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Scanning technique reads hidden writing in mummy boxes
Historians can use scanning to peek inside mummies without risking damage, but that hasn't been true for the papyrus boxes those mummies were placed in before entering the tomb. If you've wanted to read the discarded everyday writing on that papyrus, you've typically had to destroy the boxes. That won't be necessary from now on, though: researchers at University College London have developed a scanning technique that lets you read a mummy case's writing while leaving it intact.
4 billion year-old fossils found in Canadian quartz
Scientists have found new evidence of life's origins on Earth, in Canada no less. The newest record of our primordial past are fossils of bacteria that Phys.org says lived on iron and were encased in layers of quartz. The current estimate is that these microorganisms are at least 3.77 billion years old -- a tad older than the Greenland stromatolites announced last August.
Watch 58 years of space debris appear in 1 minute
You probably know that the proliferation of space junk is a real problem, but we won't blame you if you have a tough time wrapping your head around the concept. There are roughly 20,000 fragments up there, after all. However, university lecturer Stuart Grey is willing to help. He recently posted a 1-minute video that shows the accumulation of junk from 1957, when Sputnik first flew, through to 2015. As the clip shows, the amount of debris grows in fits and starts. While there were several thousand objects for quite a while, missile tests and satellite collisions added thousands more fragments to the mix.
Researchers create super-fast Tor-style anonymity network
The price of making sure that the feds aren't reading your emails is download speeds that can be measured in weeks rather than seconds. A group of academics are hoping to change that, however, by taking the basic idea of the Tor anonymity network and slapping on more than a few go-faster-stripe decals. Hornet has been crafted by a team from universities in Zurich and London and promises to keep your information safe from prying eyes while reaching speeds of up to 93 GB/s. Phowar.
Here's what happens when a lithium-ion battery overheats
Lithium ion batteries are practically ubiquitous; they power everything from laptops and cell phones to cameras and tablets. But before they can start providing the juice for bigger and more demanding applications, research about their failure needs to happen. That's where the fine folks at University College London come in -- they've used 3D-and-thermal imaging to track exactly what happens when the power cells overheat, inside and out. As you can see in the GIF above, the results aren't pretty. After cranking the heat on a pair of the batteries to 250+ degrees Celsius (482 degrees Fahrenheit) and keeping an eye on them with the aforementioned techniques, researchers witnessed one of the batteries blow its top. Prior to that happening, during what's known as "thermal runaway," the core collapsed.
New web privacy system prevents your data from leaking to other sites
One of the biggest threats to your online privacy is the mixture of code that you'll find on some websites. It's all too easy for a legit-looking page to hide data-stealing code, or for innocent sites to accidentally expose your info. If Google, Mozilla and researchers have their way, though, you won't have to worry quite so much about where that info is going. Their new COWL (Confinement with Origin Web Labels) system prevents JavaScript from sharing data with outside websites that aren't explicitly approved; even when the data gets the all-clear, it won't necessarily spread anywhere else. In theory, it should be harder for ne'er-do-wells to hijack a page and grab sensitive content without your knowledge, or simply for you to lose control of where that content goes.
Researchers create working quantum bit in silicon, pave way for PCs of the future
If you've been paying attention, you know the quantum computing revolution is coming -- and so far the world has a mini quantum network, not to mention the $10,000 D-Wave One, to show for it. Researchers from the University of Melbourne and University College, London, have now developed the "first working quantum bit based on a single atom of silicon." By measuring and manipulating the magnetic orientation, or spin, of an electron bound to a phosphorus atom embedded in a silicon chip, the scientists were able to both read and write information, forming a qubit, the basic unit of data for quantum computing. The team used a silicon transistor, which detects the electron's spin and captures its energy when the spin's direction is "up." Once the electron is in the transistor, scientists can change its spin state any way they choose, effectively "writing" information and giving them control of the quantum bit. The next step will be combing two qubits into a logic step, with the ultimate goal being a full-fledged quantum computer capable of crunching numbers, cracking encryption codes and modeling molecules that would put even supercomputers to shame. But, you know, baby steps.
Researchers use ambient WiFi radio waves to see through walls
Seeing through walls hasn't been a super hero-exclusive activity for a while now. According to Popular Science, however, University College London researchers Karl Woodbridge and Kevin Chetty have created the first device that can detect movement through walls using existing WiFi signals. While similar tech has required a bevy of wireless nodes, the duo has pulled off the feat with a contraption roughly the size of a suit case. Much like radar, the device relies on the Doppler effect -- radio waves changing frequencies as they reflect off of moving objects -- to identify motion. Using a radio receiver with two antennas and a signal-processing unit, the system monitors the baseline WiFi frequency in an area for changes that would indicate movement. In tests, the gadget was able to determine a person's location, speed and direction through a foot-thick brick wall. The technology's potential applications range from domestic uses to scanning buildings during combat. Best of all, since the university's hardware doesn't emit any radio waves, it can't be detected. How's that for stealthy?
Vodafone creates a signal-boosting, solar-charging umbrella to juice your cellphone whatever the weather
Vodafone has created the Booster Brolly, an umbrella that boosts your signal, charges your handset and can even keep you dry during the traditionally aqueous British summer. Developed by Dr Kenneth Tong at University College London, it's designed around a carbon fiber skeleton which holds a heavy-duty canopy in place. On top, there's 12 hand-stitched silicon solar cells which charge a battery stored in the handle. It'll reportedly charge your handset in around three hours via the handle-mounted USB port, while on top, a pair of high gain antennae enhance the signals of any cellphone within a meter radius. It'll be unveiled to the public at large at the Isle of Wight festival on June 22nd, where hordes of people will hope that the company starts selling this publicity and electricity generating canopy.
Intel funnels $40 million into global network of research laboratories
Like any tech company worth its weight in silicon, Intel puts plenty of cash into research, often partnering with outside labs and schools that are less concerned with turning every project into a multi-billion dollar product. After throwing $30 million at Carnegie Mellon last year to open two new labs, Chipzilla is investing $40 million more in a global network of university research centers. Over the next five years that money will be rolled out to what the company is calling, Intel Collaborative Research Institutes (ICRI). The ICRI are based on the same premise as Intel's Science and Technology Centers, like those opened at Mellon, except with a global reach. Two existing labs, the Intel Visual Computing Institute at Saarland University and the Intel-NTU Connected Context Computing Center at National Taiwan University are being rolled into the program. In addition, three new centers are being opened up, including ICRIs for Sustainable Connected Cities in the United Kingdom, Secure Computing at the Technische Universität Darmstadt and Computational Intelligence at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology. For more info on what sort or work they'll be doing at the various labs check out the PR after the break.
First synthetic windpipe transplant paves way for post-op, immunosuppresive drug-free future
Science can do some wonderful, heartstring-tugging things. Take this for example: surgeons have triumphantly performed the first ever synthetic organ transplant. Cancer-stricken Andemariam Teklesenbet Beyene was the grateful recipient of this life-saving surgical breakthrough, performed by Prof. Paolo Macchiarini at Karolinska University Hospital in Sweden. The revolutionary operation comes with a zero rejection rate and requires no donor -- a huge relief for those stuck on lengthy waiting lists. Using a 3D scan of Beyene's windpipe, scientists at University College London crafted a highly-porous nanocomposite tracheal scaffold replica and covered it in stem cells harvested from his bone marrow. Within two days, the stem cells had worked their magic, weaving a brand new transplantable facsimile that is "indistinguishable from a normal healthy one." And since the procedure uses no foreign-born tissues, patients can look forward to a full-recovery sans mandatory immunosuppressive drugs, a major plus for post-op quality of life. With the surgery a success, Prof. Macchiarini's moving on to the next patient in need -- this time, a nine-month-old Korean baby with a malformed trachea. Doctors -- saving lives and warming hearts. Press release of the medically wondrous kind after the break.
Kinect hack turns Arduino-controlled delta robot into aggressive claw crane (video)
Candy crane, teddy picker, claw machine, whatever you call it, this arcade mainstay was robbing children of their golden tokens long before we slid into our first pair of Hammer pants, but despite the changing face of the plush offerings within, the crane game's remained mostly the same. Now a team of students at the Bartlett School of Architecture have produced a Kinect hack that could change the way you drop that claw. The rather temperamental delta robot enlists the ever-hackable peripheral in combination with Processing and Arduino to mimic the movements of a user's arm. As you can tell by the video below, the delta hasn't quite figured out the subtleties of human gestures, but the robot's creators say they intend to implement "several autonomous behaviors" once all the kinks are worked out. Frankly, we'd pay our weight in tokens to see the crane game bite back at an unsuspecting whippersnapper. Video after the break.
Shocker! Most tweets pointless babble, existential angst a strong motivator
University College London's Jeremy Dean has compiled a handy guide to current research into the social media phenom (and conduit of @justinbieber fever) that is Twitter. Among the highlights: Most tweets (some 41%) can be characterized as "pointless babble," while only 4% can be considered actual news. Twitter trends rarely last longer than a week and almost always trend one time only The average (median) lifetime number of tweets for a single user is 1, while 10% of the users contribute 90% of the traffic A 2010 study ("Understanding the psychological motives behind microblogging") found that highly extroverted participants use Twitter "to relieve their existential anxiety" Pointless babble? Really? We would like to state for the record that we have derived hours of entertainment -- and education -- from our Twitter addiction. Which reminds us: it's been almost an hour since @JENNIWOWW has tried to sell us a diet formula supplement. We sure hope she's OK.
Video: Researchers learning to make VR more realistic, uncomfortable
Researcher Mel Slater (a computer scientist who divides his time between ICREA in Barcelona and University College, London) and his stalwart band of cybernauts are currently studying people when immersed in virtual environments, hoping to gain insight into why we respond to fake stimuli as if it's real. In one experiment, test subjects enter a "virtual bar" in which patrons schmooze, booze, and do the Frug. At a point during the virtual carousing, a fire breaks out. "We have had people literally run out of the VR room, even though they know that what they are witnessing is not real," says Slater. "They take their cues from the other characters." Other studies include a recreation of the classic Milgram Experiment of the 1960s (where the subject is ordered to give an electric shock to a "student" when they answer a question incorrectly) and a phobia study that introduces subjects to virtual heights. The researchers hope to gain insight into how the brain functions, eventually creating more intense and realistic virtual experiences, with applications in healthcare, training, social research and entertainment. What's next? According to Slater, the group is currently developing a project that is designed to help shy men overcome their fear of women (at the very least, it'll help you meet that Second Life avatar of your dreams). If this is your kinda thing, check out the video after the break. [Warning: the first several seconds of the video are audio only.]
