Sci-Tech news

• Mexican grade-school student proposes bulletproof backpack

  24-11-2016 21:50
  
  A grade-school student in the violent Mexican border city of Matamoros has won a runner-up prize in a state science fair with an unusual proposal: a bulletproof backpack to hide behind during shootouts.
  
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• Upward mobility boosts immunity in monkeys

  24-11-2016 20:00
  
  The richest and poorest Americans differ in life expectancy by more than a decade. Glaring health inequalities across the socioeconomic spectrum are often attributed to access to medical care and differences in habits such as smoking, exercise and diet.
  
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• Tissue damage is key for cell reprogramming

  24-11-2016 20:00
  
  Cell reprogramming does not happen exactly as we thought. In the pages of the journal Science, a team from the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO) has shown that tissue damage is a relevant factor for cells to go back to an embryonic state.
  
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• Scientists propose 10 policies to protect vital pollinators

  24-11-2016 20:00
  
  Pesticide regulation, diversified farming systems and long-term monitoring are all ways governments can help to secure the future of pollinators such as bees, flies and wasps, according to scientists.
  
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• Scientists persuade nature to make silicon-carbon bonds

  24-11-2016 20:00
  
  A new study is the first to show that living organisms can be persuaded to make silicon-carbon bonds—something only chemists had done before. Scientists at Caltech "bred" a bacterial protein to make the man-made bonds—a finding that has applications in several industries.
  
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• For platinum catalysts, tiny squeeze gives big boost in performance

  24-11-2016 20:00
  
  A nanosize squeeze can significantly boost the performance of platinum catalysts that help generate energy in fuel cells, according to a new study by Stanford scientists.
  
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• Fault curvature may control where big quakes occur

  24-11-2016 20:00
  
  Major earthquakes - magnitude 8.5 and stronger—occur where faults are mostly flat, say University of Oregon and French geologists. Curvier faults, they report in the journal Science, are less likely to experience earthquakes exceeding that strength.
  
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• Overheated Arctic sign of climate change 'vicious circle'

  24-11-2016 19:42
  
  Freakishly high temperatures in the Arctic driven by heat-packed oceans and northward winds have been reinforced by a "vicious circle" of climate change, scientists said Thursday.
  
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• Opinion: The UK government wants to control porn viewing habits

  24-11-2016 17:40
  
  The British government has already won the power to record everything we access on the internet. Now it wants to have a say over what we are and aren't allowed to look at online.
  
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• Fossil footprints give glimpse of how ancient climate change drove the rise of reptiles

  24-11-2016 17:30
  
  After lying largely forgotten in a museum for decades, a set of fossilised footprints have revealed a new glimpse of the world when reptiles began taking over from amphibians as the dominant land animals. Using cutting-edge technology, we have been able to identify the creatures that probably made the footprints over 300m years ago. This gives us a snapshot of what was happening as reptiles started diversifying and began the process that would see them become the dominant form of vertebrate life
  
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• Finland plans to phase out coal by 2030 (Update)

  24-11-2016 17:25
  
  In a move to cut greenhouse gas emissions, Finland on Thursday announced plans to phase out coal within 14 years, cut oil imports by half and substantially increase the number of electric cars on the roads—partly to meet targets set by the European Union.
  
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• Finland plans to phase out coal by 2030

  24-11-2016 17:25
  
  In a move to cut greenhouse gas emissions, Finland plans to phase out coal by 2030, cut oil imports by half and substantially increase the number of electric cars on the roads.
  
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• 'Jurassic World' comes alive at Philadelphia exhibit

  24-11-2016 17:24
  
  Dinosaurs in museums tend to be of the fossilized variety, but a new exhibit in Philadelphia is bringing the creatures and their world to life.
  
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• 16,000 turkeys killed in Germany to stop spread of bird flu

  24-11-2016 17:24
  
  Authorities in northern Germany have killed 16,000 turkeys and ordered 92,000 chickens slaughtered after detecting an outbreak of bird flu.
  
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• The Gulfstream may strengthen with more precipitation in the far north

  24-11-2016 17:23
  
  Using a new theory, Erwin Lambert shows that more freshwater in the Arctic may strengthen the Gulfstream's extension into the polar regions – the opposite of what has generally been anticipated with future climate change.
  
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• Testing life-hacks with 'citizen science': does stainless steel really get rid of garlic smells?

  24-11-2016 17:20
  
  How often does someone suggest to you some new hint, tip or hack that will supposedly make your life a whole lot easier? And which ones can you trust? We want to find out by subjecting life-hacks to rigorous scientific testing – a sort of "clinical trial" for the internet's "top tips". But we need your help. To be sure of the results, we need citizen scientists from far and wide to carry out our simple experiment and then return their results to us.
  
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• Size matters when it comes to forages fed to beef cattle

  24-11-2016 17:10
  
  Just how much forage does a ruminant need if a ruminant does need forage?
  
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• More reliable way to produce single photons

  24-11-2016 17:03
  
  Physicists at the University of Bath have developed a technique to more reliably produce single photons that can be imprinted with quantum information.
  
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• Beaches devastated by extreme storms showing little signs of recovery, study shows

  24-11-2016 17:00
  
  Beaches left decimated by the severe winter of 2013/14 have still not recovered almost three years later, according to new research led by the University of Plymouth.
  
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• Vita: next Space Station mission name and logo

  24-11-2016 16:56
  
  ESA astronaut Paolo Nespoli will be launched to the International Space Station next year for his third spaceflight. The name and logo for his mission were announced today.
  
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• Toxoplasma's balancing act explained

  24-11-2016 16:34
  
  The parasite Toxoplasma gondii is a silent success. It infects up to 95% of people in many regions of the world, and most of them never know it, due to the parasite's artful manipulation of its host's immune response. Toxoplasma keeps the immune response low enough so that it can thrive, but high enough so that its human hosts generally live healthy lives and can incubate parasites. Scientists at EMBL and the Institute for Advanced Biosciences (IAB, an INSERM - CNRS - Université Grenoble-
  
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• New study shows why heme-copper oxidases prefer copper over iron

  24-11-2016 15:30
  
  (Phys.org)—A family of enzymes known as heme-copper oxidases (HCOs) plays a pivotal role in the reduction of oxygen into water during cellular respiration. One mystery surrounding heme-copper oxidases is why the non-heme metal center tends to be copper rather than iron.
  
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• Use of genetic algorithm helping to find the best carbon dioxide sponge

  24-11-2016 15:10
  
  (Phys.org)—A team of researchers with the University of Ottawa has found that an algorithm used in genetic research has proven to be useful in helping to narrow down the number of possible carbon dioxide sponges, aka, metallic-organic frameworks(MOFs) for possible use in industrial applications. In their paper published in the journal Science Advances, the team describes how they used the algorithm, what it helped them find and what still needs to be done to figure out if the MOFs they iso
  
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• IFLs created from pi-conjugated polymers improve performance and stability of optoelectronic devices

  24-11-2016 14:56
  
  (Phys.org)—A team of researchers from Singapore and the U.K. has found that using a particular type of polymer allowed for creating interfacial layers (IFLs) in optoelectronic devices with improved performance and stability. In their paper published in the journal Nature, the team describes their technique and their results when they made actual devices using the polymer. Antonio Facchetti with Northwestern University offers a News & Views piece on the work done by the team in the same
  
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• Researchers discover mechanism behind immunosuppressive effects of drugs used to treat autoimmune disorders and cancers

  24-11-2016 14:42
  
  Biochemists at The University of Texas at Arlington have demonstrated the mechanism behind how thiopurine drugs suppress immune response.
  
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• Better than milk on breakfast cereals: New precision coating method for industrial granular material

  24-11-2016 14:40
  
  Deposition of a thin film catalyst of a predicted thickness on the surface of novel hydrogen storage microbeads helps release hydrogen.
  
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• Fin24.com | How cyber crooks want to swindle you this Black Friday

  24-11-2016 14:39
  
  Black Friday's appeal is undeniable, but it’s also an opportune time for criminals to take advantage of you, says an expert.
  
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• Shear brilliance: Computing tackles the mystery of the dark universe

  24-11-2016 14:37
  
  Scientists from The University of Manchester working on a revolutionary telescope project have harnessed the power of distributed computing from the UK's GridPP collaboration to tackle one of the Universe's biggest mysteries – the nature of dark matter and dark energy.
  
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• Ending with discards can speed up the mortality of endangered marine birds in the Mediterranean

  24-11-2016 14:30
  
  The accidental catch of marine birds by long liners can skyrocket, at least in the short run, with the prohibition of discarding catches, set by the European Union, according to an article published in the journal Scientific Reports by a team led by Professor Jacob González-Solís, from the Department of Evolutionary Biology, Ecology and Environmental Sciences and the Biodiversity Research Institute of the University of Barcelona (IRBio).
  
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• Cattle roaming freely on Bangladesh streets increase health and environmental hazards

  24-11-2016 14:20
  
  A research article recently published in Bangladesh Journal of Animal Sciences discusses the public health and environmental hazards of livestock rearing in urban areas. The article is made available online via Bangladesh Journals Online (BanglaJOL), supported by INASP.
  
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• What does empty space sound like? We need your help to find out

  24-11-2016 14:10
  
  We know that there is sound on planets and moons in the solar system – places where there's a medium through which sound waves can be transmitted, such as an atmosphere or an ocean. But what about empty space? You may have been told definitively that space is silent, maybe by your teacher or through the marketing of the movie Alien – "In space no one can hear you scream". The common explanation for this is that space is a vacuum and so there's no medium for sound to travel through.
  
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• Electric balaclava to avert chest infections in cold weather

  24-11-2016 14:10
  
  Researchers have developed a smart balaclava which warms oxygen before it's inhaled to reduce the risk of athletes contracting chest infections in winter.
  
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• Fin24.com | These are the pros and cons of Black Friday

  24-11-2016 14:01
  
  If you’re a business builder with a small retail operation, you may wonder whether it’s a good idea to take part in the mayhem of Black Friday.
  
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• Now we can edit life itself, we need to ask how we should use such technology

  24-11-2016 14:00
  
  Imagine a world where mosquitoes no longer pass on the deadly malaria parasite, where invasive species such as cane toads are wiped out from Australia, and agri-chemical resistant pests revert back to their original susceptible state.
  
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• How much should air traffic controllers trust new flight management systems?

  24-11-2016 14:00
  
  With airfares at their lowest point in seven years and airlines adding capacity, this year's Thanksgiving air travel is slated to be 2.5 percent busier than last year. Between Nov. 18 and 29, 27.3 million Americans are expected to take to the skies.
  
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• VTT creates the world's first hyperspectral iPhone camera

  24-11-2016 13:50
  
  VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland has created the world's first hyperspectral mobile device by converting an iPhone camera into a new kind of optical sensor. This will bring the new possibilities of low-cost spectral imaging to consumer applications. Consumers will be able to use their mobile phones for example to sense food quality or monitor health.
  
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• Spain: Ecologists protest over threats to Donana nature park

  24-11-2016 13:50
  
  Environmentalists are displaying hundreds of colorful origami birds outside the Spanish Parliament to demand greater government action to protect a national park that provides habitat for migrating birds.
  
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• Researchers discover most winter boots are too slippery to walk safely on icy surfaces

  24-11-2016 13:50
  
  A team of researchers from the iDAPT labs at Toronto Rehabilitation Institute-University Health Network are dedicated to keeping Canadians safer this winter by offering evidence-based ratings on footwear that may reduce the risk of slips and falls on ice. The team has developed the first test of its kind in the world - the Maximum Achievable Angle (MAA) Testing Method - to validate slip resistant footwear on icy surfaces using real people in a simulated winter environment.
  
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• Facebook's accidental 'death' of users reminds us to plan for digital death

  24-11-2016 13:50
  
  The accidental "death" of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and millions of other Facebook users is a timely reminder of what happens to our online content once we do pass away.
  
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• UWA Zadko Telescope helps reconstruct 'Barbarian' asteroids

  24-11-2016 13:40
  
  The University of Western Australia's Zadko Telescope has been used by an international team to reconstruct the shape of a rare 'Barbarian' asteroid (space rock).
  
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• How much wind energy can be generated in your area? Check EMHIRES

  24-11-2016 13:39
  
  The Joint Research Centre (JRC) has produced a dataset of wind energy production (EMHIRES) at national, regional and local level across the EU, by the hour for the last 30 years, based on existing wind farms. The detailed information provided by EMHIRES will improve the assessment of wind energy generation possibilities and help policy-makers devise better energy frameworks for consumers, the energy market and the planet, as foreseen by the EU's Energy Union strategy.
  
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• Intestinal cells stave off bacteria by purging

  24-11-2016 13:29
  
  Though purging is not prescribed as often as it was centuries ago, intestinal cells known as enterocytes frequently resort to this age-old remedy. Researchers from the Immune Response and Development in Insects (CNRS), Molecular Immunorheumatology (INSERM / Université de Strasbourg), and PAM Food Science and Microbiological Processes (AgroSup Dijon / Université de Bourgogne) laboratories have demonstrated that enterocytes attacked by pathogenic bacteria rapidly purge themselves of
  
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• Denial of invasive species threat worries scientists

  24-11-2016 13:28
  
  Scientists believe a new battlefront is opening in science denialism and this time the target is the science of invasive alien species and the fight to protect some of the world's rarest species and most unique ecosystems.
  
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• Capturing an elusive spectrum of light

  24-11-2016 13:27
  
  Researchers led by EPFL have built ultra-high quality optical cavities for the elusive mid-infrared spectral region, paving the way for new chemical and biological sensors, as well as promising technologies.
  
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• Consumer optimism surges after the presidential election

  24-11-2016 13:24
  
  The initial reaction of consumers to Donald Trump's victory was to express greater optimism about their personal finances as well as improved prospects for the national economy, according to the University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers.
  
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• To recover from next big quake, start today

  24-11-2016 12:56
  
  Seismologists with the U.S. Geological Survey recently discovered that the Hayward Fault, considered the most dangerous fault in the San Francisco Bay Area, is connected to another—the Rodgers Creek Fault—under San Pablo Bay. If the two faults ruptured simultaneously, it could cause major devastation.
  
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• Rock meets microbe: Towards better models of subsurface microbial communities

  24-11-2016 12:51
  
  Beneath the land are subsurface aquifers in which deposits of gravels, sands, silts, and clays mix with water and microbial communities. These subsurface gatherings of microbes, metabolically influenced by the mineral mixes that bind them, are busy with the business of microscopic life: eating carbon and excreting gases, which in turn (by virtue of microbial abundance) greatly influence the composition of the Earth's atmosphere.
  
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• 'Welfare cuts mean charities struggle to meet migrants' needs'

  24-11-2016 12:30
  
  Small charities and faith organisations are increasingly stepping in to fill a gap in basic support for destitute children as a result of welfare restrictions designed to deter migrants from coming to the UK, a new report published today by Oxford University's Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS) has shown.
  
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• Early warning from space of homes on the slide

  24-11-2016 12:20
  
  It was a literal property crash: multiple homes in the Cármenes del Mar resort on the south coast of Spain were engulfed in a landslide, leaving families homeless. But satellite archives offer early warning of such events – and now more accessible than ever before thanks to a new cloud computing platform.
  
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• Sensing the stresses in advanced composite structures

  24-11-2016 12:19
  
  Advanced composites such as glass fibre reinforced polymers (GFRPs) are light, stiff, strong, durable materials that can be flexibly shaped to build large load-bearing structures. New research using data logged from sensors on a GFRP structure at the 2016 Serpentine Architecture Programme in London has found it is possible to observe stresses from real advanced composite structures.
  
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