In contradicting a theory that’s been the standard for over eighty years, researchers have made a discovery holding major promise for the petroleum industry. The research has revealed that in the foreseeable future products such as crude oil and gasoline could be transported across country 30 times faster, and the several minutes it takes to fill a tank of gas could be reduced to mere seconds. (via […]
Researchers are investigating novel ways by which electrons are knocked out of matter. Their research could have implications for radiation therapy. (via WSJ)
Alcohol intake is associated with higher rates of developing cancer, among white men and women. As part of the association, white wine was the most obvious correlation. The study, published in the journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, suggested that nearly 3.6 percent of cancer cases around the globe can be associated with alcohol, especially the ones of the aerodigestive tract, […]
Porous crystals called metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) consist of metallic intersections with organic molecules as connecting elements. Thanks to their high porosity, MOFs have an extremely large surface area. A teaspoonful of MOFs has the same surface area as a football pitch. These countless pores situated in an extremely small space offer room for “guests” and can, for example, be used for gas storage or as “molecular gate” […]
Microsoft has unveiled a new chatbot named Zo, but this time, she’s available on Kik, instead of Twitter, where earlier this year, her predecessor—known as Tay—went on a rather racist tirade before being shut down. I’ve never heard a clear explanation as to why Microsoft is making chatbots, and I have to assume the worst: They are on track to deliver ads. If you ever […]
Holly Russell, former graduate student in the Dynamic Design Lab, is lead author of a new study on the handover of control from an autonomous car to a human driver. She is shown in Stanford’s X1 experimental vehicle. Credit: Steve Castillo There you are, cruising down the freeway, listening to some tunes and enjoying the view as your autonomous car zips and swerves through traffic. Then the […]
Sony plans to unleash some of its iconic PlayStation titles on smartphones from next spring, in its most determined attempt yet to capture a bigger share of the $35bn global mobile gaming market. The move follows the runaway success of augmented reality mobile game Pokémon Go, with rival Nintendo’s famous character demonstrating the power of Japan’s intellectual property when tapping into a global pool of smartphone users. […]
Will this truck be the eyes and ears of the smart city? Credit: USPS The future of the U.S. Postal Service could be as the eyes, ears and sensor network for the smart city. If cities played along the USPS could also derive a revenue stream that could reverse billions of dollars of annual losses. According to a panel at the Smart Cities Summit in Boston, the […]
Incorporating snow data collected from space into computer climate models can significantly improve seasonal temperature predictions, researchers have determined. (via WSJ)
A line of Audi A4 cars are parked before a demonstration of Audi’s vehicle-to-infrastructure technology Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2016, in Las Vegas. The technology allows vehicles to “read” red lights ahead and tell the driver how long it’ll be before the signal turns green. For the driver, the system puts a traffic signal icon on the dashboard telling how many seconds the light will remain red. (AP […]
Almost a third of smartwatches and fitness trackers, 29 and 30 percent respectively, are abandoned by their owners, according to a new study by analyst firm Gartner. More than 9,500 consumers from Australia, the United Kingdom, and United States, were surveyed between June to August about their attitudes towards wearables as well as their purchasing behaviours around smartwatches, fitness trackers, and virtual reality glasses. Those who abandoned […]
Researchers have developed a simple processing technique that could cut the cost of organic photovoltaics and wearable electronics. (via WSJ)
Picture it: rumours of a renminbi devaluation keep growing. Residents rush to open accounts offshore as experts warn Beijing will get off on the wrong foot with a relatively new US administration if a big depreciation happens. Official denials are made regularly — until a devaluation of about 50 per cent follows in short order. That was China in 1994. Today the idea of a similarly brutal, […]
Researchers have published the first demonstration of humans playing a simple, two-dimensional computer game using only input from direct brain stimulation — without relying on any usual sensory cues from sight, hearing or touch. Source
Attorney Peter Smith, research editor for the Center, has filed all 17 lawsuits for the Center, ten of which the Center either won or settled. In response to these lawsuits, federal agencies have disclosed records involving government contracts related to Iraq and Afghanistan, George W. Bush’s initiative to fight AIDS in foreign countries, and audits of the Medicare Advantage program. “The 17 represent just a small fraction of the thousands of […]
Investment in Manufacturing Innovative Medicines Supports the Kingdom’s “Vision 2030” Aspirations 06 December 2016 Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD), known as Merck & Co, Inc. in the US and Canada, has today highlighted the initiation of the manufacturing investment agreement with Pharma Pharmaceutical Industries (PPI). This deal enables PPI to exclusively manufacture many of the MSD medicines approved by the Saudi Food & Drug Authority and distributed […]
Parrotlets flying through a field of lasers and microparticles helped test three popular models that predict the lift generated by flying animals. The work could help develop better flying robots. (via WSJ)
By Julia Love and Stephen Nellis | SAN FRANCISCO SAN FRANCISCO Apple Watch sales appear to have rebounded for the holidays from mid-year doldrums on a redesign, price cuts and strong promotions, but analysts say long-term demand has yet to be proven. The Watch is Apple Inc’s (AAPL.O) first new product under Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook and is seen as a barometer of whether the company […]
ABU DHABI // The UAE has held on to its top ranking for the region in a survey of pupils’ proficiency, but experienced a drop in its global placings for two subjects. Results from the Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) released on Tuesday also show that UAE pupils continue to fall below the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development average in the three subjects tested – […]
By Phil Stewart and Amy Tennery | WASHINGTON/NEW YORK WASHINGTON/NEW YORK U.S. President-elect Donald Trump urged the government on Tuesday to cancel an order with Boeing Co (BA.N) for a revamped Air Force One – a prominent symbol of the U.S. presidency – complaining that costs were out of control. It was the latest example of Trump using his podium, often via brief Twitter messages, to rattle […]
London’s FTSE 100 stands apart as the global laggard among major stock indices with investors giving it a wide berth almost a month since the election of Donald Trump. The performance reflects concern over Brexit negotiations hurting the shares of companies exposed to the UK economy while the pound’s recent rebound against the dollar and the euro offsets the boost for resource stocks from rising crude and […]
The battery-driven hybrid EEG/EOG-based brain-machine interface. Solid gel electrodes – attached to a noninvasive mesh cap worn on the head – sent measurements of electric brain activity and eye movement to a computer tablet, which then translated these quantities to control signals for the robotic hand attachment. Credit: Nicola Vitiello, The BioRobotics Institute, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Italy Scientists have developed a mind-controlled robotic hand that allows people […]
Flow-lithography is a lithographic method for continuously generating polymer microstructures for various applications such as bioassays, drug-delivery, cell carriers, tissue engineering and authentication. A team of researchers has demonstrated the use of a wobulation technique to enhance the resolution of flow lithography produced nanostructures. (via WSJ)
Speaking at the session were H.E. Saeed Al Tayer, MD and CEO of DEWA; H.E. Dr. Aisha Butti bin Bishr of the Smart Dubai Office; Academic Researcher Vivek Wadhwa; and Bibop G. Gresta and Dirk Ahlborn of Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, Inc. Dubai, December 6, 2016 A panel discussion exploring “Future Cities” and the role that knowledge plays in that regard concluded the sessions of day one of […]
