ScienceDaily: Computers & Math News New half-light half-matter quantum particles created Posted: 29 Dec 2014 11:14 AM PST Prospects of developing computing and communication technologies based on quantum properties of light and matter may have taken a major step forward thanks to new research. A qubit candidate shines brighter Posted: 29 Dec 2014 09:26 AM PST Scientists taken a major step forward in effectively enhancing the fluorescent light emission of diamond nitrogen vacancy centers -- a key step to using the atom-sized defects in future quantum computers. The technique hinges on the very precise positioning of NV centers within a structure called a photonic cavity that can boost the light signal from the defect. What you tweet when you go party can be useful for improving urban planning Posted: 29 Dec 2014 05:17 AM PST Millions of Twitter users are constantly reporting where they are and what they are doing. With this information, two Spanish computer science experts suggest using geolocalized tweets for urban planning and land use. They have already done it in Manhattan, Madrid and London and have been able to identify, for example, nightlife areas of these large cities. Every day millions of citizens around the world generate massive amounts of geolocalized content using mobile applications and social networks. Especially on Twitter, which could become a sensor of interactions between people and their environment and provide guidelines for planning life in the city.. A forgotten issue in urbanism is land use during the night time, with problems such as noise and dirt, which could be improved with this type of tool. Live adaptation of organ models in the OR Posted: 29 Dec 2014 05:17 AM PST During minimally invasive operations, a surgeon has to trust the information displayed on the screen: A virtual 3D model of the respective organ shows where a tumor is located and where sensitive vessels can be found. Soft tissue, such as the tissue of the liver, however, deforms during breathing or when the scalpel is applied. Endoscopic cameras record in real time how the surface deforms, but do not show the deformation of deeper structures such as tumors. Young scientists have now developed a real-time capable computation method to adapt the virtual organ to the deformed surface profile. Text messaging reminders increase second dose influenza vaccinations in children Posted: 29 Dec 2014 05:16 AM PST Researchers studied the impact of text message reminders for the second dose of influenza vaccine required for many young children to protect them against the virus. The findings showed that sending the reminders increased receipt of the second dose of the vaccine and brought children in sooner to be vaccinated. When educational information on the importance of the second dose of influenza vaccine was embedded into the text messages there was an even greater effect.