Monthly Archives: June 2011

WiFi “napping” doubles phone battery life

A Duke University graduate student has found a way to double the battery life of mobile devices – such as smartphones or laptop computers – by making changes to WiFi technology. WiFi is a popular wireless technology that helps users download information from the Internet. Such downloads, including pictures, music and video streaming, can be […] … learn more→

Reading and talking to children at home makes starting school easier

Researchers in Bristol have published a report that shows that children\’s early communication environment makes an important contribution to their readiness to start school. This project was led by Professor Sue Roulstone, Underwood Trust Professor of Language and Communication Impairment at the University of the West of England in collaboration with Professor Tim Peters from […] … learn more→

10 reasons why Google+ will never be Facebook

Google is hoping that the saying “if at first you don’t succeed, try, try, again” will work out for them with Google+. Launched as a private beta version on Tuesday, Google+ is the search giant’s latest attempt at a version of Facebook. The company has tried this before with products such as Orkut, Google Wave […] … learn more→

Climate change makes some chemicals more toxic to aquatic life

Some areas of the southern United States are suffering from the longest dry spell since 1887 and a new Baylor University study shows that could prove problematic for aquatic organisms. The Baylor study found that drought conditions make some chemicals in the environment more toxic to fish and other aquatic life. Specifically, the study found […] … learn more→

Study reveals cyber-bullying isn’t a just girls’ thing

A recent study led by an academic at Robert Gordon University has found that the current focus on cultivating online safety awareness among teenage girls may have resulted in the message that boys’ behaviour online does not need safeguards. In the sample more adolescent males admitted to both being bullied (50 percent) and carrying out […] … learn more→

New Smartphone App automatically tags photos

So much for tagging photographs with names, locations and activities yourself – a new cell phone application can take care of that for you. The system works by taking advantage of the multiple sensors on a mobile phone, as well as those of other mobile phones in the vicinity. Dubbed TagSense, the new app was […] … learn more→

Scientists sequence endangered Tasmanian devil\’s genome

A revolutionary species-preservation approach based on whole-genome analyses of two Tasmanian devils — one that had died of a contagious cancer known as Devil Facial Tumor Disease (DFTD) and one healthy animal — has been used to develop a theoretical model to predict which individuals would need to be kept in captivity to maximize chances […] … learn more→

The good news about coal

During the years when governments and the media were focused on preparations for the 2009 Copenhagen climate negotiations, a powerful climate movement was emerging in the United States: the movement opposing the construction of new coal-fired power plants. Environmental groups, both national and local, are opposing coal plants because they are the primary driver of […] … learn more→

Record heatwaves not just a lot of hot air

Are the tornadoes in the USA, or the floods in Queensland and Victoria, or the record drought in southwest Australia, or the Russian heatwave of last year or western Europe in 2003, or Black Saturday, anything to do with global warming? It’s a big question, with a complicated answer. So let’s start with heatwaves. The […] … learn more→