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
Posted July 30th, 2014 at 2:00 pm (UTC-5)
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
Posted July 29th, 2014 at 2:00 pm (UTC-5)
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, […]
Software Makers Hope Cloud Can Rein in Piracy
Posted July 25th, 2014 at 2:00 pm (UTC-5)
Software piracy or, more politely, the unlicensed use of copyrighted products, accounts for 43 percent all software installed on personal computers worldwide, and amounts to about $62.7 billion in commercial value, according to 2013 figures reported in a recent BSA | The Software Alliance survey. Aside from organized piracy for commercial profit, most unlicensed use […]
Tech Sightings, July 24, 2014
Posted July 24th, 2014 at 1:00 pm (UTC-5)
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
Posted July 23rd, 2014 at 2:01 pm (UTC-5)
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
Posted July 22nd, 2014 at 2:03 pm (UTC-5)
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 […]
3D Printing Grows, But is It an Industrial Revolution?
Posted July 18th, 2014 at 2:04 pm (UTC-5)
The potential of 3D printing is unmistakable, even though the industry has just begun to scratch the surface of that potential. Consumer 3D printers are just making their debut in U.S. stores. Their industrial counterparts are already complementing manufacturing in developed countries, even as others assess their market growth potential. But is this a new […]
Tech Sightings, July 17, 2014
Posted July 17th, 2014 at 2:03 pm (UTC-5)
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
Posted July 16th, 2014 at 2:02 pm (UTC-5)
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 […]