In Summer Session, Students can Take a Yale Course from Afar
Students from around the world will have the opportunity to take a Yale course this summer even if they are unable to come to campus. (more…)
Technology
Ants Give New Evidence for Interaction Networks
*UA researchers have uncovered evidence in ant colonies suggesting that social networks may function differently than previously assumed.*
Be it through the Internet, Facebook, the local grapevine or the spread of disease, interaction networks influence nearly every part of our lives.
Scientists previously assumed that interaction networks without central control, known as self-directed networks, have universal properties that make them efficient at spreading information. Just think of the local grapevine: Let something slip, and it seems like no time at all before nearly everyone knows. (more…)
A First Look at the Next Release of Windows Phone
*Windows Phone “Mango” connects smartphone users to people, apps and the Internet faster and easier.*
REDMOND, Wash. – May 24, 2011 – Microsoft today provided the first official look at the next release of Windows Phone, code named “Mango.” The new release includes hundreds of new features that will deliver smarter and easier communications, apps and Internet experiences.
“When we looked ahead to the next release, we wanted to stay true to the principles of Windows Phone 7 – that software should get out of your way and quickly connect you to the things that matter most,” said Greg Sullivan, senior product manager of mobile communications at Microsoft. “Mango builds on the work that we did in Windows Phone 7 and extends a lot of key scenarios around communications, apps, and Internet experiences – with even more capability and a deeper level of integration.” (more…)
Replacing the Blue Bloods
*Liquid crystal droplets could replace horseshoe crab blood in common endotoxin test*
The Food and Drug Administration requires every drug they certify to be tested for certain poisons that damage patient health. The current gold standard for this is the limulus amoebocyte lysate (LAL) assay that involves using the blood of horseshoe crabs, which strangely enough is blue, to test for endotoxin, a substance commonly associated with many symptoms caused by bacterial infections.
But researchers at the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have found what may be a more effective way to test for endotoxin that involves liquid crystals, the same material used to make some flat screen computer monitors and televisions. (more…)
Microsoft Announces Finalists for Global Student Technology Competition
*More than 400 students invited to showcase their technology to solve the world’s toughest problems at Microsoft Imagine Cup 2011 Worldwide Finals in New York.*
NEW YORK — May 23, 2011 — In July, more than 400 of the brightest young minds from around the world will travel to New York to showcase their innovative ideas for using technology to solve the world’s toughest problems. As the winners of regional, national and online Imagine Cup competitions, these high school and university students represent the pinnacle of innovation, creativity and entrepreneurialism from 73 countries and regions around the globe. (more…)
Sharpening The Nanofocus: Berkeley Lab Researchers Use Nanoantenna to Enhance Plasmonic Sensing
Such highly coveted technical capabilities as the observation of single catalytic processes in nanoreactors, or the optical detection of low concentrations of biochemical agents and gases are an important step closer to fruition. Researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), in collaboration with researchers at the University of Stuttgart in Germany, report the first experimental demonstration of antenna-enhanced gas sensing at the single particle level. By placing a palladium nanoparticle on the focusing tip of a gold nanoantenna, they were able to clearly detect changes in the palladium’s optical properties upon exposure to hydrogen. (more…)
Take Fear Head on, Actor Tom Hanks Tells Yale Seniors
How Yale’s newest graduates make their imprint on the world and on history will be determined by how well they handle fear and inspire faith, Oscar-winning actor Tom Hanks told the seniors in his Class Day address on May 22.
In the ceremony on the Old Campus, Hanks urged the soon-to-be graduates to begin their future by coming to the aid of the U.S. veterans of the Iran and Afghan wars, whose “faith in themselves is shadowed by the fear of not knowing what is expected of them next,” he said. (more…)
Virtual Workout Partners Spur Better Results
EAST LANSING, Mich. — Can’t find anyone to exercise with? Don’t despair: New research from Michigan State University reveals working out with a virtual partner improves motivation during exercise.
The study led by Deborah Feltz, chairperson of MSU’s Department of Kinesiology, is the first to investigate the Kohler effect on motivation in health video games; that phenomenon explains why inferior team members perform better in a group than they would by themselves. (more…)