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Buyer beware: Faulty cables may ruin your new smartphone

Ross Lancaster Science & Technology

It's the day after you've bought a brand-new smartphone, and you're about to embark on an important business trip full of important meetings and presentations. As you arrive at your gate, you find an electrical outlet to give your phone one last charge before boarding. You scramble to find the charger in your briefcase before having the sinking feeling that you left it on the counter at home.

Using YouTube as a flipped classroom strategy

Brian Stack Education

This summer, my 10-year old son Brady and I decided to build a deck around our above-ground pool after he convinced me we could learn how to do it simply by watching this 15-minute video posted on YouTube by Pennsylvania builder Craig Heffernan. His video walks viewers through the entire process of building a deck from start to finish and has been viewed more than 3.8 million times since it was first posted to YouTube in the summer of 2012.

Your neck bone’s connected to your smartphone

Kelly Sharp Science & Technology

The first thing most people do when they wake up is check their phone. Throughout the day, your smartphone goes everywhere you do, and free moments are dedicated to scrolling through social media or holding texting conversations. The average person then remains on her phone until she fall asleep, where the cycle continues the next day.

Promising relief for neuropathic pain

Dorothy L. Tengler Medical & Allied Healthcare

Neuropathic pain erodes quality of life. In this chronic pain state, nerves in the central nervous system have become damaged, dysfunctional or injured, sending incorrect signals to other pain centers.

Southwest outage illustrates critical importance of IT systems

Galen M. Metz Science & Technology

A Southwest Airlines computer glitch on July 20 caused 2,300 canceled flights across the United States. The outage lasted 12 hours and disrupted their website and operations, including check in, boarding passes and ticket booking. It meant chaos and long lines for Southwest customers, and the cost was estimated at up to $10 million in lost revenue.

Is Instagram the new Snapchat?

Emma Fitzpatrick Communications

If you've opened your Instagram account this week, you may have noticed something looked different but familiar. Instagram introduced its newest feature: Instagram Stories. In short, it's Instagram's version of Snapchat. The interface and elements of Instagram Stories look nearly identical to Snapchat.

Autonomous cars illustrate risks of innovation

Ryan Clark Transportation Technology & Automotive

In this new world where science fiction can quickly turn into science fact, obstacles and sudden tragedies can pock mark the road to technological progress. Such is the case with the auto industry's charge toward autonomous vehicles.

Highlighting the educational technology coach

Brian Stack Education

For the last decade or more, educational technology has been one of the hottest trends in American schools. While teachers are eager to make use of technology tools that can help them engage their students at deeper levels, it can be stressful to keep up with all that is happening in the ed tech world. As a classroom teacher, how do you decide what technology tools to use? When will you find time to learn how to use them effectively? Teachers cannot and should not be left to answer these questions on their own. For this reason, many schools are turning to the assistance of technology coaches.

Virtual, augmented reality arrive at K-12 schools

Bambi Majumdar Education

A new survey conducted by Samsung and GfK shows that 83 percent of K-12 teachers in the U.S. are eager to explore the possibilities of virtual reality (VR) lessons in the classroom. While 72 percent are interested in simulating experiences that are directly relevant to the course material, 69 percent want to use this emerging technology to take virtual field trips to faraway lands. More teachers are of the opinion that this will help improve students' comprehension of different concepts and motivate them to self-learn and collaborate with peers better.

10 truly curious destinations for science geeks and tech nerds

Dave G. Houser Recreation & Leisure

Curiosities of all kinds abound in this wacky, wonderful nation of ours. Mysterious and beguiling sites dot the landscape coast to coast. Many of these destinations reflect the innovation and entrepreneurship of the scientific and technological communities — elements of our society that always have been at the forefront of new ideas. For those of you with a penchant for science and technology, come with us on a road trip across America to visit 10 fascinating destinations that are bound to satisfy your inner science geek.

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