Family tracking apps can be very helpful if you're worried about your kids or spouse, but they can be nightmarish if that data falls into the wrong hands. Security researcher Sanyam Jain has revealed to TechCrunch that React Apps' Family Locator left real-time location data (plus other sensitive personal info) for over 238,000 people exposed for weeks in an insecure database. It showed positions within a few feet, and even showed the names for the geofenced areas used to provide alerts...

One of the easiest ways to start a heated debate is to raise the issue of whether dogs or cats are better and more satisfactory pets. There actually is some scientific data which has been collected on this issue and it suggests that, although both dogs and cats provide joy and companionship to their humans, dogs are more emotionally satisfying and dogs are also more universally preferred.

England is set to run short of water within 25 years, the chief executive of the Environment Agency has warned. The country is facing the ‘‘jaws of death”, Sir James Bevan said, at the point where water demand from the country’s rising population surpasses the falling supply resulting from climate change.

A thunderstorm probed with atmospheric muons had an electric potential exceeding one billion volts, much higher than values measured previously.  

Most laypersons are familiar with the three states of matter as solids, liquids, and gases. But there are other forms that exist. Plasmas, for example, are the most abundant form of matter in the universe, found throughout our solar system in the sun and other planetary bodies. Scientists are still working to understand the fundamentals of this state of matter, which is proving to be ever more significant, not only in explaining how the universe works but in harnessing material for alternative f...

America’s throw-away culture has expanded in the last decade from everyday products and food to include consumer electronics — from iPhones to big-screen TVs. In response, a "Right to Repair" movement is now advocating for laws that allow people to fix the things they own.

New research provides more evidence that psilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms, can improve creative thinking, empathy, and subjective well-being. The findings appear in the Journal of Psychoactive Drugs. “In the last decade, there has been a renewed scientific interest in the utility of psychedelics. Increasing evidence suggests that psychedelics like psilocybin may have potential therapeutic value for disorders like anxiety, depression, and PTSD,” said Natasha Mason (@NL_Mas...

According to the Financial Times (FT), Luxembourg-based victims of Bernie Madoff's ponzi scheme have not received any compensation - and none is on the horizon. Bernard (Bernie) Madoff's ponzi scheme defrauded an estimated 4,800 clients of an estimated 36bn USD of which half has been recovered — a crime for which Madoff, 80, is currently serving a 150-year prison sentence.

Apple’s latest court battle with Qualcomm kicked off yesterday, with Qualcomm arguing during opening statements that its chip technology is instrumental in the smartphone industry. Today, Apple argued that for one of the patents in question, one of its engineers should be credited. Qualcomm is suing Apple over three patents, upon which it alleges the iPhone infringed. As reported by CNET, Apple today argued that a former Apple engineer should be credited on one of those patents.

Researchers are one step closer to solving the mystery of why some vertebrates can regenerate their spinal cords while others, including humans, create scar tissue after spinal cord injury, leading to lifelong damage. Scientists at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) have identified gene "partners" in the axolotl salamander that, when activated, allow the neural tube and associated nerve fibers to functionally regenerate after severe spinal cord damage.

I knew that Apex Legends wasn’t done spitting out huge, impressive numbers after its meteoric success early last month, and today we have the biggest number to date. Respawn has revealed that in exactly a month since launch, Apex Legends has amassed 50 million players. This is after hitting 1 million players in eight hours, 10 million in three days and 25 million in its first week. 50 million in a month shows the pace is finally slowing a bit, as if that matters at all with this record breakin...

Tesla’s price cuts have been so significant in some regions that it devaluated some recently purchased vehicles by over 40% and it pushed some owners to literally organize protests.

Nearly 27,000 years ago, a giant ground sloth traveled across a barren, arid landscape in what is now Belize, munching on grassy vegetation and searching for water. A nearby sinkhole may have promised relief, but the creature probably fell in and never came out. In 2014, divers discovered the remains of that giant sloth buried in a clay shelf in a sinkhole 70 feet underwater.

Facebook Inc. has spent the better part of a year telling its users, Congress and the readers of this paper that we’re in charge of our personal data and the ads we see. The network has streamlined its privacy settings, shared more details about how data is used and highlighted how its ad controls work.

Fiat’s time is nigh, and its use will be by and large confined to criminals within the next five years, says Tim Draper, a well-known American venture capitalist, and unapologetic Bitcoin bull. Draper, who seems unfazed by last years declining crypto prices, made this rather bold prediction during his recent interview with Fox Business.

An international team of more than 200 astronomers from 18 countries has published the first phase of a major new radio sky survey at unprecedented sensitivity using the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR) telescope. The survey reveals hundreds of thousands of previously undetected galaxies, shedding new light on many research areas including the physics of black holes and how clusters of galaxies evolve. A special issue of Astronomy & Astrophysics is dedicated to the first twenty-six research paper...

The art of making perfumes and colognes hasn’t changed much since the 1880s, when synthetic ingredients began to be used. Expert fragrance creators tinker with combinations of chemicals in hopes of producing compelling new scents. So Achim Daub, an executive at one of the world’s biggest makers of fragrances, Symrise, wondered what would happen if he injected artificial intelligence into the process. Would a machine suggest appealing formulas that a human might not think to try?