Items tagged with Research
If you spend any amount of time on the Internet, you have certainly run across CAPTCHA on a few occasions. CAPTCHA is the security device that forces you to read squiggly words and type them into the box to prove you are a person and not a spamming robot sent from the future to troll forums and steal all of our memes...
Read more...
It's hard for many of us to trust the studies that seem to come out on a daily basis covering a variety of topics. You can find studies on the same subject that come down on completely different sides of the topic depending on who funded them. You might expect a study commissioned by the European Commission (EC) to be...
Read more...
Researchers from the Université de Montréal have published a study that found certain types of video games resulted in the loss of grey matter in the brain, while other types of video games resulted in an increase. Specifically, the study claims that gamers who frequently play first person shooter type video games...
Read more...
At its core, Minecraft is a game. It's designed to be fun, immersive, and challenging. But as we've seen in recent years, it can become a lot more than just a game, thanks in part to its extreme modularity. Especially with the introduction of the Redstone block, we've seen people create everything from calculators to...
Read more...
The amount of research that goes on inside of Google's walls (and out) at any given time is nothing short of amazing. You can be sure much of that research revolves around the mobile market, as its Android operating system didn't reach super stardom through sheer luck. With its latest move, however, Google is really...
Read more...
A group of French and American scientists publishing in the science journal Nature are reporting success in their attempt to develop software that allows damaged robots to quickly overcome many sustained injuries and continue with their tasks.
A major problem in robotics has long been the inability of the machines...
Read more...
At this point, the resetting of a mobile phone to a from-the-factory state is something we have all done, perhaps simply to get a fresh start with a device that has become sluggish and over-burdened with years of downloaded flotsam. But more likely, we do it for the purpose of selling the phone or passing it along to...
Read more...
Anyone who has driven an Android smartphone any distance whatsoever has no doubt wondered whether any of the apps they use could be serving as information conduits. The relaxed vetting process that the Google Play Store has in place ('relaxed' versus the jailer-esque process in use by those minding Apple's app store)...
Read more...
Leaving the realm of science fiction behind, the super-fast charging mobile phone is inching its way ever more closer to science-fact. As reported in Stanford Magazine in advance of publication this week in the journal Nature, researchers at Stanford University have developed a high-performance aluminum-ion battery...
Read more...
At long last, Pixar has finally made good on a promise they made last year to release Free Non-Commercial RenderMan. The software is a full-feature version of the company's RenderMan software that anyone can install and use for purposes of research, education, evaluation, plug-in development, and personal projects...
Read more...
In setting up a new lab, a group of research students at Purdue University were inspired to come up with a way to put the huge amount of packing peanuts they were receiving to good use. At the suggestion of Professor Vilas Pol, the researchers developed a potential new eco-friendly application for rendering the...
Read more...
If there's one man who understands all the potential of artificial intelligence, it's Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk. You might recall that this past fall, we wrote about one of Musk's comments regarding how future AI developments could lead us to "[summon] the demon". Quite simply, we don't want a "Skynet" to...
Read more...
Still find yourself pissed off at Facebook for potentially messing with your head when it experimented on 700,000 users without their consent? Hey, it's all good, brother -- Facebook CTO Mike Schroepfer posted a set of new guidelines that will help the world's largest social network do a better job at monkeying around...
Read more...
As we slowly march towards a future where scenes from Minority Report and Transcendence feel more like reality and less like science fiction, Microsoft Research is unveiling a data-drive crystal ball of sorts. It's a project emerging from the Microsoft Prediction Lab, where laypeople are encouraged to make predictions...
Read more...
You can't swing a dead cat these days without hitting a research team claiming to have discovered a new technology or ability that will miraculously enhance battery capabilities as soon as a few quick problems are patched up or some niggling cost factors get fixed. The majority of these announcements splash down and...
Read more...
Here’s an interesting psychological factoid: Emotional states can be transferred to other people via text-based messages on social media, such as Facebook. That means that if, for instance, you view a bunch of sad posts, you’re more likely to pen a sad post yourself shortly thereafter even though you...
Read more...
You may not typically associate cutting-edge science and motion research with the company responsible for creating the most famous mouse couple in the world, but Disney Research has a tendency to shine on the technology front every now and again. Recently, the arm published a video detailing a new interactive, tactile...
Read more...
Guess what? Mobile is overtaking desktop, and it's happening at a breakneck rate. In fact, some analysts are wondering if the generation born today will ever know a "computer" to be anything other than something held in one's palm, which probably sends chills down the spines of those who are still cranking out desktop towers. Gartner's latest...
Read more...
Few things are more impressive than gigabit Internet speeds, electric vehicles that can run 100 miles on a charge, and GPUs that cost over a grand. But we're pretty sure a 5-foot robotic jellyfish counts as one of those things. Presently, a multi-school project for the American Navy is ongoing, and it's being headed up by Virginia Tech professor...
Read more...
I doubt it needs to be said, but curing cancer is far from easy. Today, gathering required data isn't so much the problem, but rather having enough people to analyze it is. Wouldn't it be great, then, if there were a way for ordinary people to chip in? It might seem a little outlandish, given we're not all scientists...
Read more...
You know those cute little white cubes that ship with pretty much every iPod touch, iPhone and iPad? Those are charging blocks, with a simply USB slot in there that's used for charging just about any portable device on the planet. And for years now, something similar has been shipping with -- you guessed it -- pretty...
Read more...
As 2013 ushers its way into existence, Mayans be darned, Microsoft will find itself planning to plug a hole that hasn't needed plugged in a very, very long time. The company's Chief Research and Strategy Officer Craig Mundie has announced that he'll be turning in his badge in 2014, after some two decades dreaming up...
Read more...
