phys.org)—A pair of physicists with the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Switzerland has found a way to create very large diatomic molecules, and in so doing, have proved some of the theories about such molecules to be correct. In their paper published in Physical Review Letters, Johannes Deiglmayr and Heiner Saßmannshausen describe their experiments and results and why they believe such molecules may have a future in quantum computing.
  
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• Goodbye, herring? Biotech bait gives lobstermen alternative

  26-08-2016 16:48
  
  Lobster and crab fishermen have baited traps with dead herring for generations, but an effort to find a synthetic substitute for forage fish is nearing fruition just as the little fish are in short supply, threatening livelihoods in a lucrative industry.
  
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• GOES-3 satellite decommissioned

  26-08-2016 16:48
  
  The National Science Foundation (NSF) late last month decommissioned a 38-year-old communications satellite that for 21 years had helped to link NSF's Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station with the outside world. It was among the oldest, continuously operating satellites in the skies.
  
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• Using vouchers found to reduce waste when offering health products to the poor in Africa

  26-08-2016 16:47
  
  (Phys.org)—A team of researchers affiliated with several institutions in the U.S. has found that offering vouchers as a means of distributing health products to poor people in Africa resulted in less waste than other methods. In their paper published in the journal Science, the team describes the experiments they conducted, their results and why they believe the voucher method could prove useful in a wide variety of distribution applications. Benjamin Olken with MIT offers a Perspective pi
  
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• Electrons at the speed limit

  26-08-2016 16:27
  
  Electronic components have become faster and faster over the years, thus making powerful computers and other technologies possible. Researchers at ETH Zurich have now investigated how fast electrons can ultimately be controlled with electric fields. Their insights are of importance for the petahertz electronics of the future.
  
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• Sunflowers move from east to west, and back, by the clock

  26-08-2016 16:25
  
  It's summertime, and the fields of Yolo County, Calif., are filled with rows of sunflowers, dutifully facing the rising sun.
  
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• Earlier snowmelt reduces forests' ability to regulate atmospheric carbon dioxide

  26-08-2016 16:24
  
  Earlier annual snowmelt periods may hinder the ability of forests to regulate atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2), according to the results of a new study.
  
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• Hiding in plain sight: Navy data reveals the reef behind the Reef

  26-08-2016 16:22
  
  James Cook University, University of Sydney and Queensland University of Technology scientists working with laser data from the Royal Australian Navy have discovered a vast reef behind the familiar Great Barrier Reef.
  
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• Volcanic eruption masked acceleration in sea level rise

  26-08-2016 16:21
  
  The cataclysmic 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines masked the full impact of greenhouse gases on accelerating sea level rise, according to a new study.
  
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• 'Coming out' in the classroom, but not by choice

  26-08-2016 16:20
  
  Starting out as a college freshman can be hard.
  
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• Thousands of mussels wash up on shores of Long Island

  26-08-2016 15:06
  
  Thousands of dead mussels have washed up this week on the shores of Long Island.
  
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• Obama plans to create world's largest marine protected area

  26-08-2016 15:06
  
  President Barack Obama will expand a national monument off the coast of Hawaii, creating a safe zone for tuna, sea turtles and thousands of other species in what will be the world's largest marine protected area.
  
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• Obama creates world's largest marine protected area

  26-08-2016 15:06
  
  President Barack Obama on Friday expanded a national monument off the coast of Hawaii, creating a safe zone for tuna, sea turtles and thousands of other species in what will be the world's largest marine protected area.
  
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• Engineering next-generation smart separator membranes

  26-08-2016 15:03
  
  A team of Korean researchers, affiliated with UNIST is receiving the media spotlight as they have proposed a green material strategy for the development of smart battery separators beyond the current state-of-the-art counterparts.
  
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• Astronomers find a brown dwarf companion to a nearby debris disk host star

  26-08-2016 15:00
  
  (Phys.org)—Astronomers have detected a brown dwarf orbiting HR 2562 – a nearby star known to host a debris disk. The newly discovered substellar companion is the first brown dwarf-mass object found to reside in the inner hole of a debris disk. The findings were presented in a paper published Aug. 23 on the arXiv pre-print server.
  
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• Image: Third Bosphorus Bridge progress

  26-08-2016 14:31
  
  These 17 images from the Sentinel-2A satellite show a year of progress on the Third Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey.
  
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• New process halves the steps required to synthesize (+)-ryanodol

  26-08-2016 14:30
  
  (Phys.org)—A trio of research chemists at California Institute of Technology has found a way to synthesize a type of ryanodol that requires approximately half the steps of the conventional process. In their paper published in the journal Science, team lead Sarah Reisman and colleagues Kangway Chuang and Chen Xu describe the process they developed and explain why it is important. Xavier Verdaguer with the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology offers a Perspective piece on the work d
  
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• New approach to computing boosts energy efficiency

  26-08-2016 14:30
  
  A European research project led by Chalmers University of Technology has launched a set of tools that will make computer systems more energy efficient – a critical issue for modern computing.Using the framework of the project programmers has been able to provide large data streaming aggregations 54 times more energy efficient than with standard implementations.
  
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