Scientists desalting oceans, nuclear security improves with mini X-ray, and more!

This week scientists in Texas have invented a mini X-ray, ocean researchers are starting to see the beginning of a salt less future to quench the thirst of a third of the globe in need of fresh water, and hydrogen fuel cells are the future of powering major boats. If you missed the top five technology stories for the past few days, here is your weekly recap!

Fighting a Bad App with a Good App
 A Smartphone App Designed to Steal Passwords
A team of researchers at North Carolina State University has discovered a fake Netflix app that prompted users to log on with username and password and then proceeded to forward their personal information to other parties. This isn’t the first app that was found doing unethical business, but the team expects this will happen more in the future. This is why Landon Cox and his team developed an app called ScreenPass, which notifies the user if their password is being sent to an untrusted platform. It uses computer vision scans to check if the passwords are being exported. The app will be available publicly soon.

Smile for the Computer Program !
Software Developed to Detect Facial Expressions
The University of North Carolina has developed new computer software that detects facial expressions to determine how a student is responding to online tutoring sessions. The computer will read the emotions on the face of the student and teach them things at the same time. Computer Expression Recognition Toolbox (CERT) is a program to measure the engagement and frustration on participant’s faces and during a trial on 65 college students CERT was correct 85% of the time. Plans for the future of CERT including the ability to provide cognitive feedback and advice based on the emotions it reads.

Thirsty? Have Some Pacific
Scientists Working to Desalt the Oceans
It’s hard to believe that with all of the bodies of water on this planet there are so many people who cannot get fresh water. Researchers at the University of Texas are working on desalting the oceans to solve this problem. Before we get ahead of ourselves, it’s important to know that the electric field used to remove salt from the ocean is on a microscale level. The power behind the desalination is a store-bought battery that allows for a small voltage to a chip. The plastic chip with seawater then has two channels. At the fork between the two, an embedded electrode neutralizes the chlorine ions and the salt goes one way and water goes the other.

Nuclear Security X-Rays
A More Efficient X-Ray on the Rise
Nuclear Security is about to see better days. Los Alamos National Laboratory and Tribogenics researchers have invented MiniMAX, a miniature, mobile, agile X-ray to inspect closed containers. Today, there is a large fixed X-ray only present at designated facilities, but MiniMAX will allow a lost cost, light, and more efficient improvement to systems in place now. The five-pound MiniMAX is expected to also make it into the field medicine, specimen radiology, and industrial inspection markets as well. This breakthrough is what brought the two research laboratories together, and the final product will debut at the International Atomic Energy Agency Conference in Vienna, Austria.

Hydrogen Fuel Cells, Welcome Aboard
Researchers develop environmentally friendly method of power generation for sea vessels
Hydrogen fuel cells are known to power emergency backup methods, lighting systems, and forklifts, but a study at the Sandia National Laboratories suggests that hydrogen fuel cells may be the newest solution for loud and inefficient diesel generators for boats. The team conducted a study looking into the hydrogen-fueled proton exchange membrane fuel cell and how it worked on a boat. The waste from 500,000 vehicles is equivalent to the amount of daily emissions coming from an active port. Hydrogen fuel cells replacing original diesel generators on boats will improve this environmental greenhouse gas threat.