Computer Science: General Mathematics: Puzzles
Published

Certain online games use dark designs to collect player data      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The privacy policies and practices of online games contain dark design patterns which could be deceptive, misleading, or coercive to users, according to a new study.

Environmental: General Geoscience: Geomagnetic Storms Space: Astronomy Space: Exploration Space: General Space: The Solar System
Published

Solar farms in space are possible      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

It's viable to produce low-cost, lightweight solar panels that can generate energy in space, according to new research.

Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Geomagnetic Storms Geoscience: Severe Weather Paleontology: Fossils
Published

Researchers identify largest ever solar storm in ancient 14,300-year-old tree rings      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

An international team of scientists have discovered a huge spike in radiocarbon levels 14,300 years ago by analyzing ancient tree-rings found in the French Alps. The radiocarbon spike was caused by a massive solar storm, the biggest ever identified.  A similar solar storm today would be catastrophic for modern technological society – potentially wiping out telecommunications and satellite systems, causing massive electricity grid blackouts, and costing us billions. The academics are warning of the importance of understanding such storms to protect our global communications and energy infrastructure for the future.

Mathematics: General Mathematics: Puzzles
Published

Machine learning unravels mysteries of atomic shapes      (via sciencedaily.com) 

New research has used machine learning to find the properties of atomic pieces of geometry, in pioneering work that could drive the development of new results in mathematics.

Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Computer Science: Encryption Computer Science: General Computer Science: Quantum Computers Energy: Technology Mathematics: Puzzles Physics: General Physics: Optics Physics: Quantum Computing Physics: Quantum Physics
Published

Better cybersecurity with new material      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Digital information exchange can be safer, cheaper and more environmentally friendly with the help of a new type of random number generator for encryption. The researchers behind the study believe that the new technology paves the way for a new type of quantum communication.

Mathematics: Puzzles
Published

Effectiveness of video gameplay restrictions questioned in new study      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Legal restrictions placed on the amount of time young people in China can play video games may be less effective than originally thought, a new study has revealed.

Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geology Geoscience: Geomagnetic Storms Space: General Space: Structures and Features Space: The Solar System
Published

Geomagnetic field protects Earth from electron showers      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Geophysicists studied the activity of high energy electrons and clarified the unexpected protective role of the geomagnetic field surrounding the Earth.

Mathematics: Puzzles
Published

Social media algorithms exploit how humans learn from their peers      (via sciencedaily.com) 

In prehistoric societies, humans tended to learn from members of our ingroup or from more prestigious individuals, as this information was more likely to be reliable and result in group success. However, with the advent of diverse and complex modern communities -- and especially in social media -- these biases become less effective. For example, a person we are connected to online might not necessarily be trustworthy, and people can easily feign prestige on social media. Now, a group of social scientists describe how the functions of social media algorithms are misaligned with human social instincts meant to foster cooperation, which can lead to large-scale polarization and misinformation.

Biology: Evolutionary Mathematics: General Mathematics: Modeling Mathematics: Puzzles
Published

Scientists uncover a surprising connection between number theory and evolutionary genetics      (via sciencedaily.com) 

An interdisciplinary team of mathematicians, engineers, physicists, and medical scientists has uncovered an unexpected link between pure mathematics and genetics, that reveals key insights into the structure of neutral mutations and the evolution of organisms.

Energy: Alternative Fuels Geoscience: Geology Geoscience: Geomagnetic Storms Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: Space Physics: Optics Space: The Solar System
Published

Sun 'umbrella' tethered to asteroid might help mitigate climate change      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Earth is rapidly warming and scientists are developing a variety of approaches to reduce the effects of climate change. An astronomer has proposed a novel approach -- a solar shield to reduce the amount of sunlight hitting Earth, combined with a tethered, captured asteroid as a counterweight. Engineering studies using this approach could start now to create a workable design that could mitigate climate change within decades.

Mathematics: General Mathematics: Modeling Mathematics: Puzzles
Published

Board games are boosting math ability in young children      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Board games based on numbers, like Monopoly, Othello and Chutes and Ladders, make young children better at math, according to a comprehensive review of research published on the topic over the last 23 years.

Mathematics: Puzzles
Published

How the brain processes numbers -- New procedure improves measurement of human brain activity      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Measuring human brain activity down to the cellular level: until now, this has been possible only to a limited extent. With a new approach it will now be much easier. The method relies on microelectrodes along with the support of brain tumor patients, who participate in studies while undergoing 'awake' brain surgery. This enabled the team to identify how our brain processes numbers.

Mathematics: Puzzles
Published

Mathematicians solve long-known problem      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Making history with 42 digits: Scientists have unlocked a decades-old mystery of mathematics with the so-called ninth Dedekind number. Experts worldwide have been searching for the value since 1991. Scientists arrived at the exact sequence of numbers with the help of the Noctua supercomputer.

Computer Science: General Computer Science: Quantum Computers Mathematics: Puzzles Physics: General Physics: Quantum Computing Physics: Quantum Physics
Published

Quan­tum com­puter in reverse gear      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Large numbers can only be factorized with a great deal of computational effort. Physicists are now providing a blueprint for a new type of quantum computer to solve the factorization problem, which is a cornerstone of modern cryptography.

Computer Science: Virtual Reality (VR) Mathematics: Puzzles
Published

Researchers explore why some people get motion sick playing VR games while others don't      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The way our senses adjust while playing high-intensity virtual reality games plays a critical role in understanding why some people experience severe cybersickness and others don't.

Mathematics: Puzzles Physics: Optics
Published

Scholars unify color systems using prime numbers      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Existing color systems, such as RGB and CYMK, are all text-based and require a large range of values to represent different colors, making them difficult to compute and time-consuming to convert. Recently, researchers made a breakthrough by inventing an innovative color system, called 'C235', based on prime numbers, enabling efficient encoding and effective color compression. It can unify existing color systems and has the potential to be applied in various applications, like designing an energy-saving LCD system and colorizing DNA codons.

Computer Science: Encryption Computer Science: General Engineering: Nanotechnology Mathematics: Puzzles Offbeat: Computers and Math Physics: Optics
Published

Chromo-encryption method encodes secrets with color      (via sciencedaily.com) 

In a new approach to security that unites technology and art, E researchers have combined silver nanostructures with polarized light to yield a range of brilliant colors, which can be used to encode messages.

Mathematics: Puzzles
Published

Video game playing causes no harm to young children's cognitive abilities, study finds      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Despite old fears that bad effects follow excessive video game playing or questionable game choices, researchers found those factors mattered little, if any, in children's brain health. The bad news? Video games assumed to be effective learning tools showed no meaningful effects, either.

Geoscience: Geomagnetic Storms Geoscience: Severe Weather Offbeat: Earth and Climate
Published

When migrating birds go astray, disturbances in magnetic field may be partly to blame      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Disturbances to Earth's magnetic field can lead birds astray -- a phenomenon scientists call 'vagrancy' -- even in perfect weather, and especially during fall migration. While other factors such as weather likely play bigger roles in causing vagrancy, researchers found a strong correlation between birds that were captured far outside of their expected range and the geomagnetic disturbances that occurred during both fall and spring migrations.

Energy: Alternative Fuels Geoscience: Geology Geoscience: Geomagnetic Storms Geoscience: Severe Weather
Published

New study models the transmission of foreshock waves towards Earth      (via sciencedaily.com) 

As the supersonic solar wind surges towards Earth, its interaction with our planet's magnetic field creates a shock to deflect its flow, and a foreshock filled with electromagnetic waves. How these waves can propagate to the other side of the shock has long remained a mystery.