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On needles and haysacks: New way to deal with large datasets
The ability to gather vast amounts of data and create huge datasets has created a problem: Data has outgrown data analysis; for more than eighty years one of the most common methods of statistical prediction has been maximum likelihood estimation (MLE); Brown University researchers offer a better way to deal with the enormous statistical uncertainty created by large datasets
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Israeli clean-car project largest recipient of VC clean-tech funding in 2007
Israeli electric car venture raises $200 million in first round financing — the largest single recipient of VC cleantech funding in 2007; total VC 2007 investment in cleantech: More than $3 billion
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DHS defends handling of Project 28
Project 28, built by Boeing along twenty-eight miles of the Arizona-Mexico border, was meant to showcase advanced border security technologies which DHS would use in the more ambitious $8 billion border surveillance system along the U.S.-Mexico border; DHS initially said that the project’s technology failed to deliver on its promise, and gave Boeing a three-year extension; DHS now defends its handling of the project
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Northrop Grumman’s Guardian
Northrop Grumman’s AAQ-24 Nemesis DIRCM antimissile system has been installed on 400 military aircraft representing 33 types of aircraft, both fixed and rotary wing; the company’s Guardian system, which is adapted from Nemesis, aims to protect commercial aviation against shoulder-fired missiles
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Robots designed to search disaster areas for survivors
Researchers to build robot that uses vision and tactile sensors to navigate homes, buildings, and the outdoors; robot will be equipped with a small camera and a vision algorithm that will allow it to see, recognize and avoid running into objects; goal is to send swarms of these robots to crawl over the rubble of disaster areas in search of survivors
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MPRI to help CDC prepare for disasters
Simulation and virtualization are becoming more popular as tools for preparedness; MPRI, a subsidiary of L-3 company, will use its simulation and training expertise to help CDC prepare for all-hazard disasters, including bioterrorism and pandemic outbreaks
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Can robots commit war crimes?
As the move continues toward autonomous killing machines — robots which spot, identify, and kill on their own, without human intervention — questions are raised about moral, ethical, and legal aspects of this trend
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Asteroid-tracking proposal wins $25,000 prize
Depending on the direction it takes as it nears Earth in 2029, the asteroid Apophis may hit Earth in 2036, with what scientists fear would be an impact similar to that which caused the extinction of dinosaurs sixty-two million years ago; scientific and engineering organizations compete for funding of proposals on how to deal with the threat
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BAE’s JETEYE
Of the various technologies and configurations proposed for defending commercial aviation against shoulder-fired missiles, the leading candidates are plane-mounted directed infrared countermeasures systems; BAE’s JETEYE is such a system
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Decision-making killer robots to be used by armies -- and terrorists
More and more militaries and law enforcement services rely on unmanned machines to perform more and more missions; currently, human beings are still in the decision loop — but this is changing, as the U.S. and Israel lead the march toward the employment of robots which will determine for themselves who,where, and when to kill; also: It is only a question of time before terrorist organizations begin to use robots to carry out their nefarious plans
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NSF, Google, IBM in strategic relationship on Internet-scale computing
To bridge the gap between industry and academia, it is important that academic researchers are exposed to the emerging computing paradigm behind the growth of Internet-scale applications
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Project 28 falls short of promise, requiring three year extension
After Boeing delivers Project 28 — a system of cameras, sensors, towers, and software to secure a twenty-eight-mile stretch of the Arizona border — to DHS, department concludes that the project lacks the operational capabilities DHS and Congress expected it to have; first phase of project now extended by three years
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Experts: Australia must take lead on climate change
Australia is more economically vulnerable than any other wealthy nation to the effects of global warming; new report says: “Australia would be a big loser — possibly the biggest loser among developed nations — from unmitigated climate change”
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Study: Costs of solar panels far exceeds benefits
There is growing interest in solar power, but the cost of solar panels still exceeds their benefits, a University of California economist says; even under the most extreme assumptions — a 5 percent annual increase in electricity costs and 1 percent interest rate — the cost of solar PV is about 80 percent greater than the value of the electricity it will produce
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Computer science helps in combating terrorism
The University of Maryland develops the SOMA Terror Organization Portal (STOP); SOMA (Stochastic Opponent Modeling Agents) is a formal, logical-statistical reasoning framework which uses data about past behavior of terror groups in order to learn rules about the probability of an organization, community, or person taking actions in different situations
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More headlines
The long view
A Shining Star in a Contentious Legacy: Could Marty Makary Be the Saving Grace of a Divisive Presidency?
While much of the Trump administration has sparked controversy, the FDA’s consumer-first reforms may be remembered as its brightest legacy. From AI-driven drug reviews to bans on artificial dyes, the FDA’s agenda resonates with the public in ways few Trump-era policies have.
Risk Assessment with Machine Learning
Researchers utilize geological survey data and machine learning algorithms for accurately predicting liquefaction risk in earthquake-prone areas.
Foundation for U.S. Breakthroughs Feels Shakier to Researchers
With each dollar of its grants, the National Institutes of Health —the world’s largest funder of biomedical research —generates, on average, $2.56 worth of economic activity across all 50 states. NIH grants also support more than 400,000 U.S. jobs, and have been a central force in establishing the country’s dominance in medical research. Waves of funding cuts and grant terminations under the second Trump administration are a threat to the U.S. status as driver of scientific progress, and to the nation’s economy.
The True Cost of Abandoning Science
“We now face a choice: to remain at the vanguard of scientific inquiry through sound investment, or to cede our leadership and watch others answer the big questions that have confounded humanity for millennia —and reap the rewards.”
Bookshelf: Smartphones Shape War in Hyperconnected World
The smartphone is helping to shape the conduct and representation of contemporary war. A new book argues that as an operative device, the smartphone is now “being used as a central weapon of war.”
New Approach Detects Adversarial Attacks in Multimodal AI Systems
New vulnerabilities have emerged with the rapid advancement and adoption of multimodal foundational AI models, significantly expanding the potential for cybersecurity attacks. Topological signatures key to revealing attacks, identifying origins of threats.