Huge data sets examined interactively yet remotely

A surgeon in New York who wants the opinion quickly of a specialist in Los Angeles probably would send medical MRI [magnetic resonance imaging] files as e-mail attachments or make them accessible in Internet drop zones. Unfortunately for patients on operating tables, extremely large files may take a half-hour to transmit and require a very large computer ( perhaps not available ) to form images from the complicated data. Additionally,

Representatives from 14 international, national, and regional organisations from around the world meeting in Brazil have agreed to form a World Federation of Science Journalists, recognizing the increasing international nature of science communication.

The new organization is designed to bridge scientists and society worldwide by creating a network for the exchange of information, improving access to scientific and technical sources and facilitating training and education of journalists par

Major international research programme on Life as learning
Mobile phones are the new learning tools of the future

Mobile phones look set to become an important new learning tool for the future. One of the projects under the umbrella of the Academy of Finland international research programme Life as Learning (or LEARN for short) is working on theoretical models and practical applications that will facilitate the use of mobile technology in learning. In charge of this project is Pro

A new optical antenna, developed by researchers at the University of Warwick, will bring significant benefits to credit card payments, wireless networks, household electronics and longer distance data transfer.

The device was developed by Professor Roger Green and Roberto Ramirez-Iniguez, in the University of Warwick`s Engineering Department. It applies techniques used to manipulate radio frequencies to select the incoming “signal frequencies” carried on infrared beams to produce the optica

Put aside images of World War II espionage and codebreaking. Today cryptography is vital to the security of a form of communication and commerce never imagined 60 years ago: the Internet. Researchers at Northwestern University now have demonstrated a new high-speed quantum cryptography method that uses the properties of light to encrypt information into a form of code that can only be cracked by violating the physical laws of nature.

In the open and global communication world of the Interne

As cable companies and Internet access providers compete for customers by offering broadband service, cable modems and digital subscriber lines (DSLs) as faster access to the Web, slower download speeds sometimes prompt greater user response than faster download speeds, a study says.

Dr. S. Shyam Sundar, associate professor of communications and co-director of the Media Effects Research Laboratory at Penn State, and Carson Wagner, assistant professor of advertising at the University of Texa

New research enables computers to name that tune

A team of British and American scientists claim a world’s first in online music recognition, paving the way for the musical equivalent of web search-engine Google; and the potential to resolve musical copyright disputes. Researchers at Queen Mary, University of London; King`s College London; Oxford University and the Universities of Indiana and Massachusetts have developed a new system which enables computers to recognise complex pieces

Telecommunications companies worldwide must make “fundamental adjustments” to their business models if they are to survive in the complex and highly competitive new economy, according new research by the Universities of Newcastle and Strathclyde, UK.
A research paper published in a special issue of the journal Telecommunications Policy (1), urges companies to sharply examine and revise their pricing policies to encourage greater revenues and reverse the recent stock market slump in telecommunica

The first complete map of drug related web-sites on the Internet is under construction. Dr Fabrizio Schifano and colleagues at St George`s Hospital Medical School in Tooting, London, will collect and analyse data from web-sites relating to the design and sale of recreational and illicit substances. The purpose is to provide healthcare professionals in the European community with as much information as possible on the latest drugs – drugs that are often unrecorded in medical textbooks.

The la

Hope for shareholders; warning for salesmen

In these roller coaster times for the economy, there is qualified hope: operations researchers report that peoples’ reaction to a sequence of occurrences in which an initial event is unexpectedly reversed is more favorable if the first event is a loss than if it is a gain, according to a study in a journal of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS®). “Our research supports the casual observation that

More Internet information means more disinformation,warns a Dartmouth engineering professor

Why is the stock market fluctuating wildly these days? Is it poor earnings reports? Is it questionable accounting practices or CEO inefficiency? Or do investors trade frantically after they’ve read something on the Internet? If an investor reads a seemingly authoritative report about a company’s performance, he or she might be influenced to buy or sell stock.

Sometimes what

Viewing of internet ads does lead to future sales

Contrary to popular e-wisdom, measuring Internet banner ads only by the number of times that viewers click through is faulty, according to a paper presented today at a conference of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS®).

The paper contends that the more often consumers see online banner ads, the more likely they are to make a purchase, even if they don’t click through immediately to the

The siting of radio masts is one of the topics that today seem guaranteed to grab the attention of both the public and the newspapers. With passionately held views springing from all sides, sometimes accompanied by graphic accusations, how should businesses and professionals involved in this potentially controversial area try to steer a course in dealing with public perceptions of risk?

The answer to is be guided by a set of `golden rules` of communication, according to Dr Simon Gerrard, a s

We`ve got digital television. Next comes digital cinema. Thanks to ESA, cinema-goers in five European countries will be able to get an early taste of the new technology later this summer. As part of an ESA-funded project, ten cinemas in Austria, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK will be screening movies transmitted and played digitally rather than by the conventional analogue method.

The advantage to the cinema-goer should be no blemishes on the moving image and greater and consistent clarity

’Cell-free zones’ recommended

Preliminary results of a University of Rhode Island analysis of the eye-movements of automobile drivers using cell phones found that the drivers have a reduced field of view – tunnel vision. Further studies may have significant implications on the use of cell phones in automobiles.

URI industrial engineering Professor Manbir Sodhi and psychology Professor Jerry Cohen used a head-mounted, eye-tracking device on volunteer drivers and con

Probiotics (microbes that protect their host and can prevent disease) can prevent diarrhoea associated with the use of antibiotics, finds a study in this week’s BMJ.

Researchers at the Hammersmith Hospital in London reviewed nine trials carried out to study the benefits of probiotics in the prevention of antibiotic associated diarrhoea. In all nine trials, the probiotics were given in combination with antibiotics and the control groups received placebo and antibiotics.

They found t