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This weekend: 32nd annual computing Battle of the Brains
The 32nd annual collegiate programming contest will take place this weekend in Alberta, Canada; one hundred three-person teams from thirty-three countries have qualified; twenty of the teams represent U.S. colleges
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Australia, Japan in joint clean-coal project
The Australian and Japanese government, and several companies join in retrofitting a coal-fired boiler at Callide A power station in Central Queensland with oxy-firing technology which will burn coal in a mixture of oxygen and recirculated flue gases
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Steve Ballmer talks of "fifth computing revolution"
Microsoft’s CEO outlines the five pillars of the fifth computing revolution: Expanded processing power, huge amounts of storage, ubiquitous broadband, natural user interface (UI), and screens everywhere
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Questions raised anew about space elevator stability
As we place more systems in space — soon, perhaps, weapon platforms to counteract China’s growing anti-satellite warfare capabilities — there is a growing need to service and maintain these systems; one way to do so relatively on the cheap is to build a space elevator, but the stability of such an elevator is raising questions
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Southern California utility to push solar power
Southern California Edison, largest utility in California, will place 250 MW of photovoltaic generators on 65 million square feet of roofs of Southern California commercial buildings
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Four-legged robot simulates human motion
Four-legged, all-terrain robot can maintain its balance over rugged terrain while carrying a payload of up to 340 pounds; robot can also cope with man-made obstacles and gallop (well, something between “gallop” and “canter”) over impediments
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U.K.'s Future Soldier / Science and Engineering Week a success
Two events — Future Soldier and National Science and Engineering Week — took place in London, showing how government, industry, and academia can fruitfully cooperate to promote science, engineering, and technology education
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World's largest caliber supersonic railgun successfully tested
DARPA-sponsored railgun successfully launches a full-sized projectile, with size and weight similar to a 120 mm mortar, at speeds of 430 meters-per-second
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New acoustic system locates snipers with accuracy
System detects the sound of an initial gunshot then the shockwave from the muzzle of the weapon being fired; since sound travels faster than a shockwave, the system is able to pinpoint the position of the attacker
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Intelligent wireless networks promoted by European consortium
The proliferation of wireless communication-enabled embedded systems will have significant effects in areas from emergency management to critical infrastructure protection to healthcare and traffic control; European consortium to promote idea
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Breakthrough: Dramatic increase in thermoelectric efficiency achieved
Two hundred years ago scientists discovered the thermoelectric effect: Certain materials can convert heat into electricity and vice versa; trouble is, most materials which conduct electricity also conduct heat, so their temperature equalizes quickly; until now: Boston College, MIT researchers solve this vexing problem
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Pencilbeam X-ray technology for more effective luggage inspection
New luggage screening technology investigates suspicious material by penetrating the luggage with a pencilbeam X-ray; new approach reduces instances of false alarms
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Cat's eyes locate things underwater
A new underwater cat’s eye can reflect back a tuned signal, revealing its location, to existing sonar systems; new device does not use batteries — and it does rely on toxic chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)
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Ambient blue light resets tired workers' body clocks
Tedious work during the “wrong” hours of the body’s biological clock — think truckers who drive through the night, or security officers monitoring CCTV screens during the graveyard shift — often leads to drowsiness; falling asleep behind the wheel or in front of a security monitoring screen can lead to catastrophes; researchers develop a way to “fool” the brain to think it is morning
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UCSD researchers develop tiny explosive sensor
Sensor works by monitoring the variability of electrical conductivity through thin films of metal phthalocyanines; “The detection capability of this tiny electronic sensor is comparable to current instruments, which are large, bulky and cost thousands of dollars each,” says William Trogler, UCSD professor of chemistry and biochemistry
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More headlines
The long view
Developing New Vaccine Against Three Biothreat Pathogens
Scientists are seeking to develop a multi-pathogen vaccine that will protect against three bacterial biothreat pathogens.
Preparing National Security Officials for the Challenges of AI
Artificial intelligence (AI) is one of several rapidly emerging technologies that promise to disrupt not only multiple sectors of the U.S. economy but also the manner in which the U.S. government carries out its foundational responsibility to protect national security consistent with the rule of law and constitutional values. Steve Bunnell writes that “The United States’ national security apparatus is not known for nimbleness, nor is the law that governs it. When it comes to AI, the risk is not just that our generals will fight tomorrow’s war with yesterday’s strategy but also that the United States will lack the legal and policy guardrails that are essential to a lawful, accountable, and ethical protection of the nation’s security.”
The Civil-Military Divide over Artificial Intelligence
What factors influence how comfortable and uncomfortable software engineers feel with potential applications of AI for the U.S. military? Is there a correlation between the degree of trust that software engineers have in societal institutions—specifically, in DoD—and their perception of the acceptability of building AI applications for DoD? Do software engineers perceive the countries that DoD has identified as strategic competitors as a meaningful threat to the United States? What types of news media and other sources of information are software engineers relying on to inform them about events related to DoD?
Making hardware and software Quantum-Safe
Quantum computers are thought to have the potential to perform specialized calculations beyond the reach of any supercomputers in existence and will be able to break current public key cryptosystems used today.
New Method Kills Cyberattacks in Less Than a Second
Researchers, using artificial intelligence, new method that could automatically detect and kill cyberattacks on our laptops, computers and smart devices in under a second.
Next-Generation Search & Rescue: Body Cameras, Live Streaming
Typically, search and rescue teams in the wilderness use radio, in-person briefings, text messaging, drones and paper forms to communicate and coordinate their efforts. New digital tools have the potential to revolutionize wilderness search and rescue efforts.
Emerging Hydrogen Storage Technology to Increase Energy Resilience
With the rise in renewable energy as well as increasing uncertainty associated with outages due to power surges and extreme weather events, energy storage plays a key role in ensuring reliable power supply to critical infrastructure such as healthcare facilities, data centers, and telecommunications. New study assesses cost competitiveness of metal-organic framework materials to store hydrogen for large-scale backup power applications.
Boosting Efforts to Predict Harmful Solar Weather Events
When big blasts of energy from the sun envelop the Earth, they can very strong: a 2015 event so weakened Earth’s protective magnetic field that it penetrated to the atmosphere, posing a threat to everything from circling space station astronauts to delicate electronics and communication systems.
Emerging Hydrogen Storage Technology to Increase Energy Resilience
With the rise in renewable energy as well as increasing uncertainty associated with outages due to power surges and extreme weather events, energy storage plays a key role in ensuring reliable power supply to critical infrastructure such as healthcare facilities, data centers, and telecommunications. New study assesses cost competitiveness of metal-organic framework materials to store hydrogen for large-scale backup power applications.
Boosting Efforts to Predict Harmful Solar Weather Events
When big blasts of energy from the sun envelop the Earth, they can very strong: a 2015 event so weakened Earth’s protective magnetic field that it penetrated to the atmosphere, posing a threat to everything from circling space station astronauts to delicate electronics and communication systems.