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Georgia Tech discovers how mobile ads leak personal data

The personal information of millions of smartphone users is at risk due to in-app advertising that can leak potentially sensitive user information between ad networks and mobile app developers, according to a new study by the School of Computer Science at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Results will be presented Tuesday, Feb. 23 at the 2016 Network and Distributed System Security Symposium (NDSS '16) in San Diego, Calif., by researchers Wei Meng, Ren Ding, Simon Chung, and Steven Han under the direction of Professor Wenke Lee.

Health and development in infants after mefloquine antimalarial treatment during pregnancy

Early development does not appear to be affected in children born to mothers who were treated with the antimalarial mefloquine (MQ) during pregnancy compared to children of mothers treated with sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP), according to research appearing this week in PLOS Medicine. The cohort study, conducted by Clara Menéndez of the Universitat de Barcelona, Spain, and colleagues, followed children born to mothers who were included in a clinical trial that compared intermittent preventative treatment of malaria in pregnancy (IPTp) using either MQ or SP.

Urban soils release surprising amounts of carbon dioxide

(Boston) - Feb. 23, 2016 - In the concrete jungle at the core of a city, carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are dominated by the fossil fuels burned by the dense concentrations of cars and buildings. Boston University researchers now have shown, however, that in metropolitan areas surrounding the city core, plant roots and decomposing organic material in soil give off enough CO2 , in a process termed "soil respiration", to make an unexpectedly great contribution to total emissions.

UW engineers achieve Wi-Fi at 10,000 times lower power

The upside of Wi-Fi is that it's everywhere - invisibly connecting laptops to printers, allowing smartphones to make calls or stream movies without cell service, and letting online gamers battle it out.

The downside is that using Wi-Fi consumes a significant amount of energy, draining the batteries on all those connected devices.

Now, a team of University of Washington computer scientists and electrical engineers has demonstrated that it's possible to generate Wi-Fi transmissions using 10,000 times less power than conventional methods.

Can virtual reality help fight obesity?

Virtual reality offers promising new approaches to assessing and treating people with weight-related disorders, and early applications are revealing valuable information about body image. The advantages of virtual reality (VR) for evaluating body image disturbances and the potential to use VR to combat obesity are discussed in an article that is part of special issue on Virtual Reality and Obesity published in Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking.

Proven one-step process converts CO2 and water directly into liquid hydrocarbon fuels

A team of University of Texas at Arlington chemists and engineers have proven that concentrated light, heat and high pressures can drive the one-step conversion of carbon dioxide and water directly into useable liquid hydrocarbon fuels.

This simple and inexpensive new sustainable fuels technology could potentially help limit global warming by removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to make fuel. The process also reverts oxygen back into the system as a byproduct of the reaction, with a clear positive environmental impact, researchers said.

Using plasmonics to transmit more data

EVANSTON, Ill. --- Merely a decade ago, people were amazed that their cellular phones could send a simple text message. Now smartphones send and receive high-resolution photographs, videos, emails with large attachments, and much more. The desire for endless data has become insatiable.

Scientists unlock key to turning wastewater & sewage into power

As renewable energy sources goes, solar rays have historically hogged the limelight.

But two Virginia Tech researchers have stolen the spotlight from the sun by discovering a way to maximize the amount of electricity that can be generated from the wastewater we flush down the toilet.

New reports show positive and negative effects of Louisiana school voucher program

The Louisiana Scholarship Program has widely varying effects on students, according to a series of studies released jointly by the School Choice Demonstration Project at the University of Arkansas and the Education Research Alliance for New Orleans at Tulane University.

Proven one-step process to convert CO2 and water directly into liquid hydrocarbon fuel

A team of University of Texas at Arlington chemists and engineers have proven that concentrated light, heat and high pressures can drive the one-step conversion of carbon dioxide and water directly into useable liquid hydrocarbon fuels.

This simple and inexpensive new sustainable fuels technology could potentially help limit global warming by removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to make fuel. The process also reverts oxygen back into the system as a byproduct of the reaction, with a clear positive environmental impact, researchers said.

Block Yik Yak? UF Health researchers suggest doing the research first

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Some colleges have called for the banning of Yik Yak, a social media application to which users centered around a geographic area can post anonymously. But University of Florida Health researchers have found that the decision to ban the app may be a little hasty.

Web search study finds a 'Charlie Sheen effect' on HIV prevention

A Johns Hopkins computer scientist played a key role in a new study that analyzed online news and search engine records to gauge the public's response to actor Charlie Sheen's Nov. 17, 2015, disclosure on NBC's TODAY Show that he was HIV-positive.

The Charlie Sheen effect on HIV prevention

SAN DIEGO, Calif. (Feb. 22, 2016) -- On November 17, 2015 actor Charlie Sheen on NBC's Today Show publicly disclosed he was human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive.

For some time scientists and advocates have recognized the importance of celebrity in public health. Could Sheen's disclosure, albeit tragic, generate renewed national attention for HIV and HIV prevention, providing an important public health benefit?

Quantum phase transition underpins superconductivity in copper oxides

Physicists have zoomed in on the transition that could explain why copper-oxides have such impressive superconducting powers.

Chemically storing solar power

Nature shows us how it is done: Plants can absorb sunlight and store its energy chemically. Imitating this on large industrial scale, however, is difficult. Photovoltaics convert sunlight to electricity, but at high temperatures, the efficiency of solar cells decreases. Electrical energy can be used to produce hydrogen, which can then be stored -- but the energy efficiency of this process is limited.