EurekAlert! - Technology/Engineering/Computer Science

Public Release: 2-Nov-2009

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Researchers unlock the 'sound of learning' by linking sensory and motor systems
Learning to talk also changes the way speech sounds are heard, according to a new study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by scientists at Haskins Laboratories, a Yale-affiliated research laboratory. The findings could have a major impact on improving speech disorders.

Public Release: 2-Nov-2009
Robot fish could monitor water quality
Nature inspires technology for an engineer and an ecologist teamed up at Michigan State University. They're developing robots that use advanced materials to swim like fish to probe underwater environments. Robotic fish -- perhaps schools of them operating autonomously for months -- could give researchers far more precise data on aquatic conditions, deepening our knowledge of critical water supplies and habitats.

National Science Foundation

Public Release: 22-Oct-2009
Sensor biochips could aid in cancer diagnosis and treatment
Researchers at TUM, the Technische Universitaet Muenchen, have developed a new test process -- using lab-on-a-chip technology -- for establishing whether or not a cancer patient's tumor cells will respond to a particular drug. Such sensor biochips could potentially be used in the future to aid in rapid identification of the most effective medication for individual patients.

Public Release: 19-Oct-2009

Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 53rd Annual Meeting
Is my robot happy to see me?
Scientists at Georgia Tech tested our ability to interpret a robot's "emotion" by reading its expression to see if there were any differences between the ages. They found that older adults showed some unexpected differences in the way they read a robot's face from the way younger adults performed. The research is being presented this week at the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting in San Antonio.

Public Release: 15-Oct-2009

Journal of Vision
Findings about veracity of peripheral vision could lead to better robotic eyes
Two Kansas State University psychology researchers have found that peripheral vision is most important for telling us what type of scene we're looking at. Examining how people take in scene information paves the way for building better robots.

Public Release: 8-Oct-2009

International Conference on Ubiquitous Computing
Household robots do not protect users' security and privacy, researchers say
Robots equipped with wireless and sensing capabilities are available for use in the home. But the safety and privacy risks of these devices are not yet adequately addressed, according to a University of Washington study.

National Science Foundation, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation

Public Release: 8-Oct-2009
US must focus on protecting critical computer networks from cyber attack, RAND study finds
Because it will be difficult to prevent cyber attacks on critical civilian and military computer networks by threatening to punish attackers, the United States must focus its efforts on defending these networks from cyber attack, according to a new RAND Corporation study.

RAND Project AIR FORCE

Public Release: 22-Sep-2009
New computing tool could lead to better crops and pesticides say researchers
A new computing tool that could help scientists predict how plants will react to different environmental conditions in order to create better crops, such as tastier and longer lasting tomatoes, is being developed by researchers.

Public Release: 18-Sep-2009
TECNALIA presents innovative mobile robots which are autonomous and polyvalent
TECNALIA Technological Corporation has introduced innovative robots at Euskotren's station in Atxuri (Bilbao) and which are mobile, multifunctional, collaborative, autonomous and polyvalent, suitable for a wide range of work from street cleaning and rubbish collection to accompanying elderly people.

Public Release: 17-Sep-2009

Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry
Drug discovery process more accurate, less expensive using novel mass spectrometry application
Cancer and cell biology experts at the University of Cincinnati have developed a new mass spectrometry-based tool they say provides more precise, cost-effective data collection for drug discovery efforts.

MDS Analytical Solutions

Public Release: 17-Sep-2009
Research teams successfully operate multiple biomedical robots from numerous locations
Using a new software protocol called the Interoperable Telesurgical Protocol, nine research teams from universities and research institutes around the world recently collaborated on the first successful demonstration of multiple biomedical robots operated from different locations in the US, Europe and Asia. SRI International operated its M7 surgical robot for this demonstration.

Public Release: 15-Sep-2009

International Conference on Computer Vision
Rome was built in a day, with hundreds of thousands of digital photos
Using tourist photos downloaded from the Web, computer scientists created a digital version of Rome in about a day.

National Science Foundation, US Office of Naval Research and its Spawar lab, Microsoft Research, Google

Public Release: 9-Sep-2009
New robot travels across the seafloor to monitor the impact of climate change on deep-sea ecosystems
Like the robotic rovers Spirit and Opportunity, which wheeled tirelessly across the dusty surface of Mars, a new robot spent most of July traveling across the muddy ocean bottom, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) off the California coast. This robot, the Benthic Rover, has been providing scientists with an entirely new view of life on the deep seafloor. It will also give scientists a way to document the effects of climate change on the deep sea.

National Science Foundation, David and Lucile Packard Foundation

Public Release: 31-Aug-2009

Learning and Motivation
Child's play may revolutionize video gaming, police work
What do hide-and-seek, police searches and video games such as Half-Life 2 have in common? More than you would think, say two University of Alberta researchers.

Public Release: 28-Aug-2009

Physical Review Letters
Mathematical keys to a sixth sense -- the lateral-line system
Biophysicists at the Technische Universitaet Muenchen are leading an effort to develop and apply models of the so-called lateral-line system found in fish and some amphibians. This sensory organ enables an animal, even in murky water, to map its surroundings and recognize other animals. In Physical Review Letters, the researchers report mathematical models that capture essential elements of the system, agree with experimental data, and could be easy to implement technically, as in robots.

European Commission, Future and Emerging Technologies, BCCN-Munich

Public Release: 21-Aug-2009

International Journal of Robotics Research
Robot's gentle touch aids delicate cancer surgery
Canadian researchers have created a touchy-feely robot that detects tougher tumor tissue for minimally invasive surgery with 40 percent more accuracy than a human.

Public Release: 19-Aug-2009

International Journal of Human-Computer Studies
'Rich interaction' may make computers a partner, not a product
Oregon State University researchers are pioneering the concept of "rich interaction" -- computers that want to communicate with, learn from and get to know you better as a person.

National Science Foundation

Public Release: 11-Aug-2009
UK scientists developing intelligent harvesting robot to save farms up to �100,000 a year
Researchers at the National Physical Laboratory in Teddington have developed imaging technology to be used in an intelligent harvesting machine that could minimize wastage and solve an impending labor shortage for UK farmers.

Public Release: 7-Aug-2009
NOAA and partners to survey ships sunk off North Carolina in World War II
NOAA will lead a three-week research expedition in August to study World War II shipwrecks sunk in 1942 off the coast of North Carolina during the Battle of the Atlantic. The shipwrecks are located in an area known as the "Graveyard of the Atlantic," which includes sunken vessels from US and British naval fleets, merchant ships and German U-boats.

NOAA

Public Release: 31-Jul-2009
Robotics insights through flies' eyes
To understand how a fly's tiny brain processes visual information efficiently enough to guide its aerobatic feats -- and ultimately to build more capable robots -- researchers in Munich have set up a flight simulator for flies.

German Federal Government

Public Release: 29-Jul-2009

IEEE Intelligent Systems
Want responsible robotics? Start with responsible humans
When the legendary science fiction writer Isaac Asimov penned the "Three Laws of Responsible Robotics," he forever changed the way humans think about artificial intelligence, and inspired generations of engineers to take up robotics. In the current issue of journal IEEE Intelligent Systems, two engineers propose alternative laws to rewrite our future with robots. The future they foresee is at once safer, and more realistic.

Public Release: 27-Jul-2009

International Journal of Computational Vision and Robotics
Yawn alert for weary drivers
Research published in the inaugural issue of the International Journal of Computational Vision and Robotics, describes a system that can tell when you are yawning and could prevent road traffic accidents.

Public Release: 16-Jul-2009

Science
Study reveals sandfish tucks legs and swims like a snake through desert sand
A study published in the July 17 issue of the journal Science details how sandfish -- small lizards with smooth scales -- move rapidly underground through desert sand. In this first thorough examination of subsurface sandfish locomotion, researchers found that the animals place their limbs against their sides and create a wave motion like snakes to propel themselves through granular media.

National Science Foundation, Burroughs Wellcome Fund

Public Release: 16-Jul-2009

Science
Learning is social, computational, supported by neural systems linking people
Education is on the cusp of a transformation because of recent scientific findings in neuroscience, psychology, and machine learning that are converging to create foundations for a new science of learning.

National Science Foundation, NIH/National Institute of Child Health and Human Development

Public Release: 16-Jul-2009

Science
New science of learning offers preview of tomorrow's classroom
Of all the qualities that distinguish humans from other species, how we learn is one of the most significant. In the July 17, 2009, issue of the journal Science, researchers who are at the forefront of neuroscience, psychology, education and machine learning have synthesized a new science of learning that is already reshaping how we think about learning and creating new opportunities to reimagine the classroom for the 21st century.


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