ph

The burning of fossil fuels and the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere don't affect just the air--it also impacts the Earth's oceans, according to U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Oceans absorb the carbon dioxide, which in turn changes the water's pH acidity levels. What this means is that coral reefs are growing at a slower rate and the survival of marine species is decreasing, according to NOAA.

Now, the speed at which ocean pH level is changing is faster than any time in the last 300 million years, according to a new … Read more

With E3 just two days away, I got a press release this morning announcing that some hot-shot, young gamer known as Ph3nom will be attempting a world record at the huge convention with the hit game Guitar Hero.

This isn't just any record attempt. Ph3nom, otherwise known as Danny Johnson, is going to boot up an Xbox 360 and try to break the Guinness World Record for the game.

To which I say: Who cares?

I mean, sure, maybe Johnson will top the current record--the release doesn't say what it is or who holds it--but I find it … Read more

Our breath can say a lot about us--and not just what we had for lunch.

Engineers at the University of Florida are reporting that they have designed a tiny and affordable sensor that can do what has up until now been considered impossible: detect glucose (as well as pH and alkalinity) levels in breath condensate.

Fan Ren, professor of chemical engineering and a researcher for this project, says that the team's most recent research, published in the January issue of IEEE Sensors Journal, upsets long-held assumptions that glucose levels in breath are too small for accurate readings; the sensor, … Read more

The University of Texas at Dallas has entered the race to produce a more powerful semiconductor using a $1.75 million grant from DARPA to develop a microchip that is "faster than anything" on the market today.

The new technology will still be silicon-based but will use photons rather than electrons to speed things up, according to a UT press release.

"This research is intended to produce a completely new class of components that could have a revolutionary impact on information engineering," Professor Duncan MacFarlane said. "The photonic integrated circuit (PIC) we're developing will … Read more

You have to hand it to the developer behind iPh8ne, an iPhone-friendly version of Facebook, for (unofficially) calling their app helpful for "stalkers on the go" in their e-mail to us. iPh8ne takes Facebook and optimizes it for the iPhone's narrow screen. You can look at photo albums posted by you or your friends in a familiar iPod-like photo album viewer. You can also hop right to a Google Map of local food or entertainment near your friends, which iPh8ne pulls from their profiles.

The one thing missing is a way to view and interact with use … Read more