Technology

Supercomputers Accelerate Development of Advanced Materials

Berkeley Lab helps develop a Google-like search engine for materials research.

New materials are crucial to building a clean energy economy—for everything from batteries to photovoltaics to lighter weight vehicles—but today the development cycle is too slow: around18 years from conception to commercialization. To speed up this process, a team of researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) teamed up to develop a new tool, called the Materials Project, which launches this month. (more…)

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Digging Up Clues: Research On Buried Blow Flies Will Help Crime Scene Investigators

When investigating a murder, every clue helps. New research from North Carolina State University sheds light on how – and whether – blow flies survive when buried underground during their development. It’s an advance that will help forensic investigators understand how long a body may have been left above ground before being buried – or possibly whether remains were moved from one grave to another.

“Blow flies are probably the most important insects to forensic entomology,” says Dr. Wes Watson, a professor of entomology at NC State and co-author of a paper describing the research. “They are usually the first insects to arrive after an animal – or a person – has died.” (more…)

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Link Between Air Pollution and Cyclone Intensity in Arabian Sea

*Disruption of wind shear enables stronger storms*

Pollution is making Arabian Sea cyclones more intense, according to a study in this week’s issue of the journal Nature.

Traditionally, prevailing wind shear patterns prohibit cyclones in the Arabian Sea from becoming major storms.

The Nature paper suggests that weakening winds have enabled the formation of stronger cyclones in recent years–including storms in 2007 and 2010 that were the first recorded storms to enter the Gulf of Oman. (more…)

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Government Secrecy Claims Too Broad, MU Study Finds

*Mosaic theory interferes with public’s right to know, MU expert says*

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Since September 11, 2001, the global war on terror has changed the way the U.S. government regards secrecy and transparency. Journalism researchers from the University of Missouri are concerned about the impact this may have on information freedom in the future. Charles Davis, an associate professor of journalism studies at the University of Missouri School of Journalism, has found that more and more government agencies are using the “mosaic theory” to rationalize keeping government information secret. Mosaic theory is a legal theory used to uphold the classification of information, saying that a collection of unclassified information might add up into a classified whole. Davis finds this trend disturbing. (more…)

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comScore Reports September 2011 U.S. Mobile Subscriber Market Share

*More Than 40 Percent of Subscribers Use Browsers and Applications*

RESTON, VA, November 4, 2011 – comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, today released data from the comScore MobiLens service, reporting key trends in the U.S. mobile phone industry during the three month average period ending September 2011. The study surveyed more than 30,000 U.S. mobile subscribers and found Samsung to be the top handset manufacturer overall with 25.3 percent market share. Google Android continued to gain ground in the smartphone market reaching 44.8 percent market share. (more…)

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Coming Soon to a Server Near You: Fewer Internet Delays

Researchers at the UA-led Center for Integrated Access Networks, the largest optical research center in the U.S., are developing methods to improve transmission speed, efficiency and reliability of Internet content, including everything from cell phone calls or texts to emails and television.

If you’ve ever received an email or text hours after it was sent and privately raged at having missed a deadline, or twiddled your thumbs while waiting for a webpage to load, then you’ve been a victim of Internet latency. (more…)

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