Revealed: Caddis flies use plastic waste from their surroundings to build shells but the new protective layer actually makes it EASIER for predators to attack the mysterious underwater insects Caddis flies are small insects that live on riverbeds and pond bottoms Scientists found they built narrow shells for themselves with plastic waste The plastic shells … Read more
More evidence has emerged which suggests COVID-19 patients with high vitamin D levels are more likely to survive the disease. A study from the US found patients with a severe deficiency are twice as likely to experience major complications and die. Researchers led by Northwestern University say the observational evidence is still preliminary and caution … Read more
Human brains use dreams to replay recent events and help form memories — and experts have gotten the first glimpse of this process in action, a study has reported. When we sleep, our brains replay the firing patterns our neurons underwent while awake — a process that experts refer to as ‘offline replay’. It is … Read more
The world is now regularly getting so hot and humid during heatwaves that some locations surpass the ‘theoretical human survivability limit’. Doomsday predictions made by scientists expected this to happen due to global warming, but not for several decades. But a study found parts of the world have already become so hot and humid during heatwaves that … Read more
How you could be diagnosed with coronavirus by your own PHONE: Scientists are developing an app that uses microphones and speakers to ‘measure changes in airway sounds linked to COVID-19’ The app would work by listening to breathing sounds and comparing it to others The team have to create new waveforms to remove ‘normal breathing … Read more
Trying to analyze Donald Trump made a speech recognition bot literally CRASH – and the only way to make it work properly was to strip out its grammar and syntax tools Researchers assigned a speech recognition bot to analyze Donald Trump The bot struggled to make sense of his rambling and fragmentary sentences The team … Read more
WeChat ‘monitors international users’ text messages to preemptively identify content to censor for its Chinese users’ The Citizens Lab studied how WeChat builds their database of blacklisted terms They found the company monitors international messages to preemptively identify potential images or content that should be banned in China The app creates a ‘hash’ code for … Read more
Working from home DOES increase productivity, according to a survey that found a third of people feel performance has improved while teleworking amid the coronavirus Millions of Americans are working from home amid the coronavirus pandemic A survey found that many have reported being more productive since the shift Those who feel isolated or rely … Read more
Samsung Pay expands to take on rival Apple with launch of branded debit card this summer Samsung Pay launched in 2015, but was a digital service on the smartphone Now, the firm is rolling out a branded debit card to users this summer The card will also support a cash management account with SoFi The move … Read more
Welcome to the DARK side! Facebook rolls out desktop redesign to all users that includes the Dark Mode feature Facebook rolled out an updated version of the desktop site to a select few in January Now, the firm is making the redesign available to all of its users The update includes the Dark Mode feature … Read more