Sci-Tech news

• Feds Fund Plans to Tackle Zika Virus With Drones

  12-10-2016 23:36 via nbcnews.com
  
  The drone program is among a batch of inventive solutions for fighting Zika funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development.
  
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• Robots organize your photos, so you can procrastinate

  12-10-2016 23:32
  
  If you're like many people, you have thousands of photos on your phone, long forgotten after you've posted a few on Instagram or Facebook.
  
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• Government data requests up 10 percent: Google

  12-10-2016 23:30
  
  Google said Wednesday that data requests from governments around the world hit a record high in the six months ending in June, extending a steady rise.
  
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• Construction resumes on controversial US oil pipeline

  12-10-2016 23:29
  
  The Native American tribe at the center of protests against an oil pipeline in North Dakota reacted angrily Wednesday to the resumption of construction on lands the tribe considers sacred.
  
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• A facelift for the Moon every 81,000 years

  12-10-2016 23:29
  
  The Moon is bombarded by so much space rock that its surface gets a complete facelift every 81,000 years, according to a study released Wednesday based on NASA data.
  
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• Google, Facebook team on undersea cable to Hong Kong

  12-10-2016 23:25
  
  Google and Facebook on Wednesday announced plans to work with a China Soft Power Holdings subsidiary to connect Los Angeles and Hong Kong with a high-capacity internet cable.
  
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• Soybean nitrogen breakthrough could help feed the world

  12-10-2016 23:21
  
  Washington State University biologist Mechthild Tegeder has developed a way to dramatically increase the yield and quality of soybeans.
  
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• Two tales of a city to understand sustainability

  12-10-2016 23:20
  
  Just as there are two sides to every story, sustainability challenges have at least two stories to reach every solution. Scientists report new ways to understand and integrate those tales.
  
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• Significant deforestation in Brazilian Amazon goes undetected, study finds

  12-10-2016 23:17
  
  Efforts by the Brazilian government over the past 15 years to curb deforestation have been a widely celebrated success, but a new study finds that there's more deforestation happening in Brazil than official accounts suggest.
  
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• Study documents staggering loss of wildlife following Amazon 'Rubber Boom'

  12-10-2016 23:15
  
  Researchers for the first time have documented the killing of millions of animals in Brazil's Amazon Basin for their hides following the collapse of the Rubber Boom in the 20th century, causing the collapse of some aquatic species.
  
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• Academic 'gender gap' similar in US, India

  12-10-2016 23:13
  
  Academically talented girls in the United States surpass boys in language performance and are narrowing the gap with their male counterparts in math achievement, according to new research from the Duke University Talent Identification Program (TIP).
  
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• Coastal spider ancestors may have dispersed eastward across Southern Hemisphere oceans

  12-10-2016 23:12
  
  Coastal spiders may have undergone transoceanic dispersal eastward from South America to South Africa, Australia and New Zealand as the Amaurobioides genus evolved, according to a study published Oct. 12, 2016 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by F. Sara Ceccarelli from Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales, and colleagues.
  
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• The Sun's coronal tail wags its photospheric dog

  12-10-2016 23:09
  
  Solar physicists have long viewed the rotation of sunspots as a primary generator of solar flares - the sudden, powerful blasts of electromagnetic radiation and charged particles that burst into space during explosions on the sun's surface. Their turning motion causes energy to build up that is released in the form of flares.
  
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• What do Americans fear? Annual Survey of American Fears released

  12-10-2016 23:08
  
  Chapman University recently completed its third annual Chapman University Survey of American Fears (2016). The survey asked respondents about 65 fears across a broad range of categories including fears about the government, crime, the environment, the future, technology, health, natural disasters, as well as fears of public speaking, spiders, heights, ghosts and many other personal anxieties.
  
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• How to Give Your Social Accounts a Security Check-Up

  12-10-2016 23:06 via nbcnews.com
  
  It's Cybersecurity Awareness Month. Are your settings up to date?
  
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• NASA sees large eye in Hurricane Nicole

  12-10-2016 23:05
  
  Hurricane Nicole continues to strengthen as it heads toward Bermuda and a satellite image showed the storm's large eye.
  
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• Nano-spike catalysts convert carbon dioxide directly into ethanol

  12-10-2016 23:05
  
  In a new twist to waste-to-fuel technology, scientists at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory have developed an electrochemical process that uses tiny spikes of carbon and copper to turn carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, into ethanol. Their finding, which involves nanofabrication and catalysis science, was serendipitous.
  
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• Experiment achieves the strongest coupling between light and matter

  12-10-2016 23:03
  
  Researchers at the University of Waterloo's Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC) recorded an interaction between light and matter 10 times larger than previously seen. The strength of the interaction between photons and a qubit was so large that it opens the door to a realm of physics and applications unattainable until now.
  
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• New study reveals how scientists use social media

  12-10-2016 23:02
  
  A new study published in the international journal PLOS One today reveals how scientists use Twitter to communicate.
  
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• NASA spots newly developed Tropical Depression 24W, east of Philippines

  12-10-2016 22:59
  
  NASA's Aqua satellite flew over the northwestern Pacific Ocean as Tropical Depression 24W formed and analyzed the storm in infrared light.
  
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• Obama warning: AI may wipe out jobs

  12-10-2016 22:25 via rss.cnn.com
  
  President Obama joined a chorus of those warning of the potential downsides of artificial intelligence.
  
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• NASA and Its Space Partners Can't Seem to Catch a Break

  12-10-2016 20:51 via nbcnews.com
  
  Another storm is standing in the way of the next launch to the ISS.
  
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• Ultraviolet Light from Stars Plays Key Role in Creating Building Blocks of Life

  12-10-2016 20:37 via scitechdaily.com
  
  New research shows that ultraviolet light from stars plays a key role in creating molecules that are necessary for building other chemicals essential for life. Life exists in a myriad of wondrous forms, but if you break any organism down to its most basic parts, it’s all the same stuff: carbon atoms connected to hydrogen, […]
  The post Ultraviolet Light from Stars Plays Key Role in Creating Building Blocks of Life appeared first on SciTech Daily.
  
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• Shelter dogs that rest more during the day may show signs of improved welfare

  12-10-2016 20:00
  
  Shelter dogs that rest more during the day may show signs of improved welfare, according to a study published October 12, 2016 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Sara Owczarczak-Garstecka and Oliver Burman of the University of Lincoln and the University of Liverpool, UK.
  
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• Blue tit migration decisions may be governed by energy needs and environment

  12-10-2016 20:00
  
  Blue tit feeding and exploratory behavior during migration may be driven by their need for energy and environmental information, according to a study published October 12, 2016 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Anna Nilsson from the University of Oslo, Norway, and colleagues.
  
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• Should We Launch a Kid Into Space?

  12-10-2016 19:55 via nbcnews.com
  
  There are reasons no kid has ever flown to space -- but danger didn't stop children from boarding airplanes in the days when crashes were regular.
  
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• Plant diversity could provide natural repellent for crop pests

  12-10-2016 19:00
  
  A new study has unveiled why a field with a variety of plants seems to attract fewer plant-eating insects than farm land with just one type of crop.
  
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• Oldest known squawk box suggests dinosaurs likely did not sing

  12-10-2016 19:00
  
  The oldest known vocal organ of a bird has been found in an Antarctic fossil of a relative of ducks and geese that lived more than 66 million years ago during the age of dinosaurs.
  
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• Modeling floods that formed canyons on Earth and Mars

  12-10-2016 19:00
  
  Geomorphologists who study Earth's surface features and the processes that formed them have long been interested in how floods, in particular catastrophic outbursts that occur when a glacial lake ice dam bursts, for example, can change a planet's surface, not only on Earth but on Mars.
  
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• Playboy Magazine is Going Where it Never Has Before

  12-10-2016 18:38 via nbcnews.com
  
  For the first time, Playboy Magazine will be available in the iTunes App and Google Play stores, its parent company announced Wednesday.
  
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• Klimt's 'Kiss', made with 3D printer, to touch and feel

  12-10-2016 18:05
  
  Like most artworks in galleries worldwide, visitors haven't been allowed to reach out and touch Gustav Klimt's "The Kiss" at its home at the Belvedere museum in Vienna—until now.
  
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• Just give me some privacy: Anonymous Wikipedia editors explain why they don't want you to know who they are

  12-10-2016 17:57
  
  Not everyone who strives to navigate the internet without being tracked is up to no good. This is the underlying premise of a qualitative study led by a trio of Drexel University researchers, who set out to gather the stories of people working on collaborative projects online—like editing Wikipedia—and are concerned about their privacy and taking steps to protect it.
  
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• Climate change may help Ethiopia, increase the country's access to water

  12-10-2016 17:52
  
  Despite the many disastrous impacts of climate change, there are some regions of the globe that might benefit from hotter temperatures.
  
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• How this Martian moon became the 'Death Star'

  12-10-2016 17:49
  
  Mars' largest moon, Phobos, has captured public imagination and been shrouded in mystery for decades. But numerical simulations recently conducted at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) have shed some light on the enigmatic satellite.
  
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• NASA gets an eye-opening image of Typhoon Songda becoming extra-tropical

  12-10-2016 17:48
  
  It was an eye-opening event when NASA's Aqua satellite passed over Typhoon Songda early on Oct 12. The storm was transitioning into an extra-tropical storm far away from any land areas as it moves through the Northwestern Pacific Ocean.
  
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• GM takes stake in China car-sharing startup

  12-10-2016 17:12
  
  US automaker General Motors is taking a stake in the Chinese car-sharing startup Yi Wei Xing, expanding the company's global footprint in alternative and mobile-oriented transport.
  
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• Tesla, SolarCity shareholders to vote on merger next month

  12-10-2016 17:11
  
  Shareholders will vote Nov. 17 on the proposed merger between electric car maker Tesla Motors and solar panel company SolarCity.
  
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• People can simultaneously give a hand to endangered apes and stay at safe distance

  12-10-2016 17:11
  
  Primates claim the highest proportion of endangered species among all mammals, according to the IUCN Red List. Yet, the substantial conservation interference from humans, which is already in place, could itself lead to even greater losses.
  
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• Fin24.com | Samsung sends Note 7 owners 'flameproof' boxes

  12-10-2016 16:52
  
  Pyromaniacs won’t get a rush from sending back their Note 7s after Samsung has issued a fireproof box to return the controversial device in.
  
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• Salty snow could affect air pollution in the Arctic

  12-10-2016 16:28
  
  In pictures, the Arctic appears pristine and timeless with its barren lands and icy landscape. In reality, the area is rapidly changing. Scientists are working to understand the chemistry behind these changes to better predict what could happen to the region in the future. One team reports in ACS' Journal of Physical Chemistry A that sea salt could play a larger role in the formation of local atmospheric pollutants than previously thought.
  
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• Study reveals corals' influence on reef microbes

  12-10-2016 16:22
  
  As they grow, corals are bathed in a sea of marine microbes, such as bacteria, algae, and viruses. While these extremely abundant and tiny microorganisms influence coral communities in a variety of ways, a new study by researchers at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS) and University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) reveals that corals also have an impact on the microbes in waters surrounding them.
  
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• Environmentally friendly invention may save soybean industry millions of dollars per year

  12-10-2016 16:21
  
  If parasites want to get to soybeans, they'll have to go through Kansas State University researchers first.
  
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• Food fight! Eating may trigger bacterial therapy

  12-10-2016 16:20
  
  In the future, eating well may be the best revenge on gastrointestinal ailments, according to scientists at Rice University.
  
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• Test improves detection of proteins in starch; aids in 'gluten-free' labeling

  12-10-2016 16:19
  
  For people with celiac disease, wheat allergies or gluten sensitivity, the options for gluten-free foods are growing. But knowing for sure whether products marketed as such are truly safe to eat can be more complicated than just reading a label. Now scientists, reporting in ACS' Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, have developed a more reliable way for manufacturers to detect gluten in purified wheat starch, a common ingredient in foods labeled gluten-free.
  
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• Swiss employees do not hold back on cynical behavior

  12-10-2016 16:18
  
  Every fourth employee regards promises made by the company they work for as having been broken and every third is not satisfied with their relationship to their superior and with their co-workers. This is shown by the current results of the Swiss Human Relations Barometer of the University of Zurich and ETH Zurich. Although more than half of the employees feel emotional ties to their employer, there is widespread cynicism in the workplace, e.g. in the form of derogatory remarks and ridicule.
  
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• Moms more likely than dads to favor both school diversity and neighborhood schools

  12-10-2016 16:17
  
  In the first empirical study on gender and school assignment, researchers find that mothers are more likely than fathers to favor both school diversity and so-called neighborhood schools. The study also finds that mothers are more likely to be concerned about challenges, dangers and uncertainty related to school assignments.
  
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• Nude-free Playboy hits iTunes, Google Play

  12-10-2016 15:38
  
  Playboy said Wednesday its nude-free magazine would be offered for the first time as Apple and Google digital subscriptions, as the iconic brand shifts to win over a new generation.
  
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• Getting maximum profit, minimal pollution

  12-10-2016 15:35
  
  There are more chickens in the United States than people in the entire world. Raising huge numbers of chickens generates large quantities of waste. This waste includes feces, feather, and bedding materials—collectively called chicken litter.
  
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• Where women are economically empowered, there are fewer disaster victims

  12-10-2016 15:34
  
  Among the bad news related to the ill effects of climate change is that women are impacted disproportionately by the resulting disasters. Women are more likely to experience poverty, poorer health outcomes and increased vulnerability to sexual violence due to climate-related disaster events, such as floods, storms and drought.
  
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• Approach to carbon atom breakup yields clues relevant to fusion reactions and astrophysics phenomena

  12-10-2016 15:30
  
  Regardless of the scenario, breaking up is dramatic. Take for example the case of carbon (12C) splitting into three nuclei of helium. Until now, due to the poor quality of data and limited detection capabilities, physicists did not know whether the helium fragments were the object of a direct breakup in multiple fragments up front or were formed in a sequence of successive fragmentations. The question has been puzzling physicists for some time. Now, scientists from Denmark's Aarhus University ha
  
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