Sci-Tech

Well-preserved dinosaur unearthed in Canada gets name, backstory

MIAMI, United States (AFP) — An extraordinarily well-preserved 110-million-year-old dinosaur found in a mine pit in Canada now has a name and evidence of a troubled past, researchers said Thursday. With fossilized skin and scales, the dragon-like creature is actually a new kind of nodosaur, coined Borealopelta markmitchelli, after the museum technician Mark Mitchell who spent more than 7,000 hours painstakingly removing rock from around the specimen. The report in the journal Current Biology described […]

Smart ring provides a voice in your ear at the touch of a hand

HONG KONG, China (Reuters) — A voice in your ear at the touch of a hand? The Orii ring allows people to take phone calls, handle text messages and interact with a phone’s digital assistant, all by transferring sound to a user’s ear through bone conduction. The wearable device connects to smartphones using Bluetooth. The ring, designed by Hong Kong-based start-up Origami Labs, was inspired by Peter Wong, the visually impaired father of the firm’s […]

Hyperloop startup says superfast rail a reality

NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — The near-supersonic rail system known as hyperloop has passed another key milestone on its path to become reality, the United States startup Hyperloop One said Wednesday. Hyperloop One, which is developing a system theorized by entrepreneur Elon Musk, said that a test last week of a full hyperloop system at its private facility in the desert near Las Vegas was a success, hitting record speeds. “That’s a huge milestone […]

Other planets may never be as hospitable as Earth: study

PARIS, France (AFP) — Scientists dealt a blow Monday to the quest for organisms inhabiting worlds besides Earth, saying our planet was unusual in its ability to host liquid water — the key ingredient for life. It was thought likely that distant worlds orbiting stars similar to our Sun would go through water-rich phases. This would happen when the young, dim star of an icy, lifeless planet — such as early Earth — starts warming, […]

Spotify builds streaming lead at 60 million subscribers

NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — Spotify said Monday that it had 60 million paying subscribers, expanding its lead in the fast-growing world of music streaming. The Swedish company has more than double the base of nearest competitor Apple Music, which in early June said it had 27 million subscribers. Apple Music, however, achieved its growth rapidly as it was launched only two years ago by the tech giant. Spotify — started in 2008 and […]

Watch out Messi, here come the footballers at RoboCup

by Harumi OZAWA Agence France Presse NAGOYA, Japan (AFP) — With steely focus, player number 3 scored a stunning opening goal in the first few minutes of the high-stakes football match between a dominant Bordeaux and their plucky Chinese opponents. But as the crowds cheered, the pint-sized player, known as Arya, showed none of the customary swagger of triumphant strikers. In fact, robot number 3 and its teammates showed no emotion at all as they […]

Tesla begins to deliver “Model 3” electric car for the masses

  by Julie Charpentrat Agence France Presse FREMONT, United States (AFP) — Tesla began delivering on a dream to make an electric car for the masses, rolling out the first of its keenly-awaited “Model 3” cars, aiming to disrupt a world accustomed to automobiles powered by pollution-spewing fossil fuel. An initial batch of the ‘Model 3’ cars that rolled out of the Tesla plant in Fremont, California late Friday were given to customers, most of […]

Twitter dives; growth stall highlights contrast with Facebook

by Glenn Chapman  with Rob Lever in Washington SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) — Twitter shares were hammered Thursday after the company reported no gain in its user base in the past quarter, raising fresh fears about the future of the service as it loses more ground to Facebook. Twitter, which has been struggling to keep pace in the fast-moving world of social media, reported a net loss of $116 million in the second quarter, […]

Robotic spray-painter creates huge multi-colored mural

TARTU, Estonia (Reuters) — Mihkel Joala wants to add a splash of color to the cities of the world. To do that the Estonian inventor has created a robotic five-color spray-painter that he says can produce murals 100-metres tall on buildings. With it, Joala says he is ready to break world records. To test his prototype, Joala’s startup company Sprayprinter decided to print one of the tallest buildings in Tartu – the chimney of a […]

Astronomers stunned by star ‘nursery’ age find

PARIS, France (AFP) — Surprised astronomers have found stars of three different ages in a stellar “nursery” in the Milky Way, throwing into question the scientific consensus on how stars are formed. The European Southern Observatory’s (ESO) Very Large Telescope in Chile spotted three distinct groups of baby stars in the Orion nebula — the closest star “factory” to Earth, a team reported Thursday. “Looking at the data for the first time was one of […]

Micro-CT scan shows mason bee in unprecedented detail

GRANADA, Spain (Reuters) — Detailed microcomputed tomography (micro-CT) scans of mason bees have been released by world-renowned microtomographer Professor Javier Alba-Tercedor, of the University of Granada. Alba-Tercedor’s images helped him win ‘Best Picture Award’ at June’s Bruker micro-CT users contest in Brussels. The Professor of Zoology uses a SkyScan 1172 scanner to produce the remarkably detailed images. The SkyScan uses microtomography, a non-invasive technique used by the scientific community, especially in the field of medicine, […]

Researchers program plug-in hybrid cars to learn fuel efficiency

CALIFORNIA, United States (AFP) — Researchers at the University of California, Riverside have created a computer program for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) that learns how to save fuel, improving fuel efficiency by more than 30 percent. PHEVs can use either gasoline or electric power. Lab tests have shown the most efficient way for them to run is to switch between power from the battery and gas throughout the trip, rather than running exclusively on […]