Nagoya University researchers have developed a light-activated switch to turn nanomachines on and off. The team used tiny triggered tweezers made of DNA to open and close in response to ultraviolet (UV) and visible light. “We are designing DNA nano-robotics that are mechanically operated by light rather than chemical fuel,” says Nagoya researcher Hiroyuki Asanuma. The researchers focused on a loop of DNA that looks like a hairpin with two arms. At the end of each arm, azobenzene groups are integrated into the DNA sequence. Under visible light, the azobenzene groups adopt the trans isomer, allowing the base pairs to join together. When UV light is applied, the azobenzene groups switch to the more sterically-constrained cis isomer. The system is fully reversible, allowing it to have great potential to be applied to other nanotechnologies that use DNA. “To be able to switch biomolecular conformational changes is of considerable interest for many applications in biomedicine and bionanotechnology,” says Technical University of Munich’s Friedrich Simmel.
View Full Article
For More Information Visit: http://www.cpccci.com
|
Nanomachinery Lights Up |
by sparky3887
|
3D Display Made of Flying Pixel-Copters in the Works |
by sparky3887
Flying pixels have the potential to offer a more immersive three-dimensional (3D) viewing experience than 3D television sets, according to engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The engineers describe their unique 3D display, called Flyfire, as a flock of tiny aircraft carrying multicolored light-emitting diodes (LEDs). The pixels can hover in front of a viewer and form an image, but they also can change their position to add greater depth to the image. “It’s a 3D display with a dual aspect–it can show an image like a traditional display, but then those pixels can move and transform into another shape,” says MIT’s E. Roon Kang. The initial proof-of-principle experiments used quad-rotor helicopters more than 10 centimeters across, and the precise control of their altitude was within three centimeters. Kang says it could take at least five years to make a display with 1,000 or more of the small flying pixels. MIT’s Emilio Frazzoli says onboard controls and a central control system also will be needed to coordinate pixel movement.
View Full Article
For More Information Visit: http://www.cpccci.com
|
Bio-Inspired Computer Networks Self-Organise and Learn |
by sparky3887
Researchers working on the European Union-funded PERPLEXUS project have developed a computing platform inspired by biological systems in which a self-configuring wireless network connects several modules to enable them to operate as a coherent group. PERPLEXUS is based on the ubidule, a purpose-designed module that can take information from the environment, share data wirelessly, and adapt its behavior to different circumstances. In large networks, ubidules can evolve to specialize in a certain task, which other ubidules then delegate to them. The researchers say that ubidules can model grid-based problems in the physical sciences, as well as more challenging biological and social sciences problems. Another branch of the PERPLEXUS project involved a fleet of all-terrain robots equipped with ubichips. The researchers developed a strategy known as collective robotics, in which groups of robots communicate with one another to perform a task and are more effective than the same robots acting individually.
View Full Article
For More Information Visit: http://www.cpccci.com
|
What’s Next for High-Performance Computing? |
by sparky3887
The fusion of high-performance computing (HPC) and high-performance data (HPD) could potentially result in the generation of robust systems that are at least one order of magnitude faster than anything the HPC community currently uses for certain applications, says San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) interim director Michael Norman. Last November, SDSC announced plans to construct Gordon, a data-intensive supercomputer that is expected to read latency-bound files at 10 times the speed and efficiency of current HPC systems with the help of flash memory solid state drives. Ultimately, Gordon will possess 245 teraflops of total compute power, 64 TB of digital random access memory, and 256 TB of flash memory. Gordon also will assist in the integration of HPC and HPD because it is designed for data-intensive predictive science as well as data-mining applications.
View Full Article
For More Information Visit: http://www.cpccci.com
|
Software Sniffs Out Criminals By the Shape of Their Nose |
by sparky3887
University of Bath scientists have developed a biometric system for identifying people based on their nose shape. The researchers used a photographic system called PhotoFace to scan the three-dimensional shape of volunteers’ noses and used software to analyze them according to six main nose shapes. The researchers focused on the ridge profile, the nose tip, and the section between the eyes at the top of the nose. The researchers say their system offers a good recognition rate and a faster rate of image processing than whole face recognition techniques. “The technique is able to achieve a level of detail that is beyond current competing technologies and can be extended to a myriad of other applications, ranging from industrial surface inspection to cosmetics,” says University of West England professor Melvyn Smith. The researchers plan to build a larger database of noses to test the software to see if it can identify individuals from a bigger group of people or from blood relatives.
View Full Article
For More Information Visit: http://www.cpccci.com
|
Striving to Map the Shape-Shifting Net |
by sparky3887
Some researchers who study the architecture of global networks believe that peering is fundamentally transforming the Internet’s configuration, with far-reaching ramifications for the Web’s stability and security. Arbor Networks’ Internet Observatory Report found that the bulk of Internet traffic by volume flows directly between major content providers such as Google and consumer networks such as Comcast, while 30 percent of all traffic is produced and consumed by 30 “hyper giant” portals such as Microsoft, Facebook, and YouTube. The edge of the Internet is getting thicker due to the emergence of massive peering fabrics, which may be fortifying the network’s resilience. “The rise of these highly connected data centers around the world is changing our model of the Internet,” says Cornell University researcher Jon M. Kleinberg. However, he notes that the advent of giant distributed data centers as part of the development of cloud computing services is enlarging the dark Internet, compounding scientists’ difficulty in constructing a complete model. “The Internet as we know it is pretty much vanishing, in the sense that much of the traffic is being routed through lots of new layers and applications, much of it wireless,” says Albert-Laszlo Barabasi, director of Northeastern University’s Center for Network Science.
View Full Article
For More Information Visit: http://www.cpccci.com
|
The Interpreter in the Laptop |
by sparky3887
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) scientists will demonstrate several research projects at the upcoming CeBIT conference. In KIT’s language-to-language translation device, automatic language recognition is combined with automatic translation and language synthesis technologies. The system serves as an automatic interpreter of lectures and parliamentary debates. It recognizes and translates language in real time and can be read as a continuously output text or heard over loudspeakers or smartphones. KIT researchers also have developed a system, based on the principle of electromyography, which enables people to speak soundlessly and still to be understood by a conversational partner. Meanwhile, the KIT Institute for Cryptography and Security developed a system that enables mobile users to generate a joint secret that can be used for encoding communications. The system creates a “joint key” for communication partners from the interferences of the radio transmission channel. KIT researchers also have developed Semantic Media Wiki, an extension of the Media Wiki software that enables users to typify cross references within a Wiki.
View Full Article
For More Information Visit: http://www.cpccci.com
|
Skills Experts Bemoan Poor IT Teaching |
by sparky3887
Information technology (IT) needs to be taught a different way in schools if the industry is to deepen its talent pool, experts in the United Kingdom said during a recent e-Skills event. British Computer Society CEO David Clarke says that although young people are more connected than anyone else in society, they view IT as boring in school because it is taught in a secretarial manner. Students are trained to copy the teachers’ instructions, but they prefer to learn in groups and work on practical tasks, Clarke says. The Confederation of British Industry’s (CBI’s) Lizzie Holman says the same problem exists at the degree level. CBI statistics show that 64 percent of science, high technology, and IT employers believe students do not receive relevant content for the workforce. Europe faces a potential shortage of 384,000 information and communication technology practitioners by 2015, according to the European Commission.
View Full Article
For More Information Visit: http://www.cpccci.com
|
US Plan to Make Hacking Harder Revealed |
by sparky3887
The Obama administration has declassified part of its plan to improve the security of cyberspace in an attempt to cultivate greater collaboration between government and civilian groups. More cooperation between the private sector and the U.S. National Security Agency is the centerpiece of the Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative (CNCI). The declassified abstract of the plan reveals that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security will operate a new security system, called Einstein 3, that analyzes email and other data traffic into and out of federal networks. CNCI also urges merged oversight of federal spending on research and development in cybersecurity, with a particular focus on “leap-ahead” technology. Although the initiative acknowledges that traditional security approaches “have not achieved the level of security needed,” it says the federal government is now outlining “grand challenges” for the research community to help solve the most difficult problems.
View Full Article
For More Information Visit: http://www.cpccci.com
|
HP Labs Opens Singapore Research Hub |
by sparky3887
Hewlett-Packard (HP) Labs announced the opening of a new research and development (R&D) center in Singapore. The Singapore lab will work with HP labs in Bristol, England, and Palo Alto, Calif., on research in cloud computing and software development. The Singapore lab is located in a government-owned research facility called Fusionopolis. HP says the lab in part will work to meet the needs of telecom companies. According to a recent National Science Foundation report, Singapore, China, and South Korea are the fastest growing countries for overseas R&D by U.S. companies. The Singapore lab is part of HP’s renewed effort to generate cutting-edge technology developments from its scientific centers in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. HP Labs director Prith Banerjee has urged labs in China, England, India, Israel, and Russia to work with each other to produce more inventions that can be turned into revenue-producing technology for the company.
View Full Article
For More Information Visit: http://www.cpccci.com

