Sci-Tech news

• Amazon to pay Canada fine over pricing practices

  11-01-2017 23:50
  
  The Canadian branch of US online retailer Amazon will pay Can$1.1 million ($836,967) over allegedly misleading pricing on its website, the government said Wednesday.
  
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• Personal computer sales fall for fifth year in a row

  11-01-2017 23:46
  
  Sales of desk and laptop computers declined last year, extending a slide started in 2012, according to figures released on Wednesday by two market trackers.
  
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• Mother-daughter competition in orcas may explain menopause

  11-01-2017 23:46
  
  Competition between mothers and daughters may explain why orcas, also known as killer whales, are among just three species known to go through menopause, researchers said Wednesday.
  
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• As they go electric, auto giants vie for tiny US prize

  11-01-2017 23:45
  
  The auto industry's push into electric vehicles is turning an important corner in 2017 with the arrival of longer-range, battery-powered cars at more accesible prices.
  
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• VW pleads guilty in emissions scandal; six employees indicted

  11-01-2017 23:43
  
  Six high-level Volkswagen employees have been indicted by a grand jury in the company's diesel emissions cheating scandal, as the company admitted wrongdoing and agreed to pay a record $4.3 billion penalty.
  
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• Study: Some bats showing resistance to deadly fungus

  11-01-2017 23:43
  
  The little brown bat, a species that has been decimated by a deadly fungus, could be taking the first tentative steps to recovery, scientists say in a recent study published by Great Britain's Royal Society.
  
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• Scientists: Moon over the hill at 4.51 billion years old (Update)

  11-01-2017 23:40
  
  It turns out the moon is older than many scientists suspected: a ripe 4.51 billion years old.
  
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• Scientists: Moon over the hill at 4.51 billion years old

  11-01-2017 23:40
  
  It turns out the moon is older than many scientists suspected: a ripe 4.51 billion years old.
  
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• Pressures from grazers hastens ecosystem collapse from drought

  11-01-2017 23:06
  
  Extreme droughts, intensified by a warming climate, are increasingly causing ecosystem collapse in many regions worldwide. But models used by scientists to predict the tipping points at which drought stress leads to ecosystem collapse have proven unreliable and too optimistic.
  
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• Bacterial protein structure could aid development of new antibiotics

  11-01-2017 23:00
  
  Bacterial cells have an added layer of protection, called the cell wall, that animal cells don't. Assembling this tough armor entails multiple steps, some of which are targeted by antibiotics like penicillin and vancomycin.
  
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• Deciphering the beetle exoskeleton with nanomechanics

  11-01-2017 22:57
  
  What can a beetle tell us about good design principles? Quite a lot, actually.
  
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• Why better choices depend on 'libertarian paternalism'

  11-01-2017 22:55
  
  Nudging people toward better behavior through policy can be effective, but can face resistance if people feel their autonomy is threatened.
  
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• Northeast US temperatures are decades ahead of global average

  11-01-2017 22:54
  
  Results of a new study by researchers at the Northeast Climate Science Center (NECSC) at the University of Massachusetts Amherst suggest that temperatures across the northeastern United States will increase much faster than the global average, so that the 2-degrees Celsius warming target adopted in the recent Paris Agreement on climate change will be reached about 20 years earlier for this part of the U.S. compared to the world as a whole.
  
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• US Seeks Changes to Coal Program, but Trump Could Alter Path

  11-01-2017 22:43 via abcnews.go.com
  U.S. officials say a yearlong review shows coal sales from public lands need to be modernized to deal with climate change and give taxpayers a fair return
  
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• Should biomedical graduate schools ignore the GRE?

  11-01-2017 21:29
  
  Do standardized tests accurately predict future outcomes in graduate school for biomedical programs?
  
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• Genetic opposites attract when chimpanzees choose a mate

  11-01-2017 21:27
  
  When it comes to hookups in the animal world, casual sex is common among chimpanzees. In our closest animal relatives both males and females mate with multiple partners. But when taking the plunge into parenthood, they're more selective than it seems.
  
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• Instagram Is Giving Snapchat a Run For Its Money

  11-01-2017 20:39 via nbcnews.com
  
  The photo-sharing app launched stories, a feature that many called a Snapchat copycat, five months ago.
  
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• 2017 Pacifica has more technology than earlier Chrysler vans

  11-01-2017 20:01
  
  The 2017 Chrysler Pacifica is a sharp-looking, roomy and versatile minivan with more technology than previous Chrysler vans and thoughtful features that other minivans can lack.
  
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• Termite queens' efficient antioxidant system may enable long life

  11-01-2017 20:00
  
  Termite queens have an efficient antioxidant system which may underpin their ability to live longer than non-reproductive termites, according to a study published January 11, 2017 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Eisuke Tasaki from Tottori and Yamaguchi Universities, Japan, and colleagues.
  
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• Scientists claim new gibbon species—name it Skywalker

  11-01-2017 20:00
  
  Researchers in China claim they have identified a new species of gibbon in the remote forests along its border with Burma—and have named it after Star Wars character Luke Skywalker.
  
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• Release of water shakes Pacific Plate at depth

  11-01-2017 20:00
  
  Tonga is a seismologists' paradise, and not just because of the white-sand beaches. The subduction zone off the east coast of the archipelago racks up more intermediate-depth and deep earthquakes than any other subduction zone, where one plate of Earth's lithosphere dives under another, on the planet.
  
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• Recreating conditions inside stars with compact lasers

  11-01-2017 20:00
  
  The energy density contained in the center of a star is higher than we can imagine - many billions of atmospheres, compared with the 1 atmosphere of pressure we live with here on Earth's surface.
  
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• New Facebook project aims to fight the spread of 'fake news'

  11-01-2017 20:00
  
  Facebook announced Wednesday the creation of a Journalism Project aimed at fostering "a healthy news ecosystem" and curbing the spread of fake news.
  
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• Baboon vocalizations contain five vowel-like sounds comparable to those of human speech

  11-01-2017 20:00
  
  An acoustical analysis of the grunts, barks, wahoos, copulation calls, and yaks from baboons shows that, like people who use several vowels during speech, these nonhuman primates make five distinct vowel-like sounds, according to a study published January 11, 2017 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Louis-Jean Boë, Grenoble Alpes University, France, and colleagues.
  
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• Twitter: Obama's 'thank you' tweet his most popular ever

  11-01-2017 19:59
  
  President Barack Obama's tweet following his farewell address to the nation has become the most popular post on the presidential account.
  
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• DirecTV Now: A trial is free, but it's a hard sell for some

  11-01-2017 19:59
  
  AT&T says the market for its new internet cable service , DirecTV Now, could be as large as 20 million households. To put it to the test, I farmed out part of this review to several friends and relatives. It's TV, it's fun, it's a free trial with no hassle. Why wouldn't people jump at the chance to try something new?
  
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• Report recommends new framework for estimating the social cost of carbon

  11-01-2017 19:58
  
  To estimate the social cost of carbon dioxide for use in regulatory impact analyses, the federal government should use a new framework that would strengthen the scientific basis, provide greater transparency, and improve characterization of the uncertainties of the estimates, says a new report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. The report also identifies a number of near- and longer-term improvements that should be made for calculating the social cost of carbon.
  
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• 'Pedal bin machine' of gut bacteria revealed

  11-01-2017 19:57
  
  Researchers shed new light on the functioning of human gut bacteria, revealing how nutrients are transported into the bacterial cell.
  
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• Strep spreads by harnessing immune defenses of those infected

  11-01-2017 19:51
  
  The bacteria that cause most cases of pneumonia worldwide secrete a toxin that helps them jump from one body to the next - with help from the hosts' immune defenses. This is the finding of a study led by researchers from NYU Langone Medical Center and published online January 11 in Cell Host & Microbe.
  
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• Researchers use TACC supercomputers to create first all-atom simulation of genome editing in action

  11-01-2017 19:49
  
  One of the most talked about biological breakthroughs in the past decade was the discovery of the genome editing tool CRISPR/Cas9, which can alter DNA and potentially remove the root causes of many hereditary diseases.
  
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• DNA duplicator small enough to hold in your hand

  11-01-2017 19:46
  
  Imagine a "DNA photocopier" small enough to hold in your hand that could identify the bacteria or virus causing an infection even before the symptoms appear.
  
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• NASA sees Pineapple Express deliver heavy rains, flooding to California

  11-01-2017 19:45
  
  California which has long been suffering through a strong, multi-year drought, is finally beginning to see some much needed relief as a result of a recent series of storms that are part of a weather pattern known as the "Pineapple Express."
  
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• Amazon Prime Ups Its Perks to Include a Cash-Back Credit Card

  11-01-2017 19:45 via nbcnews.com
  
  Shop at Amazon a lot? You may want to start using the new Amazon Prime credit card.
  
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• Team directly measures how perovskite solar films efficiently convert light to power

  11-01-2017 19:44
  
  Solar cells made with films mimicking the structure of the mineral perovskite are the focus of worldwide research. But only now have researchers at Case Western Reserve University directly shown the films bear a key property allowing them to efficiently convert sunlight into electricity.
  
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• Astronomers Identify the Home Galaxy of a Fast Radio Burst

  11-01-2017 19:05 via scitechdaily.com
  For the first time, a team of astronomers has pinpointed the location of a “fast radio burst” and have used this to identify its home galaxy. The galaxy, located over 3 billion light years away, is small, a so-called dwarf galaxy, and very different to our own Milky Way. Also, a persistent, compact radio source […]
  The post Astronomers Identify the Home Galaxy of a Fast Radio Burst appeared first on SciTech Daily.
  
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• Scientists discover world's largest tropical peatland in remote Congo swamps

  11-01-2017 19:00
  
  A vast peatland in the Congo Basin has been mapped for the first time, revealing it to be the largest in the tropics.
  
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• Researchers discover 'marvel microbes' explaining how cells became complex

  11-01-2017 19:00
  
  In a new study, published in Nature this week, an international research group led from Uppsala University in Sweden presents the discovery of a group of microbes that provide new insights as to how complex cellular life emerged. The study provides new details of how, billions of years ago, complex cell types that comprise plants, fungi, but also animals and humans, gradually evolved from simpler microbial ancestors.
  
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• Physicists 'squeeze' light to cool microscopic drum below quantum limit

  11-01-2017 19:00
  
  Physicists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have cooled a mechanical object to a temperature lower than previously thought possible, below the so-called "quantum limit."
  
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• Paleontologists classify mysterious ancient cone-shaped sea creatures

  11-01-2017 19:00
  
  One branch on the tree of life is a bit more crowded today. A team of scientists led by 20-year-old University of Toronto (U of T) undergraduate student Joseph Moysiuk has finally determined what a bizarre group of extinct cone-shaped animals actually are.
  
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• New laser based on unusual physics phenomenon could improve telecommunications, computing

  11-01-2017 19:00
  
  Researchers at the University of California San Diego have demonstrated the world's first laser based on an unconventional wave physics phenomenon called bound states in the continuum. The technology could revolutionize the development of surface lasers, making them more compact and energy-efficient for communications and computing applications. The new BIC lasers could also be developed as high-power lasers for industrial and defense applications.
  
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• Experiments confirm that structural defects at the periphery are key in catalyst function

  11-01-2017 19:00
  
  Defects and jagged surfaces at the edges of nanosized platinum and gold particles are key hot spots for chemical reactivity, a team of researchers working at the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel confirmed with a unique infrared probe.
  
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• Astronomers Reveal Farthest Stars in Milky Way Were Ripped from Another Galaxy

  11-01-2017 18:48 via scitechdaily.com
  
  New research reveals that five of the 11 farthest known stars in our galaxy were ripped from another galaxy – the Sagittarius dwarf. The 11 farthest known stars in our galaxy are located about 300,000 light-years from Earth, well outside the Milky Way’s spiral disk. New research by Harvard astronomers shows that half of those […]
  The post Astronomers Reveal Farthest Stars in Milky Way Were Ripped from Another Galaxy appeared first on SciTech Daily.
  
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• Your New Favorite Song Was Chosen By An Algorithm

  11-01-2017 17:55 via nbcnews.com
  
  Anyone who uses a good music streaming service knows that feeling: You're humming along to your favorites when suddenly a song pops up that you've never heard before…and it's instantly your new jam. But how do they know? Spoiler alert: it's an algorithm!
  
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• Six things we learned at the Detroit auto show

  11-01-2017 17:52
  
  This year's North American International Auto Show reflects an industry that's flush with cash but uncertain about the future.
  
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• Europe freeze death toll rises to 65

  11-01-2017 17:52
  
  The death toll from the cold snap hitting parts of Europe rose to at least 65 on Wednesday as Bulgarian authorities reported seven fatalities.
  
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• Double fish production while preserving biodiversity—can it be done?

  11-01-2017 17:51
  
  Tanzania, perhaps best known for safaris over its vast open plains, has ambitious plans for diminutive freshwater wildlife with enormous, untapped potential.
  
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• Most valuable colleagues: What the NBA can teach us about worker productivity

  11-01-2017 17:39
  
  Just like former NBA MVP Steve Nash, who famously improved the output of his teammates whenever he was on the court, some employees could have a halo effect on their peers, according to new research from the University of Georgia's Terry College of Business.
  
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• Zero-emission boat prepares for round-the-world odyssey

  11-01-2017 17:38
  
  The first self-sufficient boat powered only by emission-free energy will start a six-year trip around the world in the spring.
  
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• Stock market fails to predict product performance

  11-01-2017 17:36
  
  Contrary to what many in the business world believe, investors cannot reliably predict how a new product will perform, finds a new study co-authored by a Michigan State University marketing expert.
  
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• Farthest stars in Milky Way might be ripped from another galaxy

  11-01-2017 17:35
  
  The 11 farthest known stars in our galaxy are located about 300,000 light-years from Earth, well outside the Milky Way's spiral disk. New research by Harvard astronomers shows that half of those stars might have been ripped from another galaxy: the Sagittarius dwarf. Moreover, they are members of a lengthy stream of stars extending one million light-years across space, or 10 times the width of our galaxy.
  
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