Sci-Tech

“Smart” ear tags track cows’ location, health

FORT WORTH, TEXAS, United States (Reuters) — Ranchers have been ear-tagging their cattle for ages, but now tech company HerdDogg is bringing the practice into the 21st century. Their “state-of-the-art smart ear tags” allow farmers to geo-track individual cows while also compiling information on the animal’s health. “Research shows that the better you understand your animals, the better you treat them,” said HerdDogg’s Melissa Brandao. “Typically an animal isn’t going to show that it is […]

NASA brings Pluto closer to earth

    Reuters — NASA has brought Pluto into focus for earth dwellers with a stop-motion video of over 100 colour images taken by the agency’s New Horizons spacecraft. The photographs showing the approach to the dwarf planet were released on January 19 and were taken over six weeks in the summer of 2015. The New Horizons spacecraft flew for more than nine years and three billion miles to visit the Pluto system. “The challenge […]

London horror experience brings Resident Evil 7 to life

LONDON, ENGLAND United Kingdom (Reuters) — An immersive horror experience has opened on London’s famous Brick Lane to mark the launch of video game Resident Evil 7: Biohazard. The experience, which ends on Monday (January 23), emulates one of the sequences of the new video game at a decrepit house. For 40 minutes, participants have to find clues while gathering tools to overcome obstacles and escape as quickly as possible. Reuters spoke producer Masachika Kawata […]

Dwarf galaxies shed light on dark matter

by Marlowe HOOD Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — The first sighting of clustered dwarf galaxies bolsters a leading theory about how big galaxies such as our Milky Way are formed, and how dark matter binds them, researchers said Monday. Theorised but never seen, the bundled galaxies were discovered using the largest optical survey of the night sky ever compiled, they reported in the journal Nature Astronomy. Seven clusters of three-to-five galaxies are each […]

Paris experiments with driverless buses

PARIS, France (AFP) – Paris began its first experiment with driverless buses on Monday, with city officials saying they were eager to prepare for the coming “revolution” of autonomous vehicles. Two box-shaped electric vehicles capable of carrying around 10 people have been deployed — within the safety of a special lane — on a bridge connecting two railway stations to the east of the city centre. “Autonomous vehicles represent a revolution for every city on […]

‘Droneboarding’ takes off in Latvia

by Mike Collier Agence France-Presse Cēsis, Latvia (AFP) — Skirted on all sides by snow-clad pine forests, Latvia’s remote Lake Ninieris would be the perfect picture of winter tranquility — were it not for the huge drone buzzing like a swarm of angry bees as it zooms above the solid ice surface. The powerful three-metre-long (nine-foot) drone, sporting 16 spinning propellers, is fitted with long tow ropes with handles, the kind used in water-skiing. Two snowboarders […]

Samsung Elec says battery caused Note 7 fires, may delay new phone launch

SEOUL, South Korea (Reuters) — Samsung Electronics indicated on Monday (January 23) that its latest flagship Galaxy S smartphone could be delayed as it pledged to enhance product safety following an investigation into the cause of fires in its premium Note 7 devices. Wrapping up its months-long probe into the cause of the Note 7 debacle, the world’s top smartphone maker said faulty batteries from two suppliers were to blame for the failure of the […]

Ugandans invent ‘smart jacket’ to diagnose pneumonia

by Grace Matsiko Agence France-Presse KAMPALA, Uganda (AFP) — A team of Ugandan engineers has invented a “smart jacket” that diagnoses pneumonia faster than a doctor, offering hope against a disease which kills more children worldwide than any other. The idea came to Olivia Koburongo, 26, after her grandmother fell ill, and was moved from hospital to hospital before being properly diagnosed with pneumonia. “It was now too late to save her,” said Koburongo. “It was […]

AR smart helmet for worksites of the future

(Reuters) — U.S. company Daqri wants to kick-start a new industrial revolution with its augmented reality smart helmet, saying it will help increase productivity and enable a wide range of functions, even in the most challenging environments. Aside from being a safety hard hat, the Daqri Smart Helmet uses computer vision to recognise and decipher the wearer’s surroundings. It then overlays relevant information in real-time as floating, interactive holograms. These relay data and work instructions […]

Eye massager, smart brush, sleep lamp: Health, wellness tech galore at 2017 CES

https://youtu.be/ZVVssVSAq5w   By Anna Cui Las Vegas EBC Correspondent   Las Vegas, USA (Eagle News) — An eye massager, a “smart” brush that tells you if you’re brushing your hair the right way, a scanner that checks nutritional content of food, and “sleep lamps” that can lure you to sleep or wakefulness depending on the time of day. These are just some of the health and wellness products that the Eagle Broadcasting Corporation’s Las Vegas […]

‘Peace’ signs risk fingerprint theft, says Japanese study

  (Reuters) — Two-fingered ‘peace’ signs – or V-signs – taken by high-resolution digital cameras from as far away as three metres (9 feet) may lead to fingerprint theft, Japanese researchers warn. Millions of photographs are uploaded onto social networking sites daily, many of which involve people making the ubiquitous sign. Isao Echizen, a professor at Japan’s National Institute of Informatics (NIII), says advanced technology is not necessary for fraudsters to copy fingerprints. “If a […]

Waste chicken feathers could help insulate homes

Each year Britain processes more than 945 million white-feathered broiler chickens, the type found in our supermarkets and used by fast-food chains. That’s a lot of leftover feathers. Two PhD students from Imperial College London are working on a method to turn this chicken feather waste into a useful product. Elena Dieckmann from the Dyson School of Design Engineering, alongside Ryan Robinson from the National Heart and Lung Institute, founded start-up Aeropowder in early 2016. […]