One-Size-Fits-All Textbooks Don’t Make Sense in the Digital Age A non-profit group based at Rice University is developing a new approach to learning. In the next two years, OpenStax will produce personalized interactive books that better match individual learning aptitudes. The Inspiration for ‘The Bionic Man’ Shares His Thoughts on the Future of Bionics Bertolt […]
Tech Sightings, August 5, 2014
Google Removes ‘Bomb Gaza’ Game from App Store An Android game called Bomb Gaza that let players use F16 fighters to “drop bombs and avoid killing civilians” in Gaza has been removed from the Google Play store in response to a public outcry. The game, which was downloaded up to 1,000 times since July 29, […]
Tech Sightings, July 31, 2014
Facebook-Backed Nonprofit Brings Free Internet to Zambia Facebook’s non-profit group, Internet.org, is releasing an app that provides Zambians with limited, but free Internet data access and news about health, employment and other relevant local information. New Display Tech Corrects for Bad Eyesight Are the days of the reading glasses numbered? The University of California, Berkley […]
Tech Sightings, July 30, 2014
Russia Wants Apple, SAP to Cooperate Against Foreign Spying Moscow suggested that Apple and SAP should give the government access to their source code to ensure that it is not being used for espionage. The development comes amidst renewed U.S. and European consultations to impose even more severe sanctions on Russia for its role in […]
Tech Sightings, July 29, 2014
DNA Computer Could Curb Virus Spread A research team at the University of the Sunshine Coasthas developed a computer that can diagnose and distinguish between various types of viruses using molecular circuitry. Microsoft Faces China Antitrust Probe A Chinese government statement says State Administration of Industry and Commerce officials who visited Microsoft’s offices in Beijing, […]
Tech Sightings, July 24, 2014
Could Food Waste Power Our Cities? Florida’s Harvest Power, a group that first started by collecting food waste from Walt Disney World, has found a new way to produce energy. Quadrillions of microorganisms, feeding on discarded food, consume the waste much faster than it would take for it to decompose and produce biogas – a […]
Tech Sightings, July 23, 2014
Why Africa Needs Maker Faire Maker Faire, an international celebration of hardware hacking, is making its way to South Africa in September. Organizers are looking to focus on African makers and inventors and are actively seeking them out to encourage them to attend. Building a Generation of Women Scientists in Africa An educational program initiated […]
Tech Sightings, July 22, 2014
New Spongelike Structure Converts Solar Energy into Steam Using layers of graphite flakes and carbon foam, MIT researchers have produced a new porous material that floats on water like a sponge. Once exposed to solar energy, its surface generates a hotspot that draws up water and converts it to steam. Twitter Takes Down Suspect Pro-China […]
Tech Sightings, July 17, 2014
Africa’s Inventors Struggle to Protect Patents Hampered by Africa’s long, expensive patent registration process and weak court system, many inventors are working covertly to protect their ideas from copycats. Some Universities Crack Code in Drawing Women to Computer Science U.S. universities that have seen women making a comeback in the fields of science and technology […]
Tech Sightings, July 16, 2014
South Korea to Create 10-year 3D Printing Roadmap South Korea’s government has asked its Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy to research the feasibility of a 10-year plan to develop 3D printing into a growth market and transform manufacturing. Hi-Tech System Brings Quick Storm Warnings to […]