On a clear afternoon on September 28, 2008, Elon Musk was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Years earlier he had sunk most of his internet fortune into a commercial space company – SpaceX – and was now vying for a lucrative deal with NASA to resupply the International Space Station. There was only one problem: the last three attempts to send a rocket into space […]
On Saturday morning, the Pentagon was eager to announce that China would return a U.S. Navy underwater drone after its military scooped up the submersible in the South China Sea late this week and sparked a row that drew in President-elect Donald Trump. As previously reported, Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said that “through direct engagement with Chinese authorities, we have secured an understanding that the Chinese will […]
Researchers predict with minor error rate the short-term Global Solar Irradiance (GSI) using Artificial Neural Networks (ANN). (via WSJ)
By Brenda Goh, Allison Lampert and Brad Haynes | SHANGHAI/MONTREAL/SAO PAULO SHANGHAI/MONTREAL/SAO PAULO New rules governing Chinese airline startups are fueling hopes at Embraer SA (EMBR3.SA), Bombardier Inc (BBDb.TO) and other regional jet makers for a spike in orders next year, but local competition and doubts about size restrictions still loom as major obstacles. The new policy is aimed at encouraging fledgling carriers to boost domestic flights […]
Senior American officials and top commanders in the Middle East say the brutal urban fight for Mosul is succeeding — however slowly — but is proving to be tougher than expected. These officials predict that the battle to oust the Islamic State from Iraq’s second-largest city could last two to four more months. Continue reading the main story Brett H. McGurk, President Obama’s envoy to the international […]
The Middle East mobile phone market suffered its third consecutive quarter-on-quarter decline between July and September, according to the latest figures announced by IDC. Shipments in the region totalled 23.8 million units, down 0.7 percent on the 23.9 million units shipped in Q2 and 19.4 percent on the corresponding period last year. IDC said that given that the quarter-on-quarter decline in Q2 was much steeper at 8.5 […]
Whether water freezes to ice, iron is demagnetized or a material becomes superconducting — for physicists there is always a phase transition behind it. They endeavour to understand these different phenomena by searching for universal properties. Researchers have now made a pioneering discovery during their study of a phase transition from an electrical conductor to an insulator (Mott metal-insulator transition). (via WSJ)
In this Dec. 8, 2016 photo, Steve Burke and Jim Besha of Albany Engineering Corp. stand at the site of an abandoned iron mine in the Adirondacks, in Mineville, N.Y., where they’re seeking a federal permit to build an underground hydroelectric pumped storage project. The hills behind them are “tailings” leftover from crushing ore to extract iron from the mine that closed in 1971. (AP Photo/Mary Esch) […]
Researchers have made the world’s smallest radio receiver – built out of an assembly of atomic-scale defects in pink diamonds. (via WSJ)
Six new species of marine animals have been discovered on the sea floor of Indian Ocean, living close to a bunch of hot springs. In a robot led survey, scientists from the Southampton University, Natural History Museum in London and University of Newcastle explored hydrothermal vents in the seabed. Their expedition in November 2011 yielded valuable data and led to the discovery of new organisms living on the […]
The evacuation of eastern Aleppo stalled again on Sunday after a convoy heading for two government-controlled towns came under attack by rebel forces. According to Syrian state television, the buses were en route to al-Fuaa and Kefraya to collect the sick and injured when they were attacked and torched by opposition fighters. A video posted online, purporting to be of the aftermath of the convoy attack, shows […]
Bahrain is the GCC country economically most at risk from the US Federal Reserve’s decision to hike interest rates last week, new research claims. The Fed’s 25 basis points hike in interest rates will add to liquidity pressures already experienced by the Bahraini economy, while doing little to mitigate inflationary pressures as these mostly reflect subsidy cuts, according to a report by BMI Research. Meanwhile, further hikes […]
Researchers found that antiaromatic planar norcorrole molecules can form close face-to-face interactions to give structures with increased aromaticity. This behavior is quite different from that of typical aromatic materials, which adopt offset interactions to minimize electron repulsion. The results agree with previous theoretical studies proposing that the aromaticity of antiaromatic materials can be increased through suitable interactions to produce materials with interesting electronic structures. (via WSJ)
The Brazilian market for mobile devices is predicted to drop 10 percent in volume for 2016 due to a 11 percent decrease in smartphone sales, according to research. A study released by the Brazilian Electrical and Electronics Industry Association (ABINEE), revenues for the sector should see modest growth of 2 percent driven by more expensive items. According to the ABINEE report, the decline is down to the […]
Researchers have proposed a new detection method to discover about 10 black holes per year. At this rate, the number of known black holes can double within two years. Black holes are known to absorb all light and matter. They also emit zero radiation which makes it difficult to image and detect them amid a black background in space. Now, researchers proposed a new method that may […]
Medical implants often carry surface substrates that release active substances or to which biomolecules or cells can adhere better. However, degradable gas-phase coatings for degradable implants, such as surgical suture materials or scaffolds for tissue culturing, have been lacking so far. In a new article, researchers now present a polymer coating that is degraded in the body together with its carrier. (via WSJ)
Sunday, 18 December 2016 – Today, Phidar Advisory released its Dubai residential research note with November data, which is now reported using a 3-month moving average. The report shows that residential rents continue to decline and projects further declines. “The risk in the residential market remains on the downside,” said Jesse Downs, Managing Director of Phidar Advisory. “Weak investment demand and softening rents will push rates down […]
While such development has encroached on and hindered nesting habitat for three types of sagebrush-obligate birds, predation of these birds has increased because rodent populations in the vicinity of oil and gas wells have increased. (via WSJ)
It’s been a big month in theme parks in the UAE, with the official opening of Dubai Parks & Resorts in Dubai Sunday, news that IMG Worlds of Adventure are opening yet another venue, Legends, and Miral announcing that SeaWorld is coming to Abu Dhabi. By the time the Expo comes to the UAE in the year 2020, almost every popular movie and animation brand you can […]
A new concept in energy harvesting could capture energy that is currently mostly wasted due to its characteristic low frequency and use it to power next-generation electronic devices. In a project funded by electronics giant Samsung, a team of Penn State materials scientists and electrical engineers has designed a mechanical energy transducer based on flexible organic ionic diodes that points toward a new direction in scalable energy […]
Proponents of the drugs say switching to the new formulations could save taxpayers money if addictions decline, though there is little evidence now that they reduce rates of either addiction or overdoses. The prescription painkiller epidemic costs the U.S. economy $78.5 billion annually, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report this year. “We have an enormous prescription-drug abuse problem in Illinois that’s costing a […]
(Image: file photo) An advisor working for financial planning giant Ameriprise has inadvertently exposed hundreds of investment portfolios, worth tens of millions of dollars. The data was found on an internet-connected backup drive at the advisor’s home, which was set to synchronize over the internet with his primary backup drive at his office. But neither drive had a password, allowing anyone to view sensitive client data. The […]
By Bill Trott Henry Heimlich, the medical maverick who came up with a maneuver credited with saving thousands of choking victims but who damaged his standing as a proponent of the curative powers of malaria, died on Saturday at the age of 96. Heimlich, a doctor who developed a life-saving technique to dislodge airway blockages, died at Christ Hospital in Cincinnati of complications from a massive heart […]
By David Stanway | PINGDINGSHAN, China PINGDINGSHAN, China China has ordered state firms to smash the decades-old system of providing cradle-to-grave welfare support, known as the country’s “iron rice bowl”. But the order, part of a plan to reduce financial pressure on bloated and heavily indebted state-owned enterprises (SOEs), is likely to be easier said than done as cities navigate the social and financial wrenches the changes […]
