Technology

SideSwipe: Gesture Control Using Reflected Smartphone Transmissions

Mobile phones are in the hands of 80 percent of Americans so manufacturers are scrambling to find new ways to keep people buying the next model. Being able to use gestures in the space around the phone rather than needing a screen may be the next big thin ...

Article - News Staff - Sep 19 2014 - 1:08pm

GelSight: Fingertip Sensor Gives Robot Dexterity In Real Time

Researchers have equipped a robot with a novel tactile sensor that lets it grasp a USB cable draped freely over a hook and insert it into a USB port. Its processing algorithm is faster, so it can give the robot feedback in real time.  The sensor is an ada ...

Article - News Staff - Sep 19 2014 - 3:36pm

Nature Communications Switching To Exclusive Open Access

Nature Publishing Group has announced that Nature Communications will only accept open access research submissions starting October 20th 2014. This is a big win for open access.  The 2013 Impact Factor for Nature Communications is 10.742, according to the ...

Article - News Staff - Sep 22 2014 - 6:30pm

15 Biomarkers: Blood Test May Determine Risk For Psychosis

Preliminary results from a recent study show that a blood test, when used in psychiatric patients experiencing symptoms that are considered to be indicators of a high risk for psychosis, identifies those who later went on to develop psychosis.  It may lea ...

Article - News Staff - Sep 22 2014 - 12:30pm

'Greener' Transistors For Upcoming Flexible Displays

The iPhone 6 is apparently flexible, though that's a not a good thing; people are warping them when they sit down, and people without abnormal strength can simply twist them in their hands. But that won't always be a design and construction defe ...

Article - News Staff - Sep 24 2014 - 10:30am

5 Ways The Superintelligence Revolution Might Happen

Taking over one neuron at a time. Credit: viipeer, CC BY-NC-SA By Nick Bostrom, University of Oxford ...

Article - The Conversation - Sep 25 2014 - 3:30pm

Mechanized Human Hands Improve Function Lost To Nerve Damage

Engineers have developed and successfully demonstrated the value of a simple pulley mechanism to improve hand function after surgery. The device, tested in cadaver hands, is one of the first instruments ever created that could improve the transmission of ...

Article - News Staff - Sep 27 2014 - 1:29pm

Cartoons May Teach Machines To Understand The Visual World

A human child can look at a cartoon picture of a chicken and recognize it is a chicken, but that is a show-stopper for machine learning. Unless it matches a cartoon chicken programmed in, it will not understand cartoon chicken-ness. Devi Parikh of Virginia ...

Article - News Staff - Sep 29 2014 - 12:35pm

Lymphocyte Genome Sensitivity Determines Likelihood Of Getting Cancer

A new report shows early detection of cancer could one day be as easy as a simple blood test. This test, called the "lymphocyte genome sensitivity" (LGS) test, could not only detect some cancers earlier than ever before, but it may eliminate the ...

Article - News Staff - Sep 30 2014 - 1:30pm

Questions a Surface Pro 3 user has about Windows 10.

I own a brand new Surface Pro 3, and if  all the good touch features of Windows 8 are removed to make Windows 10 placate non-touchscreen users, I and others are going to be very disappointed.  Many websites are reporting that the new Windows 10 "kills ...

Blog Post - Hontas Farmer - Oct 2 2014 - 10:31pm