Technology – Page 577 – Shamskm: A site to exchange knowledge and solutions

Risk of Amazon Rainforest Dieback is Higher than IPCC Projects

AUSTIN, Texas — A new study suggests the southern portion of the Amazon rainforest is at a much higher risk of dieback due to stronger seasonal drying than projections made by the climate models used in the latest report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). If severe enough, the loss of rainforest could cause the release of large volumes of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. It could also disrupt plant and animal communities in one of the regions of highest biodiversity in the world. (more…)

UA Class Analyzes Language Through Word Puzzles

Richard Ruiz, who heads the UA Department of Mexican American Studies, has turned to crossword puzzles to teach students about the implicit meaning of language.

Consider this crossword puzzle clue: The capital of Massachusetts? And know that while the answer contains six letters, it’s not Boston.

Give up? The answer: the U.S. “dollar.” (more…)

Yoga accessible for the blind with new Microsoft Kinect-based program

In a typical yoga class, students watch an instructor to learn how to properly hold a position. But for people who are blind or can’t see well, it can be frustrating to participate in these types of exercises.

Now, a team of University of Washington computer scientists has created a software program that watches a user’s movements and gives spoken feedback on what to change to accurately complete a yoga pose. (more…)

Einer von sieben Smartphone-Besitzern in Europa tätigt Online-Einkäufe über sein Mobiltelefon

Zugriff auf Retail Webseiten über Smartphones zum Vorjahr um 43 Prozent gestiegen

Frankfurt, 22. Oktober 2013 – comScore, Inc., eines der führenden Unternehmen in der Messung der digitalen Welt hat heute eine Analyse der Mobiltelefonnutzung in den fünf führenden europäischen Märkten (Frankreich, Deutschland, Italien, Vereinigtes Königreich und Spanien – zusammengefasst als EU5-Region) auf Basis von Daten des comScore MobiLens Service veröffentlicht. Die Studie zeigt, dass die mobile Nutzung von Retail–Webseiten im Vergleich zum Vorjahr um 43 Prozent anstieg. 20,4 Prozent der EU5-Smartphone-Besitzer nutzen Retail Apps und Sites auf Ihrem Mobiltelefon. Darüber hinaus berichtete einer von sieben Smartphone-Besitzern bereits eine Kaufhandlung über das Mobiltelefon getätigt zu haben. (more…)

Celebrated jumping frogs: For top hops, scientists look to Calaveras pros

The Calaveras County Jumping Frog Jubilee has entered the scientific record via a new paper in the Journal of Experimental Biology. Experienced bullfrog ‘jockeys’ at the event routinely get their frogs to jump much farther than researchers had ever measured in the lab. How? Decades of refined technique, uncommonly motivated humans and herps, and good old-fashioned large sample size.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — One day, amid his decades-long study of how animals move, including how frogs jump, Brown University biologist Thomas Roberts found himself and colleague Richard Marsh puzzling over the Guinness Book of World Records. A bullfrog named Rosie the Ribiter reportedly had jumped more than 2.1 meters in a single hop at the Calaveras County Jumping Frog Jubilee in 1986, but scientific studies had never reported a bullfrog jump beyond 1.3 meters. (more…)

IBM and Libelium Launch Internet of Things Starter Kit

New platform offers IPv6 connectivity for any single sensor

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., ZARAGOZA and ZURICH – 21 Oct 2013: IBM and Libelium, a wireless sensor network hardware provider, today released an Internet of Things Starter Kit to enable dozens of sensor applications ranging from monitoring parking spaces or air pollution to providing assistance for the elderly.

Created by IBM scientists and Libelium engineers to ease application development, testing, and scalability of wireless sensor networks (WSN), the new Internet of Things Starter Kit integrates Libelium’s Waspmote wireless sensor platform with IBM’s Mote Runner software and 6LoWPAN, which allows every single sensor and device to connect directly to the Internet using the new IPv6 protocol. (more…)

Women, STEM and stereotypes

UD researcher gets to the root of why women leave STEM fields

Call it a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Women who are the most invested in science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields (STEM) are also the ones who are most likely to leave them.

Part of it may have to do with a well-studied phenomenon called stereotype threat. But the University of Delaware’s Chad Forbes is trying to help change that. (more…)

‘Zeitarbeitsfirma’ (temporary employment agency): The ‘other side’ of Germany’s labour market

There are hundreds of ‘Zeitarbeitsfirma’ or ‘temporary employment agency’ dominating the current German labour market. These agencies lease workers mostly on short-term basis to different industries, supermarkets and other business enterprises. Leased workers (In German: Lieharbeiter or Zeitarbeiter) are normally low-paid and forced to do the heaviest works at their work places. Often they have to accept or bow down to inhuman demands of the ‘Zeitarbeitsfirma’.

Summarized here are few cases from different sources who experienced the hardship under the so-called ‘Zeitarbeitsfirma’: (more…)