Sci-Tech news

• Apple and Nokia are fighting about patents again - The Verge

  21-12-2016 23:48 via theverge.com
  
  Wall Street Journal
  Apple and Nokia are fighting about patents again
  The Verge
  Apple and Nokia settled a patent lawsuit back in 2011, but now, they're back at it again. This time, Apple is filing an antitrust lawsuit, not against Nokia but instead against third-party companies known as patent assertion entities, or PAEs, that are ...
  Nokia and Apple trade accusations in patent lawsuitsComputerworld
  Apple lawsuit accuses Nokia of being at core of patent licensing conspiracyAppleInsider (press re
  
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• US puts Alibaba back on 'notorious markets' blacklist

  21-12-2016 23:14
  
  Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group is back on the U.S. government's annual list of "notorious markets" that sell pirated goods.
  
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• Nokia sues Apple for patent infringement

  21-12-2016 23:13
  
  Nokia announced Wednesday it is suing Apple in German and US courts for patent infringement, claiming the US tech giant was using Nokia technology in "many" products without paying for it.
  
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• No one is safe from hacking on Twitter — not even Marvel superheroes - Washington Post

  21-12-2016 23:01 via washingtonpost.com
  
  Washington Post
  No one is safe from hacking on Twitter — not even Marvel superheroes
  Washington Post
  These days, no one is safe from hacking — not even Marvel superheroes. A group of Marvel and Netflix Twitter accounts were hacked Wednesday morning by OurMine, a hacker group that says it targets high-profile social media accounts to advertise its ...
  Netflix US Twitter Account Gets OurMine Hack Treatment: Mock Tweets Berate World SecurityTech Times
  Netflix, Marvel Twitter accou
  
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• In Historic Move, President Obama Has Banned Arctic and Atlantic Offshore Drilling - AlterNet

  21-12-2016 22:45 via ecoalternet.org
  
  AlterNet
  In Historic Move, President Obama Has Banned Arctic and Atlantic Offshore Drilling
  AlterNet
  It will be legally difficult for President-elect Donald Trump administration to reverse this action. By Steve Horn / DeSmogBlog. December 21, 2016. Print · Comments. Polar bear with cub. Photo Credit: Gecko1968/Shutterstock. President Obama has ...
  United States-Canada Joint Arctic Leaders' StatementWhitehouse.gov
  Obama Said to Use 1953 Law to Restrict Offshore Oil DrillingBloombergall 35
  
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• Are strain, stress at Twitter driving out top execs? - Computerworld

  21-12-2016 22:09 via computerworld.com
  
  Computerworld
  Are strain, stress at Twitter driving out top execs?
  Computerworld
  With Twitter struggling to fuel its user and financial growth, the strain may be showing as several top executives head out the door. Twitter Chief Operating Officer Adam Bain left the company last month, and on Tuesday, Adam Messinger, the company's ...and more »
  
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• Zuckerberg implies Facebook is a media company, just “not a traditional media company” - TechCrunch

  21-12-2016 21:48 via techcrunch.com
  
  TechCrunch
  Zuckerberg implies Facebook is a media company, just “not a traditional media company”
  TechCrunch
  Mark Zuckerberg gave new insights about how he sees Facebook's role in informing the world today during a Live video one-on-one year-end chat with COO Sheryl Sandberg. Facebook's CEO also lent support to employees trying to fight fake news today, ...
  Zuckerberg: Facebook isn't a 'traditional' media companyUSA TODAY
  Mark Zuckerberg has flip-flopped on his fake news stance
  
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• Stressed snakes strike first

  21-12-2016 21:38
  
  Whether a wild cottonmouth snake will attempt to strike in an encounter depends on its baseline stress level, according to a team of scientists led by undergraduate researcher Mark Herr.
  
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• The whole 'Mac vs. PC' thing is so over, and 'Android vs. iPhone' is close behind - Business Insider

  21-12-2016 21:04 via businessinsider.com
  
  Business Insider
  The whole 'Mac vs. PC' thing is so over, and 'Android vs. iPhone' is close behind
  Business Insider
  When I was a kid in the late 1990s, most everyone I knew had a Windows 95 PC — myself included. But I had this one friend whose family owned a Mac, one of those multicolored iMacs that were the company's first big product launch after Steve Jobs ...
  Apple's bulletproof Wall Street growth story came to a halt this yearTechCrunch
  What to expect from Apple in 2017Computerw
  
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• Delta emulator brings Nintendo games to your iPhone without a jailbreak - BGR

  21-12-2016 20:51 via bgr.com
  
  BGR
  Delta emulator brings Nintendo games to your iPhone without a jailbreak
  BGR
  Moments after Super Mario Run launched on iOS devices last week, Nintendo fans began wondering if and when the company might bring the classic 2D Mario games to mobile devices. It seemed like a no-brainer, but in an interview with Wired, Mario creator ...
  Nintendo: Super Mario Run had 40 million downloads in 4 daysVentureBeat
  Let's-a-Go: The Physics of Jumping in Super Mario RunWIRED
  Super Mario Run's Toad Rall
  
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• Canada launches online hotline to report bad drone drivers

  21-12-2016 20:41
  
  Expecting a spike in drone sales for Christmas, Canada's transportation ministry on Wednesday launched an online hotline to report bad drone pilots.
  
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• What is cloud computing? Its tech tentacles reach everywhere

  21-12-2016 20:30
  
  Cloud computing, the technology-industry joke goes, is a marketing term for "other people's computers." The quip is not far from the truth.
  
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• Oil and the Arctic: what is at stake

  21-12-2016 20:21
  
  A US-Canadian move to block new leases for oil or gas drilling in sovereign Arctic waters is designed to protect an area already severely disrupted by climate change.
  
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• Really big brains can evolve only if constraints on energy intake are lifted

  21-12-2016 20:19
  
  As a species we're so brain-proud it doesn't occur to most of us to ask whether a big brain has disadvantages as well as cognitive benefits.
  
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• Live cell imaging using a smartphone

  21-12-2016 20:00
  
  A recent study from Uppsala University shows how smartphones can be used to make movies of living cells, without the need for expensive equipment. The study is published in the open access journal PLOS ONE, making it possible for laboratories around the world to do the same thing.
  
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• In Apple's backyard, iPads ignite furor in schools

  21-12-2016 19:50
  
  In the shadow of Apple's headquarters, an initiative requiring public middle schoolers to use iPads in class and at home has added to a battle over education in the digital age.
  
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• How Zuckerberg Crushes New Year's Resolutions

  21-12-2016 19:38 via nbcnews.com
  
  Some people resolve to lose weight. Zuckerberg resolved to build a robot from scratch.
  
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• Study of 3.5 billion years of Earth's history: A fertilizer dearth foiled animal evolution for eons?

  21-12-2016 19:00
  
  For three billion years or more, the evolution of the first animal life on Earth was ready to happen, practically waiting in the wings. But the breathable oxygen it required wasn't there, and a lack of simple nutrients may have been to blame.
  
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• JILA atomic clock mimics long-sought synthetic magnetic state

  21-12-2016 19:00
  
  Using their advanced atomic clock to mimic other desirable quantum systems, JILA physicists have caused atoms in a gas to behave as if they possess unusual magnetic properties long sought in harder-to-study solid materials. Representing a novel "off-label" use for atomic clocks, the research could lead to the creation of new materials for applications such as "spintronic" devices and quantum computers.
  
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• Don't get cyber-Scrooged! Tips for safe online shopping

  21-12-2016 18:43
  
  'Tis the season to be jolly—but it's also the season for identity theft, phishing and credit card fraud.
  
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• Tech on wheels: Acura NSX returns as gas-electric hybrid

  21-12-2016 18:42
  
  After a 12-year absence, the Acura NSX returns for 2017 as the first gasoline-electric hybrid supercar, mixing exotic looks and sports-car handling with the latest engine and electric power technology.
  
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• NASA spots Tropical Depression 30W form in Northwestern Pacific

  21-12-2016 18:40
  
  NASA's Aqua satellite flew over the Northwestern Pacific Ocean and captured infrared data on newly formed Tropical Depression 30W. The satellite imagery showed that the storm contained some strong thunderstorms around the center of circulation.
  
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• NASA looks at rainfall rates in Tropical Cyclone Yvette

  21-12-2016 18:39
  
  Tropical Cyclone 02S formed in the Indian Ocean northwest of Australia on Dec. 19 as the Global Precipitation Measurement mission or GPM core satellite passed overhead and analyzed its rainfall. On Dec. 21, Tropical Cyclone 02S was renamed "Yvette."
  
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• A library for food security: Cowpeas (black-eyed peas) move forward on the shelves

  21-12-2016 18:39
  
  Tim Close has found himself, happily, stuck in a library. But it's not your typical library with shelves and books. It's a genetic library of cowpea varieties, also known as black-eyed peas. This genetic library tells us stories about the crop's unique qualities.
  
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• Inside the world of cell signaling: A G-protein breakthrough

  21-12-2016 18:37
  
  Scientists from the UNC School of Medicine have developed a new tool for studying a key process in cells called G-protein signaling, which plays a central role in the normal functioning of cells and can go awry to cause severe disease, including cancers.
  
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• How Microsoft emerged from the darkness to embrace the cloud

  21-12-2016 18:30
  
  The winter of 2010 brought some of Microsoft's darkest days. Bing, the search engine Microsoft built to challenge Google, was burning cash with little to show for it. Smartphones for the first time surpassed the personal computer, Microsoft's comfort zone, as the world's most popular computing device. The must-have tech gadget that holiday season was Apple's new iPad.
  
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• Watching water freeze

  21-12-2016 18:26
  
  Every winter, snow and ice dusts mountains and makes roads slick in cold climates. This phenomenon is ages old, but a detailed explanation for how ice crystals form has eluded us. In a study appearing in the journal ACS Omega, scientists now report a method to visualize ice in three dimensions as it grows. This knowledge could have a range of potential uses in materials science, geophysics, biology and food engineering.
  
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• Molecular Velcro boosts microalgae's potential in biofuel, industrial applications

  21-12-2016 18:19
  
  Michigan State University scientists have engineered "molecular Velcro" into to cyanobacteria, boosting this microalgae's biofuel viability as well as its potential for other research.
  
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• Report calls for improved methods to assess earthquake-caused soil liquefaction

  21-12-2016 18:18
  
  Several strong earthquakes around the world have resulted in a phenomenon called soil liquefaction, the seismic generation of excess porewater pressures and softening of granular soils, often to the point that they may not be able to support the foundations of buildings and other infrastructure. The November 2016 earthquake in New Zealand, for example, resulted in liquefaction that caused serious damage to the Port of Wellington, which contributes approximately $1.75 billion to the country's ann
  
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• Researchers launch tool to understand spread of fake news

  21-12-2016 18:16
  
  The Observatory on Social Media at Indiana University has launched a powerful new tool in the fight against fake news.
  
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• Energy Dept. offers $2B loan to La. carbon-storage project

  21-12-2016 18:11
  
  The Energy Department said Wednesday it is offering a conditional, $2 billion loan guarantee to capture and store carbon dioxide at a planned Louisiana methanol plant, the latest element of President Barack Obama's strategy to slow global warming.
  
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• Newly discovered mechanism in cells can regulate the immune system

  21-12-2016 18:00
  
  Special proteins are important for the function of cells and play an important role in processes and effectiveness of the immune system. Researchers from the Niels Bohr Institute have observed how concentrations that vary over time can affect cells and they have demonstrated the existence of a mechanism, which is a new way of controlling the production of proteins that are related to processes which are important in order to avoid serious diseases, including cancer and Alzheimer's. The results h
  
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• Report finds additional radioactive materials in gas-well drill cuttings

  21-12-2016 17:52
  
  Hydraulic fracturing has boosted U.S. energy production while coming under scrutiny for its potential environmental impacts, mostly related to the wastewater the method generates. Now, a report in the ACS journal Environmental Science & Technology Letters takes a look at solid waste from horizontal gas wells. The study found that some well waste from the Marcellus shale in Pennsylvania contained radioactive material not previously reported, with the potential for leaching from landfills into
  
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• Tattoos mark the spot—for surgery—then disappear

  21-12-2016 17:51
  
  Tattoos aren't just for body art. They can have medical applications, too. Doctors are using them on patients to mark an area for future treatment—particularly for non-melanoma skin cancer such as basal cell carcinoma—but the inks can cause problems. Now scientists have developed a better solution. In the journal ACS Nano, they report a new ink that glows only under certain light conditions and can disappear altogether after a period of time.
  
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• Ultra-small nanocavity advances technology for secure quantum-based data encryption

  21-12-2016 17:47
  
  Researchers have developed a new type of light-enhancing optical cavity that is only 200 nanometers tall and 100 nanometers across. Their new nanoscale system represents a step toward brighter single-photon sources, which could help propel quantum-based encryption and a truly secure and future-proofed network.
  
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• Seattle's cloud-computing boom is new force driving regional economy

  21-12-2016 17:40
  
  Western Washington state's economy has long been driven by companies that build complex systems, from Boeing's airplanes to cellular networks and the personal computer operating systems that gave rise to Microsoft.
  
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• California adopts nation's first energy-efficiency rules for computers

  21-12-2016 17:20
  
  The California Energy Commission has passed energy-efficiency standards for computers and monitors in an effort to reduce power costs, becoming the first state in the nation to adopt such rules.
  
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• 5th-grader tests 3-D printed robotic arm to help other kids

  21-12-2016 17:10
  
  The soon-to-be 11-year-old left the Washington University School of Medicine lab with an instruction manual for her new robotic arm. Don't get it wet. Turn it off when not in use. Change the two 9-volt batteries.
  
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• Review: Epson Powerlite Home Cinema 3700 is affordable upgrade to your home viewing experience

  21-12-2016 17:01
  
  There's nothing like the feeling when the lights go down and the movie starts.
  
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• Fish sperm race for reproductive success

  21-12-2016 16:48
  
  Norwegian researchers show that the sperm of Arctic char, a cold-water fish common to alpine lakes, swim at different speeds in different fluids, depending on whether the fish are dominant or submissive. The finding published in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution illustrates the complexity and competitive nature of reproductive biology.
  
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• Analysis examines characteristics of users of online infidelity matchmaking

  21-12-2016 16:46
  
  By analyzing data originally stolen and released by Internet hackers, investigators have examined the characteristics of individuals who paid to engage in extramarital affairs using the online infidelity matchmaking site Ashley Madison.
  
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• Hawaii's newest species named in honor of President Obama

  21-12-2016 16:43
  
  Today, scientists from the Bishop Museum, NOAA, and the Association for Marine Exploration published the description of a new species of coral-reef fish that they named in honor of President Barack Obama. The fish, which now bears the formal scientific name Tosanoides obama, was discovered during a June 2016 NOAA expedition to Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument in the remote Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. The study is published in the open-access scientific journal ZooKeys.
  
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• Researchers reveal the secret code language of bacteria

  21-12-2016 15:41
  
  Antibiotic resistance in pathogenic bacteria is a growing global challenge. Danish researchers have now discovered that bacteria use a code language to avoid being controlled. Understanding this code language will be paramount to developing new antibiotics in the future.
  
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• WATCH: Amazon Echo Sells Out Online

  21-12-2016 15:40 via abcnews.go.com
  
  There is still a chance you can find this hot holiday item in Amazon retail stores.
  
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• Magnetic force pulls baby reef fish back home

  21-12-2016 15:37
  
  Baby reef fish have an internal magnetic 'compass' that directs them home at night, world-first research has revealed.
  
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• 133 new species described by the California Academy of Sciences in 2016

  21-12-2016 15:36
  
  In 2016, researchers at the California Academy of Sciences added 133 new plant and animal species to our family tree, enriching our understanding of Earth's complex web of life and strengthening our ability to make informed conservation decisions. The new species include one bee fly, 43 ants, 36 beetles, one sand wasp, four spiders, six plants, 23 fishes, one eel, one shark, seven nudibranchs, five fossil urchins (and one fossil sand dollar), one coral, one skate, one African lizard, and an alar
  
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• High-severity wildfires complicate natural regeneration for California conifers

  21-12-2016 15:33
  
  A study spanning 10 national forests and 14 burned areas in California found that conifer seedlings were found in less than 60 percent of the study areas five to seven years after fire. Of the nearly 1,500 plots surveyed, 43 percent showed no natural conifer regeneration at all.
  
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• Calculating one billion plasma particles in a supercomputer

  21-12-2016 15:32
  
  At the National Institutes of Natural Sciences National Institute for Fusion Science (NIFS) a research group using the NIFS 'Plasma Simulator' supercomputer succeeded for the first time in the world in calculating the movements of one billion plasma particles and the electrical field constructed by those particles. Further, they clarified from the particle level (micro-level) the movements of the plasma blob that appears in the edge regions of high-temperature plasmas.
  
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• The dirt on packaged rhino beetles

  21-12-2016 15:31
  
  Bags of potting soil have become love hotels and nurseries for the highly invasive coconut rhinoceros beetle on the island of Guam.
  
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• Fin24.com | Vodacom hefty bill shocker puts a damper on user's Christmas

  21-12-2016 15:13
  
  Despite having a R2 000 soft cap to his account, a Vodacom client has been slapped with R7 000 bill. He is one of a string of customers suffering from what has been termed bill shock.
  
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