Sci-Tech news

• Study shows knowledge gap with in-car technology

  10-10-2016 22:53
  
  Hyundai and BMW customers are the most satisfied with their in-vehicle technology, but those brands and others still need to work on educating drivers about what their cars can do, according to a new survey by the market research company J.D. Power and Associates.
  
  Read more

• Worried about your Samsung Note 7? Here are your options

  10-10-2016 22:30
  
  Worries about the safety of Samsung's replacement Galaxy Note 7 smartphones have consumers fretting about what to do. And they're getting little guidance from the company.
  
  Read more

• Upper-limb amputee builds computer controller for feet

  10-10-2016 22:22
  
  Once an avid video gamer, Gyorgy Levay stopped playing when he lost his hands to a meningitis infection six years ago.
  
  Read more

• Historic Solar Impulse team planning drone

  10-10-2016 21:52
  
  Circling the globe in an aircraft that used no fuel would be enough for some to rest on their laurels, but the pilots of Solar Impulse 2 on Monday spoke of their new project.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Facebook launches intra-office 'Workplace' network

  10-10-2016 21:52
  
  Social network giant Facebook on Monday launched new global product Workplace, a platform that it hopes will replace intranet, mailbox and other internal communication tools used by businesses worldwide.
  
  Read more

• Mice sing like a jet-engine

  10-10-2016 21:49
  
  Mice court with love songs that are so high frequency they are inaudible to the human ear. New research published in Current Biology shows mice make their unique high frequency sounds in a surprising way that has only been observed by supersonic jet engines.
  
  Read more

• Targeting the social networks of group violence

  10-10-2016 21:00
  
  A strong network of friends may be just as big a factor in acts of group violence as having a charismatic leader or a savvy battle plan, according to a new study.
  
  Read more

• Scientists reveal how a little-known amoeba engulfed a bacterium to become photosynthetic

  10-10-2016 21:00
  
  About 100 million years ago, a lowly amoeba pulled off a stunning heist, grabbing genes from an unsuspecting bacterium to replace those it had lost.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Researchers predict growing number of Hurricane Sandy-like storm surges

  10-10-2016 21:00
  
  In the wake of historic destruction wrought by Hurricane Sandy in 2012, residents of New York and other coastal cities were left wondering whether Sandy-scale storm floods are the new normal.
  
  Read more

• Climate change has doubled western US forest fires

  10-10-2016 21:00
  
  A new study says that human-induced climate change has doubled the area affected by forest fires in the U.S. West over the last 30 years. According to the study, since 1984 heightened temperatures and resulting aridity have caused fires to spread across an additional 16,000 square miles than they otherwise would have—an area larger than the states of Massachusetts and Connecticut combined. The authors warn that further warming will increase fire exponentially in coming decades. The study a
  
  Read more

• Apple Shares Are Red Hot as Samsung Fights Fires

  10-10-2016 20:39 via nbcnews.com
  
  Shares of Apple's stock bounced 1.9 percent Monday amid reports that Samsung had adjusted production of its Galaxy Note 7 smartphone.
  
  Read more

• Oops! 12-Year-Old Boy Runs up $110,000 Google Bill

  10-10-2016 20:04 via nbcnews.com
  
  A 12-year-old in Spain reportedly made an expensive mistake, racking up a $112,000 bill when he apparently confused Google's AdWords and AdSense.
  
  Read more

• New Research Shows Female Hippocampus Structure Changes in Sync with Hormones

  10-10-2016 19:33 via scitechdaily.com
  
  New research from the Max Planck Institute shows that in women, in parallel to the rhythm of the level of estrogen across their menstrual cycle, the structures of the Hippocampus vary — a brain area that is crucial for memories, mood and emotions. Although it has already been known for some time that the brain […]
  The post New Research Shows Female Hippocampus Structure Changes in Sync with Hormones appeared first on SciTech Daily.
  
  Read more

• Rare poisonous sea snake found off coast of Iran

  10-10-2016 19:06
  
  A fishing trawler off the coast of Iran caught a rare poisonous sea snake, the first time it has ever been found in that region, researchers have reported in a new study.
  
  Read more

• Daily Report: Your Choice of Computer Voice is Predictable

  10-10-2016 18:52 via nytimes.com
  If your new talking computing device has the voice of a young woman, don’t be surprised. Most artificially intelligent devices sound that way.
  
  Read more

• Astronomers Take First Step Toward Uncovering Nascent Galaxies in the Early Universe

  10-10-2016 18:27 via scitechdaily.com
  
  In preparation for looking for the first generation of galaxies, the facility has published the first catalog of extragalactic sources of contamination in one of the fields of view. The epoch when the very first stars appeared is a key period of cosmic history. These stars began the manufacture of the chemical elements (those heavier […]
  The post Astronomers Take First Step Toward Uncovering Nascent Galaxies in the Early Universe appeared first on SciTech Daily.
  
  Read more

• Hubble Image of the Week – Spiral Galaxy NGC 278

  10-10-2016 18:18 via scitechdaily.com
  
  This newly released Hubble Space Telescope image shows spiral galaxy NGC 278. This cosmic beauty lies some 38 million light-years away in the northern constellation of Cassiopeia (The Seated Queen). While NGC 278 may look serene, it is anything but. The galaxy is currently undergoing an immense burst of star formation. This flurry of activity […]
  The post Hubble Image of the Week – Spiral Galaxy NGC 278 appeared first on SciTech Daily.
  
  Read more

• Squirrels prove it: Females do all the work, guys goof off

  10-10-2016 17:46
  
  Science has given tired women everywhere their I-told-you-so-moment, and it comes courtesy of the hapless Arctic ground squirrel: The males of the species appear to spend most of their non-hibernating months soaking up the rays above ground while the females are kept busy either nursing their young below ground or foraging for food when above.
  
  Read more

• Insider Q&A: What's hard about streaming TV online

  10-10-2016 17:42
  
  As more people watch TV over the internet, the entertainment industry has "to get on board with it," said Roger Lynch, the CEO of Sling TV.
  
  Read more

• Amid breach talk, some Yahoo users finding it hard to exit

  10-10-2016 17:06
  
  As Yahoo's embattled email service suffers through a slew of bad news, some users are finding it hard to leave.
  
  Read more

• Lazarus ice

  10-10-2016 17:03
  
  Every school child knows that ice melts in the summer and freezes in the winter. But it turns out that the process isn't that simple in the Arctic, where one type of sea ice structure, called an ice ridge, can actually get stronger in the summer due to melting.
  
  Read more

• Was the secret spice in primal gene soup a thickener?

  10-10-2016 17:00
  
  The original recipe for gene soup may have been simple—rain, a jumble of common molecules, warm sunshine, and nighttime cooling. Then add a pinch of thickener.
  
  Read more

• Stable molecular state of photons and artificial atom discovered

  10-10-2016 17:00
  
  Researchers at the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology, in collaboration with researchers at the Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation and the Qatar Environment and Energy Research Institute have discovered qualitatively new states of a superconducting artificial atom dressed with virtual photons. The discovery was made using spectroscopic measurements on an artificial atom that is very strongly coupled to the light field inside a superconducting cavity. This res
  
  Read more

• New kind of supercapacitor made without carbon

  10-10-2016 17:00
  
  Energy storage devices called supercapacitors have become a hot area of research, in part because they can be charged rapidly and deliver intense bursts of power. However, all supercapacitors currently use components made of carbon, which require high temperatures and harsh chemicals to produce.
  
  Read more

• Metamaterial uses light to control its motion

  10-10-2016 17:00
  
  Researchers have designed a device that uses light to manipulate its mechanical properties. The device, which was fabricated using a plasmomechanical metamaterial, operates through a unique mechanism that couples its optical and mechanical resonances, enabling it to oscillate indefinitely using energy absorbed from light.
  
  Read more

• How to measure individual platelets' strength

  10-10-2016 17:00
  
  Bleeding disorders could one day be diagnosed by putting platelets through strength tests, researchers have proposed.
  
  Read more

• For the first time, scientists capture electron movements inside a solar cell

  10-10-2016 17:00
  
  Ever since J.J. Thompson's 1897 discovery of the electron, scientists have attempted to describe the subatomic particle's motion using a variety of different means. Electrons are far too small and fast to be seen, even with the help of a light microscope. This has made measuring an electron's movement very difficult for the past century. However, new research from the Femtosecond Spectroscopy Unit at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST), published in Nature
  
  Read more

• Electron spins talk to each other via a 'quantum mediator'

  10-10-2016 17:00
  
  The unparalleled possibilities of quantum computers are currently still limited because information exchange between the bits in such computers is difficult, especially over larger distances. FOM workgroup leader Lieven Vandersypen and his colleagues within the QuTech research centre and the Kavli Institute for Nanosciences (Delft University of Technology) have succeeded for the first time in enabling two non-neighbouring quantum bits in the form of electron spins in semiconductors to communicat
  
  Read more

• Samsung 'Stops Making Note 7 Phones' After New Fires

  10-10-2016 16:21 via nbcnews.com
  
  Samsung said it was "adjusting" shipments of Note 7 phones to allow for inspections and stronger quality control due to some devices catching fire.
  
  Read more

• WATCH: More Trouble for Samsung Galaxy Note7

  10-10-2016 15:53
  
  Production on the new smartphones has been at least temporarily halted amid reports of fire in some replacement models.
  
  Read more

• Fin24.com | Twitter shares fall in Europe after deal interest cools

  10-10-2016 15:37
  
  Twitter Inc. fell as much as 10.6% in Frankfurt trading on Monday after potential bidders were said over the weekend to have lost interest in making offers to buy the company.
  
  Read more

• Self-learning computer tackles problems beyond the reach of previous systems

  10-10-2016 15:30
  
  (Phys.org)—Researchers have developed a neuro-inspired analog computer that has the ability to train itself to become better at whatever tasks it performs. Experimental tests have shown that the new system, which is based on the artificial intelligence algorithm known as "reservoir computing," not only performs better at solving difficult computing tasks than experimental reservoir computers that do not use the new algorithm, but it can also tackle tasks that are so challenging that they a
  
  Read more

• Three ways organic electronics is changing technology as we know it

  10-10-2016 15:20
  
  One day, your latest gadget won't be in your pocket like a phone or even wrapped around your wrist like a smartwatch, but stuck to your skin like a transparent plaster. Researchers at the University of Tokyo are the latest group to attempt to make this kind of "optoelectronic skin," with an ultra-thin, flexible LED display that can be worn on the back of your hand.
  
  Read more

• Research reveals unprecedented observations of how a hot molecule cools in a liquid

  10-10-2016 15:15
  
  The most detailed exploration to date of how energy flows from a hot molecule into a surrounding liquid has been undertaken by a team of scientists at the University of Bristol.
  
  Read more

• Team turns nanorods into multistate switches with an electron beam 

  10-10-2016 15:14
  
  Rice University scientists have discovered how to subtly change the interior structure of semi-hollow nanorods in a way that alters how they interact with light, and because the changes are reversible, the method could form the basis of a nanoscale switch with enormous potential.
  
  Read more

• New approach for screening toxic chemicals mimics mammal senses

  10-10-2016 15:11
  
  University of Leicester researchers have developed a new approach for analysing toxic chemicals in complex samples that mimics the way mammals smell and taste.
  
  Read more

• Tropical bats found to use carotenoids for skin coloration

  10-10-2016 15:10
  
  (Phys.org)—In the pursuit of greater carotenoid bioavailability to ensure human health, researchers have sought other animal models of carotenoid function. Recently, a collaborative of biologists in Spain and Costa Rica published the results of a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences demonstrating that frugivorous Honduran white bats color their skin with the deposition of the carotenoid lutein—the primary carotenoid for the preservation of the macula in human
  
  Read more

• Researchers demonstrate how a molecular barrel structure serves various functions in the mitochondria

  10-10-2016 15:10
  
  Freiburg researchers have discovered that the molecular barrel protein Mdm10 can carry out various functions for the development and maintenance of mitochondrial structure by binding to protein machines. Mitochondria are the cell's powerhouses, for instance producing the energy for cell metabolism. The team led by Prof. Dr. Nikolaus Pfanner and Dr. Thomas Becker from the University of Freiburg's Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology published the findings together with further colleagu
  
  Read more

• How cells move

  10-10-2016 15:09
  
  It's a known fact that cells can move around the body, but how they do it has been unknown – until now.
  
  Read more

• Techniques offer better, tunable production of nanofibers for bulletproof vests, cellular scaffolding

  10-10-2016 15:08
  
  Fibrous materials—known for their toughness, durability and pliability—are used in everything from bulletproof vests to tires, filtration systems and cellular scaffolds for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.
  
  Read more

• Startup helps people find out what they're drinking

  10-10-2016 15:08
  
  Two factors that contributed to the poisoning of tens of thousands of Washington, D.C., residents through their drinking water in the early 2000s—lead pipes and a disinfectant called chloramine—continue to coexist in countless water systems nationwide, including in the Bay Area. But not to worry, says UC Berkeley water expert and engineering professor David Sedlak; they're safe when properly managed, which happens in the vast majority of public water systems.
  
  Read more

• Pseudomonas aeruginosa – the molecular tools of a bacterial survivor

  10-10-2016 15:07
  
  The bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa can thrive in environments as different as the moist, warm tissue in our lungs, and the dry, nutrient-deprived surface of an office wall. Such adaptability makes it problematic in healthcare – where it causes infections in cases of cystic fibrosis, cancer, HIV, and other immune-compromised conditions – but also makes it a fascinating subject for study. How does Pseudomonas survive in so many environments? And can we use that knowledge to control it
  
  Read more

• Why are our cells the size they are?

  10-10-2016 15:03
  
  New research from the University of Dundee has discovered that cells of average size are the Olympic athletes of the cellular world, performing better than those which are too big or two small.
  
  Read more

• Preparing to study the epoch of reionization

  10-10-2016 15:02
  
  The epoch when the very first stars appeared is a key period of cosmic history. These stars began the manufacture of the chemical elements (those heavier than hydrogen and helium) and their light began the reionization of the neutral cosmic gas. These stars thus mark the dawn of the universe as we know it today and the start of the so-called Epoch of Reionization. The term "reionization" refers to the process whereby these atoms are prompted (by the ultraviolet light from new stars) to shed some
  
  Read more

• Drones create 3-D maps to demonstrate carbon storage

  10-10-2016 15:02
  
  3-D model generating drones may soon be measuring Western Australia's rangelands to ocean carbon footprint.
  
  Read more

• Study shows European eel migration not as uniform and simple as thought

  10-10-2016 15:01
  
  (Phys.org)—A team of researchers from across Europe has found that European eels do not spawn in the Sargasso Sea as a single reproductive cohort in the spring—instead, they found that some of the eels take much longer to reach their destination, and because of that, wait till the following year to spawn. In their paper published in the journal Science Advances, the team describes how they attached electronics tags to a large number of the eels to monitor their activity over the cour
  
  Read more

• Image: Nebula with spiral arms

  10-10-2016 14:56
  
  The two spiral arms winding towards the bright centre might deceive you into thinking you are looking at a galaxy a bit like our Milky Way. But the object starring in this image is of a different nature: PK 329-02.2 is a 'planetary nebula' within our home galaxy.
  
  Read more

• Fin24.com | Facebook pays more UK tax after outcry

  10-10-2016 14:43
  
  Facebook paid £4.17m (R71.75m) in British corporation tax last year, up from just £4,327 in 2014, accounts showed Sunday.
  
  Read more

• Asymmetric power boosts extortion in the workplace

  10-10-2016 14:00
  
  What do profit-driven bosses do if they are not satisfied with an employee's conduct? They use their strategic advantage to blackmail their subordinates: "If you don't want to do the job, I'm sure we'll find somebody else who does". Together with researchers from Harvard University and the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (IST Austria), researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology in Plön have found that asymmetrical power encourages extortionate behaviour.
  
  Read more

• WATCH: AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile Halt Samsung Note7 Sales and Exchanges

  10-10-2016 13:56
  
  AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile have stopped providing new Samsung Galaxy Note7 smartphones to customers as part of an exchange program, amid a handful of claims that the replacement devices were smoking, catching fire or exploding.
  
  Read more

Follow @NewslockSciTech on Twitter!