Science and Enterprise

Tag: mathematics

  • Model, Software Find Minerals in Mountain Ranges

    A geophysicist at Tel Aviv University in Israel has developed modeling techniques and associated software for discovering minerals in mountain ranges, which are difficult to survey for mining opportunities. Lev Eppelbaum, a professor in the university’s geophysics and planetary sciences department, presented his methods in a paper at a meeting of the European Geosciences Union…

  • Network Model IDs Airports Most Likely to Spread Disease

    Engineers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology have built a mathematical model that identifies the U.S. airports most likely to influence the spread of disease early in an epidemic. The findings of the team from MIT’s civil and environmental engineering department are found in the online journal PLoS One. The use of network models to track…

  • Grant to Fund On-Board Systems Extending Electric Car Range

    University of California in Riverside has received a one-year $95,000 grant from the California Energy Commission to develop algorithms that find the route requiring the least amount of energy for an electric car’s trip. The research will be done by the Center for Environmental Research and Technology, part of the university’s Bourns College of Engineering.…

  • Algorithms Devised to Aid Inspections of Mines on Ship Hulls

    Engineers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology have written algorithms that help underwater robots inspect the hulls of ships for mines as small as an iPod. The findings of mechanical engineering professor Franz Hover and Ph.D. candidate Brendan Englot will appear in a future issue of International Journal of Robotics Research. The algorithms help guide a…

  • Challenge Seeks Algorithm to Predict ALS Progression

    A new challenge competition seeks mathematical tools to predict the progression of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or Lou Gehrig’s disease based on the patient’s current disease status. The competition, handled through the open innovation company InnoCentive, has a prize of $25,000 and a deadline of 15 October 2012. ALS, which affects 5 out of every…

  • Engineers Develop Robotic Driver-Assist Safety System

    Researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology have devised a semiautonomous safety system using robotics to help cars and drivers avoid accidents. Sterling Anderson, a PhD candidate in mechanical engineering and Robotic Mobility Group researcher Karl Iagnemma presented their findings last month at the IEEE Intelligent Vehicles Symposium in Madrid, Spain (paid download required). The system…

  • Smart Headlights Help Drivers See Better in the Rain

    Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University’s Robotics Institute in Pittsburgh have devised a new type of car headlight that is better able to illuminate the road ahead in rain or snow. The team led by computer scientist Srinivasa Narasimhan (pictured left) says lab tests have demonstrated the feasiblity of the new headlight. The system works by…

  • Intel Corp. to Fund Social Computing Research Center

    Intel Corporation in Santa Clara, California will support a new research center on social computing, hosted by University of California at Irvine. The $12.5 million project is the seventh of the company’s Intel Science and Technology Centers (ISTCs) and includes partnerships with researchers at Cornell University, Georgia Tech, Indiana University, and New York University. ISTC-Social…

  • Report: Foreign Scientists Key to U.S. Innovation, Patents

    A new report on the impact of immigration on innovation in the U.S. says researchers from overseas account for a large majority of the patents granted to inventors from top research universities, particularly in high-growth science and engineering fields. The report, “Patent Pending: How Immigrants Are Reinventing The American Economy,” was prepared by the Partnership…

  • 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…