Communications
New software matches more kidney donations, faster
May 1, 2012 6:59 am | by Miles O'Brien and Ann Kellan, Science Nation | News | CommentsUsing game theory and market dynamices, Harvard University economist Alvin Roth has helped develop a suite of computer programs that match living kidney donors with recipients. The software comprehensively addresses the common limitations of this complicated process, matching participants with compatible blood types and antibodies.
Optical clock signal transmission helps redefine time
April 30, 2012 9:42 am | News | CommentsThe title of world’s most accurate clock has been transferred from devices based on the steady oscillations of the cesium atom to clocks based on optical transitions. Before this newfound precision can redefine the second, or lead to new applications like ultra-precise navigation, the system used to communicate time around the globe will need an upgrade. Researchers have recently demonstrated how this could be accomplished.
Swiss scientists demonstrate mind-controlled robot
April 24, 2012 12:00 pm | by Frank Jordans, Associated Press | News | CommentsOn Tuesday, a team at Switzerland's Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne used a simple head cap to record the brain signals of Mark-Andre Duc, a partial quadriplegic at a hospital about 100 km away. Duc's thoughts, or electrical signals, were decoded almost instantly by a laptop at the hospital, which then relayed them to a foot-tall robot that scooted around the laboratory.
A divided Congress confronts a rising cyberthreat
April 23, 2012 8:44 am | by Donna Cassata and Richard Lardner, Associated Press | News | CommentsAs cyber attacks worsen and the tactics employed by hackers grow more nefarious, Congress is being asked to consider legislation to improve defenses for government, municipal, and corporate networks. However, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other business groups are applying pressure from the other side, saying the rules would cost money without improving risk.
Researchers boost efficiency of multi-hop wireless networks
April 19, 2012 6:50 am | News | CommentsMulti-hop wireless networks can provide data access for large and unconventional spaces, but they have long faced significant limits on the amount of data they can transmit. Now researchers from North Carolina State University have developed a more efficient data transmission approach that can boost the amount of data the networks can transmit by 20% to 80%.
Verizon to auction spectrum worth billions
April 19, 2012 5:57 am | by Peter Svensson, AP Technology Writer | News | CommentsSpectrum rights are the lifeblood of the wireless industry, since they're necessary to operate wireless networks. On Wednesday, Verizon Wireless said it will auction a parcel of radio frequencies potentially worth billions of dollars in an industry scrambling to offer consumers more cellular broadband.
Xerox unveils research projects to make healthcare less of a pain
April 12, 2012 3:42 am | News | CommentsThis week at TEDMED 2012, Xerox pulled back the curtain on some of the healthcare-related research occurring in its labs around the world. The company’s innovations include LiveKey, which captures and shares paper-based information in seconds, and predictive clinical analytics solutions enabled by mobile device technology.
First message transmitted via neutrinos
April 11, 2012 11:30 am | by Kurt Riesselmann | News | CommentsScientists have for decades contemplated communicating via neutrinos when other methods won’t do. For the first time, physicists and engineers at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory’s MINERvA detector have successfully transmitted a message through 240 m of rock using these ghost-like particles.
Google creates a spectacle with project
April 6, 2012 5:55 am | by Barbara Ortutay, AP Technology Writer | News | CommentsEarlier this week, Google gave a glimpse of "Project Glass", an effort to bring the features of a smartphone or tablet computer to a pair of glasses. While wearing a pair, a user can see directions to a destination appear before her eyes, can talk to friends over video chat, can take a photo, or even buy a few things online.
Students develop app to help children with severe autism
March 29, 2012 9:09 am | News | CommentsStudents in a Purdue University service-learning program have developed an application for Apple's iPad that helps children with severe autism learn how to communicate. The app, called SPEAKall!, allows the children to construct sentences by choosing photos and graphic symbols.
Researchers send wireless message using elusive particles
March 14, 2012 11:05 am | News | CommentsA group of scientists led by researchers from the University of Rochester and North Carolina State University have, for the first time, sent a message using a beam of neutrinos—nearly massless particles that travel at almost the speed of light. The message was sent through 240 m of stone and said simply, "Neutrino."
Holey Optochip first to transfer one terabit of information per second
March 8, 2012 3:56 am | News | CommentsIBM scientists report on a prototype optical chipset, dubbed Holey Optochip, that is the first parallel optical transceiver to transfer one trillion bits, or one terabit, of information per second, the equivalent of downloading 500 high-definition movies. With the ability to move information at high speeds, the breakthrough could transform how data is accessed, shared, and used for a new era of communications and computing technologies.
Pasta-shaped radio waves beamed across Venice
March 2, 2012 7:13 am | News | CommentsA group of Italian and Swedish researchers appears to have solved the problem of radio congestion by cleverly twisting radio waves into the shape of fusilli pasta, allowing a potentially infinite number of channels to be broadcast and received. To demonstrate, they did this in real-life conditions by beaming two corkscrewed radio waves across the waters of Venice, Italy.
Apple market value hits $500B, where few have gone
March 1, 2012 6:14 am | by Peter Svensson, AP Technology Writer | News | CommentsApple was already the world's most valuable company before its market capitalization topped half a billion dollars, a mountain peak where few companies have venture, and few have remained for long. But analysts say Apple’s rally has some legs, because the way it earned its value differs from others who have reached this level, including Exxon and Microsoft.
Google: Technology is making science fiction real
February 29, 2012 7:27 am | by Alan Clendenning, AP Business Writer | News | CommentsAt the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona Tuesday, Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt predicted that rapid advances in technology will soon transform science fiction into reality—meaning people will have driverless cars, small robots at their command and the ability to experience being in another place without leaving home.
OSAT selects Agilent software for next-generation circuit, antenna development
February 29, 2012 6:12 am | News | CommentsAgilent Technologies Inc. announced that OSAT Company, which specializes in engineering analysis, testing, and inspection techniques, is using Agilent's Electromagnetic Professional software, EMPro, and the Momentum 3D planar electromagnetic simulator to design and simulate new antennas and circuits.
New company hopes to replace Wi-Fi with Li-Fi
February 29, 2012 3:06 am | News | CommentsVisible Light Communications (VLC), a University of Edinburgh spin-out, will soon launch its first prototype light-emitting diode communications technology. “Li-Fi” relies on optical spatial modulation and an Internet protocol technology to allow LED light to carry optical wireless communications streams.
Researchers help rethink smartphone design with computational sprinting
February 28, 2012 9:07 am | News | CommentsComputational sprinting is a new approach to smartphone power and cooling that could give users dramatic, brief bursts of computing capability to improve current applications and make new ones possible. Its developers at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Michigan are pushing mobile chips beyond their sustainable operating limits, much like a sprinter who runs extremely fast for a relatively short distance.
Engineers demonstrate record-speed wireless data bridge
February 27, 2012 5:42 am | News | CommentsResearchers have developed a wireless link that bridges two fiber-optic points at an unprecedented 20 billion bits of data per second. The phenomenal speed, which is to be presented at the Optical Fiber Communication Conference and Exposition in Los Angeles next week, was achieved using much higher frequencies than have been typically used in mobile communications.
Radio conference approves bandwidth for ocean current tracking
February 27, 2012 3:10 am | News | CommentsThe International Telecommunication Union, which coordinates global radio spectrum use, recently came to an agreement that provides specific radio frequency bands for ocean radars, which until now operated only on an informal basis and were subject to immediate shut-down if they caused interference with other radio systems. The new technology may eventually make real-time detection of tsunamis and oil spills possible.
Wireless bicycle brake offers nearly 100% reliability
February 24, 2012 7:06 am | News | CommentsAt Cebit on March 6, Saarland University Professor Holger Hermanns will present an unusual bicycle. Unlike most other bicycles, his cruiser brakes using a wireless mechanism that theoretically will fail only three times out of one trillion uses. The technology presages what he hopes will be used in the future for train travel.
Interactive 3D graphical objects may soon be common on the web
February 23, 2012 3:35 am | News | CommentsUntil now, web developers have been dealing with multiple third-party programs to display images in a complex way, such as in 3D. The new HTML extension XML3D, to be demonstrated at the Cebit show in Germany in March, will soon allow developers to embed 3D content in an easy way without having to resort of videos or innumerable photographs of various angles.
One and done: Single-atom transistor is end of Moore's Law
February 21, 2012 2:59 am | News | CommentsThe smallest transistor ever built—in fact, the smallest transistor that can be built—has been created using a single phosphorous atom by an international team of researchers at the University of New South Wales, Purdue University, and the University of Melbourne.
Avnet to distribute Discera’s MEMS oscillators
February 21, 2012 2:12 am | News | CommentsDiscera, a maker of micro-electrical mechanical systems (MEMS)-based timing solutions based in San Jose, Calif., has entered into a distribution deal with Avnet Electronics Marketing Americas, an operating group of Avnet, which distributes computer products, electronic components and embedded technology to customers in over 70 countries.
Georgia Tech develops Braille-like texting app
February 17, 2012 9:20 am | News | CommentsImagine if smartphone and tablet users could text a not under the table during a meeting without anyone being the wiser. Mobile gadget users might also be enabled to text while walking, watching TV, or socializing without taking their eyes off what they're doing. Georgia Institute of Technology researchers have built a prototype app for touchscreen mobile devices that is vying to be a complete solution for texting without the need to look at a mobile gadget's screen.
