Daycares In Finland Built a ‘Forest Floor,’ and It Changed Children’s Immune Systems

omfglearntoplay shares a report from ScienceAlert: Playing through the greenery and litter of a mini forest’s undergrowth for just one month may be enough to change a child’s immune system, according to a small new experiment. When daycare workers in Finland rolled out a lawn, planted forest undergrowth such as dwarf heather and blueberries, and allowed children to care for crops…

Apertif images yield first scientific results

Using Apertif (APERture Tile In Focus), searching at a radio frequency of 1.4 GHz, researchers have found an intra-hour variable (IHV) source, described in the paper “Extreme intra-hour variability of the radio source J1402+5347 discovered with Apertif.” IHVs are very compact radio sources that twinkle on timescales of minutes and are among the rarest objects in the sky. For the past…

Apple’s Limits on Third-Party ‘Find My’ Integration Under Scrutiny

An anonymous reader shares a reporrt: Apple last month introduced the new “Find My” Network Accessory Program, built to allow third-party products to work with Apple’s own Find My app. While Apple’s AirTags have yet to be formally announced, this program was seen as a way for Apple to level the playing field with competing Bluetooth location trackers, like Tile, and…

Solar Orbiter’s 1st views of the sun

Solar Orbiter’s new views are the closest images of the sun taken so far. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/solar-orbiters-first-views-of-the-sun…

Lego Unveils New ‘Robot Inventor’ Mindstorms Kit

After seven years, Lego has finally unveiled a new Mindstorms kit, reports PC Magazine — the Lego Mindstorms Robot Inventor, available this fall for $359:
The Robot Inventor kit lets kids (or adults) build five different robot models out of 949 pieces, ranging from a four-legged walker to a bipedal wheeled robot that can give high-fives. All of these robots can be…

Apple Watch Blood Oxygen Detection Feature Found In iOS 14 Code Snippet

Apple Watch will add the ability to detect blood oxygen levels for the first time, 9to5Mac has learned based on an exclusive look at iOS 14 code snippets. From the report: Blood oxygen levels between 95 and 100% are considered healthy; blood oxygen levels below 80% may lead to compromised heart and brain functionality. Risk of respiratory or cardiac arrest is…

Leaked iOS 14 Build Hints at Unreleased Apple Hardware and Software Features

News outlet 9to5Mac, which tracks Apple news, has gotten hold of an iOS 14 build that uncovers a range of hardware details and software features that Apple intends to reveal later this year. The devices are:
1. An upcoming iPad Pro will include three cameras — like the iPhone Pro — plus an additional time-of-flight sensor for help with AR.
2. An iPhone…

Tesla Ramps Up Solar Tile Roof Installations In US, Eyes China and Europe Expansion

According to CEO Elon Musk, Tesla appears to be ramping up installations of its solar tile roofs in the San Francisco Bay area, with plans to expand to Europe and China in the not too distant future. TechCrunch reports: The solar tile roof, which Tesla calls Solarglass, is being produced at the company’s factory in Buffalo, N.Y. Musk announced in one…

iPhone Update Reminds Users — Again and Again — of Being Tracked

Some app developers are concerned that frequent iOS 13 notifications will scare users away. From a report: “‘Facebook’ has used your location 107 times in the background over the past 3 days. Do you want to continue to allow background location use?” Such pop-up notifications are frequent for many iPhone users who have downloaded Apple’s iOS 13. They arrive every few…