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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.
Conductive nanocoating could lead to flexible, wearable devices, Lady Gaga sticks with meat suit
Flexible is the new rigid in the gadget world, from OLED panels and e-paper displays to, of course, the adorable PaperPhone. Now researchers at North Carolina State University are hoping to take flexible to the next level by applying a conductive nanocoating – thousands of times thinner than a human hair – to ordinary textiles. Their technique, called atomic layer deposition, grows an inorganic coating atop cloths like woven cotton. The treated fabric conducts electricity, opening the door to thin, wearable devices with the flexibility of everyday clothing. The technology's still in its nano-infancy, but who knows: maybe a few years from now you'll be sporting a genuinely playable Angry Birds shirt.
Researchers boost multi-core CPU performance with better prefetching
Piling on cores is one way to boost performance, but it's not necessarily the most efficient way -- researchers at North Carolina State University have developed a new prefetching technique for processors that could boost performance by up to 40-percent. As you may know, any data not stored in a CPU's cache must be pulled from RAM, but as more cores are added they can create a bottleneck by competing for memory access. To counter this designers use prefetching to predict what information will be needed and grab it ahead of time, but guessing wrong can hurt performance. Researchers tackled this problem from two fronts: first, by creating a better algorithm for divvying up bandwidth, and second, by selectively turning off prefetching when it might slow the CPU. Full PR and an abstract of the study being published June 9th are after the break.
NCSU teases TISSA for Android, a security manager that keeps personal bits private
Witnessing Android's recent string of privacy vulnerabilities, it's certainly refreshing to report on creative efforts to keep your identity secure. Most recently, computer scientists at North Carolina State University announced a project called TISSA (Taming Information-Stealing Smartphone Applications), a privacy manager that controls access to your private data on a need-to-know basis. The idea proposed by NCSU researchers is to allow you to decide what information -- such as your location, phone identity, contacts, and call log -- you want to share. In addition, you can fine-tune how your data is reported, by providing apps unlimited (trusted), filtered (anonymized), false (bogus), or empty results. While this method can't control how your information is used once its leaves your phone, it aims to put you in charge of what you're sharing. Next up, the team will present their proposal on June 4th at the International Conference on Trust and Trustworthy Computing in Pittsburgh. Until then, they're wringing their hands over how to best distribute this jewel -- might we suggest the Android Market? Full PR after the break.
NC State and CMU develop velocity-sensing shoe radar, aim to improve indoor GPS routing
The world at large owes a good bit to Maxwell Smart, you know. Granted, it's hard to directly link the faux shoe phone to the GPS-equipped kicks that are around today, but the lineage is certainly apparent. The only issue with GPS in your feet is how they react when you waltz indoors, which is to say, not at all. In the past, most routing apparatuses have used inertial measurement units (IMUs) to track motion, movement and distance once GPS reception is lost indoors, but those have proven poor at spotting the difference between a slow gait and an outright halt. Enter NC State and Carnegie Mellon University, who have worked in tandem in order to develop a prototype shoe radar that's specifically designed to sense velocity. Within the shoe, a radar is attached to a diminutive navigational computer that "tracks the distance between your heel and the ground; if that distance doesn't change within a given period of time, the navigation computer knows that your foot is stationary." Hard to say when Nike will start testing these out in the cleats worn by football players, but after last week's abomination of a spot (and subsequent botching of a review by one Ron Cherry) during the NC State - Maryland matchup, we're hoping it's sooner rather than later.
NC State intellects design twistable, shape-shifting antennas
NC State may be well on its way to yet another underwhelming season on the hardwood, but it seems as if a few of its most spirited boffins aren't even taking any time off to celebrate the season-ending victory over the hated Heels on the team's final football game. Dr. Michael Dickey and team have just published their latest invention, and if this thing ever reaches commercial status, you can expect ordinary objects to become a lot more intelligent. The crew's shape-shifting, twistable antenna overcomes the common limitation of copper-based alternatives by relying on an alloy that can be "bent, stretched, cut and twisted" while still transmitting or receiving a signal. Aside from enabling concept phones like the Ondo to become real, the development could also allow for stretchable antennas to be integrated into actual structures, giving buildings and bridges a way to communicate stresses to architects. Too bad it can't communicate the crumbling of an athletics program to an oblivious AD, but hey, there's always room for improvement in version 2.0.
NC State gurus build remote control bats, freak out Dukies and Tar Holes
Micro-aerial vehicles, or MAVs as they're called in the elusive underground, are far from new, but a team from NC State University is hoping to advance the field with an all new critter. The Robo-Bat is a remote controlled creature that relies on a super elastic shape-memory metal alloy for the joints, which is said to provide a full range of motion while enabling it to "always return to its original position -- a function performed by many tiny bones, cartilage and tendons in real bats." The crew is also utilizing other "smart materials" in the muscular system, giving it the ability to react in real time to environmental changes such as sudden wind gusts. Ideally, this bionic chiropteran would be used to chivvy those who dare step foot on Franklin Street or inside Cameron Indoor Stadium, but in less malicious situations, it could help well-meaning scientists get the bottom of that whole "aerodynamics" thing.
NC State gurus keep hearts beating outside of the body
If NC State's athletic branches had even half the aptitude as its medical researchers, maybe then those blue boys down the road wouldn't have so much right to bang us up. Personal beefs aside, we're simultaneously stoked and amazed by a new machine crafted down in Raleigh, one that enables scientists to keep a heart pumping even after it has been removed from the body, but for research purposes only. Andrew Richards, a bright young mechanical engineering student, designed the so-called dynamic heart system, which "pumps fluid through a pig heart so that it functions in a very realistic way." Obviously, such a device has a multitude of benefits, including time / money savings compared to alternative approaches, the ability to record the inner workings of a pumping heart and scoring the creator some serious street cred in the industry. Mind-blowing video is just after the break.[Via Neatorama]
The PVP scale: Measuring virtual reality for better business
North Carolina State University's Dr Mitzi M. Montoya and Dr. Anne P. Massey, Dean's Research Professor of Information Systems at Indiana University have developed a system for measuring how 'real' virtual environments are. Rather amusingly it is called the "PVP scale" (for Perceived Virtual Presence). Yes, we know the acronym is a rather amusing one, and no this isn't a joke. The interesting thing is what is being measured. 'This is an important issue,' Montoya says, 'because we believe that if users feel they are 'present' in the virtual world, they will collaborate better with other members of their team – and the more effective the virtual world will be as a setting for research and development or other collaborative enterprises.' Well, we can't argue with that, really. The interesting thing is that what makes a virtual environment more 'real' and effective according to Montoya is immersion.
NC State engineer crafts academic cluster with PlayStation 3s
While universities have been cranking out supercomputers and research clusters for some time, an associate professor at NC State is utilizing IBM's highly-touted Cell processor in a slightly different form to craft his own farm. Similar to the Xbox Linux cluster from years past, this concoction consists of eight PlayStation 3 consoles networked together and powered via Linux in order to handle ridiculous amounts of number crunching. Dubbed the "world's first" PS3-based academic cluster, the creation boasts the ability to utilize "64 logical processors," and is set to be used to handle various research tasks when sly CSC students aren't firing up a round of Ridge Racer 7 after hours. Nevertheless, Dr. Frank Mueller noted that the biggest limitation in its current state is the "512MB RAM constraint," but did insinuate that he might try retrofitting additional memory if future tasks deemed it necessary. Still, we can't help but wonder how many spots the Pack could jump in the RIAA's Most Wanted list if this thing became a dedicated torrent server.[Via TWW]
