Computer Science

ScienceDaily: Computer Science News

  • Can't place that face?
    Researchers are trying to understand the mechanisms at work in the face area of the brain called the"fusiform gyrus"by combining cognitive psychology with techniques like brain imaging and electrophysiology. This research may help business executives better match names with faces, and can lead to better facial recognition software to identify terrorists or criminals.
  • Talking touchscreens aid patients
    Multimedia talking touchscreens, housed in computer kiosks at clinics and hospitals, are helping researchers and clinicians at local health care centers enhance patient-centered care for patients with diverse language, literacy and computer skills.
  • Computer game helps nurses master drug calculations
    Drug calculations is a very hard course for many nursing students. A specially made computer game, developed in Norway, is set to help them pass a vitally important exam.
  • Data sorting world record falls: Computer scientists break terabyte sort barrier in 60 seconds
    Computer scientists from the University of California, San Diego broke"the terabyte barrier"-- and a world record -- when they sorted more than one terabyte of data (1,000 gigabytes or 1 million megabytes) in just 60 seconds. During this 2010"Sort Benchmark"competition -- the"World Cup of data sorting"-- the computer scientists from the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering also tied a world record for fastest data sorting rate.
  • Who gives a tweet? Nuanced feedback for microbloggers
    Researchers are launching a study to understand what aspects of Twitter content are considered valuable, and how that impacts presentation and perception of online identity.
  • Invention enables people with disabilities communicate and steer a wheelchair by sniffing
    Neurobiologists and electrical engineers have invented a new technology that lets the severely disabled communicate or steer a wheelchair by sniffing. Sniffing is a precise motor skill that is controlled, in part, by the soft palate -- the flexible divider that moves to direct air in or out through the mouth or nose.
  • More accurate than Heisenberg allows? Uncertainty in the presence of a quantum memory
    Quantum cryptography is the safest way to encrypt data. It utilizes the fact that transmitted information can only be measured with a strictly limited degree of precision. Scientists have now discovered how the use of a quantum memory affects this uncertainty.
  • Radical new computer memory? Emergent resistance network suggests mechanism for colossal magnetoresistance
    Research has revealed new clues on the microscopic processes by which resistance in certain materials is dramatically altered by the presence of magnetic fields. The discovery provides fundamental insights toward the development of radically new memory and switching devices.
  • Position-based quantum cryptography: New method for securing location-sensitive data
    Computer scientists have proved that cryptography, the practice and study of hiding information, based solely on location is possible by using quantum mechanics. This allows one to encrypt and decrypt data without pre-sharing any cryptographic keys that can be used to lock and unlock sensitive information. The idea behind location-based cryptography is that only a recipient at a precise geographic location can receive an encrypted message.
  • Organic nanoelectronics a step closer
    Scientists have effectively discovered a way to order the molecules in the PEDOT, the single most industrially important conducting polymer.
  • Virtual reality gives insight on protein structures
    To understand a protein, it helps to get inside of it, and a professor has now figured out a way to do so. A new computer software program and projection system lets a person look at larger-than-life, 3-D structures of proteins in virtual reality. This allows scientists to walk inside, through or around the protein of interest for investigating its structure and function.
  • Supercomputer reproduces a cyclone's birth, may boost forecasting
    Scientists have employed NASA's Pleiades supercomputer and atmospheric data to simulate tropical cyclone Nargis -- with the first model to replicate the formation of the tropical cyclone five days in advance.
  • Data mining made faster: New method eases analysis of'multidimensional'information
    To many big companies, you aren't just a customer, but are described by multiple"dimensions"of information within a computer database. Now, a computer scientist has devised a new method for simpler, faster"data mining,"or extracting and analyzing massive amounts of such data.
  • Poplar tree protein can be used to shrink memory elements and increase computer memory density
    Scientists in Israel have succeeded in showing how it is possible to greatly expand the memory capacity of future computers through the use of memory units based on silica nanoparticles combined with protein molecules obtained from the poplar tree.
  • Flower organ's cells make random decisions that determine size
    The sepals of the plant Arabidopsis thaliana -- commonly known as the mouse-eared cress -- are characterized by an outer layer of cells that vary widely in their sizes, and are distributed in equally varied patterns and proportions. Scientists have long wondered how the plant regulates cell division to create these patterns. Melding time-lapse imaging and computer modeling, a team of scientists has provided a somewhat unexpected answer to this question.
  • Computer program predicts MRSA bacteria's next move
    Researchers are using computers to identify how one strain of dangerous bacteria might mutate in the same way a champion chess player tries to anticipate an opponent's strategies. The predictive software could result in better drug design to beat antibiotic-resistant mutations.
  • Advance made toward communication, computing at'terahertz'speeds
    Physicists in the United States and Germany have discovered a way to use a gallium arsenide nanodevice as a signal processor at"terahertz"speeds, the first time it's been used for this purpose and an important step forward in the new world of optical communication and computing.
  • Breakthrough in thin-film solar cells: New insights into the indium/gallium puzzle
    Scientists have made a major breakthrough in their search for more efficient thin-film solar cells. Computer simulations designed to investigate the so-called indium/gallium puzzle have highlighted a new way of increasing the efficiency of CIGS thin-film solar cells.
  • New research can spot cloud computing problems before they start
    Large-scale computer hosting infrastructures offer a variety of services to computer users, including cloud. But when these infrastructures run into problems -- like bottlenecks that slow their operating speed -- it can be costly for both the infrastructure provider and the user. New research will allow these infrastructure providers to more accurately predict such anomalies, and address them before they become a major problem.
  • Computing power cracks egg shell problem
    Researchers in the UK have applied computing power to crack a problem in egg shell formation. The work may also give a partial answer to the age old question"what came first the chicken or the egg?"
  • Taking computer games into the future
    Playing computer games could get a lot more lifelike, thanks to a major research project being carried out in the UK.
  • Computerized monitoring systems enable hospitals to more aggressively combat infections
    Hospitals that adopt advanced computer technology to identify health care-associated infections are more likely to have implemented best practices to prevent such infections, according to researchers.
  • Scientists use computer algorithms to develop seasonal flu vaccines
    Computer scientists have developed a rapid and effective approach to produce vaccines for new strains of influenza viruses. The researchers hope to develop the new technology and provide an efficient method to confront the threat of seasonal epidemics.
  • Mathematical formula predicts clear favorite for the FIFA World Cup
    A sophisticated new analysis of team tactics predicts a Spanish win in Sunday's FIFA World Cup final and also shows why England were beaten by Germany.
  • New technology reduces storage needs and costs for genomic data
    A new computer data compression technique called Genomic SQueeZ will allow genetic researchers and others to store, analyze and share massive volumes of data in less space and at lower cost.
  • New computer program accurately simulates protein folding dramatically faster than previous methods
    A new computer program accurately simulates protein folding dramatically faster than previous methods. It will allow scientists to peer deeper into the roots of diseases caused by proteins that fold incorrectly.
  • Reversible watermarking for digital images
    Every picture tells a story, but how do you know that a digital photo has not been manipulated to change the tale being told? A new approach to adding an encrypted watermark to digital images allows the an image to be validated against a pass key, according to new research.
  • Virtual food causes stress in patients affected by eating disorders
    Food presented in a virtual reality environment causes the same emotional responses as real food. Researchers compared the responses of people with anorexia and bulimia, and a control group, to the virtual and real-life snacks, suggesting that virtual food can be used for the evaluation and treatment of eating disorders.
  • New type of light-matter interaction: Advance in quantum computing and energy conversion technology
    Using a unique hybrid nanostructure, researchers have shown a new type of light-matter interaction and also demonstrated the first full quantum control of qubit spin within very tiny colloidal nanostructures (a few nanometers), thus taking a key step forward in efforts to create a quantum computer.
  • Diamonds and the holy grail of quantum computing
    Most candidate systems for quantum computing work only at very low temperatures. Now a team of researchers from China may have a warmer solution. The team is exploring the capabilities of diamond nitrogen vacancy materials.
  • Earplug lets the message through
    An earplug with a built-in computer that allows speech to pass but shuts out unwanted and hazardous noise will make life easier in noisy environments.
  • Enterprise PCs work while they sleep–saving energy and money–with new software
    Personal computers in enterprise environments save energy and money by"sleep-working,"thanks to new software called SleepServer. Sleep-working enterprise PCs are accessible via remote connections and maintain their presence on voice over IP, instant messaging, and peer-to-peer networks even though the PCs are in low-power sleep mode. SleepServer can reduce energy consumption on enterprise PCs previously running 24/7 by an average of 60 percent.
  • Most efficient quantum memory for light developed
    An Australian-led team has developed the most efficient quantum memory for light in the world, taking us closer to a future of super-fast computers and communication secured by the laws of physics.
  • Liquid crystals light way to better data storage
    Currently, most liquid crystal technologies rely on physical or chemical manipulation, such as rubbing in one direction, to align molecules in a preferred direction. In an important advance, scientists in Japan have created a stable, rewritable memory device that exploits a liquid crystal property called the"anchoring transition."
  • 'Quantum computer'a stage closer with silicon breakthrough
    The remarkable ability of an electron to exist in two places at once has been controlled in the most common electronic material -- silicon -- for the first time. The research findings marks a significant step towards the making of an affordable"quantum computer."
  • Separation between Neanderthal and Homo sapiens might have occurred 500,000 years earlier, DNA from teeth suggests
    The separation of Neanderthal and Homo sapiens might have occurred at least one million years ago, more than 500,000 years earlier than previously believed, according to recent research in Spain using DNA-based analyses of teeth and computer modeling.
  • Bioengineers create simulator to test blood platelets in virtual heart attacks
    Bioengineers have trained a computer neural network model to accurately predict how blood platelets would respond to complex conditions found during a heart attack or stroke.
  • Ocean stirring and plankton patchiness revealed by computer simulation
    Computer simulations show how oceanic stirring and mixing influence the formation and dynamics of plankton patches in the upper ocean. Researchers applied the methods of synchronization theory -- previously used to explain such phenomena as the coordinated flashing of fireflies along whole riverbanks. Initially they studied the balance between localized increases in phytoplankton populations and small-scale mixing, such as that due to breaking waves, in creating patches. Patchiness was found to persist despite the mixing which might be expected to smooth out the patches by blending them together.
  • Electronic health records could give rise to more liability risk, experts argue
    Electronic health record systems likely will soon become a fixture in medical settings. Although benefits of bringing information technology to health records can be substantial, EHR systems also give rise to increased liability risks for health care providers due to possible software or hardware problems or user errors, experts say.
  • Data mining algorithm explains complex temporal interactions among genes
    Researchers have created a data mining algorithm they call GOALIE that can automatically reveal how biological processes are coordinated in time.
  • Children with home computers likely to have lower test scores, study finds
    Around the country and throughout the world, politicians and education activists have sought to eliminate the"digital divide"by guaranteeing universal access to home computers, and in some cases to high-speed Internet service. However, according to a new study, these efforts would actually widen the achievement gap in math and reading scores.
  • Over two billion hours served
    The Argonne Leadership Computing Facility has run over two billion processor-hours of computations at a mind-boggling speed of over 557 trillion calculations a second as it enables scientists and engineers to conduct cutting-edge research in just weeks or months rather than years.
  • Computer intelligence predicts human visual attention for first time
    Scientists have just come several steps closer to understanding change blindness -- the well studied failure of humans to detect seemingly obvious changes to scenes around them -- with new research that used a computer-based model to predict what types of changes people are more likely to notice.
  • What makes the giant freak wave'stable'
    The dreaded giant freak wave that can appear on the open sea out of nowhere, can now for the first time be theoretically calculated and modeled: researchers have developed a new statistical model for non-linear, interacting waves in computer simulations. It explains how the water-wave system evolves, behaves and, above all, how it stabilizes itself.
  • New system using bacterial communities to solve complex problems
    A new system using bacterial communities to autonomously solve complex problems has been developed by researchers in Spain. The designed algorithms help to synchronize different bacteria according to the bacteria's natural capabilities and mechanisms of communication, such as bacterial conjugation and quorum sensing.
  • Understanding the mechanisms of liver regeneration through computer simulation
    How does the liver manage to regenerate itself even after severe damage? Seeking to find an answer to this significant medical question, scientists in Germany have gained new insights into the underlying processes involved in the regeneration of liver lobules using computer simulation and laboratory experiments.
  • Computational model sheds light on how the brain recognizes objects
    Researchers have developed a new mathematical model to describe how the human brain visually identifies objects. The model accurately predicts human performance on certain visual-perception tasks, which suggests that it's a good indication of what actually happens in the brain, and it could also help improve computer object-recognition systems.
  • U.S. government's move to cloud computing
    NIST has been chosen to accelerate the federal government's secure adoption of cloud computing by leading efforts to develop standards and guidelines in close consultation and collaboration with standards bodies, the private sector and other stakeholders.