Feature Channels: Technology

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Researchers make secure bidding possible by using the properties of the quantum world

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In its tenth annual January special issue, IEEE Spectrum looks at technology initiatives that will make news in the coming year.

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A new device about the size of a business card could allow health care providers to test for insulin and other blood proteins, cholesterol, and even signs of viral or bacterial infection all at the same time—with one drop of blood.

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Computer scientists at the University of California, San Diego have built a small fleet of portable pollution sensors that allow users to monitor air quality in real time on their smart phones. The sensors could be particularly useful to people suffering from chronic conditions, such as asthma, who need to avoid exposure to pollutants.

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NCAR has developed a prototype system to help flights avoid major storms as they travel over remote ocean regions. The 8-hour forecasts of potentially dangerous atmospheric conditions are designed for pilots, air traffic controllers, and others involved in flights over remote ocean regions where limited weather information is available.

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Researchers at Georgia Tech are trying to open the world of tablets to children whose limited mobility makes it difficult for them to perform the common pinch and swipe gestures required to control the devices. They have cave created Access4Kids, a wireless input device that uses a sensor system to translate physical movements into fine-motor gestures to control a tablet.

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A decade ago, a British philosopher put forth the possibility that our universe might be a computer simulation run by our descendants. Now, a team of physicists at the University of Washington has come up with a potential test to see if the idea holds water.

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Even in the age of social media, the closer you live to another persons, the more likely you are to be friends with them, according to a study that drew on data from the location-based social network provider Gowalla.

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How unsafe are mobile browsers? Unsafe enough that even cyber-security experts are unable to detect when their smartphone browsers have landed on potentially dangerous websites, according to a recent Georgia Tech study.

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Using deceptive behavioral patterns of squirrels and birds, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed robots that are able to deceive each other. The research is funded by the Office of Naval Research and is led by Professor Ronald Arkin, who suggests the applications could be implemented by the military in the future.

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New digital technologies could put over-the-air TV back in vogue.

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Wearable biometric sensors can help lift workers' spirits and create more effective teams.

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Bringing live sporting events to the home television in 3-D is one of the most interesting technical challenges facing TV production today.

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Can a string of cars follow a lead vehicle driven by a professional?

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For work toward a safer approach to treating cancer, electrical engineering Ph.D. student Inanc Ortac from the University of California, San Diego has won first prize in the graduate student category at the 2012 Collegiate Inventors Competition.

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Electrical engineers at Oregon State University have developed new technology to monitor medical vital signs, with sophisticated sensors so small and cheap they could fit onto a bandage, be manufactured in high volumes and cost less than a quarter.

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Not only is Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Titan the world’s most powerful supercomputer, it is also one of the most energy-efficient.

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University of Adelaide computer scientists are leading a project to develop novel sensor systems to help older people keep living independently and safely in their own homes.

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Schools should embrace technology and encourage students to bring their own computing devices, whether it’s a smartphone, tablet or a laptop, according to one Indiana State University professional.

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The Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory is again home to the most powerful computer in the world, according to the Top500 list, a semiannual ranking of computing systems around the world.

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Mobile phone monitoring in people with rheumatoid arthritis increases the likelihood that people with the disease will follow treatment, according to research presented this week at the American College of Rheumatology Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C.

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University of Virginia computer science graduate student Shahriar Nirjon has developed a “Musical Heart” biofeedback-based system that unites wellness and entertainment.

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Surprising findings could influence material choices in nanoelectronics.

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Binghamton University researcher Ron Miles invented a tiny directional microphone — suitable for use in hearing aids — that filters out unwanted sounds. Now, with help from the SUNY Technology Accelerator Fund, he hopes to bring the idea to the marketplace.

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Jeremy Olson, a student at UNC Charlotte’s College of Computing and Informatics (CCI), and his mobile app design company, Tapity, have hit another homerun with its newest app, Languages. Following on the successful release of Grades 2, the company’s inaugural app, Languages has climbed to the fifth-highest selling app in Apple’s App Store, only a day after being released.

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Computational medicine, a fast-growing method of using computer models and sophisticated software to figure out how disease develops -- and how to thwart it -- has begun to leap off the drawing board and land in the hands of doctors who treat patients for heart ailments, cancer and other illnesses.

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Researchers in Drexel's iSchool-College of Information Science and Technology have created software that helps them capture and analyze the steady flow of data generated on Twitter.

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As of 2010, more than a third of all utility meters in the United States used wireless automatic meter reading (AMR) technology – 47 million in all. They make it a lot easier for the utility company to gather data on electricity, natural gas and water usage. But as a University of South Carolina research team has shown, it’s possible for their unencrypted broadcasts to be intercepted, giving a sophisticated eavesdropper a window into household activities.

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Supercomputer combines gaming and traditional computing technologies to provide unprecedented power for research.

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A new study shows that jumping can be more complicated than it might seem. In research that could extend the range of future rescue and exploration robots, scientists have found that hopping robots could dramatically reduce the amount of energy they use by adopting a unique two-part “stutter jump.”

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Robots have the potential to help older adults with daily activities that can become more challenging with age. But are people willing to use and accept the new technology? A study by the Georgia Institute of Technology indicates the answer is yes, unless the tasks involve personal care or social activities.

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A new study from the University of Washington shows that digital media helps teens reach developmental milestones, such as fostering a sense of belonging and sharing personal problems. But the study also raised questions about whether digital connectedness might hinder the development of an autonomous sense of self.

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A technology developed at North Dakota State University, Fargo, creates performance- driven biocomposite materials by incorporating agricultural by-products into plastics for a wide range of engineering applications. The technology also has led to a new start-up company set to serve a spectrum of markets. c2renew corp., a start-up company based in Colfax, N.D., announced today that it has concluded a license agreement with the NDSU Research Foundation (NDSU/RF) for the green technology.

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A Georgia Tech research team has received a grant from the Office of Naval Research to work on a project that intends to teach robots how to use objects in their environment to accomplish high-level tasks.

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What kinds of gear will be needed by future firefighters, EMTs, and cops? Yogi Berra once said, “It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future,” but to find out, Homeland Security asked their think tank to gather and ask the experts.

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The latest DNA sequencing technology is burying researchers in trillions of bytes of data. Iowa State's Srinivas Aluru is leading an effort to develop high performance computing tools that will help researchers analyze all that data.

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NSF and NIH is announcing eight awards in new big data fundamental research project, one of which is a $2 million grant to Iowa State, Virginia Tech, and Stanford University to develop high-performance computing techniques on massively parallel heterogeneous computing resources for large-scale data analytics.

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Virginia Tech researchers extracted 1,396 incidents of rear-end collisions from a national database and looked at them on a case-by-case basis to determine whether the intelligent vehicle systems being studied would have been called into play and, if so, how they would have helped. The research showed that 7.7 percent of crashes would be prevented by use of all three systems – warning, assisted braking, and autonomous braking.

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As part of ongoing research to help prevent and mitigate disruptions to computer networks on the Internet, researchers at Sandia National Laboratories in California have turned their attention to smartphones and other hand-held computing devices.

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A new program that provides nascent software companies with start-up funds, work space, mentoring and business strategy support, was launched today by the University of Toronto and commercialization partner MaRS Innovation, with support from the MaRS Discovery District.

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Students at UCSF have just begun studies in a new, state-of-the-art anatomy learning center equipped with interactive iPad textbooks, giant video displays and roving cameras that will allow them to observe, discover and come to understand, in a new way, the complex architecture of the human body.

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Using a novel method of integrating video technology and familiar control devices, a research team from Georgia Tech and the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) is developing a technique to simplify remote control of robotic devices.

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An iPhone and specially-designed image analysis app is able to diagnose and manage the treatment of hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism, according to new data presented at the 82nd Annual Meeting of the American Thyroid Association (ATA) in Québec City, Québec, Canada.

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UT Dallas computer scientists have developed a technique to automatically allow one computer in a virtual network to monitor another for intrusions, viruses or other kinds of threats.

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For constricted and hard-to-reach underwater places where inspection and security is necessary, Homeland Security's BIOSwimmer™ is the perfect fish.

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Two Dalhousie University students from different disciplines come together to design a unique marine-tracking device. The device will collect data by being attached to a fish's tail. By using this technology, which can track up to 500 tail-movements per second, researchers hope to discover more about how a fish's movement relates to its behaviour and growth rate.

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UAHuntsville students are working to develop micro-UAVs that could provide low-cost surveillance while enhancing the variety of uses for these UAVs. The U.S. Army’s Aviation and Missile Research and Development Center on Redstone Arsenal provided the original program funding.

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A new program at the UCLA Center for Inflammatory Bowel Diseases is using an Apple iPad to help monitor patient care 24/7. In one of the first programs of its kind for inflammatory bowel disease, patients, doctors and specialized nurses at UCLA are all using the wireless devices to help track patients' symptoms and care and to communicate with each other in real-time about disease management.

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Hard coating extends the life of new ultrahigh-density storage device.