Latest News, Information, Tech, Science
Simple blood test predicts patients most likely to die from COVID-19
Date: 2020-09-23
One of the big challenges healthcare workers are facing in this global pandemic is identifying those COVID-19 patients most at risk of severe illness and death. COVID-19 certainly is more dangerous, on average, in the elderly or those with pre-existing health problems, but that doesn’t preclude a 96-year-old from presenting with no symptoms, o...
Read moreAtlas gets acrobatic as Boston Dynamics finally launches Spot sales
Date: 2019-09-24
Boston Dynamics’ nimble dog-like Spot robot is finally on sale … technically. And as the robotics company officially launches its first commercial product we are also offered yet another spectacular look at the humanoid Atlas’ growing arsenal of skills, this time demonstrating its incredible gymnastic capabilities. To formally reveal the commerc...
Read more"World's most powerful laptop" boasts a 24 GB GPU
Date: 2019-09-04
At IFA this week, Asus unveiled the world's most powerful laptop, the ProArt StudioBook One. For people who are just browsing the web, writing documents and checking email, any old laptop will basically be enough. But data scientists, professional animators and engineers might need a little more grunt under the hood. At IFA 2019 this week, Asus ...
Read moreThe Browser Monopoly
Date: 2019-08-23
There is really only one Big Tech monopoly that I actively worry about. It’s not Amazon, Facebook or Apple, though they are all extremely dominant in their respective fields and do act in anti-competitive ways that merit regulatory remedy. Rather, the tech monopoly that I wonder about is arguably one of the more mundane parts of the moder...
Read moreEight new repeating radio signals detected from deep space
Date: 2019-08-20
Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are one of the most intriguing mysteries of modern astronomy. Picked up from all corners of the cosmos, these perplexing radio signals usually only last milliseconds before fading forever, but some particularly strange ones repeat on an irregular basis. Now the catalog of repeaters has grown substantially, as astronome...
Read moreGoogle stops naming Android after desserts
Date: 2019-08-20
Google has announced that the upcoming version of its mobile operating system will officially be named Android 10. The company said it has stopped the tradition of naming Android operating systems after desserts in an effort to simplify its branding. "This naming tradition has become a fun part of the release each year externally," Googl...
Read moreGoogle now lets you log in with your fingerprint instead of a password
Date: 2019-08-13
Google has launched a new feature which allows Android smartphone users to sign in to some Google services using the fingerprint sensor on their device instead of entering their password. According to a support page on the company’s website, Android users can now use their smartphone’s screen lock sign-in interface to verify their iden...
Read moreBig changes coming to WhatsApp
Date: 2019-08-12
WhatsApp, the most popular messaging service in South Africa, is getting an extensive list of changes – including an adjustment to its official name. Bloomberg reported that Facebook – the owner of WhatsApp – will change the official name of the messaging service from "WhatsApp" to "WhatsApp from Facebook." The same will happen to Instag...
Read moreTesla outs new Megapack battery for massive, modular clean energy storage
Date: 2019-08-02
Two short years ago, Tesla pieced together the world's largest battery for the state of South Australia, and with great effect. The company is continuing its moves in this space with a massive new battery dubbed the Megapack, of which it says enough units can be linked together to take energy storage into the giga-scale realm. The 129-...
Read moreSalt water flowing over thin layers of rust generates electricity
Date: 2019-07-30
It's not unusual to find rust around salt water, but now the pairing might actually be useful. Researchers at Caltech and Northwestern University have found that electricity can be produced when salt water flows over the top of thin films of rust. The process was previously seen in – what else – graphene, but rust is far easier to scale up. Salt...
Read moreIntroducing a new Twitter.com
Date: 2019-07-15
Today, they are starting to roll out a new Twitter.com – a refreshed and updated website that is faster, easier to navigate and more personalized. The site has an updated look and feel that is more consistent with the Twitter you see on other devices, making it easier to access some of your favorite features, and with more options to...
Read moreSatellite-based radar could spot faulty bridges from space
Date: 2019-07-11
Researchers from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, and the University of Bath are developing a technique that uses satellite radar imaging to monitor the safety of bridges and other large-scale infrastructure. Using 15 years of orbital radar images of the Morandi Bridge, the researchers were able to detect signs of war...
Read moreNASA Celebrates 50th Anniversary of Historic Moon Landing
Date: 2019-07-03
NASA will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the historic Apollo 11 Moon mission and look to the future of exploration on the Moon and Mars with a live, two-hour television broadcast Friday, July 19, and partner-led events taking place across the country from July 16 through July 20. On July 16, 1969, astronauts Neil Armstrong...
Read more3D-printing breakthrough paves the way for printed "wooden" products
Date: 2019-06-28
Several years ago, we heard how scientists from Sweden's Chalmers University had created a 3D-printing medium made from wood fiber. Now, they've developed a new method of printing with it, producing solid material with the structure and qualities of natural wood. The original material took the form of a nanocellulose gel – this means it con...
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