TECH SPACE - AFRICA DAILY

US readers turn increasingly to digital books: study

Dec 27, 2012 (AFP)

US readers are increasingly opting for digital books instead of ink-and-paper editions, according to a Pew Research Center study released on Thursday. The share...

Molecular levers may make materials better

Dec 26, 2012 (SPX)

In a forced game of molecular tug-of war, some strings of atoms can act like a lever, accelerating reactions 1000 times faster than other molecules. The discove...

Turbopump Bearing Blamed For Failed Russian Comsat Orbiting

Dec 26, 2012 (RIA Novosti)

Russian space agency Roscosmos experts say the destruction of a bearing inside the turbopump of the Briz-M upper stage's engine is the most likely reason for th...

Netflix blames Amazon for Christmas Eve outage

Dec 26, 2012 (AFP)

Netflix on Wednesday was blaming Amazon for an embarrassing outage that left millions of people unable to snuggle up with the online film streaming service on C...

Raytheon awarded $158.6 million for Airborne Low Frequency Sonar

Dec 26, 2012 (SPX)

Raytheon is being awarded a $158,571,809 firm-fixed-price contract for the procurement of 48 MH-60R Full Rate Production Airborne Low Frequency Sonar (ALFS) sys...

Toy companies 'terrified' of tablets

Dec 25, 2012 (UPI)

A U.S. toy industry analyst says toymakers Mattel and Hasbro are "terrified" of children turning away from traditional toys toward tablet computers. Sean McGowa...

Fukushima kids fatter as radiation fears cut exercise

Dec 25, 2012 (AFP)

Children in Fukushima are getting fatter as outdoor activities have been cut in the area due to radiation fears after last year's nuclear disaster, a Japanese g...

China rare earths producer extends output halt

Dec 25, 2012 (AFP)

China's largest rare earths producer said Tuesday it would suspend output at some plants for another month, extending a halt started in late October to try and ...

Amazon outage disrupts Netflix service

Dec 25, 2012 (UPI)

Netflix said it was "working hard with Amazon Web Services" to restore movie streaming that was disrupted Christmas Eve by an outage in Amazon's U.S. system. Th...

All Systems Go for Highest Altitude Supercomputer

Dec 24, 2012 (SPX)

One of the most powerful supercomputers in the world has now been fully installed and tested at its remote, high altitude site in the Andes of northern Chile. T...

Rumors tip lighter, thinner Apple iPad

Dec 24, 2012 (UPI)

Apple is developing a thinner, lighter fifth-generation iPad sharing some design points with the recently released iPad Mini, a Japanese tech blog is reporting....

Instagram sued over contract changes

Dec 24, 2012 (AFP)

A lawsuit is seeking to stop Instagram from changing its terms of service, saying the Facebook-owned smartphone photo-sharing service is breaching its contract ...

Acer said to be readying $99 tablet

Dec 24, 2012 (UPI)

In the latest salvo in the tablet price wars, Acer is planning to launch a $99 tablet early next year, sources have told The Wall Street Journal. The 7-inch dev...

Aldrich Materials Science discovers liquid-free preparation of metal organic frameworks

Dec 24, 2012 (SPX)

Researchers at Aldrich Materials Science, a strategic technology initiative of Sigma-Aldrich Corporation have discovered an innovative way to design an importan...

2012: Consumer tech takes center stage

Dec 24, 2012 (UPI)

For technology, 2012 seemed equal parts innovation and confrontation as the world's tech giants seemed willing to spend as much time in the courtroom as in thei...

Clean air: New paints break down nitrogen oxides

Dec 24, 2012 (SPX)

Surfaces with photo-catalytic characteristics clean the air off nitrogen oxides and other health-endangering substances. Using a new test procedure, Fraunhofer ...

Space Fence program moving forward

Dec 24, 2012 (SPX)

The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center here recently put out a request for proposal to move the Space Fence program forward. Space Fence will be a system of...

pH measurements: How to see the real face of electrochemistry and corrosion?

Dec 21, 2012 (SPX)

For several decades antimony electrodes have been used to measure the acidity/basicity - and so to determine the pH value. Unfortunately, they allow for measuri...

MEXSAT Bicentenario Satellite Sends First Signals from Space

Dec 21, 2012 (ESA)

The MEXSAT Bicentenario satellite, built by Boeing [NYSE: BA] partner Orbital Sciences Corporation [NYSE: ORB], sent its first signals from space Wednesday foll...

Sustainable way to make a prized fragrance ingredient

Dec 21, 2012 (SPX)

Large amounts of a substitute for one of the world's most treasured fragrance ingredients - a substance that also has potential anti-cancer activity - could be ...