Tag: university

Alan Turing’s groundbreaking synthesizer music restored

Alan Turing is known for a few small achievements, like helping end World War II , laying the groundwork for modern computers and developing the ” Turing test ” for machine intelligence. You may not be aware, however, that he paved the way for synthesizers and electronica by inventing the first computer-generated musical tones. A pair of researchers from the University of Cantebury have now restored the first-ever recording made from Turing’s “synthesizer.” Turing figured that if he rapidly played clicking sounds at set intervals, the listener would here them as distinct tones corresponding to musical notes. For instance, playing the click on every fourth cycle of a computers’ CPU produces a “C” tone, exactly like a modern synthesizer. He tested that theory on his Manchester Mark I, one of the world’s first programmable computers. Instead of making music, he used the tones to indicate computing operations like completed tasks and memory overflow errors (meaning he also invented notification sounds). Turing knew that he could program songs on his “synth, ” but had no interest in doing it. Luckily, talented programmer and musician Christopher Strachey got his hands on the Manchester Mark II’s operating guide, which was, by the way, the world’s first computer manual. Using that, he coded God Save the Queen , the longest program ever at the time. The next morning, he played it back to surprised onlookers at the lab, including Turing, who was uncharacteristically thrilled, saying “good show.” The BBC recorded it later in 1951, along with two other songs: Baa Baa Black Sheep and Glenn Miller’s In the Mood . However, the researchers found that the notes had shifted in pitch because of the crude recording equipment used. The key to correcting it, as it turned out, was in the pitches that the computer couldn’t play. For instance, rather than playing a true G at 196 Hz, it could only do a decidedly sharp 198.41 Hz. Knowing that, the team adjusted the playback to match those frequencies. They also filtered out noises and used pitch-correction software to edit out the fluctuating “wobble” in the recording. The result is a clean version of the synthesizer, which sounds like a cross between a viola and electronic bagpipes. While the music isn’t great, it is a small way to “hear” the genius of Turing. Like Nicolas Tesla, he was far too big for his time and suffered greatly for it, committing suicide at the age of 41. Via: The Guardian Source: Sound and Vision Blog

See more here:
Alan Turing’s groundbreaking synthesizer music restored

‘Water Bear’ protein could shield human DNA from radiation

Tardigrades, aka ‘water bears, ‘ are microscopic organisms that survive in harsh environments from the antarctic to oxygenless space . They are so robust that Japanese scientists froze a group of them for 30 years and successfully revived two specimens. But to understand what makes these tiny creatures so impervious, another group of researchers took a closer look at their genes. By mapping the entire genome of a particularly stress-tolerant tardigrade species, Ramazzottius varieornatus , they found a protein that protects DNA from being irradiated — which could be used to shield humans. As the University of Tokyo researchers describe in the science journal Nature , they took a sample group of human DNA and watched it deteriorate when bombarded with X-rays. But when they allowed some of those to create that tardigrade protein, they only showed half the damage as the control group. Further, those protected cells were still capable of reproducing. As in all specific studies, it’s too early to state how this will translate into treatment, prevention or any dramatic transhumanist strengthening of our species. But the scientists believe more of these proteins, and new applications, are likely lying in wait for more research to uncover. Via: Gizmodo Source: University of Tokyo newsroom

See the original article here:
‘Water Bear’ protein could shield human DNA from radiation

The Ham Radio Parity Act Unanimously Passed By US House

This week the U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed “The Ham Radio Parity Act” — a huge victory for grass-roots advocates of amateur radio. Slashdot reader bobbied reports: This will allow for the reasonable accommodation of amateur radio antennas in many places where they are currently prohibited by homeowner associations or private land use restrictions… If this bill passes the Senate, we will be one step closer to allowing amateur radio operators, who provide emergency communications services, the right to erect reasonable antenna structures in places where they cannot do so now. The national ham radio association is now urging supporters to contact their Senators through a special web page. “This is not just a feel-good bill, ” said representative Joe Courtney, remembering how Hurricane Sandy brought down the power grid, and “we saw all the advanced communications we take for granted…completely fall by the wayside.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

More:
The Ham Radio Parity Act Unanimously Passed By US House

UC Irvine debuts the first public college esports arena in the US

The University of California, Irvine , is serious about esports. This fall it will officially launch a competitive-gaming initiative, complete with scholarships and an already-decorated League of Legends team, and it’s just finished construction on a 3, 500-square-foot esports arena that’s set to open Friday, Sept. 23rd. The arena is packed with 80 gaming PCs loaded with top eSports titles, a webcasting studio and viewing screens. The arena will serve as a home base for the university’s gaming community and a place for its competitive players to train. It also represents another step forward for collegiate esports across the country. “Esports is the future of competition. Period, ” UCI’s Acting Director of Esports Mark Deppe says. “It transcends language, geography, race, age, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, physical ability and many other identities. In five years many more schools will official programs and more structure will be in place to regulate and provide guidance to schools. Esports also has a huge opportunity to learn from the successes and shortcomings of traditional sports and provide a model for collegiate competition in the 21st century.” Deppe hopes the arena will be 100 percent cost-neutral. UCI spent $250, 000 to build it over the summer, and it will be open to the public and students for $4 an hour; UCI hopes the revenue from its hourly use will cover administrative costs. The arena will host 25 student staff members, while other students can volunteer to assist in coaching, analysis, streaming and production roles. UCI’s arena is backed by iBUYPOWER, which provided all of its gaming PCs, and Riot Games, the studio behind League of Legends . As part of its esports initiative, UCI is offering 10 scholarships, valued at $15, 000 each, to its competitive League of Legends players. The global esports market is valued at $612 million, with an audience of 134 million, according to SuperData , and it’s only predicted to grow. Universities across the United States are diving into this emerging market with scholarship programs and competitive teams. Student players bring home some real prizes when they win: Heroes of the Storm ‘s college tournament offers the winners free tuition , while the League of Legends North American collegiate championship grants $30, 000 to each winning player and $15, 000 each for second place. At UCI, players get to keep any earnings from competitions. Mark Deppe, @UCIesports acting dir., unboxes 1st computers to arrive for UCI #esports Initiative.

See more here:
UC Irvine debuts the first public college esports arena in the US

Robots can perform surgery inside your eyeballs

Doctors at Oxford University made medical history recently by successfully completing the first robot-assisted intraocular surgery. Robert MacLaren, Professor of Ophthalmology at the university, and his team managed to gently peel off a 1/1000th millimeter membrane from the inside of a patient’s eye. To do so, the team relied on a cutting-edge medical device known as the Robotic Retinal Dissection Device, or R2D2. The R2D2, developed by Dutch medical robotics firm Preceyes BV, is designed to perform keyhole surgery, entering and exiting the eyeball through a single, sub-millimeter hole. What’s more, it’s built to be exceedingly steady, especially given the tight tolerances within which it works. It employs a series of seven, independently computer controlled motors to navigate within the eye and can move as little as 1/1000th of a millimeter at a time. This is done to eliminate any semblance of tremors in the surgeon’s hands — including even the most minute tics like those generated by the doctor’s own heartbeat. “Current technology with laser scanners and microscopes allows us to monitor retinal diseases at the microscopic level, but the things we see are beyond the physiological limit of what the human hand can operate on, ” Dr. MacLauren told the BBC. “With a robotic system, we open up a whole new chapter of eye operations that currently cannot be performed.” In this case, the surgical team was tasked with exorcising a tiny growth of membrane that had contracted around the patient’s retina and distorted his vision to resemble the hall-of-mirrors scene from Enter the Dragon. The existing method calls for doctors to time their movements between heartbeats but with the help of the joystick-controlled R2D2, that procedure can be completed in a fraction of the time. For the record, this is not how it’s supposed to go. The R2D2 is still undergoing clinical trials. In fact, this was the first of 12 such tests, each being more complex than the last. However, should the device gain government approval, it could become, as MacLauren states, “a vision of eye surgery in the future.” Source: Oxford University

Follow this link:
Robots can perform surgery inside your eyeballs

NASA’s Impossible Propulsion EmDrive Is Heading to Space

An anonymous reader writes:The EmDrive, a hypothetical miracle propulsion system for outer space, has been sparking heated arguments for years. Now, Guido Fetta plans to settle the argument about reactionless space drives for once and for all by sending one into space to prove that it really generates thrust without exhaust. Even if mainstream scientists say this is impossible. Fetta is CEO of Cannae Inc, and inventor of the Cannae Drive. His creation is related to the EmDrive first demonstrated by British engineer Roger Shawyer in 2003. Both are closed systems filled with microwaves with no exhaust, yet which the inventors claim do produce thrust. There is no accepted theory of how this might work. Shawyer claims that relativistic effects produce different radiation pressures at the two ends of the drive, leading to a net force. Fetta pursues a similar idea involving Lorentz (electromagnetic) forces. NASA researchers have suggested that the drive is actually pushing against “quantum vacuum virtual plasma” of particles that shift in and out of existence. Most physicists believe these far-out systems cannot work and that their potential benefits, such as getting to Mars in ten weeks, are illusory. After all, the law of conservation of momentum says that a rocket cannot accelerate forward without some form of exhaust ejected backwards. Yet the drumbeat goes on. Just last month, Jose Rodal claimed on the NASA Spaceflight forum that a NASA paper, “Measurement of Impulsive Thrust from a Closed Radio Frequency Cavity in Vacuum” has finally been peer-reviewed and accepted for publication by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, but this cannot be confirmed yet. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Read the original:
NASA’s Impossible Propulsion EmDrive Is Heading to Space

A tiny space pebble just put a huge dent in an ESA satellite

The European Space Agency’s Copernicus Sentinel-1A satellite has new 40cm dent on one of its solar wings — and it was caused by a tiny millimetre-size piece of space debris. The impact was discovered with the Sentinal-1A reported a slight power reduction last month. Onboard cameras quickly found the micrometeoroid impact, pictured above. Don’t worry, the ESA says the satellite is fine, but the impact serves as a reminder: at orbital velocity, tiny objects can cause major damage. This is a problem for the Breakthrough Starshot project , which aims to launch a laser powered nanocraft that travels at 1/5th the speed of light. That project hopes to reach the next solar system over in about 20 years. “Erosion of solid surfaces will be a severe problem at these speeds, ” says Ian Crawford of Birkbeck, University of London. “It’s possible that the wafersats won’t even be able to complete the journey.” For engineers, this isn’t news — NASA and other space agencies have been combating space derbies for decades — but it does mean that teams need to think of new ways to protect fast moving crafts. The faster a craft goes, the more dangerous tiny objects can be. At the speed Breakthrough Starshot is designed to reach, even microscopic space dust could be dangerous. Source: New Scientist , ESA

Taken from:
A tiny space pebble just put a huge dent in an ESA satellite

Microsoft PowerShell Goes Open Source and Lands On Linux and Mac

Microsoft announced on Thursday that it is open sourcing PowerShell, its system administration, scripting, and configuration management tool that has been a default part of Windows for several years. The company says it will soon release PowerShell on Mac and Linux platforms. PCWorld reports: The company is also releasing alpha versions of PowerShell for Linux (specifically Ubuntu, Centos and Redhat) and Mac OS X. A new PowerShell GitHub page gives people the ability to download binaries of the software, as well as access to the app’s source code. PowerShell on Linux and Mac will let people who have already built proficiency with Microsoft’s scripting language take those skills and bring them to new platforms. Meanwhile, people who are used to working on those platforms will have access to a new and very powerful tool for getting work done. It’s part of Microsoft’s ongoing moves to open up products that the company has previously kept locked to platforms that it owned. The company’s open sourcing of its .NET programming frameworks in 2014 paved the way for this launch, by making the building blocks of PowerShell available on Linux and OS X. By making PowerShell available on Linux, Microsoft has taken the skills of Windows administrators who are already used to the software, and made them more marketable. It has also made it possible for hardcore Linux users to get access to an additional set of tools that they can use to manage a variety of systems. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

More here:
Microsoft PowerShell Goes Open Source and Lands On Linux and Mac

Your hard drive’s sounds could help hackers crack your system

File this under a totally bizarre and improbable way to hack someone . Security researchers have recently demonstrated a way to use the sounds of your computer’s hard drive to possibly transmit information. In short, they can use it to gather your data without you knowing. Weirdly enough, the DiskFiltration hack, as it’s called, works by taking control of a hard drive’s actuator. Much like the arm of a record player it moves back and forth across a hard drive’s platters to read and write data, and while it moves it makes a series of various sounds. Using the right type of malware, hackers can use those very sounds for some extremely shady machinations. If the right person is listening for the right thing, those noises can let go of a lot of information like an encryption key. The DiskFiltration method only works up to about six feet and it’s limited to a data rate of about 180 bits per minute. That’s obviously not very fast at all, but it’s quick enough to capture an encryption key in about a half hour. The entire idea and method of execution is massively impractical but it does work, except with solid-state drives. Still, it’s a very weird and very real way of intercepting data. As if people needed another way to do so. Via: Gizmodo Source: Cornell University Library

Read the original:
Your hard drive’s sounds could help hackers crack your system

Wall-riding robots spin carbon fiber structures

You can mock impractical architecture, but there’s no denying it pushes design and technology in new directions. Case in point is a project from the University of Stuggart’s Institute for Computational Design (ICD) called the “Mobile Robotic Fabrication System for Filament Structures.” Created by grad student Maria Yablonina, it uses robots that crawl on walls to weave carbon fiber filaments into Spirograph-like forms. “Its main advantage is that you can build entirely new structures that would be impossible to materialize otherwise, ” ICD director Achim Menges tells Dezeen . Two robots pass carbon fiber threads back and forth to weave the pattern, then attach it to wall anchors, as shown below. The web-like structures can be built on up to four walls simply by adding more bots. The powerful vacuum fans require external power, so the team’s next step is to extend the range and the number of robots that can be used. The “swarm construction” method is good for more than creating really strong hammocks. ICD has already built architectural roofs and high-tech building envelopes out of carbon fiber using traditional methods and industrial robots . However, Menges thinks the smaller, Roomba-like devices will expand the possibilities. “One can conceive more intricate, differentiated and larger architectural systems beyond the limits of the workspace and the reach of typical industrial machinery, ” he says. Via: Techcrunch Source: University of Stuttgart

See original article:
Wall-riding robots spin carbon fiber structures