The Best Of CES 2014 Another CES has come and gone and, after every CES, there is the inevitable reckoning. We went into this whole thing expecting very little in the way of amazing new products and we were pleasantly surprised. In fact, there was so much cool stuff on and off the show floor that we should have been embarrassed for doubting the creativity and skill of the makers, manufacturers, and builders who flock to Vegas every year. The big guys might be boring but it’s the little guys – like early mammals scuttling under the dinosaurs – that make the biggest impact. Here are our personal picks for Best of CES 2014 and, knowing the industry, we’ll be revisiting these amazing products this year as things slowly reach the market. The coolest thing I saw at CES was the Onewheel — a self-balancing, one-wheeled, motorized skateboard. -Ryan Lawler My favorite gadget at CES was the Urb-E electric scooter. -Jordan Crook Instant Onboard Image Post-Processing with Qualcomm Snapdragon -Darrell Etherington -Anthony Ha
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Achieves Record Quantum Teleportation Distance Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have "teleported" or transferred quantum information carried in light particles over 100 kilometers (km) of optical fiber, four times farther than the previous record. The experiment confirmed that quantum communication is feasible over long distances in fiber. Other research groups have teleported quantum information over longer distances in free space, but the ability to do so over conventional fiber-optic lines offers more flexibility for network design. The experiment used photons to transfer the information. A photon is a single particle of light. It is an elementary particle that exhibits both particle and wave properties; wave–particle duality. Photons have many real world applications. Not to be confused with Star Trek's fictional "beaming up" of people, quantum teleportation involves the transfer, or remote reconstruction, of information encoded in quantum states of matter or light.
Seeing without light Spelunkers who explore caves often say they can see their hands move in the dark. A new study suggests those cavers aren’t hallucinating. It finds evidence that the brain sometimes creates visual “images” without input from the eyes. The study based its conclusion on an experiment anyone can try. Find a dark place or put on a blindfold. Many people can, researchers report in a study published Oct. 30 in Psychological Science. By sensing the action, the brain “‘knows’ where a moving hand is and, as our results show, it actually generates the expected visual image,” Duje Tadin reported to Science News. Tadin’s team tested 129 volunteers. It didn’t matter what the volunteers had been told: About half claimed to see motion through the blindfold. The motion-vision connection was particularly strong for nine people. About half of the blindfolded people, however, saw nothing. Normally, when someone watches a moving object, her eyes will move smoothly to follow the action. Power Words
Background TV Affects Cognitive And Reading Skills Of Children The American Academy of Pediatrics discourages children before the age of 2 in watching television. The first two years is a critical time for development such as language acquisition. A child's brain triples in size during the first two years of life. Aside from watching TV, even background TV may be detrimental to a child's mental development. Background TV is a term used when the television is on without anyone actively watching. For children, background TV may mean that they are present near a television not watching the program being shown but doing something else. Parents often watch a television show while a child plays nearby. American children exposed to high amounts of harmful background TV. Children from the age of 8 months to 8 years are exposed to nearly 4 hours of background TV per day, according to a top paper to be presented at the International Communication Association's annual conference (Phoenix, AZ, May 24-28).
Amputee recovers feeling with robotic arm | euronews, science European researchers have created a robotic hand that gave an amputee a sense of touch he had not felt in a decade. With the artificial limb, the patient could “feel” the different objects – such as a bottle, some cotton or a piece of fruit – and was able to intuitively adjust his grasp. Amputee Dennis Aabo Sorensen lost his left hand in a firework accident. “That was truly amazing to suddenly feel something after nine years,” he said. Doctors at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital implanted tiny electrodes inside two nerves in the stump of Sorensen’s arm. The team put sensors on two fingers of a robotic hand, to detect information about what the artificial fingers touched. “The electrodes are really selective, in the sense that they are able to achieve a very precise contact with small fascicles in the nerves. “So the surgeon had to first create a surgical theatre where the two nerves were clearly put in evidence.
Scientists Observe Spatial Coherence in Light Absorbed by Organic Nanostructures Physicists observed that artificial organic nanostructures absorb light the same way expensive inorganic materials absorbs light. The absorbed light quickly separates into formed charges over long distances. This can then be used to generate electricity or for chemical reactions like photosynthesis and solar cell technology. This phenomenon is called spatial coherence. Using an ultrafast flash camera, scientist filmed femtosecond (10−15 second) laser pulses that formed charges that spread over multiple molecules rather than limiting the charge to a single molecule. This discovery can lead to inexpensive and energy efficient solar cells. Video: Characteristic Properties of Laser - Coherence "This is a very surprising result. During the first few femtoseconds (one millionth of one billionth of a second) each charge spreads itself over multiple molecules rather than being localised to a single one.
Researchers split water into hydrogen, oxygen using light, nanoparticles Researchers from the University of Houston have found a catalyst that can quickly generate hydrogen from water using sunlight, potentially creating a clean and renewable source of energy. Their research, published online Sunday in Nature Nanotechnology, involved the use of cobalt oxide nanoparticles to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. Jiming Bao, lead author of the paper and an assistant professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at UH, said the research discovered a new photocatalyst and demonstrated the potential of nanotechnology in engineering a material's property, although more work remains to be done. Bao said photocatalytic water-splitting experiments have been tried since the 1970s, but this was the first to use cobalt oxide and the first to use neutral water under visible light at a high energy conversion efficiency without co-catalysts or sacrificial chemicals.
Studying The Innate and Cultural Cognitive Origins of Math Mathematics or Math evolved from counting, measurement, study of shapes and motions of physical objects. One definition of math is that it is the study of quantity, structure, space, and change. The practical application of math has been ingrained into human activity since the discovery of writing and communication. The primary investigation into the origin of math and its discoveries and methods can first be found ancient documents such as the following: Plimpton 322 - Babylon c. 1900 BCRhind Mathematical Papyrus - Egypt c. 2000-1800 BCMoscow Mathematical Papyrus - Egypt c. 1890 BC All of these texts cover the Pythagorean theorem, which seems to be the most ancient and widespread mathematical development after basic arithmetic and geometry. Some would argue that the discovery of the Pythagorean theorem in 6th century BC is where the study of mathematics begins. Aside from the Greeks, Chinese mathematics made early contributions as well, including a place value system. Tape measures.
New mini-lab could save lives as well as time | euronews, science It is roughly the size of a CD and can perform similar tests to a fully equipped laboratory. The new portable mini-lab is the brainchild of researchers at the Institute for Micro- and Information Technology in the German city of Freiburg. It produces results quicker than a traditional laboratory at a lower cost. Physicist Daniel Mark explained how it works: “The doctor takes a sample from the patient and loads it into the device. The way it works is simple: the patient’s DNA is extracted from the blood sample and analysed inside the mini-lab. The inventors say the mini-lab could be useful in the event of an infectious disease or a pandemic outbreak – to scan passengers in airports for example. They believe it could also be useful when it comes to testing food for safety. “In the future, the issue of food safety is going to require increasingly complex testing. The device is undergoing final tests before it is put on the market.
Chemical Reactions In Space May Be Due To Quantum Tunnelling Researchers at the University of Leeds School of Chemistry proposed that chemical reactions in space, particularly on how alcohols are created and destroyed, are due to a quantum mechanical phenomenon, known as 'quantum tunnelling'. Their findings are published in Nature Chemistry. The cold temperatures in space prohibit chemical reactions to take place but scientists have seen evidence that there are reactions happening despite the sub-zero conditions. Quantum tunnelling is a phenomenon in quantum mechanics where particles can pass through objects (tunnel through) to reach the other side. Researchers at Leeds have replicated deep space environment under laboratory conditions and have observed that methanol and hydroxyl radicals react with each other to create methoxy radicals twice as fast than at room temperature. Impossible Reactions Made Possible By Quantum Tunnelling Video: What is Quantum Tunnelling? To achieve this, the researchers had to create a new experimental setup.
Nanoscale friction: High energy losses in the vicinity of charge density waves In collaboration with the University of Basel, an international team of researchers has observed a strong energy loss caused by frictional effects in the vicinity of charge density waves. This may have practical significance in the control of nanoscale friction. The results have been published in the scientific journal Nature Materials. Friction is often seen as an adverse phenomenon that leads to wear and causes energy loss. Conversely, however, too little friction can be a disadvantage as well -- for example, running on an icy surface or driving on a wet road. An understanding of frictional effects is therefore of great importance -- particularly in the field of nanotechnology, where friction has to be controlled at a nanoscale. In the experiment led by Prof. Energy losses in the vicinity of charge density waves The team observed this energy loss only at temperatures below 70° Kelvin (-203° C).
Psychology of Religion: Analytic Thinking Decreases Religious Belief Among Believers and Skeptics Alike Analytic thinking is done by going through all aspects of a problem, question, or situation. By breaking up the topic into smaller parts and each part is studied meticulously and see how it relates to the main topic. Since the process follows a coherent and logical progression, it is sometimes called the scientific way of thinking. Analytic thinking starts by taking a problem and hypothesizing it. A hypothesis is a proposed explanation for the problem. Analytic thinking is a skill that can be developed. Analytic thinking can decrease religious belief: UBC study A new University of British Columbia study finds that analytic thinking can decrease religious belief, even in devout believers. The study, published today in the journal Science, finds that thinking analytically increases disbelief among believers and skeptics alike, shedding important new light on the psychology of religious belief. The study involved more than 650 participants in the U.S. and Canada.
Beyond the subconscious | euronews, futuris We are only aware of about 10% of our brain activity, so scientists at a lab in Barcelona are working to increase that percentage. They hope to enable us to perform better in a world which is increasingly overwhelmed by data. Collecting data is easy. Jonathan Freeman, a psychologist and the project coordinator of the CEEDs (Collective Experience of Empathic Data Systems) project, said: “What the science shows is that a lot of that background processing that we are not paying attention to can leak useful information about the environment. “You can use touch and vision and hearing to sense the environment and to make sense of the world around you,” he added. Scientists involved in this European Union research project hope to help us become smarter and more efficient by listening to and stimulating our subconscious so it can mobilize the power of our own creativity. According to Pedro Omedas, a computer scientist at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra: Researchers are also using robot technology.
Overcoming Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle In Polarization of Light Through The Direct Measurement Technique Researchers have developed a new technique that overcomes Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle in measuring the polarization states of light. The Uncertainty Principle was developed by a German theoretical physicist, Werner Karl Heisenberg. Known also as Heisenberg's Principle, the Uncertainty Principle states that the position and velocity cannot both be accurately known or measured at the same time. One may know the exact position but not the velocity and vice-versa. This principle is one of the most famous underlying principle of quantum mechanics. This can be observed through the embedded video which shows MIT Professor Walter Lewin demonstrating the uncertainty principle with laser light. Recently, researchers believe they have a developed a technique that works around this bizarre behavior. Researchers at the University of Rochester and the University of Ottawa have applied a recently developed technique to directly measure for the first time the polarization states of light.