 | Best of both worlds: Hybrid approach sheds light on crystal structure solution Dec 11th 2012, 18:03 Understanding the arrangement of atoms in a solid is vital to materials research -- but the problem can be difficult to solve in many important situations. Now, by combining the work of two different scientific camps, researchers have created an algorithm that makes crystal structure solution more automated and reliable. | | Predicting what topics will trend on Twitter: Algorithm offers new technique for analyzing data that fluctuate over time Nov 1st 2012, 15:06 Twitter's home page features a regularly updated list of topics that are "trending," meaning that tweets about them have suddenly exploded in volume. A position on the list is highly coveted as a source of free publicity, but the selection of topics is automatic, based on a proprietary algorithm that factors in both the number of tweets and recent increases in that number. Researchers have developed a new algorithm that can, with 95 percent accuracy, predict which topics will trend an average of an hour and a half before Twitter's algorithm puts them on the list -- and sometimes as much as four or five hours before. | | Footwear forensics: CSI needs to tread carefully Oct 26th 2012, 14:09 A new computer algorithm can analyze the footwear marks left at a crime scene according to clusters of footwear types, makes and tread patterns even if the imprint recorded by crime scene investigators is distorted or only a partial print. | | Making Sudoku puzzles less puzzling Oct 11th 2012, 19:16 For anyone who has ever struggled while attempting to solve a Sudoku puzzle, mathematicians are coming to the rescue. They can not only explain why some Sudoku puzzles are harder than others, they have also developed a mathematical algorithm that solves Sudoku puzzles very quickly, without any guessing or backtracking. | | App protects Facebook users from hackers Oct 9th 2012, 15:24 A new app to detect spam and malware posts on Facebook users' walls was found to be highly accurate, fast and efficient, new study suggests. | | Robots using tools: Researchers aim to create 'MacGyver' robot Oct 9th 2012, 14:13 Robots are increasingly being used in place of humans to explore hazardous and difficult-to-access environments, but they aren't yet able to interact with their environments as well as humans. If today's most sophisticated robot was trapped in a burning room by a jammed door, it would probably not know how to locate and use objects in the room to climb over any debris, pry open the door, and escape the building. A research team hopes to change that by giving robots the ability to use objects in their environments to accomplish high-level tasks. | | Education: Get with the computer program Oct 5th 2012, 17:46 From email to Twitter, blogs to word processors, computer programs provide countless communications opportunities. While social applications have dominated the development of the participatory web for users and programmers alike, this era of Web 2.0 is applicable to more than just networking opportunities: it impacts education. | | Artificially intelligent game bots pass the Turing test on Turing's centenary Sep 26th 2012, 17:32 An artificially intelligent virtual gamer has won the BotPrize by convincing a panel of judges that it was more human-like than half the humans it competed against. The victory comes 100 years after the birth of mathematician and computer scientist Alan Turing, whose "Turing test" stands as one of the foundational definitions of what constitutes true machine intelligence. | | Popularity versus similarity: A balance that predicts network growth Sep 13th 2012, 13:19 Do you know who Michael Jackson or George Washington was? You most likely do: they are what we call "household names" because these individuals were so ubiquitous. But what about Giuseppe Tartini or John Bachar? That's much less likely, unless you are a fan of Italian baroque music or free solo climbing. In that case, you would have heard of Bachar just as likely as Washington. The latter was popular, while the former was not as popular but had interests similar to yours. A new paper explores the concept of popularity versus similarity, and if one more than the other fuels the growth of a variety of networks, whether it is the Internet, a social network of trust between people, or a biological network. | | A Travelling Salesman Problem special case: 30-year-old problem solved Sep 13th 2012, 13:19 The science of computational complexity aims to solve the TSP -- the Travelling Salesman Problem -- when the time required to find an optimal solution is vital for practical solutions to modern-day problems such as air traffic control and delivery of fresh food. Researchers have now solved a 30-year-old TSP special case problem. | | Web-TV: A perfect match? Sep 3rd 2012, 18:31 Do you surf the web in front of the TV, or tweet what you are watching? Researchers are creating technologies that combine web, social media and TV to enhance our experience and interactions across media. | |
