Highlights of the day: Packaging materials in severe shortage
Backend service providers face as much as a 50% shortage of packaging materials from until June as a result of production issues at Japanese suppliers. MediaTek is prioritizing shipments for 5G chips, telling its Chinese handset clients that it is c.....»»
How transcripts in Apple Podcasts became a time-saving killer feature
There is no shortage of great third-party podcast clients on the App Store, such as Castro, Overcast, and Pocket Casts. But when Apple Podcasts introduced transcripts in iOS 17.4, the app immediately won me over. Podcast transcripts are a fantasti.....»»
Good vibrations: Low-energy lasers induce atomic excitation in semiconductor materials
Semiconductors are a cornerstone of next-generation technology, so a new method to excite atoms in semiconductor materials is likely to excite a broad range of researchers and industries as well......»»
Researchers find unexpected roadblock to conductivity in Mott insulators
In the realm of condensed matter physics, few phenomena captivate physicists' curiosity as much as Mott insulators. According to traditional theory, this odd class of materials should be capable of conducting electricity, yet they behave mostly as in.....»»
Nepal battles raging wildfires across the country
Firefighters and local residents battled a massive wildfire on the outskirts of Nepal's capital Thursday as the Himalayan republic endures a severe fire season authorities have blamed on a heat wave......»»
Feathers, cognition and global consumerism in colonial Amazonia
Amazonia is the home of the largest variety of birds in the world. In such a unique environment, craft cultures have flourished by translating the beauty and creativity of environmental materials like feathers into stunning pieces of art......»»
Pennsylvania has two battling bills that could make tracking with AirTags unlawful
Pennsylvania state representatives have pushed forward a second piece of legislation that would penalize the unauthorized use of Bluetooth trackers, like AirTag, to track someone.Apple AirTagThere's no shortage of instances where someone discovered t.....»»
Mysterious “gpt2-chatbot” AI model appears suddenly, confuses experts
Mystery LLM highlights transparency issues in AI testing. Enlarge (credit: Getty Images) On Sunday, word began to spread on social media about a new mystery chatbot named "gpt2-chatbot" that appeared in the LMSYS Chatbot.....»»
It may be time to eliminate the best-before date on food packaging, say smart packaging researchers
The inventors of a suite of tests that enable food packages to signal whether their contents are contaminated are working to bring producers and regulators together to get their inventions into commercial products, with the goal of preventing illness.....»»
Triangulation fraud: The costly scam hitting online retailers
In this Help Net Security interview, Mike Lemberger, Visa’s SVP, Chief Risk Officer, North America, discusses the severe financial losses resulting from triangulation fraud, estimating monthly losses to range from $660 million to $1 billion among m.....»»
Roku OS home screen is getting video ads for the first time
Meanwhile, Roku keeps making more money. Enlarge (credit: Roku) Roku CEO Anthony Wood disclosed plans to introduce video ads to the Roku OS home screen. The news highlights Roku’s growing focus on advertising and an a.....»»
Unveiling nature"s custodians: Study highlights crucial role of scavengers in wetlands
A study by researchers from the Ecology area of the Miguel Hernández University of Elche (UMH) and the Ecology department of the University of Alicante (UA) reveals the fundamental importance of scavengers and carrion in wetlands......»»
Scientists develop strong yet reusable adhesive from smart materials
Scientists from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) have developed a smart, reusable adhesive more than 10 times stronger than a gecko's feet adhesion, pointing the way for development of reusable superglue and grippers capabl.....»»
Research shows baby bird development harmed by sound of cars
A new study by Deakin researchers, published in Science, proves that traffic noise exposure in baby birds directly interferes with their development, which causes severe and long-lasting harm to those chicks......»»
Researchers improve the plasticity of ceramic materials at room temperature
Researchers in Purdue University's College of Engineering have developed and validated a patent-pending method that could expand the industrial applications of ceramics by making them more plastically deformable at room temperature......»»
Huawei"s smart car tech offers Audi, other automakers route to China sales
Huawei's rapid emergence as a key auto supplier highlights the telecommunications equipment maker's drive for sources of growth after U.S. export controls pursued on national security grounds since 2019 hammered its businesses, especially smartphones.....»»
Paleblue Earth batteries eliminate the one big pain point of rechargeables
Charging via USB-C and shipping in sustainable packaging too, Paleblue Earth's batteries are looking to make a difference......»»
Hackers try to exploit WordPress plugin vulnerability that’s as severe as it gets
WP Automatic plugin patched, but release notes don't mention the critical fix. Enlarge (credit: Getty Images) Hackers are assailing websites using a prominent WordPress plugin with millions of attempts to exploit a high-.....»»
Enhancing memory technology: Multiferroic nanodots for low-power magnetic storage
Traditional memory devices are volatile and the current non-volatile ones rely on either ferromagnetic or ferroelectric materials for data storage. In ferromagnetic devices, data is written or stored by aligning magnetic moments, while in ferroelectr.....»»
Thiol-ene click reaction offers a novel approach to fabricate elastic ferroelectrics
A research group led by Prof. Li Runwei and Hu Benlin at the Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering (NIMTE) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has developed a facile and efficient approach to fabricate elastic relaxor ferroelectrics.....»»
Towards novel promising perovskite-type ferroelectric materials: High-pressure synthesis of rubidium niobate
Capacitors are crucial components in electronic devices such as smartphones and computers. They are made of dielectric materials that polarize on the application of the voltage. Currently, barium titanate (BaTiO3) is the most widely used material for.....»»