northcarolinastateuniversity
Latest
Atom-thin water layers may lead to faster electric cars
So many battery breakthroughs focus on longer battery life (and for good reason), but what about the speed of delivering that energy? That's what North Carolina State University researchers want to solve. They've produced a material, crystalline tungsten oxide hydrate, that uses atom-thin water layers to tune electrical charge transfers for speed. When the team uses this material in a pseudocapacitor (which stores energy by transferring charges between electrodes and electrolytes), the result is a battery that theoretically represents the best of two worlds. It has the high energy density you'd expect, but it's also very quick at shuttling ions back and forth. That, in turn, could lead to performance breakthroughs in devices where rapid power is at least as important as raw capacity.
These exoskeleton heels could help stroke victims walk again
It isn't quite the soft exosuit that DARPA's working on, but scientists have developed a lightweight exoskeleton that'll take some of the work out of walking. Before you get too excited though, this is less Edge of Tomorrow and more along the lines of mechanical engineering. Researchers from Carnegie Mellon and North Carolina State University devised a way to use springs and ratchets to fashion a sort of boot that increases walking efficiency by seven percent compared to folks wearing regular shoes. The idea is to make it easier for the disabled, paralyzed or stroke victims to improve their walking ability without expensive motors and battery packs.
NC State develops personalized web search without the usual server strain
The notion of personalized, contextually aware search is nothing new, but it can put a tremendous strain on servers by asking for a lot of data at once. NC State has developed a search technique that could ease that burden. Its code prioritizes results based solely on the "ambient query context," or the concepts related to a person's recent search history. Look for politicians, for example, and a search for Ford is more likely to bring up Gerald Ford than the car company. By focusing on just a fraction of a user's search habits, the university can customize results using far fewer processor cycles: while a test server could only handle 17 active searchers with an old approach, it can manage 2,900 with the new method. The query engine won't be confined to the lab, either. NC State tells us that a community-driven search beta is due within several months, and there are plans to commercialize the technology in the long run.
Smile, and JavaTutor's AI knows when you're learning online
College-age kids these days are pretty good at a few things: selfies, social oversharing and staring into screens. But can you leverage that self-obsession into a mechanism for learning? The mad scientists at North Carolina State University think so and they've got a program to prove it. Dubbed JavaTutor, the software's aimed at teaching our future workforce the basics of computer science. And it does this by tracking facial expressions -- using the Computer Expressions Recognition Toolbox, or CERT, as its base -- during online tutorial sessions. Frown and the AI knows you're frustrated; concentrate intently and the same automated emotion detection applies. So, what's the end sum of all this? Well, it seems the research team wants to gauge the effectiveness of online courses and use the cultivated feedback to better tailor the next iteration of the JavaTutor system. But the greater takeaway here, folks, is that at NCSU, online tutoring learns you!
Researchers develop algorithm to protect networks from cyber attacks
Amidst increasing concern about cybersecurity, researchers at North Carolina State University have taken one step closer to guarding America's infrastructure from Cylon attack. Well, almost. Dr. Mo-Yuen Chow and Ph.D candidate Wente Zeng have developed an algorithm that detects cyber attacks aimed at distributed network control systems (D-NCSs), which differ from their more vulnerable counterparts in that they don't rely on a centralized brain to coordinate the network's activities. Essentially, then, D-NCSs are nervous systems comprised of several mini-brains working together. In the event of a cyber attack, the algorithm isolates the infected brain before the contamination can spread across the network's pathways. This software solution will be a good first line of defense when vengeful A.I. inevitably rises up in revolt. In the words of Admiral William Adama, so say we all.
Android 4.2 App Verification Service tested, found no substitute for full anti-malware tools
Google's App Verification Service is a quiet addition to Android 4.2, but potentially game-changing: it promises malware checks for any installable Android app, whether it comes from a Bouncer-verified Google Play or a website lurking in the shadows. NC State University Associate Professior Xuxian Jiang doesn't want to simply accept the claim at face value, though. He just pitted the service against 10 anti-malware apps to gauge its effectiveness at stopping a wide range of rogue code. The short summary? Don't quit your day job, Google. Among 1,260 samples, the App Verification Service caught 193 instances, or 15.32 percent -- well below the 50 percent of its closest challenger, and nowhere near the perfect scores of two apps. According to the professor, Google's shortcoming mostly comes from a relatively skin-deep routine that checks the SHA-1 value and install package name, not underlying code that's tougher to change. Android malware isn't a serious enough issue for us to be worried at present, but nor would we lean on the App Verification Service as our only safety net.
NC State nanoflowers can boost battery and solar cell capacity, make great prom accessories
We see a lot of sleek-looking technology pass through our doors, but it's rare that the inventions could be called beautiful by those who aren't immersed in the gadget world. We'd venture that North Carolina State University might have crossed the divide by creating an energy storage technology that's both practical and genuinely pretty. Its technology vaporizes germanium sulfide and cools it into 20-30 nanometer layers that, as they're combined, turn into nanoflowers: elegant structures that might look like the carnation on a prom dress or tuxedo, but are really energy storage cells with much more capacity than traditional cells occupying the same area. The floral patterns could lead to longer-lived supercapacitors and lithium-ion batteries, and the germanium sulfide is both cheap and clean enough that it could lead to very efficient solar cells that are more environmentally responsible. As always, there's no definite timetable for when (and if) NC State's technology might be commercialized -- so call someone's bluff if they promise you a nanoflower bouquet.
Alt-week 9.8.12: Moon farming, self powered health monitors and bringing a 50,000 year-old girl to life
Alt-week peels back the covers on some of the more curious sci-tech stories from the last seven days. Some weeks things get a little science heavy, sometimes it's a little on their weird side, and there's usually a bit of space travel involved, but these week's trend seems to be "mind-blowing." Want to grow carrots on the Moon? We got you covered. How about bringing a 50,000 year-old ancient human back to life? Sure, no biggie. Oh but what about a solar eruption that reaches some half a million miles in height. We've got the video. No, really we have. Mind blown? This is alt-week.
Researchers propose à la carte internet services, overhaul for web infrastructure
A quintet of researchers funded by the National Science Foundation have envisioned a new internet architecture, one where features could be purchased à la carte. The proposed framework would allow users to fine tune their experience by choosing from a variety of connection services. Let's say, for example, that a customer's connection is fine for browsing the web, but it doesn't pass muster for streaming content -- a service dedicated to video delivery could be added to close the gap. "Ultimately, this should make the internet more flexible and efficient, and will drive innovation among service providers to cater to user needs," report co-author Rudra Dutta told The Abstract. A piecemeal next-gen web is no easy feat, however, as it would require revamping the web's infrastructure with new protocols for choosing particular features, completing payments and monitoring network performance. The group's rough blueprint will be presented at a conference next week, but you can thumb through their short paper at the source.
NC State's new efficient pico projector raises hopes for smartphone cinema
A team at North Carolina State University has developed a new liquid crystal projector that could spell the end of bulky and noisy cinema gear. Conventional tech passes unpolarized light through a filter, but the process is so inefficient that nearly 50 percent of the energy is wasted just keeping things cool. Fortunately, the Wolfpack and ImagineOptix filter claims to be 90 percent efficient -- meaning that future projectors could be far sleeker. It's also a good sign for future smartphone pico projectors, although we're not sure how the owners of our local theater will feel when we start undercutting them with just a phone and a white wall.
NCSU creates stretchable conductors from silver nanowires, lets gadgets go the extra inch
As often as we've seen flexible electronics, there haven't been many examples that could stretch -- a definite problem for wearables as well as any gadget that could afford to take a pull or squeeze. North Carolina State University's Yong Zhu and Feng Xu may have covered this gap through a form of silver nanowire conductor that keeps the energy flowing, even if the wire is stretched as much as 50 percent beyond its original length. By coating the nanowires with a polymer that traps the silver when solid, the researchers create an elastic material that can crumple and let the nanowire take the strain without interruption. Although the stretchy conductor's nature as a research project could put any practical use years into the future, Zhu notes that it can take loads of abuse, making it a perfect fit for rugged mobile devices. It should also allow for robots with a gentler touch and a more natural look... although we'll admit we're skittish about the creepy androids likely to follow.
Scientists tweak wireless power transfer, Tesla nods happily in his grave
Wireless charging may be all the rage these days, but actually beaming electricity -- as sketched above by the man Tesla himself -- still has some snags. North Carolina State U researchers have found a way to possibly vanquish the biggest problem: the difficulty of exactly matching resonant frequencies to amplify current. If external factors like temperature change the tuning of a transmitter even slightly then power drops will occur, but circuitry developed by the NC State scientists would allow receivers to detect these changes and automatically re-tune themselves to match. This could make for more potent car and device charging in the future and, if they stretch the distances a bit, maybe we'll finally get the wire-free utopia Nikola dreamed up 120 years ago.
Android study finds privacy and security risks related to in-app advertising
Android has certainly taken heat for malware-related bits in the past. Now, a recent study by computer scientists at North Carolina State University reveals that over half of the 100,000 apps from the Android Market Google Play include so-called ad libraries, which are essentially handed out by Google or third-party devs to retrieve ads from servers and launch them on your phone. Of these, 297 were classified as "aggressive," as they're allowed to run code from a remote server. Furthermore, Dr. Jiang along with his squad of researchers found that more than 48,000 of the apps put to the test could track location via GPS, while other accessed info could range from call logs, contact numbers, to the apps list on your device. It's unclear if this also applies to Android slates, though this particular study conducted only included handsets.
Neutrinos can transmit messages through walls, mountains, planets
Neutrinos may not travel as fast as we first hoped, but then they have other special abilities to make up for it. Being almost massless, they can penetrate the thickest barriers, which ought to make them ideal message carriers. To illustrate the point, scientists sent the word "Neutrino" on a beam of particles through 240 meters (800 feet) of solid stone and received it loud and clear on the other side. The same approach could potentially be used to send a message right through the center of a planet, making it possible, according to one of the researchers, to "communicate between any two points on Earth without using satellites or cables." The experiment required the latest particle accelerators at Chicago's Fermilab, which flung the neutrinos over a 2.5 mile track before firing them off at an underground receiver, but it proved the principle: Shrink the accelerator down to the size of a smartphone and neutrino messaging could be huge. Or it could die in a format war with quantum teleportation.
Researchers get CPUs and GPUs talking, boost PC performance by 20 percent
How do you fancy a 20 percent boost to your processor's performance? Research from the North Carolina State University claims to offer just that. Despite the emergence of fused architecture SoCs, the CPU and GPU cores typically still work independently. The University hoped that by assigning tasks based on each processor's abilities, performance efficiency would be increased. As the CPU and GPU can fetch data at comparable speeds, the researchers set the GPUs to execute the computational functions, while the CPUs did the prefetching. With that data ready in advance, the graphics processor unit has more resources free, yielding an average performance boost of 21.4 percent though it's unclear what metrics the researchers were using. Incidentally, the research was funded by AMD, so no prizes for guessing which chips we might see using the technique first.
NC State researchers team with IBM to keep cloud-stored data away from prying eyes
The man on your left is Dr. Peng Ning -- a computer science professor at NC State whose team, along with researchers from IBM, has developed an experimental new method for safely securing cloud-stored data. Their approach, known as a "Strongly Isolated Computing Environment" (SICE), would essentially allow engineers to isolate, store and process sensitive information away from a computing system's hypervisors -- programs that allow networked operating systems to operate independently of one another, but are also vulnerable to hackers. With the Trusted Computing Base (TCB) as its software foundation, Ping's technique also allows programmers to devote specific CPU cores to handling sensitive data, thereby freeing up the other cores to execute normal functions. And, because TCB consists of just 300 lines of code, it leaves a smaller "surface" for cybercriminals to attack. When put to the test, the SICE architecture used only three percent of overhead performance for workloads that didn't require direct network access -- an amount that Ping describes as a "fairly modest price to pay for the enhanced security." He acknowledges, however, that he and his team still need to find a way to speed up processes for workloads that do depend on network access, and it remains to be seen whether or not their technique will make it to the mainstream anytime soon. For now, though, you can float past the break for more details in the full PR.
Researchers develop method to measure effects of WiFi attacks
America is built on the principles of life, liberty and WiFi, the latter of which has increasingly become a target for hackers hoping to mess up our chi. To predict what would happen as result of an assault, researchers at North Carolina State University created two models -- one based on a continuous jam of service, and one on an intermittent disruption that would cut off service during specific times. They then measured "order gain," which compares the probability of an attacker having network access to the probability of a legitimate user having access. Basically, the more control a hacker has, the more regular users that will lose service and be shut out -- making it harder to regain control. Researchers hope the new method will help identify the most vulnerable networks, opening the doors to create effective countermeasures to keep our WiFi safe -- something that Starbucks customers will surely be thankful for.
New program makes it easier to turn your computer into a conversational chatterbox
We've already seen how awkward computers can be when they try to speak like humans, but researchers from North Carolina State and Georgia Tech have now developed a program that could make it easier to show them how it's done. Their approach, outlined in a recently published paper, would allow developers to create natural language generation (NLG) systems twice as fast as currently possible. NLG technology is used in a wide array of applications (including video games and customer service centers), but producing these systems has traditionally required developers to enter massive amounts of data, vocabulary and templates -- rules that computers use to develop coherent sentences. Lead author Karthik Narayan and his team, however, have created a program capable of learning how to use these templates on its own, thereby requiring developers to input only basic information about any given topic of conversation. As it learns how to speak, the software can also make automatic suggestions about which information should be added to its database, based on the conversation at hand. Narayan and his colleagues will present their study at this year's Artificial Intelligence and Interactive Digital Entertainment conference in October, but you can dig through it for yourself, at the link below.
NC State University researchers create soft memory machine, just add water
We're not big fans of the word moist, nor the objects it usually describes. But if you call it mushy, slap some storage capabilities into it and develop it in a North Carolina State University lab -- well, then we're all smiles. Which is exactly what researchers at the school have accomplished with their "similar to the human brain" memory device (mmmm... brains). Known as memristors, these biocompatible electronics are ideal for harsh, wet environments that other wussier tech dare not tread. Ripe with the wobbly "properties of Jell-O," the squishy water-based gel houses gallium and iridium alloys that fluctuate between on / off electrically conductive and resistive states -- that's 1 and 0, respectively. Capacity for the gelatinous invention isn't yet optimized for significant real-world use, but you can bet this thing'll be making its way into Krang's exo-suit anyday now. Bill Cosby approved PR after the break.
NC State builds self-healing structural stress sensor, moves on to other alliterative projects
"Sensor, heal thyself," goes an old saying, and North Carolina State University researchers have given it a new spin. Structural stress monitors can break during, say, an earthquake or explosion: just when you most need information about a building's integrity. So the NCSU crew added a reservoir of ultraviolet-curable resin; if their sensor cracks, the resin flows into the gap, where a UV light hardens it. An infrared light, which does the actual monitoring, then has a complete circuit through which to pass, and voila: stress data flows once more, aiding decision-makers. Obviously we never tire of UV-reactive gadgetry, especially for making safer buildings, and we're doubly glad to see self-healing that doesn't involve the phrase "he's just not that into you." To see the self-repair in action, check the picture after the break, and hit the source link for more info.