Sci-Tech news

• US scientists raise bar for sea level by 2100

  24-01-2017 23:18
  
  In the last days of Barack Obama's administration, US government scientists warned even more sea level rise is expected by century's end than previously estimated, due to rapid ice sheet melting at the poles.
  
  Read more

• Pope spurs Republicans to shift climate views

  24-01-2017 23:17
  
  After Pope Francis framed climate change as a moral issue in his second encyclical, conservative Republicans shifted and began to see environmental dilemmas in the same way, according to a new study led by Cornell University communication researchers.
  
  Read more

• Microsoft victory in overseas data privacy case stands

  24-01-2017 23:17
  
  A federal appeals court on Tuesday reaffirmed Microsoft's legal right to refuse a US government order to hand over data stored overseas in a case with important privacy implications.
  
  Read more

• An urban collection of modern-day micrometeorites

  24-01-2017 23:12
  
  More than 100 billion micrometeorites (MMs) fall to Earth each year. Until now, scientists believed that these particles could only be found in the cleanest environments, such as the Antarctic. In their new paper for Geology, M.J. Genge and colleagues show that, contrary to that expectation, micrometeorites can be recovered from city rooftops (for this example, primarily in Norway) and that, unlike those from the Antarctic, they are the youngest collected to date.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Plan to Run Pipeline Through Pinelands Gets Public Hearing

  24-01-2017 22:01 via abcnews.go.com
  As jobs-versus-environment clashes go, few issues have been as hard fought and generated as much passion in New Jersey as a proposal to run a natural gas pipeline through federally protected woods atop some of the nation's purest drinking water
  
  Read more

• Trump admin orders EPA contract freeze and media blackout

  24-01-2017 21:22
  
  The Trump administration has instituted what it described as a temporary media blackout at the Environmental Protection Agency and barred staff from awarding any new contracts or grants.
  
  Read more

• Predator or not? Invasive snails hide even when they don't know

  24-01-2017 21:19
  
  Recognizing the signs of a predator can mean the difference between living to see another day and becoming another critter's midday snack.
  
  Read more

• Medical, scientific image analysis vastly improved by new software

  24-01-2017 21:07
  
  Many current medical and scientific practices involve the analysis of highly complicated images, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) in order to study medical problems for patients or biochemical processes for scientific research. Previously, doctors and scientists would have to spend hours, days or even weeks painstakingly analyzing these images. Now, researchers at the University of Missouri have developed new software that will analyze an
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• How satellite data changed chimpanzee conservation efforts

  24-01-2017 21:06
  
  Approximately 345,000 or fewer chimpanzees remain in the wild, according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, a substantial decline from the more than two million that existed a hundred years ago. Humans' closest genetic cousins, chimpanzees are an endangered species and scientists and conservationists are turning to the NASA-U.S. Geological Survey Landsat satellites to help bolster their efforts to preserve their forest homes.
  
  Read more

• Designing diagnostic labs that are safe, specific and sustainable

  24-01-2017 19:10
  
  An outbreak is like a wildfire; the sooner it's caught, the easier it is to fight, said Vips Halkjaer-Knudsen, a lab design expert at Sandia National Laboratories.
  
  Read more

• Biologists unlock code regulating most human genes

  24-01-2017 19:07
  
  Molecular biologists at UC San Diego have unlocked the code that initiates transcription and regulates the activity of more than half of all human genes, an achievement that should provide scientists with a better understanding of how human genes are turned on and off.
  
  Read more

• Researchers Pinpoint Fetal Cells ‘Vulnerable’ to Later Life Stress

  24-01-2017 18:06 via scitechdaily.com
  A team of scientists has developed a way to identify cells damaged prior to birth by drugs, radiation, or poisons such as mercury that survive but are more vulnerable to stress later in life. This model system can possibly explain the increased risk of some cells in adult onset of psychiatric disorders, liver disease, and […]
  The post Researchers Pinpoint Fetal Cells ‘Vulnerable’ to Later Life Stress appeared first on SciTech Daily.
  
  Read more

• Meteorites did not enrich ocean life: study

  24-01-2017 18:00
  
  An explosion of ocean life some 471 million years ago was not sparked by a meteorite bombardment of Earth, said a study Tuesday that challenges a leading theory.
  
  Read more

• Diversity in tech: Lots of attention, little progress

  24-01-2017 17:58
  
  The tech industry has brought us self-driving cars, artificial intelligence, disappearing photos and 3-D printers. But when it comes to racial and gender diversity, its companies are no trailblazers.
  
  Read more

• Bursts of methane may have warmed early Mars

  24-01-2017 17:56
  
  The presence of water on ancient Mars is a paradox. There's plenty of geographical evidence that rivers periodically flowed across the planet's surface. Yet in the time period when these waters are supposed to have run—three to four billion years ago—Mars should have been too cold to support liquid water.
  
  Read more

• New HiRISE Image of Layered Bedrock in the Volcanic Plains of Lunae Planum

  24-01-2017 17:43 via scitechdaily.com
  This new image from HiRISE shows the layered bedrock in the volcanic plains of Lunae Planum. The layered bedrock in this image was brought from several kilometers of depth during the formation of this 44 kilometer wide crater in the volcanic plains of Lunae Planum. As these layers were exhumed and brought to nearly vertical […]
  The post New HiRISE Image of Layered Bedrock in the Volcanic Plains of Lunae Planum appeared first on SciTech Daily.
  
  Read more

• What If You Could Erase Everything You Ever Put Online?

  24-01-2017 17:38 via nbcnews.com
  
  Wouldn't it be great to have some kind of digital eraser that removed all our regrettable online posts? But could such a tool ever exist?
  
  Read more

• Scientists get best view yet of cancer-causing virus HPV

  24-01-2017 17:36
  
  New details of the structure of the human papillomavirus (HPV) may lead to better vaccines and HPV anti-viral medications, according to studies led by a Penn State College of Medicine researcher.
  
  Read more

• Biologists identify reproductive 'traffic cop'

  24-01-2017 17:18
  
  Before an egg becomes fertilized, sets of chromosomes must pair up to pass along genetic information. This happens within each reproductive cell, where separate chromosomes of male and female origin move toward each other and eventually join.
  
  Read more

• Appeals court denies full hearing in data surveillance case (Update)

  24-01-2017 17:18
  
  A federal appeals court said Tuesday it won't rehear a panel's decision letting companies like Microsoft refuse to turn over to the government customer emails stored overseas.
  
  Read more

• Appeals court denies full hearing in data surveillance case

  24-01-2017 17:18
  
  A federal appeals court said Tuesday it won't rehear a panel's decision letting companies like Microsoft refuse to turn over to the government customer emails stored overseas.
  
  Read more

• Little tortoise, big range

  24-01-2017 17:14
  
  WCS scientists have discovered the impressed tortoise (Manouria impressa) in the Hukaung Valley Wildlife Sanctuary in northern Myanmar, some 528 miles from its known range in that country. The researchers reported their finding in the latest issue of the journal Asian Herpetological Research.
  
  Read more

• Scientists lay foundations for new type of solar cell

  24-01-2017 17:11
  
  An interdisciplinary team of researchers has laid the foundations for an entirely new type of photovoltaic cell. In this new method, infrared radiation is converted into electrical energy using a different mechanism from that found in conventional solar cells. The mechanism behind the new solid-state solar cell made of the mineral perovskite relies on so-called polaron excitations, which combine the excitation of electrons and vibrations of the crystal lattice.
  
  Read more

• Wasps have trading partners and compete for the 'best trade deals': study

  24-01-2017 17:00
  
  Wasps have trading partners and compete for the 'best trade deals'—according to scientists from the University of Sussex.
  
  Read more

• Swarm of underwater robots mimics ocean life

  24-01-2017 17:00
  
  Underwater robots developed by researchers at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego offer scientists an extraordinary new tool to study ocean currents and the tiny creatures they transport. Swarms of these underwater robots helped answer some basic questions about the most abundant life forms in the ocean—plankton.
  
  Read more

• Role of thrust and drag clarified for swimming microorganisms

  24-01-2017 17:00
  
  For years, B. Ubbo Felderhof, a professor at the Institute for Theoretical Physics at Germany's RWTH Aachen University, has explored the mechanisms that fish and microorganisms rely on to propel themselves. Flying birds and insects face similar challenges propelling themselves, but without the luxury of buoyancy these creatures also contend with overcoming gravity to stay aloft.
  
  Read more

• Modeling the rhythmic electrical activities of the brain

  24-01-2017 17:00
  
  Researchers studying the brain have long been interested in its neural oscillations, the rhythmic electrical activity that plays an important role in the transmission of information within the brain's neural circuits. In rats, oscillations in the hippocampus region of the brain have been shown to encode information that describes the animal's position in a physical space. In humans, neural oscillations are often studied in relation to epilepsy and various sleeping disorders though questions rema
  
  Read more

• New technique quickly predicts salt marsh vulnerability

  24-01-2017 16:40
  
  Scientists working on a rapid assessment technique for determining which US coastal salt marshes are most imperiled by erosion were surprised to find that all eight of the Atlantic and Pacific Coast marshes where they field-tested their method are losing ground, and half of them will be gone in 350 years' time if they don't recapture some lost terrain.
  
  Read more

• Nanometric imprinting on fiber

  24-01-2017 16:40
  
  Researchers at EPFL's Laboratory of Photonic Materials and Fibre Devices, which is run by Fabien Sorin, have come up with a simple and innovative technique for drawing or imprinting complex, nanometric patterns on hollow polymer fibers. Their work has been published in Advanced Functional Materials.
  
  Read more

• Brits, Czechs claim world's most powerful 'super laser'

  24-01-2017 16:31
  
  A team of British and Czech scientists on Tuesday said they had successfully tested a "super laser" they claim is 10 times more powerful than any other of its kind on the planet.
  
  Read more

• What can we learn about cybersecurity from the Russian hacks?

  24-01-2017 16:30
  
  Intelligence reports about Russian-sponsored hacking to influence the 2016 presidential election have dominated headlines. Northeastern professors Alina Oprea and Cristina Nita-Rotaru, both cybersecurity experts, explain what these break-ins tell us about the state of U.S. cybersecurity, whether an impenetrable system is even possible, and how such attacks might be prevented in the future. Image by iStock
  
  Read more

• Europe chokes under freezing smog

  24-01-2017 16:28
  
  Heavy pollution enveloping much of Europe prompted emergency measures across the continent on Tuesday.
  
  Read more

• Cyberconscripts: Baltic draftees can choose IT over infantry

  24-01-2017 16:28
  
  The tiny Baltic nation of Estonia is experimenting with the idea of cyberconscription, giving draftees with tech skills the chance to step into roles defending the military's electronic infrastructure.
  
  Read more

• Study shows how a dog's diet shapes its gut microbiome

  24-01-2017 16:27
  
  Studies of the gut microbiome have gone to the dogs—and pets around the world could benefit as a result. In a paper published this week in mBio, researchers from Nestle Purina PetCare Company report that the ratio of proteins and carbohydrates in a canine's daily diet have a significant influence on the balance of microbes in its gut. Among other findings, they observed that dogs fed a high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet had decreases in the ratio of Bacteroidetes to Firmicutes bacteria, a
  
  Read more

• Cooperation helps mammals survive in tough environments

  24-01-2017 16:26
  
  Cooperatively breeding mammal species, such as meerkats and naked-mole rats, where non-breeding helpers assist breeding females in raising their offspring, are better able to cope with living in dry areas than related non-cooperative species, new research reveals.
  
  Read more

• NASA measures 'dust on snow' to help manage Colorado River basin water supplies

  24-01-2017 16:20
  
  When Michelle Stokes and Stacie Bender look out across the snow-capped mountains of Utah and Colorado, they see more than just a majestic landscape. They see millions of gallons of water that will eventually flow into the Colorado River.
  
  Read more

• WATCH: Sprint Acquires One-Third of Tidal

  24-01-2017 16:11 via abcnews.go.com
  
  The deal will help Tidal compete with bigger music streaming services like Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music.
  
  Read more

• How we discovered that people have been cooking plants in pots for 10,000 years

  24-01-2017 16:10
  
  The benefits of eating vegetables is one of the first lessons we try to teach our often reluctant children. Six million years ago, they wouldn't have had a choice. Our early ancestors ate nothing but greens, and relied on raw plants for all their dietary needs. But we have now discovered the earliest evidence of humans cooking up nutritious pots of plants – 10,000 years ago.
  
  Read more

• Amazon moves to avoid EU fines over publishing contracts

  24-01-2017 16:08
  
  Amazon has agreed to change parts of its e-book contracts with publishers in an effort to avoid European Union fines for anti-competitive behavior.
  
  Read more

• Your (social media) votes matter

  24-01-2017 16:06
  
  When Tim Weninger conducted two large-scale experiments on Reddit - otherwise known as "the front page of the internet" - back in 2014, the goal was to better understand the ripple effects of malicious voting behavior and the impact on what users see and share online.
  
  Read more

• Southern Italy: Earthquake hazard due to active plate boundary

  24-01-2017 16:06
  
  Since the early civilizations, the lives of people in Europe, in the Middle East, and in North Africa have been closely linked to the Mediterranean. Natural catastrophes such as volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and tsunamis have repeatedly shattered cultures and states in this area. The reason for this constant threat is that in the Mediterranean the Eurasian plate and the African plate interact. "Unfortunately, the tectonic situation is very complicated, since there are many different fault zone
  
  Read more

• Sequencing poisonous mushrooms to potentially create medicine

  24-01-2017 16:02
  
  A team of Michigan State University scientists has genetically sequenced two species of poisonous mushrooms, discovering that they can theoretically produce billions of compounds through one molecular assembly line. This may open the door to efficiently tackling some lethal diseases.
  
  Read more

• Video: The universe in a cup of coffee

  24-01-2017 16:00
  
  Reactions, the ACS YouTube channel that covers the chemistry of everyday life, is joining PBS Digital Studios, a network of original web series from PBS that explore science, arts, culture and more. To celebrate, the Reactions team is doing a deep dive on the surprisingly complex and beautiful chemistry behind their favorite morning beverage: coffee.
  
  Read more

• Efficient, organic photovoltaic cells for indoor and outdoor applications

  24-01-2017 16:00
  
  Organic photovoltaics (OPV) may cost less than their silicon counterparts, but their performance remains off-putting to this day. A consortium of European research groups and industries recently demonstrated free-form organic solar modules for three specific, indoor and outdoor applications that should help put such concerns to bed.
  
  Read more

• Chinese scientists discover a new species of catfish in Myanmar

  24-01-2017 16:00
  
  During a survey of the freshwater fishes of the Mali Hka River drainage in the Hponkanrazi Wildlife Sanctuary, Myanmar, scientists Xiao-Yong Chen, Tao Qin and Zhi-Ying Chen, from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), identified a new catfish species among the collected specimens. It is distinct with a set of morphological features including its mouthparts and coloration. The discovery is published in the open access journal ZooKeys.
  
  Read more

• Micro spacecraft investigates cometary water mystery

  24-01-2017 15:59
  
  In September 2015, a team of astronomers from the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, University of Michigan, Kyoto Sangyo University, Rikkyo University and the University of Tokyo successfully observed the entire hydrogen coma of the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, using the LAICA telescope onboard the PROCYON spacecraft. They also succeeded in obtaining the absolute rate of water discharge from the comet.
  
  Read more

• Crime Victims' Institute releases report on victimization in Texas

  24-01-2017 15:57
  
  The Crime Victims' Institute (CVI) released a summary of key indicators of victimization in Texas, which reflects changes in reported incidents, service utilization, and offender accountability over the last five years.
  
  Read more

• Nanocavity and atomically thin materials advance tech for chip-scale light sources

  24-01-2017 15:56
  
  When an individual uses Facebook or searches Google, the information processing happens in a large data center. Short distance optical interconnects can improve the performance of these data centers. Current systems utilize electrons, which could cause overheating and wastes power. However, utilizing light to transfer information between computer chips and boards can improve efficiency.
  
  Read more

• New insights into the forms of metal-organic frameworks

  24-01-2017 15:55
  
  The accurate interpretation of particle sizes and shapes in nanoporus materials is essential to understanding and optimizing the performance of porous materials used in many important existing and potentially new applications. However, only a few experimental techniques have been developed for this purpose.
  
  Read more

• First of a kind footage of a living stylodactylid shrimp filter-feeding at depth of 4826 m

  24-01-2017 15:53
  
  Depths such as those at the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument are an extreme challenge for explorers, providing scarce information about their inhabitants, let alone their behavior.
  
  Read more

Follow @NewslockSciTech on Twitter!