Sci-Tech news

• Lost space probe found

  05-09-2016 23:32 via rss.cnn.com
  
  Philae, the little space robot that has captured hearts around the world, was thought to be forever lost.
  
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• Why is NASA chasing this asteroid?

  05-09-2016 22:49 via rss.cnn.com
  
  NASA's OSIRIS-REx space probe will rendezvous with asteroid Bennu, take a sample and -- in a U.S. space first -- bring the sample back to Earth.
  
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• Latest ocean warming review reveals extent of impacts on nature and humans

  05-09-2016 21:41
  
  Ocean warming is affecting humans in direct ways and the impacts are already being felt, including effects on fish stocks and crop yields, more extreme weather events and increased risk from water-borne diseases, according to what has been called the most comprehensive review available on the issue, launched today by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) at the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Hawai'i.
  
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• Future Climate Change Field Test Doesn't Make Earth Greener

  05-09-2016 21:14
  
  For 17 years with experiments on more than 1 million plants, scientists put future global warming to a real world test, growing California flowers and grasslands with extra heat, carbon dioxide and nitrogen to simulate a not-so-distant future
  
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• Warmer, wetter climate would impair California grasslands, 17-year experiment finds

  05-09-2016 21:00
  
  Results from one of the longest-running and most extensive experiments to examine how climate change will affect agricultural productivity show that California grasslands will become less productive if the temperature or precipitation increases substantially above average conditions from the past 40 years.
  
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• Promising drug leads identified to combat heart disease

  05-09-2016 21:00
  
  Using a unique computational approach to rapidly sample, in millisecond time intervals, proteins in their natural state of gyrating, bobbing, and weaving, a research team from UC San Diego and Monash University in Australia has identified promising drug leads that may selectively combat heart disease, from arrhythmias to cardiac failure.
  
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• Lizard study finds global warming data not enough to predict animal extinction

  05-09-2016 21:00
  
  Current models used to predict the survival of species in a warming world might be off target, according to new research that enlisted the help of dozens of spiny lizards in the New Mexico desert.
  
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• Study: Typhoons That Slam Asia Getting Much Stronger

  05-09-2016 20:23
  
  Typhoons that slam into land in the northwestern Pacific _ especially the biggest tropical cyclones of the bunch _ have gotten considerably stronger since the 1970s, a new study concludes
  
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• Fate of the pangolin, the world's most-poached mammal: a Q&A

  05-09-2016 18:30
  
  As the congress of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources begins Thursday in Hawaii, environmental policymakers and conservation experts will discuss managing the environment, protecting wildlife and how best to chart the direction of conservation efforts.
  
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• Missing Philae Probe Found Wedged in Crack on Comet

  05-09-2016 18:22 via nbcnews.com
  
  High-resolution cameras on the Rosetta spacecraft have found space probe Philae, which landed on a comet nearly two years ago only to lose power.
  
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• Europe's Rosetta Probe Finds Lost Philae Lander on Comet

  05-09-2016 18:04
  
  The European Space Agency's Rosetta space probe has located the lost Philae lander, wedged in a "dark crack" on a comet
  
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• Samsung VR exec welcomes competition to boost awareness

  05-09-2016 17:07
  
  Samsung just released its third virtual-reality headset for its Galaxy phones, while Facebook's Oculus business and HTC have been shipping more powerful systems connected to high-end personal computers. Sony also has an upcoming system for its PlayStation game console.
  
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• Climate change spells worse typhoons for China, Japan: study

  05-09-2016 17:06
  
  China, Taiwan, Japan and the Koreas will experience more violent typhoons under climate change, said researchers Monday, presenting evidence for a recent rise in storm intensity caused by ocean warming.
  
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• Are carbon nanotubes the next in-line for the manufacture of wearable electronics?

  05-09-2016 17:04
  
  Carbon nanotubes show potential, but also many challenges, for the manufacture of flexible, wearable electronics, according to a research review in Science and Technology of Advanced Materials.
  
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• New technology for remotely mapping beaches

  05-09-2016 17:01
  
  Science and industry will now be able to map beaches and sandbanks without getting any feet wet. This follows three years of collaborative research resulting in a new commercial licence between National Oceanography Centre (NOC) and Marlan Maritime Technologies to sell new coastal mapping technology.
  
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• Proposal for first validating antibody specificity strategies published

  05-09-2016 17:00
  
  The International Working Group on Antibody Validation (IWGAV), an independent group of international scientists with diverse research interests in the field of protein biology, today announced the publication of initial strategies developed to address a critical unmet need for antibody specificity, functionality and reproducibility in the online issue of Nature Methods. The IWGAV is the first initiative of its size and scope to establish strategic recommendations for antibody validation for bot
  
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• New genus of bacteria found living inside hydraulic fracturing wells

  05-09-2016 17:00
  
  Researchers analyzing the genomes of microorganisms living in shale oil and gas wells have found evidence of sustainable ecosystems taking hold there—populated in part by a never-before-seen genus of bacteria they have dubbed "Frackibacter."
  
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• Future drought will offset benefits of higher CO2 on soybean yields, study finds

  05-09-2016 17:00
  
  An eight-year study of soybeans grown outdoors in a carbon dioxide-rich atmosphere like that expected by 2050 has yielded a new and worrisome finding: Higher atmospheric CO2 concentrations will boost plant growth under ideal growing conditions, but drought - expected to worsen as the climate warms and rainfall patterns change - will outweigh those benefits and cause yield losses much sooner than anticipated.
  
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• Earth's carbon points to planetary smashup

  05-09-2016 17:00
  
  Research by Rice University Earth scientists suggests that virtually all of Earth's life-giving carbon could have come from a collision about 4.4 billion years ago between Earth and an embryonic planet similar to Mercury.
  
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• During drought, dry air can stress plants more than dry soil

  05-09-2016 17:00
  
  Newly published research by Indiana University scientists finds that low relative humidity in the atmosphere is a significant, growing and often under-appreciated cause of plant stress in hot, dry weather conditions.
  
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• Device rapidly measures growth of single cells simultaneously

  05-09-2016 17:00
  
  A new technique invented at MIT can precisely measure the growth of many individual cells simultaneously. The advance holds promise for fast drug tests, offers new insights into growth variation across single cells within larger populations, and helps track the dynamic growth of cells to changing environmental conditions.
  
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• Biochemists' discovery could lead to vaccine against 'flesh-eating' bacteria

  05-09-2016 17:00
  
  Biochemists at the University of California San Diego have uncovered patterns in the outer protein coat of group A Streptococcus that could finally lead to a vaccine against this highly infectious bacteria—responsible for more than 500,000 deaths a year, including toxic shock syndrome and necrotizing fasciitis or "flesh-eating disease."
  
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• How much do perfumes pollute? A pioneering study in the canals of Venice

  05-09-2016 16:55
  
  Researchers at the Ca' Foscari University of Venice and the Institute for the dynamics of environmental processes of the National Research Council (CNR - IDPA) have been investigating the canals to look for traces of these molecules which are referred to as 'perfumes ' in the ingredients of products that we use daily.
  
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• Team studies fires this year in '88 Yellowstone burn areas

  05-09-2016 16:52
  
  Nearly three decades ago, huge wildfires burned about a third of Yellowstone National Park. The park has seen wildfires every year since, but the forests of new trees that grew in the scars of those 1988 fires have helped curb their size and intensity—until now.
  
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• Happy 10th Birthday, Facebook News Feed!

  05-09-2016 16:39 via nbcnews.com
  
  It's hard to think of Facebook without News Feed, which most of the social network's 1.71 billion users first see when they log in.
  
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• Missing comet lander Philae spotted at last: ESA (Update 2)

  05-09-2016 16:36
  
  Europe's Rosetta spacecraft has finally spotted its tiny lander Philae, thought to be lost forever, stuck in a ditch on the surface of a comet hurtling through space, ground controllers said Monday.
  
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• Missing comet lander Philae spotted at last: ESA (Update)

  05-09-2016 16:36
  
  Europe's Rosetta spacecraft has finally spotted the tiny lander Philae stuck in a dark crack on the surface of its comet home—the first glimpse since the robot lab crashlanded in 2014, ground controllers said Monday.
  
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• Far-away asteroid named after Freddie Mercury on birthday

  05-09-2016 16:36
  
  Queen guitarist Brian May says an asteroid in Jupiter's orbit has been named after the band's late frontman Freddie Mercury on what would have been his 70th birthday.
  
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• Russian Blogger Jailed for Playing 'Pokemon Go' Files Appeal

  05-09-2016 15:44
  A Russian blogger who has been sent to pre-trial detention for playing "Pokemon Go" in a church has appealed his arrest
  
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• Cool Constructs: Room temperature out-of-plane ferroelectricity at ultrathin atomic limit

  05-09-2016 15:30
  
  (Phys.org)—Optoelectronic devices that combine electronics and photonics are incorporating two-dimensional (2D) materials for a range of applications. At the same time, cooperative phenomena – in which a system's individual components appear to act as a single entity rather than independently – have yet to be widely investigated, an important example being ferroelectricity (spontaneous electric polarization that can be reversed by an electric field) in the 2D limit. Recently, h
  
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• Augmenting the reality of ecology education

  05-09-2016 14:50
  
  To prep for an Ecology 101 field trip, you might tell your students to strap on some hiking boots and grab a waterproof notebook. But how about a fully-charged smartphone? As mobile devices and computer programming become increasingly ubiquitous, many ecologists are unsure whether to welcome or be wary of new technology in the classroom.
  
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• Socio–economic conditions a critical key to wildlife protection

  05-09-2016 14:40
  
  An international study involving University of Queensland researchers has found that protected areas have been largely successful at safeguarding wildlife within their boundaries, particularly in wealthier, more developed countries.
  
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• Quantum mechanics technique allows for pushing past 'Rayleigh's curse'

  05-09-2016 14:40
  
  (Phys.org)—A team of researchers with the National University of Singapore has found a way to get around what they describe as 'Rayleigh's curse'—a phenomenon that happens when two light sources appear to coalesce as they grow closer together, limiting the ability to measure the distance between them. In their paper published in the journal Physical Review Letters, the team describes how they applied a quantum mechanics technique to solve the problem.
  
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• Fin24.com | Glitch knocks Cell C network in Gauteng

  05-09-2016 14:40
  
  South Africa’s third largest mobile network Cell C says its network has suffered downtime in parts of Gauteng.
  
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• These shoes weren't made for working—how brown shoes can stop you stepping into a career in investment banking

  05-09-2016 14:30
  
  New research from Royal Holloway's Dr Louise Ashley, Lecturer in Management Studies has shown that investment banks are failing to hire talented young people from non-privileged backgrounds because they recruit from a small group of universities and hire those who already fit in with established banking culture.
  
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• Fin24.com | Cwele: Softer regulations needed for internet of things

  05-09-2016 14:24
  
  Telecommunications Minister Siyabonga Cwele believes that the government will need to soften its regulations for the 'internet of things' to assist in service delivery.
  
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• The buzz on cicada killers

  05-09-2016 14:20
  
  You might have noticed some large wasps in your yard or on campus this summer. These wasps are known as cicada killers, identified by their size and their black abdomens with three yellow spots on either side, rather than stripes across the back.
  
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• New combination of materials could speeds up computers

  05-09-2016 14:20
  
  Researchers at Uppsala University have discovered a new combination of materials that paves the way for faster and more effective storage in electronic devices like computers and smartphones. What researchers discovered is that the so-called magnetic damping can be made extremely small, eliminating energy losses in the dynamics of magnetic materials.
  
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• How cold are black holes?

  05-09-2016 14:20
  
  The very idea that a black hole could have a temperature strains the imagination. I mean, how can something that absorbs all the matter and energy that falls into it have a temperature? When you feel the warmth of a toasty fireplace, you're really feeling the infrared photons radiating from the fire and surrounding metal or stone.
  
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• What if: Hacks, email leaks could sway election weeks away

  05-09-2016 14:19
  
  Brace for a stream of digital leaks and shenanigans by Election Day.
  
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• Telefonica eyes sale of minority stake in Britain's O2

  05-09-2016 14:19
  
  Spanish telecommunications company Telefonica says it is considering selling a minority stake in its British mobile phone operator O2, four months after regulators blocked its takeover.
  
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• EU 'could fine Volkswagen over consumer protection'

  05-09-2016 14:19
  
  German auto giant Volkswagen could face penalties and compensation claims over its diesel emissions scandal under European consumer protection law, a top EU official told newspaper Die Welt in remarks published Monday.
  
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• 3D skulls from Henry VIII's doomed warship placed online

  05-09-2016 14:19
  
  British archaeologists on Monday published detailed 3D models of skulls and artefacts found on board English king Henry VIII's warship as part of a digital experiment designed to share knowledge of major historical finds.
  
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• Mathematical model developed 100 years ago used to improve weather and climate models

  05-09-2016 14:16
  
  "The Russian mathematician Andrei Markov (1856–1922) could never have suspected that his Markov chains would be used for weather and climate models more than a century later," says Jesse Dorrestijn, who saw an opportunity to improve the models that describe the cloud formation process, using a scientific work from long ago. Dorrestijn did his PhD research at Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica (CWI), with the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI) en TU Delft. On Thursday 8 Septe
  
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• Scientists discover how 'super enzyme' speeds up DNA repair

  05-09-2016 14:11
  
  Scientists from the University of Sussex have discovered how an enzyme, known as PARP3, helps to accelerate the repair of DNA.
  
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• First gravitational waves form after 10 million years

  05-09-2016 14:11
  
  If two galaxies collide, the merging of their central black holes triggers gravitational waves, which ripple throughout space. An international research team involving the University of Zurich has now calculated that this occurs around 10 million years after the two galaxies merge – much faster than previously assumed.
  
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• Vegetables modified with CRISPR-Cas9 have been cultivated, harvested and cooked for the first time

  05-09-2016 14:10
  
  For the first time ever, probably, plants modified with the "genetic scissors" CRISPR-Cas9 have been cultivated, harvested and cooked. Stefan Jansson, professor in Plant Cell and Molecular Biology at Umeå University, served pasta with "CRISPRy" vegetable fry to a radio reporter. Although the meal only fed two people, it was still the first step toward a future when science can better provide farmers and consumers around the world with healthy, beautiful and hardy plants.
  
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• Cash incentives prove ineffective for some workers

  05-09-2016 14:10
  
  Cold-hard-cash incentives for workers have been shown to cost companies profits while actually decreasing a worker's level of enjoyment and productivity, according to a WA researcher.
  
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• Whale study using drones and tags captures aerial footage of white whale calf

  05-09-2016 14:09
  
  Researchers from Murdoch University's Cetacean Research Unit (MUCRU) have recorded extraordinary video footage of a rare white southern right whale calf off the coast of Western Australia.
  
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• Digital hub for Australia's pets

  05-09-2016 14:09
  
  Researchers at Murdoch University have helped to build Australia's first ever online health database for pets.
  
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