By: Karla Lant/Futurism Google is back in the smartphone game after announcing their $1.1 billion cooperation agreement with HTC. Google’s $1.1 billion in cash will buy the non-exclusive license for HTC’s intellectual property and give them 2,000 HTC smartphone employees. GOOGLE’S EMERGING HARDWARE BUSINESS In a joint statement Wednesday evening, Google and HTC announced their $1.1 billion…
Researchers Have Linked A Human Brain To The Internet For The First Time Ever
By: Patrick Caughill/Futurism Researchers from Wits University have linked a brain directly to the internet. Data gathered from this project could help fuel the next steps in machine learning and brain-computer interfaces. BRAIN MEETS IOT A team of researchers at Wits University in Johannesburg, South Africa have made a major breakthrough in the field of biomedical…
Someone Actually Tried To Prove The Earth Is Flat With This Sign
By: James Felton/IFLScience A flat-Earth conspiracy theorist has been mocked online after leaving a bizarre sign at a beach. Stephen Voss was walking St Kilda beach in Dunedin, New Zealand, when he came across a sign. Rather than giving a usual warning, such as “mind your step” or “look out! Sharks!”, it appeared to be telling…
The Majestic Long-Endangered Snow Leopard Is Not Endangered Anymore
By: McKinley Corbley/Good News Network After decades of being listed as endangered, the status of the majestic snow leopard has finally been upgraded to “vulnerable”. The reclassification was announced this week by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) after a 3-year survey showed great improvements in their population. Thanks to improved tracking techniques, such as camera traps…
Are Dogs Really Color-Blind?
By: Lily Feinn/The Dodo In some ways, they actually see better than we do. Have you ever wondered what the world looks like through your dog’s eyes? For example, when you throw a red ball into a patch of green grass, what does your pup see? A popular notion suggests the world appears to dogs as outlines and…
Researchers: Depression May Be A Physical Illness Linked To Inflammation
By: Karla Lant/Futurism Scientists are now calling the link between depression and inflammation caused by a faulty immune system definitive. Whether it’s causal or not, the connection opens up new avenues for treatment and new hope for sufferers. PHYSICAL ROOTS OF DEPRESSION Although current treatments for depression mostly focus on brain chemicals such as serotonin, scientists…
This Teacher’s Neat (But Extremely Gross) Experiment For Her Students Has Gone Viral
By: James Felton/IFL Science Teaching children to love science can be difficult. Getting kids to wash their hands can be even more so. Well, one teacher in Gray’s Creek, North Carolina, has managed to do both for her class in one foul, really gross swoop. In a post that’s gone viral on Facebook, Donna Gill Allen showed off…
There’s A $100 Million Plan To Make A Synthetic Spinal Cord To End Paralysis
By: Dom Galeon/Futurism Hugh Herr and his colleagues at MIT’s Center for Extreme Bionics want to change what it means to be disabled. As part of a $100 million, five-year project, the researchers are working on advanced prosthetics that work like real limbs, a synthetic nervous system, and more. A BOLD MISSION Some say experience is the…
What On Earth Is Going On With The Sun Right Now?
By: Jonathan O’Callaghan/IFL Science Seven days. Seven flares. Is the end of times upon us? A week ago, the Sun unleashed its biggest solar flare in more than a decade, a monster X9.3 storm that knocked out radio communications on Earth. This was the second of the week, but the Sun was just getting started. Over…