Computer Technology
Decoding the structure of bone
April 17, 2013 8:40 am | by David L. Chandler, MIT News Office | News | Comments
The bones that support our bodies are made of remarkably complex arrangements of materials—so much so that decoding the precise structure responsible for their great strength and resilience has eluded scientists’ best efforts for decades. But now, a team of researchers has finally unraveled the structure of bone with almost atom-by-atom precision.
Cradle turns smartphone into handheld biosensor
May 23, 2013 10:49 pm | by Liz Ahlberg, University of Illinois | News | Comments
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign researchers have developed a cradle and app...
Whirlpools on the nanoscale could multiply magnetic memory
May 22, 2013 11:04 am | by Paul Preuss, Berkeley Lab | News | Comments
Magnetic memories store bits of information in discrete units whose electron spins all line up...
Competition in the quantum world
May 20, 2013 9:24 am | News | Comments
Using a new tool called a quantum simulator—based on a small-scale quantum computer—...
Computational tool simplifies complex data into 2D images
May 20, 2013 9:30 am | News | CommentsResearchers at Columbia University and Stanford University have developed a computational method that enables scientists to visualize and interpret "high-dimensional" data produced by single-cell measurement technologies such as mass cytometry. A sophisticated algorithm converts difficult-to-interpret data into visual representations similar to two-dimensional "scatter plots".
Computer research project shows shift in English language
May 16, 2013 7:38 am | News | CommentsUniversity of Illinois English professor Ted Underwood recently wrapped up a research project involving more than 4,200 books. Since that work revealed dramatic shifts in the English language between the 18th and 19th centuries, he’s now expanding his research to include more than 470,000 books—almost every English language book written during that era and preserved in a university library.
GM says supercomputers to keep recalls in check
May 13, 2013 3:31 pm | by TOM KRISHER - AP Auto Writer - Associated Press | News | CommentsGeneral Motors says a new supercomputer data storage center and efforts to write its own software are paying off. The company formally opened a giant data center on Monday in the Detroit suburb of Warren, Mich. The Detroit automaker says the changes are examples of how it's moving faster to cut costs and serve customers better.
Electronics comes to paper
May 8, 2013 9:43 am | News | CommentsPaper, a light and foldable raw material, could be a cost-efficient and simple basis for electronic devices if a practical solution for depositing conductive structures could be found. Researchers in Germany say they have done this by creating targeted structures by printing and heating a catalyst on a sheet of paper. The solution was created with a conventional inkjet printer.
Telling time on Saturn
May 3, 2013 12:30 pm | News | CommentsA University of Iowa undergraduate student has discovered that a process occurring in Saturn’s magnetosphere is linked to the planet's seasons and changes with them, a finding that helps clarify the length of a Saturn day and could alter our understanding of the Earth’s magnetosphere.
Study shows that individual brain cells track where we are, how we move
May 3, 2013 9:36 am | News | CommentsLeaving the house in the morning may seem simple, but with every move we make, our brains are working to create maps of the outside world that allow us to navigate and remember where we are. Ultimately, the brain constructs its own pinpoint geographical chart that is far more precise than anything you'd find on Google Maps. But just how neurons make these maps of space has fascinated scientists for decades. Until now.
New research could let vehicles, robots collaborate with humans
May 3, 2013 7:39 am | by Helen Knight, MIT News correspondent | News | CommentsYou get into your car and ask it to get you home in time for the start of the big game, stopping off at your favorite Chinese restaurant on the way for takeout. But the car informs you that the road past the Chinese restaurant is closed for repairs, and you will have to choose a different place. You select a nearby Korean restaurant from the options the car suggests. Autonomous devices could soon collaborate with humans in this way.
Intel names Krzanich as chipmaker's next CEO
May 2, 2013 2:44 pm | by PETER SVENSSON - AP Technology Writer - Associated Press | News | CommentsIntel's chief operating officer, Brian Krzanich, will become its next CEO in two weeks, tasked with steering the world's largest chipmaker through an industry shake-up that is seeing tablets and smartphones overshadow Intel's base in personal computers.
Computer algorithms find genetic cancer networks
May 2, 2013 10:44 am | News | CommentsResearchers at Washington University in St. Louis, using powerful algorithms developed by computer scientists at Brown University, have assembled the most complete genetic profile yet of acute myeloid leukemia, an aggressive form of blood cancer.
Scientists make world’s smallest stop-motion film
May 2, 2013 9:22 am | News | CommentsEven without certification by Guinness World Records, it would be easy to believe a short, 250-frame film recently created by an IBM Research team is the world’s smallest. Named “A Boy and His Atom,” the movie was created by precisely placing thousands of atoms using a scanning tunneling microscope. This type of atomic-level control is the result of years of efforts by IBM to determine the lower limits for storing data.
New theory could streamline operations management, cloud computing
May 1, 2013 11:22 am | by Larry Hardesty, MIT News Office | News | CommentsIt’s often said that we live in an age of increased specialization. But in a series of recent papers, researchers have shown that, in a number of different contexts, a little versatility can go a long way. Their theoretical analyses could have implications for operations management, cloud computing—and possibly even health care delivery and manufacturing.
Material loss protects teeth against fatigue failure
May 1, 2013 9:07 am | News | CommentsComputer simulations conducted in Germany have shown that the reduction of natural dental wear might be the main cause for widely spread non-carius cervical lesions—the loss of enamel and dentine at the base of the crown—in our teeth. The discovery was made by examining the biomechanical behavior of teeth using finite element analysis methods typically applied to engineering problems.
Older is wiser: Study shows software developer's skills improve over time
April 30, 2013 10:08 am | News | CommentsThere is a perception in some tech circles that older programmers aren’t able to keep pace with rapidly changing technology, and that they are discriminated against in the software field. But a new study from North Carolina State University indicates that the knowledge and skills of programmers actually improve over time—and that older programmers know as much (or more) than their younger peers.
Computer scientists suggest new spin on origins of evolvability
April 29, 2013 8:53 am | News | CommentsScientists have long observed that species seem to have become increasingly capable of evolving in response to changes in the environment. But computer science researchers now say that the popular explanation of competition to survive in nature may not actually be necessary for evolvability to increase.
Tracking gunfire with a smartphone
April 26, 2013 8:41 am | by David Salisbury, Vanderbilt University | News | CommentsYou are walking down the street with a friend. A shot is fired. The two of you duck behind the nearest cover and you pull out your smartphone. A map of the neighborhood pops up on its screen with a large red arrow pointing in the direction the shot came from. A team has made such a scenario possible by developing a system that transforms a smartphone into a shooter location system.
U.S. Coast Guard accredits analytical system developed at Purdue
April 24, 2013 7:48 am | News | CommentsIn efforts to prioritize and efficiently manage the repair of boats and stations damaged by Superstorm Sandy, the U.S. Coast Guard has accredited a system called Coast Guard Search and Rescue Visual Analytics (cgSARVA) developed in collaboration with Purdue University.
Nitrogen has key role in estimating CO2 emissions from land use change
April 23, 2013 9:42 am | News | CommentsA new global-scale modeling study that takes into account nitrogen—a key nutrient for plants—estimates that carbon emissions from human activities on land were 40% higher in the 1990s than in studies that did not account for nitrogen. Most existing models used to estimate global emissions changes based on land use do not have the ability to model nitrogen limitations on plant regrowth.
Superstorm Sandy literally shook the United States
April 19, 2013 12:57 pm | News | CommentsWhen superstorm Sandy turned and took aim at New York City and Long Island last October, ocean waves hitting each other and the shore rattled the seafloor and much of the United States—shaking detected by seismometers across the country, University of Utah researchers have recently found. These “microseisms” generated by Sandy were detected by Earthscope, a network of 500 portable seismometers.
Algorithm helps evaluate, rank scientific literature
April 18, 2013 8:14 am | News | CommentsKeeping up with current scientific literature is a daunting task, considering that hundreds to thousands of papers are published each day. Now researchers from North Carolina State University have developed a computer program to help them evaluate and rank scientific articles in their field.
Sequoia supercomputer transitions to classified work
April 18, 2013 8:05 am | News | CommentsThe National Nuclear Security Administration announced that its Sequoia supercomputer at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has completed its transition to classified computing in support of the Stockpile Stewardship Program, which helps the United States ensure the safety, security, and effectiveness of its aging nuclear weapons stockpile without the use of underground testing.
System allows multitasking runners to read on a treadmill
April 16, 2013 10:03 am | News | CommentsNot many people can run and read at the same time, because the relative location of the eyes to the text is constantly changing. This forces the eyes to constantly adjust. At Purdue University, an industrial engineering professor has introduced a new innovation called ReadingMate, which adjusts text on a monitor to counteract the bobbing motion of a runner's head so that the text appears still.
Layered 2D nanocrystals promising new semiconductor
April 16, 2013 8:52 am | News | CommentsResearchers are developing a new type of semiconductor technology for future computers and electronics based on "2D nanocrystals" layered in sheets less than a nanometer thick that could replace today's transistors. The layered structure is made of a material called molybdenum disulfide, which belongs to a new class of semiconductors—metal di-chalogenides—emerging as potential candidates to replace today's CMOS technology.
X-ray approach devised to track surgical devices
April 16, 2013 8:20 am | News | CommentsResearchers from North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have developed a new tool to help surgeons use X-rays to track devices used in “minimally invasive” surgical procedures while also limiting the patient’s exposure to radiation from the X-rays.
Softening steel problem expands computer model applications
April 16, 2013 8:11 am | News | CommentsSandia National Laboratories researchers Lisa Deibler and Arthur Brown had a ready-made problem for their computer modeling work when they partnered with the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Kansas City Plant to improve stainless steel tubing that was too hard to meet nuclear weapon requirements.
Researchers call for marine observation network
April 11, 2013 3:31 am | News | CommentsA comprehensive marine biodiversity observation network could be established with modest funding within five years, according to a recently published assessment from a team led by J. Emmett Duffy of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science. Such a network, they say, would fill major gaps in scientists' understanding of the global distribution of marine organisms.
