Nobody said computer programming was easy. But maybe in the future, it could be.
In order to simplify program development, a National Science Foundation (NSF)-supported project called Expeditions in Computer Augmented Program Engineering (ExCAPE), is developing technology that provides human operators with automated assistance.
HOUSTON - (Aug. 15, 2016) - An extensive and easy-to-use collection of charts that present findings from decades of government survey data of drug use in the United States is now available on the website of Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy.
The Brian C. Bennett Drug Charts provide a more accurate and illuminating picture of drug use -- from alcohol to methamphetamines and tranquilizers -- than is typically presented in popular media or reflected in the country's drug policies, said William Martin, director of the Baker Institute's Drug Policy Program.
Researchers from Polytechnique Montréal, Université de Montréal and McGill University have just achieved a spectacular breakthrough in cancer research. They have developed new nanorobotic agents capable of navigating through the bloodstream to administer a drug with precision by specifically targeting the active cancerous cells of tumours. This way of injecting medication ensures the optimal targeting of a tumour and avoids jeopardizing the integrity of organs and surrounding healthy tissues.
High-performance electronic circuits made entirely from transparent materials could have countless applications, from head-up displays on car windscreens to transparent TV sets and smart windows in homes and offices. Researchers at KAUST have found a way to make transparent transistors and other essential components of electronic circuitry using inexpensive and readily available materials and a simple fabrication technique1.
A nanocrystalline material that rapidly makes white light out of blue light has been developed by KAUST researchers.
While Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are now well established technologies, there are several advantages gained by shortening the wavelength of the electromagnetic waves used for transmitting information.
Nanobeads are all around us- and are, some might argue, used too frequently in everything from sun-screen to white paint, but a new ground-breaking application is revealing hidden worlds.
A paper in Science Advances (12 August) provides proof of a new concept, using new solid 3D superlenses to break through the scale of things previously visible through a microscope.
For all the promise they have shown in the lab, polymer solar cells still need to "get on a roll" like the ones employed in printing newspapers so that large sheets of acceptably efficient photovoltaic devices can be manufactured continuously and economically. Polymer solar cells offer advantages over their traditional silicon-based counterparts in numerous ways, including lower cost, potentially smaller carbon footprint and a greater variety of uses.
Researchers have analyzed a new mathematical model to investigate how a population's spatial structure affects the evolution of cooperation. Jorge Peña of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology in Plön, Germany, and colleagues describe the model in a new study in PLOS Computational Biology.
Researchers have developed a highly stretchable touchpad that can be used to write words and play electronic games. The development could lead to flexible, wearable devices with a variety of applications. While various types of conductors such as carbon nanotubes and metal nanowires have been explored for stretchy touchpads, they are all based on hard materials. To help solve this problem, Chong-Chan Kim and colleagues developed a touchpad made of hydrogel, a network of hydrophilic polymers that are soft and very stretchable.
BOSTON (August 11, 2016) -- A simple phone checklist can help detect telltale changes in the health status of people receiving nonmedical home care, according to the findings of a pilot study led by investigators at Harvard Medical School.
Results of the research, published online Aug. 10 in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, are based on a program that requires home-care aides to record changes in status during a telephone clockout at the end of each shift.
UPTON, NY-Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory have created a new imaging technique that allows scientists to probe the internal makeup of a battery during charging and discharging using different x-ray energies while rotating the battery cell. The technique produces a three-dimensional chemical map and lets the scientists track chemical reactions in the battery over time in working conditions. Their work is published in the August 12 issue of Nature Communications.
WASHINGTON -- Researchers have developed a new fluorescence microscopy approach that significantly improves image resolution by acquiring three views of a sample at the same time. Their new method is particularly useful for watching the dynamics of biological processes, which can provide insights into how healthy cells work and what goes wrong when diseases occur.
For the first time ever a team of Dutch hacking experts, led by cyber security professor Herbert Bos at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, managed to alter the memory of virtual machines in the cloud without a software bug, using a new attack technique.
Whether violent video games influence the behavior of youth has been a debate that has split the academic community for years. Scholars and clinicians remain divided in opinion about whether violent games are harmful. In 2011, the US Supreme Court, in a decision examining the constitutionality of regulating the sale of violent games to minors, declared the research evidence could not support claims of "harm" caused to minors. In a new study published in Psychology of Popular Media Culture, Christopher J.
Dublin, Ireland, Thursday 11th August, 2016 - Scientists have discovered macabre fossil evidence suggesting that 300 million-year-old sharks ate their own young, as fossil poop of adult Orthacanthus sharks contained the tiny teeth of juveniles. These fearsome marine predators used protected coastal lagoons to rear their babies, but it seems they also resorted to cannibalising them when other food sources became scarce.