Yahoo to pay $117.5M in latest settlement of massive breach

Nearly 200 million people who had sensitive information snatched from their Yahoo accounts will receive two years of free credit-monitoring services and other potential restitution in a legal settlement valued at $117.5 million. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Seeing is believing: Four lessons of the new black hole image

Black holes are cosmic prisons, where nothing escapes, not light or even data. But lots did come out of Wednesday's first image of the shadowy edge of a supermassive black hole. Here are four things we learned: | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

The heartland always a place of global connection, not isolation, author says

A persistent heartland myth paints the rural and small town Midwest as local, insular, isolationist—the ultimate national safe space, walled off from the rest of the world," says University of Illinois historian Kristin Hoganson. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Democrats want feds to target the 'black box' of AI bias

Congress is starting to show interest in prying open the "black box" of tech companies' artificial intelligence with oversight that parallels how the federal government checks under car hoods and audits banks. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Facebook ordered to pay 30,000 euros in France over 'abusive' usage terms

A French court has ordered Facebook to pay 30,000 euros ($34,000) over "abusive" terms-of-use agreements that people had to accept in order to access their social media accounts, the consumer group which filed the lawsuit said Wednesday. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Ridding space of old satellites and debris

With constellations of thousands of telecommunication mini satellites expected to orbit Earth in the near future, the risk of space-debris collisions will grow. For Nobu Okada, it's an opportunity. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Uber seeks $10 bn IPO, scales back value target: report

Uber is seeking to raise some $10 billion in what would be the largest stock offering of the year, with details coming this week, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Battle for space more stealth than Star Wars

At tens of thousands of kilometers above the Earth, a Russian satellite slowly approached the French-Italian satellite Athena-Fidus in October 2017, a move France later denounced as "an act of espionage." | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Facebook cracks down on groups spreading harmful information

Facebook said Wednesday it is rolling out a wide range of updates aimed at combatting the spread of false and harmful information on the social media site—stepping up the company's fight against misinformation as it faces growing outside pressure. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

New quantum material could warn of neurological disease

What if the brain could detect its own disease? Researchers have been trying to create a material that "thinks" like the brain does, which would be more sensitive to early signs of neurological diseases such as Parkinson's. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket poised for first commercial launch

SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket is poised for its first commercial space launch Wednesday, carrying a Saudi satellite operated by Arabsat, a year after sending founder Elon Musk's red Tesla roadster into orbit as a test. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Uber launches electric bikes, scooters in Paris

US ride-hailing group Uber said Wednesday that it would start deploying electric bikes and scooters for rent on Paris streets as soon as this week, joining a crowded market which city officials have vowed to rein in. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

The best place for a bird's voice box is low in the airway, researchers find

All air-breathing vertebrates have a larynx—a structure of muscles and folds that protects the trachea and, in many animals, vibrates and modulates to produce a stunning array of sounds. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

New species of early human found in the Philippines

An international team of researchers have uncovered the remains of a new species of human in the Philippines, proving the region played a key role in hominin evolutionary history. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Wonder material—individual 2-D phosphorene nanoribbons made for the first time

Tiny, individual, flexible ribbons of crystalline phosphorus have been made by UCL researchers in a world first, and they could revolutionise electronics and fast-charging battery technology. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

NASA-NOAA satellite sees Tropical Cyclone Wallace dissipating

Tropical Cyclone Wallace was dissipating in the Southern Indian Ocean when NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite passed overhead. Wallace was located off the northwestern coast of Western Australia. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Germany to mull carbon tax as part of national climate pact

Germany's environment minister says the government will discuss introducing a carbon tax as part of its national plan to curb climate change. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

'Deep learning' casts wide net for novel 2-D materials

Scientists are discovering new two-dimensional materials at a rapid pace, but they don't always immediately know what those materials can do. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Archaeologists identify first prehistoric figurative cave art in Balkans

An international team, led by an archaeologist from the University of Southampton and the University of Bordeaux, has revealed the first example of Palaeolithic figurative cave art found in the Balkan Peninsula. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Researchers find unusual phenomenon in clouds triggers lightning flash

In a first-of-its-kind observation, researchers from the University of New Hampshire Space Science Center have documented a unique event that occurs in clouds before a lightning flash happens. Their observation, called "fast negative breakdown," documents a new possible way for l … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Researchers interpret Cherokee inscriptions in Alabama cave

For the first time, a team of scholars and archaeologists has recorded and interpreted Cherokee inscriptions in Manitou Cave, Alabama. These inscriptions reveal evidence of secluded ceremonial activities at a time of crisis for the Cherokee, who were displaced from their ancestra … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Ready, set, go: Scientists evaluate novel technique for firing up fusion-reaction fuel

To capture and control on Earth the fusion reactions that drive the sun and stars, researchers must first turn room-temperature gas into the hot, charged plasma that fuels the reactions. At the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL), scientis … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

House passes bill to restore 'net neutrality' rules

The House has passed bill to restore Obama-era "net neutrality" rules, but the legislation faces slim odds of making it through the Republican-controlled Senate. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

US praises German 5G standards as Huawei battle simmers

The top U.S. diplomat for cybersecurity policy on Wednesday praised Germany's draft security standards for next generation mobile networks, which he said could effectively shut out China's Huawei. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Giant Antarctic sea spiders weather warming by getting holey

Scientists have wondered for decades why marine animals that live in the polar oceans and the deep sea can reach giant sizes there, but nowhere else. University of Hawai'i at Manoa zoology Ph.D. student Caitlin Shishido, with UH researcher Amy Moran and colleagues at the Universi … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

New imaging reveals previously unseen vulnerabilities of HIV

Imagine that HIV is a sealed tin can: if you opened it, what would you find inside? An international team led by researchers at the University of Montreal Hospital Research Centre (CRCHUM), Tufts University School of Medicine, and the University of Melbourne think they know. For … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Norway to ban fur farms by 2025

Norway's government on Wednesday detailed plans to ban fur farms by 2025, offering financial compensation to farmers who blasted it as a "historic betrayal". | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

More than a strip of paint needed to keep cyclists safe

Research published in the journal Accident Analysis and Prevention today shows that marked on-road bicycle lanes and parked cars reduce the distance that motorists provide when passing cyclists. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Long-lived bats could hold secrets to mammal longevity

University of Maryland researchers analyzed an evolutionary tree reconstructed from the DNA of a majority of known bat species and found four bat lineages that exhibit extreme longevity. They also identified, for the first time, two life history features that predict extended lif … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Empathy is the secret ingredient that makes cooperation – and civilization – possible

Human societies are so prosperous mostly because of how altruistic we are. Unlike other animals, people cooperate even with complete strangers. We share knowledge on Wikipedia, we show up to vote, and we work together to responsibly manage natural resources. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

New study finds countries with more rights for LGB people enjoy higher GDP per capita

Research on 45 years of legal and economic data for 132 countries by international team shows the addition of one right for LGB people is associated with over $2000 in GDP per capita | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Mapping Armaggedon: Earth's looming tsunamis and mega-quakes

As villagers along the Sunda Strait were finishing their meals on the evening of 22 December last year, they had no idea of the cataclysmic event that awaited them. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

When people downsize to tiny houses, they adopt more environmentally friendly lifestyles

Interest is surging in tiny homes – livable dwelling units that typically measure under 400 square feet. Much of this interest is driven by media coverage that claims that living in tiny homes is good for the planet. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Evolution from water to land led to better parenting

The evolution of aquatic creatures to start living on land made them into more attentive parents, says new research on frogs led by the Milner Centre for Evolution at the University of Bath. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Where's the bus? UW student's new web tool tracks transit through the Seattle region

Have you ever run to a bus stop just in time for its scheduled arrival only to end up waiting for the bus to show up? | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Hurricane Harvey provides lessons learned for flood resiliency plans

Hurricane Harvey made landfall on Aug. 25, 2017, then stalled over Texas for three days as a tropical storm. The category-four storm claimed 80 lives, displaced multitudes of people, and damaged more than 80,000 homes. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Privacy 'poisoning' poses threat to companies using blockchain

A new type of cyberattack that can render blockchain technology unusable may become a major headache for organizations that depend on it. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Nordic countries call for global treaty on ocean plastic pollution

In a major step forward in the fight against marine plastic pollution, Nordic governments have become the first in the world to formally call for a global treaty to tackle the plastic crisis in our oceans. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Image: Cold plasma tested on ISS

Low-temperature plasma – electrically charged gas – that was originally tested aboard the International Space Station is now being harnessed to kill drug-resistant bacteria and viruses that can cause infections in hospital. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Falling levels of air pollution drove decline in California's tule fog

The Central Valley's heavy wintertime tule fog – known for snarling traffic and closing schools—has been on the decline over the past 30 years, and falling levels of air pollution are the cause, says a new study by scientists at the University of California, Berkeley. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Where can flooded fields help replenish groundwater?

In California, the amount of water exiting aquifers under the state's most productive farming region far surpasses the amount of water trickling back in. That rampant overdraft has caused land across much of the region to sink like a squeezed out sponge, permanently depleting gro … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Some piezoelectric materials may be 'fakes'

Piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM) is the most widespread technique for characterising piezoelectric properties at the nanoscale, i.e., for determining the ability of some materials to generate electricity when subjected to mechanical stress and deforming in response to a volta … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

New dimension to coral research

For the first time, international researchers have mapped the network of bacteria on coral reefs. They write about it in Nature Communications (9 April). Professor by special appointment Nicole de Voogd (Naturalis Biodiversity Center & Institute of Environmental Sciences) and two … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Data show how American mothers balance work and family

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@phys.org | 5 years ago

3-D-printed propeller blade opens the way to eco-friendly shipping

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@phys.org | 5 years ago

Despite more violent crimes, it's safer to be a cop today than 50 years ago

There is no doubt that policing is a dangerous profession. But is it safer to be a cop today than it was 50 years ago? Yes, according to a study that analyzed police officer deaths (felonious and non-felonious) in the United States from 1970 to 2016. The study represents one of t … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Tiny traces of neonicotinoid pesticides impair insects' ability to spot predators

Traces of neonicotinoid pesticides can impair a flying insect's ability to spot predators and avoid collisions with objects in their path, new research by the University of Saskatchewan (USask) shows. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Solar-powered cup brews better brine treatments

A new distillation device can better recycle contaminants produced by a desalination plant to dramatically reduce waste. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago