Science News - UPI.com

Final command ends mission of European space observatory

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 19:03:00 -0400

PARIS, June 17 (UPI) -- European Space Agency controllers sent a final command to the Herschel satellite Monday, marking the end of operations for the successful space observatory.

Ford to go back to buttons, knobs after complaints about touchscreens

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 18:29:40 -0400

DETROIT, June 17 (UPI) -- After complaints about touchscreen controls, automaker Ford says it will return to physical radio tuning knobs and buttons in its car entertainment systems.

China supercomputer takes the global computing crown

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 17:21:24 -0400

BEIJING, June 17 (UPI) -- A Chinese supercomputer performing more than 33 quadrillion calculations per second has taken the computing crown on a list of the world's fastest computers.

Rumors say Facebook to unveil Instagram video-sharing capability

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 17:10:16 -0400

MENLO PARK, Calif., June 17 (UPI) -- Instagram and Facebook plan to let users take and share short videos in the Instagram app, to compete with the similar Vine app, tech watchers are reporting.

Tweet, as networking word, officially joins the English language

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 16:50:01 -0400

OXFORD, England, June 17 (UPI) -- The Oxford English Dictionary has made it official; "tweet" is now not just a bird sound, it's a word with a second definition, thanks to technology.

Google pledges millions to fight child porn on the Internet

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 16:41:21 -0400

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., June 17 (UPI) -- U.S. search giant Google says it will spend millions to erase child porn from the Web and research more effective ways to find, report and eradicate the images.

NASA selects eight applicants for 2013 class of astronauts

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 16:25:42 -0400

WASHINGTON, June 17 (UPI) -- NASA has announced a new group of eight potential astronauts has been chosen after an extensive year-and-a-half search that started with 6,100 applicants.

United Nations urges global efforts to respond to drought

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 16:24:56 -0400

NEW YORK, June 17 (UPI) -- United Nations officials say global action is needed to improve responses to the threat of drought around the world.

China's supercomputer Tianhe-2 is now world's fastest

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 16:24:04 -0400

KRISTEN BUTLER, UPI.com
China's supercomputer Tianhe-2 is now world's fastest, Titan clocks in second in the U.S.

'Cheetah-cub' robot said fast, agile like a cat

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 16:14:35 -0400

LAUSANNE, Switzerland, June 17 (UPI) -- Swiss researchers say they've created a "cheetah-cub robot" that, like its natural counterpart, is small, light and fast.

Geologists say tectonic activity could bring Europe, America closer

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 16:00:50 -0400

MELBOURNE, June 17 (UPI) -- A subduction zone forming off the coast of Portugal is the beginning of a cycle that will eventually see Europe move closer to America, geologists say.

Glasses will display students' grasp of lectures to professors

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 15:51:03 -0400

MADRID, June 17 (UPI) -- Spanish researchers say a system using intelligent glasses will allows professors to get feedback from students on whether they're understanding lessons.

Genetic diversity could be key to survival of honeybee colonies

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 15:45:24 -0400

RALEIGH, N.C., June 17 (UPI) -- Genetic diversity, based on how many times a queen bee mates, could be key to the survival of honeybee colonies, U.S. researchers suggest.

Drivers say they'd accept longer drive times for less stress

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 15:37:05 -0400

BERLIN, June 17 (UPI) -- Drivers in Germany said in a survey they're willing to accept longer journey times and even detours if it means a stress-free commute.

Study finds atmospheric conditions led to record Greenland ice melting

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 15:30:01 -0400

SHEFFIELD, England, June 17 (UPI) -- An exceptional melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet in summer 2012 was the result of unusual changes in atmospheric jet stream circulation, scientists say.

NASA gets 8 new astronauts, half women

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 12:19:27 -0400

KRISTEN BUTLER, UPI.com
NASA has selected a new class of 8 astronauts, including the first female fighter pilot in nearly two decades.

Russian tycoon proposes immortality by 2045

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 10:38:01 -0400

KRISTEN BUTLER, UPI.com
Immortality can be reality by 2045 with the help of robot "avatars" that are already open to investment.

EU says safety online also means privacy

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 10:22:16 -0400

BRUSSELS, June 17 (UPI) -- Ensuring cybersecurity in the European Union should not come at the expense of personal privacy, a European data protection supervisor said Monday.

Hiroshi Ishiguro unveils body-double robot

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 07:58:17 -0400

KRISTEN BUTLER, UPI.com
Japanese roboticist Dr. Hiroshi Ishiguro presented his latest Geminoid android -- and it looks just like him.

Former V.P. Gore to President Obama: Veto Keystone XL 'atrocity'

Sun, 16 Jun 2013 19:00:59 -0400

WASHINGTON, June 16 (UPI) -- Former Vice President Al Gore urged President Barack Obama to follow British Columbia's example and veto the Keystone XL oil pipeline project.

Obama to speak on NSA surveillance

Sun, 16 Jun 2013 13:30:43 -0400

WASHINGTON, June 16 (UPI) -- White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough said President Barack Obama does not believe he has violated the privacy of any American.

China sets 10 rules to improve air quality

Sun, 16 Jun 2013 12:31:38 -0400

BEIJING, June 16 (UPI) -- China has set 10 new rules aimed at improving air quality amid growing concern about the smog that has infiltrated cities in recent years, officials said.

Solar plane on cross-country trek lands in Washington, D.C.

Sun, 16 Jun 2013 11:55:09 -0400

WASHINGTON, June 16 (UPI) -- The Solar Impulse solar plane landed in Washington, D.C., Sunday, completing the fourth leg of a five-flight trek from San Francisco to New York.

Google launches Internet balloons in New Zealand

Sat, 15 Jun 2013 14:57:23 -0400

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., June 15 (UPI) -- Google says its working on a project to being a fast, affordable Internet connection to those without by using balloons.

Rumors spread about Facebook introducing RSS reader

Sat, 15 Jun 2013 14:27:01 -0400

MENLO PARK, Calif., June 15 (UPI) -- Facebook has sent out invitations to an event where it will unveil a "new product," prompting some to speculate about Facebook introducing a news reader.