Sci-Tech news

• Does This AI Make Me Look Gay? Study Spawns Backlash, Debate

  13-09-2017 23:28 via nbcnews.com
  Research suggesting that artificial intelligence tools could accurately predict a person's sexuality by assessing a photo is now under ethical review.
  
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• Apple's new Face ID system uses a sensing strategy that dates back decades

  13-09-2017 23:01
  
  Technology'Structured light' and artificial intelligence help power the iPhone X's flagship biometric skill.
  On Tuesday, Apple announced Face ID, a slick new way for people to biometrically unlock their phones by showing it their, well, face. Read on.
  
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• New supernova analysis reframes dark energy debate

  13-09-2017 23:00
  The accelerating expansion of the Universe may not be real, but could just be an apparent effect, according to new research published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. The new study—by a group at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand—finds the fit of Type Ia supernovae to a model universe with no dark energy to be very slightly better than the fit to the standard dark energy model.
  
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• Waymo suit against Uber on road to trial

  13-09-2017 22:22
  Waymo's case against Uber over swiped self-driving car technology appeared headed for trial after an appeals court on Wednesday rejected a bid to steer it toward private arbitration.
  
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• Research finds roots use chemical 'photos' to coordinate growth

  13-09-2017 22:20
  Though it may look haphazard, the network of intertwining plant roots snaking through the soil actually represents a deliberate process. Root growth is guided by chemical snapshots taken by the young roots, allowing them to detect obstructions and coordinate the paths they take, new research led by Florida Institute of Technology finds.
  
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• Getting to the point (mutations) in re-engineering biofuel-producing bacterial enzymes

  13-09-2017 22:20
  Converting fibrous plant waste, like corn stalks and wood shavings, into fermentable simple sugars for the production of biofuel is no simple process. Bacteria must break down tough leaves, stems and other cellulosic matter resistant to degradation to turn them into usable energy.
  
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• ‘Cellular Time Machine’ Slows Aging, Extends Lifespan

  13-09-2017 22:02 via scitechdaily.com
  A team of biologists from UCLA have developed an intervention that serves as a cellular time machine — turning back the clock on a key...
  The post ‘Cellular Time Machine’ Slows Aging, Extends Lifespan appeared first on SciTech Daily.
  
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• Octlantis: Where octopuses buck tradition and live in groups

  13-09-2017 22:00
  
  AnimalsBut they're still pretty gloomy.
  Octopuses usually live their lives in isolation, save a quick mating interaction. But the gloomy octopus seems to build cities—of a sort.
  
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• Fin24.com | Cell C drops roaming rates in 58 countries

  13-09-2017 21:57
  
  Cell C has announced new international roaming rates to 58 countries covering 99 networks, which it says will make pricing simple and transparent for overseas travellers.
  
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• Goodbye Cassini: Saturn spacecraft gets funny opera send-off

  13-09-2017 21:56
  NASA's Cassini spacecraft is getting a grand but hilarious opera send-off before it plunges through Saturn's atmosphere and vaporizes Friday.
  
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• Protecting the power grid with circuit simulation methods

  13-09-2017 21:49
  In December 2015, Russian hackers allegedly pummeled Ukraine's power grid, disrupting the flow of electricity for nearly a quarter-million Ukrainians. Then, in December 2016, roughly a year after the first attack, the hackers struck again. But this time, they targeted an electric transmission station in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine. Each cyberattack lasted no more than six hours, but security experts were still alarmed: hackers had just demonstrated their ability to infiltrate the grid and drast
  
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• Scientists ready for Cassini mission to Saturn grand finale

  13-09-2017 21:46
  University of Colorado Boulder Professor Larry Esposito has been eying the fabulous rings of Saturn for much of his career, beginning as a team scientist on NASA's Pioneer 11 mission when he discovered the planet's faint F ring in 1979.
  
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• Good News for Women Who Hate Going to the Gyno

  13-09-2017 21:46 via feedproxy.google.com
  Women may soon have more options when it comes to deciding how often they are screened for cervical cancer. But here’s the thing ― age is important.Women ages 30 to 65 years can either get screened every three years with a pap smear or every five years with a high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) test, according to draft recommendations on cervical cancer screening released Tuesday by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF).  This draft recommendation is an update to the
  
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• Stampede suspected in dozens of walrus death

  13-09-2017 21:33
  Thousands of Pacific walrus are coming to Alaska's northwest shore again in the absence of summer sea ice and not all are surviving.
  
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• New gravity map suggests Mars has a porous crust

  13-09-2017 21:28
  NASA scientists have found evidence that Mars' crust is not as dense as previously thought, a clue that could help researchers better understand the Red Planet's interior structure and evolution.
  
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• Tool-wielding Macaques Are Wiping Out Shellfish Populations

  13-09-2017 21:20 via feedproxy.google.com
  The advent of tools was a big deal for humanity. It made it far easier to manipulate our environment and mold the planet to serve our own interests—from the folsom point to the iPhone X.Some animals use tools too, like the macaques of Thailand, who have figured out that their favorite shellfish snacks are much easier to eat if they bash them open with rocks first. They've become proficient shellfish smashers, so much so that the macaques are actually threatening the existence of oysters
  
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• The world’s bananas are under attack

  13-09-2017 21:06
  
  EnvironmentBut no, they’re not about to go extinct.
  Bananas are threatened by a deadly fungus, among other ailments.
  
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• US bans government use of software from Russian firm Kaspersky

  13-09-2017 20:43
  The US government banned the use of Kaspersky security software in federal offices Wednesday, saying the Russian company has risky ties to Russian intelligence that threaten US national security.
  
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• Researchers create first global map of water in Moon's soil

  13-09-2017 20:26
  In research that may prove useful to future lunar explorers, scientists from Brown University have created the first quantitative map of water and its chemical building blocks trapped in the uppermost portion of the Moon's soil.
  
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• Chocolate industry driving deforestation of Ivory Coast: report

  13-09-2017 20:23
  The chocolate industry is indirectly driving massive and illegal deforestation in Ivory Coast, fuelling a catastrophic decline in wildlife, a green group said Wednesday.
  
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• Researchers lay groundwork to better understanding optical properties of glass

  13-09-2017 20:22
  Glass is everywhere. Whether someone is gazing out a window or scrolling through a smartphone, odds are that there is a layer of glass between them and whatever it is they're looking at.
  
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• Earth's oldest trees in climate-induced race up the tree line

  13-09-2017 20:21
  Bristlecone pine and limber pine trees in the Great Basin region are like two very gnarled, old men in a slow-motion race up the mountaintop, and climate change is the starting gun, according to a study from the University of California, Davis.
  
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• Fin24.com | What SA can expect to pay for new era iPhone X

  13-09-2017 20:18
  
  If past iPhone releases and associated costs are a guide, the new iPhone X could cost you an arm and a leg when it arrives on South African shores.
  
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• Infections during pregnancy may help autism develop—and scientists are finally figuring out why

  13-09-2017 20:17
  
  HealthOur immune systems aren’t perfect.
  Researchers identified a mechanism through which bacteria in the gut interact with the immune system during pregnancy in ways that can lead to neurodevelopmental…
  
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• Tectonic plates 'weaker than previously thought,' say scientists

  13-09-2017 20:00
  Experiments carried out at Oxford University have revealed that tectonic plates are weaker than previously thought. The finding explains an ambiguity in lab work that led scientists to believe these rocks were much stronger than they appeared to be in the natural world. This new knowledge will help us understand how tectonic plates can break to form new boundaries.
  
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• MIT Engineers Design “Peel-and-Go” Printable Structures That Fold Themselves

  13-09-2017 20:00 via scitechdaily.com
  Engineers from MIT have developed a new method to produce printable structures that begin to fold up as soon as they are peeled off the...
  The post MIT Engineers Design “Peel-and-Go” Printable Structures That Fold Themselves appeared first on SciTech Daily.
  
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• Researchers design the building blocks of synthetic muscle using computational method

  13-09-2017 19:50
  Each time you flex your bicep, millions of molecular motors work together in a complex process inside your muscle. These motors—called myosin—are chemically-powered proteins. Combinations of them perform different muscular functions like maintaining a heartbeat or bearing weight. 
  
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• Jail terms for French carbon trading scammers

  13-09-2017 19:46
  A top fraudster behind a tax scam in France using carbon emission rights was sentenced to nine years in prison Wednesday as authorities press ahead with prosecutions over the 1.6-billion-euro ($1.9-billion) scandal.
  
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• Rescuers save entangled whale off of Cape Cod

  13-09-2017 19:45
  A Massachusetts marine science center says it has disentangled a humpback whale off of Cape Cod.
  
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• There's no need to spend $999 for a good phone these days

  13-09-2017 19:44
  Apple's new iPhone X is special. It has flashy upgrades, facial recognition and animated emoji, all in celebration of the iPhone's 10-year anniversary. And its price tag is appropriately special: $999 and up.
  
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• Lawsuit targets searches of electronic devices at US border

  13-09-2017 19:43
  A federal lawsuit filed Wednesday claims the U.S. government's growing practice of searching laptops and cellphones at the border is unconstitutional because electronic devices now carry troves of private personal and business information. The government has vociferously defended its searches as critical to protecting the homeland.
  
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• Frankfurt auto show: Diesels improve, but will people buy?

  13-09-2017 19:42
  German automakers say they have new and improved diesels that meet or beat ever-tightening emissions standards. But will consumers buy them the way they used to in the wake of the Volkswagen scandal and threats of diesel bans?
  
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• Study: Asia's glaciers face massive melt from global warming

  13-09-2017 19:41
  Scientists say one-third of the ice stored in Asia's glaciers will be lost by the end of the century even if the world manages to meet its ambitious goal of keeping global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius, affecting water supplies for millions of people on the continent.
  
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• Innate immunity—to operate, insert dimers

  13-09-2017 19:40
  The presence of DNA in mammalian cell cytoplasm triggers an immune response by binding to a dimeric enzyme, which inserts between DNA double helices to form the 'rungs' of a ladder-like structure, as an LMU team has now shown.
  
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