algorithmic

Imagine a robotic plane flying without a pilot -- or GPS. A team at MIT has just unveiled its latest prototype.

So, how does it work?

It's able to maneuver with the implementation of a new algorithm that can calculate its location, orientation, velocity, and acceleration.

And the implications are many. For example, your FedEx packages could be transported by autonomous planes, or autonomous helicopters could swoop down and rescue injured soldiers in battlefields. You might even find yourself on a commercial flight sans pilot -- well, maybe.

It isn't true until the numbers say so.

That is the mantra of the modern world.

So I bring you news that the figures have been counted and the declaration has been made by unimpeachable scientists: pop songs are becoming noisier and increasingly homogenized.

Yes, should you wonder, on hearing a Lady Gaga song: "Gosh, haven't I heard that somewhere before?" you might well have, but this time it's accompanied by a few more decibels.

You might be wondering what sort of scientists have taken time out of their busy schedules to put a number … Read more

Looking for a gift for that science-minded someone (or your science-minded self)?

MIT alums Jesse Louis-Rosenberg and Jessica Rosenkrantz (aka design studio Nervous System) recently announced a new line of jewelry -- "Ammonite" -- inspired by patterns found on the fossilized shells of ammonites, ancient relatives of the octopus.

Rosenkrantz, who studied biology and architecture, and Louis-Rosenberg, who studied mathematics, say they used "a simulation of dendritic solidification to make suture-like patterns" for the pieces. Wikipedia helpfully adds that "when materials crystallize or solidify under certain conditions, they freeze unstably, resulting in dendritic forms."

And Crave even more helpfully chimes in that the supertechnical translation of "dendritic forms" is "very-cool-looking fractally patterns which -- when worn on your wrists, earlobes, or around your neck -- will make you the envy of everyone at the Science Nerds Ball."… Read more

Seeker is a powerful freeware search tool that can replace the built-in Windows search feature. It offers advanced search-and-replace capabilities, regular expression searches, several reporting modes, and superfast, highly targeted searching.

Seeker's user interface resembles Office's design a bit, with expandable sections in its left-side control panel and a main report view with draggable categories. Under Search Criteria, we could enter everything from wildcard searches to highly specific file types, a specific word or phrase in the file, and include or exclude our listed files, as well as telling Seeker to search subfolders, ignore case, or use regular … Read more

Mz Ultimate Cleaner is a light, fast, free tool that scans your hard disks for junk files, browser traces, temporary files, and other files that can accumulate in your system, slowing it down and maybe even compromising your security. Its proprietary algorithm scans quickly, and it cleans quickly, too. It's by Mz Tweaks, a one-man band known to some as Michael Zacharias.

Mz Ultimate Cleaner's simple interface is all business. The compact dialog displayed our system's two hard disks with their total size, free space, and format. The program uses the Mz Intelligent Scanning Method by default, … Read more

It's not every day that a news item details the intelligence of the masses, lurking in the brains of unassuming passersby, just waiting to be uncovered for the greater good. But when it comes to the massively multiplayer online game Foldit, this is precisely the story, and it keeps getting better.

Launched in 2008 at the University of Washington, the protein folding game first made news for its potential to use the collective brainpower of gamers everywhere to unlock the fundamental mysteries of certain diseases. Then gamers began to prove this potential, solving various protein riddles that further our … Read more

A nonprofit research database system called QResearch--which already screens for heart disease, kidney disease, and serious blood cots--is now introducing what look to be highly accurate lung and gastroesophageal cancer screenings as well.

The University of Nottingham and ClinRisk researchers behind the computer-based tool say that their findings, published this week in the British Journal of General Practice, indicate that 10 percent of the patients predicted to be most at risk of developing one of the cancers accounted for 77 percent of actual cancer diagnoses over the following two years.

Chair of the Royal College of General Practitioners Dr. … Read more

Google altered its search algorithm today to bring in more timely topics, a move that affects about 35 percent of all searches.

The Web giant said it's trying to surface the most relevant results to users, and with more and more real-time data popping up on the Net, Google changed its algorithm to find it.

"Given the incredibly fast pace at which information moves in today's world, the most recent information can be from the last week, day or even minute, and depending on the search terms, the algorithm needs to be able to figure out if … Read more

Magnetic resonance imaging scanners produce images of the body using strong magnetic fields and radio waves to scan several images of the same area. By comparing these images, the scanner reveals even the most subtle abnormalities, such as young tumors.

Considering the nature of MRI scanners, it stands to reason that math might improve the time it takes to get and compare these images.

Electrical engineers and computer scientists at MIT's Research Laboratory of Electronics thought so, and they are publishing an algorithm they have devised that speeds scanning time threefold, reducing the amount of time someone would have … Read more