Knowledge Update

New York, June 21 (IANS) Researchers from US-based Rice University have developed a technology that not only allows several devices to see what their owners see but also keep track of what they need to remember.

​New York, June 19 (IANS) A study, involving an Indian-origin researcher, has found that if people construct their robot themselves, they tend to get a more positive perception of their creation.

​New York, June 19 (IANS) A team of scientists from the US has created the world's first microchip that has 1,000 processors and is thought to be the fastest chip designed in a university lab.

New York, June 19 (IANS) US tech giant IBM has patented an eye wear like Google Glass that will have red-eyed night vision capabilities, a media report said. Although not promising a true night vision, the device is described in the patent to improve sight under low light by tricking the brain to focus on high contrast imagery. "IBM's Google Glass modifications include a sensor and 'a comparator device' designed to detect and contrast light intensity. When the light intensity drops below a set level, a pair of projectors -- one for each eye -- bathe the user's eyes in red light," a report in International Business Times (UK) said. The patent claims the effect is similar to that of dark rooms used in photography or the red-tinted glasses worn by some airline pilots. Dark environment with a red tinge cause the rod cells, which are the photoreceptors in our eye, to send high contrast images to the brain. When the user enters a low-light environment, the projector automatically projects a low-level red light in to each eye of the user. Shining red light directly into the eyes creates the same response rods as casting red light onto an environment. Which means it tricks the rod cells into sending higher contrast images to the brain. However, the company also issued a health warning. The patent read: "The wearer of current glasses such as Google Glass is subject to the risk of a phenomena referred to as binocular rivalry and phoria -- a latent deviation or misalignment of the eyes that appears when both eyes are no longer looking at the same object."​

​London, June 16 (IANS) Planning to buy a new smartphone? Remember that the device may lose half of its value in a month which is even faster than your car, says an interesting study. While cars typically lost 20 per cent of their value a year after being driven off, money-draining smartphones went down up to 65 per cent of their value in just a month of being released, musicMagpie.co.uk reported on Thursday. The findings showed that only iPhones could retain their value much better than android-based devices. While the iPhone 4 continues to retain 39 per cent of its value even five years after its launch, the iPhone 6 (16 GB) has managed to keep 50 per cent of its 539 British pounds market value a year after its release. However, iPhone 5 showed a significant depreciation, losing 66 per cent of its value after eight months, the report stated. The highly anticipated Samsung Galaxy S4, which released in 2014 lost half of its value within two months of appearing on the market. That's nearly a £300 loss off its original selling price of £579, the study said. HTC One M9 has suffered the worst in the android sector. It was sold for 579 British pounds when released in March 2015 but lost a staggering 65 per cent of its value in just a month. Phones go down in value because better, faster and technologically superior models replace them. Demand for a certain phone model can also affect its popularity and consequently depreciate its value, the report concluded.​

​New York, June 17 (IANS) Researchers, including an Indian-origin scientist from the University of Texas at Austin, have developed a new, open-source computer programming framework "GreenWeb" that allows people to save more battery power while browsing on mobile devices.

​New York, June 15 (IANS) Researchers including one of Indian-origin have provided a fresh insight into how human learning can foster smarter artificial intelligence (AI).

Recent breakthroughs in creating artificial systems that outplay humans in a diverse array of challenging games have their roots in neural networks inspired by information

​New York, June 15 (IANS) In an effort to allay concerns over collection of human data for corporate research, social networking giant Facebook has published details about how the website uses personal information of its subscribers for research purpose, a media report said.

​New York, June 15 (IANS) Scientists have developed a new method to fight virtual reality (VR) sickness that can be experienced by those who use head-worn VR displays like the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Sony PlayStation VR, and Google Cardboard.

​London, June 11 (IANS) Social networking site Facebook can effectively be used to raise awareness about the symptoms of inflammatory back pain (IBP) and play a key role in early diagnosis of the chronic affliction, a study involving an Indian-origin researcher says.