Sci-Tech news

• Why Do Some Companies Have Multiple CEOs?

  03-11-2016 23:14 via nbcnews.com
  
  Whole Foods is eliminating its dual CEO structure, but other companies have multiple head honchos.
  
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• HP Enterprise and Rhode Island Meet for Hours for Mediation

  03-11-2016 22:45
  Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Rhode Island have met for court-ordered mediation over an unfinished project to build a new computer system for the state's Division of Motor Vehicles
  
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• Trace metal recombination centers kill LED efficiency

  03-11-2016 22:00
  
  Using cutting-edge first-principles calculations, researchers at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) have demonstrated the mechanism by which transition metal impurities - iron in particular - can act as nonradiative recombination centers in nitride semiconductors. The work highlights that such impurities can have a detrimental impact on the efficiency of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) based on gallium nitride or indium gallium nitride.
  
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• Scientists set traps for atoms with single-particle precision

  03-11-2016 22:00
  
  Atoms, photons, and other quantum particles are often capricious and finicky by nature; very rarely at a standstill, they often collide with others of their kind. But if such particles can be individually corralled and controlled in large numbers, they may be harnessed as quantum bits, or qubits—tiny units of information whose state or orientation can be used to carry out calculations at rates significantly faster than today's semiconductor-based computer chips.
  
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• EPA proposes expanded use of new herbicide, Enlist Duo

  03-11-2016 21:56
  
  The Environmental Protection Agency has proposed more than doubling the number of states allowed to use a new version of a popular weed killer on genetically modified crops despite its earlier concerns.
  
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• Physicists demonstrate existence of new subatomic structure

  03-11-2016 21:55
  
  Iowa State University researchers have helped demonstrate the existence of a subatomic structure once thought unlikely to exist.
  
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• Discovery of new bacteria complicates problem with salmon poisoning in dogs

  03-11-2016 21:54
  
  Researchers at Oregon State University have identified for the first time another bacterium that can cause symptoms similar to "salmon poisoning" in dogs - and may complicate the efforts of Pacific Northwest pet owners to keep their dogs protected and healthy.
  
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• Mussel power: Researches develop underwater glue

  03-11-2016 21:49
  
  Even the strongest glues collapse when soaked. Just watch a band-aid slide ungracefully off a finger or toe while in the shower. However, with support from the Office of Naval Research (ONR), one researcher has developed a nature-inspired adhesive that stays sticky when wet.
  
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• Molecular conductors help plants respond to drought

  03-11-2016 21:49
  
  We can tell when plants need water: their leaves droop and they start to look dry. But what's happening on a molecular level?
  
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• The Latest: Eastern Shoshone Tribe Marks Return of Buffalo

  03-11-2016 21:15
  Members of the Eastern Shoshone Tribe in Wyoming have released 10 buffalo onto their reservation lands
  
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• When It Comes to Success, Age Really Is Just a Number

  03-11-2016 20:38 via nytimes.com
  A new study points to a combination of personality, persistence and luck as leading to success, and scientists say that those same forces are at play at all levels of a discipline.
  
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• WikiLeaks founder denies Russia behind Podesta email hacking

  03-11-2016 19:15
  
  WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange denied Thursday that the Russian government or any other "state parties" were his group's source for more than 50,000 hacked emails from the files of Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman, John Podesta.
  
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• Study links human actions to specific Arctic sea ice melt

  03-11-2016 19:10
  
  Driving a gas-powered car about 90 miles—the distance between New York and Philadelphia—melts about a square foot of Arctic sea ice in the critical month of September, according to a new study that directly links carbon pollution to the amount of ice that's thawing.
  
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• Ready for the Biggest and Brightest Supermoon of the Century?

  03-11-2016 18:53 via nbcnews.com
  
  You better take it all in now because a supermoon like the one we're about to experience won't come around again until 2034.
  
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• Astronomers Discover a”Nearly Naked” Supermassive Black Hole

  03-11-2016 18:45 via scitechdaily.com
  
  Using the Very Long Baseline Array a team of astronomers has discovered the shredded remains of a galaxy that passed through a larger galaxy, leaving only the smaller galaxy’s nearly-naked supermassive black hole to emerge and speed away at more than 2,000 miles per second. The galaxies are part of a cluster of galaxies more […]
  The post Astronomers Discover a”Nearly Naked” Supermassive Black Hole appeared first on SciTech Daily.
  
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• Gene regulation: Shaping up to make the cut

  03-11-2016 18:26
  
  Before RNA copies of genes can program the synthesis of proteins, the non-coding regions are removed by the spliceosome. Munich researchers report that distinct conformations of a member of this molecular complex play a vital role in the process.
  
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• Huawei takes jab at Samsung with 'no explosion' phone

  03-11-2016 18:10
  
  Chinese electronics firm Huawei on Thursday unveiled its latest Mate 9 smartphone in Munich, designed to challenge global market leaders Apple and Samsung with features including a high-quality camera and higher-capacity battery.
  
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• Android gets record 87.5% of smartphone market: survey

  03-11-2016 18:00
  
  Google's Android operating system captured a record-high 87.5 percent of the global smartphone market in the third quarter, a research firm said.
  
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• MIT Develops Nanobionic Plants That Can Detect Explosives

  03-11-2016 17:58 via scitechdaily.com
  
  By embedding spinach leaves with carbon nanotubes, engineers transformed spinach plants into sensors that can detect explosives and wirelessly relay that information to a handheld device similar to a smartphone. Spinach is no longer just a superfood: By embedding leaves with carbon nanotubes, MIT engineers have transformed spinach plants into sensors that can detect explosives […]
  The post MIT Develops Nanobionic Plants That Can Detect Explosives appeared first on SciTech Daily.
  
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• Soil could become a significant source of carbon dioxide, experts warn

  03-11-2016 17:52
  
  If people continue using and changing the land over the next century in the same way they currently do, soils will have limited potential to counter the effect of climate change and will become a net source of atmospheric carbon dioxide, experts have warned.
  
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• Clearing the air in space: Improving life support on International Space Station and for deep space exploration

  03-11-2016 17:50
  
  For decades, NASA engineers have been key players in the design, fabrication and testing of the equipment that keeps astronauts safe in space—on Skylab, SpaceHab and the International Space Station. Teaming with industry, they created the Environmental Control and Life Support System for the orbiting laboratory to provide clean water and air, the basic elements needed for survival.
  
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• Volkswagen: Car Owners Signing up in Droves for $15B Deal

  03-11-2016 17:45
  An attorney for Volkswagen says car owners eligible for a buyback or fix under a settlement deal over the company's emissions cheating scandal are signing up and submitting claims at a high rate
  
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• Smells like teen spirit: How retailers can utilize sensory stimuli to create an appealing customer environment

  03-11-2016 17:45
  
  Anybody who's taken a teen to shop at Abercrombie & Fitch or Hollister is well aware of the scents and songs piped in to create an environment conducive to consumption and to help define their brands. Now researchers have teamed up to provide guidance to retailers contemplating similar strategies, via a meta-analysis of research related to the impact of music, scents, and colors on shoppers.
  
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• New “Morphing” Wing Could Enable More Efficient Plane Flight

  03-11-2016 17:38 via scitechdaily.com
  
  Engineers at MIT and NASA have developed a new kind of bendable, “morphing” wing that could enable more efficient plane manufacturing and flight. When the Wright brothers accomplished their first powered flight more than a century ago, they controlled the motion of their Flyer 1 aircraft using wires and pulleys that bent and twisted the […]
  The post New “Morphing” Wing Could Enable More Efficient Plane Flight appeared first on SciTech Daily.
  
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• Feedback loop behind spiral patterns in plants uncovered?

  03-11-2016 17:00
  
  This flower-like image shows a plant that is not developing quite right. It comes from a study in which scientists at EMBL and the University of Sydney unearthed the molecular feedback loop that creates the spiral pattern of leaves around a stem. The work is published today in Current Biology.
  
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• Electron kaleidoscope: New technique visualizes multiple objects in many colors

  03-11-2016 17:00
  
  Electron microscopy (EM), which uses particle beams of accelerated electrons to interrogate specimens, has long been a leading technology for revealing the shape and structure of the tiniest objects, from the cells which make up the bodies organs and microbes to individual building blocks or molecules which comprise cells, in often dramatic three-dimensional detail.
  
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• Ebola adapted to better infect humans during 2013-2016 epidemic

  03-11-2016 17:00
  
  Researchers have identified mutations in Ebola virus that emerged during the 2013-2016 Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa that increased the ability of the virus to infect human cells, two independent teams of researchers are reporting November 3 in Cell.
  
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• Correction: United Nations-Saudi Arabia-Water Prize Story

  03-11-2016 16:50
  Correction: United Nations-Saudi Arabia-Water Prize story
  
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• Break through the hype of unlimited data plans

  03-11-2016 16:30
  
  Cellphone carriers are going all in on unlimited data.
  
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• Plants cheat too: A new species of fungus-parasitizing orchid

  03-11-2016 16:27
  
  Plants usually produce their own nutrients by using sun energy, but not all of them! A new 'cheater' species of orchid from Japan, lives off nutrients obtained via a special kind of symbiosis with fungi. The study was published in the open access journal PhytoKeys.
  
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• White House announces US electric car recharging network

  03-11-2016 16:19
  
  The White House announced plans Thursday to create a 25,000 mile (40,000 km) recharging network for electric cars that it hopes will encourage drivers to switch from gasoline-powered vehicles.
  
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• Google rejects new EU anti-trust charges

  03-11-2016 16:17
  
  US Internet search giant Google on Thursday rejected new accusations by EU anti-trust regulators that it illegally abuses its market dominance, in its formal reaction to allegations by Brussels earlier this year.
  
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• Facebook skids on growth worries after blowout quarter

  03-11-2016 16:10
  
  Facebook shares tumbled Thursday after the huge social network delivered a blockbuster earnings report but warned that its stunning growth pace was set to slow.
  
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• Climate change: Low-hanging fruit ripe for the picking

  03-11-2016 16:00
  
  Earth is hurtling deep into the red zone of dangerous global warming, but experts say there are some low cost, effective options for putting on the brakes.
  
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• People Like Wrong Stuff Better on Facebook

  03-11-2016 15:55 via nbcnews.com
  
  People 'liked' and shared the most misleading Zika virus stories on Facebook more than the accurate posts, a new study finds.
  
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• Frog and toad larvae become vegetarian when it is hot

  03-11-2016 15:50
  
  Climate change is currently one of the greatest threats to biodiversity, and one of the groups of animals most affected by the increase in temperature is amphibians. A team of scientists with Spanish participants studied how heat waves affect the dietary choices of three species of amphibian found on the Iberian Peninsula: the European tree frog, the Mediterranean tree frog and the Iberian painted frog.
  
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• Automated cars could threaten jobs of professional drivers

  03-11-2016 15:50
  
  Ronald De Feo has watched robots take factory jobs for years. Now he sees them threatening a new class of worker: People who drive for a living.
  
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• Video: Marathon chemistry: The science of distance running

  03-11-2016 15:42
  
  Marathons are tough. Athletes push their bodies for miles and deal with cramping, dehydration and every runner's worst fear: that extreme form of fatigue called "hitting the wall." Why is distance running so difficult?
  
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• How your diet can influence your environmental impact

  03-11-2016 15:40
  
  The impact of our dietary choices on the global phosphorus footprint shouldn't be neglected, recent research in Frontiers in Nutrition shows. A shift towards a plant-based diet may be an undervalued solution toward decreasing our environmental impact and attaining phosphorus sustainability.
  
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• Fin24.com | Parliament edges closer to SABC probe

  03-11-2016 15:07
  
  A parliamentary ad hoc committee which will investigate instability at the SABC and its board will be established soon, following a motion put forward by the ANC chief whip.
  
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• Morocco's oases fight back creeping desert sands

  03-11-2016 15:02
  
  On the edge of the southwestern town of Rissani, Abdelrahman Ahmidani sighs as he reflects on the state of the Moroccan oasis, endangered by drought and climate change.
  
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• When dictators die, stability reigns

  03-11-2016 14:55
  
  A dictator's death rarely leads to regime change, according to a new study that comes as a fifth of the world's authoritarian rulers are at least 70 years old and in various stages of declining health.
  
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• Biodiversity needs citizen scientists

  03-11-2016 14:55
  
  Citizen scientists are already providing large amounts of data for monitoring biodiversity, but they could do much more, according to a new study published in the journal Biological Conservation, which suggests that citizen science has the potential to contribute much more to regional and global assessments of biodiversity. Citizen scientists are regular people who provide data or input to science, for example by monitoring species in their community or examining satellite imagery for evidence o
  
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• Plant roots in the dark see light

  03-11-2016 14:54
  
  Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena, Germany, and Seoul National University, South Korea, were able to show for the first time that roots react directly to light which is transmitted from the shoot to the underground parts of Arabidopsis thaliana plants. Roots can thus effectively adapt plant growth to the light conditions in the environment.
  
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• Tropical depression morphs into Meari in one day

  03-11-2016 14:53
  
  Tropical Storm Meari began as a tropical depression numbered 26W north-northwest of Yap in the early morning hours of November 3, 2016. Later that day it intensified into Tropical Storm Meari.
  
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• Major family of gene-regulating proteins has drug-sized pocket

  03-11-2016 14:42
  
  An entire class of proteins called transcription factors, which regulate the activity of certain genes by interacting with specific sequences of DNA, has largely been ignored by the pharmaceutical industry because it's difficult to design and screen drugs against them. But a new study from scientists at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute suggests that a key group of transcription factors are in fact 'druggable,' including several that could be targeted to treat cancer, metabolic
  
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• Award for innovative cell culture technology

  03-11-2016 14:42
  
  Researchers at ETH Zurich have developed a new cell culture method, which may very well enable to forgo certain tests on animals in the future. The scientists were awarded an international prize for more humane treatment of laboratory animals.
  
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• Mining digital crumbs helps predict crowds' mobility

  03-11-2016 14:35
  
  Getting urban planning right is no mean feat. It requires understanding how and when people travel between different places. This knowledge, in turn, helps in dimensioning roads and motorways and in scaling the capacity of utilities, such as power grids or mobile phone towers. Now, physicists at the Institute for Scientific Interchange Foundation in Turin, Italy, have exploited the geolocalisation data from millions of users of the photo sharing site Flickr to show how it is possible to predict
  
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• Climate science: Bad news gets worse

  03-11-2016 14:30
  
  Diplomats from 196 nations gather from Monday for 12-day UN climate talks tasked with charting a path for capping global warming at "well below" two degree Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial era levels.
  
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• China launches first heavy-lift rocket

  03-11-2016 14:20
  
  China launched its most powerful rocket ever on Thursday, state media said, as the country presses on with a program which has seen it become a major space power.
  
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