Networking
High-energy physicists set record for network data transfer
December 13, 2011 3:10 am | News | CommentsResearchers have set a new world record for data transfer, helping to usher in the next generation of high-speed network technology. At the SuperComputing 2011 conference, the international team transferred data in opposite directions at a combined rate of 186 Gbps in a wide-area network circuit.
Security firm: Hackers hit chemical companies
November 1, 2011 11:06 am | by Joe McDonald, AP Business Writer | News | CommentsAccording to Internet security software vendor Symantec, cyber attacks traced to China recently targeted at least 48 chemical and military-related companies in an effort to steal technical secrets. The victims included multiple Fortune 100 companies.
Arctic chill brings Facebook data center to Sweden
October 27, 2011 7:13 am | by Karl Ritter, Associated Press | News | CommentsThe high cost of keeping large data centers cool—and a need to expand its international presence—has prompted the social networking giant to launch plans to build a giant server farm in Sweden just 60 miles south of the Arctic Circle. Hydropower will supply the 120 MW needed to power the farm.
Georgia Tech releases Cyber Threats Forecast for 2012
October 11, 2011 1:37 pm | News | CommentsAt the Georgia Tech Cyber Security Summit this week, researchers at the university released its latest report on the threats facing an interconnected world. Specific cyber threats include search poisoning, mobile web-based attacks, and stolen data used for marketing.
Twitter subscribers become living sensors
October 4, 2011 6:37 am | News | CommentsUsing millions of Twitter subscribers as living "sensors," engineers from Rice University and Motorola Mobility have found a way to monitor fans’ levels of excitement and to keep track of the action in National Football League (NFL) games, without ever switching on a TV.
First images from world’s largest sub-millimeter telescope unveiled
October 3, 2011 8:19 am | News | CommentsDetailed views of star formation in the Antennae galaxies are the first astronomical test images released to the public from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile. Scheduled for completion in 2012, the array will look into the early history of the Universe and provide a better look at local planets and stars.
Researchers create new Urban Network Analysis toolbox
September 7, 2011 6:32 am | News | CommentsMassachusetts Institute of Technology researchers have created a new Urban Network Analysis (UNA) toolbox that enables urban designers and planners to describe the spatial patterns of cities using mathematical network analysis methods. Such tools can support better informed and more resilient urban design and planning in a context of rapid urbanization.
Depiction of light could boost telecom channels
August 26, 2011 7:11 am | News | CommentsPhysicists at The City College of New York have found a new way to map spiraling light that could help harness untapped data channels in optical fibers. The new model, called a Higher Order Poincaré Sphere, could also advance quantum computing.
Increasing fuel efficiency with a smartphone
August 25, 2011 4:38 am | by Larry Hardesty, MIT News Office | News | CommentsResearchers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Princeton University developed a system that uses a network of smartphones mounted on car dashboards to collect information about traffic signals and tell drivers when slowing down could help them avoid waiting at lights. By reducing the need to idle and accelerate from a standstill, the system saves gas.
New data spill shows risk of online health records
August 22, 2011 6:48 am | by Jordan Robertson, AP Technology Writer | News | CommentsUntil recently, medical files belonging to nearly 300,000 Californians sat unsecured on the Internet for the entire world to see. The leak was not brought about by a hacker, however, just a company’s neglect. Experts worry that such mistakes could hinder the transition of medical records to digital form.
GPS accuracy improved in the third dimension
August 17, 2011 11:09 am | News | CommentsDrivers are generally concerned with tracking their own location in two dimensions, but the third dimension of altitude has always been available through GPS, just with lower accuracy than that of the horizontal coordinates. A new software solution brings centimeter-scale positioning to this neglected dimension.
Join the hunt for the Higgs boson
August 11, 2011 9:26 am | News | CommentsCERN is looking few good FLOPS it can leverage to run more simulations of high-energy particle physics. These simulations, which are submitted to a central database from the user’s home computers, will provide scientists with theoretical references for measurements obtained at accelerators like the Large Hadron Collider.
Your smartphone: a new frontier for hackers
August 8, 2011 6:19 am | by Jordan Robertson, AP Technology Writer | News | CommentsLast week, security researchers uncovered yet another strain of malicious software aimed at Google's popular Android mobile operating system. That comes a month after researchers found a security hole in Apple Inc., iPhone. Signs abound that hackers beginning to target smartphones, and are getting smarter about doing it.
Insulin pumps, monitors vulnerable to hacking
August 4, 2011 10:07 am | by Jordan Robertson, AP Technology Writer | News | CommentsEven the human bloodstream isn't safe from computer hackers. A security researcher who is diabetic has identified flaws that could allow an attacker to remotely control insulin pumps and alter the readouts of blood-sugar monitors. As a result, diabetics could get too much or too little insulin, a hormone they need for proper metabolism.
Report: Global cyberattack under way for five years
August 4, 2011 4:27 am | by Barbara Ortutay, AP Technology Writer | News | CommentsComputer security firm McAfee Inc. issued a report Wednesday reporting the the targets of a concerted wave of cyberattacks totaling more than 70 entities, mostly in the U.S. The attacks, the company reports, are likely originating from a nation state.
Rotary encoders updated for robot control
August 3, 2011 9:42 am | Product Releases | CommentsHeidenhain has increased the functionality of its Profibus rotary encoders. The encoders that feature the Profibus interface now support the DP-V2 encoder profile which makes them ready for robot control and production technology.
Internet archivist seeks one of every book written
August 1, 2011 12:58 pm | by Marcus Wohlsen, Associated Press | News | CommentsBrewster Kahle founded the nonprofit Internet Archive in 1996 to save a copy of every Web page ever posted. Now the MIT-trained computer scientist and entrepreneur is expanding his effort to safeguard and share knowledge by trying to preserve a physical copy of every book ever published.
Cyber-network to be world’s biggest digital R & D resource
July 28, 2011 1:16 pm | News | CommentsSeventeen institutions officially joined forces last week to link computers, data and people from around the world to establish a single, virtual system, called XSEDE, that scientists can interactively use to conduct research. The National Science Foundation-funded effort will build on the high-performance computing ground broken by TeraGrid.
Swarms of locusts use social networking to communicate
July 15, 2011 8:48 am | News | CommentsThe success of social networking sites has illustrated the importance of networking for humans; however for some animals, keeping informed about others of their kind is even more important. Researchers have shown that swarming, a phenomenon that can be crucial to an animal's survival, is created by the same kind of social networks that humans adopt.
Berkeley Lab lays foundation for 100 GBps prototype network
July 15, 2011 7:33 am | News | CommentsIn its initial phase, the new $62 million Advanced Networking Initiative will connect the three DOE unclassified supercomputing centers. But it will lead to a nationwide 100 Gbps scientific network, and eventually a 1-terabit network connecting the Dept. of Energy’s exascale supercomputers.
Geo-immersion tech allows virtual travel in real time
July 11, 2011 1:11 pm | by Miles O’Brien | News | CommentsUpon first glance, USC’s Cyrus Shahabi’s maps contain the typical landmarks we've become accustomed to seeing on Yahoo or Google Maps. But a closer look reveals maps pulsing with images of moving cars, scenes of bustling people, and shifting colors of changing traffic patterns, all in real time. The concept of geo-immersion is beginning to blend the real and virtual worlds together.
National labs recovering after cyberattack
July 6, 2011 12:00 pm | News | CommentsPacific Northwest National Laboratory in Washington state is restoring its computer system this week after a cyberattack that also targetted Battelle's corporate offices in Ohio and Thomas Jefferson National Laboratory in Virginia. Officials say they know the source and motive, but are not sharing that information yet.
Model finds optimal fiber optic network connections quickly
June 28, 2011 4:40 am | News | CommentsDesigning fiber optic networks involves finding the most efficient way to connect phones and computers that are in different places—a costly and time-consuming process. Now, researchers from North Carolina State Univ. have developed a model that can find optimal connections 10,000 times more quickly, using less computing power to solve the problem.
DARPA tackles cyberspace to protect industry
June 17, 2011 12:28 pm | by John D. Banusiewicz, American Forces Press Service | News | CommentsAt a global security conference in Paris Friday, Deputy Defense Secretary William J. Lynn III outlined a pilot program in which the government helps the defense industry in safeguarding the information their computer systems hold. The program will share classified threat information and the know-how to employ it with participating defense companies or their Internet service providers.
NEC develops world's first CAM that stores data without using power
June 13, 2011 6:23 am | News | CommentsNEC Corp. (NEC) and Tohoku Univ. announced the development of the world's first content addressable memory (CAM) that both maintains the same high operation speed and non-volatile operation as existing circuits when processing and storing data on a circuit while power is off.
