Technology

ELAD- 'Artificial' Liver Uses Human Liver Cells

ELAD, the Extracorporeal Liver Assist Device,  is a bedside system that treats blood plasma, metabolizing toxins and synthesizing proteins just like a real liver does. Artificial livers have been attempted since the 1960s but because previous designs didn& ...

Article - News Staff - Jun 2 2009 - 2:39pm

Memristor- Memory With A Twist Thanks To NIST

Electronic memory chips may soon gain the ability to bend and twist, thanks to  engineers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)(1).   Not too exciting, right?   You probably don't spend a lot of time bending memory chips now but ...

Article - News Staff - Jun 2 2009 - 4:30pm

The Daytime Astronomer Builds A Drawbridge

In two hours, under my guidance, a small group of 5th and 6th graders built a drawbridge. We were operating using a plan essentially sketched on the napkin, with the napkin left at home. We had a stack of wood, rope, 2 hammers, a drill, a hacksaw, and a bo ...

Article - Alex "Sandy" Antunes - Jun 3 2009 - 5:33pm

Copying The Cochlea- MIT Radio Chip Mimics Human Ear

An ultra-broadband, low-power radio chip, modeled on the human inner ear could enable wireless devices capable of receiving cell phone, Internet, radio and television signals.   Rahul Sarpeshkar, associate professor of electrical engineering and computer ...

Article - News Staff - Jun 3 2009 - 12:07pm

EarthTrek- Citizen Scientists Save The Planet

Want to know how gravestones will weather due to pollution?   Can you help measure hailstones?   If so, or you are wondering what else one person can contribute to solving global climate issues, controlling the spread of invasive plant species or managing ...

Article - News Staff - Jun 5 2009 - 1:00am

JAST- This Robot Will Anticipate (And Maybe Even Question) Your Actions

The thinking, talking robots of Isaac Asimov science fiction are nothing like what we actually have- programmed machines that do the simplest things.   European researchers in robotics, psychology and cognitive sciences say they have developed a robot that ...

Article - News Staff - Jun 5 2009 - 9:58am

Twitter And Social Media Fraud

Tony La Russa, manager of baseball team the St. Louis Cardinals, recently sued Twitter, claiming that an unauthorized page using his name damaged his reputation and caused emotional distress.   It's true, anyone can sign onto Twitter and claim to be a ...

Article - News Staff - Jun 8 2009 - 5:11pm

Computers in movies and television

In 2007, I had a series in my personal blog about technology in Star Trek. I remembered that series the other day, when I read an article in New Scientist about the science in Battlestar Galactica. [1] The New Scientist article focuses on human physiology ...

Blog Post - Barry Leiba - Jun 8 2009 - 11:40am

Next Target For Hackers- Oil Platforms?

There was a time when offshore platforms were secure communities in which production was controlled by closed processes that were isolated from the external world.   Not so today.  With modern integrated operations, offshore-onshore contact is transparent ...

Article - News Staff - Jun 9 2009 - 8:03am

“Branding“ for email and web sites

John Levine notes that using secure branding can be an effective way to combat phishing. “Secure“ branding, in this sense, means using trusted authorities to verify the credentials of a web site or email sender, and then displaying branding information, s ...

Blog Post - Barry Leiba - Jun 11 2009 - 8:11pm