Archive for the ‘mobile phones’ category: Page 190
Jan 20, 2017
350,000 Twitter bot sleeper cell betrayed by love of Star Wars and Windows Phone
Posted by Karen Hurst in categories: cybercrime/malcode, mobile phones, robotics/AI
Computer boffins Juan Echeverria and Shi Zhou at University College London have chanced across a dormant Twitter botnet made up of more than 350,000 accounts with a fondness for quoting Star Wars novels.
Twitter bots have been accused of warping the tone of the 2016 election. They also can be used for entertainment, marketing, spamming, manipulating Twitter’s trending topics list and public opinion, trolling, fake followers, malware distribution, and data set pollution, among other things.
In a recently published research paper, the two computer scientists recount how a random sampling of 1 per cent of English-speaking Twitter accounts – about 6 million accounts – led to their discovery.
Jan 20, 2017
Researchers Find New Communication Pathway Of Cells To Smartphones, Electronic Signals
Posted by Karen Hurst in categories: health, mobile phones
A new study came up with a new way to reprogram cells in order to recognize electronic signals which can allow these cells to be connected to a smartphone for better health tracking. Read more here.
Jan 20, 2017
Thinnest-ever electronic tattoos are capable of precision health monitoring
Posted by Karen Hurst in categories: biotech/medical, computing, health, mobile phones, wearables
The graphene temporary tattoo seen here is the thinnest epidermal electronic device ever and according to the University of Texas at Austin researchers who developed it, the device can take some medical measurements as accurately as bulky wearable sensors like EKG monitors. From IEEE Spectrum:
Graphene’s conformity to the skin might be what enables the high-quality measurements. Air gaps between the skin and the relatively large, rigid electrodes used in conventional medical devices degrade these instruments’ signal quality. Newer sensors that stick to the skin and stretch and wrinkle with it have fewer airgaps, but because they’re still a few micrometers thick, and use gold electrodes hundreds of nanometers thick, they can lose contact with the skin when it wrinkles. The graphene in the Texas researchers’ device is 0.3-nm thick. Most of the tattoo’s bulk comes from the 463-nm-thick polymer support.
The next step is to add an antenna to the design so that signals can be beamed off the device to a phone or computer, says (electrical engineer Deji) Akinwande.
Continue reading “Thinnest-ever electronic tattoos are capable of precision health monitoring” »
Jan 20, 2017
Vibrating Jeans Act As A Wearable GPS
Posted by Karen Hurst in categories: mobile phones, wearables
Spinali Design’s line of clothing can be paired with a phone move alerts from the device to your body.
Jan 19, 2017
New ‘smart’ fibers curb fires in lithium-ion batteries
Posted by Karen Hurst in categories: mobile phones, transportation
Hoverboards and certain cell phones powered by lithium-ion batteries occasionally go up in flames. Scientists now have a new plan for squelching these fires before they flare out of control: incorporating a flame retardant in the battery that’s released if temperatures get too toasty.
Within lithium-ion batteries, ions travel between positive and negative electrodes through a liquid called an electrolyte. But commonly used electrolytes are highly flammable. And if a short circuit in the battery produces enough heat, the electrolyte can ignite.
Source: New ‘smart’ fibers curb fires in lithium-ion batteries | Science News.
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Jan 18, 2017
In the Future, We’ll Use Our Phones to Detect Disease
Posted by Shane Hinshaw in categories: biotech/medical, mobile phones
Jan 17, 2017
Microsoft wants to make conversing with your computer the new normal
Posted by Karen Hurst in categories: computing, mobile phones
In a mobile-first, cloud-first world, conversing with a computer through your smartphone may be the best way to communicate. Microsoft’s research is heading that way.
Jan 17, 2017
Stanford Scientists Develop Battery Pack with Built-In Fire Extinguisher
Posted by Karen Hurst in category: mobile phones
The Samsung Galaxy Note 7 exploding battery fiasco has stirred major concerns whether smartphone batteries are really safe. In an effort to prevent these disasters from happening, a group of Stanford scientists have developed a lithium-ion battery pack, which includes a capsule filled with triphenyl phosphate (TPP). Once the battery’s internal temperature reaches a certain point, the capsule will melt releasing the TPP and extinguishing the fire.
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The team working on the project found out that TPP is a type of chemical-fire retardant. The chemical is capable of extinguishing an exploding battery in just 0.4 seconds, according to 9to5Google. The team also set the temperature threshold at 302 degrees Fahrenheit, at that point, the capsule will melt releasing the TPP chemical.
Continue reading “Stanford Scientists Develop Battery Pack with Built-In Fire Extinguisher” »
Jan 17, 2017
Scientists Can Now Sequence DNA With a Smartphone
Posted by Shane Hinshaw in categories: biotech/medical, mobile phones
It was not so long ago that sequencing even tiny snippets of DNA was a costly, cumbersome process that required access to a state-the-art lab. Today, we are inching close to putting a DNA sequencer in every pocket.