First Commercial Quantum Computer Is Sold
But critics say that D-Wave's system is still something of a black box.
Computing2251 articles archived since 1845
Citizen Scientists and Social Media Aim to Help Prevent Frog Extinctions
Around the world, frogs and other amphibians are disappearing due to habitat loss, climate change, pollution and the deadly chytrid fungus, which has already driven a few dozen species into extinction...
Hack My Ride: Cyber Attack Risk on Car Computers
Increasingly sophisticated onboard computers may put cars in danger of cyber attacks
String Theory: Violinist Taps Artificial Intelligence to Interact with Her Unique Sound [Video]
"Subharmonics" innovator Mari Kimura connects herself with a computer using a wireless, fingerless glove that meticulously tracks bow strokes to get to the root of expression
Chinese Prison Inmates Forced to Moonlight as World of Warcraft "Gold Farmers" for Guards
Earlier this week, the Guardian newspaper based in London told the story of a former prisoner at northeast China's Jixi labor camp who spent his days breaking rocks and digging trenches in the open cast coalmines and his weary nights forcibly playing World of Warcraft (WoW) for hours on end to build up virtual currency that his jailers could sell for actual money...
Will 10 Billion People Use Up the Planet's Resources?
The human enterprise now consumes nearly 60 billion metric tons of minerals, ores, fossil fuels and plant materials, such as crop plants and trees for timber or paper.
Kepler Spacecraft Shows That Smaller Planets Abound
NASA's planet-hunting satellite is making the case that it's a small-world galaxy, after all
Critical Mass: How to Maintain the Power of Online Reviews
The wisdom of crowds can be brilliant. It can also be corrupt
Use It Better: The Best Customer-Review Sites
Sure, you know Yelp and TripAdvisor, but what if you're looking for a guitar or a new doctor? A collection of less familiar user-review sites
Secret to Stopping Spam: Follow the Money
Spam comprises upward of 80 percent of incoming e-mail, despite monumental efforts by help desks and security software companies to defeat it. The reason spam volumes continue to grow is that such efforts are often misplaced and fail to hit spammers where it hurts...
Single Laser Optical Approach Transmits 700 DVDs of Data per Second
By doing away with an analog conversion, researchers have transmitted 26 terabits of data per second over a 50-kilometer distance with a single laser. Christopher Intagliata reports
Hands-Off Training: Google's Self-Driving Car Holds Tantalizing Promise, but Major Roadblocks Remain
Driverless automobiles lack common sense but are getting better at using mapping, GPS and sensing technologies to hold the road
Information Is Everywhere, How Can Science Protect It?
Editor's Note: The following blog post first appeared May 15 on the World Science Festival's Web site
Underscoring the importance of encryption in our increasingly data-driven digital lives, this year's World Science Festival features its first-ever session on cryptography, entitled "Keeping Secrets: Cryptography in a Connected World." During this discussion expect a well-rounded panel—including mathematician and computer scientist Brian Snow, scientist/journalist Simon Singh, cryptoanalyst Orr Dunkelman and cryptography researcher Tal Rabin—to break down cryptography, addressing its strengths and weaknesses as well as its impact on security and privacy...
Patent Watch: Registering Impacts in Sports
Patent no. 7,891,231 B2
Why Bayes Rules: The History of a Formula That Drives Modern Life
A new book about the now ubiquitous theorem traces its road from 18th-century theology to 21st-century robotic cars
Twitter Helped Doctors Tell Patients Where to Get Meds After Japan Earthquake
In the hours after the magnitude 9.0 earthquake and massive tsunami hit Japan in March, essential infrastructure and communication were cut off, leaving many of the disasters' survivors without access to phones, electricity or water...
Participatory Urban Sensing
Through the use of sensors built into your mobile phone (cameras, motion sensors and GPS) and Web services that can aggregate and interpret the assembled information, a new collective capacity is emerging: one in which people like you participate in sensing and analyzing aspects of life that were previously invisible...
