Computer Science News

August 20, 2016

Using the Outside World to Save On Brainpower

The Internet Is Taking Over Human Memory

Gaming Using a Stretchy Touchpad

Making Quantum Computing Practical

Latest Headlines

updated 11:18am EDT

People Disregard Security Warnings on Computers Because They Come at Bad Times, Study Finds

Aug. 17, 2016 — Software developers listen up: if you want people to pay attention to your security warnings on their computers or mobile devices, you need to make ... read more

Interscatter Enables First Implanted Devices, Contact Lenses, Credit Cards to 'Talk' WiFi

Aug. 17, 2016 — Engineers have introduced a new way of communicating that allows power-constrained devices such as brain implants, contact ... read more

Data on Taxi Routes, Points of Interest May Improve Crime Predictions

Aug. 16, 2016 — Data on how taxis travel through communities and on how people label points of interest on social media could help analysts and criminologists better understand neighborhood crime rates in a city, ... read more

Researchers Resolve a Problem That Has Been Holding Back a Technological Revolution

Aug. 16, 2016 — Researchers have cleared that obstacle by developing a new way to purify carbon nanotubes -- the smaller, nimbler semiconductors that are expected to ... read more

RetroScope Opens Doors to the Past in Smart Phone Investigations

Aug. 11, 2016 — The increasing use of mobile technology in today's society has made information stored in the memory of smart phones just as important as evidence recovered from traditional crime scenes. Now ... read more

Wearable Cloud Could Be Less Expensive, More Powerful Form of Mobile Computing

Aug. 10, 2016 — A wearable cloud make the design of mobile and wearable devices simple, inexpensive and lightweight by having mobile device ... read more

User-Friendly Language for Programming Efficient Simulations

Aug. 10, 2016 — A team of researchers has developed a new programming language that handles that switching automatically. In experiments, simulations written in the language were dozens or even hundreds of times as ... read more

Plenty of Light During Daytime Reduces the Effect of Blue Light Screens on Night Sleep

Aug. 10, 2016 — The use of smartphones and tablet computers during evening hours has previously been associated with sleep disturbances in humans. A new study now ... read more

Serious Security Threat to Many Internet Users Highlighted

Aug. 9, 2016 — Researchers have identified a weakness in the Transmission Control Protocol of all Linux operating systems since late 2012 that enables attackers to hijack users' internet communications completely ... read more

K Computer and High-Tech Weather Radar Come Together to Predict Sudden Torrential Rains

Aug. 9, 2016 — An international team of researchers has used the powerful K computer and advanced radar observational data to accurately predict the occurrence of ... read more

Kenyan Girls Code Their Way to a New Future

Visa's Chip-Enabled Cards Are Reducing Fraud And Could Soon Be Faster

Is Your Laptop Still A Laptop Without A Keyboard? Apple Thinks So

Computer Draws First Blood in Clash With Go Grandmaster

Cybersecurity Student Researches How to Keep Cars Safe from Hacking

Aug. 19, 2016 — Cybersecurity student researches spent the summer researching how to keep cars safe from cyberattacks during an intensive eight-week cybersecurity summer research ... read more

Scientists Combine Satellite Data, Machine Learning to Map Poverty

Aug. 18, 2016 — The availability of accurate and reliable information on the location of impoverished zones is surprisingly lacking for much of the world. Applying machine learning to satellite images could identify ... read more

Personalized Wearable Tech Can Help Adults Diagnosed With Autism Manage Anxiety

Aug. 17, 2016 — Personalized wearable digital technology can help adults diagnosed with autism understand and manage their anxiety, say ... read more

Researchers Map Netflix's Content Delivery Network for the First Time

Aug. 16, 2016 — Scientists have revealed the network infrastructure used by Netflix for its content delivery, by mimicking the film request process from all over the world and analyzing the ... read more

Automating Genetic Analysis Helps Keep Up With Rapid Discovery of New Diseases, Study Finds

Aug. 15, 2016 — Researchers are devising ways to have computers help perform some of the intensive genetic analysis now performed manually when scientists study a patient's genome to diagnose a ... read more

Computer Programming Made Easier

Aug. 15, 2016 — In order to simplify program development, a recent project is developing technology that provides human operators with automated assistance. By removing the need for would-be programmers to learn ... read more

Gaming Camera Could Aid MS Treatment

Aug. 15, 2016 — A commonly used device found in living rooms around the world could be a cheap and effective means of evaluating the walking difficulties of multiple sclerosis patients. The Microsoft Kinect is a 3-D ... read more

Computer Scientists Reveal History of Third-Party Web Tracking

Aug. 15, 2016 — Researchers have presented the first-ever comprehensive analysis of third-party web tracking across three decades and a new tool, TrackingExcavator, which they developed to extract and analyze ... read more

New Insights Into the Evolution of Cooperation in Spatially Structured Populations

Aug. 11, 2016 — Researchers have analyzed a new mathematical model to investigate how a population's spatial structure affects the evolution of ... read more

New Hacking Technique Imperceptibly Changes Memory of Virtual Servers

Aug. 11, 2016 — For the first time ever a team of Dutch hacking experts managed to alter the memory of virtual machines in the cloud without a software bug, using a new attack ... read more

World Should Consider Limits to Future Internet Expansion to Control Energy Consumption

Aug. 11, 2016 — The world should consider ways to limit data growth on the internet to prevent run-away energy consumption and help limit carbon emissions, say leading computer ... read more

System Helps Protect Privacy in Genomic Databases

Aug. 9, 2016 — In a new study, researchers describe a new system that permits database queries for genome-wide association studies but reduces the chances of privacy compromises to almost ... read more

Towards a Better Screen

Aug. 8, 2016 — Researchers have designed more than 1,000 new blue-light emitting molecules for organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) that could dramatically improve displays for televisions, phones, tablets and ... read more

Liquid Light Switch Could Enable More Powerful Electronics

Aug. 8, 2016 — Researchers have built a record energy-efficient switch, which uses the interplay of electricity and a liquid form of light, in semiconductor microchips. The device could form the foundation of ... read more

Diamond-Based Light Sources Will Lay a Foundation for Quantum Communications of the Future

Aug. 5, 2016 — Scientists might have solved one of the most challenging problems of quantum communications, showing that diamonds may be used as ultra-bright single photon emitters. Discrete generation of photons ... read more

Record-Breaking Logic Gate 'Another Important Milestone' on Road to Quantum Computers

Aug. 5, 2016 — Researchers have achieved a quantum logic gate with record-breaking 99.9% precision, reaching the benchmark required theoretically to build a quantum ... read more

Hacking the Business Model of Adware, Scareware, Other Unwanted Software

Aug. 4, 2016 — A team of researchers is offering the first public view into practices that deliver unwanted advertising and software bundled with legitimate downloads. Their research suggests that some of the ... read more

Phase-Change Device Imitates the Functionality of Neurons

Aug. 4, 2016 — Scientists have created randomly spiking neurons using phase-change materials to store and process data. This demonstration marks a significant step forward in the development of energy-efficient, ... read more

Programmable Ions Set the Stage for General-Purpose Quantum Computers

Aug. 3, 2016 — Scientists have introduced the first fully programmable and reconfigurable quantum computer ... read more

Sprinkling of Neural Dust Opens Door to Electroceuticals

Aug. 3, 2016 — Monitoring electrical signals from muscles and nerves has become easier with a 1x1x3 mm sensor that can be implanted anywhere in the body, powered and read out by ultrasound. With further ... read more

Friday, August 19, 2016