Sci-Tech news

• Facebook glitch made it appear some users had died

  11-11-2016 23:55
  
  Some Facebook users received an unsettling shock Friday, when an unexplained glitch caused the social networking service to post a notice that implied they were dead.
  
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• Computer outage briefly grounds flights on several airlines

  11-11-2016 22:58
  
  Airlines are dealing with another computer outage that is disrupting flight schedules heading into the weekend.
  
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• Facebook tweaks race-based ad targeting policy

  11-11-2016 22:33
  
  Facebook says it will no longer allow advertisers to use ethnicity as a filter when it comes to targeting or hiding ads offering housing, employment or credit.
  
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• Pest control: Wicked weeds may be agricultural angels

  11-11-2016 22:31
  
  Farmers looking to reduce reliance on pesticides, herbicides and other pest management tools may want to heed the advice of Cornell agricultural scientists: Let nature be nature - to a degree.
  
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• Fake News Did Not Influence the Election, Says Zuckerberg

  11-11-2016 20:58 via nbcnews.com
  
  Zuckerberg responds to criticism that Facebook's "dust cloud of nonsense" muddied the waters for the electorate.
  
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• WATCH: Redesigned Gmail App For iOS Features 'Undo Send' Button

  11-11-2016 20:54
  
  Now you can undo a sent email on Gmail's mobile app.
  
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• High-res commercial satellite launches from California coast

  11-11-2016 20:40
  
  A rocket carrying a commercial satellite has launched from a military base along the California coast.
  
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• Crowd workers help robot keep conversation fresh

  11-11-2016 20:40
  
  People can find a hundred ways to say the same thing, which poses a challenge to robots that are expected to keep up their end of conversations. A Disney Research team's solution is to devise an automated method of crowdsourcing multiple lines of dialogue. After all, "hello" is a perfectly fine greeting, but not every time you see someone.
  
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• $12.9B, 4.5 acres: Navy's next-generation aircraft carrier

  11-11-2016 20:35
  
  The Navy refers to its newest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, as "4.5 acres of sovereign U.S. territory." The $12.9 billion warship—the first of the Navy's next generation of aircraft carriers—is in the final stages of construction after cost overruns and a delay of more than one year.
  
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• Spain vows to quickly ratify climate pact

  11-11-2016 20:34
  
  Spain will quickly ratify a global pact aimed at taming climate change, a step which had been delayed by months of political paralysis, Environment Minister Isabel Garcia Tejerina said Friday.
  
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• NASA's earliest and greatest astronauts star in new exhibit

  11-11-2016 20:34
  
  NASA's earliest and greatest astronauts star in a new space exhibit called "Heroes and Legends."
  
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• German government in last-minute agreement on climate plan

  11-11-2016 20:34
  
  The German government on Friday reached agreement on a long-delayed plan to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, clinching a deal ahead of next week's high-level global climate talks in Morocco.
  
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• Inhibiting the AIM2 Pathway Could Potentially Limit Radiation Damage to Cells

  11-11-2016 18:17 via scitechdaily.com
  
  New research from Yale University shows that a drug that blocks or inhibits the AIM2 pathway could potentially limit the deleterious side effect of chemotherapy or radiotherapy on cancer patients. High doses of radiation from cancer treatment can cause severe damage to cells and tissues, resulting in injury to bone marrow and the gastrointestinal tract. […]
  The post Inhibiting the AIM2 Pathway Could Potentially Limit Radiation Damage to Cells appeared first on SciTech Daily.
  
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• Get Ready for the November Supermoon

  11-11-2016 17:57 via scitechdaily.com
  
  Don’t miss the upcoming supermoon on Monday, November 14. It will be the closest full moon to Earth since 1948 and we won’t see another supermoon like this until 2034. The moon’s orbit around Earth is slightly elliptical so sometimes it is closer and sometimes it’s farther away. When the moon is full as it […]
  The post Get Ready for the November Supermoon appeared first on SciTech Daily.
  
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• Brain development: How a 'molecular compass' regulates proper cell division

  11-11-2016 17:41
  
  Researchers at the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology in Vienna have unravelled how a tiny microRNA molecule controls growth and differentiation of brain cells.
  
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• A hydrogen-rich, passive galaxy

  11-11-2016 17:41
  
  Cold gas in the form of neutral hydrogen atoms provides the reservoir for star formation in galaxies from the distant to the nearby Universe. Understanding how it accretes onto galaxies is of crucial importance because fresh supplies of gas fuel the ongoing star-forming. In the most popular version, accretion onto the galaxy occurs along cosmic filaments, and at least in more massive galaxies is heated by shocks in the process; in smaller galaxies the infalling material stays relatively cool. Si
  
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• Newly discovered genetic code controls bacterial survival during infections

  11-11-2016 17:40
  
  The genetic code that allows cells to store the information necessary for life is well-known. Four nucleotides, abbreviated A, C, G, and T, spell out DNA sequences that code for all of the proteins cells need.
  
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• Energy storage system of tomorrow

  11-11-2016 17:40
  
  Invention by Horst Schmidt-Böcking and Gerhard Luther basis for a novel marine pumped storage system developed by the Fraunhofer Institute for Wind Energy and Energy System Technology (IWES) / Tested for the first time in Lake Constance.
  
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• How molluscs build their shells in the sub-zero waters of Antarctica

  11-11-2016 17:39
  
  A new study on how molluscs build their shells in the sub-zero waters of Antarctica is published today (Friday 11 November) in the journal Scientific Reports.
  
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• Zuckerberg: That Facebook influenced election is 'crazy'

  11-11-2016 17:16
  
  Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg says the idea that Facebook influenced the outcome of the U.S. election is a "crazy idea."
  
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• Zuckerberg: 'Crazy' to say Facebook influenced election (Update)

  11-11-2016 17:16
  
  Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg says the idea that fake news spread on Facebook influenced the outcome of the U.S. election is "crazy."
  
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• Zuckerberg: 'Crazy' to say Facebook influenced election

  11-11-2016 17:16
  
  Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg says the idea that fake news spread on Facebook influenced the outcome of the U.S. election is "crazy."
  
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• At UN Talks, Trump Win Sparks Fears Climate Aid Will Fizzle

  11-11-2016 17:15
  Delegates at U.N. climate change talks fear the election of Donald Trump as U.S. president could jeopardize a $100 billion plan launched by his rival Hillary Clinton seven years ago to help poor countries to cope with climate change
  
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• New maps reveal safe locations for wastewater injection

  11-11-2016 16:54
  
  Stanford geophysicists have compiled the most detailed maps yet of the geologic forces controlling the locations, types and magnitudes of earthquakes in Texas and Oklahoma.
  
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• New York braces for the looming threats of climate change

  11-11-2016 16:50
  
  On calm days, waters innocently wash against the aging seawalls at Manhattan's southernmost park, but in decades to come they could inundate the island's lower districts.
  
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• Trump Likely to Try to Reverse Obama Environment Initiatives

  11-11-2016 16:15
  President-elect Donald Trump has not minced words about his approach to environment and energy policy: He loathes regulation and wants to increase the use of coal, offshore drilling and fracking
  
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• Grubhub CEO backtracks after asking Trump supporters to quit

  11-11-2016 16:06
  
  The co-founder of food delivery service Grubhub sent an email to all his employees suggesting that supporters of President-elect Donald Trump should resign, then issued a statement saying he welcomes all employees, regardless of their political beliefs.
  
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• Plants modulate accumulation of metabolites at organ level

  11-11-2016 16:05
  
  Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena and the University of Heidelberg, Germany, illuminated the diversity and different accumulation of chemical substances in the tissues of the ecological model plant Nicotiana attenuata. For their results, they used computational metabolomics and information theory. This approach was specifically designed for this study and enabled the researchers to study plant metabolism at the level of single organs. This new method allows fo
  
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• Even physicists are 'afraid' of mathematics

  11-11-2016 16:04
  
  Physicists avoid highly mathematical work despite being trained in advanced mathematics, new research suggests.
  
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• Using pectin to advance neuron-like electronic systems

  11-11-2016 16:02
  
  Most of us know pectin as a key ingredient for making delicious jellies and jams, not as a component for a complex hybrid device that links biological and electronic systems. But a team of Italian scientists have built on previous work in this field using pectin with a high degree of methylation as the medium to create a new architecture of hybrid device with a double-layered polyelectrolyte that alone drives memristive behavior.
  
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• Study examines effectiveness of probation program

  11-11-2016 16:00
  
  Within the criminal justice community, an approach to community supervision known as Honest Opportunity Probation with Enforcement (HOPE) has generated widespread enthusiasm and praise as a way to reduce substance use, violations, new arrests, and revocations to prison, while also leading to significant cost savings for local justice systems. A new study casts doubts on the benefits of HOPE over probation as usual (PAU), however.
  
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• Primitive reward-driven behaviors may bias the information people choose to sample

  11-11-2016 15:58
  
  The way people make decisions often seems irrational. One explanation for this behavior is that they seek evidence that confirms what they already believe, a phenomenon called 'confirmation bias'. But new research in open-access journal PLOS Biology suggests that confirmation bias may not be the only factor that influences how people sample information. The tendency to choose items associated with rewards—known as 'Pavlovian approach' —can also bias the information people choose to s
  
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• Which chemicals are hazardous to reproduction?

  11-11-2016 15:55
  
  Regulatory authorities around the world can in future instruct manufacturers of chemicals and drugs to check their products for harmful effects on reproduction by means of a new test with molluscs. After over 10 years of funding by the German Environment Agency in Dessau, a project coordinated by Goethe University Frankfurt has now resulted in an OECD guideline (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) for global chemical testing. The test analyses in the laboratory the long-term
  
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• Cosmic whistle packs a surprisingly energetic punch

  11-11-2016 15:39
  
  Penn State University astronomers have discovered that the mysterious "cosmic whistles" known as fast radio bursts can pack a serious punch, in some cases releasing a billion times more energy in gamma-rays than they do in radio waves and rivaling the stellar cataclysms known as supernovae in their explosive power. The discovery, the first-ever finding of non-radio emission from any fast radio burst, drastically raises the stakes for models of fast radio bursts and is expected to further energiz
  
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• Was physics really violated by EM drive in 'leaked' NASA paper?

  11-11-2016 15:30
  
  Ever since NASA announced that they had created a prototype of the controversial Radio Frequency Resonant Cavity Thruster (aka. the EM Drive), any and all reported results have been the subject of controversy. And with most of the announcements taking the form of "leaks" and rumors, all reported developments have been naturally treated with skepticism.
  
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• Dark matter may be hiding in a hidden sector

  11-11-2016 15:30
  
  (Phys.org)—Currently, one of the strongest candidates for dark matter is weakly interacting massive particles, or WIMPS, although so far this hypothetical particle has not yet been directly detected. Now in a new study, physicists have proposed that dark matter is not a WIMP, and further, it is not any particle that is so far known or theorized to exist.
  
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• New cybersecurity framework profile to ensure safe transfer of hazardous liquids at ports

  11-11-2016 15:20
  
  The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) oversees approximately 800 waterfront facilities that, among other activities, transfer hazardous liquids between marine vessels and land-based pipelines, tanks or vehicles. These "maritime bulk liquid transfers" increasingly rely on computers to operate valves and pumps, monitor sensors and perform many other vital safety and security functions. This makes the whole system more vulnerable to cybersecurity issues ranging from malware to human error, and is the reason
  
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• Discovery of a nearby super-Earth with only five times our mass

  11-11-2016 15:16
  
  Red dwarf stars have proven to be a treasure trove for exoplanet hunters in recent years. In addition to multiple exoplanets candidates being detected around stars like TRAPPIST-1, Gliese 581, Gliese 667C, and Kepler 296, there was also the ESO's recent discovery of a planet orbiting within the habitable zone of our sun's closest neighbor – Proxima Centauri.
  
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• New NIST guide helps small businesses improve cybersecurity

  11-11-2016 15:13
  
  Small-business owners may think that they are too small to be victims of cyber hackers, but Pat Toth knows otherwise. Toth leads outreach efforts to small businesses on cybersecurity at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and understands the challenges these businesses face in protecting their data and systems.
  
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• Four ways the ozone hole is linked to climate, and one way it isn't

  11-11-2016 15:09
  
  To mark the peak of ozone hole season, we're highlighting four ways that climate and the ozone hole are related—and one important way they aren't. But before you read any further, please take a few moments to enjoy a gorgeous view of the night sky (and an aurora) over the South Pole captured by Patrick Cullis, a NOAA/CIRES scientist who was stationed there from 2008-2009. Antarctica's long months of polar darkness are a key ingredient to the making of the yearly ozone hole, but that doesn'
  
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• Remote sensing tech sees positive response from federal agencies

  11-11-2016 15:08
  
  In the wake of natural disasters, being able to quickly and accurately assess the damage to roads, bridges and other critical infrastructure can save lives. That fact is one of the driving forces for a University of New Mexico research team making big strides in the field of remote sensing.
  
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• NASA to launch fleet of hurricane-tracking SmallSats

  11-11-2016 15:08
  
  NASA is set to launch its first Earth science small satellite constellation, which will help improve hurricane intensity, track and storm surge forecasts, on Dec. 12 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
  
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• Bulk bone metabarcoding to uncover early eating habits

  11-11-2016 15:08
  
  A DNA metabarcoding approach to study bone fragments could reveal what Western Australia's early aboriginal people ate for dinner.
  
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• Research pair outlines new field of 'web science'

  11-11-2016 14:50
  
  (Phys.org)—A pair of web scientists has written a Technology Perspective piece for the journal Science outlining the newly developing field of "web science." In their article, James Hendler with Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Wendy Hall, with the University of Southampton, also offer some arguments for the importance of social sciences regarding the internet as technology continues to change our world and the way people interact.
  
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• Image: Virunga Mountains

  11-11-2016 14:40
  
  This Sentinel-1 radar composite image features the Virunga Mountains in East Africa: a chain of volcanoes stretching across Rwanda's northern border with Uganda and east into the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
  
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• Method found for pulling hydrogen from ammonia for use as clean fuel

  11-11-2016 14:30
  
  (Phys.org)—A trio of researchers with Princeton University has found a way to weaken the strong bonds between the nitrogen and hydrogen atoms in ammonia molecules while simultaneously releasing a single hydrogen atom to create hydrogen gas. In their paper published in the journal Science, Máté Bezdek, Sheng Guo and Paul Chirik describe the process and the likelihood of using it as a new hydrogen source. Jessica Hoover with West Virginia University offers a Perspective piece o
  
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• LHC begins colliding proton beams with beams made up of heavy ions

  11-11-2016 14:30
  
  Following seven successful months of colliding proton beams with each other in the search for new fundamental particles, the LHC today began colliding proton beams with beams made up of heavy ions – the nuclei of lead atoms.
  
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• Skin bacteria could protect against disease

  11-11-2016 14:20
  
  There are more and more examples of the ways in which we can benefit from our bacteria. According to researcher Rolf Lood from Lund University in Sweden, this is true for the skin as well. He has shown that the most common bacteria on human skin secrete a protein which protects us from the reactive oxygen species thought to contribute to several skin diseases. The protein has an equally strong effect on dangerous oxygen species as known antioxidants such as vitamin C and vitamin E.
  
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• New book describes the diverse food challenges faced by Hawaii

  11-11-2016 14:20
  
  A rich compilation of case studies by island scholars and writers, Food and Power in Hawai'i: Visions of Food Democracy explores the diversity of food challenges faced by the state. Edited by Aya H. Kimura and Krisnawati Suryanata of UH Mānoa's College of Social Sciences, the book includes discussions on land use policies, a gendered and racialized farming population, benefits and costs of biotechnology, stratified access to nutritious foods, as well as ensuring the economic
  
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• New app launched to explain benefits of carbon dioxide

  11-11-2016 14:11
  
  A new app to explain how Carbon Dioxide (CO2) can be used to make products, therefore lowering emissions, has been launched at COP22 in Marrakech today (Friday 11 November 2016).
  
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