Sci-Tech news

• NASA on the hunt for space poop geniuses

  23-11-2016 23:10
  
  When you've got to go, but you're out there in space, zipped up in a spacesuit, with no toilet in sight and a crew of other astronauts around, what do you do?
  
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• Russia Joins US in Seeking Return of Alleged LinkedIn Hacker

  23-11-2016 22:14 via abcnews.go.com
  The Czech Justice Ministry says Russia has joined the United States in seeking the extradition of a Russian man who faces charges in the US of hacking and stealing information from computers at LinkedIn and other San Francisco Bay Area companies
  
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• Ailing humpback whale stuck on New York sandbar euthanized

  23-11-2016 21:51
  
  An ailing humpback whale that became grounded on a sandbar off New York has been euthanized.
  
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• Ailing humpback whale stuck in New York bay is euthanized

  23-11-2016 21:51
  
  An ailing 25-foot humpback whale that became grounded on a sandbar off New York has been euthanized.
  
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• Just add water: New discovery in plant-disease mechanism

  23-11-2016 21:45
  
  We all know that when it rains, plants grow. When it doesn't, they don't.
  
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• Internet of Things will demand a step-change in search solutions

  23-11-2016 21:45
  
  A recent article published in IEEE Intelligent Systems highlights the requirements the IoT will place on search engines and brings together the latest research being carried out in this field. 'On Searching the Internet of Things: Requirements and Challenges' has been written by leading researchers working in the field of next generation communications at the University of Surrey's Institute of Communication Systems (home of the 5G Innovation Centre) and Ohio Center of Excellence in Knowledge En
  
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• Greater job satisfaction for transgender employees

  23-11-2016 21:43
  
  Transgender individuals in the workplace can sometimes feel stigmatized, either through the actions and attitudes of their coworkers, or through their own fears of being treated as an "other." This can have a negative effect on their attitudes about their jobs.
  
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• Did comets kick-start life on Earth?

  23-11-2016 21:42
  
  The origins of life on Earth are still shrouded in mystery. One compelling possibility is that comets delivered the building blocks for life eons ago.
  
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• For wearable electronic devices, NIST shows plastic holes are golden

  23-11-2016 21:41
  
  In science, sometimes the best discoveries come when you're exploring something else entirely. That's the case with recent findings from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), where a research team has come up with a way to build safe, nontoxic gold wires onto flexible, thin plastic film. Their demonstration potentially clears the path for a host of wearable electronic devices that monitor our health.
  
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• Sweat It out! Skin Patch Aims to Test Sweat for Health

  23-11-2016 20:44 via abcnews.go.com
  
  Breaking a sweat
  
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• Scientists find huge reduction in African dust plume led to more Saharan monsoons 11,000 years ago

  23-11-2016 20:00
  
  Every year, trade winds over the Sahara Desert sweep up huge plumes of mineral dust, transporting hundreds of teragrams—enough to fill 10 million dump trucks—across North Africa and over the Atlantic Ocean. This dust can be blown for thousands of kilometers and settle in places as far away as Florida and the Bahamas.
  
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• Coconut crab claws pinch with the strongest force of any crustacean

  23-11-2016 20:00
  
  The claws of coconut crabs have the strongest pinching force of any crustacean, according to a study published November 23, 2016 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Shin-ichiro Oka from Okinawa Churashima Foundation, Japan, and colleagues.
  
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• Egyptian archaeologists uncover Pharaonic village, tombs

  23-11-2016 19:21
  
  Egyptian archeologists have discovered a Pharaonic village and cemetery once used by officials tasked with building royal tombs.
  
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• Mood ring materials—a new way to detect damage in failing infrastructure

  23-11-2016 19:20
  
  "Mood ring materials" could play an important role in minimizing and mitigating damage to the nation's failing infrastructure.
  
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• Twitter CEO Accidentally Banned from His Own Site

  23-11-2016 19:07 via nbcnews.com
  
  Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey was briefly cut off from using the site.
  
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• Panda twins baptised at Vienna zoo

  23-11-2016 19:03
  
  Two pandas conceived naturally and born at Vienna zoo, Fu Feng and Fu Ban, were officially baptised on Wednesday, 100 days after their birth.
  
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• Your Dog Remembers Every Move You Make - NPR

  23-11-2016 19:02 via npr.org
  
  NPR
  Your Dog Remembers Every Move You Make
  NPR
  You may not remember what you were doing a few minutes ago. But your dog probably does. A study of 17 dogs found they could remember and imitate their owners' actions up to an hour later. The results, published Wednesday in Current Biology, suggest ...
  Your dog is watching you very carefully and remembers what you doWashington Post
  Your Dog Remembers All Those Awful Things You DidGizmodo
  Your dog might be much smarter than you thinkUSA TODAY
  C
  
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• Writing an equation for soil success

  23-11-2016 19:02
  
  Soil isn't one size fits all. It may look the same under your feet - but under a microscope, that's a different story. A plant's roots, tiny bugs - these things can tell one soil from another quite easily.
  
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• Sliding on flexible graphene surfaces has been uncharted territory until now

  23-11-2016 19:00
  
  Graphene, a two-dimensional form of carbon in sheets just one atom in thick, has been the subject of widespread research, in large part because of its unique combination of strength, electrical conductivity, and chemical stability. But despite many years of study, some of graphene's fundamental properties are still not well-understood, including the way it behaves when something slides along its surface.
  
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• Pioneering study of invertebrates discovers 1,445 viruses including several new families

  23-11-2016 19:00
  
  A groundbreaking study of the virosphere of the most populous animals - those without backbones such as insects, spiders and worms and that live around our houses - has uncovered 1445 viruses, revealing people have only scratched the surface of the world of viruses - but it is likely that only a few cause disease.
  
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• New study reveals when West Antarctica's largest glacier started retreating

  23-11-2016 19:00
  
  Reporting this week (Wednesday Nov. 23) in the journal Nature an international team led by British Antarctic Survey (BAS) explains that present-day thinning and retreat of Pine Island Glacier, one of the largest and fastest shrinking glaciers of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, is part of a climate trend that was already underway as early as the 1940s.
  
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• Donald Trump tells Tim Cook to build iPhones in the USA - Macworld

  23-11-2016 19:00 via macworld.com
  
  Macworld
  Donald Trump tells Tim Cook to build iPhones in the USA
  Macworld
  Trump says tax breaks will incentivize Apple to manufacture its best-selling product on American shores. Susie Ochs By Susie Ochs. | Follow. Executive Editor, Macworld | Nov 23, 2016 10:00 AM PT ...
  Trump says he talked to Apple's CEO. Here's what he says they talked about.CNBC
  Donald Trump Tells Tim Cook He'll Offer Apple 'Very Large Tax Cut' to Make Products in AmericaMac Rumors
  Would you pay more for an American-m
  
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• Holiday shopping? Bring these four money-saving apps with you

  23-11-2016 18:40
  
  If you're looking to save a few bucks at the mall while holiday shopping, charge up the smartphone and bring these apps with you. The four apps, which I've been using all year, can help find you coupons, compare prices or price match. All are available for Apple and Android devices and are free to download:
  
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• NASA sees Tropical Storm Otto heading toward landfall in Central America

  23-11-2016 18:37
  
  Satellites are keeping track of late-season Tropical Storm Otto as it threatens Central America. NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite captured an image of Otto as it was briefly strengthening into a hurricane.
  
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• Harnessing the power of predatory bacteria as a 'living antibiotic'

  23-11-2016 18:36
  
  A naturally occurring predatory bacterium is able to work with the immune system to clear multi-drug resistant Shigella infections in zebrafish, according to a study published today in Current Biology.
  
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• Your dog remembers what you did

  23-11-2016 18:30
  
  People have a remarkable ability to remember and recall events from the past, even when those events didn't hold any particular importance at the time they occurred. Now, researchers reporting in the journal Current Biology on November 23 have evidence that dogs have that kind of "episodic memory" too.
  
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• Aviation enhancements, better biosensors could result from new sensor technology

  23-11-2016 18:24
  
  Piezoelectric sensors measure changes in pressure, acceleration, temperature, strain or force and are used in a vast array of devices important to everyday life. However, these sensors often can be limited by the "white noise" they detect that can give engineers and health care workers false readings. Now, a University of Missouri College of Engineering research team has developed methods to enhance piezoelectric sensing capabilities. Enhanced sensors could be used to improve aviation, detect st
  
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• Researchers run largest known transparent checkpointing process

  23-11-2016 18:22
  
  A team of researchers led by Jiajun Cao, a PhD candidate in the College of Computer and Information Science (CCIS) at Northeastern University, recently completed what appears to be the largest known instance of transparent checkpointing.
  
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• Under Trump, NASA may lose climate research - PBS NewsHour

  23-11-2016 17:32 via pbs.org
  
  PBS NewsHour
  Under Trump, NASA may lose climate research
  PBS NewsHour
  An image of the Arctic sea ice on February 25, 2015 when the ice reached its maximum annual extent. The 2015 maximum is compared to the 1979-2014 average maximum shown in yellow. A distance indicator shows the difference between the two in the ...
  Trump's Plan to Eliminate NASA Climate Research Is Ill-Informed and DangerousSlate Magazine (blog)
  Trump's plan to defund NASA's climate research is ... yikesPopular Science
  Po
  
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• Microsoft brings Solitaire to iOS and Android - The Verge

  23-11-2016 17:31 via theverge.com
  
  VentureBeat
  Microsoft brings Solitaire to iOS and Android
  The Verge
  Microsoft is bringing its popular version of Solitaire to iOS and Android today. While the game as existed on Windows for more than 25 years, the modern Solitaire Collection will now be available outside of Windows for the first time. Microsoft is ...
  Microsoft's Famous Solitaire Game Comes To Android And iOSForbes
  Microsoft Solitaire Collection from Windows 10 now available for Android and iOSBetaNews
  2016 is saved as Microsof
  
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• Exclusive: Microsoft set to win EU approval for LinkedIn buy - sources - Reuters

  23-11-2016 17:31 via reuters.com
  
  Reuters
  Exclusive: Microsoft set to win EU approval for LinkedIn buy - sources
  Reuters
  A Microsoft logo is seen a day after Microsoft Corp's $26.2 billion purchase of LinkedIn Corp, in Los Angeles, California, U.S. June 14, 2016. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson/File Photo. 2/2. left. right. The logo for LinkedIn Corporation is shown in Mountain ...
  Microsoft is expected to receive EU regulatory approval for its $26.2bn LinkedIn acquisitionNeowin
  The Morning Download: Microsoft Acquisition of LinkedIn is
  
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• How to protect your laptop—even when it's asleep

  23-11-2016 17:11
  
  In the age of WikiLeaks, Russian hacks and increased government surveillance, many computer users are feeling increasingly worried about how best to protect their personal information—even if they aren't guarding state secrets.
  
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• Facebook may be experimenting with software that censors posts - AOL News

  23-11-2016 17:02 via aol.com
  
  AOL News
  Facebook may be experimenting with software that censors posts
  AOL News
  Current and former Facebook employees, who wished to remain anonymous, told the New York Times the social media website is experimenting with software to suppress posts in the Communist-led country. The Chinese government blocked Facebook in ...
  Op-Ed: Facebook's descent into the rabbit hole of censorship 'is suicidal'CNBC
  Facebook Reportedly Willing to Restrict News Stories in ChinaTIME
  Facebook has reportedl
  
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• Sri Lanka bans use of young elephants for work

  23-11-2016 16:59
  
  Sri Lanka unveiled tougher laws Wednesday, including a ban on using young elephants for logging and other physical work, as part of a crackdown on cruelty to domesticated wild animals.
  
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• Europe air pollution causes 467,000 early deaths a year: report

  23-11-2016 16:59
  
  Almost nine out of 10 European city dwellers breathe air that is harmful to their health, though the continent's air quality is slowly improving, the European Environment Agency (EEA) said Wednesday.
  
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• Scientists create first intermetallic double salt with platinum

  23-11-2016 16:58
  
  Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory are being credited with creating the first intermetallic double salt with platinum.
  
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• DNA influences selection of partners for educational achievement

  23-11-2016 16:54
  
  A study co-led by the University of East Anglia (UEA) has found that people with genes for high educational achievement tend to marry, and have children with, people with similar DNA.
  
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• The Feds are pushing smartphone makers to block certain apps while driving - The Verge

  23-11-2016 16:50 via theverge.com
  
  Android Headlines
  The Feds are pushing smartphone makers to block certain apps while driving
  The Verge
  Apple, Samsung, and other smartphone manufacturers are being asked by federal auto safety regulators to consider adding a “driver mode” to block certain apps and functions to prevent distracted driving. In a guidance released Wednesday — and first ...
  NHTSA spells out what your phone shouldn't be able to do while drivingTechCrunch
  NHTSA Calls For OEMs To Combat Distracte
  
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• Grow more crops at the same time

  23-11-2016 16:50
  
  When you are in the supermarket contemplating which vegetables to buy, nitrogen is hardly the first thing on your mind. However, the products on the shelves contribute to the total nitrogen cycle in different ways. For instance, consider the leek. This slender bulbous plant has a superficial root system and requires a significant amount of nitrogen. The fact that it is harvested late in the season makes it difficult to grow catch crops. This makes leeks major environmental culprits - irrespectiv
  
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• Screen to beam technology: The rise of haptic interfaces

  23-11-2016 16:49
  
  Haptic interfaces have been readily adopted because of their intuitive ease of use and convenience. Obvious examples are the screens for your mobile phone or other computing devices where keyboards have been eliminated. This technology, which has been welcomed in everyday life, can also find a home in scientific research, especially in the case of "point and click" interfaces. The haptic interface provides the immediate "front end". An equally powerful and parallel development has been cloud com
  
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• New tool to show advertising revenue generated by each Facebook user

  23-11-2016 16:46
  
  Researchers at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, as part of a European research project, have developed a new software tool which allows Facebook users to visualize the advertising revenue they generate while browsing in this online social network.
  
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• Genomics reveals hen harrier is two distinct species

  23-11-2016 16:45
  
  The study, published as the cover article in BioMed Central's Avian Research, led by the Earlham Institute and the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology at the University of California, explores the phylogenetic relationship between two forms of Harriers (Circus cyaneus); the Eurasian Hen Harrier (C. c. cyaneus) and the American Northern Harrier (C. c. hudsonius) to distinguish their ancestry and evolution.
  
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• Scientists develop vaccine against fatal prescription opioid overdose

  23-11-2016 16:43
  
  Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have developed a vaccine that blocks the pain-numbing effects of the opioid drugs oxycodone (oxy) and hydrocodone (hydro) in animal models. The vaccine also appears to decrease the risk of fatal opioid overdose, a growing cause of death in the United States.
  
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• Molecular chameleons reveal bacterial biofilms

  23-11-2016 16:43
  
  Molecules that change colour can be used to follow in real-time how bacteria form a protective biofilm around themselves. This new method, which has been developed in collaboration between researchers at Linköping University and Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, may in the future become significant both in medical care and the food industry, where bacterial biofilms are a problem.
  
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• Your Guide to a Tech-ed Out Turkey Day

  23-11-2016 16:41 via nbcnews.com
  
  Americans will be spending a combined $2.8 billion on Thanksgiving dinners all across the country, according to the USDA National Agricult
  
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• Climate model predictions are telling a consistent story

  23-11-2016 16:41
  
  Three independent methods of modelling climate change impact on yield display the same bleak tendency: When global temperature increases, wheat yield will decline. This is demonstrated in a study carried out by an international group scientists, including Professor Joergen E. Olesen and Postdoc Mohamed Jabloun from the Department of Agroecology at Aarhus University.
  
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• Health diagnosis through bio-signal measuring electrodes on IoT devices

  23-11-2016 16:40
  
  Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology announced that Professor Kyung-in Jang's research team from the Department of Robotics Engineering succeeded in developing bio-signal measuring electrodes that can be mounted on Internet of Things (IoT) devices through joint research with a research team led by professor John Rogers of the University of Illinois, USA.
  
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• Electronic tracking of song birds shows roads and urban features influence their choice of gardens

  23-11-2016 16:40
  
  Birds prefer to fly between the gardens of leafy suburban neighbourhoods to visit bird feeders than city terraces or new-build estates, a ground-breaking study tracking the behaviour of hundreds of garden birds has found.
  
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• Crowdsourced data can help researchers study earthquakes

  23-11-2016 16:40
  
  A new study on how people feel the effects of earthquakes illustrates the value that members of the public can add to the scientific research process.
  
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• Gov't Wants Phone Makers to Lock out Most Apps for Drivers

  23-11-2016 16:14 via abcnews.go.com
  The government wants smartphone makers to lock out most apps when the phone is being used by someone driving a car
  
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