Science and Enterprise

Tag: computer science

  • Agencies Use Robotics to Test Chemicals for Toxicity

    National Institutes of Health (NIH) today unveiled a new robotic screening system that will test 10,000 different chemicals for potential toxicity. The system is a result of a collaboration among several federal agencies known as Tox21. The  system is located at NIH’s Chemical Genomics Center in Rockville, Maryland. Tox21 is a joint effort started in…

  • Positive Responses Recorded to Contact with Robotic Nurse

    In an early study, engineers at Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta found people generally had a positive response to being touched by a robotic nurse, but their perception of the robot’s intent made a significant difference in the way they responded. The team’s results are being presented at the Human-Robot Interaction Conference underway in…

  • Cheap, Disposable Endoscope Microcamera Developed

    Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Reliability and Microintegration (IZM) in Berlin and sensor manufacturer Awaiba GmbH in Nuremberg, Germany have developed a microcamera for endoscopes that provides sharp images, but can be made cheaply enough to be disposable. Endoscopes are instruments to examine the interior of body cavities and organs, and have made possible…

  • Ultrasound System Developed for Submarine Data, Power

    An engineering doctoral student at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York has developed a new system using ultrasound to transmit large quantities of data and power wirelessly through thick metal walls, like the hulls of ships and submarines. The system built and demonstrated by Tristan Lawry (pictured right) is one of three finalists for…

  • Profs Develop, Patent Device to Encourage Senior Exercise

    Nursing and engineering faculty at University of Rhode Island in Kingston developed a device to send friendly reminders to older people that they need to get more exercise. In November, the university patented this system that analyzes activity levels of senior citizens and generates audio reminder messages in familiar voices. The original idea for the…

  • Online Cancer Genomics Tool for Clinicians Unveiled

    Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center (VICC) in Nashville, Tennessee has launched a cancer decision-support tool to help physicians track the latest developments in personalized cancer medicine and find clinical research trials for their patients. The online service called My Cancer Genome (MyCancerGenome.org) is part of VICC’s Personalized Cancer Medicine Initiative, started last year. The Web-accessible database is…

  • Improved Methods Match Suspect Sketches to Mugshots

    A computer science/engineering team at Michigan State University in East Lansing has developed a set of algorithms and created software that automatically match hand-drawn facial sketches to mug shots stored in law enforcement databases. Their findings appear in the March 2011 issue of the journal IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence (paid subscription…

  • iPhone App to Test Brain Training in Older Adults

    Researchers at Queen’s University Belfast, in Northern Ireland, U.K.  are studying the value of brain training exercises for older adults with a prototype iPhone application to collect data and test the concept on live users. The Brain Jog app for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch is available as a free download from Apple’s iTunes…

  • Federal, Corporate Grants to Fund Manufacturing Technology

    A new public-private partnership will deliver $4.5 million in grant funding to help small- and medium-sized manufacturers in the U.S. Midwest make better use of advanced digital technology. The grants include $2 million from the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) and $2.5 million from private-sector, state, and institutional partners. The partners providing the $2.5 million…

  • NIST Offers Updated Materials Stress-Simulation Software

    Computer scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Gaithersburg, Maryland have improved its software for materials engineers to calculate the impact of stress on the internal structure of materials. The Object-Oriented Finite (OOF) element analysis software is available as a free download that runs on Unix systems or derivatives, such as…