Sci-Tech news

• Ford studies using drones to guide self-driving cars

  15-12-2016 23:57
  
  Ford Motor Co. is studying a system to use drones to help guide self-driving vehicles, including on off-road adventures, company officials said.
  
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• Health Apps Might Not Be so Hot, Doctors Find

  15-12-2016 23:54 via nbcnews.com
  
  Some of the top-rated health apps aimed at people with chronic medical problems don't do a very good job, doctors found.
  
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• UN: Threat of a hacking attack on nuclear plants is growing

  15-12-2016 23:30
  
  The "nightmare scenario" is rising for a hacking attack on a nuclear power plant's computer system that causes the uncontrolled release of radiation, the United Nations' deputy chief warned Thursday.
  
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• Yahoo's mega breach shows how just how vulnerable data is

  15-12-2016 23:20
  
  The revelation of Yahoo's latest hack underscores what many Americans have known for years: All those emails, photos and other personal files stored online can easily be stolen, and there's little anyone can do about it.
  
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• Mexico scrambles to save world's smallest porpoise (Update)

  15-12-2016 23:16
  
  Mexican authorities and scientists are scrambling to save the world's smallest porpoise, the vaquita marina, from extinction, capturing illegal "ghost" fishing nets while hoping to make specimens reproduce in captivity.
  
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• Mexico removes 'ghost' nets to save tiny porpoise

  15-12-2016 23:16
  
  The Mexican government has removed so-called "ghost" fishing nets that are left floating in the sea in another effort to save the world's smallest porpoise, the vaquita marina, from extinction.
  
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• Amazon aims to blur lines between game, real life

  15-12-2016 23:13
  
  On Amazon's streaming game platform Twitch, the world of gaming is being intermingled with real life.
  
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• California, Uber still negotiating self-driving car legality (Update)

  15-12-2016 23:11
  
  Negotiations over whether Uber must stop its newly launched self-driving car service in San Francisco have concluded without a clear resolution, according to California transportation regulators.
  
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• California, Uber meet amid self-driving car legal showdown

  15-12-2016 23:11
  
  California regulators are meeting privately Thursday with officials from Uber to hammer home their demand that the ride-hailing company immediately stop picking up San Francisco passengers in self-driving cars—or face legal action.
  
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• Rare plant named after rock guitarist Jimi Hendrix

  15-12-2016 23:10
  
  California researchers have named a newly discovered rare plant after Jimi Hendrix.
  
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• MBARI's seafloor maps provide new information about 2015 eruption at Axial Seamount

  15-12-2016 23:10
  
  Axial Seamount, a large underwater volcano about 470 kilometers (290 miles) offshore of the Oregon coast, is one of the most active volcanoes in the world-and one of the most intensively studied. Three research papers, to be published this week, describe a large eruption on Axial Seamount that occurred in April 2015.
  
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• Mexico plans to catch, protect last few vaquita porpoises

  15-12-2016 23:00
  
  So few of Mexico's vaquita porpoises remain that the international committee to protect the endangered species is preparing to catch and enclose as many as it can in a last-ditch effort to save them from extinction, experts said Thursday.
  
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• Where is the ice on Ceres?

  15-12-2016 22:59
  
  At first glance, Ceres, the largest body in the main asteroid belt, may not look icy. Images from NASA's Dawn spacecraft have revealed a dark, heavily cratered world whose brightest area is made of highly reflective salts—not ice. But newly published studies from Dawn scientists show two distinct lines of evidence for ice at or near the surface of the dwarf planet. Researchers are presenting these findings at the 2016 American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco.
  
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• Ice hidden in shadowy craters on dwarf planet Ceres

  15-12-2016 22:59
  
  Several shadowy craters on the dwarf planet Ceres contain ice, scientists reported Thursday.
  
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• Ship to mash, ram polar ice as US aims to update aging fleet

  15-12-2016 22:58
  
  The only U.S. ship capable of breaking through Antarctica's thick ice is getting scrubbed down, fixed up and loaded with goods in balmy Hawaii this week as it prepares to head to the frigid south.
  
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• GM begins testing autonomous cars on Michigan public roads

  15-12-2016 22:57
  
  General Motors has started testing fully autonomous vehicles on public roads around its technical center in suburban Detroit.
  
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• Climate change behind some 2015 floods, fires, heat waves: study

  15-12-2016 22:54
  
  Last year's heat waves across Europe and Asia, fires in Alaska, unusually sunny winters in Britain and high-tide floods in Florida were influenced by climate change, a US report showed Thursday.
  
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• Facebook gets serious about fighting fake news (Update)

  15-12-2016 22:52
  
  Facebook is taking new measures to curb the spread of fake news on its huge and influential social network. It will focus on the "worst of the worst" offenders and partner with outside fact-checkers and news organizations to sort honest news reports from made-up stories that play to people's passions and preconceived notions.
  
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• Using brands to vent relationship frustration

  15-12-2016 22:50
  
  Have you ever felt frustrated with your romantic partner, but nervous about bringing it up?
  
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• New theoretical framework for improved particle accelerators

  15-12-2016 22:50
  
  Physicists at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL), in collaboration with researchers in South Korea and Germany, have developed a theoretical framework for improving the stability and intensity of particle accelerator beams. Scientists use the high-energy beams, which must be stable and intense to work effectively, to unlock the ultimate structure of matter. Physicians use medical accelerators to produce beams that can zap cancer cells.
  
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• Autonomous Wings Could be the Future of Aviation

  15-12-2016 22:15 via nbcnews.com
  
  Scientists at NASA are designing airplane wings that can change shape mid-flight. Much like a bird's feathers, the wings would move autonomously giving the pilot an incredible amount of control in the air.
  
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• GM to produce, test self-driving Chevy Bolts in Mich. - The Detroit News

  15-12-2016 22:14 via detroitnews.com
  
  The Detroit News
  GM to produce, test self-driving Chevy Bolts in Mich.
  The Detroit News
  General Motors Chairman and CEO Mary Barra announces that GM will immediately begin testing autonomous vehicles on public roads in Michigan. (Photo: Steve Fecht / GM). General Motors Co. plans to immediately begin testing self-driving Chevrolet Bolt ...
  GM will launch production, testing of self-driving Bolts in Mich.Automotive News
  GM Plans to Produce Self-Driving Test Cars at Michigan PlantBloomberg
  G
  
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• Supercomputer simulations confirm observations of 2015 India/Pakistan heat waves

  15-12-2016 22:11
  
  A paper published this week during the American Geophysical Union (AGU) fall meeting in San Francisco points to new evidence of human influence on extreme weather events.
  
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• Astronomers discover dark past of planet-eating 'Death Star'

  15-12-2016 21:55
  
  An international team of scientists, including researchers from the University of Chicago, has made the rare discovery of a planetary system with a host star similar to Earth's sun. Especially intriguing is the star's unusual composition, which indicates it ingested some of its planets.
  
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• Number of known black holes expected to double in two years with new detection method

  15-12-2016 21:54
  
  Researchers from the University of Waterloo have developed a method that will detect roughly 10 black holes per year, doubling the number currently known within two years, and it will likely unlock the history of black holes in a little more than a decade.
  
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• Researchers combat antimicrobial resistance using smartphones

  15-12-2016 21:53
  
  A team of UCLA researchers has developed an automated diagnostic test reader for antimicrobial resistance using a smartphone. The technology could lead to routine testing for antimicrobial susceptibility in areas with limited resources.
  
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• Microlensing study suggests most common outer planets likely Neptune-mass

  15-12-2016 21:49
  
  A new statistical study of planets found by a technique called gravitational microlensing suggests that Neptune-mass worlds are likely the most common type of planet to form in the icy outer realms of planetary systems. The study provides the first indication of the types of planets waiting to be found far from a host star, where scientists suspect planets form most efficiently.
  
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• Water, Water Everywhere on Dwarf Planet Ceres - Space.com

  15-12-2016 21:32 via space.com
  
  Space.com
  Water, Water Everywhere on Dwarf Planet Ceres
  Space.com
  There's water, water everywhere on the dwarf planet Ceres according to new research. New observations have provided direct evidence that in water ice is ubiquitous in the surface and shallow subsurface of this massive asteroid. Ceres is the largest ...
  Where is the ice on Ceres?Phys.Org
  Ceres News: Water Ice Is Everywhere On Dwarf Planet, Dawn FindsInternational Business Times
  Icy, icy Ceres: Scientists confirm vast stores of fro
  
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• Facebook now flags and down-ranks fake news with help from outside fact checkers - TechCrunch

  15-12-2016 20:43 via techcrunch.com
  
  TechCrunch
  Facebook now flags and down-ranks fake news with help from outside fact checkers
  TechCrunch
  Snopes, FactCheck.org, Politifact, ABC News, and AP will help Facebook make good on four of the six promises Mark Zuckerberg made about fighting fake news without it becoming “the arbiter of truth.” It will make fake news posts less visible, append ...
  Did Facebook Just Kickstart the Real Infowar?Daily Beast
  Facebook is going to use Snopes and other fact checkers to combat fak
  
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• Two major groups of rabies virus display distinct evolutionary trends

  15-12-2016 20:00
  
  Using hundreds of viral genome sequences, scientists have shown that two major groups of rabies virus have unique evolutionary tendencies. Their findings are presented in a new study published in PLOS Pathogens.
  
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• Road planning 'trade off' could boost food production while helping protect tropical forests

  15-12-2016 20:00
  
  Conservation scientists have used layers of data on biodiversity, climate, transport and crop yields to construct a colour-coded mapping system that shows where new road-building projects should go to be most beneficial for food production at the same time as being least destructive to the environment.
  
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• Rising sea level estimates require collaborative response, experts say

  15-12-2016 20:00
  
  Policymakers and scientists must act quickly and collaboratively to help coastal areas better prepare for rising sea levels globally, say climate change experts from Princeton and Penn State universities.
  
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• Land use affects spread of schistosomiasis-carrying snails in Asia

  15-12-2016 20:00
  
  Over the past six decades, China has carried out an aggressive program to control schistosomiasis, or snail fever, a disease caused by a parasitic worm that moves from its snail hosts to humans. Cases of the disease in China plummeted by more than a hundred fold. In recent years, however, areas where the parasite had been eliminated are seeing new infections, and the range of the snail host has expanded into new areas. Now, to help inspire new ways of stopping the spread of schistosomiasis, rese
  
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• Biggest and best diamonds formed in deep mantle metallic liquid

  15-12-2016 20:00
  
  New research from a team including Carnegie's Steven Shirey and Jianhua Wang explains how the world's biggest and most-valuable diamonds formed—from metallic liquid deep inside Earth's mantle. The findings are published in Science.
  
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• Facebook takes on fake news

  15-12-2016 19:13
  
  Facebook is taking new measures to curb the spread of fake news. It will partner with outside fact-checkers to sort honest news reports from made-up stories.
  
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• Dangerous wind chills on their way to Northeast

  15-12-2016 19:00
  
  Plunging temperatures and gusty winds are making their way to the Northeast, the next victim in the path of dangerously cold temperatures that have gripped the Upper Midwest.
  
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• Now You Can Flag Fake News Right from Your Facebook Feed

  15-12-2016 18:59 via nbcnews.com
  
  Facebook is making good on its promise to release a suite of tools to help rid the social network of fake news stories.
  
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• Yahoo hack shows data's use for information warfare (Update)

  15-12-2016 18:57
  
  The 2013 hack affecting a billion Yahoo users shows how seemingly innocuous bits of data gleaned from cyber attacks can be exploited for espionage and information warfare, as well as for profit.
  
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• Yahoo hack shows data as tool of information warfare

  15-12-2016 18:57
  
  The massive hack affecting a billion Yahoo users shows how seemingly innocuous bits of data gleaned from cyber attacks can be exploited for profit—and potentially for espionage and information warfare.
  
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• Lower cost of LEDs reduce profitability for manufacturing landscape

  15-12-2016 18:55
  
  Although residential and commercial industries are widely adopting energy-efficient light emitting diodes (LEDs), the drop in LED prices is driving away manufacturers because of decreased profitability, dramatically dislocating and restructuring the solid-state lighting marketplace, says a new National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine report.
  
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• New Mekong River initiative will highlight values of biodiversity, ecosystems

  15-12-2016 18:51
  
  With 60 million people depending on its aquatic resources for food and livelihoods, the lower Mekong River Basin is threatened by rapid development that would adversely affect the people and wildlife within this region. To conserve the Mekong and help support the communities who live beside it, the U.S. Agency for International Development has just awarded a new 5-year initiative that will be led by the University of Nevada, Reno's Global Water Center.
  
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• Search on for drug to tame 'hyperactive' zinc transporter and lower type 2 diabetes risk

  15-12-2016 18:50
  
  Gene variants associated with disease are typically considered faulty; problems arise when the proteins they make don't adequately carry out their designated role. But a new biochemical study from Johns Hopkins researchers suggests that a common variant that increases type 2 diabetes risk makes a protein that is more efficient than its less risky counterpart. Using a screening method it developed, the research team now hopes to use that information to identify drugs that would slow the protein d
  
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• Bad bosses come in two forms—dark or dysfunctional

  15-12-2016 18:50
  
  Bad bosses generally come in two forms. There are the dysfunctional ones, like Michael Scott from the TV series The Office; then there are the dark ones, like Gordon Gekko from the film Wall Street. Researchers including Seth M. Spain from Binghamton University, State University of New York are building a framework to better understand the behaviors of bad bosses and to reduce workplace stress.
  
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• Understanding X-chromosome silencing in humans

  15-12-2016 18:46
  
  Researchers have discovered new insights into how one of the two X-chromosomes is silenced during the development of female human embryos and also in lab-grown stem cells. X-chromosome silencing is essential for proper development and these findings are important for understanding how the activity of the X-chromosome is regulated to ensure the healthy development of human embryos.
  
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• New report calls for forward-looking analysis and a review of restoration goals for the Everglades

  15-12-2016 18:45
  
  To ensure the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) is responsive to changing environmental conditions like climate change and sea-level rise, as well as to changes in water management, a new report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine calls for a re-examination of the program's original restoration goals and recommends a forward-looking, systemwide analysis of Everglades restoration outcomes across a range of scenarios.
  
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• NASA finds a lifetime of heavy rainfall from Tropical Cyclone Vardah

  15-12-2016 18:43
  
  NASA gathered rainfall data on Tropical Cyclone Vardah from its birth in the Bay of Bengal through its mNASA gathered rainfall data on Tropical Cyclone Vardah from its birth in the Bay of Bengal through its movement west into the Arabian Sea. Rainfall totals were estimated over Vardah's lifetime and path, and NASA found heavy rainfall from the remnants on Dec. 14.
  
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• Statistical Analysis Shows Unexpected Interaction Between Dark Matter and Ordinary Matter

  15-12-2016 18:40 via scitechdaily.com
  A newly published statistical analysis of mini-spiral galaxies shows an unexpected interaction between dark matter and ordinary matter. The research shows that where the relationship is obvious and cannot be explained in a trivial way within the context of the Standard Model, these objects may serve as “portals” to a completely new form of Physics […]
  The post Statistical Analysis Shows Unexpected Interaction Between Dark Matter and Ordinary Matter appeared first on SciTech Da
  
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• Suspect arrested in JPMorgan, Dow Jones data theft case

  15-12-2016 18:39
  
  A 32-year-old American formerly living in Moscow but wanted in the United States in connection with a massive theft of customer data from JP Morgan Chase and Dow Jones has been arrested, officials said Thursday.
  
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• Another Yahoo breach and investors are rattled

  15-12-2016 18:38
  
  Yahoo shares slid Thursday on worries that Verizon will walk away or slash its $4.8 billion offer for the company's digital operations after another massive data breach.
  
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• Mind-controlled toys: The next generation of Christmas presents?

  15-12-2016 18:36
  
  The next generation of toys could be controlled by the power of the mind, thanks to research by the University of Warwick.
  
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