By Erik Kirschbaum | BERLIN BERLIN Germany’s centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) have moved ahead of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) in an opinion poll by the Emnid institute for the first time since 2006, Bild am Sonntag newspaper said. The SPD’s unexpected surge of some 12 points in the last month has caught Merkel and her conservatives off guard, analysts said, just seven months before […]
While the year continues to be dominated by headlines touting the universal appeal of Alexa, there’s another gives a glimpse of what the big next step in human-computer interaction will be: eye tracking. The concept of measuring and responding to human eye motion isn’t new, but the past year saw a rising interest in the technology. There have been a slew of acquisitions of eye tracking startups by large […]
Researchers have demonstrated a way to increase the resolution of microscopes and telescopes beyond long-accepted limitations by tapping into previously neglected properties of light. The method allows observers to distinguish very small or distant objects that are so close together they normally meld into a single blur. Source
Students are also coming and going from the high school after hours and on weekends, when the crossing guards aren’t out and the 40 mph limit applies. Flynn said fifth- and sixth-graders cross Route 130 to get to football practice in late afternoons, and he routinely sees kids walking across the road in the dark. The route is divided as it cuts past the Burlington schools, with […]
Society faces enormous challenges in constructing high-quality, future-oriented built environments. Construction sites today look much like the building sites did at the beginning of the 20th century. Current research on digital fabrication in architecture indicates that the development and integration of innovative digital technologies within architectural and construction processes could transform the building industry — on the verge of a building industry 4.0. Digital technologies in architecture […]
President Trump unveiled an alternate universe Thursday in which virtually every problem of his is the creation of the press. In a rambling, angry and contradictory media meltdown, Trump bashed “the failing New York Times,” The Wall Street Journal, CNN and the BBC, among others, following a fleeting announcement of a new nominee for Labor Secretary. It constituted what at minimum is a quadrupling down — or might […]
Theresa May has ordered her top officials to examine Kraft Heinz’s proposed takeover of Unilever to see if it raises concerns for the wider British economy and merits government intervention. The $143bn takeover approach is a big test for Mrs May’s industrial policy: last year she criticised Kraft’s 2010 takeover of the British chocolate maker Cadbury — the US company reneged on a promise to retain factories […]
Hackers are carrying out surveillance on members of the Israeli military by hacking into their Android phones in order to monitor activity and steal data – potentially including photos and audio recordings – according to security companies. Developed and deployed by currently by a so-far unidentified group, ViperRAT is designed to collect sensitive information from infected devices, with those behind the malware seemingly most interested in images […]
Capitalizing on previous studies in self-powered chemo-mechanical movement, researchers have developed a novel method of transporting particles that utilizes chemical reactions to drive fluid flow within microfluidic devices. (via WSJ)
For populists on both sides of the Atlantic, “expert” is now an expletive, a synonym for out-of-touch elitists swindling the common man. This was perhaps most obvious during the Brexit referendum campaign, when the UK Justice Secretary and “Leave” advocate Michael Gove told a stunned interviewer that “the people of this country have had enough of experts … from organizations with acronyms saying that they know what is best.” Polling indicates […]
Researchers have presented a new power converter that maintains its efficiency at currents ranging from 500 picoamps to 1 milliamp, a span that encompasses a 200,000-fold increase in current levels. (via WSJ)
DUBAI // The Terry Fox Run returned to Dubai yesterday for the first time in three years, with more than 4,000 people taking part in the cancer research event despite the cool, cloudy weather. Participants were able to run, walk, bike and rollerblade or use a wheelchair on the 5-kilometre route on the creek side of Dubai Festival City Mall. The event was held under the patronage […]
Researchers have developed a novel workflow combining machine learning and density functional theory calculations to create design guidelines for new materials that exhibit useful electronic properties, such as ferroelectricity and piezoelectricity. (via WSJ)
KGI Research via 9to5mac Apple’s upcoming iPhone 8 will feature a “function area” at the bottom of its edge-to-edge OLED display, replacing the current iPhone’s home button with Touch ID, according to noted analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities. Kuo, who has correctly pegged Apple launches in the past, detailed the “function area” found at the bottom of the phone in a slide to investors. The 5.8-inch […]
A complex with a proton pathway and stabilized by outer coordination sphere interactions is reversible for hydrogen production/oxidation at room temperature and pressure, researchers have found. (via WSJ)
Researchers from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston have revealed in a study how the Zika virus is able to alter fetal brain development and cause microcephaly. Published in the journal Stem Cell Reports, the study results may help shed light on how Zika causes birth defects. Zika And Microcephaly At the moment, 70 countries and territories around the world are dealing with active transmissions of the […]
Researchers are finding new benefits to smartphone features such as camera and flash, which can help examine and diagnose patients Smartphones are revolutionizing the diagnosis and treatment of illnesses, thanks to add-ons and apps that make their ubiquitous small screens into medical devices, researchers say. “If you look at the camera, the flash, the microphone… they all are getting better and better,” said Shwetak Patel, engineering professor […]
The distribution of normal matter precisely determines gravitational acceleration in all common types of galaxies, a team of researchers reports. This provides further support that the relation is tantamount to a new natural law, the researchers say. (via WSJ)
There is some reprieve for children who suffer from appendicitis; a new study reveals that one may not have to undergo surgery as antibiotics may be an equally effective alternative in some cases. A new research from researchers at the University of Southampton reveals that instead of surgery, antibiotics are possibly an effective method for countering acute non-complicated appendicitis in children. For the unfamiliar, appendicitis is a condition […]
Emerging market equity funds attracted the most money from investors in six months, as resilience in commodity prices and signs of improvement across the world’s major economies sharpened investors’ appetite. The EM funds secured $2.7bn this week, with exchange traded funds pulling in $1.8bn of the total, according to data from EPFR. Interest in EM equities was mirrored by bond investors, who handed EM debt funds $1.3bn. […]
When Microsoft rolled out the “Windows as a Service” tagline for Windows 10, most of us assumed it was just another marketing ploy. But as we approach Windows 10’s two-year anniversary, it’s becoming apparent that there’s some substance behind the label. And for Windows power users and IT pros, the ramifications are just beginning to become apparent. Microsoft has published a handful of low-key technical articles covering […]
An innovative new technique has been developed to mimic one of nature’s greatest achievements — natural structural color. (via WSJ)
By Laurence Frost and David Milliken | PARIS/LONDON PARIS/LONDON The chief executive of Peugeot manufacturer PSA Group (PEUP.PA) will meet British Prime Minister Theresa May to discuss his firm’s planned acquisition of General Motors’ (GM.N) Opel and Vauxhall operations, a government spokesman said on Saturday. Both Britain and Germany fear PSA will cut jobs if the takeover goes ahead, and British politicians are particularly concerned that the […]
The search for cure of congenital and other serious illnesses may be over with the revolutionary gene-editing tool known as CRISPR. Among its uses is to help scientists understand the genetic origin of an illness, which was not possible in the past. The future, the scientific community trumpeted, has arrived. Ethicists warned, however, of the risks as scientists wield the tool that has the potential not only […]
