Feature Channels: Technology

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Computer games and TV account for bulk of information consumed in 2008.

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A Cornell researcher has created an extremely efficient transistor made from gallium nitride, a material that may soon replace silicon as king of semiconductors for power applications.

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The Computer History Museum of Mountain View, Calif., will be the new home for Iowa State University's full-scale, working replica of the Atanasoff-Berry Computer (ABC) for at least 10 years. The replica of the first electronic digital computer was completed and demonstrated in 1997 as a tribute to the late innovators of the ABC, John Vincent Atanasoff, a former Iowa State professor of physics and mathematics, and Clifford Berry, a former physics graduate student.

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Looking for larks? Searching for surfbirds? Checking for chickadees? There’s an app for that. BirdsEye, a new application for the iPhone and the iPod touch, is now available.

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For those who are deaf or hard of hearing, cell phone use has largely been limited to text messaging. But technology is catching up: Cornell researchers and colleagues have created cell phones that allow deaf people to communicate in sign language – the same way hearing people use phones to talk.

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Taking inspiration from genetic screening techniques, researchers from MIT and Harvard have demonstrated a way to build better artificial visual systems with the help of low-cost, high-performance gaming hardware.

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Researchers at the Joint Quantum Institute have created “synthetic” magnetic fields for ultracold gas atoms, in effect “tricking” neutral atoms into acting as if they are electrically charged particles subjected to a real magnetic field.

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iPhones are being used as musical instruments in a new course at the University of Michigan.

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Antennas are used in everything from cell phones to GPS devices, and research from North Carolina State University is revolutionizing the field of antenna design – creating shape-shifting antennas that open the door to a host of new uses in fields ranging from public safety to military deployment.

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Scoot over winds and brass, strings and chorale – it is time to make room for the laptop orchestra. Virginia Tech's laptop group is the first Linux-based orchestra in the world with focus on ultra-affordable design.

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Advances in computerized modeling and prediction of group behavior, together with improvements in video game graphics, are making possible virtual worlds in which defense analysts can explore and predict results of many different possible military and policy actions, say computer science researchers at the University of Maryland in a commentary published in the November 27 issue of the journal Science.

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Particle beams are again zooming around the world’s most powerful particle accelerator, the Large Hadron Collider, where UMass Amherst physicists run experiments to collect data on fundamental atomic particles. The work searches for new states of matter and may unveil the secrets of dark matter.

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Comparing prices over the Internet has become a common practice for consumers. Now, just in time for Black Friday, a group of Missouri University of Science and Technology students is putting that ability to comparison-shop in the palm of your hand.

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A new spam campaign using false e-mails made to look like messages from the Social Security Administration is capable of stealing Social Security numbers and downloading malware onto victims’ home computers, says Gary Warner, director of computer forensics at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB).

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For girls, parents worry most about a loss of privacy and being vulnerable to sexual predators; for boys, parents are most concerned about access to pornographic material.

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A revised draft publication on computer security guidance issued by NIST is focused on transforming the episodic information system certification and accreditation processes at federal agencies by reinforcing and specifying procedures for continuous monitoring and updating.

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Physicists at NIST have demonstrated the first 'universal' programmable quantum information processor able to run any program allowed by quantum mechanics. The processor could be a module in a future quantum computer, which theoretically could solve some important problems that are intractable today.

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Vast amounts of information that could hold the key to breakthroughs in environmental research will be made readily available through a network created by Oak Ridge National Laboratory and partners.

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NYU Langone Medical Center is the first hospital in the Northeast to offer one of the world’s fastest and most radiation dose efficient computed tomography (CT) scanner. The Siemens SOMATOM Definition Flash can image ten times as fast as other clinical units, with an up to 90% dose reduction in radiation compared to conventional imaging. The scanner’s dual source technology allows NYU Langone Medical Center to provide new levels of patient care, especially for trauma, pediatric, cancer and cardiac patients.

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Engineering researchers at the University of Arkansas have developed a unique and robust method to prevent cloning of passive radio frequency identification tags. The technology, based on one or more unique physical attributes of individual tags rather than information stored on them, will prevent the production of counterfeit tags and thus greatly enhance both security and privacy for government agencies, businesses and consumers.

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Green IT Initiative looks at power consumption from the microchip to the data center. Will use Recycled HPC system to develop sustainable power consumption.

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An upgrade to a Cray XT5 high-performance computing system deployed by the Department of Energy has made the “Jaguar” supercomputer the world’s fastest. Located at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Jaguar is the scientific research community’s most powerful computational tool for exploring solutions to some of today’s most difficult problems.

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Georgia Tech announces the creation of a new Master of Science in Information Security available online in a distance learning format, a flexible degree option for working information security professionals who want more than industry certification.

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Researchers are finding that interactive game systems are especially helpful for people with chronic health conditions. Playing the games increases physical activity and can even improve the ability to care for oneself.

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Iowa State's Eliot Winer and James Oliver have developed technology that turns flat medical scans into vibrant 3-D images that can be shifted, adjusted, zoomed and replayed at will. The technology is now being marketed and sold by a startup company called BodyViz.com based at Iowa State's CyberInnovation Institute.

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Wondering how long it is until the next St. Pat’s Celebration at Missouri University of Science and Technology? There’s an app for that.

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Although often seen as an inconsequential feature of digital technologies, one's self-representation, or avatar, in a virtual environment can affect the user's thoughts, according to research by a University of Texas at Austin communication professor.

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Virginia Tech's Green500 list is expanding the definition of a supercomputer to include a wider spectrum of the high-end computing world.

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eStadium application allows fans sitting in the stands of an athletic event to access video replays, up-to-the-second statistics, player bios, play-by-play analysis and a wealth of other information designed to enhance the thrill of the game.

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As an electrical engineer, Jin U. Kang has spent years tinkering with lasers and optical fiber, studying what happens when light strikes matter. Now, he’s taking on a new challenge: brain surgery.

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Technological advances are being made every day, making many of our lives easier and allowing information to be more accessible and available. However for some people, such as the aging population, technological progress can in fact be more limiting.

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The San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) at UC San Diego has been awarded a five-year, $20 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to build and operate a powerful supercomputer dedicated to solving critical science and societal problems now overwhelmed by the avalanche of data generated by the digital devices of our era.

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The UW is the first educational institution to offer an application for the BlackBerry. In partnership with Blackboard Inc., the UW's mobile tool for campus information is now available on BlackBerry devices.

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The Internet has become a popular socializing tool for adolescents and a new study shows those with chronic health conditions might rely on it more heavily than their peers do.

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Lumosity.com launches a new video game shown to improve intelligence.

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When Homeland Security's Tom Chirhart went looking for volunteers to test a new multiband radio that allows first responders to talk to one another across different frequency bands, the line of interested agencies was long and very eager.

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Computer scientists at the UW are using Android, the open-source mobile operating system championed by Google, to transform a cell phone into a flexible data-collection tool. Their free suite of tools, named Open Data Kit, is already used by organizations around the world that need inexpensive ways to gather information in areas with little infrastructure.

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Scientists have built the first optical frequency comb—a tool for precisely measuring different frequencies of visible light—whose "teeth" can actually be seen with a simple optical system. A frequency comb with well-separated, visibly distinct teeth will be an important tool for astronomy, communications and many other areas.

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At the University of North Carolina Hospitals, the Interpreter Services department has dumped both pagers and cell phones in favor of a device they find to be much more effective in meeting their needs: the Apple iPod touch.

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Cyber criminals are using fake messages claiming to be from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to deliver a virus capable of stealing unsuspecting victims’ bank passwords and other sensitive personal information, says Gary Warner, the director of research in computer forensics at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB).

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Electronic tools and technology applications for consumers can help improve health care processes, such as adherence to medication and clinical outcomes like smoking cessation, according to a report by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The analysis of consumer health informatics was based on an examination of 146 published research studies of patient-focused electronic tools. It is among the first to explore the potential value of consumer health informatics.

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David Jimison, Ph.D. candidate in the Digital Media program, is exhibiting "Too Smart City" at The Urban Center in Manhattan. The exhibit asks the question, "what happens when technology runs amok?"

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A magical new technology has arisen from Polaroid's ashes: inkless printing with colorless color.

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Contributing Editor Peter Fairley investigates the promise of a small city car that uses pneumatic propulsion.

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More than 55 million American are non-Internet users, leaving a huge group that is increasingly disconnected from the mainstream, according to the annual study of the impact of the Internet on Americans conducted by the Center for the Digital Future at USC’s Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism.

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While more older adults than ever are using cell phones and computers, a technology gap still exists that threatens to turn senior citizens into second-class citizens, according to Florida State University researchers.

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The Georgia Institute of Technology today announced its receipt of a five-year, $12 million Track 2 award from the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Office of Cyberinfrastructure to lead a partnership of academic, industry and government experts in the development and deployment of an innovative and experimental high-performance computing (HPC) system.

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A group of researchers at Missouri University of Science and Technology has developed a handheld camera that uses microwave signals to non-destructively peek inside materials and structures in real time.

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The first $1000.00 Gordon Prize in Managing Cybersecurity Resources goes for an essay written by researchers from Harvard and Dresden, Germany. Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business announced the winner October 14.

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Scientists at Georgia Tech tested our ability to interpret a robot’s “emotion” by reading its expression to see if there were any differences between the ages. They found unexpected differences in the way older adults read a robot’s face compared to younger adults. The research is being presented this week at the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting in San Antonio.