Cutting Edge

LED lights could become network devices, too

Today, you've got wireless networks that use radio waves and you've got optical networks that use light traveling in tiny glass fibers. Tomorrow, if Fraunhofer Institute research comes to fruition, a combination of the two could turn living-room lights into network devices.

The German applied-research lab has developed wireless networking that uses rapidly blinking LEDs to transmit data through the air. The technology can send data at speeds up to 1 gigabit per second -- and by using three colors of light, triple that data rate is possible, Fraunhofer said.

The technology could be useful in crowded, interference-prone … Read more

Innovation and re-invention at the Stanford Cool Product Expo

STANFORD, Calif. -- Finding a new product idea is never easy. You have to understand your target audience and test the market. But not every new product comes from a new idea -- sometimes the best products are simply new ways of viewing the world, or new approaches to old problems.

At the Cool Product Expo held at Stanford University this week, a few of the designs on hand are re-imagining some classic products -- in ways you might never have thought possible.

One company, Impossible, is hoping to revive instant photography, and dozens of other companies -- 11 of … Read more

Scientists spot 'signature' of physical pain using fMRI

Pain has long been thought to be at least somewhat subjective, making it difficult to measure consistently from one person to the next. But in a new study out of the University of Colorado at Boulder, healthy volunteers subjected to a dose of intense heat all experienced a consistent pattern of neurological activity that scientists captured on function MRI, which tracks blood flow through the brain.

While this doesn't mean that people experience pain in exactly the same way, the findings -- published today in the New England Journal of Medicine -- suggest that there may be a better … Read more

See-through brain lets scientists spot the connections

Studying the brain can be a tricky business.

The interesting stuff, such as neurons and how they communicate, is obscured by things like fatty tissue. Usually, scientists just cut it up into paper-thin slices to study, like with Einstein's brain, but a team of scientists at Stanford University, led by Karl Deisseroth and Kwanghun Chung, have found what the director of the National Institute of Mental Health Thomas Insel is calling "one of the most important advances for doing neuroanatomy in decades."

The new technique lets researchers leave the brain intact, which puts an end to the damage that slicing can cause. It involves infusing the brain with acrylamide, which binds the proteins; once heated, it polymerizes, preserving the important molecules. Then, the brain is rinsed with sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) detergent, which strips the fatty lipids, leaving intact the proteins that the researchers wish to study. … Read more

Living side by side with robots

STANFORD, Calif.--When I walked onto the Stanford University campus this week and into the Volkswagen Automotive Innovation Lab, I was greeted by a short, gray robot waving his two long arms -- he was looking for a high-five.

All around me robots of all sizes were roaming the floor. I was trapped -- in the future. … Read more

Biggest solar flare of the year knocks out radio transmissions

Early this morning the sun erupted, sending billions of solar particles into space at over 600 miles per second, raising the prospect of solar radiation storms above the Earth, according to NASA. A spokesman said the resulting emissions sparked a short-lived radio communications blackout on Earth. The radio disruption has since subsided. The appearance of the strongest solar storm of 2013 is part of an increasingly common sight as astronomers say this is connected to the sun's 11-year activity cycle. More intense solar eruptions are expected later in the year.

What did the Big Bang sound like? Take a listen

John Cramer, professor emeritus of physics at the University of Washington in Seattle, has created a high-fidelity rendition of the sound of the Big Bang and the noise generally believed to have accompanied the early development of the universe.

This is the second attempt for Cramer, who in 2003 generated a 100-second recording representing sound from between 380,000 years to 760,000 years after the Big Bang. Cramer updated his recordings with new, more detailed data produced last month from the European Space Agency's Planck satellite mission.

Uber clears up San Francisco taxi ownership concerns

Just to clear things up once and for all -- Uber does not own vehicles, the company merely connects you to those who do.

In a blog post yesterday, Uber's San Francisco community manager Matt Hearns addressed concerns that the private car hire startup had also moved into operating vehicles that the company connects to passengers looking for a ride.

Hearns says that although some taxis in San Francisco bear the brand "UBER TAXI" on their sides, users should be aware that these vehicles have "no relationship" to the Uber network or company. The community … Read more

Stephen Hawking predicts end-of-Earth scenario

Stephen Hawking, one of the world's greatest physicists and cosmologists, is once again warning his fellow humans that our extinction is on the horizon unless we figure out a way to live in space.

Not known for conspiracy theories, Hawking's rationale is that the Earth is far too delicate a planet to continue to withstand the barrage of human battering.

"We must continue to go into space for humanity," Hawking said today, according to the Los Angeles Times. "We won't survive another 1,000 years without escaping our fragile planet."… Read more