Technology
What will we find in the way of planets similar to Earth as we keep expanding our ability to see into the universe?
No one is sure but a team of MIT, NASA, and Carnegie scientists wants to come up with the possibilities. So far they have created models for 14 different types of solid planets that might exist in our galaxy.
The 14 types have various compositions, and the team calculated how large each planet would be for a given mass. Some are pure water ice, carbon, iron, silicate, carbon monoxide, and silicon carbide; others are mixtures of these various compounds.
Yes, you can get paid…
Brute-force computation has eclipsed humans in chess, and it could soon do the same in the ancient Asian game of Go.
Feng-hsiung Hsu, a key designer of Deep Blue--the IBM computer that in 1997 defeated chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov, then the world champion--now proposes to apply the same approach to the vastly more complex Chinese game of Weiqi, known in the West by its Japanese name, Go.
That approach, known as brute-force analysis, exploits the peculiar ability of computers to calculate vast numbers of possible game outcomes while sidestepping their weakness in judgment and planning.…
Florida Atlantic University received U.S. patent no. 10/822,496, “Promoting Cardiac Cell Differentiation,” based on an invention which induces and restores cardiac muscle function.
The invention was discovered by FAU researcher and vice president for research, Dr. Larry F. Lemanski and his postdoctoral fellow, Dr. Chi Zhang. Their research has focused on understanding the mechanisms that regulate myocardial (heart muscle mass) cell differentiation and myofibrillogenesis (the process by which proteins in the heart are changed into heart muscle cells) in the developing heart. From their…
A group of computer scientists, mathematicians, and biologists from around the world have developed a computer algorithm that can help trace the genetic ancestry of thousands of individuals in minutes, without any prior knowledge of their background.
Unlike previous computer programs of its kind that require prior knowledge of an individual’s ancestry and background, this new algorithm looks for specific DNA markers known as single nucleotide polymorphisms, or SNPs (pronounced snips), and needs nothing more than a DNA sample in the form of a simple cheek swab. The researchers used genetic…
Researchers in the MIT Media Lab's Biomechatronics Group have created an exoskelton device to lighten the burden for soldiers by transferring that weight directly to the ground, effectively taking a load off the back of the person wearing the device.
In the September issue of the International Journal of Humanoid Robotics, the researchers report that their prototype can successfully take on 80 percent of an 80-pound load carried on a person's back, but there's one catch: The current model impedes the natural walking gait of the person wearing it.
"You can definitely tell it's affecting your…
Online multiplayer communities are social networks built around multiplayer online computer games. Members of these communities typically share an interest in online gaming and a great deal of the interaction between them is technologically mediated. Marko Siitonen from University of Jyväskylä studied social interaction in online multiplayer communities in his doctoral thesis of speech communication.
- Online multiplayer gaming is a playground which can give us clues about the future of social and technological developments, Siitonen states.
Online multiplayer games enable the formation of…
Revolymer, a spin out company from the University of Bristol, has completed development of its new Clean Gum that can be easily removed from shoes, clothes, pavements and hair. Preliminary results also indicate that the gum will degrade naturally in water.
The company has completed initial street trials on pavements in local high streets as part of a collaborative agreement with local councils. In the two trials, leading commercial gums remained stuck to the pavements three out of four times. In all tests the Revolymer gum was removed within 24 hours by natural events.
Professor Terence…
The washing machine and the refrigerator are going to start "talking" to the television thanks to a new standard about to be published by the Geneva-based IEC. This new ability to network traditional household appliances with personal computers and audio-visual equipment will offer such possibilities as your television screen displaying the fact that the washing machine has finished washing your clothes or turning on an air conditioner from your personal computer.
The new standard links the two different communications networks established for the household appliances and audio visual…
Drug dealers found with bank notes contaminated with unusually high levels of drugs are now less likely to get away with their crimes, thanks to new evidence from a team led by the University of Bristol. The research finds that geographical location has absolutely no influence on the distribution of contamination.
Paper money is almost always tainted with some drug residue. Evidence presented at court shows how banknotes seized from a suspect may differ from banknotes in general circulation, in the form of higher contamination with drugs.
A question arising from such evidence is whether…
A leading UK expert in analysing pharmaceutical compounds has demonstrated that Direct Analysis in Real Time (DART) technology can identify fake medicines in minutes.
Traditional technology, based on large, laboratory-based methods, takes hours and sometimes days of intensive work.
Presenting his research at the British Pharmaceutical Conference (BPC) in Manchester, University of London Professor Tony Moffat said: "This new technology allows analysis from a scraping rather than from a whole crushed tablet (which saves time and effort) and can identify counterfeits in real time - two…