Technology

A group of researchers has created a model they say can identify and predict how multiple relationships form in social networks. The nuance, they say, is that multiple, distinct types of relationships often occur among users of the same network and existing models that explain how relationships form in a network don't account for these variations. As an example, they note that when people connect with each other through networks, they connect via multiple relationships. Two Facebook users may be "friends" but may not regularly communicate with each other directly and a user commenting on…

VocalWall LTD has released a tool to post private vocal messages on Facebook and other social networks. Traditionally, text messaging has been the sole form of private communication.   VocalWall is an open vocal platform for posting, listening and sharing vocal posts from any device. People can post their status or send private messages vocally and share their experiences on social communities (Facebook, Twitter), websites and VocalWall applications.  Don't you wish we could do that in real life?  Just stand in the middle of the office and announce, "Work stinks.  …

Elsevier announced new features for its online research tool BrainNavigator, adding new content and functionality to give researchers additional tools to accelerate their research.  BrainNavigator is an online, interactive, 3D software tool for the application of brain atlases and maps images of brain anatomy, helping neuroscience researchers save time and improve the quality of their daily research by helping locate the position of structures within the brain, making visualization and communication about scientific findings about the brain easier.   This newest version of…

Some folks in Britain want to spend 10 years and millions of dollars to build a computer that goes really, really slow - and I think it's a great idea. I partly think it's a great idea because it is not Americans spending millions of dollars, the same way I thought the LHC was a terrific idea...for Europe.  People who say you should spend a lot of taxpayer money for 'leadership' in science don't understand that argument when it is applied to military firepower - I don't understand it either way.  In a global world, paying for something does not buy expertise, attaining expertise…

Mask-Bot, which looks somewhat like a real person (your uncanny valley sense notwithstanding) is actually the prototype of a new robot face that a team at the Institute for Cognitive Systems (ICS) at TU München has developed in collaboration with a group in Japan. Mask-Bot can reproduce simple dialog. When Dr. Takaaki Kuratate says "rainbow", for example, Mask-bot flutters its eyelids and responds with an elaborate sentence on the subject: "When the sunlight strikes raindrops in the air, they act like a prism and form a rainbow". And when it talks, Mask-bot also moves its head a little and…

Parking is a funny thing; no one is ever happy with it. Even if you go to Disney World, which has come as close as anyone to mastering the perception you are moving while you really go nowhere inside the park itself, the parking is horrendous outside.  If something is popular enough you want to go, the parking will be crowded.  Sometimes you may not go at all because you think about parking. Researchers estimate that for every 110 vehicles circulating on the roads looking for spaces, there are 100 available spots, both in lots and on the street.  If so, that number is quite…

When we think of DNA, we think of biology but the concept of DNA has become so culturally ingrained it is now colloquial - and the concept of a blueprint common to people may help revolutionize manufacturing. A group at the Fraunhofer Institute have set out to decode "factory DNA". It's a catchy term and their aim is to reduce the costs that arise whenever products or machines have to be changed, like to build a new model of car. The simple addition of a manipulator to a production line – or even just an operating system update – can create havoc, since the slightest of changes has an impact…

In-vitro fertilisation (IVF) has helped numerous couples have children who otherwise would not have been able to, but a British study of a non-invasive, drug-free alternative to IVF could save them (and the taxpayers who fund the NHS) a lot of money. A new study (European Obstetrics&Gynaecology, 2011;6(2):92-4) shows that the DuoFertility monitor and service used for six months gives the same chance of pregnancy as a cycle of in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) for many infertile couples. DuoFertility is an ovulation pattern temperature monitor from Cambridge Temperature Concepts Ltd that…

“Siri” is the personal assistant application on the newest iPhone. Now it is not exactly news that Apple products are overpriced and of relatively low quality - do not drop the new iPhone; it is fragile. Apple aims for those who ‘are easily parted from their money’ (translation at Pocket English Idioms). iPhone users in particular like to be told what applications they may not use, what multi-media consumption will best confirm their preconceptions, and so on – they welcome Big Brother as long as he is smooth and shiny and comes with a price tag that helps maintain the illusion of upper class…

Just can't stand the thought of having another daughter, or even a first one?  People in Europe and the Middle East who can rationalize they want to "balance" their family or minimize the risk of certain genetic diseases have a new option: MicroSort preconception sex selection technology is now available in Cyprus at North Cyprus IVF Clinic - one of only three countries in the world where you can openly and legally get sperm sorting.  Studies claim using MicroSort to have a girl resulted in a 93% chance of conceiving a female baby (if they got pregnant); for those sorting for a boy…