Enter the Matrix, the first commercial video game based on the world and characters of The Matrix, represents the closest collaboration so far between moviemaking and game production.
“There are scenes that start in the video game and will complete the movie,” Joel Silver, the films’ producer, noting that the game was conceived to “feel like it’s a part and experience of the movie.” Some of the plot lines… read more
Participants debated stem cell research and examined the genomics revolution, the anti-evolutionary fervor and the promise of nanotechnology in medicine on the first day of TIME’s “The Future of Life” conference, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the discovery of DNA.
Robots are helping kids who are hospitalized for long periods by trauma or chronic illness keep up with school.
One goes to school in the absent child’s place. Another in the hospital transmits an image of the child’s face to the classroom. The child can direct the school robot to raise its hand to ask a question or swivel its head to follow the teacher.
The Future Dances on a Pin’s Head, a commentary by Julia A. Moore, Wilson Center Public Policy Scholar, subtitled “Nanotechnology: Will it be a boon — or kill us all?” dated November 26, 2002, argues for setting aside a portion of nanotechnology funding to investigate the implications of the technology.
NEC and Japanese government-funded research group RIKEN said they had successfully created a state of quantum entanglement between two solid-state qubits for the first time. This breakthrough could bring quantum computers a step closer.
News tip: Darryl Caldwell
The first three-dimensional global map of the protein structure universe has been created by researchers with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the University of California at Berkeley. It provides important insight into the evolution and demographics of protein structures and may help scientists identify the functions of newly discovered proteins.
A contest for dominance in space pits biology and brains against circuits and chips.
Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have developed computerized atlases and associated tools for visualizing and analyzing the brain.
The 3-D maps outline structural and functional areas in the cerebral cortex and the cerebellar cortex.
Detailed maps such as these will help physicians better understand the implications of brain damage due to stroke, epilepsy, trauma and other causes, and will help guide neurosurgeons in… read more
Searching for sudden “bursts” in the usage of particular words could be used to rapidly identify new trends and spot problems, according to Jon Kleinberg of Cornell University, who has developed algorithms that identify bursts of word use in documents.
Researchers will unveil the most complete version of the human genome to date at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in May.
DARPA is seeking digital analysis and artificial intelligence technology that may enable analysts to track terrorists’ financial transactions and communications.
Robots could be based on adaptive animals like octopi and could use new electroactive polymers that emulate muscle tissue. These could lead to more realistic and capable robots.
The scientists spoke at a symposium on “biologically inspired intelligent robots” at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
The new K-bot robot can express a full repertoire of human facial expressions and could be a useful tool for scientists researching AI.
She has 28 facial movements, including smiling, sneering, furrowing her brow and arching her eyebrows. She also has cameras in her eyes to recognize and respond to humans.
K-bot is the creation of David Hanson, a former Disney employee now working at the University of… read more
Americans say they’re more anxious than ever. Scientific research about how our brains and bodies process fear can teach us how to live with long-term stress.
Agent-based modeling is a new tool to look for elementary principles of self-organization that might shed new light on long-standing puzzles about how humans interact, according to sociologist Michael Macy of Cornell University, speaking at the Feb. 14 at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.