| Driver cellphone blocking technology could save lives Jul 5th 2012, 21:20 Researchers in India are developing a new technology that will prevent truck drivers and other road users from using their cell phones while driving. The technology based on RFIDs could also be integrated with police traffic monitoring. |  | 'Next-generation digital Earth' charted Jul 3rd 2012, 01:02 The world has gotten smaller and more accessible since applications like Google Earth became mainstream, says an expert. However, there is still a long way to go, and there are important steps to take to get there. | | Electronic medical record improves physician compliance of reviewing portal images, study suggests Jul 2nd 2012, 19:32 The use of an electronic medical record for reviewing portal images dramatically improves compliance with timeliness and record keeping, according to a new study. Portal images are used to verify the positioning of patients during daily radiation treatments to improve the accuracy of the radiation field placement, to reduce exposure to normal tissue and to deliver accurate dose to tumor volumes. | | Musical robot companion enhances listener experience Jun 26th 2012, 20:38 Wedding DJs everywhere should be worried about job security now that a new robot is on the scene. Shimi, an interactive musical companion recommends songs, dances to the beat and keeps the music pumping based on listener feedback. | | Watching the quantum race of electrons Jun 21st 2012, 15:25 For the first time ever, physicists have observed the race of two electrons that are liberated from atoms in the course of photoionization, i.e. under the influence of laser radiation. In order to resolve the electron's movement during only 50 femtoseconds, scientists used an ultra fast terahertz streak camera in combination with a free-electron-laser. The experimental findings will improve the rapidly evolving free-electron-laser technology used in many fields of science - from physics to biology. | | Megapixel camera? Try gigapixel Jun 20th 2012, 17:31 By synchronizing 98 tiny cameras in a single device, electrical engineers have developed a prototype camera that can create images with unprecedented detail. The camera's resolution is five times better than 20/20 human vision over a 120 degree horizontal field. The new camera has the potential to capture up to 50 gigapixels of data, which is 50,000 megapixels. By comparison, most consumer cameras are capable of taking photographs with sizes ranging from 8 to 40 megapixels. | | Increased use of hand held devices may call for new photo guidelines Jun 13th 2012, 18:54 Viewing Facebook and Flickr photos on a smart phone are becoming common practice. But according to a recently published study, pictures on the small screen often appear distorted. Vision scientists found that perceptual distortions occur because picture takers do not take their viewing distance into account. | | Smart phones are changing real world privacy settings May 10th 2012, 15:41 Smartphone users have a radically different conception of behavior in public spaces than their conventional phone counterparts. They are more likely to reveal private information in public spaces, and less likely to believe that their digital conversations are irritating to those around them. | | Researchers combat global disease with a cell phone, Google Maps and a lot of ingenuity Apr 27th 2012, 14:02 Researchers have developed a compact and cost-effective RDT reader platform to combine digital reading of all existing rapid-diagnostic-tests. The team's new reader is installed on a cell phone that can work with various lateral flow immuno-chromatographic assays and similar tests to sense the presence of a target analyte in samples. | | Using virtual worlds to 'soft control' people's movements in the real one Mar 16th 2012, 19:38 Computer science researchers have developed a way to exert limited control on how people move, pushing them out of their regular travel patterns. The key: tapping into some of their cell phone applications. The findings could elicit a broader range of user-collected data by driving foot traffic to under-utilized areas. | | Tracking pedestrians indoors using their smart phones Mar 9th 2012, 15:38 The next generation of smart phone could combine the data from its gyroscopes with a built-in compass to allow you to track your movements when indoors even without GPS. Such a system could be useful for shopping mall managers, factory bosses for worker safety and security and office workers hoping to manage the flow of people through buildings. It could also be used to enable location based services and to help users navigate to specific meeting points or shops. | | Nintendo Wii™ game controllers help diagnose eye disorder Mar 8th 2012, 18:25 Wii remotes are not all about fun and games. Scientists can use them to assess and diagnose children with an abnormal head position caused by eye diseases. Researchers have now developed a low-cost digital head posture measuring device with Nintendo Wiimotes to help diagnose this condition, medically called ocular torticollis. | | With the right photo, your Facebook text profile hardly matters Mar 6th 2012, 19:25 In most cases, your profile photo on Facebook tells viewers what they need to know to form an impression of you -- no words are necessary, new research suggests. College students who viewed a Facebook photo of a fellow student having fun with friends rated that person as extraverted -- even if his profile said he was "not a big people-person." | | Pasta-shaped radio waves beamed across Venice Mar 2nd 2012, 13:30 A group of Italian and Swedish researchers appears to have solved the problem of radio congestion by cleverly twisting radio waves into the shape of fusilli pasta, allowing a potentially infinite number of channels to be broadcast and received. | | Future smart phones will project images on the wall Feb 28th 2012, 15:17 New laser light source has a global market in consumer electronics. Mobile phones currently on the market are capable of showing high quality images and video, but the phones' small size sets insurmountable limits on screen size, and thus the viewing experience. Scientists are now developing a better laser light source for projectors that will be integrated into mobile phones, which will enable accurate and efficient projection of, for example, photographs and movies on any surface. | | New robots can continuously map their environment with low-cost camera Feb 16th 2012, 18:41 Robots could one day navigate through constantly changing surroundings with virtually no input from humans, thanks to a system that allows them to build and continuously update a three-dimensional map of their environment using a low-cost camera such as Microsoft's Kinect. | | First impressions form quickly on the web, eye-tracking study shows Feb 16th 2012, 14:47 When viewing a website, it takes users less than two-tenths of a second to form a first impression, according to recent eye-tracking research. But it takes a little longer – about 2.6 seconds – for a user's eyes to land on that area of a website that most influences their first impression. | |
