PANAMA CITY (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro will share the same stage on Friday in an encounter rich with symbolism as their countries set aside decades of mistrust and attempt to restore diplomatic relations.
ADEN (Reuters) – Pakistan’s parliament voted on Friday not to join the Saudi-led military intervention in Yemen, dashing Riyadh’s hopes for powerful support from outside of the region in its fight to halt the advance of Iranian-allied Houthi rebels.
ADEN (Reuters) – Pakistan’s parliament voted on Friday not to join the Saudi-led military intervention in Yemen, dashing Riyadh’s hopes for powerful support from outside of the region in its fight to halt the advance of Iranian-allied Houthi rebels.
Manager Sam Allardyce says he is planning for next season with West Ham despite his contract expiring this summer. - Source
A growing comedic collection suggests that the Chinese have realized that President Xi Jinping’s effort to curb graft is no passing fad, and that they might as well have some fun with it.
As homeowners near retirement, the question of whether to stay put and remodel or buy another home can be complex, involving financial and emotional issues.
A new study provides an inside look at the most powerful explosions in the universe: gamma-ray bursts. These rare explosions happen when extremely massive stars go supernova. The stars’ strong magnetic fields channel most of the explosion’s energy into two powerful plasma jets, one at each magnetic pole. The jets spray energetic particles for light-years in both directions, at close to light speed. - Source
The Vivo Xshot was just over at our office for the usual review routine, but apparently it’s successor is well in the works. Evidence coming from an internal company meeting suggests further steps are being taken towards a more serious photography-oriented package.
Auto-focus was one area, where Vivo saw room for improvement, and insider info claims that a new phase detection system is to be utilized. So far phase detection has been employed in the likes of Samsung Galaxy S5, the Apple iPhone 6 and 6 Plus and LG G3, outside of the system’s main DSLR use.
Judging by the image above, Vivo has put it to good use. The table presents a comparison of focusing times with the new Chinese model consistently ahead of the iPhone 6, by as much as 0.09s. While it may not sound like much, it’s actually up to 30% faster, which could be critical in certain situations.
The unnamed source has additionally revealed that a new 20MP sensor will be used, replacing the 13MP one in the current Xshot. It’s also been reported that the next-gen smartphone is coming this May, so if any of this ends up true, we’re in for a treat sooner, rather than…
Glentoran will have home advantage in the Irish Cup final after the match is moved from Windsor Park to the Oval. - Source
Researchers have discovered that large area graphene is able to preserve electron spin over an extended period, and communicate it over greater distances than had previously been known. This has opened the door for the development of spintronics, with an aim to manufacturing faster and more energy-efficient memory and processors in computers. - Source
Astrophysicists have discovered a group of red giant stars for which the ‘chemical clock’ does not work: according to their chemical signature, these stars should be old. Instead, they appear to be young when their ages are inferred using asteroseismology. Their existence cannot be explained by standard chemical evolution models of the Milky Way, suggesting that the chemical enrichment history of the Galactic disc is more complex than originally assumed. - Source
Papain is an important industrial protein-degrading enzyme that is used, for example, in the food and cosmetic industries. When humans or animals come in contact with papain, strong allergic reactions of the skin can be the result, as scientists have found out. - Source
Scientists have uncovered the atomic structure of KR2, a light-driven transporter for sodium ions which had only recently been discovered. Based on the structural information the team then identified a simple way to turn KR2 from a sodium- into a potassium pump using simple means. Integrated into neurons, this could make KR2 a valuable tool for optogenetics, a new field of research that uses light-sensitive proteins as molecular switches to precisely control the activity of neurons and other electrically excitable cells using light impulses. - Source
