Technology

Researchers from the University of Southampton have published a study in which they argue that crowdsourcing information can be improved through use of incentives.  In "Making crowdsourcing more reliable" Dr Victor Naroditskiy and Professor Nick Jennings and others propose to incentivize crowdsourcing tasks to improve the verification of credible contributors.In other words, if I join a crowdsourcing community and then I recruit you to make contributions, if I earn a reward for bringing you in I'll be incentivized to find the best match between your skills and the community's needs…

Search News Media has created an infographic which captures the evolution of publishing since the early 1400s. Starting from 1440 when Johannes Gutenberg invented the first printing press, on through the ages, highlighting greater innovation in publishing and the advent of newspapers, right up to today's digital age where online content is created and distributed globally in a matter of minutes, the unique infographic offers a fantastic snapshot of how publishing has changed over the centuries.  The infographic also illustrates how publishing, thanks to the advent of digital publishing…

Online fundraisers taking part in organized events use social media to reach close to 600 people and inspire others to take on challenges for charity, according to new data from JustGiving.com  Speaking at Making every step count: How to maximize participation and fundraising at your event, Howard Bell, Director of Partnerships at JustGiving revealed new data showing that each individual fundraising campaign is seen by an average of 562 people on Facebook.  What's more, the event fundraising 'network effect' means fundraisers encourage others to follow their lead. One in four…

For over a year, Google has been the target of U.S. and European antitrust investigations, but now the search company has fired back. In a report commissioned by Google and released today, two acclaimed antitrust experts dismiss Google's critics' claims as lacking any compelling legal or economic argument for a government antitrust case. What Does the Chicago School Teach About Internet Search and the Antitrust Treatment of Google? the work of Judge Robert Bork and Professor Gregory Sidak. The report examines the legal theories of Google's critics and compares those conjectures to the real-…

For the 5 people on the planet who are not 'aware' of breast cancer, Burj Al Arab, which bills itself as the world's most luxurious hotel, is launching the Pinking Burj Al Arab campaign to raise money and reach them.   The gem of the Pinking Burj Al Arab campaign is a exclusive one-of-a-kind 24-carat rose gold iPad created especially for the cause, with an engraved pink ribbon and the hotel's logo. Could that money have been better spent on research?  Hey, do you hate women with breast cancer or something? The "pink" iPad will be waiting in Burj Al Arab's boutique for the…

Elsevier has announced the launch of NeuroImage: Clinical as an open access journal.  NeuroImage: Clinical will communicate advances in the study of abnormal structure-function relationships of the human nervous system based on imaging. It offers authors the choice of two Creative Commons licenses, either Creative Commons By Attribution or Creative Commons by Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike.  Paul Fletcher, MD, Bernard Wolfe Professor of Health Neuroscience at the University of Cambridge, UK, and co-Editor-in-Chief said of the journal launch says, "With the growing importance…

It used to be you had to rely on human science journalists to get concepts properly framed for you and enjoy the shot of dopamine confirmation bias provides.  It still happens, just a lot less. Popular Science just went on an anti-religion rant - and you know it is bad when your own subscribers ask you to stop trolling them - and Scientific American has long been basically an unregistered PAC. But people are jaded by that approach and it is a big part of the reason why science has basically disappeared from mainstream media companies even though the science audience has grown…

Health Robotics today announced that it has entered the Blood/Plasma Automation Industry by leveraging its technology across the Pharmaceutical and Blood/Plasma industry sectors. They also announced the general availability of embedded Radio-frequency identification (RFID) for its Sterile Compounding Automation solutions i.v.STATION, i.v.SOFT, and i.v.STATION ONCO. These RFID upgrades will be showcased at the upcoming ASHP Midyear Meeting&Exhibition (American Society of Health-System Pharmacists) on December 2-6 in Las Vegas.  Health Robotics' RFID solutions provide a wireless non-…

Things have been very hush-hush over at Modern Meadow since it was disclosed in August that the company had received funding from PayPal cofounder Peter Thiel’s foundation to 3-D bioprint meat and leather. But in an exclusive interview, company cofounder and CEO Andras Forgacs has broken the silence and revealed some details about Modern Meadow’s goals. Their first project? In vitro leather production.  “Our emphasis first is not on meat, it’s on leather,” Forgacs says. “The main reason is that, technically, skin is a simpler structure than meat, making it easier to produce.” The…

The latest test drive marks the final chapter in a three year long project which has seen the development of the next step in autonomous driving technology, 'vehicle platooning'. Since 2009, Volvo Car Corporation has been the driving force behind the EU funded SARTRE project (Safe Road-Trains for the Environment), bringing vehicle platooning technology one step closer to becoming a reality on Europe's roads.  Vehicle platooning allows the driver to join a 'road train' led by one professional driver. Each car measures the distance, speed and direction and adjusts to the car in front. All…