Tech
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Computing
Video Search à la Web
Finding videos on the web can still be a hit-or-miss proposition.
By Janet Raloff -
Humans
Son of Furby
How Star Wars' robots catalyzed an MIT program to build companionable robots.
By Janet Raloff -
Health & Medicine
Reading minds … or at least brain scans
By analyzing brain activity, computers can tell what word is on your mind.
By Tia Ghose -
Chemistry
Kavli Awardees Named
Norwegian Academy awards three novel and hefty prizes to three teams of scientists.
By Janet Raloff -
Health & Medicine
BOOK LIST | Guilty Robots, Happy Dogs: The Question of Alien Minds
The alien minds are of animals. The question: Can robots mimic them? Oxford Univ. Press, 2008, 252 p., $34.95. GUILTY ROBOTS, HAPPY DOGS: THE QUESTION OF ALIEN MINDS
By Science News -
Tech
I, computer
Bacteria that can "flip pancakes" with their DNA are the first microbes engineered to be living computers.
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Physics
Catching the cell in action
A light microscope with high resolution may enable scientists to view the 3-D structures within living cells.
By Tia Ghose -
Tech
The flap on dragonfly flight
New experiments have revealed an aerodynamic trick that dragonflies use to fly efficiently — a trick that engineers could exploit to improve the energy efficiency of small aerial vehicles with a similar design.
By Sid Perkins -
Health & Medicine
Testing nanoparticles
Testing the toxicity of dozens of nanoparticles en masse may offer a faster track to medical applications.
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Computing
Scientists Get a 2nd Life
The virtual world of Second Life offers new ways to do and learn about real science.
By Terra Questi -
Tech
Down with the transistor
A new type of electronic component could shrink computer chips and make them more powerful.
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Humans
A Proposed NSF for Innovation
Researchers with the Brookings Institution have just published a blueprint for tackling what they perceive as a brewing innovation crisis. They propose that Uncle Sam create a federal agency to focus squarely on helping home-grown companies increase their innovation, productivity and profitability.
By Janet Raloff