Science and Enterprise

Tag: computer science

  • Oracle Unveils Internet-Based Clinical Trial Services

    The global software company Oracle has revealed two new Internet cloud-based services aimed at improving clinical trial design and recruitment. The services are expected to be announced today at DIA 2012, a medical products industry meeting in Philadelphia. Oracle says the two applications — Health Sciences Protocol Validator and Health Sciences Patient Recruiter — will…

  • Software Developed that Amplifies Video Frame Variations

    Computer scientists at Massachusetts Institute of Technology have written software that amplifies variations in successive frames of video that are imperceptible to the naked eye. The team of graduate students, alumni, and faculty from MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory will discuss their software in August at the next Siggraph conference in Los Angeles.…

  • Mobile Data Help Predict Displaced Populations in Haiti

    Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden used data from a mobile phone company in Haiti to devise a system to predict population displacements when disaster strikes. Their findings appear online in in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (paid subscription required), and formed the basis of a service to help relief…

  • Carnegie Mellon Spin-Off Gets Transportation SBIR Funding

    A company formed by developers of a smartphone program that tracks real-time bus or light rail locations and seating has received a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant to commercialize the app. Tiramisu Transit LLC, a spin-off company formed by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, received the $102,000 award from the U.S. Department…

  • Venture Fund to Invest $442M in Europe, U.S. Start-Ups

    The venture capital company Index Ventures, based in London, unveiled a €350 million ($442 million) fund to invest largely in start-up technology companies. The company expects to focus its new investments on European enterprises, but include start-ups in the U.S. and Israel as well. Index Ventures plans to concentrate on seed and early-stage investments in…

  • Companies, University Team-Up on Drug Side Effects Model

    Researchers at University of California in San Francisco, with colleagues from San Francisco start-up SeaChange Pharmaceuticals and the drug company Novartis, have devised a computer model that predicts adverse reactions to drug compounds, based on the chemistry of the drugs and known molecular causes of side effects. The team’s findings appear online in the journal…

  • Robotic-Guided Brain Surgery Performed

    Mazor Robotics Ltd. in Caesarea, Israel says it completed three robot-guided brain surgical procedures with its technology. The nature of the procedures was not disclosed. The procedures were performed by neurosurgeons In-Se Kim and Robert Schönmayr at Horst Schmidt Kliniken in Wiesbaden, Germany. Mazor Robotics is a developer of robotics for spinal surgery, often involving…

  • Small-Scale Surveillance/Emergency Robot Developed

    ReconRobotics Inc. in Edina, Minnesota has unveiled a compact and lightweight robotic device for military, police, and emergency-response applications. The company plans to demonstrate the Throwbot XT Reconnaissance Robot at the Eurosatory defense and security exhibition, 11-14 June in Paris. The Throwbot is designed to be physically thrown into harm’s way by military, police, and…

  • New Data Encoding Method Cuts Energy for Memory Cards

    Engineers and computer scientists at Rice University in Houston and University of California in Los Angeles have discovered a way to write data on computer memory cards that cuts the energy needed for the task by 30 percent. The team from Rice’s Adaptive Computing and Embedded Systems Laboratory, led by Ph.D. student Azalia Mirhoseini (pictured…

  • IVF Assessment Company Lands $18M in Venture Capital

    Auxogyn Inc., in Menlo Park, California, a developer of viability tests of embryos during in vitro fertilization (IVF) procedures, has raised $18 million in series B venture funds, the second round of financing after initial start-up. The financing was led by new investor SR One — the corporate venture capital arm of GlaxoSmithKline — and…