Sci-Tech news

• Shell game: Understanding gene patterns behind mollusk diversity

  03-01-2017 23:30
  
  From kids walking on the beach to major museums, the amazing diversity of conch shells have captivated the eyes of collectors.
  
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• New research: Feral cats now cover over 99.8 percent of Australia

  03-01-2017 23:10
  
  Feral cats cover over 99.8% of Australia's land area, including almost 80% of the area of our islands.
  
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• California Snowpack Measures Low, but Big Storms Coming

  03-01-2017 23:01 via abcnews.go.com
  The Sierra Nevada's first snowpack survey of the season has found water content at about half of normal, as the state possibly enters a sixth year of drought
  
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• The Latest at CES: Outlook for Wearable Gadgets Declines

  03-01-2017 22:16 via abcnews.go.com
  Research firm eMarketer has lowered its outlook for smartwatches and fitness trackers such as the Apple Watch and Fitbits
  
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• Here Come 'Smart Stores' With Robots, Interactive Shelves

  03-01-2017 21:49 via abcnews.go.com
  
  Technology may soon change the way you shop in brick-and-mortar stores, not just online
  
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• Tenfold jump in green tech needed to meet global emissions targets

  03-01-2017 21:19
  
  The global spread of green technologies must quicken significantly to avoid future rebounds in greenhouse gas emissions, a new Duke University study shows.
  
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• Study shows new global evidence of the role of humans, urbanization in rapid evolution

  03-01-2017 21:17
  
  It has long been suspected that humans and the urban areas we create are having an important—and surprisingly current and ongoing—effect on evolution, which may have significant implications for the sustainability of global ecosystems.
  
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• The Latest: California Snowpack Start at Half of Normal

  03-01-2017 21:15 via abcnews.go.com
  The Sierra Nevada's first snowpack survey of the season has found water content at about half of normal, as the state possibly enters a sixth year of drought
  
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• 3-D images reveal features of Martian polar ice caps

  03-01-2017 20:18
  
  Three-dimensional subsurface images are revealing structures within the Martian polar ice caps, including previously obscured layering, a larger volume of frozen carbon dioxide contained in the south polar cap, and bowl-shaped features that may be buried impact craters within both polar caps. This information will help scientists better understand Martian climate changes and may allow them to determine the age of the polar caps without using climate models. The 3-D data volumes were assembled fr
  
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• Oldest Puget Sound orca, 'Granny,' missing and presumed dead

  03-01-2017 20:02
  
  The oldest member of the small population of endangered Puget Sound orcas has been missing for months and is now likely dead, bringing the toll of dead or missing whales to seven in 2016, researchers in Washington state reported.
  
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• Will climate change leave tropical birds hung out to dry?

  03-01-2017 19:30
  
  The future of the red-capped manakin and other tropical birds in Panama looks bleak. A University of Illinois research project spanning more than three decades and simulating another five decades analyzes how changes in rainfall will affect bird populations. The results show that for 19 of the 20 species included in the study, there may be significantly fewer birds if conditions become dryer.
  
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• FDA probes dangers of exploding e-cigarette batteries

  03-01-2017 19:10
  
  The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is probing the dangers of exploding batteries in e-cigarettes, following dozens of reports of devices that have combusted, overheated or caught fire and sometimes injured users.
  
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• Severe Bolivian drought hurts crops, threatens capital

  03-01-2017 19:00
  
  Last year, the flowering quinoa plants painted Florencio Tola's farmlands in vibrant sepia and ochre tones.
  
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• Hawaii residents renew push for stricter pesticide rules

  03-01-2017 18:50
  
  Hawaii residents concerned about pesticide use by major agriculture companies on the islands are planning a push to strengthen regulation over chemicals they fear harm their health.
  
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• Hawaii Residents Renew Push for Pesticide Regulations

  03-01-2017 18:45 via abcnews.go.com
  Hawaii residents concerned about pesticides are planning a push to strengthen regulation over chemicals they fear harm their health
  
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• Astronauts' No. 1 New Year's resolution: Ace spacewalks

  03-01-2017 18:42
  
  Astronauts up on the International Space Station are starting the new year with a pair of spacewalks.
  
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• MIT Study Predicts Frequency of Heavy Precipitation with Global Warming

  03-01-2017 18:35 via scitechdaily.com
  Researchers from MIT reveal that extreme precipitation events should become more frequent as the Earth’s climate warms over this century. On December 11, 2014, a freight train of a storm steamed through much of California, deluging the San Francisco Bay Area with three inches of rain in just one hour. The storm was fueled by […]
  The post MIT Study Predicts Frequency of Heavy Precipitation with Global Warming appeared first on SciTech Daily.
  
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• Video: Does cough syrup really work?

  03-01-2017 18:30
  
  What do you do when you have a bad cough? If you reach for the yummy, cherry-flavored cough medicine, you're not alone. Every year, people spend billions of dollars on these over-the-counter remedies. But do any of them work?
  
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• NEOWISE Mission Spots One Comet, Maybe Two

  03-01-2017 18:24 via scitechdaily.com
  NASA’s NEOWISE mission has discovered some celestial objects traveling through our neighborhood, including one on the blurry line between asteroid and comet. An object called 2016 WF9 was detected by the NEOWISE project on November 27, 2016. It’s in an orbit that takes it on a scenic tour of our solar system. At its farthest […]
  The post NEOWISE Mission Spots One Comet, Maybe Two appeared first on SciTech Daily.
  
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• Dinosaurs took months to hatch out of their eggs. That may have doomed them. - Washington Post

  03-01-2017 18:21 via washingtonpost.com
  
  Washington Post
  Dinosaurs took months to hatch out of their eggs. That may have doomed them.
  Washington Post
  For dinosaurs, hatching eggs was a long-term commitment. A nest pinned the parents down to the spot where the eggs were laid. As long as they were incubating their eggs, they couldn't venture off in search of food or to flee predators. And their eggs ...
  Why Did Dinosaurs Die Out? The Answer Could Be in Their TeethNBCNews.com
  A surprising factor in the extinction of the dinosaurs ma
  
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• Quantum simulation technique yields topological soliton state in SSH model

  03-01-2017 18:20
  
  Topological insulators, an exciting, relatively new class of materials, are capable of carrying electricity along the edge of the surface, while the bulk of the material acts as an electrical insulator. Practical applications for these materials are still mostly a matter of theory, as scientists probe their microscopic properties to better understand the fundamental physics that govern their peculiar behavior.
  
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• Economics made simple with physics models

  03-01-2017 18:20
  
  How would you go about understanding how markets can suddenly be gripped by panic? To physicists, using a model originally developed to explain magnetism might make sense. Yet, economists may find this extremely counter-intuitive. Both physical and economic phenomena may possess universal features that could be uncovered using the tools of physics. The principal difference is that in economic systems - unlike physical ones - current actions may be influenced by the perception of future events. T
  
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• Biodiversity project in Azores delivers detailed abundance data for 286 arthropod species

  03-01-2017 18:20
  
  In 1999, a long-term biodiversity project started at the Azores Islands (Portugal, Atlantic Ocean), the Biodiversity of Arthropods from the Laurisilva of the Azores (BALA) project (1999-2004). Its aim was to obtain detailed distributional and abundance data for a large fraction of arthropod fauna, living in all remaining native forests at seven of the Azores Islands.
  
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• Ford cancels plan to build new Mexican plant, adds US jobs

  03-01-2017 18:19
  
  Ford is canceling plans to build a new $1.6 billion factory in Mexico and will invest $700 million in a Michigan plant to build new electric and autonomous vehicles.
  
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• After financial setback, $305M Miami science museum rises

  03-01-2017 18:19
  
  A new science museum in Miami is on target to open in the spring after surviving financial setbacks that threatened to derail the project.
  
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• The researchers created a tiny laser using nanoparticles

  03-01-2017 18:11
  
  Researchers at Aalto University, Finland are the first to develop a plasmonic nanolaser that operates at visible light frequencies and uses so-called dark lattice modes.
  
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• Researchers create a tiny laser using nanoparticles

  03-01-2017 18:11
  
  Researchers at Aalto University, Finland are the first to develop a plasmonic nanolaser that operates at visible light frequencies and uses so-called dark lattice modes.
  
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• Germanium's semiconducting and optical properties probed under pressure

  03-01-2017 18:10
  
  Germanium may not be a household name like silicon, its group-mate on the periodic table, but it has great potential for use in next-generation electronics and energy technology.
  
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• Scientist probes ways to turn cement's weakness to strength

  03-01-2017 18:08
  
  Concrete isn't thought of as a plastic, but plasticity at small scales boosts concrete's utility as the world's most-used material by letting it constantly adjust to stress, decades and sometimes even centuries after hardening. Rice University researchers are a step closer to understanding why.
  
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• Intel Core i7-7700K review - Digital Trends

  03-01-2017 18:05 via digitaltrends.com
  Digital Trends
  Intel Core i7-7700K review
  Digital Trends
  Intel debuted the 7th-generation of Intel Core processor at IFA 2016, but its initial line was limited to only dual-core mobile chips. Those looking for new desktop hardware were told they'd have to wait. Now the wait is over. Intel's Core i7-7700K is ...
  Intel Core i7-7700K review: Kaby Lake debuts for desktopExtremeTech
  12 things you'll get in PCs with Intel's new Kaby Lake chipsPCWorld
  Don't be fooled: Intel's new desktop CPUs aren't f
  
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• Worries about food waste appear to vanish when diners know scraps go to compost

  03-01-2017 18:04
  
  Diners waste far less food when they're schooled on the harm their leftovers can inflict on the environment. But if they know the food is going to be composted instead of dumped in a landfill, the educational benefit disappears.
  
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• Official Intel 7th-gen Kaby Lake Review: One big change makes up for smaller ones - PCWorld

  03-01-2017 18:00 via pcworld.com
  
  PCWorld
  Official Intel 7th-gen Kaby Lake Review: One big change makes up for smaller ones
  PCWorld
  Don't dismiss Intel's newest CPU with a meh just yet. There's more to the chip than you expect. Gordon Mah Ung By Gordon Mah Ung. | Follow. Executive Editor, PCWorld | Jan 3, 2017 9:00 AM PT ...
  Intel Core i7-7700K review: Kaby Lake debuts for desktopExtremeTech
  Intel Core i7-7700K reviewDigital Trends
  Don't be fooled: Intel's new desktop CPUs aren't fasterCNET
  AppleInsider (press release) (bl
  
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• Mark Zuckerberg Is No Longer an Atheist

  03-01-2017 17:45 via nbcnews.com
  
  Mark Zuckerberg says he now believes "religion is very important."
  
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• How to 3-D print your own sonic tractor beam

  03-01-2017 17:00
  
  Last year Asier Marzo, then a doctoral student at the Public University of Navarre, helped develop the first single-sided acoustic tractor beam—that is, the first realization of trapping and pulling an object using sound waves from only one direction. Now a research assistant at the University of Bristol, Marzo has lead a team that adapted the technology to be, for all intents and purposes, 3-D printable by anyone (with some assembly required, of course).
  
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• Gadget Show: Annual CES Tech Show Opens in Las Vegas

  03-01-2017 16:45 via abcnews.go.com
  TVs, drones, robots and a slew of other gadgets will showcase the annual CES gadget show in Las Vegas this week
  
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• First real-life study to provide data on the potential of powering medical implants with solar cells

  03-01-2017 16:14
  
  The notion of using solar cells placed under the skin to continuously recharge implanted electronic medical devices is a viable one. Swiss researchers have done the math, and found that a 3.6 square centimeter solar cell is all that is needed to generate enough power during winter and summer to power a typical pacemaker. The study is the first to provide real-life data about the potential of using solar cells to power devices such as pacemakers and deep brain stimulators. According to lead autho
  
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• Random access memory on a low energy diet: Researchers develop basis for a novel memory chip

  03-01-2017 16:12
  
  Memory chips are among the most basic components in computers. The random access memory is where processors temporarily store their data, which is a crucial function. Researchers from Dresden and Basel have now managed to lay the foundation for a new memory chip concept. It has the potential to use considerably less energy than the chips produced to date - this is important not only for mobile applications but also for big data computing centers. The results are presented in the latest volume of
  
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• Rolling out an e-sticker revolution

  03-01-2017 16:00
  
  The healthcare industry forecasts that future wellbeing will be monitored by wearable, wirelessly networked sensors. Manufacturing such devices could become much easier using decal electronics. A KAUST-developed process prints these high-performance, silicon-based computers on soft, sticker-like surfaces that can be attached anywhere.
  
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• Think chicken—think intelligent, caring and complex

  03-01-2017 15:52
  
  Chickens are not as clueless or "bird-brained" as people believe them to be. They have distinct personalities and can outmaneuver one another. They know their place in the pecking order, and can reason by deduction, which is an ability that humans develop by the age of seven. Chicken intelligence is therefore unnecessarily underestimated and overshadowed by other avian groups. So says Lori Marino, senior scientist for The Someone Project, a joint venture of Farm Sanctuary and the Kimmela Center
  
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• California snowpack surveyed as indicator of drought

  03-01-2017 15:19
  
  Surveyors will plunge poles into the Sierra Nevada snowpack near Lake Tahoe on Tuesday, taking the season's first measurement by hand of the snow's water content as California flirts with a sixth year of drought.
  
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• Astronomers detect a strong outburst of an embedded young stellar object

  03-01-2017 15:10
  
  (Phys.org)—Astronomers from the Byurakan Astrophysical Observatory in Armenia have discovered a strong outburst of the embedded young stellar object (YSO) designated UKIDSS-J185318.36+012454.5. This newly detected event could provide important insights for the understanding of eruptive variability of young stars. The researchers presented their discovery in a paper published Dec. 30 on the arXiv preprint server.
  
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• Introducing Kuri: Does Your Life Need a Home Robot?

  03-01-2017 15:05 via nbcnews.com
  This is Kuri, a genderless robot sidekick meant to bring a robotic spark of life to your home. Made by Mayfield Robotics, is she an attempt to make the future look like "the Jetsons" or is this the beginning of a world where robots do everything for us?
  
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• Using polymers to control the organizational behavior of nanoparticles

  03-01-2017 14:58
  
  In order to create new nanomaterial technologies such as next-generation lighting, fundamental challenges underpinning the science and engineering of nanoparticles must be resolved. For example, many proposed technologies hinge on the organization of particles into layers, called films, that have a precise microstructure. However, fabrication of these films is a challenging feat to accomplish because it is difficult to control the structure of nanoparticle assemblies on micrometer scales.
  
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• WATCH: Car Infotainment Systems Taken to the Next Level

  03-01-2017 14:30 via abcnews.go.com
  
  Fiat Chrysler and Google are collaborating on new technology that will incorporate Android apps into the vehicle.
  
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• Hitler's 'Mein Kampf' becomes German bestseller: publisher

  03-01-2017 14:08
  
  The first reprint of Adolf Hitler's "Mein Kampf" in Germany since World War II has proved a surprise bestseller, heading for its sixth print run, its publisher said Tuesday.
  
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• SpaceX ready to launch again after explosion

  03-01-2017 14:07
  
  SpaceX says it has determined the cause of a launchpad explosion that destroyed a satellite in September and is ready to start launches again as early as Sunday.
  
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• Milestone in graphene production

  03-01-2017 14:04
  
  For the first time, it has been possible to produce functional OLED electrodes from graphene. The process was developed by Fraunhofer researchers together with partners from industry and research. The OLEDs can, for example, be integrated into touch displays, and the miracle material graphene promises many other applications for the future.
  
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• What's on Tap at the Year's Biggest Tech Show? Think Drones, Robots, and Cars

  03-01-2017 13:22 via nbcnews.com
  
  The annual technology wonderland kicks off this week in Las Vegas.
  
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• Send an Accidental Text? There's an App for That

  03-01-2017 13:13 via nbcnews.com
  
  If you've ever sent a text you didn't mean to, there's now an app to fix that... thanks to Maci Peterson's solution after sending a text to an ex.
  
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• To each driver the appropriate vehicle

  03-01-2017 13:07
  
  Bringing mobility into Germany's transition to a new energy economy is a complex undertaking. While carmakers are developing more economical com- bustion engines and alternative drive systems, research establishments and companies are working on making more efficient use of vehicles. A new data logger developed by Fraunhofer researchers simultaneously collects data from vehicles with combustion engines, electric drives, external sensors, and location data, and permits the development of new hybr
  
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