Sci-Tech news

• Federal auditors say US nuclear dump running out of room

  07-09-2017 23:57
  Federal auditors say the only underground nuclear waste repository in the U.S. doesn't have enough space for radioactive tools, clothing and other debris left over from decades of bomb-making and research, much less tons of weapons-grade plutonium
  
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• Get ready to update, because Google Drive dies next March - CNET

  07-09-2017 23:05 via cnet.com
  CNET
  Get ready to update, because Google Drive dies next March
  CNET
  Google Drive will stop working March 12, 2018. Its replacement, Backup and Sync, is available now. Stephen Shankland/CNET. If you're among the hundreds of millions of people using Google Drive to synchronize files across your PCs and phones, ...
  Google Drive is being replaced by Backup and Sync: What to expectPCWorld
  Google launches Drive File Stream to replace the Google Drive desktop app for G Suite usersTechCrunch
  The G
  
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• Amazon hunting for 2nd home, cities start lining up to apply

  07-09-2017 23:05
  Amazon has opened the search for a second headquarters at a cost of more than $5 billion.
  
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• Inside the deadly heart of 1964's Hurricane Cleo

  07-09-2017 23:04
  
  EnvironmentIn 1964, a crew of intrepid hurricane hunters flew into one of the worst storms in history
  On October 4, 2016, Hurricane Matthew made landfall on Haiti. Matthew is said to be the most dangerous storm since 2007, and has drawn many comparisons to 1964's Hurricane…
  
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• Predicting Irma's Path Is Giving Supercomputers a Challenge

  07-09-2017 22:37 via nbcnews.com
  Hurricane tracking has improved markedly in recent years, but scientists still need many models to predict storms like Irma. Still, they don't know for sure.
  
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• Blizzard will open its first US esports stadium in Los Angeles next month - TechCrunch

  07-09-2017 22:34 via techcrunch.com
  TechCrunch
  Blizzard will open its first US esports stadium in Los Angeles next month
  TechCrunch
  The world's best pedigreed esports developer is opening a state-of-the-art temple to its craft right in its own backyard. Blizzard Entertainment, creator of the fine-tuned esports hit Overwatch and MMO legacy World of Warcraft, will open its very own ...and more »
  
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• New porcelain crab species from Colombia named

  07-09-2017 22:32
  Despite their names, hermit crabs, king crabs and horseshoe crabs are not true crabs. Neither are porcelain crabs, decapod crab-like crustaceans that live in shallow water throughout the world's oceans. Researchers working at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) in Panama and the Justus-Liebig University in Giessen, Germany (JLU), recently identified a new species of porcelain crab: Pachycheles tuerkayi.
  
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• Unraveling the ocean's secrets

  07-09-2017 22:31
  In the absence of carbon, life on Earth cannot exist. Yet much of how this fundamental element circulates throughout the planet's oceans remains a scientific mystery.
  
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• New Canadian telescope will map largest volume of space ever surveyed

  07-09-2017 22:30
  A Canadian effort to build one of the most innovative radio telescopes in the world will open the universe to a new dimension of scientific study. The Honourable Kirsty Duncan, Minister of Science, today installed the final piece of this new radio telescope, which will act as a time machine allowing scientists to create a three-dimensional map of the universe extending deep into space and time.
  
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• Giant Sunspot Unleashes 2 More Powerful Solar Flares - Space.com

  07-09-2017 22:25 via space.com
  Space.com
  Giant Sunspot Unleashes 2 More Powerful Solar Flares
  Space.com
  An active, sun-spotted region of the sun that unleashed powerful solar flares earlier this week fired two more significant solar flares this morning. As a result, radiation flowing from the sun's surface may bring brilliant auroras and strong ...
  Huge Solar Flare Disrupts GPS SatellitesGizmodo
  The sun keeps shooting out powerful solar flares. What's going on?Mashable
  Massive solar storm: Seattle, Portland, even N. Calif. m
  
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• SpaceX launches the X-37B, the Pentagon's secretive autonomous space drone - Los Angeles Times

  07-09-2017 22:20 via latimes.com
  Los Angeles Times
  SpaceX launches the X-37B, the Pentagon's secretive autonomous space drone
  Los Angeles Times
  In the Pentagon's vast arsenal there is little quite like it: a super-secret space drone that looks like a miniature version of the space shuttle, but orbits the Earth for months, even years, at a time. Doing what? The Air Force won't say. On Thursday ...
  SpaceX launches Air Force's spaceplane just before Hurricane Irma reaches FloridaThe Verge
  SpaceX Rocket Launches X-37B Space Plane
  
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• Apple, Microsoft vow to shield DACA employees, urge new law over tax reform

  07-09-2017 22:10
  Don't mess with DACA. That was the message from major technology companies who are pressuring lawmakers to take swift action on a legislative fix after the Trump administration said it would jettison an immigration program that allows young people who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children to remain here.
  
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• This engineer spent 4 months installing a headphone jack on an iPhone 7

  07-09-2017 22:06
  
  TechnologyPushing the limits of DIY in Shenzhen, China.
  Scotty Allen decided to add a headphone jack back into his iPhone. Here's how he did it.
  
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• How Humans Are Evolving Right Now

  07-09-2017 22:05 via feedproxy.google.com
  Studies of human evolution typically look at spans of thousands of years — the length of time it often takes various mutations to take hold and become noticeable.Evolution is more dynamic than that though; it's an ongoing process with subtle variations on traits emerging while others dip into the background. Measuring the kinds of changes that are going on right now would give us valuable insights about not only our past, but also into where we're headed.
  Evolution Is Now
  That's
  
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• Google takes aim at hated auto-play video ads

  07-09-2017 21:50
  It may come as a surprise that the video ads that pop up and yell at you when you visit many websites are not considered the most annoying form of online advertising.
  
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• Review: Samsung Galaxy S8 Active is a survivor

  07-09-2017 21:40
  Getting a new phone is exciting. Worrying about keeping that new phone safe is not so exciting.
  
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• From immigrant family to tech CEO, Nina Vaca uses her success to spread global entrepreneurship

  07-09-2017 21:30
  The first time you hear about Nina Vaca, you wonder why you've never heard of her before.
  
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• A New Virtual World Is Coming to Your Phone

  07-09-2017 21:29 via nbcnews.com
  With the release of iOS 11, Apple will be bringing thousands of augmented reality apps to your smartphone.
  
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• Here comes the iPhone 8: Five things you should know

  07-09-2017 21:20
  Do you have $1,000 burning a hole in your pocket? Then Apple has a deal for you.
  
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• Amazon Is Planning a Second HQ — And It Could Create 50,000 Jobs

  07-09-2017 21:17 via nbcnews.com
  The search is on for a city to host Amazon's second North American headquarters.
  
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• Watchdog agency: US nuclear dump running out of room

  07-09-2017 21:10
  A government watchdog agency says the only underground nuclear waste repository in the United States doesn't have enough space for radioactive debris left over from decades of bomb-making and research, much less tons of surplus weapons-grade plutonium.
  
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• Predicting a hurricane's intensity is only going to get harder

  07-09-2017 21:00
  
  EnvironmentBetter forecasts mean fewer deaths.
  Hurricanes may grow rapidly intense—and harder to predict—as the climate warms.
  
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• Fuel shortages, bottlenecks hamper Florida mass exodus

  07-09-2017 21:00
  With Hurricane Irma aiming squarely at south Florida, officials ordered hundreds of thousands of people to evacuate Thursday, amid worries that fuel shortages and traffic bottlenecks could thwart the mass exodus.
  
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• Geophysicist: Weight of Harvey rains caused Houston to sink

  07-09-2017 20:53
  A California geophysicist says the sheer weight of the torrential rains brought by Harvey has caused Houston to sink by 2 centimeters.
  
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• Extreme weather has limited effect on attitudes toward climate policies

  07-09-2017 20:50
  People who recently experienced severe weather events such as floods, storms and drought are more likely to support policies to adapt to the effects of climate change, according to a new study co-authored by an Indiana University researcher.
  
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• At democracy's birthplace, France's Macron dreams of EU 2.0

  07-09-2017 20:42
  French President Macron calls on European Union members to deeply reform union or risk its breakup, tells IMF it should stay out of Europe's bailout programs
  
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• Satellites show different sides of Hurricane Irma

  07-09-2017 20:40
  Satellite imagery from NASA's Aqua satellite and NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite have provided different data on the still Category 5 Hurricane Irma as it headed for the Turks and Caicos Islands.
  
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• Satellites show Hurricane Katia not moving much

  07-09-2017 20:39
  Satellite imagery from NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites showed that Hurricane Katia had not moved much, just about 30 miles in 16 hours.
  
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• Correction: Hurricanes-Q&A story

  07-09-2017 20:38
  Correction: Hurricanes-Q&A story
  
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• Study raises question: Why are fossilized hairs so rare?

  07-09-2017 20:37
  When most people hear the word fossil, they probably think of gigantic leg bones or sharp teeth. But, given the right conditions, after an animal dies even delicate body coverings like skin, hair and feathers can be preserved.
  
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• How tails help geckos and other vertebrates make great strides

  07-09-2017 20:37
  A wagging tail is often associated with dogs' emotions, but the side-to-side motion may also help them take longer strides and move faster, according to a study by researchers at the University of California, Riverside.
  
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• Ship exhaust makes oceanic thunderstorms more intense

  07-09-2017 20:32
  Thunderstorms directly above two of the world's busiest shipping lanes are significantly more powerful than storms in areas of the ocean where ships don't travel, according to new research.
  
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• Here's how to use Zello, the walkie-talkie app people are downloading ahead of Hurricane Irma - Business Insider

  07-09-2017 20:28 via businessinsider.com
  Business Insider
  Here's how to use Zello, the walkie-talkie app people are downloading ahead of Hurricane Irma
  Business Insider
  As Hurricane Irma rips through the Caribbean and heads toward Florida, a free smartphone app is emerging as an important tool for search and rescue. Called Zello, the app lets you use your phone as a walkie-talkie or two-way radio as long as you have a ...
  Free walkie-talkie app tops App Store charts ahead of Hurricane IrmaThe Verge
  Using walkie talkie app Zello d
  
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• Cilia: 'The bouncer' of bacteria

  07-09-2017 20:27
  Imagine a club scene—a bouncer at a velvet rope selects which individuals get into the club. This, explains Eva Kanso, a professor of mechanical engineering at USC Viterbi School of Engineering, is what cilia do in an organism. Kanso applied the analogy to explain her new paper, "Motile cilia create fluid-mechanical microhabitats for the active recruitment of the host microbiome," co-authored with researchers from the Pacific Biosciences Research Center at the University of Hawaii at Manoa
  
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• Astronomers Give Pluto’s Planetary Features First Official Names

  07-09-2017 20:20 via scitechdaily.com
  The International Astronomical Union (IAU) has officially named 14 Pluto surface features and many more will soon be proposed to the IAU, both on Pluto...
  The post Astronomers Give Pluto’s Planetary Features First Official Names appeared first on SciTech Daily.
  
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• Cities jockey for position as Jeff Bezos launches search for second Amazon.com HQ - Digital Trends

  07-09-2017 20:07 via digitaltrends.com
  New York Times
  Cities jockey for position as Jeff Bezos launches search for second Amazon.com HQ
  Digital Trends
  Who out there would like Amazon.com's headquarters in their city? Or, we should say, Amazon's SECOND headquarters. According to the Seattle Times, Jeff Bezos and company are looking to drop something like $5 billion dollars on a second HQ that Bezos ...
  Amazon HQ search sends Tenn.'s biggest cities into hyperdriveWKRN.com
  Prime real estate: Amazon opens search for 2nd HQWEAU
  Amaz
  
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• Bats' echolocation has one major blind spot

  07-09-2017 20:04
  
  AnimalsOur glass and metal buildings might pose a threat.
  When it comes to navigating at night, bats are among the champions of the animal kingdom. But it turns out that these fuzzy fliers do have one weakness.
  
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• Tweet life vs. street life: Exploring the gap between content and feelings

  07-09-2017 20:00
  Twitter is an unreliable witness to the world's emotions, according to University of Warwick sociology expert Dr Eric Jensen.
  
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• The sand trap: Demand outpaces caution—and knowledge

  07-09-2017 20:00
  Sand, spanning miles of beaches, carpeting vast oceans and deserts, is a visual metaphor for limitless resources. Yet researchers in this week's journal Science seize another metaphor - sand in an hourglass, marking time running out.
  
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• Study demonstrates courts' critical, underappreciated role in climate policy

  07-09-2017 20:00
  Researchers at the George Washington University (GW) have identified that the number of federal and state climate lawsuits has been growing since 2006 in the most extensive study to date on the nature and impact of judicial resolutions of legal actions related to climate change. This first-of-a-kind analysis shows that air pollution and coal-fired power plants were the subject of the majority of the studied cases and 58 percent of all of the cases were won by litigants opposed to government regu
  
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• Chromosome motor discovery supports DNA loop extrusion

  07-09-2017 20:00
  It is one of the great mysteries in biology: How does a cell neatly distribute its replicated DNA between two daughter cells? For more than a century, we have known that DNA in the cell is comparable to a plate of spaghetti—a jumble of intermingled strands. When cells divide, they have to pack two metres of DNA into tidy little packages—chromosomes. This packing is induced by proteins called condensin, but scientists are split regarding the actual mechanism. One argument holds that t
  
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• A new way to directly convert methane to methanol using gold-palladium nanoparticles

  07-09-2017 20:00
  Liquid methanol is widely used as a feedstock for other chemicals and also has considerable potential as an alternative fuel source. However, converting methane—the primary component of abundant natural gas—into methanol is currently achieved by an indirect process which requires high heat and pressure.
  
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• Parched Jordan starts growing vegetables in desert

  07-09-2017 19:40
  Jordan, a water-poor country that is 90-percent desert, on Thursday launched a project to turn its sand dunes into farming land to produce food using sun and sea water.
  
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• Improving web security without sacrificing performance

  07-09-2017 19:35
  Chances are, you're reading this article on a web browser that uses HTTPS, the protocol over which data is sent between a web browser and the website users are connected to. In fact, nearly half of all web traffic passes through HTTPS. Despite the "S" for security in "HTTPS," this protocol is far from perfectly secure.
  
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• 'Whole houses' swept away by Irma on Branson's island

  07-09-2017 19:34
  British billionaire Richard Branson said Thursday that "whole houses" on his private island in the Caribbean had been swept away by Hurricane Irma, leaving it "completely and utterly devastated".
  
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• Scientists nail vandals of 800-year-old scroll

  07-09-2017 19:33
  More than 800 years ago, a teenaged soldier named Laurentius Loricatus accidentally killed a man. He spent the next three decades repenting alone in an Italian cave, self-flagellating.
  
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• EU defence ministers put to test in mock cyberattack

  07-09-2017 19:30
  A major cyberattack targets European Union military structures, with hackers using social media and "fake news" to spread confusion, and governments are left scrambling to respond as the crisis escalates.
  
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• Researchers analyze flocking behavior on curved surfaces

  07-09-2017 19:28
  A murmuration of starlings. The phrase reads like something from literature or the title of an arthouse film. In fact, it is meant to describe the phenomenon that results when hundreds, sometimes thousands, of these birds fly in swooping, intricately coordinated patterns through the sky.
  
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• All NFL games will air online, but watching won't be easy

  07-09-2017 19:20
  Every NFL football game will be shown live online this season—but that doesn't mean you'll be able to watch them.
  
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• Social networks extend gains as news sources in US: survey

  07-09-2017 19:10
  Social networks have made more gains as news sources for Americans in 2017, according to a study released Thursday suggesting more woes for traditional news organizations.
  
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