Science and Enterprise

Tag: computer science

  • Consortium to Examine Digital Games Social, Health Benefits

    A consortium of academic researchers and digital game developers in the U.K. are studying ways to harness the creative energy in digital games for social and health goals. The £1.2 million ($US 1.86 million) project is funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and Economic and Social Research Council, both science funding agencies…

  • Tiny, Winged Manueverable Robotic Insects Created, Tested

    Engineers at Harvard University in Massachusetts developed robotic insects with flapping wings, using a microfabrication process that makes it possible to produce these devices in large numbers. The team from Harvard’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, led by engineering professor Robert Wood, published its findings in this…

  • Insect Eyes Inspire Multiple Digital Camera Lens Design

    Engineers at University of Illinois in Urbana designed a new type of digital camera lens based on the multiple-lens design found in the eyes of bees and dragonflies. The team led by Illinois engineering professor John Rogers, with colleagues from the U.S., Korea, Singapore, and China published their findings in this week’s issue of the…

  • Synthetic Biology Census Shows Company Growth, Consolidation

    A census of organizations, agencies, and companies involved in synthetic biology shows rapid growth of the field in the past four years, but also some retrenchment, particularly in the private sector. The study was conducted by the Synthetic Biology Project, an initiative of Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C. The Wilson Center…

  • Shape-Changing Capability Developed for Mobile Devices

    Computer scientists at University of Bristol in the U.K. developed the ability for mobile devices made with flexible materials to change their shape to better fit their uses at the moment. The team from Bristol’s Interaction and Graphics lab is scheduled today to present a paper on what they call Morphees at the ACM SIGCHI…

  • System Creates Ad Hoc Touch-Based Interfaces on Surfaces

    Computer scientists at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh developed a system that can project images to control computer devices on everyday surfaces almost at will. The team of doctoral candidates Robert Xiao and Chris Harrison, with professor Scott Hudson, will discuss their WorldKit system next week at the ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in…

  • Lab-On-A-Chip Diagnoses Multiple Tropical Diseases

    The Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore’s main science funding agency, and Singapore clinical chip manufacturer Veredus Laboratories unveiled a new automated lab-on-a-chip device that can diagnose 13 tropical diseases from a single blood sample. Veredus is a subsidiary of STMicroelectronics specializing in medical diagnostics. The partnership between A*Star and Veredus that developed…

  • Oregon Health, Intel Partner on Genome Analysis Computing

    Oregon Health and Science University in Portland and Intel Corporation are developing new computing technologies to increase the speed and precision of analyzing a patient’s genome, while reducing their time and cost. Financial aspects of the multi-year collaboration were not disclosed. The agreement calls for engineers and scientists from Oregon Health and Intel to develop…

  • Low Cost Soft-Touch Robotic Sensor Circuits Commercialized

    Computer scientists at Harvard University developed and are taking to market circuits for robotic devices and potentially other electronic products that can sense the slightest application of pressure. The team led by Ph.D. candidate Leif Jentoft and postdoctoral fellow Yaroslav Tenzer in Harvard’s Biorobotics Laboratory started a company to commercialize the technology, and are licensing…

  • Venture Funding Declines in Q1, Health Companies Buck Trend

    Venture capital funding in the U.S. declined in the first quarter of 2013, continuing a trend begun in 2011, but companies in the health care sector, particularly those based on scientific discovery, played a prominent role in the quarter’s venture transactions. VentureSource, a service of financial publishers Dow Jones, released the first quarter data today.…