Tagged with 'science'

Cambridge scientists develop lower-than-low power WORM memory

Published: September 3, 2010

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Cambridge scientists develop lower-than-low power WORM memory thumbnail

Researchers at Cambridge University have recently published a paper on their new type of WORM (write once read many) memory which is even more low powered than the ones that came before it.


Intel’s mind reading computer could bring thought controlled interfaces to a whole new, frigthening level

Published: August 25, 2010

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Intel’s mind reading computer could bring thought controlled interfaces to a whole new, frigthening level thumbnail

Thought controlled devices are pretty primitive at this point.


Researchers use sensors to find the perfect surfboard, Gidget still looking for that perfect bikini (video)

Published: August 24, 2010

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Researchers use sensors to find the perfect surfboard, Gidget still looking for that perfect bikini (video) thumbnail

Surfing and science are something of an odd mix, but we’ve seen time and time again that the two subjects to together like, well, salt and water.


Phasma the terrifyingly adorable, six-legged insectoid bot

Published: August 20, 2010

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Phasma the terrifyingly adorable, six-legged insectoid bot thumbnail

Is it possible for something to scamper into our heart and our nightmares simultaneously ? Phasma is making a bid for that distinction.


Implantable antenna designed using silk and gold

Published: August 19, 2010

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Implantable antenna designed using silk and gold thumbnail

Silk: it’s stronger than Kevlar, thinner than a human hair, it’s biocompatible (it doesn’t trigger human immune system response), and it’s produced by insects (although some new-fangled metabolically engineered bacteria seem to be up to the task). Researchers at Tufts University have created a silk and gold biosensor that can be implanted in the body to keep tabs on proteins and chemicals.


Toshiba demonstrates successful BPR HDD, is 2.5Tb per inch a platter’s last stand?

Published: August 18, 2010

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Toshiba demonstrates successful BPR HDD, is 2.5Tb per inch a platter’s last stand? thumbnail

We’ll be honest: we thought SSDs would suck down most of platter-based storage’s milkshake by now — that magnetic disks would follow tapes into obscurity. Alas, SSDs are still niche items, and Toshiba is doing all it can to keep them that way, demonstrating a successful prototype of a new storage technique called bit-pattern recording that currently generates a storage density of 2.5Tb per square inch. That’s about five times more dense than the company’s current offerings, achieved by placing individual bits onto lithographed “islands” of magnetic material


Prototype of robot that develops emotions on interacting with humans officially complete

Published: August 14, 2010

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Prototype of robot that develops emotions on interacting with humans officially complete thumbnail

The first prototype of a Nao robot that can develop emotions as it interacts with a human caregiver has been completed. A team across Europe was led by Dr. Lola Cañamero of the University of Herefordshire in the UK to develop the bot, which differs in several significant ways from those that came before it .


Purdue’s ’self-calibrating’ MEMS could produce the most accurate sensors yet

Published: August 12, 2010

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Purdue’s ’self-calibrating’ MEMS could produce the most accurate sensors yet thumbnail

Micro electromechanical systems, or MEMS , aren’t anything new.


University of Calgary succeeds in building a neurochip out of silicon, human brain cells

Published: August 10, 2010

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University of Calgary succeeds in building a neurochip out of silicon, human brain cells thumbnail

Scientists at the University of Calgary have teamed up with the National Research Council Canada to put a network of human brain cells on a microchip — in effect creating a (tiny) brain on a chip. Until now, when scientists wanted to monitor brain cells, they could only monitor one or two simultaneously, but with this new neurochip , large groups of cells can be placed on the chip and observed in detail, as they go about their business “networking and performing automatic, large-scale drug screening for various brain dysfunctions,” according to PhysOrg . But that’s just the beginning! This sort of advance could someday lead to neurochip implants for driving artificial limbs, treatments for strokes and brain trauma, and more.


Artificial bee eye gives diminutive robotic air drones wider range of vision

Published: August 9, 2010

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Artificial bee eye gives diminutive robotic air drones wider range of vision thumbnail

We’d bother telling you up front that it also gives them a new sense of purpose, but you’re already versed in how the impending Robot Apocalypse is going to go down. Wolfgang Stürzl and his best buds over at Bielefeld University in Germany have just published a report detailing how an artificial bee eye could improve the vision of miniature robots — ones that fly , in particular. By using a catadioptric imaging system, which captures an image using both mirrors and lenses, they were able to utilize a single camera to capture a full 280-degrees of vision, and a lowly internal computer is able to stitch the two panes together in order to create a usable image that humans can interpret.


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