Science

Google's Privacy Shift Powers New Customized Maps

Thu, 16 May 2013 20:24:08 +0000

This week, Google, already a leader in mapping, created more space between itself and its competitors by more deeply mining the data users provide the company when using its various services.

At the Google developers' conference in San Francisco on Wednesday, Daniel Graf, director of Google Maps, crowed about the company's mapping app for the iPhone — and couldn't quite stop himself from taking a dig at Apple.

"People called it sleek, simple, beautiful, and let's not forget, accurate," he said.

The company unveiled A University of Texas law student has become the first person to fire a bullet from a gun made with a 3D printer. Forbes reporter Andy Greenberg recorded a video of the test shooting, then wrote about it.

Wilson says he did it partly to make a political point about gun control.

“Especially at a time when all these actors on the Hill are pretending that we can control firearms and we can better regulate them. I’m seeing a future, a vision of the future where that’s not really possible," he told KUT News.

Listen to our interview with Wilson by clicking the player above.

Gun Made With 3-D Printer is Successfully Fired

Mark Memmott, NPR — Mon, 06 May 2013 18:14:55 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wym1LF3mmYo

Solar-Powered Airplane Completes First Leg Of U.S. Flight

Bill Chappell, NPR — Sun, 05 May 2013 22:08:11 +0000

The Solar Impulse, an airplane traveling across the United States using only solar power, is in Phoenix today, after reaching Arizona from California Saturday.

Computerized Rifle Makes Anyone an Expert Marksman - Should It?

Mark Dewey — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 10:00:00 +0000

An Austin-based company, TrackingPoint, has developed a high-powered, long-range computerized rifle that can turn anyone into an expert marksman. But some wonder whether putting that technology in the hands of everyday people is a wise idea.

At shooting range just outside of Austin, I’m holding one of TrackingPoint’s top-of-the-line, $22,000 rifles. I have some shooting experience. But I’ve never shot a big rifle before. Three company representatives walk me through it.

Question for the Supreme Court: Can Human Genes Be Patented?

Nina Totenberg, NPR — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 14:29:15 +0000

Same-sex marriage got huge headlines at the Supreme Court last month, but in the world of science and medicine, the case being argued on Monday is far more important. The lawsuit deals with a truly 21st century issue — whether human genes may be patented.

Myriad Genetics, a Utah biotechnology company, discovered and isolated two genes — BRCA 1 and BRCA 2 — that are highly associated with hereditary breast and ovarian cancer. Myriad patented its discovery, giving it a 20-year monopoly over use of the genes for research, diagnostics and treatment.

Elon Musk: The TT Interview

Chris Hooks, Texas Tribune — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 00:32:38 +0000

Elon Musk, the CEO of Silicon Valley-based Tesla Motors, came to the Texas Capitol this week to lobby legislators to allow his company to sell electric cars directly to customers, a battle that has become increasingly pitched in the face of opposition from car dealers. But his electric car enterprise is not the only legislative push he’s involved in this session: As head of SpaceX, he’s also hoping to open acommercial spaceport in South Texas.

On Wednesday, Musk talked with the Tribune about his effort to get an exemption from state antitrust laws, Texas’ reputation as a business-friendly state and why he wants to launch rockets from Brownsville.

Obama: $100M Will Be Invested in Brain-Mapping Initiative

Mark Memmott, NPR — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 15:37:53 +0000

Adding some details to an initiative he announced during his latest State of the Union address, President Obama on Tuesday said that federal agencies plan to spend $100 million to jump start an effort to map the human brain.

Austin Student Scientists Get Major Recognition for Diabetes Research

Laura Rice, KUT News — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 15:47:05 +0000

A brother and sister team of young scientists from Westwood High School are finalists in a national science competition.

Priya and Naveen Arunachalam are both finalists in the Exploravision contest. The contest attracted nearly 16,000 students nationwide in a competition to design future technologies that could change the world.

UT Scientists Look to Create an Invisibility Cloak (Update)

Kate McGee, KUT News — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 22:26:22 +0000

Update: Harry Potter fans and Muggles alike may be one step closer to getting their own invisibility cloaks, if researchers at the University of Texas can help it.

According to the New Journal of Physics, they’ve created a thin material called a “mantle cloak.” Right now the cloak can only make things invisible in a certain range of light waves. It also doesn’t look like a cloak you would wear. It’s a thin tubing made from polycarbonate film, wrapped with copper tape.

UT Scientists Trace Genetic Origins of Longhorn Cattle

Matt Largey, KUT News — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 22:10:54 +0000

New research out of the University of Texas at Austin finds Bevo, the school’s mascot, and other Texas Longhorn cattle are direct descendants of the first cattle to arrive in North America.

The study of the Longhorn genome finds the cattle’s lineage can be traced back 10,000 years to India and the Middle East. Researchers looked at 50,000 genetic markers of different cattle breeds. They used that information to track the Longhorns’ ancestors from the Middle East and India, to Europe and eventually to North America.

Mosh Pit Math: How Physicists Analyzed a Rowdy Crowd

Fri, 22 Mar 2013 16:24:58 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7w7m4lb2ok

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQW8eb1P3dk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jKU7gdxncE

Pan-STARRs Comet Streaks Across Texas Sky Tonight

Andrew Weber — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 21:43:09 +0000

Tonight is one of a few chances Austinites will have to see a passing comet.

The PAN-STARRS comet, or C/2011 L-4 as it’s known by stargazers, will make its way across the Austin skies around 30 to 40 minutes after sunset tonight – which is at 7:37 p.m, according to the National Weather Service.

Google Paying $7 Million to Settle Street View Data Capturing Case

Eyder Peralta — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 18:24:04 +0000

Google has agreed to pay a $7 million fine to settle claims from 37 states and the District of Columbia that the search giant improperly collected data from unsecured wireless networks across the United States using its "Street View" vehicles.

As we've reported, Google raised eyebrows back in 2010 when it revealed it had slurped 600 gigabytes of personal data including emails and passwords, using the vehicles the company uses to photograph streets for its

What This Ten Pound Satellite Can Accomplish Will Surprise You

Luke Quinton — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 11:51:00 +0000

How big is a satellite? Well, that depends. The University of Texas’s Satellite Design Lab just won a competition for its “cube satellite.” So just how small is a cube?

“The dimensions of the spacecraft are essentially the size of a loaf of bread,” said Katharine Brumbaugh, a Ph.D. student at the satellite lab. Her team’s cube satellite, Armadillo, just won a competition run by the Air Force, beating out nine other universities in the “cubesat” category.