Bacteria use hydrogen, carbon dioxide to produce electricity
May 20, 2013 11:56 am | by EurekAlert! | CommentsResearchers have engineered a strain of electricity-producing bacteria that can grow using hydrogen gas as its sole electron donor and carbon dioxide as its sole source of carbon. Researchers at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst report their findings at the 113th General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology.
Computational tool translates complex data into simplified 2-dimensional images
May 20, 2013 11:52 am | by EurekAlert! | 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.
Kinks and curves at the nanoscale
May 20, 2013 11:46 am | by EurekAlert! | CommentsEliminating the defects at the interface separating two crystals, or grains, has been shown by nanotechnology experts to be a powerful strategy for making materials stronger, more easily molded, and less electrically resistant—or a host of other qualities sought by designers and manufacturers.
Disney researchers develop fast, economical method for high-definition video compositing
May 20, 2013 11:35 am | by EurekAlert! | CommentsVideo compositing to create special effects, replace backgrounds or combine multiple takes of an actor's performance is an integral, but highly labor-intensive, part of modern film making. Researchers at Disney Research, Zürich, however, have found an innovative way to create these composite videos that is simple, fast, and easy to use.
Yahoo takes big leap with $1.1B deal for Tumblr
May 20, 2013 11:33 am | by MICHAEL LIEDTKE, AP Technology Writer | CommentsYahoo is buying online blogging forum Tumblr for $1.1 billion as CEO Marissa Mayer tries to rejuvenate an Internet icon that had fallen behind the times. The deal announced Monday represents Mayer's boldest move yet since she left Google 10 months ago to lead Yahoo's latest comeback attempt.
Robots learn to take a proper handoff by following digitized human examples
May 20, 2013 11:32 am | by EurekAlert! | CommentsRecognizing that a person is handing something and predicting where the human plans to make the handoff is difficult for a robot, but the researchers from Disney and KIT solved the problem by using motion capture data with two people to create a database of human motion.
Review: Toshiba brings high-res screen to Windows
May 20, 2013 11:04 am | by PETER SVENSSON, AP Technology Writer | CommentsLast year, Apple added a visually stunning option to its MacBooks: screens with ultra-high resolution. These "Retina" displays reveal four times as much detail as any Windows laptop screen ... until now. Toshiba just released a new laptop line with a Retina-level display.
Congress gets mixed advice on regulating drones
May 20, 2013 10:58 am | by HENRY C. JACKSON, Associated Press | CommentsThe growing use of unmanned surveillance "eyes in the sky" aircraft raises a thicket of privacy concerns, but the U.S. Congress is getting mixed advice on what, if anything, to do about it. A future with domestic drones may be inevitable. While civilian drone use is currently limited to government agencies and some public universities...
SKorea analyzing NKorea's 4 projectile launches
May 20, 2013 10:48 am | by HYUNG-JIN KIM, Associated Press | CommentsSouth Korea is analyzing whether projectiles North Korea fired into its eastern waters over the weekend are short-range missiles or a new type of artillery the country may be developing, officials said Monday. North Korea fired what Seoul officials called a short-range projectile Sunday, a day after conducting three similar launches.
Smartphone sector sees vibrant performance in Southeast Asia
May 20, 2013 10:47 am | by GFK | CommentsConsumers in Southeast Asian markets continue to snap up mobile handsets at a rapid pace, propelling the region’s overall mobile phone market to expand further in the latest 12 months by 14 percent in value and 8 percent in units. Declining demand for basic feature phones are met by the corresponding spike in smartphone sales...
Planes, trains, and automobiles: Faster, stronger, lighter
May 20, 2013 12:00 am | by Massachusetts Institute of Technology | CommentsThese days, aerospace engineering is all about the light stuff: building airplanes with lighter wings, fuselage and landing gear in an effort to reduce fuel costs. Advanced carbon-fiber composites have been used in recent years to lighten planes’ loads. These materials can match aluminum and titanium in strength but at a fraction of the weight, and can be found in aircraft like the Boeing 787 and Airbus A380, reducing such jets’ weigh...
MIT visiting scientist Kanako Miura, 36, dies in bicycle accident in Boston
May 19, 2013 9:54 pm | by Massachusetts Institute of Technology | CommentsThis afternoon, MIT visiting scientist Dr. Kanako Miura, 36, died in a bicycle accident in Boston’s Back Bay neighborhood. Miura was a native of Japan and had been at MIT since the fall of 2012. Within MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), Miura worked in the laboratory of Russ Tedrake, an associate professor of computer science and engineering.In an email sent to the MIT community tonight, MIT Preside...
Lawsuit in Ohio cancer cluster will take years
May 19, 2013 3:46 pm | by JOHN SEEWER - Associated Press - Associated Press | CommentsThe wait for answers is far from over for parents who for years have lived with the worry of not knowing what's behind the mysterious cancers that have sickened dozens of children in a rural area of northern Ohio. Despite a federal civil lawsuit that points toward a possible cause, the issue is...
Bloomberg appoints ex-IBM CEO as privacy adviser
May 17, 2013 1:07 pm | by The Associated Press | CommentsBloomberg LP, the financial news and information service, on Friday said it has appointed Samuel Palmisano, the former CEO of IBM, as an independent adviser on its privacy and data standards. The move comes a week after revelations that Bloomberg journalists had access to some information on...
Scientists capture first direct proof of Hofstadter butterfly effect
May 17, 2013 12:50 pm | by EurekAlert! | CommentsA team of researchers from several universities – including UCF –has observed a rare quantum physics effect that produces a repeating butterfly-shaped energy spectrum in a magnetic field, confirming the longstanding prediction of the quantum fractal energy structure called Hofstadter's butterfly.