Feature Channels: Technology

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For the Cornell University Autonomous Underwater Vehicle team, months of meticulous testing, refining and retesting has paid off: With a flawless 11.5-minute run through a complex course of underwater tasks in the final round, the team's autonomous submarine beat the competition and earned first place in the 12th annual Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International/Office of Naval Research (AUVSI/ONR) competition in San Diego Aug. 2.

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The Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP), with industry partner AGR Drilling Services, has engineered an ultra-deepwater drilling technology for use by IODP drilling vessels in scientific research. Originally developed for shallow-water oil and gas exploration, the "riserless mud recovery" technology (RMR) holds great promise for scientists striving to reach the Earth's mantle.

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By modifying a carbon nanosensor "electronic nose" invented to detect cancer, scientists at Israel's Technion have developed a way to identify chronic renal failure in its earliest stages. Such early detection could significantly slow progression of the disease, and greatly reduce the costs associated with treating it and any resulting complications.

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Nearly 40 percent of Chicago residents, especially Latinos and those aged 67 or more, have limited or no access to the Internet, according to researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Most cite cost, not lack of interest, as the reason.

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Researchers offer advice to managers about how to retain IT employees.

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When the legendary science fiction writer Isaac Asimov penned the "Three Laws of Responsible Robotics," he forever changed the way humans think about artificial intelligence, and inspired generations of engineers to take up robotics. In the current issue of journal IEEE Intelligent Systems, two engineers propose alternative laws to rewrite our future with robots.

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Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have created an innovative device called the "microfluidic palette" to produce multiple, steady-state chemical gradients"”gradual changes in concentration across an area"”in a miniature chamber about the diameter of a pinhead.

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Researchers involved in advancing artificial intelligence in robots and other systems will gather Sept. 21-23, 2009, at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Gaithersburg, Md., to attend the ninth annual Performance Metrics for Intelligent Systems (PerMIS'09) workshop.

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Recent research into the properties of graphene nanoribbons provides two new reasons for using the material as interconnects in future computer chips. In widths as narrow as 16 nanometers, graphene has a current carrying capacity approximately a thousand times greater than copper "“ while providing improved thermal conductivity.

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Researchers have coaxed Geobacter, the sediment-loving microbe who produce electric current from mud and wastewater, to evolve a new strain. It dramatically increases power output per cell, overall bulk power, and with a thinner biofilm, cuts the time to produce electricity on the electrode.

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Solid-state lighting won't supplant the lightbulb until it can overcome the mysterious malady known as "droop."

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The voltage and speed safety margins used in running microprocessors can be reduced if they are configured to recover from the occasional error.

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Dean Kamen takes his private island off the grid.

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New computer game prototype combines work and play to help solve a fundamental problem underlying many computer hardware design tasks.

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Aliens are stealing your beloved sheep and you've got to stop them. That's the premise for TowerMadness, a new 3D iPhone game that is one of the most cheat-resistant iPhone games available, according to its three developers, all with ties to the University of California, San Diego.

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Having outlasted all expectations of its service life, the original mercury target of the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS), the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science's record-setting neutron science facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, is being replaced for the first time.

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Fake Internet postcards circulating through e-mail inboxes worldwide are carrying links to the virus known as Zeus Bot, said Gary Warner, director of computer forensics at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). Zeus Bot has been named America's most pervasive computer Botnet virus by Network World magazine, reportedly infecting 3.6 million U.S. computers.

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Private information scattered all over the Internet and impossible to control. A new system, called Vanish, puts an expiry date on electronic text. Electronic communication sent using Vanish -- such as e-mail, Facebook posts and chat messages -- would have a brief lifetime and then self-destruct.

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A new book by an Indiana University School of Education professor takes a comprehensive look at how Web technology is changing worldwide education. "The World is Open: How Web Technology is Revolutionizing Education," published by Jossey-Bass/Wiley, was written by Curt Bonk, professor of instructional systems technology.

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By observing the global flow of news online, Cornell computer scientists have managed to track and analyze the "news cycle" "“ the way stories rise and fall in popularity.

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This is stunning new technology that gives physicians the ability to see the inside of the human body like they have been able to before, without opening up the patient. It's going to change the way surgeons prepare and perform surgery and the way radiation oncologists plan and deliver radiation treatment. Another application currently being worked on will allow physicians to superimpose the patient's image over the patient during surgery and perform said surgery. It's being used *exclusively* at The Methodist Hospital in Houston.

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The leading event for the microelectronics failure analysis community returns to San Jose to help engineers and technicians identify defects that are costing manufacturers millions of dollars in failed components, repairs and replacements.

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Drexel University's Rob D'Ovidio, assistant professor of criminal justice and director of the University's program in computer and digital forensics, is available to comment on cyber crime issues. D'Ovidio has worked with the New York City Police Department and the Philadelphia Police Department on research projects involving computer crime.

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The American Heart Association has pledged $50,000 to fund the work of University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) biomedical engineering undergraduate students who are working to develop a computer program that teaches CPR using hand-held remote controls from the Nintendo® Wii video game console.

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News organizations are reporting that about 35 government and commercial Web sites in South Korea and the United States have came under major attack in recent days. Suspected in the coordinated cyber attack is North Korea or its sympathizers. Heon Joo Jung, an Indiana University expert on Korean politics, is available to speak with the news media.

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The 2010 AANS Annual Scientific Meeting will be the first paperless meeting in the 78-year-history of the AANS, and the first paperless scientific meeting of a North American medical association to be conducted via the Apple iPod touch. Slated for May 1-5, 2010 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, the AANS is expected to host an estimated 7,000 attendees.

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An assistive technology that enables individuals to maneuver a powered wheelchair or control a mouse cursor using simple tongue movements can be operated by individuals with high-level spinal cord injuries, according to the results of a recently completed clinical trial.

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Do friends wear the same style of shoe or see the same movies because they have similar tastes, which is why they became friends in the first place? Or once a friendship is established, do individuals influence each other to adopt like behaviors?

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A Mississippi State University computer science student's research led to a FBI investigation that uncovered a computer hacker planning to jeopardize health and safety of patients at a Dallas, Texas, medical clinic.

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Cyber criminals are exploiting public interest in the death of singer Michael Jackson with spam messages that infect computers with a virus able to steal bank account numbers and passwords, according to Gary Warner, UAB's director of research in computer forensics.

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Patriotic citizens looking to the skies to enjoy Independence Day fireworks might also take a moment to reflect upon the importance of our nation's eyes in the sky, the range of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that serve such an important role in America's homeland security.

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Virginia Tech's eCorridors program and the Northwest Arctic Broadband Task Force have determined that almost 300 Alaska communities have some access to the Internet. The eCorridors group provided the back end analysis important for economic stimulus funding.

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Scientists are developing novel underwater laser networking and imaging to provide significant advantages over existing technologies to rapidly identify and communicate potential threats in murky coastal waters. When fully developed, the technology will be used onboard a group of small, co-operating underwater robots and will have extensive utility for future U.S. military operations including U.S. war fighters. Domestically, it will be used for Maritime security and environmental assessment to address some of the most critical areas in need of ocean research and technology development.

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A water-purification technology developed at Auburn University has been granted United States Environmental Protection Agency registration. This technology, when used in appropriately designed drinking water devices, could save lives in remote areas or during natural disasters.

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Researchers in the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) and the Georgia Tech School of Electrical and Computer Engineering are developing programming tools to enable engineers in the defense industry to utilize the processing power of GPUs without having to learn the complicated programming language required to use them directly.

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Nearly three-quarters of the Web sites advertised in computer spam studied by the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Spam Data Mine so far in 2009 are tied to China, according to Gary Warner, UAB's director of research in computer forensics. Warner has dubbed the trend the "spam crisis in China."

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The upcoming book "Multilingual FrameNets in Computational Lexicography", edited by ICSI alum Professor Hans C. Boas of the University of Texas, features articles contributed by several of ICSI's past and present FrameNet team.

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In a groundbreaking study, scientists at FAU have created a "hybrid" system to examine real-time interactions between humans and machines (virtual partners). By pitting human against machine, they open up the possibility of exploring and understanding a wide variety of interactions between minds and machines, and establishing the first step toward a much friendlier union of man and machine, and perhaps even creating a different kind of machine altogether.

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"What makes thunder?" "Why do frogs jump?" "What are we made of?" Those are the sorts of questions that curious children often spring on unsuspecting schoolteachers -- and that their teachers sometimes struggle to answer. To make teachers' jobs a little easier, Florida State University researchers have created GEOSET -- short for "Global Educational Outreach for Science, Engineering and Technology."

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The University of California, San Diego this week became the first public university in the nation to offer an iPhone application that provides mobile access to the latest information about its courses, faculty, athletics and even videos from the university's YouTube channel.

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The number of acute injuries associated with computers is on the rise. Over the past two decades, the number of U.S. households with at least one computer has increased. While other studies have documented chronic conditions associated with computer use such as blurred vision and back pain, no previous research has examined acute computer-related injuries. A recent study conducted by the Center for Injury Research and Policy of The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital found that from 1994-2006, the number of acute computer-related injuries increased by 732 percent, from nearly 1,300 to approximately 9,300 injuries per year.

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Full-power television stations will broadcast only digital TV signals after June 12. When that happens, consumers who have not purchased digital TVs or installed digital-to-analog converter boxes will no longer be able to receive over-the-air broadcasts. Experts at Indiana University are available to offer their perspectives.

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Cornell University computer graphics researchers use new algorithms to simulate a wide range of the sounds of water and other liquids. They will report their research at the 2009 ACM SIGGRAPH conference Aug. 3-7 in New Orleans, an international conference on computer graphics and interactive techniques.

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The unique properties of thin layers of graphite "“ known as graphene "“ make the material attractive for a wide range of potential electronic devices. Researchers have now experimentally demonstrated the potential for another graphene application: replacing copper for interconnects in future generations of integrated circuits.

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Electronic memory chips may soon gain the ability to bend and twist as a result of work by engineers at NIST, who have found a way to build a flexible memory component out of inexpensive, readily available materials.

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The popular Nintendo Wii videogame system is helping radiology students reach new levels! Faculty from Weill Cornell Medical College have coupled the motion-sensitive Wii remote with the same computers used to analyze scans, and have found that the Wii remote makes examining CT and MRI images more ergonomic, heightens the interactivity during classes, and may potentially improve the ability to interpret scans.

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Triage technology comes with a Star Trek twist, at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Science & Technology Directorate (DHS S&T).

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Today's children are coming of age immersed in video gaming, Web browsing, and instant messaging. Many have cell phones, laptops, and hand-held video games. Others have created avatars of themselves, and some are raising robot pets in virtual worlds. What impact does this technology have on children? A new journal issue explores the promises and perils ahead for children in technological environments.

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What can't the iPhone do? Thanks to some researchers, it can now count how many calories you've burned. The Walk n' Play app allows players to compete in real time with another iPhone user or against a simulator as they go about their daily walking. A free download is available in Apple's App Store.

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NIST establishing a testing program to assure that the U.S. government purchases new computers and networking products that work properly on the next-generation Internet traffic system"”known as IPv6"”while meeting standards for federal government use.