Sci-Tech

Brain activity shows dogs learn in their sleep, say Hungarian scientists

BUDAPEST, Hungary (Reuters) — Scientists in Hungary say they have measured brain activity in dogs which shows they learn during their sleep. The Senior Family Dog Research team at the Ethology Department of Budapest’s ELTE university conducted electroencephalograms (EEGs) on sleeping dogs, using electrodes placed on the head to record electrical activity in the brain. Fifteen family dogs were taught commands in English instead of Hungarian, before being left to sleep in a darkened room […]

‘Augmented reality’ brings art alive in Vienna

VIENNA, Austria (AFP) — Vienna’s Albertina art gallery unveiled on Tuesday a new mobile phone application that “brings to life” works by the likes of Monet and Picasso. The “augmented reality” app, which is free to download, allows phones to be held up to 13 paintings in the Albertina’s collection and move elements of them around. Degas’ “Two Dancers” is created before your eyes, a Picasso boat sets sail and a photo of Monet’s garden […]

Cigar-shaped asteroid came from another solar system: study

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — A rocky cigar-shaped object detected in space last month came from another solar system, astronomers said Monday as they confirmed an unprecedented observation. The discovery may provide clues as to how other solar systems formed, said the researchers, who published their study in the British journal Nature. The asteroid, named Oumuamua by its discoverers, is one-quarter mile (400 meters) long and highly elongated –perhaps 10 times as long as it is wide. That […]

Coffee grounds to help power London’s buses

LONDON, United Kingdom (Reuters) — Waste coffee grounds will be used to help fuel some of London’s buses, Royal Dutch Shell and green energy company bio-bean said on Monday (November 20). A new biofuel, which contains part coffee oil, is being added to the London bus fuel supply chain where it can be used without the need for modification, according to bio-bean founder Arthur Kay. “Bio-bean has created a B20 fuel which is 20 percent […]

Engineers get the feeling for robotic fingers

LA JOLLA, California (Reuters) — All hands are on deck at this lab at the University of California San Diego, where researcher Michael Tolley’s team are working on a human-like robotic gripper. Its three fingers are made of three flexible pneumatic chambers that move when air pressure is applied, allowing each digit to manipulate the object it’s holding. “These fingers are unique in that they can bend in any direction so we have enough degrees […]

China makes progress in core, high-end electronic, basic software products

(Reuters) — China has achieved a series of breakthroughs in core electronic devices, high-end universal chips and basic software products in the past decade. China’s Ministry of Science and Technology, together with Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, held a press conference to release the achievements Monday in Beijing. In the past decade, the gap between home and abroad core electronic devices has shortened from over 15 years to five years. Independent support rate of […]

Medical watch uses AI to monitor health

BUDAPEST, Hungary (Reuters) — A new smartwatch health monitor uses artificial intelligence (AI) to constantly analyze the health of its wearer and promises an early warning system for medical emergencies. Called the MAP Health Watch, the device has five sensors continually measuring six vital parameters: ECG, pulse, skin temperature, heart rate, and blood oxygen level. “There are clinical grade, highly accurate sensors involved in this watch, five of them determining vital signals and calculating other […]

Egyptian graduates develop new underwater robot

ALEXANDRIA, Egypt (Reuters) — A group of engineering graduates in Egypt’s coastal city of Alexandria hope to reach new depths with their remote-controlled underwater vehicle. The device is capable of retrieving objects from underwater, which the team hopes will make it suitable for fixing damaged oil pipes and fiber optic cables. It is fitted with a camera, so it could also be used for underwater diagnostics. The eight engineering graduates involved in the project began […]

NASA launches next-generation weather satellite

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Santa Barbara County, California (AFP) — NASA on Saturday launched a next-generation satellite into space designed to monitor weather around the world and help improve forecasts. The satellite, called the Joint Polar Satellite System-1 (JPSS-1), is a joint venture between the US space agency and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which provides weather reports and forecasts. The satellite was launched aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket as scheduled at 1:47 […]

Volkswagen heats up electric cars race with $40 billion spend

(Reuters) — 40-billion-dollars is roughly the size of Jordan’s GDP. And that’s also the amount of cash Volkswagen is going to splash in the next 5 years to gain ground in the electric and driverless car race. “We are seeing the first successes of this strategy. Volkswagen is in robust health. This is, above all, the result of great teamwork.” Volkswagen Chairman, Hans Dieter Poetsch, said. Competition in the sector is strong and VW has […]

Tesla unveils electric big-rig truck

LOS ANGELES, California (Reuters) — Tesla Inc on Thursday (November 16) unveiled a prototype electric big-rig truck, throwing itself into a new market even as it struggles to roll out an affordable sedan on which the company’s future depends. Chief Executive Elon Musk unveiled the big rig, dubbed the Tesla Semi, by riding the truck into an airport hangar near Los Angeles in front of an invited crowd of what Tesla said were potential truck […]

SpaceX postpones launch of secretive Zuma mission

MIAMI, United States (AFP) — SpaceX on Thursday postponed the launch of a secretive US government payload known as Zuma, a mission whose nature — and the agency behind it — is a mystery. “We have decided to stand down and take a closer look at data from recent fairing testing for another customer,” SpaceX said in a statement issued late Thursday about two hours before the planned launch window was to open. The fairing is the […]