A computer model that simulates the protein malfunction in humans suffering from Alzheimer’s disease has been developed by researchers at the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona (UAB) and the University of Stockholm. The simulation supports experimental observations linking Apolipoprotein E (ApoE) to the Amyloid beta molecule, the main cause of the disease. The Amyloid beta molecule weakens the functional structure of the ApoE4 protein. The team created the computer model due to the difficulty of conducting in vitro experiments with the peptide Amyloid beta. The researchers say a three-dimensional model simulating the interaction of the ApoE4 protein and the peptide Amyloid beta should lead to a better understanding of Alzheimer’s disease and new ways to fight it.

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The U.S. Pentagon is fast-tracking the development of a machine that can translate 20 different foreign languages with 98 percent accuracy through the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA’s) Robust Automatic Translation of Speech (RATS) program. DARPA’s goal is to have RATS extract speech from noisy or degraded signals with 99 percent accuracy at distinguishing spoken words from background noise. The system’s language identification component will have a special emphasis on the Arabic, Pashto, Farsi, Urdu, and Dari tongues. Voice recognition technology will be incorporated into the RATS software so that people on a military most-wanted list can be identified. In addition, the software will be capable of automatically detecting specific, preselected key words or phrases. DARPA hopes to have demos that translate 15 languages among 1,000 different speakers, and can recognize 100 words or phrases in Arabic, Pashto, and Farsi, within six months.

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Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Autonomous Systems (CAS) research director Hugh Durrant-Whyte has led the development of robots for use in a variety of industries, including mining, sea exploration, and agriculture. CAS’ work is aimed at improving efficiency and safety rather than reducing workforce needs. For example, farmers can use an unmanned dwarf helicopter to seek and destroy two plant species, instead of covering the area with pesticides. Meanwhile, the government, research scientists, and oil firms are using small robot submarines to search for oil and gas fields. Ecologists and gas miners also use robotic submarines to map coral distribution. Durrant-Whyte says that artificial intelligence technology is being developed that will enable the robots to analyze information collected by sensors. He also is designing robot navigation systems with better real-time laser terrain sensors and radar. Another group is testing the use of robotic technology in health care, including an intelligent walking aid and an autonomous wheelchair.

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Employment at the top 10 Silicon Valley companies declined for Hispanics, blacks, and women for the decade ending in 2005, according to a San Jose Mercury News review of federal data. And after the technology bust in the early 2000s, overall enrollment in computer science programs nationwide fell. Stanford University professor Mehran Sahami responded by revamping the computer science department’s curriculum to make it more appealing to students. Stanford consolidated the number of required courses, allowed students to specialize in subfields such as artificial intelligence, and began to count classes such as human computer interaction toward computer science requirements. Enrollment rose 40 percent in the first year, and continued with another 20 percent increase this year. Sahami believes perceptions of the high-tech economy, such as those about the outsourcing trend and the commodification of jobs, impacts enrollment. And he notes that with the overall decline in enrollment, a larger drop occurred among women, who sense the lessening of the community of female computer science students. “The accelerating effect happens and it creates even more isolation,” Sahami says.

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