The first commercially licensed grid-connected wave-energy device in the nation, designed by Ocean Power Technologies, is in its final weeks of testing before a planned launch in October, The New York Times reports.
Last month, the Northwest National Marine Renewable Energy Center in Oregon — financed by the United States Department of Energy in collaboration with Oregon State University and the… read more
A new book, Visual Strategies, by Felice C. Frankel and Angela H. DePace is “a guide to graphics for scientists and engineers, but it will be useful for anyone who wants to make clear presentations of data of any kind, The New York Times reports.
The book offers general guidelines, with illustrative graphics, and many real-life case studies. The authors show how they… read more
Seismologists using Twitter to detect tremors say the social network beat their own advanced equipment in spotting a 7.6 earthquake on Friday off the Philippines, Sky News reports.
The system, called Twitter Earthquake Detection (Ted), which gathers real-time, earthquake-related Twitter messages, is being used as an early-warning system by the US Geological Survey (USGS) to quickly gather information about earthquakes around the globe.
It takes into account place and time,… read more
Can we trust data from anonymous, unpaid volunteers on the Web as a source of data for psychology experiments? Yes, according to new research conducted by Harvard scientists
By conducting experiments online, researchers have been able to enlist as many as 65,000 volunteers to take part in studies of cognition, a number far larger than they could bring into the lab.
Despite the cost and time advantages,… read more
Bionic Vision Australia researchers have successfully performed the first implantation of an early prototype bionic eye with 24 electrodes.
Dianne Ashworth has profound vision loss due to retinitis pigmentosa, an inherited condition. She has now received what she calls a “pre-bionic eye” implant that enables her to experience some vision.
Her implant was switched on last month at the Bionics Institute, while researchers held their breaths in… read more
Scientists at the University of Liverpool are leading a £1.65 million project to produce and test the first nanomedicines for treating HIV/AIDS.
The research project, funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), aims to produce cheaper, more effective medicines that have fewer side effects and are easier to give to newborns and children.
The new therapy options were generated by modifying… read more
Collaborating with Greg Abrams of Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC), Sally Dodson-Robinson and her team of researches at the University of Texas at Austin have developed advanced simulations to visualize how planets are formed over a timescale of millions of years.
They are modeling and simulating prototypical disks, and comparing the results to the Earth and the planets of our own solar system. The considerable computation involved was… read more
“After experiencing drastic changes in my environment, I looked for other experiences that might profoundly affect my perception of the self. So I devised another experiment where everyday I took a different drug and drew myself under the influence.
“Within weeks I became lethargic and suffered mild brain damage. I am still conducting this experiment but over greater lapses of time. I only take drugs that are given… read more
“Information overload” may be an exaggerated way to describe today’s always-on media environment.
Actually, very few Americans seem to feel overwhelmed by the volume of news and information at their fingertips and on their screens, according to a new Northwestern University study.
A 2010 article in The New York Times featured a family of technology users framed as if they were addicts, unable to live… read more
Ill Gotten Games‘ Pocket Tactics is the first open-source miniatures game designed to be manufactured on a 3D printer, Wired Design reports.
Consisting of character figurines, tiles, and dice, the pieces can be downloaded from Thingiverse and printed on a MakerBot. A complete set of parts takes several hours to extrude, but games can be played in just over 20 minutes.
The use of… read more
As companies like Amazon, Google and Microsoft sell computing everywhere, the most dramatic changes may be in places most of us do not now see. Already, places without clean water, decent sanitation or steady electricity are using supercomputers, according to The New York Times Bits.
Unlike the developed world, where speed, agility and cost are factors that make Amazon Web Services attractive,… read more
Catching up with Nevada, it will be legal for autonomous cars to drive in California, probably within the next five years, if Gov. Brown signs SB 1298, just passed by the California Senate, the San Jose Mercury reports.
The bill charges the DMV by January 2015 with determining standards for vehicles and rules.
Automakers would have to get their vehicles approved by the state, and then licensed… read more
Many robotic designs take nature as their muse: sticking to walls like geckos, swimming through water like tuna, sprinting across terrain like cheetahs. Such designs borrow properties from nature, using engineered materials and hardware to mimic animals’ behavior.
Scientists at MIT and the University of Pennsylvania have genetically engineered muscle cells to flex in response to light, and are using the light-sensitive tissue to build… read more
The strength of communication between the left and right hemispheres of the brain predicts performance on basic arithmetic problems, a new study by researchers at UT Dallas’ Center for Vital Longevity, Duke University, and the University of Michigan has found.
The findings shed light on the neural basis of human math abilities and suggest a possible route to aiding those who suffer from dyscalculia — an… read more
The human clock struggles to stay in tune with the irregular meal, sleep and work schedules of the developed world, which might influence health and even cause obesity, says Dr. Cathy Wyse, working in the chronobiology research group at the University of Aberdeen.
Circadian desynchrony
Daily or “circadian” rhythms including the sleep wake cycle, and rhythms in hormone release are controlled by a molecular clock that is… read more