Science

 445 Posts 0 Comments 26825 Views

Go update your Apple gadgets right now to avoid this new security vulnerability

 Ingle  0 17 

Stan HoraczekIt’s the weekend, which is typically a great time to lay in bed all day vising sketchy websites. This weekend, however, Apple strongly recommends you update your iPhone, iPad, and Watch before you go cruising around the web. Yesterday, the company rolled out iOS 14.4.2, watchOS 7.3.3, and iPadOS 14.4.2 to close up a vulnerability poses an “active” security threat. Apple’s initial security announcement is sparse with details. That’s typical for the company, which doesn’t usually provide many specifics…

Why you should use Discord (even if you’re not a gamer)

 Amy  0 20 

DiscordRight now, there’s a rumor floating around the tech sphere suggesting that Microsoft may buy the online chat app Discord for roughly $10 billion. That may sound surprising to some people who haven’t even heard of the service, or think that it’s still geared toward gamers as it was at the beginning. While Discord didn’t become a global communication darling like Zoom did during the COVID-19 pandemic, it has become an essential way for people to connect with their pals…

This drone will refuel Naval fighter jets by 2024

 Emma  0 40 

Duncan Bevan / US Air ForceWhen the Navy’s Super Hornet fighter jets take off from an aircraft carrier, they are sometimes accompanied by squadmates loaded down with five extra tanks of fuel. A few hundred miles into the mission, these fighter-jet tankers will top off the tanks of their compatriots, boosting their range, before heading back. This is complex, difficult work, and it strains their air frames. But by 2024, the Navy plans to have that work done instead by…

Photoshop’s new Super Resolution feature makes images bigger, not blurrier

 Naomi  0 33 

Stan HoraczekUpscaling a digital photo typically destroys its image quality. You lose detail and sharpness while adding ugly objects called artifacts to the file that make the whole picture look crunchy and unappealing. For years, however, companies like Adobe have been working on algorithms to try to bring the CSI “enhance” feature out of the world of TV fiction and into its image-editing software. The latest version of Photoshop makes a big leap in that direction with a feature called…

These airless bike tires rely on a metal alloy designed for NASA rovers

 Amy  0 29 

The Smart Tire Company Inflatable rubber tires would not fare well on the surface of the Moon or Mars. The terrain is treacherous, and there’s no one there to throw on a spare if you get a flat. That’s why rovers typically use tires made of metal alloys that can endure the punishment that comes from puttering around on alien soil. Now, the Smart Tire Company is preparing to offer its airless alloy METL tires adapted from NASA rover tech…

OnePlus 9 Pro: Everything you need to know about this new flagship Android phone

 sykes  0 29 

OnePlusIt takes a lot for a smartphone camera to stand out when it comes to performance at the moment. Today, OnePlus announced its new 9 Pro and 9 flagship smartphones with a focus on a revamped camera system. Here are the key things you need to know about the company’s new top-end phones. We’ll start with the OnePlus 9 Pro. Hasselblad Cameras OnePlus spent a considerable amount of time during its launch event talking about its new camera partnership with…

The battle to save one of the planet’s best fossil preserves

 Naomi  0 45 

Kate Evans for Undark Kate Evans is a freelance science journalist and writer based in Raglan, New Zealand. Follow her on Twitter @kate_g_evans. This article was originally published on Undark. One of New Zealand’s most spectacular fossil sites originated 23.2 million years ago. It was formed in a valley dotted with small volcanoes, when rising magma deep below the Earth’s surface came into contact with groundwater. Lava and water don’t mix—they explode. The resulting detonation obliterated the surrounding forest and…

This incredibly rare orchid survives by making male beetles horny

 Emma  0 52 

J Hardwick Plos OneBiologists thought Disa forficaria orchids went extinct twice. Once in 2018, when a single specimen was found after 52 years without a sighting, and again in 2019 when that one orchid seemingly disappeared. There have only been 11 plants ever found in the last 200 years.  But in 2020, when researchers in South Africa were conducting a field experiment at the last known location of the mysterious flower, three male longhorn beetles showed up carrying D. forficaria…

The next pandemic could be lurking anywhere. Can this wildlife-tracking app help prevent it?

 Emma  0 48 

Oswaldo Cruz FoundationOne afternoon in 2018, Carlos Alberto Martins da Silva was hiking in Brazil’s Serra dos Órgãos National Park, a wonderland outside Rio de Janeiro where slender granite peaks rise through cloud forest mists, when he came across a dead monkey. The carcass was too decayed to identify the species or speculate about the cause of death, but da Silva, a professional hiking guide, had reason to be alarmed: Yellow fever has been on the rise in the cities of southeastern…

Seed banks are full of hidden fungi, and scientists love it

 admin  0 107 

Rowena HillRowena Hill is a PhD candidate in fungi at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and Queen Mary University of London. Ester Gaya is a senior research leader at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Simon Kallow is a PhD students at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. This story originally featured on The Conversation. This was the moment of truth. We’d spent countless hours meticulously sterilizing seeds (1,710, to be specific), filling the lab with a cacophony of rattling as we shook…

Solar panels and water canals could form a real power couple in California

 Naomi  0 80 

Solar Aqua Grid LLCCalifornia has around 4,000 miles of canals that shuttle clean water throughout the state. New research shows that these canals can do way more than bringing California’s residents with drinking water—paired with solar panels, these canals might also be a way to both generate solar power and save water. This new study presents an analysis from researchers at the University of California Merced and University of California Santa Cruz that quantifies the economic feasibility of building a…

Ask Us Anything: What would happen if you fell into a black hole?

 admin  0 71 

Katie Belloff/Popular ScienceIs your head constantly spinning with outlandish, mind-burning questions? If you’ve ever wondered what the universe is made of, what would happen if you fell into a black hole, or even why not everyone can touch their toes, then you should be sure to listen and subscribe to Ask Us Anything, a brand new podcast from the editors of Popular Science. Ask Us Anything hits Apple, Anchor, Spotify, and everywhere else you listen to podcasts every Tuesday and Thursday. Each episode…