This computer image provided by Energy Observer, shows the Energy Observer boat, which is powered solely by renewable energies and hydrogen. The first self-sufficient boat only powered by emission-free energy will start a six-year trip around the world next spring. (Energy Observer via AP) The first self-sufficient boat powered only by emission-free energy will start a six-year trip around the world in the spring. Energy Observer, a […]
Every few thousand years, an unlucky star wanders too close to the black hole at the center of the Milky Way. The black hole’s powerful gravity rips the star apart, sending a long streamer of gas whipping outward. That would seem to be the end of the story, but it’s not. New research shows that not only can the gas gather itself into planet-size objects, but those […]
Facebook on Wednesday announced a new program of training, products and tools aimed at further solidifying the social network’s relationship with publishers, which view the Silicon Valley giant as both a firehose of referral traffic and an at-times fearsome adversary. The program’s debut comes days after Facebook hired former TV journalist Campbell Brown to be its head of news partnerships. The initiative (which includes a partnership with […]
To an outsider, it looked preposterous. The archaeologists were cataloging and storing absolutely everything, treating this physical material as though it were digital information — JPEGs of itself. And yet they couldn’t afford not to: Everything a Neanderthal came into contact with was a valuable clue. (In 28 years of excavations here, archaeologists have yet to find a fossil of an actual Neanderthal.) “This is like putting […]
A project of Bristol University is making news with a team of its Artificial Intelligence researchers sourcing colossal information from more than 100 British regional newspapers spanning 150 years in defining and pinpointing important turning points in the country’s history and culture. The results are amazing with many interesting revelations. What makes the project remarkable is the methodology. Already, it is known to all that history is well-etched […]
Inspired by micro-scale motions of nature, a group of researchers has developed a new design for transporting colloidal particles, tiny cargo suspended in substances such as fluids or gels, more rapidly than is currently possible by diffusion. (via WSJ)
The grooves in fingerprints enhance our ability to sense textures, according to a recent study. Image credit: Wikimedia. Could flashing the “peace” sign in photos lead to fingerprint data being stolen? Research by a team at Japan’s National Institute of Informatics (NII) says so, raising alarm bells over the popular two-fingered pose. Fingerprint recognition technology is becoming widely available to verify identities, such as when logging […]
Donald Trump angrily denied claims that Russia sought to cultivate and compromise him, after unverified allegations about his personal conduct and ties to Moscow spilled out into the open, just 10 days before his inauguration. US media reported that intelligence agency officials shared a written synopsis of a dossier containing lurid but unsubstantiated personal claims about Mr Trump, allegedly compiled by Moscow, when they met the president-elect […]
How do forensic scientists deal with complex DNA-evidence found at crime scenes? A researcher has now developed new statistical models to analyze them. (via WSJ)
Researchers are developing a portable device for detecting type 1 or type 2 diabetes at an early stage. The ultimate aim of the project is to develop a prototype of the device. (via WSJ)
Sonos has promoted former BlackBerry manager Patrick Spence to take over as chief executive from founder John MacFarlane, after the rise of streaming music services propelled the wireless speaker maker to further growth last year. The change comes as 15-year-old Sonos repositions itself to take advantage of a new wave of voice-controlled “virtual assistants” such as Amazon’s Alexa and connected-home technologies. Mr Spence joined the California-based company […]
Wednesday 08:30 GMT Overview European stocks and US index futures are lacking momentum, while government bond yields see minimal moves, as traders appear wary of making bold bets ahead of a press conference later in the day from US president-elect Donald Trump. The dollar is steady against the euro but the Turkish lira has hit another record low. Industrial commodity prices mostly are holding recent gains. Hot […]
By Engen Tham and Samuel Shen | SHANGHAI SHANGHAI China’s forex regulator is telling banks to keep its instructions about curbing capital outflows secret and to ensure that research analysts keep any negative views about the yuan’s prospects to themselves, several bankers said. Both demands are seen as an attempt by the authorities to prevent alarm that could trigger further declines in the yuan, the bankers from […]
Feral cats cover over 99.8 percent of Australia’s land area, including almost 80 percent of the area of our islands. These are just some of the findings of new research which looks at the number of feral cats in Australia. The research was undertaken by over 40 of Australia’s top environmental scientists and brings together evidence from nearly 100 separate studies across the country. Source
BAGHDAD: Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi said on Tuesday relations with northern neighbor Turkey could “not move forward one step” without a withdrawal of Turkish forces from a camp in northern Iraq, state television reported.Turkish forces have been stationed at Bashiqa camp near Mosul since before the start of an offensive against Daesh. Meanwhile, Iraqi forces pushed Daesh back further in Mosul on Tuesday in a renewed […]
By Jonathan Landay and John Walcott | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON Classified documents that the heads of four U.S. intelligence agencies presented last week to President-elect Donald Trump included claims that Russian intelligence operatives have compromising information about him, two U.S. officials said Tuesday evening. They told Reuters the claims, which one called “still unsubstantiated,” were contained in a two-page memo appended to a report on Russian interference in […]
Economic growth will slow in Bahrain throughout 2017 and the government will continue to post large deficits as social instability limits opportunities for effective spending cuts, according to new research. In two separate reports this week, BMI Research warns that domestic instability in Bahrain will cause revenues to remain low by historical standards, even as oil prices start to recover. BMI forecasts Bahrain’s budget deficit to come […]
The Middle East has given McLaren Automotive, the British manufacturer of luxury sports and supercars, good reason to get revved up with sales soaring last year. Its Middle East, Africa and central and South America region grew by an impressive 69 per cent last year, as the company posted another record year of sales growth. From offices in Dubai, McLaren has expanded into Abu Dhabi. “We continue […]
Researchers have developed a computational walking model that could help guide patients to their best possible recovery after a stroke. (via WSJ)
Uber’s policy chief David Plouffe is leaving the company to join the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, the philanthropic group led by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, at a time when Uber’s policy battles around the world continue to heat up. Mr Plouffe, who served as President Barack Obama’s campaign manager in 2008, joined Uber in 2014 and saw the company through some of its fiercest political […]
Can thermal solar energy be stored until wintertime? Within a European research consortium, scientists have spent four years studying this question by pitting three different techniques against each other. (via WSJ)
Xuewei Qi and a team of UCR researchers are using vehicle connectivity and evolutionary algorithms to improve the efficiency of Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles. Credit: UC Riverside Engineers at the University of California, Riverside have taken inspiration from biological evolution and the energy savings garnered by birds flying in formation to improve the efficiency of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) by more than 30 percent. Titled “Development […]
Short-lived compounds like greenhouse gas methane stay in the atmosphere just between a year and a few decades. However, researchers have found that they can cause lingering warmth that can lead to sea levels rising for centuries long after the compounds have been cleared from the atmosphere. In a study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers from the Simon Fraser University and […]
Computing science researchers are using automated geotagging models to put a place to online data and documents. (via WSJ)
