29437761
submission
RedEaredSlider writes:
Peter Stone, associate professor of computer science at the University of Texas at Austin, has presented an idea at the AAAS meeting today for managing intersections: a computer in a car calls ahead to the nearest intersection it is headed towards, and says it will arrive at a given time. The intersection checks to see if anyone else is arriving then, and if the slot is open, it tells the car to proceed. If it isn't, it tells the car that and the car is responsible for slowing down or stopping.
He says that even with only a few connected cars, the system still works, even if the benefits are still only to those who have the connected vehicles.
26024640
submission
RedEaredSlider writes:
One of the limitations of robot kits is that they can be complicated to use and build, and even the simplest ones require some hardware expertise. But now any smart phone can be a robot, thanks to the folks at Romotive.
The concept is quite simple: put a wheeled chassis on a smart phone or iPod Touch that allows for using the device as the “brain.” But that simplicity is what makes the robot, called Romo, powerful. Since the controls are contained entirely within the phone, they can be downloaded as apps. One can add new physical capabilities to Romo -– a claw, or a scoop -– but that doesn’t require any new additions to the phone.
Also, the controls are through the headphone jack. That simplifies the design and means that the robot doesn’t need to be linked with only one brand of smart phone.
25136668
submission
RedEaredSlider writes:
Fish in the Hudson River and the harbor in New Bedford, Mass., have evolved resistance to PCBs. In the Hudson, a species of tomcod has evolved a way for a very specific protein to simply not bind to PCBs, nearly eliminating the toxicity. In New Bedford, the Atlantic killifish has proteins that bind to the toxin (just as the do in mammals) but the fish aren't affected despite high levels of PCBs in their cells. Why the killifish survive is a mystery.
24327912
submission
RedEaredSlider writes:
Two toilets exploded in the General Services Administration building, hospitalizing two workers (who were in separate bathrooms, evidently). The physics is sort of interesting: older water systems operate using air to force the water through at the right pressure, but if there is some problem in the system enough pressure can build to cause the commodes to crack. Plumbers: please weigh in.
23984274
submission
RedEaredSlider writes:
Star Trek has the replicator that can make anything out of its constituent molecules. It isn't Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are trying to push 3-D printing technology further. Their goals: create whole working machines and perhaps even buildings. Thus far, 3D printing technology has been used to make shapes of plastic or metal that can be assembled later. These folks want to change that.
One idea is to make concrete whose properties vary through the structure. That would allow the building to flex where necessary, while maintaining its structural strength. It would also allow for lighter structures.
20766390
submission
RedEaredSlider writes:
NASA's Cassini probe, in orbit around Saturn, may have discovered evidence for a liquid ocean under the surface of Titan, Saturn's largest moon.
The data comes from radar observations of the surface that measure Titan's rotation and tell how it is oriented relative to the plane of its orbit — its axial tilt. According to a paper to be published in an upcoming issue of Astronomy and Astrophysics, the new data showed that the many of the planet's surface features were in the wrong place, sometimes off by as much as 30 kilometers (19 miles).
Titan always presents the same face toward Saturn, just like the Moon does to Earth. But in those situations one expects that the moon will be in the "Cassini state," which means that the axial tilt will have a certain value. In Titan's case, the axial tilt was measured at 0.3 degrees. That seemed too high if one assumed Titan
20665420
submission
RedEaredSlider writes:
Two Android phone users are suing Google for $50 million in the wake of revelations that their phones might be tracking their locations.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan on April 27, is seeking class-action status.
The plaintiffs, Julie Brown and Kayla Molaski, are residents of Oakland County. The two say in the suit that Google's privacy policy did not say that the phones broadcast their location information. Further, they say Google knew that most users would not understand that the privacy policy wouldn't allow for Google to track users' locations.
20580526
submission
RedEaredSlider writes:
Now even vending machines are getting in on the social media act. Pepsi has rolled out a new machine that can send a soda to a friend, using a Facebook-like functionality.
20564722
submission
RedEaredSlider writes:
China unveiled plans for its own space station, to be completed by 2020, along with a cargo ship to ferry supplies to and from orbit.
The fact that the country is proposing one is a sign of the Chinese government's ambitions in space. China is the third nation to launch its own manned rockets into space, sending its first astronaut into orbit in 2003 aboard the Shenzhou 5 rocket. Since then two other manned missions have been launched.
20537238
submission
RedEaredSlider writes:
YouTube could become the latest to offer a movie rental service, challenging streaming sites such as Netflix.
Google is lining up deals with major Hollywood studios in order to launch the service. An anonymous executive at a studio that has signed on said Sony Pictures Entertainment, Warner Brothers, Lionsgate and Universal have all licensed their movies to the service. Not everyone is on board — Paramount, Fox and Disney declined to join.
20446724
submission
RedEaredSlider writes:
AT&T has admitted that the rise of tablet and smartphones like the iPad and iPhone has taken a major toll on its network.
In its public filing to the Federal Communications Commission yesterday, the company admits that its network has been under increasing strain as more and more high-bandwidth devices have been connected. This not only includes smartphones like the iPhone, but tablets like the iPad as well. AT&T says that in many cases tablets put a greater stress on their network than smartphones do.
20429798
submission
RedEaredSlider writes:
NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has found a giant buried deposit of dry ice, which could be evidence that Mars once had a thicker atmosphere and was able to have more water on its surface.
The orbiter's ground-penetrating radar found the dry ice, which is frozen carbon dioxide, near the planet's south pole. The scientists think that when Mars' axial tilt increases, the carbon dioxide turns into a gas, thickening the atmosphere. The result would be more intense dust storms, but also a wider range of areas where liquid water could exist.
20396190
submission
RedEaredSlider writes:
The first ball at the Phillies-Brewers game will get thrown by a robot — but Roy Halladay's job is still safe.
As part of an outreach program and the Phillies' "Science Day At The Ballpark," the University of Pennsylvania's School of Engineering and Applied Science is showcasing a robot made from a Segway and featuring an arm that acts more like a human throwing than an ordinary pitching machine.
A pitching machine functions more like a gun, firing a baseball in what amounts to a straight line. But the robot has an armature connected to a hand that was specifically designed for throwing. Another thing the robot can do is identify the strike zone.
