http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/computers_math/ Computer and Mathematics News. From quantum computers to the value of statistics, read the latest math and computer news. Updated daily. en-us Thu, 15 May 2008 01:05:01 EDT Thu, 15 May 2008 01:05:01 EDT 60 http://www.sciencedaily.com/images/logosmall.gif http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/computers_math/ For more science articles, visit ScienceDaily. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080513101713.htm As cars become entertainment centers and data-gathering devices, the amount of information they're collecting about you is rapidly growing. And guess who might be interested? Insurance companies, advertisers, government agencies, your boss and perhaps your spouse. On the other hand, say researchers, an intelligent car with a caring voice might persuade humans to drive more safely. Thu, 15 May 2008 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080513101713.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080513191103.htm Today's video games serve a multitude of functions ranging from entertainment to exercise and even education. Now, three recent graduates have created a game with an even more important purpose --- to foster independence among disabled individuals. Graduating seniors have led an interdisciplinary student team made up of programmers, game designers, character and level artists, electrical engineers, and music composers to create a groundbreaking interactive game simulation to help individuals with disabilities develop life skills and obtain increased autonomy. Thu, 15 May 2008 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080513191103.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080514213432.htm Does playing violent video games make players aggressive? It is a question that has taxed researchers, sociologists, and regulators ever since the first console was plugged into a TV and the first shots fired in a shoot 'em up game. Now researchers suggest that there is scant scientific evidence that video games are anything but harmless, and that they do not lead to real world aggression. Moreover, new research shows that previous work is biased towards the opposite conclusion. Wed, 14 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080514213432.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080514171804.htm The quality of financial reporting differs from country to country. In a recent study, researchers found that uniform and strict auditor enforcement may be more important than a country's accounting standards, and the quality of reporting can affect the whole economy. Wed, 14 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080514171804.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080514093301.htm Scientists will use robots to explore the depths of the Atlantic Ocean to study the growth of underwater volcanoes that build the Earth's crust. During the five-week expedition they will use explorer robots to map individual volcanoes on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge tectonic plate boundary -- which effectively runs down the centre of the Atlantic Ocean - almost two miles (3km) below the surface of the sea. Wed, 14 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080514093301.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080514083819.htm European researchers say their study of self-sustaining solitary light wave packets could result in a new generation of computers and optical telecommunications networks. Using light rather than electronic or magnetic devices to store and move data is quicker, more energy efficient and cost-effective, and cavity solitons could be the key to unlocking this technology. Wed, 14 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080514083819.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080512141718.htm Insects have provided the inspiration for a team of European researchers seeking to improve the functionality of robots and robotic tools. The research furthers the development of more intelligent robots, which can then be used by industry, and by emergency and security services, among others. Smarter robots would be better able to find humans buried beneath the rubble of a collapsed building, for example. Tue, 13 May 2008 23:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080512141718.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080512115938.htm Space scientist says texting in the United Kingdom is at least four times more expensive than receiving scientific data from space. Tue, 13 May 2008 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080512115938.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080513202149.htm Using mathematics and a computer model of brain activity, scientists have shown a direct link between activity in the cortex and the microscopic structure of this neuronal network. Building on the existing body of research, the new work indicates that the spontaneous activity of small neuronal networks in the cortex consists of highly structured patterns rather than random "noise," shedding light on previous speculations. Tue, 13 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080513202149.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080512090630.htm Discarded computer parts could one day wind up fueling your car. That's because researchers in Romania and Turkey have developed a simple, efficient method for recycling printed circuit boards into environmentally-friendly raw materials for use in fuel, plastic, and other useful consumer products. Mon, 12 May 2008 23:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080512090630.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080508174310.htm A free, e-mail-based service that translates text into Braille and audio recordings is helping to bridge the information gap for blind and visually impaired people, giving them quick and easy access to books, news articles and web pages. Developed by European researchers, the RoboBraille service offers a unique solution to the problem of converting text into Braille and audio without the need for users to operate complicated software. Mon, 12 May 2008 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080508174310.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080512094426.htm Can online networking sites help new students settle into university? Researchers are now looking for first-year University of Leicester students who use Facebook to help their pioneering research into this issue. Mon, 12 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080512094426.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080508143107.htm Quantum cryptography has been regarded as 100-percent protection against attacks on sensitive data traffic. But now a research team in Sweden has found a hole in this advanced technology. The risk of illegal accessing of information, for example in money transactions, is necessitating more and more advanced cryptographic techniques. Sun, 11 May 2008 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080508143107.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080508164412.htm Scientists have developed a new technique for fabricating nanowire photonic and electronic integrated circuits that may one day be suitable for high-volume commercial production. The fabrication technique could yield low-cost, scalable nanowire photonic and electronic circuits. Sun, 11 May 2008 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080508164412.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080507083944.htm Digital medical imaging and information technology is helping The Field Museum discover and analyze secrets hidden within its world-class collections. A computed radiography system enables the museum -- for the first time -- to capture, archive and share digital x-ray images from more than one million priceless artifacts in its Anthropology collection. The museum is also using a picture archiving and communications system (PACS) to manage, view and store the growing collection of digital images. Fri, 09 May 2008 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080507083944.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080506120216.htm European researchers are making progress on piecing together a new generation of machines that are more aware of their environment and better able to interact with humans. While building robots with anything akin to human intelligence remains a far off vision, making them more responsive would allow them to be used in a greater variety of sophisticated tasks in the manufacturing and service sectors. Such robots could be used as home helpers and caregivers, for example. Fri, 09 May 2008 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080506120216.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080505165804.htm Researchers have designed a system capable of simultaneously measuring hundreds of radio frequency identification tags and rapidly testing new RFID tag prototypes. This testbed allows researchers to measure the signal strength of tags hidden behind other tags and to rapidly test unique antenna configurations and multiple antennas without actually constructing new tags for each experiment. Fri, 09 May 2008 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080505165804.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080508122520.htm Gamers have devoted countless years of collective brainpower to idle pursuits. This week researchers will try to harness those finely honed skills to make medical discoveries through a competitive protein-folding computer game. Fri, 09 May 2008 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080508122520.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080508115809.htm The National Center for Atmospheric Research has taken delivery of a new IBM supercomputer that will advance research into severe weather and the future of Earth's climate. The supercomputer, known as a Power 575 Hydro- Cluster, is the first in a highly energy-efficient class of machines to be shipped anywhere in the world. Fri, 09 May 2008 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080508115809.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080507132855.htm Computer analyses of global climate have consistently overstated warming in Antarctica, new research concludes. The study can help scientists improve computer models and determine if Earth's southernmost continent will warm significantly this century, a major research question because of Antarctica's potential impact on global sea-level rise. Thu, 08 May 2008 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080507132855.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080505094125.htm The Earth's oceans play a vital role in the carbon cycle, making it imperative that we understand marine biological activity enough to predict how our planet will react to the extra 25,000 million tons of carbon dioxide humans are pumping into the atmosphere annually. Wed, 07 May 2008 23:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080505094125.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080507105644.htm A new way to measure breathing patterns in sleeping infants which may also work for adults has just been created. The researcher has created a mathematical formula that measures varying breathing patterns which indicate different sleep states such as active or quiet sleep. Wed, 07 May 2008 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080507105644.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080506124443.htm Three researchers have proposed an innovative way to improve global climate change predictions by using a supercomputer with low-power embedded microprocessors, an approach that would overcome limitations posed by today's conventional supercomputers. Wed, 07 May 2008 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080506124443.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080506115826.htm Scientists have developed a new method for simulating turbulent fluids, which will open up new perspectives in the field of astrophysics. Turbulence is worth studying, because of the fundamental role that it plays in astrophysics. Turbulence is frequently modelled by Large Eddy Simulations (LES), where the dynamics of turbulent eddies are computed on large scales, while a subgrid scale model approximates the influence of smaller eddies. In astrophysics the LES approach is challenged, because gravity and thermal processes break the scale-invariance employed in LES over a wide range of scales. Wed, 07 May 2008 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080506115826.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080505162820.htm Like the popular children's song "There's a Hole in My Bucket," in which Liza and Henry try to patch a leaking pail, researchers with the San Diego Supercomputer Center at UC-San Diego are plugging a hole in the data management process by creating a universally accepted cyber-infrastructure to study our most valuable natural resource -- water. Tue, 06 May 2008 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080505162820.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080505072755.htm For the first time, physicists have come up with a scheme that would allow a quantum mechanical expert to win every time in a con game with a victim who only knows about classical physics. Prior quantum cons have typically been vulnerable to simple countermeasures. Tue, 06 May 2008 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080505072755.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080505120705.htm After launching a communications revolution, cell phones are talking up a potentially life-saving new role in telemedicine -- the use of telecommunications technology to provide medical diagnosis and patient care when doctors and patients are hundreds or thousands of miles apart. Researchers in the United States and Brazil describe development of a simple, inexpensive system that uses cell phone cameras to collect medical data from patients in developing countries for medical analysis by specialists located off-site. Tue, 06 May 2008 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080505120705.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080502154248.htm Engineeers have discovered a way for peer-to-peer (P2P) users to efficiently identify nearby P2P clients in order to reduce costly cross-network traffic without sacrificing performance for the user. Mon, 05 May 2008 23:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080502154248.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080504153803.htm As microchips shrink, even tiny defects in the lines, dots and other shapes etched on them become major barriers to performance. Princeton engineers have now found a way to literally melt away such defects, using a process that could dramatically improve chip quality without increasing fabrication cost. Mon, 05 May 2008 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080504153803.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080505074759.htm As many parents know, it's often easier to keep your kids under control by exerting less authority rather than more. A child who fidgets uncontrollably in a confining booster seat, for example, may be perfectly content on a plain old chair. Physicists have found that the same is true in controlling the movement of particles suspended in liquids. What's more, they speculate that many microscopic systems, macroscopic ecosystems, and human social systems may respond to a gentle touch for the very same mathematical reasons. Mon, 05 May 2008 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080505074759.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080502110340.htm Progress being made by European researchers on automatic speech-to-speech translation technology could help the EU tackle one of the biggest remaining boundaries to internal trade, mobility and the free exchange of information -- language. With 23 official languages, European institutions spend more than a billion euros a year translating documents and interpreting speeches. Companies trading across the EU's internal borders spend millions more just to understand their business partners. Mon, 05 May 2008 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080502110340.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080502094232.htm The latest results from the National Science Foundation's Math and Science Partnership program show not only improved proficiency among all elementary and middle school students, but also a closing of the achievement gaps between both African-American and Hispanic students and white students in elementary school math, and between African-American and white students in elementary and middle-school science. Mon, 05 May 2008 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080502094232.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080502111638.htm A new mathematical and statistical method allows the virus population in a diseased organism to be determined quickly and economically. Using this method, medicines and vaccines against diseases caused by viral infections could be developed and deployed in a more targeted way in the future. Through their diversity resulting from continuous mutation, viruses easily develop drug resistance. This is also why the manufacture of a vaccine against HIV has been unsuccessful up to now. To bring both under control, the strains of virus present in the host must be known. A new method developed by researchers from Switzerland and America now promises help in identifying diverse virus populations. Mon, 05 May 2008 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080502111638.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080430152030.htm Climate scientists using computer models to simulate the 1930s Dust Bowl on the US Great Plains have found that dust raised by farmers probably amplified and spread a natural drop in rainfall, turning an ordinary drying cycle into an agricultural collapse. The researcher say the study raises concern that current pressures on farmland from population growth and climate change could worsen current food crises by leading to similar events in other regions. Sun, 04 May 2008 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080430152030.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080502133106.htm A team of scientists will expend 22 million computational hours during the next year on one of the world's most powerful supercomputers, simulating an event that takes less than five seconds. This astrophysics work explores how the laws of nature unfold in natural phenomena at unimaginably extreme temperatures and pressures. The Blue Gene/P supercomputer will serve as one of their primary tools for studying exploding stars. Sat, 03 May 2008 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080502133106.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080501154215.htm Using a powerful supercomputer, researchers processed 140,000 prospective drug compounds to find one that dramatically lowers blood pressure, improves heart function, and prevents damage to the heart and kidneys in rats with persistent hypertension. Sat, 03 May 2008 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080501154215.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080501125414.htm Researchers show that many real-world networks can be understood as a hierarchy of modules, where nodes cluster together to form modules, which themselves cluster into larger modules -- arrangements similar to the organization of sports players into teams, teams into conferences, and conferences into leagues, for example. Sat, 03 May 2008 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080501125414.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080430103109.htm Researchers have produced tiny liquid crystal devices with electrodes made from graphene -- an exciting development that could lead to computer and TV displays based on this technology. They report on the use of graphene as a transparent conductive coating for electro-optical devices -- and show that its high transparency and low resistivity make it ideal for electrodes in liquid crystal devices. Fri, 02 May 2008 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080430103109.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080501154219.htm For many adults over the age of 30, the former groupings of letters would seem incoherent, but for a newer generation of technologically-savvy young adults it can say a lot. Researchers found that instant messaging is a unique language form differing from Standard Written English. Fri, 02 May 2008 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080501154219.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080501155234.htm Researchers from HP Labs have proven the existence of what had previously been only theorized as the fourth fundamental circuit element in electrical engineering. This scientific advancement could make it possible to develop computer systems that have memories that do not forget, do not need to be booted up, consume far less power and associate information in a manner similar to that of the human brain. Thu, 01 May 2008 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080501155234.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080429170954.htm Researchers believe they can achieve a significant increase in the accuracy of one of the fundamental constants of nature by boosting an electron to an orbit as far as possible from the atomic nucleus that binds it. The experiment could put the modern theory of the atom to the most stringent tests yet. Thu, 01 May 2008 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080429170954.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080501125446.htm Elderly patients suffering from chronic illnesses who receive 'virtual' care from a team of medical experts linked together via phone, fax and e-mail, make fewer emergency visits than patients who do not receive this kind of coordinated team care approach according to a new study by Rush University Medical Center. The study will be presented at the American Geriatrics Society's Annual Scientific Meeting on Friday, May 2. Thu, 01 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080501125446.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080428175336.htm Patients in therapy to overcome addictions have a new arena to test their coping skills -- the virtual world. A new study found that a virtual reality environment can provide the climate necessary to spark an alcohol craving so that patients can practice how to say "no" in a realistic and safe setting. Wed, 30 Apr 2008 23:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080428175336.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080429164720.htm Young Internet-using men who have sex with men AND who meet their sexual partners both online and offline have greater numbers of partners, appear more likely to contract HIV, and report higher substance use rates than those who meet their partners exclusively online or offline, according to new research. Wed, 30 Apr 2008 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080429164720.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080428164259.htm An advance by physicists improves our understanding of how light interacts with matter, and could make possible the development of new integrated-circuit technologies that result in faster computers that use less energy. Wed, 30 Apr 2008 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080428164259.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080428123555.htm Quantum cryptography may be essentially solved, but getting the funky physics to work on disciplined computer networks is a whole new headache. Cryptography is an arms race, but the finish line may be fast approaching. Up to now, each time the codemakers made a better mousetrap, codebreakers breed a better mouse. But quantum cryptography theoretically could outpace the codebreakers and win the race. Forever. Tue, 29 Apr 2008 23:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080428123555.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080428083418.htm Sometimes the diagnosis of episodes of illness in schizophrenia, rotatory vertigo, or reading and writing deficits needs electro-oculography (EOG), performed using a special medical apparatus. Researchers have developed spectacles that could in future make this technique portable. Mon, 28 Apr 2008 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080428083418.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080427194938.htm Climate change and the carbon emissions seem inextricably linked. However, new research suggests that this may not always hold true, although it may be some time before we reach this saturation point. The land and the oceans contain significantly more carbon than the atmosphere, and exchange carbon dioxide with the atmosphere. Mon, 28 Apr 2008 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080427194938.htm