Mind & Brain
Do Dogs Respond to Videotaped Commands?
This question was not proposed by a mad scientist bent on world doggie domination. The idea to see whether dogs follow life-sized videos is actually entirely sensible.
Computing2317 articles archived since 1845
Technology
Quantum Bits Compressed for the First Time
Physicists have now shown how to encode three quantum bits, the kind of data that might be used in the computers of tomorrow, using just two photons
Technology
Marine Archaeology Goes High-Tech
Editor's Note: Veteran science journalist Philip Hilts is working and diving with a team of archeologists, engineers and divers off the shore of Antikythera, a remote Greek island, where a treasure ship by the same name sank in 70 B.C...
Technology
“Glass Brain” Offers Tours of the Space between Your Ears
3-D visualizations combine EEG and MRI data to illustrate how brain signals propagate and could be used to study neural disorders
Technology
A Guardian "Agent" to Protect You From Digital Fraud
Today, maintaining privacy without guided assistance is an onerous task, whose initial costs are high, immediate rewards low and solutions fragile and constantly evolving.
Technology
Wireless Robot Octopus Swims With the Fishes [Video]
Robot octopuses can already walk, jet along and even grasp tools. But new advances have these machines swimming faster than ever. And thanks to the addition of soft, fleshy webs, they’re starting to look—and move—much more like the real thing, too...
Technology
Deep Sea Explorations Amaze with Live Stream Video
On Tuesday I wrote about my experience diving in a deep-sea submarine, but going on right now are two live-streaming deep-sea expeditions that allow you incredible access to the deep sea from the comfort of your own home...
The Sciences
Computer Scientist Tells Mathematicians How To Write Proofs
Believe it or not, I do have friends who would describe themselves as not liking math, and every so often one of them will share this meme on Facebook: And then Satan said, "Put the alphabet in math." There are different background pictures each time the meme pops up, but the text is always the [...]..
Technology
Technology Unlocks the Mysteries of Bird Flight
Bob Dylan asked: "Are birds free from the chains of the skyway?" Sure, this is a metaphor (in Dylan's case, for a lost love) but it works because the complexities of avian flight—from migration and navigation to group dynamics—have long been a mystery, one with a preponderance of ideas, but few firm answers...
The Sciences
Tools for Evaluating Scholarly Journals
In an information-rich age, one of my main functions as a librarian isn't helping people find material, but helping them evaluate the material they find.
Technology
Weather Radar Captures Flocks of Birds Taking Off
Several times a week, if not every day, I look at Doppler radar maps so I know whether to take an umbrella when I leave the house. These maps, shown on TV weather reports or websites, are commonplace enough that they don’t feel like impressive technology: mere green blobs slowly shifting across the screen at [...]..
NOVA Cybersecurity Lab
Explore the world of coding, cyber scams and online safety
Space & Physics
Making Astronomy Accessible for the Visually Impaired
A couple of years ago, one of my thesis mentors sought visually impaired scientists working at a major space science agency in the United States.
Virtual-Reality Headset Is Reinventing Exposure Therapy
Researchers are using the Oculus Rift to test immersion treatments for PTSD and phobias
The Sciences
7 Amazing Google Science Fair Projects
Tonight, Google will announce the winners of its fourth annual Google Science Fair, which Scientific American co-sponsors. Watch the awards ceremony here live.
Engines of Innovation
Most of humanity now lives in a metropolis. That simple fact helps to fuel our continued success as a species
Environment
An Efficient Process for Recycling Rare Earth Elements
A student team from the University of Houston swept this year's U.S. Department of Energy Clean Energy Business Plan Competition. With their innovative (and proprietary) approach to recycling a pair of critical rare earth materials, the REEcycle team introduced the energy industry to an innovative way to turn waste into a domestic stream of rare [...]..
The Sciences
Prime Numbers Scholar Wins 2014 MacArthur "Genius Grant"
The award, which comes with a no-strings-attached $625,000 stipend paid out over five years, also went to black carbon and nano materials researchers
Space & Physics
Visualizing 4-Dimensional Asteroids
Editor’s Note: The following is a guest post from Jake VanderPlas, a data scientist who worked on the Graphic Science illustration in the October issue of Scientific American magazine...
Health
Staring at a Screen for Hours Changes Your Tears
Office workers exhibit symptoms of dry eye
