142 articles from TUESDAY 17.8.2021
Apple says researchers can vet its child safety features. But it’s suing a startup that does just that.
When Apple announced new technology that will check its US iCloud service for known child sexual abuse material, it was met with fierce criticism over worries that the feature could be abused for broad government surveillance. Faced with public resistance, Apple insisted that its technology can be held accountable.
“Security researchers are constantly able to introspect what’s happening...
'Connection with the past': AI to find and preserve Europe's historical smells
There's no sense quite like smell to trigger an emotional response. One whiff of a damp basement, a dusty blanket, a ripe strawberry, or a steaming bowl of pasta can instantly evoke feelings and memories that have their roots in the distant past. Yet when it comes to learning about bygone times, we barely give a thought to the vapors that once prevailed—galleries and museums are the domain of...
Study examines how to use your team's emotions to boost creativity
If you're putting together a team for a project, you might be inclined to pick people with cheerful, optimistic dispositions and flexible thinking. But a new management study indicates your team might also benefit from people who are exactly the opposite, according to experts at Rice University, the University of Western Australia, Bond University and the University of Queensland.
Light can trigger key signaling pathway for embryonic development as well as cancer
Blue light is illuminating new understanding of a key signaling pathway in embryo development, tissue maintenance and cancer genesis.
Study: As cities grow in size, the poor 'get nothing at all'
Cities are hubs of human activity, supercharging the exchange of ideas and interactions. Scaling theory has established that, as cities grow larger, they tend to produce more of pretty much everything from pollution and crime to patents and wealth. On average, people in larger cities are better off economically. But a new study published in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface builds on...
Humans vs. automation: Service center agents can outperform technology, study shows
In the digital age, service center operations, including call centers and help desks, are increasingly important as main channels for organizations to interact with their customers. Companies are looking for ways to manage service centers more efficiently—including routing calls to appropriate representatives—because service centers have a direct impact on customer satisfaction and firm...
New way of analyzing tree rings confirms unprecedented central Asia warming
A relatively new way of analyzing tree rings has allowed researchers to reconstruct temperatures in Mongolia since 1269 C.E. The new reconstruction confirms that since the 1990s, summer temperatures are the warmest the region has seen in the past eight centuries.
Free electron laser insight: laser-beam interaction in a dipole magnet
- ScienceDaily
- 21/8/17 21:26
Researchers contributed to a deeper understanding of free electron laser physics by evaluating the interaction between an ultraviolet laser and a relativistic electron beam in a pure dipole magnet. The team used a 266-nm laser at the soft x-ray FEL test facility to modulate an 800-MeV electron beam....The results showed that a short dipole magnet can serve as an effective tool for introducing...
Vaccine stockpiling by nations could lead to increase in COVID-19 cases, novel variant emergence, study finds
- ScienceDaily
- 21/8/17 21:25
The extent of vaccine nationalism, wherein countries stockpile vaccines to prioritize access for their citizenry over equitable vaccine sharing, may strongly impact global trajectories of COVID-19 case numbers and increase the potential emergence of novel variants, according to a new study.
Tennessee: fired vaccine expert denies sending dog muzzle to herself
Dr Michelle Fiscus says muzzle was sent anonymously, perhaps as a warning, before she was fired over efforts to vaccinate teenagersA former Tennessee government official who was fired amid controversy over vaccine access for teenagers has denied sending herself a dog muzzle she told authorities was delivered anonymously, possibly as a warning to be quiet, after investigators determined it was...
'It bit me on my neck and I blacked out': Man recalls polar bear attack in Nunavut
Elijah Kaernerk said he saw one of the women being attacked in a similar manner in which a polar bear catches a seal. He said he started blacking out, but did his best to get up and distract the bear, in an effort to try and save the...
On the road to faster and more efficient data storage
How do magnetic waves behave in antiferromagnets and how do they spread? What role do "domain walls" play in the process? And what could this mean for the future of data storage? These questions are the focus of a recent publication in the journal Physical Review Letters from an international research team led by Konstanz physicist Dr. Davide Bossini. The team reports on magnetic phenomena in...
Astronomers see galaxies in ultra-high definition
Researchers capture some of the most detailed images ever seen of galaxies in deep space.
Dieting: Villain or scapegoat?
- ScienceDaily
- 21/8/17 19:14
For decades, there has been an accepted definition of dieting in academia, and in society as a whole. Researchers recently reevaluated the decades of dieting research to redefine the way researchers and the public define -- and therefore understand - dieting and the culture of weight loss.