Record-breaking Coral Sea temperatures threaten the Great Barrier Reef
Near-annual extreme heat in the Coral Sea, including in 2024, is causing back-to-back mass bleaching events in the iconic Great Barrier Reef.
TECH DEIYO
Science and Technolgy blog
Plate tectonics fired up at least 3 billion years ago, study of ancient rocks in Australia indicates
Researchers have discovered the world’s oldest known arc-slicing fault in Australia, intensifying the debate over the origins of plate tectonics.
Stranded Starliner delays another mission to ISS, could return without crew
The Crew-9 handover has been delayed amid rumors that NASA could be planning to return the troubled Starliner spacecraft without its astronauts.
Google antitrust verdict leaves Apple with “inconvenient alternatives”
Enlarge (credit: Benj Edwards) The landmark antitrust ruling against Google on Monday is shaking up one of the longest-standing partnerships in tech. At the heart of the case are billions of dollars’ worth of exclusive agreements Google has inked over…
Severe COVID-19 infection might cause changes in brain metabolism, study finds
A neuroimaging study in Serbia found that individuals who survived a more severe COVID-19 infection had lower levels of creatine and N-acetylaspartate levels in several regions of the brain. The ratio of choline and creatine levels was heightened in survivors…
Scientists are getting serious about UFOs. Here’s why
UFOs have been rebranded as UAPs (unidentified anomalous phenomena). Probably not aliens, they might impact national security and aircraft safety.
Stress triggers different brain responses in women and men with alcohol use disorder
Stress and alcohol use disorder often walk hand in hand, both affecting the brain’s neural circuits in complex ways. A recent study published in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research reveals how sudden social stress affects anxiety and brain activity in…
Lasers help put the cork on spilled oil
Oil spills at sea pose risks to aquatic life and people. Every year, such toxic spills taint the water at more than 150 U.S. sites alone. Attempts to remove that oil tend to be messy, costly and often not very…
Unique transistor ‘could change the world of electronics’ thanks to nanosecond-scale switching speeds and refusal to wear out
A new material can withstand ‘billions’ of electrical cycles without wearing out — and scientists say it could transform electronics within 10 to 20 years.
Jupiter Mars conjunction: How to see the Red Planet and the Giant Planet side-by-side in the sky next week
Look east before dawn on Wednesday, Aug. 14, to see the giant planet and the Red Planet just a third of a degree from one another in a rare planetary conjunction.
Powerful solar eruption temporarily rips ‘tail’ off Earth’s magnetosphere
A massive disturbance in the solar wind caused Earth’s magnetosphere to fly without its usual tail.
Ketamine as an entactogen: Scientists reveal intriguing impact on social pleasure and empathy
Ketamine treatment not only alleviates symptoms of treatment-resistant depression but also enhances social pleasure and empathetic behaviors, according to new research published in the American Journal of Psychiatry. This discovery provides evidence that ketamine can have entactogenic effects. Empathy is…
China begins launching a megaconstellation, and it sounds a lot like Starlink
Enlarge / A Long March 6A rocket launches the first 18 Internet satellites for China’s Qianfan, or Thousand Sails, broadband network. (credit: VCG via Getty Images) Chinese officials have long signaled their interest in deploying a satellite network, or maybe…
Google kills Chromecast, replaces it with Apple TV and Roku Ultra competitor
This is Google’s new streaming box, the Google TV Streamer. It’s meant to sit on your media console instead of hanging from your TV’s USB port like the Chromecast. [credit: Google ] Google is discontinuing the Chromecast brand and pulling…
Hundreds of snake species get a new origin story
Elapoid snakes, including cobras, mambas and sea snakes, may have evolved in Asia, not Africa as many researchers once thought.
Students scramble after security breach wipes 13,000 devices
Enlarge (credit: Getty Images) Students in Singapore are scrambling after a security breach wiped notes and all other data from school-issued iPads and Chromebooks running the mobile device management app Mobile Guardian. According to news reports, the mass wiping came…
NASA chief will make the final decision on how Starliner crew flies home
Enlarge / SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket and Cargo Dragon spacecraft, seen here with the new launch tower and access arm at SLC-40. (credit: SpaceX) NASA on Tuesday confirmed that it is delaying the launch of its next astronaut mission to…
Ancient Greek mosaic depicting two naked satyrs unearthed during construction project
A 2,400-year-old pebbled mosaic unearthed in Greece contains images of two naked men with tails dancing to music.
After 190 bodies found rotting, funeral home owners ordered to pay $950M
Enlarge / An urn with ashes and a numbered cremation stone that is placed in the coffin of the deceased before the cremation. (credit: Getty | Rolf Vennenbernd) A Colorado judge has ordered a couple to pay more than $950…
CDC issues new guidelines for RSV vaccines, citing side-effect concerns
The CDC has clarified and narrowed its recommendations for which older adults should get an RSV vaccine.
Endometriosis may quadruple risk of ovarian cancer, study finds
Women with severe endometriosis are 10 times more likely to get ovarian cancer, while people with endometriosis of any severity are four times as likely, a study suggests. But patients shouldn’t panic.
Indonesia’s tiny hobbits descended from even smaller ancestors
Enlarge / Half of the upper arm bone of this species can fit comfortably in the palm of a modern human hand. (credit: Yousuke Kaifu) The discovery of Homo floresiensis, often termed a hobbit, confused a lot of people. Not…
Sci-fi writer and WordStar lover re-releases the cult DOS app for free
Enlarge (credit: Robert J. Sawyer) WordStar’s most recent claim to fame might be that it’s the word processing application on which George R.R. Martin is still not finishing A Song of Ice and Fire. But many writers loved and still…
“So tired”: Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+ prices increase by up to 25 percent in October
Enlarge / A scene from the new season of Doctor Who, which is streaming on Disney+. (credit: Disney+) Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ will get more expensive as of October 17, whether users have a subscription with or without ads. After…
“Do not hallucinate”: Testers find prompts meant to keep Apple Intelligence on the rails
Enlarge / Apple Intelligence was unveiled at WWDC 2024. (credit: Apple) As the parent of a young child, I can tell you that getting a kid to respond the way you want can require careful expectation-setting. Especially when we’re trying…
Elon Musk declares “it is war” on ad industry as X sues over “illegal boycott”
Enlarge (credit: Aurich Lawson | Getty Images) Elon Musk’s X Corp. today sued the World Federation of Advertisers and several large corporations, claiming they “conspired, along with dozens of non-defendant co-conspirators, to collectively withhold billions of dollars in advertising revenue”…
People with dark personalities feel more satisfied in romantic relationships with partners who also exhibit similar dark traits
A new study indicates that individuals who exhibit Dark Triad traits tend to be more content in their romantic relationships when their partner also possesses similar traits. The research has been published in the Journal of Personality. The Dark Triad…
‘A king will die’: 4,000-year-old lunar eclipse omen tablets finally deciphered
Tablets added to the British Museum’s collection many decades ago have finally been deciphered.
Huge cosmological mystery could be solved by wormholes, new study argues
The universe is expanding at an ever accelerating rate — and tiny wormholes that bore through the fabric of space-time might be to blame, a new study proposes.
Return-to-office mandates hurt employee retention, productivity, survey says
Enlarge (credit: Getty) US workers who work remotely are 27 percent more likely to look forward to doing their job, according to a survey of over 4,400 employees aged 18 and older. The survey from Great Place to Work took…
Illinois changes biometric privacy law to help corporations avoid big payouts
Enlarge (credit: Getty Images | imaginima) Illinois has changed its Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) to dramatically limit the financial penalties faced by companies that illegally obtain or sell biometric identifiers such as eye scans, face scans, fingerprints, and voiceprints.…
China ready to launch 1st satellite in constellation that will challenge Elon Musk’s Starlink
China plans to launch more than 100 satellites for its new “constellation” this year and thousands more by the end of the decade.
Bushnell PowerView 2 10×42 binoculars now cheaper than Prime Day
Get a closer look with this huge saving on the Bushnell Powerview 2 10×42 binoculars — now down to their lowest-ever price $40.97 at Amazon!
Ryzen AI 300 performance review: Impressive CPUs, even if you don’t care about AI
Enlarge / With or without the “AI,” AMD’s new laptop processors are pretty good. (credit: Andrew Cunningham) For all the noise about neural processing units (NPUs) and the generative AI capabilities of new and upcoming chips, NPUs don’t yet do…
Does everyone hate Google now?
Enlarge / It’s.a tale as old as, well, time. (credit: Aurich Lawson) Google’s story over the last two decades has been a tale as old as time: enshittification for growth. The once-beloved startup—with its unofficial “Don’t Be Evil” motto—has instead…
Parody site ClownStrike refused to bow to CrowdStrike’s bogus DMCA takedown
Enlarge (credit: MirageC | Moment) Doesn’t CrowdStrike have more important things to do right now than try to take down a parody site? That’s what IT consultant David Senk wondered when CrowdStrike sent a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) takedown notice…
This AI humanoid robot helped assemble BMWs at US factory
Enlarge / This is the Figure 02, a new humanoid robot that recently tried its hand(s) at assembling BMW chassis in South Carolina. (credit: BMW) Robots have been working in car factories for decades now, starting with machines performing some…
‘Then I Am Myself the World’ ponders what it means to be conscious
Neuroscientist Christof Koch’s new book discusses how information integration in the brain leads to consciousness and whether AI will ever be self-aware.
Women with borderline personality disorder experience heightened dissociation symptoms in sexual situations
A study of women with borderline personality disorder in Germany found that they experience heightened dissociative symptoms in sexual situations. Compared to healthy women, this increase was most pronounced in symptoms of depersonalization and derealization. The findings were published in…
Lamborghini’s biggest EV challenge? Not being seen as “fake,” says CTO.
Enlarge / Lamborghini has added a plug-in hybrid powertrain to the Urus SUV. (credit: Lamborghini) Lamborghini has now launched its second plug-in hybrid. The first was the V-12-powered Revuelto, a $600,000 supercar with 1,001 hp (746 kW), all-wheel drive, and…
Archaic human ‘hobbits’ were even shorter than we thought, 700,000-year-old teeth and bone reveal
A new analysis of teeth and a bone found on an Indonesian island reveal that “hobbits” were more than 2 inches shorter than we thought.
Explaining color gamuts and color spaces in HDTVs and monitors
Enlarge (credit: sandergroffen/Getty Images) Back in the 1950s, when color TV was invented, everything was simple. TVs were either color or black-and-white, and you could tell at a glance which was which. Today, you can find TVs and monitors that…
Sharks in an Italian aquarium keep having ‘virgin birth’ after years without males
Two endangered female sharks found to be reproducing asexually in the absence of males in what appears to be a vital survival mechanism amid declining male populations.
New gut microbiome discovery: Sodium valerate could be key to reducing alcohol abuse
In a groundbreaking study, researchers at The Jackson Laboratory and UConn Health have discovered that sodium valerate, a short-chain fatty acid produced by gut microbes, can significantly reduce binge drinking behavior and blood alcohol levels in mice. This finding, published…
Why a small seabird dares to fly toward cyclones
Tracking data show that Desertas petrels often veer toward cyclones and follow in their wake, perhaps to catch prey drawn to the surface.
‘Crazy idea’ memory device could slash AI energy consumption by up to 2,500 times
By performing computations directly inside memory cells, CRAM will dramatically reduce power demands for AI workloads. Scientists claim it’s a solution to AI’s huge energy consumption.
Scientists unveil a fascinating new perspective on human consciousness
Why did the experience of consciousness evolve from our underlying brain physiology? Despite being a vibrant area of neuroscience, current research on consciousness is characterised by disagreement and controversy – with several rival theories in contention. A recent scoping review…
Elon Musk says Tesla is an AI company now. Here’s how plausible that is.
Enlarge (credit: Aurich Lawson | Getty Images) When Tesla recorded its first annual profit in 2020, it had done something fairly remarkable. Starting a new car company has never been easy. It’s harder still when those cars are electric and…
Experiment: Why does the moon look larger on the horizon?
Objective: Investigate Emmert’s law to determine the perceived increase in size of the moon at the horizon Areas of science: Human Biology Difficulty: Easy advanced Time required: 2–5 days Prerequisites: You will need access to an outside area with a…
More babies are being born with syphilis, study finds
Congenital syphilis is preventable, but nonetheless, the disease is on the rise in countries like Australia and the U.S.
