Tech : Science World Report

Sep 21, 2013 12:19 AM EDT

Teaching Computers to See — By Learning to See Like Computers

By translating images into the language spoken by object-recognition systems, then translating them back, researchers hope to explain the systems’ failures.

Sep 20, 2013 05:28 PM EDT

Scientists Create "Mysterious Quasiparticle" Needed for Quantum Computing in Arcane Lab

Reliable quantum computing would make it possible to solve certain types of extremely complex technological problems millions of times faster than today’s most powerful supercomputers. Other types of problems that quantum computing could tackle would not even be feasible with today’s fastest mac...

Sep 20, 2013 01:34 PM EDT

Making High-Tech Industrial Plasma Reactors Safer and More Efficient

EPFL scientists have uncovered the physics behind the formation of plasmoids – funnel-like, high-energy plasmas that can severely damage industrial plasma reactors, causing millions in repairs and lost productivity in plasma technologies like those used to make display screens and even food contai...

Sep 19, 2013 05:48 PM EDT

Measure to Avoid 'Helium Cliff' Impacting Science and Tech Approved by U.S. Senate

Helium - best known as the gas used to fill party balloons - is a critical product in the aerospace and defense industries and also used in the manufacture of smart phones and medical equipment, among other things.

Sep 19, 2013 05:21 PM EDT

New Materials Improve Oxygen Catalysis

Highly active catalysts could be key to improved energy storage in fuel cells and advanced batteries.

Sep 19, 2013 04:37 PM EDT

Low-Cost Atomic Force Nanoscope Built With LEGO by Students

Using LEGO, the world’s first low cost Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) has been developed in Beijing by a group of PhD students from University College London (UCL), Tsinghua University and Peking University

Sep 19, 2013 03:49 PM EDT

Smartphone 'Microscope' Developed That Can Detect a Single Virus, Nanoparticles

UCLA engineers have created a 1/2-pound, portable smartphone attachment that can be used to perform sophisticated field testing to detect viruses and bacteria without the need for bulky and expensive microscopes and lab equipment.

Sep 19, 2013 02:53 PM EDT

3D-Printing Boom: Craftsmanship Enters the Digital Era

Three-dimensional printers – once available to a small circle of high-tech firms and professionals – are now available to the general public. The ability to produce a prototype quickly and with minimal investment is a boon for the creative sector.

Sep 20, 2013 06:45 AM EDT

E-Readers Make Reading Easier for Students with Dyslexia

E-readers continue to grow in popularity as people download books to read on their handheld devices. Now, scientists have discovered that some people with dyslexia can read more easily, quickly and with greater comprehension when using an e-reader than when using a book.

Sep 19, 2013 10:55 AM EDT

Does Anger Influence your Interactions on the Web?

For most of us, the online world has become a ritualistic part of our daily lives. Checking Facebook, messaging friends and loved ones and emailing colleagues are all a part of our social interaction that connects us through the world-wide-web. Other things connect us as well, including social sites...

Sep 19, 2013 10:51 AM EDT

'Sticky Tape' for Water Mimics Rose Petals: Raspberry Particles

How could a rose petal help medical tests and airplane cabins? Scientists have created a new nanostructured material that mimics rose petals that can immobilize very small droplets, essentially becoming a type of "sticky tape" for water.

Sep 17, 2013 10:03 PM EDT

State-of-the-Art Open-Source Laser Cutter Built by University Students

A new, state-of-the-art laser cutter stands in a room off of the Department of Visual and Dramatic Arts’ workshop on the second floor of Sewall Hall. The price tag: $8,000 — a fraction of the cost of a factory-built laser cutter. The “good deal” comes courtesy of seven Rice undergraduate stu...