Technology, features and articles | Educational Science

Mar 8, 2013

Phone Scammers Fleece Retiree Out of House and Home

Nigerian email scammers have been conning unsuspecting Westerners for years. More recent forms of the advance-fee fraud have taken on the form of emails promising foreign-lottery winnings. But a poor retiree from Baltimore was fleeced out of his life savings and even his house — entirely over the telephone. It...

Apr 2, 2013

Think You're Anonymous? Cellphone Data Gives You Away

Just four points of location data from one's cellphone is enough to uniquely identify the person about 95 percent of the time, new research suggests. Sifting through 15 months of anonymous location data from 1.5 million cellphone users, researchers found that just four points of data could uniquely identify 95...

Apr 4, 2013

5 Reasons You Shouldn’t Call Facebook Home

It’s not a ‘Facebook Phone,’ it’s not a Facebook operating system—it’s Facebook Home. On Thursday Mark Zuckerberg and the Facebook team laid to rest the persistent ‘Facebook Phone’ rumors and unveiled its new app family for Android. The app launcher, which is essentially a Facebook overlay for select Android Jelly...

Apr 30, 2013

Budweiser and Facebook: Worst Combo Ever?

If there's anything worse than drinking lots of alcohol at a party, it's broadcasting your binge across the Internet. But Budweiser, in defiance of the equation that governs modern life online (Booze + Facebook = Regret), has now introduced the Buddy Cup, a beer-swilling device that links to your Facebook...

May 22, 2013

Drowning In Devices? Your Next Gadget May Dissolve When You're Done

Waste not thy future gadgets. That may soon become the 11th Commandment. Phones, tablets and computers continue to be introduced at a dizzying rate. With each new introduction, a previous version becomes obsolete, and electronic waste becomes more and more prevalent. The more materials that can be recycled from the...

Jun 3, 2013

Why Hands-Free Phones May Be Unsafe for Drivers

Voice-controlled texting and other hands-free tools may seem like safe options for using a cellphone while driving, but one researcher warns that the brain can't safely manage both tasks at once. New car models increasingly feature built-in hands-free technologies, but they may not cut out the risk of distracted driving;...

Aug 9, 2013

9 Odd Ways Your Tech Devices May Injure You

Intro (Image credit: Global technology image via Shutterstock)Computers and phones have made life easier for most of us, but perhaps harder for an unlucky few. Technology-related injuries, ranging from irritating neck and shoulder pain to fatal accidents, are the flip side of gadgets that are generally helpful. Some of these...

Sep 11, 2013

Phone Sensors Could Meld with Human Body

Microscopic sensors and motors in smartphones detect movement, and could one day help their cameras focus. Now scientists have devised components for these machines that are compatible with the human body, potentially making them ideal for use in medical devices such as bionic limbs and other artificial body parts, researchers...

Sep 23, 2013

Digital Parenting: More Technology Means More Work

Cellphones, tablets, video games and computers — the average youngster has logged thousands of hours on digital technologies by the time they leave home. And all these technologies have changed the way parents do their jobs. Though digital technology allows parents to entertain or keep tabs on their youngsters, for...

Oct 1, 2013

Accelerometers: What They Are & How They Work

When you use a compass app on your smartphone, it somehow knows which direction the phone is pointing. With stargazing apps, it somehow knows where in the sky you’re looking to properly display constellations. Smartphones and other mobile technology identify their orientation through the use of an accelerator, a small...

Oct 3, 2013

Smartphone-Controlled Brewbot Gets aHead with Kickstarter

A craft-beer-brewing robot that can be controlled by a smartphone has garnered about $100,000 from 195 backers on online crowdfunder Kickstarter. On its Kickstarter page, the Brewbot is described as an easy-to-use, controlled environment that is aesthetically pleasing, and frees up brewers to focus on the recipes. You don't need...

Oct 21, 2013

How Twitter Fans Kept NASA Alive During the US Shutdown (Op-Ed)

This article was originally published at The Conversation. The publication contributed the article to LiveScience's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Now that the US government is back in business, all “non-essential” services will resume. For 15 days we went without NASA’s full operation, US Antarctic research and federally-funded clinical studies....

Nov 22, 2013

Seeking a Russian Silicon Valley (Op-Ed)

Nikolai Nikiforov, minister of Communications and Mass Media for the Russian Federation, contributed this article to LiveScience's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. With more Internet users than anyplace else in Europe, Russia is not exactly a newcomer to the digital superhighway. But a new information technology (IT) roadmap approved by...

Nov 27, 2013

'Warriors 4 Wireless' Program Helps Vets Find Tech Industry Jobs

A new nonprofit program aims to help veterans and returning service members find jobs in wireless telecommunications, as part of a broader goal to have 5,000 vets employed in the expanding industry by the year 2015, according to officials from the Department of Defense. The White House Office of Science...

Dec 2, 2013

Health Check: Is Your Personal Music Player Doing You Damage?(Op-Ed)

This article was originally published at The Conversation. The publication contributed the article to LiveScience's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. It’s happened to all of us – you walk past someone and you can hear every beat, riff and wail coming from their headphones. If you’ve ever wondered whether this...