Tag: software
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Challenge Seeks Smartphone GPS Jamming Detector
A new challenge on InnoCentive asks for a method of detecting GPS signal jamming devices using smartphones. The competiton (free registration required) has an award of $20,000 and a deadline of 3 January 2013. InnoCentive in Waltham, Massachusetts conducts open-innovation, crowd-sourcing competitions for corporate and organization sponsors. Global Positioning System (GPS) signals can be drowned…
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Mobile Phones Enhanced to Transmit Emphasis, Emotions
Computer scientists at University of Helsinki in Finland developed enhancements to mobile phones that enable callers to express their emotions during calls through tactile sensory devices. A team led by postdoctoral researcher Eve Hoggan in Helsinki’s Institute of Information Technology described the technology they call ForcePhone at ACM’s User Interface Software and Technology symposium in…
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Public Domain Name Services Found Slowing Web Performance
Computer scientists at Northwestern University in Illinois found the global trend toward public domain name systems (DNSs) — to look up Internet addresses before making connections — is slowing down the Web for many visitors. A team led by Northwestern computer science professor Fabián Bustamante (pictured left) will discuss these findings at the ACM Internet…
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Online Prostate Cancer Patient Tracking Database Launches
An online database to help men track the progression of their prostate cancer started yesterday to help patients avoid complications from overtreatment. The new program is part of the National Proactive Surveillance Network, a joint project of the Prostate Cancer Foundation, Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore, and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. The database…
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Robotic Programming Language Devised for Bio Labs
Researchers at the Joint BioEnergy Institute of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California created a programming language for robotic devices in biology labs. The high-level language called PaR-PaR — short for Programming a Robot — is described this month in the journal ACS Synthetic Biology. Par-Par is written to help train robotic devices perform repetitive…
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3-D, Low-Radiation Breast Cancer Imaging Technique Developed
Physicists and radiologists in the U.S. and Europe developed a new method for producing three-dimensional images of breast tissue with a lower dose of radiation than a mammogram. The team from University of California in Los Angeles, Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich and Garching, Germany, and European Synchrotron Radiation Facility in Grenoble, France describe their…
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Checklist System Helps Cut Hospital Blood Clot Cases
Johns Hopkins University medical center in Baltimore reports a computerized checklist system helped prescribe appropriate preventive treatments and reduce the number of blood clots in hospitalized trauma patients. The findings from the project are described in this month’s issue of the journal Archives of Surgery (paid subscription required). The hospital installed a computerized checklist system…
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Model Computes Genetic Test, Family History Predictive Value
Researchers at the genetic testing company 23andMe in Mountain View, California devised a mathematical model that shows the relative value of personal family history and genetic tests in assessing risk of contracting various conditions and disorders. The results of their research appear in the journal PLOS Genetics. The study aimed to compare family health histories…
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Resourceful Robot for High-Level Tasks in Development
A research team at Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta is building a robot with the ability to use objects in its environment to accomplish high-level tasks. The three-year project, being led by computer scientist Mike Stilman, is funded by a $900,000 grant from the U.S. Office of Naval Research. “We want to understand the…
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Faster Whole Genome Sequencing Developed for Infants
A team led by researchers at Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri reported on the first use of a two-day whole-genome sequencing technique for diagnosing genetic diseases in infants. The team that included researchers from University of Missouri-Kansas City, University of Kansas, and Illumnia Inc. in the U.K. described the process in this week’s…