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We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
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		TechWhat parents just don’t understand about online privacy
Not long ago, police and school officials in Old Saybrook, Conn., held a high school assembly on Internet safety. The purpose of the assembly, wrote New Haven Register reporter Susan Misur, was to make students aware of how public their photos, tweets and profiles are online. To make this point, the presentation included a slide […]
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		TechTwisted light transmits more data
Spiral beams allow multiple information streams in one cable.
By Andrew Grant - 			
			
		TechEye chip sends signals to blind rats’ brains
When struck with light, retinal prostheses stimulate animals' visual cortices.
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		TechFaster memory could accelerate computing
Experimental microchip improves reliability and speed of writing and reading data.
By Andrew Grant - 			
			
		TechHighlights from the International Congress on Acoustics
Selections from the meeting held June 2-7 in Montreal include personal listening zones in cars and music of the body.
By Meghan Rosen - 			
			
		TechComputer scientists grapple with how to manage the digital legacy of the departed
In April, Google added to its services an Inactive Account Manager, which lets you designate an heir who will control your Google data when you die. You choose a length of inactivity, and if your accounts are ever quiet for that long, Google will notify your heirs that they’ve inherited access to your Gmail correspondence, […]
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		TechCamera captures voices without a microphone
Throat movements get decoded to reveal sounds of speech.
By Meghan Rosen - 			
			
		AnimalsWinged robots may shed light on fly aerobatics
After years of trying, researchers create flapping machines that can hover and perform rudimentary flight maneuvers.
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		TechRecreating the eye of the fly
Inspired by insect vision, camera with 180 linked lenses captures panoramic views.
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		TechObama worried about research funding
Barack Obama offered yet another argument about why the current federal-budget stalemate is so risky: “[T]he sequester, as it’s known in Washington-speak — it’s hitting our scientific research.” As things now stand, “we could lose a year, two years of scientific research as a practical matter, because of misguided priorities here in this town.”
By Janet Raloff - 			
			
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