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Engine Could Boost Fuel Economy by Half

Thu, 17 May 2012 04:00:00 GMT

Delphi says its diesel-like engine runs cleanly on gasoline.

Delphi, a major parts supplier to automakers, is developing an engine technology that could improve the fuel economy of gas-powered cars by 50 percent, potentially rivaling the performance of hybrid vehicles while costing less. A test engine based on the technology is similar in some ways to a highly efficient diesel engine, but runs on gasoline.

Is Mobile Computing Good For Productivity?

Thu, 17 May 2012 04:00:00 GMT

Yes, of course, but things got out of hand. A quarter of executives admit to having slept with a smart phone.

Consultant Deborah Lovich could be accomplishing the management feat of the mobile era. She's convinced hundreds of agile-thumbed, on-at-all-hours colleagues to put down their smart phones and stop working or checking e-mail all evening long.

DNA Sequencing Detects Residual Leukemia

Wed, 16 May 2012 21:39:00 GMT

Genomic method is more sensitive than other techniques looking for lingering cells post-chemotherapy.

GenomeWeb Daily News reports that DNA sequencing is able to track cancerous blood cells in leukemia patients even when currently used methods cannot. The findings, published on May 16 in the journal Science Translational Medicine, suggest that high-throughput sequencing could improve the diagnosis and post-treatment monitoring of leukemia. The sequencing-based method is more sensitive than one of the two typical methods of detecting the malignant cells (flow cytometry) and cheaper and faster than the other (quantitative real-time PCR).

The Only Way Facebook Can Justify Its Valuation

Wed, 16 May 2012 20:16:00 GMT

"It would be really interesting if Facebook launched a credit card. In fact, it would be terrifying."

Farhad Manjoo has pointed out that for Facebook to maintain its share price, it needs to figure out how to increase its revenue by a factor of ten. Going from $5 per user per year in advertising revenue to $50 per user per year is about as likely as Facebook going from 1 billion users to 10 billion, which I suppose is the other way the company could increase revenue proportionally, even if it requires an alternate Earth's worth of additional human beings.

The Biggest Cost of Facebook's Growth

Wed, 16 May 2012 04:00:00 GMT

Running the world's largest social network will be a technical and financial challenge as it grows.

Facebook is the gateway to the Internet for a growing number of people. They message rather than e-mail; discover news and music through friends, rather than through conventional news or search sites; and use their Facebook ID to access outside websites and applications.

Brain Chip Helps Quadriplegics Move Robotic Arms with Their Thoughts

Wed, 16 May 2012 17:18:00 GMT

It's the first study to show that brain chips can assist paralyzed people to perform complex real-world tasks.

A paralyzed patient equipped with an implanted brain chip has been able to use a robotic arm to reach for and pick up a bottle of coffee, bring it close enough to her face so she could drink from a straw, and then place the bottle back on the table.

"Data Killer" Erases the Evidence

Wed, 16 May 2012 13:27:00 GMT

Need to wipe that hard drive fast?

Think of it as a paper shredder for the digital age.

Humanoid Robot Swarm Synchronised Using Quorum Sensing

Wed, 16 May 2012 10:14:00 GMT

Proof-of-principle experiment shows how humanoid robots can co-operate on a large scale by copying the behaviour of social insects and bacterial colonies

In recent years, various companies and labs have developed impressive humanoid robots that walk, shuffle and even run. Some even dance in groups of up to 20, performing sophisticated choreographed routines.

Virtual World Takes on Childhood Obesity

Wed, 16 May 2012 04:00:00 GMT

A startup blends activity tracking with online incentives in hopes of getting kids into shape.

Malica Astin, 11, never paid much attention to how much physical activity she got. But one day she played basketball while wearing a small activity tracker called a Zamzee on her waist. Later, she plugged it into a computer's USB port and uploaded the data captured by the device's accelerometers. Unlike a FitBit, a popular pedometer geared to adults, Malica's Zamzee didn't tell her how many steps she took or calories she burned. Instead, it gave her points for the movements she made.

A Smart Phone that Can Sniff out Sickness?

Wed, 16 May 2012 03:21:00 GMT

We’ve seen medical uses of the iPhone, and we’ve seen electronic noses (and tongues). Now, how about combining the two?

iPhone 5 Rumor Roundup

Wed, 16 May 2012 03:15:00 GMT

Digital scuttlebutt about the next iPhone.

Like any good tech blog, Hello World likes to indulge itself in a bit of rumor mongering now and then. The past few weeks have led to a flurry of speculation about the next-gen iPhone, and who am I to ignore it?

A123 Systems Reports More Bad News

Tue, 15 May 2012 17:33:00 GMT

The company is losing money fast. It hoped to raise money to stay afloat.

The financial numbers are pointing in the wrong direction for lithium-ion battery maker A123 Systems, a company founded 10 years ago based on technology developed at an MIT lab.

First Simulation Of Quantum Tunnelling On A Quantum Computer

Tue, 15 May 2012 10:00:00 GMT

Quantum tunnelling had always been thought too complex to simulate on today's simple quantum computers. Now a new approach to quantum computing has changed that and opens the door to more complex simulations

The exploitation of quantum weirdness for computing is one of the great goals of modern physics. It's promise is dramatic for a wide range of number-crunching tasks.

Wearing a Computer Is Good for You

Tue, 15 May 2012 04:00:00 GMT

Fitness trends and health-care problems are creating demand for tiny computers we won't even notice we're carrying.

The last time your doctor asked how much you exercise, did you tell the truth? Do you even really know the truth—not just how many visits to the gym you've made this month, but how many hours you sit or how many calories you burn in a day?

5 Transformative Uses for Disney's Touch-Sensitive Technology

Tue, 15 May 2012 00:52:00 GMT

Wearable computing, the end of keyboards, enhanced security and sex could all benefit from Touché.

Disney has a new technology, called Touche, that can turn any object, including the human body, into a touch-sensitive surface that recognizes not only when contact has been made, but what kind of contact it is. Plenty of places have covered the details of how this technology works -- which are fascinating. But I have to admit that what should have been the most exciting part of Disney's presentation on Touché -- the use cases -- left me flat. (It starts at 2:50 in the video above.)

Antimatter Propulsion Engine Redesigned Using CERN's Particle Physics Simulation Toolkit

Mon, 14 May 2012 15:15:00 GMT

Latest simulation shows that the magnetic nozzles required for antimatter propulsion could be vastly more efficient than previously thought--and built with today's technologies

Smash a lump of matter into antimatter and it will release a thousand times more energy than the same mass of fuel in a nuclear fission reactor and some 2 billion times more than burning the equivalent in hydrocarbons.

A Computer Interface that Takes a Load Off Your Mind

Mon, 14 May 2012 04:00:00 GMT

A wearable brain scanner could give computers insight into how hard you're thinking.

Conversations between people include a lot more than just words. All sorts of visual and aural cues indicate each party's state of mind and make for a productive interaction.

A Retinal Prosthetic Powered by Light

Sun, 13 May 2012 17:00:00 GMT

A new type of eye implant requires less hardware and could restore more vision than existing devices.

Retinal implants powered by light could reverse some vision loss with simple surgery.

Should iEat? Testing Food Ripeness with a Smart Phone

Fri, 11 May 2012 14:32:00 GMT

It could be a reality, with novel mini-spectrometer technology.

“Everyone’s a critic,” sighs the artist. But with new smartphone technology, average folks like you and me could take our criticism to new mediums and industries entirely. “Everyone’s a quality tester,” the industrial food producer may soon be sighing.

Chinese Physicists Smash Distance Record For Teleportation

Fri, 11 May 2012 13:06:00 GMT

The ability to teleport photons through 100 kilometres of free space opens the way for satellite-based quantum communications, say researchers

Teleportation is the extraordinary ability to transfer objects from one location to another without travelling through the intervening space.