Tag Archives: Technology

Adolescents with Autism Spend Free Time Using Solitary, Screen-Based Media

By Guest PostJanuary 30, 2012Scienceadolescent, asd, autism spectrum disorder, benjamin cooper, children, email, intellectual disabilities, internet chatting, language impairment, micah mazurek, non social media, paul shattuck, screen based technology, social media, Technology, television, university of missouri, video games

*MU researcher encourages capitalization on interest in screen-based technology, cautions against overuse*

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) tend to be fascinated by screen-based technology. A new study by a University of Missouri researcher found that adolescents with autism spend the majority of their free time using non-social media, including television and video-games.

“Even though parents and clinicians have often observed that children with ASD tend to be preoccupied with screen-based media, ours is the first large-scale study to explore this issue,” said Micah Mazurek, assistant professor in the School of Health Professions and the Thompson Center for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders. “We found that 64 percent of adolescents with ASD spent most of their free time watching TV and playing video and computer games. These rates were much higher than among those with other types of disabilities. On the other hand, adolescents with ASD were less likely to spend time using email and social media.” (more…)

comScore Releases Report, “Next-Generation Strategies for Advertising to Millennials”

By Guest PostJanuary 24, 2012Technologyarf webinar, bert miklosi, Comscore, digital, internet, millennial generation, Technology, tv, types of advertising, validated drivers

*Study Looks at Unique Characteristics of America’s Younger Consumers and Their Responses to Advertising across Platforms*

RESTON, VA, January 24, 2012 – comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, today released the report Next-Generation Strategies for Advertising to Millennials, highlighting the results from a recent comScore study that identifies the unique characteristics of the Millennial generation, commonly defined as persons born between 1981 and 2000. The study examined Millennials’ responses to different types of advertising, including TV and digital, compared to older generations, and how marketers can most effectively target this large and important segment. To download a complimentary copy of the report, please visit: https://www.comscore.com/Millennials. The study results will also be presented via a live webinar through the Advertising Research Foundation on January 31st. (more…)

Microneedle Sensors May Allow Real-Time Monitoring of Body Chemistry

By Guest PostDecember 27, 2011Sciencebiomedical engineering, diabetic patient, electrochemical sensors, glucose, lactate, microneedle sensor, microneedles, molecules, monitor glucose levels, north carolina state university, one dimension, ph levels, philip miller, roger narayan, shelby skoog, Technology, types of sensors, university of california, variety of chemicals

Researchers from North Carolina State University, Sandia National Laboratories, and the University of California, San Diego have developed new technology that uses microneedles to allow doctors to detect real-time chemical changes in the body – and to continuously do so for an extended period of time.

“We’ve loaded the hollow channels within microneedles with electrochemical sensors that can be used to detect specific molecules or pH levels,” says Dr. Roger Narayan, co-author of a paper describing the research, and a professor in the joint biomedical engineering department of NC State’s College of Engineering and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. (more…)

New Dye Will Lead To More Efficient Solar Energy Technology

By Guest PostDecember 25, 20111 commentScienceahmed el shafei, cellular phones, dsscs, dye sensitized solar cells, dyes, electrolyte, energy from light, facades, free electrons, laptop computers, mp3 players, nanoporous semiconductors, ncsu 10, north carolina state university, sensitizer, skylights, solar cells, solar light, Technology, tio2, titanium dioxide, windows

A North Carolina State University invention has significant potential to improve the efficiency of solar cells and other technologies that derive energy from light.

Dr. Ahmed El-Shafei’s research group invented a new “sensitizer,” or dye, that harvests more ambient and solar light than any dyes currently on the market for use in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). (more…)

MU Unveils 3-D Visual Immersion Laboratory

By Guest PostDecember 20, 2011Science3 d, active shutter, bimal balakrishnan, design studio curriculum, designing buildings, experiential tool, glasses, high definition projection screens, icon lab, iel, ilab, immersive 3 d technology, immersive environments lab, model, penn state university, rooms, smart board, Technology, three dimensional space, university of missouri

*New “iLab” will allow undergraduate students to design projects in a 3-D environment*

COLUMBIA, Mo. – One of the most difficult tasks architects and interior designers face when designing buildings and rooms is visualizing exactly what their projects will look like when they are finished. Now, the University of Missouri architectural studies department has developed the Immersive Visualization Lab (iLab) to help students visualize their designs more accurately. Bimal Balakrishnan, an assistant professor of architectural studies in MU College of Human Environmental Sciences, says the iLab will be one of few labs in the country to allow undergraduate students to get hands-on experience using immersive 3-D technology to complete and test their designs as part of their design studio curriculum.

“Most university immersion labs are reserved primarily for graduate students to use for research purposes,” Balakrishnan said. “While the MU iLab will be used for research, it will also serve as an excellent teaching and experiential tool for undergraduate students.” (more…)

Helping Your Fellow Rat: Rodents Show Empathy-Driven Behavior

By Guest PostDecember 9, 2011Scienceanimals, behavior, biological inheritance, chocolate, chocolate chips, emotional contagion, empathetic behavior, empathy driven helping behavior, empathy in rodents, evolutionary tree, homo sapiens, inbal ben ami bartal, jean decety, jeffrey mogil, laboratory rats, mcgill university, neuroscientists, peggy mason, phenomenon in humans, primates, pro social, rats, robert mitchum, rodents, special test, Technology, test arena, university of chicago, wild species

*Rats free trapped companions, even when given choice of chocolate instead*

The first evidence of empathy-driven helping behavior in rodents has been observed in laboratory rats that repeatedly free companions from a restraint, according to a new study by University of Chicago neuroscientists.

The observation, published today in Science, places the origin of pro-social helping behavior earlier in the evolutionary tree than previously thought. Though empathetic behavior has been observed anecdotally in non-human primates and other wild species, the concept had not previously been observed in rodents in a laboratory setting. (more…)

Bing Social Search Team Makes Search ‘Less Lonely’

By Guest PostNovember 3, 2011Technologyamerican sitcoms, bing, bing experience, buffy the vampire slayer, cd of mp3s, christina aguilera, cliff claven, electronica music, Facebook, florida, german, Google, jack tripper, knight rider, maroon 5, Microsoft, microsoft news center, mnc, paul yiu, sean suchter, silicon valley, silicon valley campus, social networks, social search, social search team, sonic youth, Technology, the carpenters, the cranberries, the terminator, tim harrington, visuals and animations

*Three members of Bing’s social search team chat with Microsoft News Center about working in the exciting technological frontier of search – and what they do when they’re not hard at work.*

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. – Sean Suchter’s last name is a misspelling of the German word for searcher, which has to be one of the greater aptronyms in the technology industry.

Suchter heads up Bing’s social search team on Microsoft’s Silicon Valley Campus, where he relishes his job as a frontiersmen in the field of search, particularly social search. (more…)

‘Kinect Effect’ Magic Pushes Beyond the Living Room

By Guest PostOctober 31, 2011Technologyalex kipman, alex wiggins, cantebria, casey anderson, dance central 2, don mattrick, education, fabio matsui, forza motorsport 4, gaming gadget of the year, guinness world records, healthcare, houghton mifflin harcourt, jeremy gibson, jesus perez, jonathan fay, kinect, kinect effect, kinect for xbox 360, Microsoft, multi array microphones, nintendo, once upon a monster, patient at the royal berkshire hospital, razorfish, ruma paul, sesame street, spain, state of the art technology, Technology, technology startup, tedesys, times square, university of southern california, usc, xbox

*In the year since Microsoft launched controller-free Kinect for Xbox 360, the device has taken on a life of its own. First Kinect became the fastest-selling consumer device in history and then it started showing up outside the living room in healthcare, education, and technology.*

REDMOND, Wash. – Oct. 31, 2011 – When it comes to technology and moon landings, there are small steps – and then there are leaps.

It’s been a year since Kinect for Xbox 360 jumped onto the scene, bringing with it a new era of controller-free, interactive gaming and entertainment for the living room.

“It’s been an amazing 12 months – it’s been absolutely inspiring,” says Alex Kipman, general manager of incubation for Microsoft’s Interactive Entertainment Business. “When you have a great vision you expect it to do great things, but it’s humbling and inspiring to actually see it happen and exceed your expectations in terms of the ability – over a very short period of time – that you have affected the entire world.” (more…)