science and technology

Facebook has 3 billion users. Many of them are old.

The once-cool social media platform born before the iPhone is approaching two decades in existence. For those who came of age around the time Mark Zuckerberg launched thefacebook.com from his Harvard dorm room in 2004, it's been inextricably baked into daily life - even if it's somewhat faded into the background over the years.




science and technology

Read what Twitter’s new CEO has to say in her first-ever tweet after getting the top post

Twitter will get a new CEO in six weeks. Twitter owner Elon Musk announced recently that Linda Yaccarino will take the top job. Yaccarino too has officially confirmed that she is taking over as CEO of the microblogging platform. Yaccarino, chairman of global advertising and partnerships at NBCUniversal, said that she has been inspired by owner Musk's vision to create a brighter future.




science and technology

Meta's social media apps back up after outage

Outage reports had come down to less than 500 as of 6:30 p.m. ET (2230 GMT), according to Downdetector.




science and technology

Twitter to focus on video, commerce in business revamp: investor presentation

After Musk acquired Twitter in October, the social media firm faced months of chaos, including layoffs of thousands of employees, criticism over lax content moderation, and an exodus of many advertisers who did not want their ads appearing next to inappropriate content.




science and technology

EU welcomes Meta plans for tough content rules

The EU's Digital Services Act is one of the most ambitious pieces of legislation on controlling online content since the advent of social media, setting major obligations on how platforms deal with free speech. Meta, TikTok, Twitter, and others have to invest heavily in building compliance teams to meet the new rules.




science and technology

Meta takes aim at Twitter with the launch of rival app Threads

Users get a Twitter-like microblogging experience, according to screenshots provided to media, suggesting that Meta Platforms has been gearing up to directly challenge the platform after Musk's tumultuous ownership has resulted in a series of unpopular changes that have turned off users and advertisers.




science and technology

Meta's Threads swiftly signs up 30 million users, in clear threat to Twitter

Meta's Threads racked up more than 30 million sign-ups within about 18 hours of its launch, emerging as the first real threat to Elon Musk-owned Twitter, as it took advantage of its access to billions of Instagram users and a similar look to that of its rival.




science and technology

PNB launches Metaverse branch

The bank provides an immersive 3D experience for customers to perform traditional banking activities using their digital avatars.




science and technology

Twitter to take on LinkedIn with job posting feature

In order to take on the professional social networking platform LinkedIn, Twitter appears to be working on a job posting feature that will allow verified organisations to post job listings on their profiles




science and technology

Twitter to be renamed X, enter payments, banking, commerce

The 52-year-old Tesla founder has previously said that his rocky takeover of Twitter last year was "an accelerant to creating X, the everything app," a reference to the X.com company he founded in 1999, a later version of which went on to become PayPal, a payments giant.




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Brands and creators debate on the future of Meta's Threads as engagement dips

New data apps tracking firm Sensor Tower indicates the hype has died down and Threads has seen a 20% decrease in active users and a 50% reduction in time spent on the app, from 20 minutes to 10 minutes.




science and technology

Why Elon Musk rebranded Twitter as X

Since taking over Twitter last November, Tesla chief Elon Musk has transformed it. From selling the verified badge for $8 a month to letting creators monetise their content, Musk has revamped many things at the microblogging site, except for its iconic bird logo. That, however, is about to change.




science and technology

LinkedIn working on an AI ‘coach’

LinkedIn, owned by Microsoft, is reportedly testing an AI-based tool called LinkedIn Coach to assist users in finding jobs through coaching on developing skills and networking. LinkedIn spokesperson Amanda Purvis said that the company is “always exploring” new ways to upgrade the user experience of the platform. LinkedIn already has AI embedded in its system.




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Meta prepares AI-powered chatbots in attempt to retain users

Meta has been designing prototypes for chatbots that can have humanlike discussions with its users, as the company attempts to boost its engagement with its social media platforms, according to the report, citing people with knowledge of the plans.




science and technology

Is Meta’s Threads a real threat to Twitter?

The success of Threads raises questions about Twitter's future. Amid massive layoffs and declining ad revenue, Twitter faces a turbulent time, further exacerbated by Elon Musk's renaming of the platform to X.




science and technology

Social media app TweetDeck placed behind paywall

X announced in July that TweetDeck, a popular program that allows users to monitor multiple accounts and lists of users at once, would be available only to "verified" account holders from August.




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Elon Musk's X to launch premium subscriptions soon

While he did not provide more details on the subscription plans, a test case by X earlier this week suggested several restrictions for users who don't want to pay for the service.




science and technology

Stanford engineers develop a plastic clothing material that cools the skin

Stanford engineers have developed a low-cost, plastic-based textile that, if woven into clothing, could cool your body far more efficiently than is possible with the natural or synthetic fabrics in clothes we wear today.

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  • Physics & Chemistry

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3-D graphene has promise for bio applications

Flakes of graphene welded together into solid materials may be suitable for bone implants, according to a study led by Rice University scientists.

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  • Physics & Chemistry

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'Materials that compute' advances as Pitt engineers demonstrate pattern recognition

PITTSBURGH (September 2, 2016) ... The potential to develop "materials that compute" has taken another leap at the University of Pittsburgh's Swanson School of Engineering, where researchers for the first time have demonstrated that the material can be designed to recognize simple patterns. This responsive, hybrid material, powered by its own chemical reactions, could one day be integrated into clothing and used to monitor the human body, or developed as a skin for "squishy" robots.

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  • Physics & Chemistry

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For first time, carbon nanotube transistors outperform silicon

For decades, scientists have tried to harness the unique properties of carbon nanotubes to create high-performance electronics that are faster or consume less power -- resulting in longer battery life, faster wireless communication and faster processing speeds for devices like smartphones and laptops.

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  • Physics & Chemistry

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Location matters in the self-assembly of nanoclusters

Scientists at Iowa State University have developed a new formulation that helps to explain the self-assembly of atoms into nanoclusters and to advance the scientific understanding of related nanotechnologies. Their research offers a theoretical framework to explain the relationship between the distribution of "capture zones," the regions that surround the nanoscale "islands" formed by deposition on surfaces, and the underlying nucleation or formation process.

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  • Physics & Chemistry

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New sensor could help fight deadly bacterial infections

Scientists have built a new sensor that can detect the potentially deadly E.coli bacteria in 15-20 minutes, much faster than traditional lab tests. E.coli can be transmitted in contaminated food and water, posing particular risks to children and the elderly. In the late spring of 2011 a serious outbreak of E.coli bacteria sickened thousands of people in Germany and killed more than 50.

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  • Physics & Chemistry

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Tuning the instrument: Spider webs as vibration transmission structures

Two years ago, a research team led by the University of Oxford revealed that, when plucked like a guitar string, spider silk transmits vibrations across a wide range of frequencies, carrying information about prey, mates and even the structural integrity of a web.

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  • Physics & Chemistry

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New perovskite research discoveries may lead to solar cell, LED advances

"Promising" and "remarkable" are two words U.S. Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory scientist Javier Vela uses to describe recent research results on organolead mixed-halide perovskites.

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  • Physics & Chemistry

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Tapping the unused potential of photosynthesis

Scientists from the University of Southampton have reengineered the fundamental process of photosynthesis to power useful chemical reactions that could be used to produce biofuels, pharmaceuticals and fine chemicals.

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  • Physics & Chemistry

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Incubating climate change

A group of James Cook University scientists led by Emeritus Professor Ross Alford has designed and built an inexpensive incubator that could boost research into how animals and plants will be affected by climate change.

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  • Physics & Chemistry

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New material to revolutionize water proofing

Scientists at The Australian National University (ANU) have developed a new spray-on material with a remarkable ability to repel water.

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  • Physics & Chemistry

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Measuring forces in the DNA molecule

DNA, our genetic material, normally has the structure of a twisted rope ladder. Experts call this structure a double helix. Among other things, it is stabilized by stacking forces between base pairs. Scientists at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have succeeded at measuring these forces for the very first time on the level of single base pairs. This new knowledge could help to construct precise molecular machines out of DNA.

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  • Physics & Chemistry

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A more accurate sensor for lead paint

A new molecular gel recipe developed at the University of Michigan is at the core of a prototype for a more accurate lead paint test.

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  • Physics & Chemistry

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UMD physicists discover 'smoke rings' made of laser light

Most basic physics textbooks describe laser light in fairly simple terms: a beam travels directly from one point to another and, unless it strikes a mirror or other reflective surface, will continue traveling along an arrow-straight path, gradually expanding in size due to the wave nature of light. But these basic rules go out the window with high-intensity laser light.

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  • Physics & Chemistry

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Scientists expect to calculate amount of fuel inside Earth by 2025

Earth requires fuel to drive plate tectonics, volcanoes and its magnetic field. Like a hybrid car, Earth taps two sources of energy to run its engine: primordial energy from assembling the planet and nuclear energy from the heat produced during natural radioactive decay. Scientists have developed numerous models to predict how much fuel remains inside Earth to drive its engines -- and estimates vary widely -- but the true amount remains unknown.

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  • Physics & Chemistry

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Researchers prototype system for reading closed books

MIT researchers and their colleagues are designing an imaging system that can read closed books.

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  • Physics & Chemistry

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PPPL researchers successfully test device that analyzes components within a vacuum

Physicists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) have successfully tested a new device that will lead to a better understanding of the interactions between ultrahot plasma contained within fusion facilities and the materials inside those facilities. The measurement tool, known as the Materials Analysis Particle Probe (MAPP), was built by a consortium that includes Princeton University and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (U. of I.).

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  • Physics & Chemistry

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A strange thing happened in the stratosphere

This disruption to the wind pattern - called the "quasi-biennial oscillation" - did not have any immediate impact on weather or climate as we experience it on Earth's surface. But it does raise interesting questions for the NASA scientists who observed it: If a pattern holds for six decades and then suddenly changes, what caused that to happen? Will it happen again? What effects might it have?

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  • Earth & Climate

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NASA takes parting look at Hermine

Tropical Cyclone Hermine was just a swirl of clouds with no rainfall off the coast of southeastern Massachusetts on Thursday, Sept. 8. Just two days earlier, the GPM satellite saw that Hermine was still generating some rainfall.

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  • Earth & Climate

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NASA sees Namtheun dissipating in the Sea of Japan

NASA's Aqua satellite passed over the Sea of Japan and saw Tropical Depression Namtheun weakening.

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  • Earth & Climate

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Study: Earth's carbon points to planetary smashup

Research by Rice University Earth scientists suggests that virtually all of Earth's life-giving carbon could have come from a collision about 4.4 billion years ago between Earth and an embryonic planet similar to Mercury.

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  • Earth & Climate

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During drought, dry air can stress plants more than dry soil

Newly published research by Indiana University scientists finds that low relative humidity in the atmosphere is a significant, growing and often under-appreciated cause of plant stress in hot, dry weather conditions.

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  • Earth & Climate

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IUCN-led panel finds critically endangered whales in Russia recovering

International Union for Conservation for Nature, WWF and International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) examines the results of the work of an IUCN-led independent panel of scientists, which has been advising Sakhalin Energy - one of the largest companies operating in the area - as part of an innovative loan deal. Over the last 12 years, Sakhalin Energy has made important efforts to limit the impact of its operations on whales and the fragile environment. During this period, the western gray whale population has grown 3-4% annually, from an estimated 115 animals in 2004 to 174 in 2015.

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  • Earth & Climate

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Nutrient pollution is changing sounds in the sea

Nutrient pollution emptying into seas from cities, towns and agricultural land is changing the sounds made by marine life - and potentially upsetting navigational cues for fish and other sea creatures, a new University of Adelaide study has found.

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  • Earth & Climate

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NASA sees Hurricane Newton approaching landfall in Baja California, Mexico

NASA's Terra satellite and a NASA animation of imagery from NOAA's GOES-West satellite provided views of Hurricane Newton as it neared landfall in Baja California, Mexico, today, Sept. 6.

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  • Earth & Climate

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OU study demonstrates seasonality of bird migration in response to environmental cues

A University of Oklahoma study demonstrates for the first time that remote sensing data from weather surveillance radar and on-the-ground data from the eBird citizen science database both yield robust indices of migration timing, also known as migration phenology. These indices can now be used to address the critical gap in our knowledge regarding the cues that migrants use for fine tuning their migration timing in response to climate.

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  • Earth & Climate

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Study finds increased ocean acidification due to human activities

Oceanographers from MIT and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution report that the northeast Pacific Ocean has absorbed an increasing amount of anthropogenic carbon dioxide over the last decade, at a rate that mirrors the increase of carbon dioxide emissions pumped into the atmosphere.

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  • Earth & Climate

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Future fisheries can expect $10 billion revenue loss due to climate change

Global fisheries stand to lose approximately $10 billion of their annual revenue by 2050 if climate change continues unchecked, and countries that are most dependent on fisheries for food will be the hardest hit, finds new UBC research.

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  • Earth & Climate

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NASA sees remnants of Tropical Cyclone Newton over Southwestern US

NASA's Aqua satellite passed over the U.S. Southwest and captured infrared data on the clouds associated with former Tropical Cyclone Newton.

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  • Earth & Climate

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Seeing the forest for the trees: World's largest reforestation program overlooks wildlife

After years of environmental destruction, China has spent billions of dollars on the world's largest reforestation program, converting a combined area nearly the size of New York and Pennsylvania back to forest.

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  • Earth & Climate

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Forecasting climate change's effects on biodiversity hindered by lack of data

An international group of biologists is calling for data collection on a global scale to improve forecasts of how climate change affects animals and plants.

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  • Earth & Climate

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Study finds earthquakes can trigger near-instantaneous aftershocks on different faults

According to a new study by scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego, a large earthquake on one fault can trigger large aftershocks on separate faults within just a few minutes. These findings have important implications for earthquake hazard prone regions like California where ruptures on complex fault systems may cascade and lead to mega-earthquakes.

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  • Earth & Climate

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NIST and Navy tests suggest telecom networks could back up GPS time signals

Precision time signals sent through the Global Positioning System (GPS) synchronize cellphone calls, time-stamp financial transactions, and support safe travel by aircraft, ship, train and car.

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  • Earth & Climate