Scientists from the federal fisheries lab in La Jolla have reported a serious decline of white abalone along the San Diego coastline, confirming some of the worst fears about the species as it slides toward extinction. “In the absence of fishing, we hoped to see the population stabilize or increase,” said Kevin Stierhoff, a biologist …
Continue reading “White abalone going extinct under current program”
Many Mongolians consider the tomb (of Genghis Khan) an extremely sacred place and believe any desecration of it could trigger a curse that would end the world. “Using traditional archeological methods would be disrespectful to believers,” Albert Yu-Min Lin says. “The ability to explore in a noninvasive way lets us try to solve this ancient secret …
The 500m people who use the internet in China have long been aware of the presence of the censors who watch their movements online and delete their more inflammatory posts. Now those monitors may have to get used to someone watching over their shoulders. Teams at Harvard and the University of Hong Kong have been …
Back in 2010 we added biking directions for users of Google Maps in the US and Canada. Helping cyclists navigate the bike trails throughout those countries proved hugely popular, so we’re wheelie excited to announce that starting today, we’ve also added extensive biking data to Google Maps for Austria, Australia, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, …
Verizon Wireless today announced the addition of Share Everything plans. They’re essentially family plans, allowing you, mom, dad, and big or little brother or sister to share from a pool of unlimited voice minutes and text messages, plus a specified amount of data. The service also offers a free mobile HotSpot service to any device …
Continue reading “Verizon introduces ‘unlimited everything’ plans – for phones, families, tablets”
A recent report published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, based on data from 2008, shows a few interesting changes. African-americans are catching up in terms of long life, though still behind. Both white men and women increased their average life expectancy by 0.9 years. African-american men increased theirs by 2 years and …
Continue reading “Life Expectancy rises 0.9 years for whites, 2 years for blacks”
For several years scientists have been begging to test their theories about Mercury, the closest planet to the Sun. You see, the radar signals come back showing ice exists on the planet, but how could ice exist on a planet so incredibly hot? NASA sent the spacecraft MESSENGER to orbit the planet and figure the …
Continue reading “MESSENGER sends first data back to Earth – uncovers ice on Mercury”
The CEO of AT&T Inc. said Friday that cellphone plans that count only data usage are likely to come in the next two years. In such a scenario, phone calls and texts would be considered as just another form of data. Randall Stephenson didn’t say AT&T has such a plan in mind, but he suggested that someone in the industry will …
Continue reading “The CEO of AT&T says data-only plans are inevitable in the next 24 months”
Reef Check California is a volunteer monitoring program for California rocky reefs designed to provide data for managers and to build a conservation constituency among California divers. If you’re interested in becoming a getting certified or learning more, diving season is here! *** May Update: This month we started full swing into Reef Check California’s …
Continue reading “Certify to become a diver and join Reef Check’s conservation movement”
I love this story on ‘predictive policing’. Researchers use data to predict “hot spots” for crime and then send it over to the police. The cops on the beat patrol those areas more often and crime drops. Math for the win. The best way to fight crime is to keep it from happening in the …
Continue reading “Professors fight crime with math – using data to predict crime ‘hot spots’”