Cutting Edge

Solar storms that can threaten satellites, power lines, and communications are to be monitored in a large-scale study at the Swedish Institute of Space Physics and Uppsala University starting Thursday.

The organizations will use stream-computing technology to analyze data from sensors that track high-frequency radio waves, the Swedish Institute of Space Physics (IRF) said in a statement.

"Over the next year, this project is expected to perform analytics on at least 6GB per second or 21,600GB per hour--the equivalent of all the web pages on the Internet," said the IRF statement.

The organizations will use IBM InfoSphere … Read more

A flexible memristor has been developed by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology, opening the door to new memory technologies.

It is the first time this kind of memory device, demonstrated for the first time last year, has been shown in flexible form.

The memristor (from "memory resistor") was made by setting titanium oxide, one of the common ingredients of sunscreen and toothpaste, onto flexible transparent polymer sheets, NIST announced Tuesday. By adding electrical contacts the NIST research team created a flexible memory switch that operates on fewer than 10 volts, maintains its memory when … Read more

While the shuttle Endeavour's crew reviewed emergency procedures at the launch pad Wednesday, NASA managers held an executive-level flight readiness review and cleared the ship for blastoff June 13 on a complex space station assembly mission.

NASA Launch Director Pete Nickolenko, directing his first shuttle launch campaign, said there is no contingency time left in the schedule to handle unexpected problems. But so far, the shuttle's systems are checking out normally and the team is optimistic about starting the countdown next Wednesday for a launch try one week from Saturday.

"We're running on all cylinders right … Read more

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LIVERMORE, Calif.--The National Ignition Facility at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is a blast--literally.

I was lucky enough to join the few thousand people who were allowed Saturday to tour the world's largest laser system, which is located in this bucolic valley about an hour's drive from San Francisco.

The $3.5 billion facility was dedicated Friday by a host of dignitaries, including California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. But family members and friends of lab employees were allowed to tour the NIF last weekend, many of whom started … Read more

Keyboard technology may not seem as exciting as faster microprocessors, massive displays, or ever-decreasing form factors, but in many ways it's just as important to computing. Seattle-based Swype is trying to leave its mark on the evolution of user input by making "pecking" at keys obsolete.

Instead of having to find and press on-screen keys one by one, Swype simply has users slide (or swipe) their fingers across the screen. Its algorithm does its best to figure out what you were trying to write, then fills it in for you. With a growing number of handsets shipping without a physical keyboard, this software could boost typing productivity and data usage by mobile phone users. Best of all, it doesn't have to replace the existing keyboard paradigm, meaning users can still peck if they like.

However, one big hurdle in the race to get Swype on every new handset is competition from all sides. Big companies like Apple, Palm, Google and RIM have invested in their own software-based keyboard solutions, while some competitors have working versions that accomplish what is effectively the same thing. Those companies also have their own patents and algorithms that help the software figure out what word you were really trying to type in. Swype's creators think they have found the sweet spot of having a product that's ready for mass market now, and that can evolve with its users over time.

Touch and go Swype's technology was originally envisioned as a way to improve text input for disabled users. Those with limited dexterity are able to use Swype's system more easily than a traditional on-screen keyboard. It's also set up to support gesture tracking using Web cams, and with pointing devices like infrared remote controls, meaning it can be used on most hardware built within the last 10 years.

Swype's co-creator Cliff Kushler concocted it as an out-of-retirement project, and a follow-up to his previous co-invention T9--the text prediction algorithm that can be found in more than three billion mobile phones. Swype is trying to go beyond that though; following mobile phones the company has set its sights on tablet PCs, in-store kiosks, gaming devices and even televisions--basically, anything without a physical keyboard.… Read more

The analysis of a single hair can reveal where a person is from and where they've been, which could allow government agencies to track the travels of international criminals and terror suspects, according to researchers.

Researchers measuring the longitudinal sulfur isotopic variations in a strand of human hair can detect slight changes in people's diets to show where and whether they've traveled, while shedding light on their lifestyle, according to a study published this month in the journal Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry.

The new method combines a laser ablation system and multicollector inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-MC-ICP-MS), … Read more

A Russian Soyuz capsule docked with the International Space Station Friday, doubling the lab's crew to six in a long-awaited milestone intended to boost productivity and science output.

With second-generation cosmonaut Roman Romanenko monitoring an automated approach, the Soyuz TMA-15 spacecraft docked with an Earth-facing port on the Russian Zarya module at 8:34 a.m. EDT as the two spacecraft sailed through orbital darkness 218 miles above the Pacific Ocean east of Taiwan.

"And now, it's perfectly in the center, all the crosses have aligned," someone said, watching a docking target on the space station … Read more

The Large Hadron Collider, currently undergoing repairs, will change its schedule and run through the winter to make sure the experiment provides workable results.

The European Centre for Nuclear Research (CERN) flagship particle accelerator has been out of action since September, when an electrical fault called a halt to an experiment to understand the fundamental physics of matter. It is scheduled to restart in September 2009.

On Wednesday, James Gillies, head of communications at CERN, said the LHC could carry on running over the subsequent months. Normally, CERN particle-acceleration operations cease in November for the winter, because energy costs throughout … Read more

A Russian Soyuz rocket roared to life and streaked into orbit Wednesday, setting off for the International Space Station in a long-awaited mission to boost the lab's crew from three to six full-time residents.

With Apollo 11 moon walker Buzz Aldrin and a throng of dignitaries and well-wishers looking on, the Soyuz TMA-15 spacecraft lifted off at 3:34 a.m. PDT and quickly climbed away from the sprawling Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Live television shots from inside the capsule showed Soyuz commander Roman Romanenko, son of a Russian cosmonaut, at the controls in the capsule's center seat. … Read more