Filed under: Computers

Hey, amateur astronomers, listen to this: A couple of at-home space nuts recently discovered a pulsar with a screensaver that uses idle PC time to process data collected from telescopes. By using Einstein@Home to ‘donate’ a PC’s processors to the pursuit of science, the program harnesses thousands of willing computers, rather than one supercomputer, to analyze data. This helps on-the-clock astronomers to cheaply continue their research while they sift through data collected from the Arecibo radio telescope and the LIGO gravitational wave detector.

Wells Fargo computer professionals Chris and Helen Colvin personally built the “run-of-the-mill” computer, which first discovered the pulsar on June 11th, before it was confirmed by another user, Daniel Gebhardt, in Germany on June 14th. The Colvins told Fox News, “It’s just something that runs in the background and we don’t think about it very much.” The trio likely won’t receive anything (besides bragging rights) for their discovery, but we think, at least, they should get to name the star. After all, their PCs could’ve just been wasting time playing retro video games instead. Check out an interview with the Colvins and Gebhardt after the break. [From: Science, Einstein@Home and The National Science Foundation, via: Fox News]

Continue reading Citizen Scientists Use Einstein@Home Screensaver to Discover a New Pulsar

Citizen Scientists Use Einstein@Home Screensaver to Discover a New Pulsar originally appeared on Switched on Sun, 15 Aug 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Computers

In a recent study at Northwestern University, researchers used electrodes to examine the brain activity of 29 “fake” terrorists. As FOX reports, each student was given a fake terrorist plan of attack on a given U.S. city, and about 30 minutes to educate themselves. They were also asked to flesh out the attacks in greater detail, based on information concerning weapons and methods. The researchers, in the first stage of the study, were fully aware of the mock terrorist plots, and monitored the brain activity of the students during interviews. Whenever a subject revealed details as to where and when the attack was to take place, researchers noticed a unique pattern in his or her ‘P300′ brain wave activity. They were then able to associate these patterns with a student’s “guilty knowledge” of the attack, with 100-percent accuracy across all 29 subjects.

To test the pattern, they re-ran the experiment — but without being privy to the mock plots. “Without any prior knowledge of the planned crime in our mock terrorism scenarios, we were able to identify 10 out of 12 terrorists, and, among them, 20 out of 30 crime-related details,” said psychology professor J. Peter Rosenfeld. “The test was 83-percent accurate in predicting concealed knowledge, suggesting that our complex protocol could identify future terrorist activity.”

Continue reading Brain Waves Reveal Terrorists’ Guilty Knowledge

Brain Waves Reveal Terrorists’ Guilty Knowledge originally appeared on Switched on Thu, 05 Aug 2010 14:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Video Games

Foldit may seem like a relatively straightforward game, but the scientific theory behind it is anything but. Created by Washington University’s Seth Cooper, the game requires players to deconstruct the complex, three-dimensional structures of various proteins — a task typically left to biochemistry PhD students or researchers. Foldit, though, allows even novices to enter the world of protein architecture, thanks to its intuitive game controls, colloquial language and clear tutorials. Instead of wrapping their minds around arcane scientific concepts, users simply have to “tweak,” “freeze,” “wiggle” and “shake” the shapes that appear before them. As Discover reports, only one-eighth of Foldit players actually work in a scientific field, and a full two-thirds have had no biochemistry training beyond high school.

According to Cooper, the game is designed to “attract the widest possible audience… and encourage prolonged engagement.” That’s why, for example, he added a competitive element to the game, by scoring users based on the stability of their final protein structures, and ranking them against fellow gamers. Foldit also has a social aspect, as users can chat with each other, and collaborate on different puzzles.

Continue reading ‘Foldit’ Lets Gamers Unintentionally Make Scientific Breakthroughs

‘Foldit’ Lets Gamers Unintentionally Make Scientific Breakthroughs originally appeared on Switched on Thu, 05 Aug 2010 10:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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AP – The US government is expected to take over control of the central information website on the Gulf oil spill response that has been run jointly by various agencies and BP for the 2 1/2 months since the rig explosion.

Filed under: Computers

Recent developments in medical science have enabled patients with heart conditions to experience unprecedented methods of surgery and rehabilitation. Tireless and precise remote-controlled robots provide doctors with “complete control” over surgical procedures, and an advanced and minimized artificial heart recently allowed a father to leave the hospital for the first time in two years.

Aside from healthy living and electronic bracelets, however, preventative measures and response techniques are limited. But, a group of scientists in England now appear close to empowering the elderly and the alone with a new protective monitoring system. The technology from PassivSystems can reportedly determine a fall or a heart attack in a monitored room, and then autonomously request assistance. The monitoring system also apparently recognizes brain, nerve and muscle signals.

Continue reading PassivSystems Room Monitor Detects Movement, and Heart Attacks

PassivSystems Room Monitor Detects Movement, and Heart Attacks originally appeared on Switched on Thu, 01 Jul 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Computers, Visionaries

Researchers at Harvard and the Children’s Hospital in Boston recently combined lung and blood vessel cells with microchip technology to create what they’ve dubbed a “lung-on-a-chip.” It may sound like the name of a cannibalistic afternoon snack, but the new gadget reportedly behaves and reacts like real lung tissue, and could radically change the way in which medical researchers study human lungs.

David Ingber, the vascular biologist leading the work at Harvard, told the Guardian that his team’s device could accurately mimic the inflammatory response triggered by pathogens, and that it could fully absorb airborne nanoparticles. Researchers are hopeful, then, that they’ll be able to use the lung-on-a-chip to study the effects that drugs and toxins have on the respiratory system without ever having to open up a human body. Ingber even predicts that the device, and those like it, “could replace many animal studies in the future.”

Continue reading ‘Lung-on-a-Chip’ Capable of Accurately Replicating Natural Lung

‘Lung-on-a-Chip’ Capable of Accurately Replicating Natural Lung originally appeared on Switched on Fri, 25 Jun 2010 17:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Cameras, Digital Camera

Who needs the Hubble? Not Gerard Marull Paretas, Sergi Saballs Vila, Marta­ Gasull Morcillo and Jaume Puigmiquel Casamort, that’s for sure.

The four Spanish teenagers, working with their teacher Jordi Fanals Oriol as the Meteotek team at the IES La Bisbal school in Catalonia, started with a fairly lofty goal: They wanted to launch a balloon with a digital camera and some custom-built electronic sensors to 30,000 feet. Much to their surprise, they ended up considerably exceeding their expectations. Their $60 heavy duty latex balloon and $80 Nikon digital camera soared to 100,000 feet, right to the edge of space. Describing the team’s homegrown approach, Gerard Marull Paretas told the Telegraph, “We took readings as the balloon rose and mapped its progress using Google Earth and the onboard radio receiver.”

Like something out of a Roald Dahl book or upcoming Pixar film, these four students were able to accomplish something unexpected, and quite impressive, with meager resources. This is recession astronomy — for less than the cost of some people’s electric bills, the group was able to capture some stunning images from the very limits of the Earth’s atmosphere. Check out the gallery below for some images from the team’s Flickr feed. [From: Telegraph]

Related Links:

• College Students Contact Space Station With Self-Built Radio System
• British Put the First Teddy Bears Into Space
• Scotch Tape Creates X-Rays, Scientists Discover

Students Take Space Photos With Simple Latex Balloon and Digi-Cam originally appeared on Switched on Wed, 18 Mar 2009 15:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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