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IBM, STMicroelectronics and Shaspa Advance Smarter Home Initiative

By Guest PostJanuary 8, 2013Technology1933, 3d, batteryless, bruce anderson, carbon dioxide, chicago world fair, cloud enabled electronics, cloud platform, co2 level, data, ecosystem, electronics exhibition, energy efficiency, forecast, gui, home gateway, human motion, ibm, ibm cloud, ibm worklight, industry standard, internet of things, ipv6 network, it efficiency, las vegas, mobile application platform, mobile device, monitoring, multiple user interfaces, new era, oliver goh, osgi, parks associates, physical gestures, preset scenarios, save energy, shaspa, smart home, smarter home initiative, stih416, stmicroelectronics, system on chip, temperature, time based, value add services, voice recognition

Cloud computing enhances control of “Internet of Things” in the home to help manage heating, lighting, security and more via multiple user interfaces including gestures and voice recognition

LAS VEGAS, CES – 08 Jan 2013: IBM, STMicroelectronics and Shaspa today announced a collaboration to tap cloud and mobile computing for manufacturers and service providers to provide innovative ways for consumers to manage and interact with their homes’ functions and entertainment systems using multiple user interfaces such as voice recognition and physical gestures for a smarter home.

A “smart home” brings networking functions together, creating a gateway that connects a television, computer or mobile device with smart meters, lights, appliances, plugs and sensors within the home as well as services from outside. Parks Associates forecasts that more than 8 billion devices will be connected on the home network by year-end 2015.[1] (more…)

Captive Hyenas Outfox Wild Relatives

By Guest PostJanuary 8, 2013Natureanimals in captivity, captive animals, captive hyenas, captive spotted hyenas, problem solving skills, wild spotted hyenas

When it comes to solving puzzles, animals in captivity are, well, different animals than their wild brethren. (more…)

Molecular Scientists Reveal Extraordinary Properties of Ordinary Glasses

By Guest PostJanuary 8, 2013Scienceaging, amber, amorphous molecular structure, Chicago, computer simulation, configuration, crystallization, evolution, evolution of glasses, glassy material, juan de pablo, mark ediger, mechanical properties, metal, molecular condition, molecular theory, multishaped object, ordinary glass, pharmaceutical, properties, sadanand singh, semi crystalline structure, silico vapor deposition, simulation, structural signature, tetris, ultrastable glasses, university, vacuum chamber, vapor deposition process, void riddled pattern, wisconsin madison

Technologically valuable ultrastable glasses can be produced in days or hours with properties corresponding to those that have been aged for thousands of years, computational and laboratory studies have confirmed.

Aging makes for higher quality glassy materials because they have slowly evolved toward a more stable molecular condition. This evolution can take thousands or millions of years, but manufacturers must work faster. Armed with a better understanding of how glasses age and evolve, researchers at the universities of Chicago and Wisconsin-Madison raise the possibility of designing a new class of materials at the molecular level via a vapor-deposition process. (more…)

Within ‘Habitable Zone,’ More Planets than We Knew

By Guest PostJanuary 8, 2013Scienceamerican astronomical society, apollo moon, avatar, debra fischer, eric gershon, Galaxy, gas giant, giant planet, greenhouse atmosphere, habitable moon, habitable world, habitable zone, hospitable, ji wang, jupiter, kepler spacecraft, kian jek, life, liquid water, long beach, NASA, pandora, ph2 b, planet hunters, polyphemus, rocky planet, san francisco, solar star, star trek, sun, yale university

The number of known places in our galaxy theoretically hospitable to life may be significantly greater than previously thought, according to new research.

Researchers with Planet Hunters are reporting the discovery of a Jupiter-sized planet in the so-called “habitable zone” of a star similar to Earth’s sun, as well as the identification of 15 new candidate planets also orbiting within their star’s habitable zone. (more…)

The Results Are In: Xbox NUads Makes Traditional TV Advertising More Engaging

By Guest PostJanuary 7, 2013Technologyads on xbox, canada, dionne colvin, double digit engagement, kathleen bell, kinect, microsoft corp., microsoft internal research, nuads experience, real time feedback, restaurants, ross honey, subway, top advertisers, toyota, toyota motor sales, tv, tv spot, united kingdom, united states, usa, xbox 360, xbox live

New interactive TV ad format captivates consumers beyond the 30-second spot.

REDMOND, Wash. — Jan. 7, 2013 — Microsoft Corp. today announced the double-digit engagement results of the first NUads experience, interactive polling, which it rolled out earlier in the fall of 2012 on Xbox LIVE in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.

The first wave of NUads was provided by a lineup of top advertisers, including SUBWAY® Restaurants and Toyota, which on average saw the following results with their ads on Xbox LIVE: (more…)

Pronunciation of ‘s’ sounds impacts perception of gender, CU-Boulder researcher finds

By Guest PostJanuary 7, 2013General, Sciencebay area, biological difference, colorado boulder, female, high frequency s, kira hall, lal zimman, larynx, linguist, lower frequency, male, perception of gender, pitch, s sounds, san francisco, socio biological complexity, style of speech, throat, transgender people, university, voice, wenner-gren foundation

A person’s style of speech — not just the pitch of his or her voice — may help determine whether the listener perceives the speaker to be male or female, according to a University of Colorado Boulder researcher who studied transgender people transitioning from female to male.

The way people pronounce their “s” sounds and the amount of resonance they use when speaking contributes to the perception of gender, according to Lal Zimman, whose findings are based on research he completed while earning his doctoral degree from CU-Boulder’s linguistics department. (more…)

In Financial Ecosystems, Big Banks Trample Economic Habitats and Spread Fiscal Disease

By Guest PostJanuary 6, 2013Economyamerican financial sector, bank of england, banking meltdown, bill, contagion channels, diversity, ecosystem stability, effect, elephant herd, financial disease, financial environment, financial pie, financial policy adviser, financial shocks, financial system, george sugihara, global financial crisis, grassland, grazing, impact, intensity, interconnected banks, international bank, large bank, lehman brothers holdings, mathematical epidemiologist, melinda gates foundation, model, multinational banks, national, nimalan arinaminpathy, oceanography, pnas, population, potential threat, princeton university, quarantine, robert may, san diego, scripps institution, small bank, spread, sugihara, sujit kapadia, system collapsing, systemic risk tax, types of assets, typical elephant herd, united states, university of california, university of oxford, us banks, virus

Like the impact of an elephant herd grazing on grassland, multinational banks shape the financial environment to an extent that far outweighs their small number. And like a contagious person on a transnational flight, when these giant, interconnected banks succumb to financial ills, they are uniquely positioned to infect wide swaths of the financial system.

Researchers from Princeton University, the Bank of England and the University of Oxford applied methods inspired by ecosystem stability and contagion models to banking meltdowns and found that large national and international banks wield an influence and potentially destructive power that far exceeds their actual size. (more…)

Curiosity Rover Explores ‘Yellowknife Bay’

By Guest PostJanuary 6, 2013Sciencecuriosity, darker rock cutting, gale crater, habitable environment, john grotzinger, jpl, mars rover, martian day, microbe, NASA, red planet, richard cook, shallow depression, sinuous rock feature, snake river, sol, yellowknife bay

Mars Science Laboratory Mission Status Report

PASADENA, Calif. – After imaging during the holidays, NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity resumed driving Jan. 3 and pulled within arm’s reach of a sinuous rock feature called “Snake River.”

Snake River is a thin curving line of darker rock cutting through flatter rocks and jutting above sand. Curiosity’s science team plans to get a closer look at it before proceeding to other nearby rocks. (more…)

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