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Study suggests Facebook users are happier if they leave for a month
You've no doubt heard anecdotal evidence of Facebook users feeling better after they've quit the social network, but how often does that help, really? A fair amount, according to researchers. A study (PDF) from New York University and Stanford showed that Facebook users were happier, more satisfied with life and slightly less likely to feel anxious, depressed or lonely. They also used other social networks less, and used Facebook less when they came back.
NYU says Craigslist sucks at spotting fake rental listings
Researchers at New York University claim that Craigslist has a serious problem identifying fraudulent listings. After digging through two million of 'em, a team from the Tandon School of Engineering thinks that the site misses anything up to 55 percent of scam entries. They normally work by offering a juicy property for rent, but forcing users to undergo a credit check or pay cash straight to see the full listing. Naturally, both are designed to separate would-be renters from their money, but apparently they're pretty easy to spot. Despite this, Craigslist stands accused of leaving fraudulent entries linger online for anything up to 20 hours.
Art exhibit lets you draw on a 3D self-portrait
Most self-portraits are, by definition, solo affairs. However, artists Alon Chitayat and Rosalie Yu are blurring those lines a bit. Their Skin Deep art installation lets you draw on 3D-scanned models of the creators, giving their self-portraits your own creative spin. You don't even need any special tools -- all you do is doodle on specially marked paper, and webcams translate the relevant sections to textures. While you sadly won't have an easy time trying Skin Deep yourself (it was made as part of New York University's Interactive Telecommunications Program), it's easy to see the underlying concept applying elsewhere. You could see games where players personalize their characters, or 3D painting programs where real-world art adds some flair to digital masterpieces.
This smart hoodie lets you message friends on the sly
You don't have to be a forward-thinking fashion designer or scientist to produce tech-savvy clothing. Need evidence? Just look at the smart hoodie developed by New York University grad students Alina Balean and Rucha Patwardhan. They've integrated a cellular-equipped Arduino board and switches into the wearable, letting you send messages through discreet movements; you can cover your head to text your mom, or roll up your sleeve to post on Facebook.
New York's next big neighborhood is its smartest
"It was always going to be tomorrow's city today. A new heart of New York City; Midtown expanding west." -- Thad Sheely, SVP operations for Related Companies Tourists come to stop and stare, and sometimes throw pennies. This isn't a long-standing tradition. There are no wishes to make here. It's just a construction site they're filling with change; "the largest development in New York City since Rockefeller Center." Its 28 acres span west from 10th Avenue to 12th Avenue and the Hudson River, and north from 30th Street to 34th Street. The site is home to the final piece of the High Line park; an extension of the number 7 subway line; five office towers and nearly 5,000 residences; 14 acres of public space; a public school; and an active rail yard, from which it gets its name. This is Hudson Yards: New York City's first truly smart neighborhood. Or, it will be when New York University's Center for Urban Science and Progress (CUSP), a partner for the development, finishes outfitting it with sensors.
Facebook hires NYU professor to lead its artificial intelligence efforts
Facebook's fledgling artificial intelligence group now has a leader -- the social network has hired New York University professor Yann LeCun to run the research division from New York City. He'll remain at the university part time, but most of his energy will now be spent researching data science, deep learning and other technologies that could refine Facebook's social stream. While LeCun's hire won't pay off for some time, it already suggests that Zuckerberg and crew are serious about competing with Google's Ray Kurzweil in the AI space.
NYU synthesizes crystals with lifelike behavior under light
Scientists have long surmised that inorganic life is possible. New York University hasn't created any at this stage, but it just produced an uncannily close imitation through a recent experiment. When exposing hematite particles (iron and oxygen in a polymer) to specific wavelengths of blue light, researchers got the particles to form crystals that metabolize and move together like a flock. If it weren't for the lack of reproduction, the crystals would technically qualify as life -- and one upcoming test will trade mobility for that self-replication. Accordingly, NYU sees the crystals not just as having possible uses for electronics, but also as illustrating that a finer line might exist between living creatures and synthetic objects. Whether or not the university ever meets all three conditions for life at once, we may have to reset our expectations for what chemicals can do when they get together.
Water buckets and rocking chair become spiffy interactive art projects (video)
Cameras and wands may be the game controllers du jour, but it seems there's still room in the world for virtual reality experiences a bit more concrete -- like these buckets, filled with water, that let their user physically paddle through a digital dreamscape. "Channels" uses a pair of flex sensors attached to plastic spoons to monitor the flow in each bucket as a projector throws the minimalist 3D environment up on a nearby wall. Meanwhile, "Cadence Chair" uses an antique rocking chair outfitted with an accelerometer to align ribbons of light, and if you do it in the right rhythm it plays a hidden video. Both are student projects from New York University's Interactive Telecommunications Project, and as you'll see in videos after the break, both look pretty darn cool. We're having this sudden urge to go back to school.
NYU prof installing camera in the back of his head, JW Parker Middle School teachers insanely jealous
You've wished you had a camera implant, right? We mean, it's pretty common: you've been on the bus or the incline and something went down and you were like, "I wish I was recording this right now." Well, we know of at least two folks looking to replace their prosthetic eyes with webcams, and now an artist living in New York wishes to sport an implant of his own. Wafaa Bilal, an NYU photography professor, plans on having a camera attached to a piercing on the back of his head for one year. Throughout that time, still images will be taken at one minute intervals and displayed at Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art in Qatar. The work, titled "The 3rd I," is billed as "a comment on the inaccessibility of time, and the inability to capture memory and experience," although it really sounds like the dream of every teacher and parent since time immemorial: to have eyes on the back of their head. Of course, the privacy of Bilal's students is being taken into consideration, although the school is not exactly sure how they're handling that one yet -- either the camera will be covered while he teaches or shut off altogether while in NYU buildings.
DNA used to build nanoscale assembly line, Arto Lindsay unavailable for comment
This is what they call in the blog biz a "DNA Two-fer." Earlier today we heard about self-assembling DNA circuits, and now what do we have? NYU chemistry professor Nadrian Seeman and his colleagues have developed what they call "DNA robot factories." Featuring a DNA track (like an assembly line), molecular forklifts for delivering parts, and a DNA "walker" that CNET describes as moving "like a car on an assembly line," the invention is currently being used to construct various types of gold nanoparticle chemical species (whatever that means), although it could eventually be used in processors or for building on the cellular level. Hit up the source link to see the Nature article for all the in-depth details of this nanoscale assembly line.
Invisible flash produces photos without glares
Dilip Krishnan and Rob Fergus at New York University have developed a dark or invisible flash which uses infrared and UV light to take photos in dark places without the nasty glare of a standard flash. Their dark flash camera is made by modifying a flashbulb so that it emits light over a wider range of frequencies and filters out the visible light, and removes filters that prevent the silicon image sensor from detecting IR and UV rays. This flash results in a crisp image which does not have correct color balance, and looks like night vision photography. To correct the colors of the image, the camera also takes a quick color image sans flash right after the dark flash image. The image produced in this second image is predictably grainy and unclear, but the colors are correct. Software is then used to combine the information from the photos to produce the final image (an example of which you see above). There are some minor problems with the method -- objects that absorb UV light (such as freckles!) do not show up using this method. The pair will present their work at the Siggraph conference in New Orleans in August.
In Mobile Assassins, cameraphones do the shooting
Students in NYU's Interactive Telecommunications Program at the university's Tisch School of the Arts have just completed a hi-tech version of the game Assassins, in which players use their cameraphones to take a picture of their target and score a "hit." Designers Jennifer Chowdhury and Ran Tao will unveil the game, called Mobile Assassins, at tomorrow's annual ITP Spring Show, after which it will be available for the public to use in controlled situations such as college orientations, trade conferences, and other events where you wouldn't be getting photographed by complete strangers. To enter a game, players must first take their own photo and MMS it to the MA server, after which they are sent a picture of their first target; if the first target is successfully "assassinated" without first snapping the assassin's picture, then the next hit on the target's own list is reassigned to the assassin. This all sounds a bit complicated, so if you're ever involved in one of these tournaments, your best bet is to lock yourself in a room for most of the game, only to reemerge just in time to counter-strike the other remaining player and claim your victory.[Via picturephoning and WMMNA]
