We all have our ups and downs—a fight with a friend, a divorce, the loss of a parent. But most of us get over it. Only some go on to develop major depression. Now, a new study, which will be published in an upcoming issue of Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, suggests part of the reason may be that people with depression get stuck on bad thoughts because they’re unable to turn their attention away. (more…)
Sensor Involved in Blood Pressure Regulation, Insulin Release, Brain Signaling
A biological sensor is a critical part of a human cell’s control system that is able to trigger a number of cell activities. A type of sensor known as the “gating ring” can open a channel that allows a flow of potassium ions through the cell’s wall or membrane — similar to the way a subway turnstile allows people into a station. This flow of ions, in turn, is involved in the regulation of crucial bodily activities like blood pressure, insulin secretion and brain signaling. (more…)
Microcredit, which involves giving small loans to very small businesses in an effort to promote entrepreneurship, has been widely touted as a way to reduce poverty and stimulate economic growth. A multitude of both non- and for-profit institutions are spending billions of dollars each year on microcredit ventures in developing nations around the globe. (more…)
*Co-Authored by WPI Computer Science Professor Craig Wills, Study Shows that Existing and Proposed Safeguards Against Leakage and Linking of Private Information are Inadequate*
A study of more than 100 popular websites used by tens of millions of people has found that three quarters directly leak either private information o r users’ unique identifiers to third-party tracking sites. The study, co-authored by Craig Wills, professor of computer science at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), also demonstrated how the leakage of private information by many sites, including email addresses, physical addresses, and even the configuration of a user’s web browser—so-called browser fingerprints—could permit tracking sites to link many disparate pieces of information, including browsing histories contained in tracking cookies and the contents of searches on health and travel sites, to create detailed profiles of individuals. (more…)
*Find great gift ideas for Father’s Day and graduating students, from the fun – Kinect, hot-selling games for Xbox 360 – to the functional: including the latest and lightest laptops and netbooks, Windows Phone devices and great deals on Microsoft Office 2010.*
REDMOND, Wash. – What dad or grad wouldn’t be thrilled to unwrap an Xbox console with Kinect or the latest super-fast, lightweight laptop or netbook? Explore our wide range of gift ideas from hot hardware accessories and blockbuster games to free services such as Bing and Windows Live. (more…)
Widespread urban development alters weather patterns
New research focusing on the Houston area suggests that widespread urban development alters weather patterns in a way that can make it easier for pollutants to accumulate during warm summer weather instead of being blown out to sea. (more…)
Scientists Build the First Wafer-Scale Graphene Integrated Circuit Smaller than a Pinhead
Yorktown Heights, NY – 10 Jun 2011: Today, IBM Research scientists announced that they have achieved a milestone in creating a building block for the future of wireless devices. In a paper published yesterday in the magazine Science, IBM researchers announced the first integrated circuit fabricated from wafer-size graphene, and demonstrated a broadband frequency mixer operating at frequencies up to 10 gigahertz (10 billion cycles/second). (more…)
RESTON, VA, June 10, 2011 – comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, today released its monthly comScore qSearch analysis of the U.S. search marketplace. Google Sites led the explicit core search market in May with 65.5 percent of search queries conducted.
The May 2011 qSearch data represents the second month of results including the impact of Yahoo! Search Direct, Yahoo!’s new feature that delivers search results in real-time while users type their query. (more…)
