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Yale's liquid metal material can shed light on magnetic fields
We most likely won't reach the center of the Earth in this lifetime, but scientists might be able to recreate it with the help of Yale's new liquid metal material. Researchers from the university have created a substance made of various particles suspended in indium and gallium (eGaIn) alloy. It flows just like the liquid metal that surrounds our planet's solid inner core, and it also generates magnetic fields when it does. Since its ability to generate magnetic fields is five times stronger than pure liquid metals', scientists can use it in the lab to study the cores of planets and stars.
Scientists track gene parts controlling the embryo's early growth
Techniques like CRISPR and even experimental methods like programmable bacteria can be used to edit genes, but knowing which genes to edit is crucial. Yale scientists have found a way to track the types of RNA that control embryonic development in living animals, which might lead to a greater understanding of the whole process.
Neuroscientists accurately predict intelligence with an fMRI scan
If fingerprints can identify individual people, imagine what a brain-print could reveal -- namely, how you think and how intelligent you are. Neuroscientists studied fMRI scans of 126 patients in the Human Connectome Project, a consortium helping to map the human brain, and found consistent connections that accurately predicted "fluid intelligence," or abstract reasoning. Their findings were published today in the journal Nature. Researchers found that the more certain regions of the brain spoke to each other, the more likely a person was to quickly process information and make inferences, Yale grad student and study co-author Emily Finn told Wired. For example, a strong connection between the frontal and parietal lobes, two areas involved in high-level functions, accurately predicted a high fluid-intelligence score.
Scientists can watch HIV spread through a mouse in real time
Scientists have long been perplexed by HIV's ability to spread through the body - until now, that is. A team of medical researchers from Yale University have for the first time recorded the retrovirus' movement through a mouse host.
Researchers find new 'most distant' galaxy in the universe
Peering through the voids of space is a lot like time travelling: the deeper we gaze into a seemingly endless Universe, the further back in time we can see. Now, a team of researchers led by astronomers from Yale University and UC Santa Cruz have announced that they've discovered the most distant galaxy to date. In fact, the galaxy, known a EGS-zs8-1, is so ludicrously far from Earth that light just now reaching us from it is about 13 billion years old. To put that in perspective, the Universe itself is 13.8 billion years. That means this galaxy began forming stars when the Universe was only 5 percent of its current age -- barely 670 million years after big banging into existence.
Yale Study: You're not as clever as your Googling suggests
Having all of human knowledge readily available on the internet has convinced people that they know a lot more than they actually do, according to a recent Yale study. For their recently published report in the Journal of Experimental Psychology, a pair of psychologists conducted multiple 1000-participant experiments. They found that participants who used the internet to research a subject were more likely to think that they also knew about a second, unrelated topic. Basically, if you look up subject A with the internet, you're more likely than offline researchers to think you also know about subject B -- even if you haven't actually looked anything up. In general, internet users believed themselves to be brighter and more clever than the other participants in the study.
Explore the Great Depression in photos with this interactive map
Imagine today's government backing a program to document the plight of modern day farmers. Many might malign such use of resources, or the value of the endeavor. But, that's exactly what the Farm Security Administration did between 1935 and 1944 (i.e. the great depression). Photographers were distributed across the land, and negatives sent back to Washington. Of the estimated 170,000 shots taken, around 88,000 were developed and manually classified (remember that next time you moan about corrupt EXIF data). The collection has since been digitized, along with the manually-taken data for each picture, which a team at Yale has now used to create an interactive map. The wonder of modern technology means you can see where, and by whom, every picture was taken right from the comfort of your den. A sober reminder of what different times we live in. Probably a few years later than planned, but the Internet finally provides the perfect way to complete the FSA's original goal of "introducing America to Americans."
DARPA's low-cost robotic hand gets put through its paces (video)
This three-fingered manipulator has just about everything you could ever want in a robotic hand. It's relatively low-cost, it's powerful, it's capable of picking up objects both large and small, and it's robust. In fact, we've already seen the thing used as a tee for an aluminum bat. The hand, which was developed by researchers at iRobot, Harvard and Yale, was created as part of DARPA's ARM Hardware (ARM-H), a program track focused on the creation of inexpensive, dexterous hands. According to its creators, the key here is "function rather than trying to mimic a human hand," which helped bring down the cost of building the three-fingered grasper. Check out a video of the Ninja Turtle-esque gripper getting put through its paces -- and strengthening its core with a 50-pound kettle bell -- after the break.
Yale Physicists develop quantum computing error correction, are a qubit pleased with themselves
We're big fans of quantum computing, and hopefully it's about to get a lot more reliable. Researchers at Yale have demonstrated quantum error correction in a solid state system for the first time. Quantum bits were created from "artificial" atoms using superconducting circuits, these qubits are then given either of the typical bit states of "1" or "0," or the quantum state of both simultaneously. The researchers developed a technique that identifies each qubit's initial state, so any erroneous changes can be reversed on the fly. Until now, errors have been a barrier in quantum computing, accumulating and ultimately causing computational failure. A reliable means of fixing these state changes is essential to developing a computer with an exponential speed-up, and fully realizing the quantum dream. The team at Yale hopes that this research might mean its platform of superconducting circuits becomes the one upon which quantum computing is ultimately built. We, on the other hand, just want our parallel universe.
Yale demos NFC-enabled residential locks, germaphobes rejoice (video)
Assa Abloy has already brought NFC-based door locks to some Swedish hotel rooms, but one of its subsidiary companies is now looking to bring them to your doorstep, as well. Earlier this month, Yale Locks & Hardware unveiled what it hopes will be the first NFC-enabled residential lock to hit the US market. With this system, all you'll need to do is wave your smartphone in front of one of Yale's Real Living line of motorized locks, which will then automatically open (as long as you've been authorized to do so). Demoed at this year's CEDIA Expo, these revamped locks are also compatible with either Zigbee or Z-Wave home automation technologies and support Assa Abloy's Mobile Keys software, which allows users to securely load all of their digital keys on their handsets. Pricing and availability remain unclear, but you can unlock more details in the brief demo video and full press release, after the break.
Yale Med School students get iPads
Yale School of Medicine will supply all of its students with an iPad 2. The program is meant to reduce paper use and make course materials more accessible. The school's assistant dean for curriculum Michael Schwartz says the students will be able to keep the iPads until they graduate, and use them to download the full curriculum and patient information. The program will distribute 520 iPads. If that sounds expensive, consider this: Dean Schwartz notes that the school spends about US$100,000 per year to copy, collate and distribute course materials. So far, he's spent about $600,000 on the iPad program. Within a few years, Schwartz notes, money saved on printing costs will pay for the initiative. After a successful pilot program last year, the school decided on some apps to include (GoodReader among them) as well as Bluetooth keyboards. Good luck to Yale's med students, faculty and staff. May the program be a success.
Yale introduces Zigbee and Z-Wave remote lockable deadbolts
No, these aren't the first deadbolts available that can be integrated with your security system or home automation, but unlike some others, they don't require a subscription either. Yale was demoing two models at the Control4's CEDIA booth including one with a capacitive touch screens. Using either Zigbee or Z-Wave the locks can communicate with Control4 and thanks to the internal replaceable batteries can remotely lock and unlock your doors. In addition you can quickly see if you've secured your abode without the need to check it one last time before you go to bed. Both models will start shipping next spring with the touch screen version going for an extra benjamin over the $299 one with regular buttons. %Gallery-103160%
Robotic Yale Aerial Manipulator grabs a can of Guinness
There's plenty of UAVs out there capable of dropping things, but comparatively fewer that are able to pick things up. Some researchers at Yale University doing their part to change that, however, and have recently shown off their so-called Yale Aerial Manipulator; a UAV with a robotic hand. While that may not exactly sound like much, the four-fingered hand is able to "autonomously" grab objects that weigh up to two kilograms while the UAV is in flight, and the helicopter itself is able to reach a top speed of 120 kilometers per hour. That, the researchers say, could let the UAV pick up bombs or packages in difficult to reach areas, or even simply be used to make deliveries in urban areas -- like that can of Guinness you've been craving, for instance. Head on past the break to check it out in action.
Vibrating auto seat alerts driver when cars get too close
Every time we turn around, auto manufacturers are developing loads of new displays and sensors. At what point does the driver hit sensory overload? That's the question that prompted John Morrell, an Associate Professor at Yale School of Engineering, to position twenty vibrating cellphone motors in a rectangular array inside the driver's seat. Several different warnings were devised, including positional warnings (someone approaching closely behind will set off the center of the array, while a car approaching from the left or right will set off the motors on your left or right, respectively). Preliminary tests were done on a simulator based on The Open Racing Car Simulator (TORCS) platform, and so far things look promising. "[T]he vibrotactile feedback improved drivers' performance over that attained by using the rearview mirror alone," according to Gizmag, "and also helped warn of vehicles hidden by the mirror blind spot." Now, if this could do double duty as a massage chair? Then we'd be onto something.
Yale students build spokeless bicycle in one semester, now looking for jobs
Here's something that'll make you think twice before your next bike purchase -- the geniuses (genii?) at Yale University have built a pretty rad spokeless bicycle, which was somehow inspired by the lack of "pictures of a real spokeless bicycle online." Sure, strictly speaking it's just a half-done product due to time (one semester) and budget restraints, but that rear wheel -- driven by the pedals on its geared inner rim -- alone should be enough to make you gasp. Practical hipsters might even be able to fit an electric motor or some sort of container inside the wheel, although we're pretty content with the futuristic hollowness. Either way, the Yale grad who posted these photos is now available for hire, so pay him well and you can have it your way.
Yale gets $4 million grant for HIV avoidance game
A group of pupils at Yale University recently received a grant from the (deep breath) Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, which will help fund development of a video game which teaches youngsters how to avoid contracting HIV. The game, Retro-Warriors, will be designed with a multicultural focus, so that it can be used to teach young people across the globe how to identify and eschew risky behaviors. It's not the first time someone's proposed such a project -- however, considering the aforementioned grant was for $3.9 million, it might be the most well-funded educational game of all time. We're fully expecting top-of-the-line graphics, a score by Hans Zimmer and some measure of involvement from Nolan North. For more information on what the game will actually be like, check out this CNS News article. [Via GamePolitics]
First functional quantum processor created, lasted slightly longer than your last Xbox 360
UK researchers said they were getting close earlier this year, but in one brilliant fraction of a second a gaggle of Yalies beat those limeys to the punch, with a team led by Robert Schoelkopf, a professor of Applied Physics at Yale, creating what's being hailed as the first quantum processor to actually perform calculations. It's composed of aluminum atoms grouped together to form two quantum bits, communicating over an unimaginatively named named quantum bus that enables one to change the (wait for it) quantum state of the other. This first qubit shifter was able to maintain state for 1,000 times longer than any previous qubit ever produced -- but since its predecessors could only manage a nanosecond's worth of cognition we're still only talking a microsecond here. In other words: there's still a long way to go before you'll be slotting one of these into your gaming rig.
New fabrication technique uses amorphous metals for building computer chips and killing machines
Sure, the march toward the ridiculous in the nanometer scale has continued unabated, but silicon can (probably) take us only so far. Some scientist types at Yale have developed a new fabrication process using bulk metallic glasses (BMGs), which are "amorphous metals" that can avoid crystalizing when cooled in a specific way. The upshot is that the metal -- while seeming solid -- acts as a slow-flowing liquid, with no structure beyond the atomic level. The BMGs can therefore replace several steps in the chip-stamping process, since they're more durable than silicon, but are more pliable than normal metals. Right now the folks at Yale are making patterns as small as 13nm, with better processes to come.[Via Physorg]
Castlevania music hits it really, really big
Our lives are officially forfeit. At a recent Video Games Live show at Yale's Woolsey Hall, classic Castlevania music was performed on a three-story pipe organ, like it was always meant to be. And we were nowhere near it. What is there to live for now? Oh, right, playing this video of it over and over again. Check out the video after the break, and gasp along with us as Vampire Killer kicks in. We feel bad for the poor pipe organ, having gotten a taste of Vania music and forced now to return to its former life.[Via Joystiq]
Second-rate school baits applicants with second-rate handheld system [update 1]
A small Canadian university by the name of Lakehead has angered some of its conservative alumni with a clever recruitment campaign that makes fun of POTUS #43 and offers students the chance to win one of four PSP handhelds or a Smart Car lease. Lakehead knows who they're after: liberal, environmentally-conscious Canadian youth with who tend to root for the underdog in a contest and who should have spent less time playing games and more time studying. Now if Sony or Nintendo could come up with a viable e-learning application, schools might offer all incoming freesh a gaming handheld in the way that some universities now offer iPods and laptops. [Thanks, Mike.] [Update 1: Dubya's #43, not #42, as originally stated. Oops.]
