Computer-generated holography, they say, could be used in conjunction with a technique called optogenetics, which uses gene therapy to deliver light- sensitive proteins to damaged retinal nerve cells. In conditions such as Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) - a condition affecting about one in 4000 people in...

A century after Western explorers first crossed the dangerous landscapes of the Arctic and Antarctic, researchers funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) have successfully deployed a self-guided robot that uses ground-penetrating radar to map deadly crevasses hidden in ice-covered...

Scientists from the University of Lincoln and Newcastle University in the U.K. have created a computerized system that allows for autonomous navigation of mobile robots based on the locust’s unique visual system. The work could provide the blueprint for the development of highly...

A University of Iowa researcher has designed a program to predict the role posture may play in reducing head and neck injuries. The work could help vehicle designers create a robot that is actually a computerized model of a long-distance truck driver or other heavy equipment operator. The...

An Austrian research team has developed a new way of capturing images based on a flat, flexible, transparent, and potentially disposable polymer sheet. The new imager, which resembles a flexible plastic film, uses fluorescent particles to capture incoming light and channel a portion of it to an...

The 11th annual "Create the Future" Design Contest, sponsored by COMSOL, SAE International, and Tech Briefs Media Group has begun. The contest will recognize outstanding innovations in product design worldwide, awarding a Grand Prize of $20,000. There is no cost to enter.

A team of Italian researchers has developed a new imaging technique that uses infrared (IR) digital holography to peer through chaotic conflagrations and capture potentially lifesaving and otherwise hidden details.

A Yahoo Inc. internal memo, which introduced a ban on working from home, has set off a debate on whether "telecommuting" and working remotely leads to greater productivity and job satisfaction, or kills creativity and is just a chance to take it easy. Supporters of this kind of ban say that...

Today we are pleased to have a guest blog on military backplane technology from Justin Moll, vice president of U.S. market development for Pixus Technologies. 3U OpenVPX is the 800 lb gorilla in all types of heavy signal processing Mil/Aero applications for SIGINT, C4ISR applications, etc. that are deployed in...

The “soft-bake” method is a simple and reliable initial purification step first proposed by researchers at Rice University for single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT) produced by high-pressure carbon mon - oxide disproportionation (HiPco). Softbaking consists of annealing...

Future NASA missions aimed at exploring the Moon, Mars, and the outer planets require rechargeable batteries that can operate over a wide temperature range (–60 to +60 ºC) to satisfy the requirements of various applications including landers, rovers, penetrators, CEV, CLV, etc. This work...

Hand-based biometric analysis systems and techniques provide robust handbased identification and verification. An image of a hand is obtained, which is then segmented into a palm region and separate finger regions. Acquisition of the image is performed without requiring particular orientation or placement restrictions....

A body at sea is vulnerable to hypothermia, which often leads to loss of life. Hypothermia is caused by the differences between the core body temperature and the surrounding air and seawater temperatures. The greater the differences between the body core...

ILIADS 3.0 provides the data management capabilities to access CxP-vetted lunar data sets from the LMMP-provided Data Portal and the LMMP-provided OnMoon lunar data product server. (LMMP stands for Lunar Mapping and Modeling Project.) It also provides specific...

This software provides the service-level functionality to manage the delivery of files from a lander mission repository to an orbiter mission repository for eventual space-link relay by the orbiter asset on a specific communications pass. It provides further functions to deliver and track...

A team of neuroengineers based at Brown University has developed a fully implantable and rechargeable wireless brain sensor capable of relaying real-time broadband signals from up to 100 neurons in freely moving subjects. Several copies of the novel low-power device, described in the Journal of...

Robert Pazda says his team within the U.S. Army Edgewood Chemical Biological Center is accustomed to having to fit 10 pounds of equipment into a five- pound bag. But his team's latest project – the Global Strike Near Real Time Battle Data Assessment System – could change all that.

The Army recently began schoolhouse computer-based and simulated training upgrades for its advanced Secure Mobile Anti-Jam Reliable Tactical – Terminal to evolve the previous legacy training system to accommodate new system enhancements. When commanders need protected,...

In the search for rogue nukes, researchers have discovered an unlikely tool: astronomical radio telescopes. Ohio State University researchers previously demonstrated another unlikely tool, when they showed that South Korean GPS stations detected telltale atmospheric disturbances from North...

This software implements a real-time access control protocol that is intended to make all connected users aware of the presence of other connected users, and which of them is currently in control of the system. Here, “in control” means that a single user is authorized...

The XTCE GOVSAT software suite contains three tools: validation, search, and reporting. The Extensible Markup Language (XML) Telemetric and Command Exchange (XTCE) GOVSAT Tool Suite is written in Java for manipulating XTCE XML files. XTCE is a Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS) and Object Management...

A difficulty for many NASA researchers is that often the data to analyze is located remotely from the scientist and the data is too large to transfer for local analysis. Researchers have developed the Data Access Protocol (DAP) for accessing remote data. Presently one can use DAP from...

Mapping localized spectral features in large images demands sensitive and robust detection algorithms. Two aspects of large images that can harm matched-filter detection performance are addressed simultaneously. First, multimodal backgrounds may thwart the...

With the introduction of new parallel architectures like the cell and multicore chips from IBM, Intel, AMD, and ARM, as well as the petascale processing available for high-end computing, a larger number of programmers will need to write parallel codes. Adding the...