SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Like many autistic children, Julian Brown has trouble reading emotions in people’s faces, one of the biggest challenges for people with the neurological disorder. Now the 10-year-old San Jose boy is getting help from “autism glass” — an experimental device that records and analyzes faces in real time and alerts … Continue reading
NEW YORK (AP) — Get a charge out of chocolate? New research suggests candy companies may be able to make lower fat versions of the tasty treat with a little electrical trick. By running liquid chocolate through an electric field, researchers were able to make it flow more easily. And that means it doesn’t need … Continue reading
NEW YORK (AP) — Ashton Kutcher as a television morning show host? Aaron Paul as an advertising spokesman for hybrid automobiles? Those are two of the ideas suggested by a new analytics tool unveiled by the Nielsen company Wednesday, one that it believes can provide scientific rigor to decisions on how to deploy talent. Nielsen … Continue reading
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A NASA spacecraft is bound for a Fourth of July encounter with Jupiter in the latest quest to study how the largest planet in the solar system formed and evolved. As Juno approaches Jupiter’s harsh radiation environment, it will fire its main engine to slow down and then slip into orbit … Continue reading
HWASEONG, South Korea (AP) — Lee T.B. fled North Korea not because he suffered from dire poverty or persecution at home, as many other defectors have. He did it for mushrooms, and to fulfill his wife’s dying wish. He has studied the fungi for decades and has created products with them that he believes may … Continue reading
LONDON (AP) — Warning: Looking at your smartphone while lying in bed at night could wreak havoc on your vision. Two women went temporarily blind from constantly checking their phones in the dark, say doctors who are now alerting others to the unusual phenomenon. The solution: Make sure to use both eyes when looking at … Continue reading
App Store Official Charts for the week ending June 12, 2016: Top Paid iPhone Apps: 1. Minecraft: Pocket Edition, Mojang 2. Heads Up!, Warner Bros. 3. 7 Minute Workout Challenge, Fitness Guide Inc 4. Bloons TD 5, Ninja Kiwi 5. Akinator the Genie, Eloquence 6. Geometry Dash, RobTop Games AB 7. Plague Inc., Ndemic Creations … Continue reading
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — German automaker Volkswagen plans to ramp up its offerings of electric vehicles as it fights to bounce back from a scandal over diesel cars rigged to cheat on emissions tests. The electric campaign is part of a wide-ranging review of the company’s strategy that also includes increasing profitability, investing in new … Continue reading
CAIRO (AP) — The voice and data recorders from the EgyptAir plane that crashed into the Mediterranean nearly a month ago are “extensively damaged” and will need repairs before they can be analyzed, an Egyptian official said Friday, dampening hopes for quick answers as to what caused the disaster. The official didn’t elaborate on how … Continue reading
BEIJING (AP) — Critically acclaimed Chinese director Jia Zhangke says he will make a virtual reality film next year with a romantic story as he and viewers get used to the new medium, and declared: “I think VR is going to be the next big thing.” The director, better known for films that depict China’s … Continue reading
ATHENS, Greece (AP) — When you’re trying to fathom a mangled relic of very old hi-tech, it helps to have the manufacturer’s instructions. For over a century since its discovery in an ancient shipwreck, the exact function of the Antikythera Mechanism — named after the southern Greek island off which it was found — was … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — Up to 1 in 5 people may be dying unnecessarily from car crashes, gunshots or other injuries, a stark conclusion from government advisers who say where you live shouldn’t determine if you survive. The findings take on new urgency amid the increasing threat of mass casualties like the massacre in Orlando. The … Continue reading
MOSCOW (AP) — An International Space Station crew including an American, a Briton and a Russian landed safely Saturday in the sun-drenched steppes of Kazakhstan. The Soyuz TMA-19M capsule carrying NASA’s Tim Kopra, Tim Peake of the European Space Agency and the Russian agency Roscosmos’ Yuri Malenchenko touched down as scheduled at 3:15 p.m. local … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — A powerful new technology holds the promise of rapidly altering genes to make malaria-proof mosquitoes, eliminate their Zika-carrying cousins or wipe out an invasive species, but a report Wednesday says these “gene drives” aren’t ready to let loose in the wild just yet. Advisers to the government say lots more research is … Continue reading
SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — Maria Korcsmaros was swimming just off the Southern California coast to get ready for her summer triathlon when something big gripped her side and then let go. She knew immediately she had been bit. The normally choppy water around her grew still and turned red with blood, Korcsmaros, a 52-year-old … Continue reading
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — More than one-third of the world’s population can no longer see the Milky Way because of man-made lights. Among those missing out on awe-inspiring Milky Way views: nearly 80 percent of North Americans and 60 percent of Europeans. These are the findings of a new global atlas of light pollution, … Continue reading
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — When John Couch is certain a storm will hit Hatteras Island, he goes into action, moving merchandise in his auto parts store from bottom shelves to top ones and hauling away the most valuable items. But at 64 years old, Couch is less and less enamored of spending eight hours packing … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal health officials failed to force a recall of peanut butter and almond products for three months after advanced DNA testing confirmed salmonella contamination, government investigators reported Thursday. Despite new legal powers to compel recalls and sophisticated technology to fingerprint pathogens, the Food and Drug Administration allowed some food-safety investigations to drag … Continue reading
PALMETTO, Fla. (AP) — Now that Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey Circus has retired its iconic elephants, executives under the big top say they must do more to draw a younger generation of fans, many of whom are glued to their smartphones and screens. So Feld Entertainment, the company that owns the circus, is rolling … Continue reading
PHOENIX (AP) — An expert in meteorites says a bright flashing light and loud boom over the skies in metro Phoenix looks like a single meteor burning up as it entered the Earth’s atmosphere at thousands of miles per hour. Radar footage shows that meteorites — black rocks ranging in size from a pea to … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — Treating hearing loss shouldn’t be such a pricey hassle. That’s the message from a prestigious government advisory group that’s calling on Medicare and other agencies to find ways to make better hearing more affordable and accessible for millions of older Americans. One proposal: Allow over-the-counter sales of simple devices for mild hearing … Continue reading
AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. (AP) — The pilot of a U.S. Air Force Thunderbird ejected safely into a Colorado field Thursday, June 2, crashing the fighter jet moments after flying over a crowd watching President Barack Obama’s commencement address for Air Force cadets. A short helicopter ride later, the pilot found himself shaking hands with … Continue reading
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — A heat wave in large parts of the West and Southwest has many scattering for reprieve from the sun. In places like Arizona, the triple-digit temperatures are a way of life, but many still seek ways to escape it. Most are also equipped with cold air conditioning. The heat wave is … Continue reading
PHOENIX (AP) — The mother of a slain Arizona woman says her daughter had recently revived an online dating profile in search of fairy tale romance, but was instead lured to an apartment by a man now accused of killing her and leaving the body in a shallow desert grave. Police found 24-year-old Angela Russo’s … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — Two state-of-the-art airport towers due to go into operation this fall in San Francisco and Las Vegas are designed for electronic tracking of planes as they taxi and takeoff. But union officials say the towers will have to be extensively remodeled before they can open to accommodate older technology that uses paper … Continue reading
Spartan Echo 