Tuesday 4 June 2019

A wake-up call on data-collecting smart beds and sleep apps

Your bed could be watching you.

* This article was originally published here

New approach optimizes use of future wave electricity generators during disaster

When hurricanes strike, loss of electricity ranks as one of the top concerns for relief workers. Blackouts lasting a week or more can hamper recovery efforts, shutter hospitals, threaten public health and disrupt transportation. The monthslong effort to restore power to Puerto Rico following the 2017 hurricane season has led to renewed interest in finding innovative ways to get affected power grids back online.

* This article was originally published here

Exomoons may be home to extra-terrestrial life

Moons orbiting planets outside our solar system could offer another clue about the pool of worlds that may be home to extra-terrestrial life, according to an astrophysicist at the University of Lincoln.

* This article was originally published here

More states sue opioid maker alleging deceptive marketing

California, Hawaii, Maine and the District of Columbia filed lawsuits Monday against the maker of OxyContin and the company's former president, alleging the firm falsely promoted the drug by downplaying the risk of addiction while it emerged as one of the most widely abused opioids in the U.S.

* This article was originally published here

Female cannabis users underrepresented in health research, study reveals

Research at the University of York has shown that women are underrepresented in research into links between cannabis and psychosis, which could limit understanding of the impact of the drug.

* This article was originally published here

Feds declare emergency as gray whale deaths reach highest level in nearly 20 years

Alarmed by the high number of gray whales that have been washing up dead on West Coast beaches this spring, the federal government on Friday declared the troubling trend a wildlife emergency.

* This article was originally published here

Marine life is disappearing, imperiling San Diego's future

Just as scientists are starting to understand the life forms and landscape of the ocean, they are also coming to grips with the threat of mass extinctions, speakers said at a marine biodiversity forum last week.

* This article was originally published here

Security and privacy rarely considered before buying IoT devices

In today's often-precarious security and privacy landscape, you'd think consumers would be taking security and privacy risks into serious consideration when purchasing new IoT devices. And you'd be wrong.

* This article was originally published here

Companies battling shareholder complaints have a potent weapon: Advertising

An international team of researchers from Goethe University Frankfurt, University of Adelaide, Hanken School of Economics, and Maastricht University published a new paper in the Journal of Marketing, which finds that advertising can be used to respond to shareholder complaints.

* This article was originally published here

The war on women coaches

During the past women's college basketball season, two prominent head coaches, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill's Sylvia Hatchell and Georgia Tech's MaChelle Joseph, were fired.

* This article was originally published here

Genetic test for breast cancer helps women decide if preventive cancer treatment is right for them

A new study by University of Manitoba, CancerCare Manitoba and Mayo Clinic researchers has found that when women at high risk are provided with the results of genetic testing, they are more likely to take preventive medications to reduce their chances of developing breast cancer.

* This article was originally published here

W3C and WHATWG agreement: Single version of HTML, DOM specifications

Having two separate HTML specifications? What's up with that? Stephen Shankland's account of the two in CNET: "for nearly a decade, two separate groups have been issuing separate documents to define Hypertext Markup Language, or HTML, the standard that tells you how to make a web page."

* This article was originally published here

Cracking open the black box of automated machine learning

Researchers from MIT and elsewhere have developed an interactive tool that, for the first time, lets users see and control how automated machine-learning systems work. The aim is to build confidence in these systems and find ways to improve them.

* This article was originally published here

New organic flow battery brings decomposing molecules back to life

After years of making progress on an organic aqueous flow battery, Harvard University researchers ran into a problem: the organic anthraquinone molecules that powered their ground-breaking battery were slowly decomposing over time, reducing the long-term usefulness of the battery.

* This article was originally published here

Cataract treatment inventor Dr. Patricia Smith dies at 76

Dr. Patricia Bath, a pioneering ophthalmologist who became the first African American female doctor to receive a medical patent after she invented a more precise treatment of cataracts, has died. She was 76.

* This article was originally published here

Stanford Doggo: a highly agile quadruped robot

Researchers at Stanford University have recently created an open-source quadruped robot called Stanford Doggo. Their robot, presented in a paper pre-published on arXiv and set to be published by IEEE Explore, exceeds the performance of many state-of-the-art legged robots in vertical jumping agility.

* This article was originally published here

Apple iTunes to play last song

Apple on Monday announced the demise of its groundbreaking iTunes platform in favor of three more tailored apps, as it refines its offerings to be a stage for digital music, films, podcasts and more.

* This article was originally published here

Oldest flaked stone tools point to the repeated invention of stone tools

A new archaeological site discovered by an international and local team of scientists working in Ethiopia shows that the origins of stone tool production are older than 2.58 million years ago. Previously, the oldest evidence for systematic stone tool production and use was 2.58 to 2.55 million years ago.

* This article was originally published here

Only few hundred training samples bring human-sounding speech in Microsoft TTS feat

Microsoft Research Asia has been drawing applause for pulling off text to speech requiring little training—and showing "incredibly" realistic results.

* This article was originally published here

Despite culls, import bans, swine fever to hit pork market for years

Millions of pigs have been culled as African Swine Fever cuts through China and beyond, devastating global food chains, with pork prices expected to soar from the food markets of Hong Kong to American dinner tables.

* This article was originally published here