ScienceDaily: Computers & Math News

The better to see you with: Prosthetic leg would keep an eye on path ahead Posted: 27 Feb 2015 03:10 PM PST A mechanical engineer and his team have developed a computer-controlled camera that enables their robotic ankle to see where it is going.

Predicting human crowds with statistical physics Posted: 27 Feb 2015 10:10 AM PST A general law of how pedestrians interact in a crowd can be used to create realistic crowds in virtual reality games and to make public spaces safer.

Employees become angry when receiving after-hours email, texts Posted: 27 Feb 2015 10:10 AM PST People who receive electronic correspondence from work after hours become angry more often than not and that can interfere with their personal lives, a new study from a management researcher shows.

Zombie outbreak? Statistical mechanics reveals the ideal hideout; and informs real disease modeling Posted: 27 Feb 2015 08:27 AM PST A team researchers focusing on a fictional zombie outbreak as an approach to disease modeling suggests heading for the hills, in the Rockies, to save your brains from the undead.

QR codes with advanced imaging and photon encryption protect computer chips Posted: 27 Feb 2015 05:47 AM PST Engineers have taken the ordinary QR code and transformed it into a high-end cybersecurity application that can protect the integrity of computer chips using advanced optical imaging and photon-based encryption.

Quantum radar to detect objects which are invisible to conventional systems Posted: 27 Feb 2015 05:46 AM PST A prototype quantum radar that has the potential to detect objects which are invisible to conventional systems has now been developed.

Ensuring security for networks of the future Posted: 27 Feb 2015 05:46 AM PST Company networks are inflexible – they are made up of many components that require a good deal of effort to be connected together. That’s why networks of the future will be controlled by a central unit. However, this makes them a target for hackers. Researchers can demonstrate how to protect these future networks.

Dying in front of the camera: What are the impacts? Posted: 27 Feb 2015 05:43 AM PST Clips of protesters dying in consequence of current conflicts appear more and more frequently on YouTube. What do they trigger? How do they change the media and the way we perceive things? These are the questions investigated by a media scientist using the example of the conflicts in Iran and Syria. She has realized that images of dying people, even those shot from the dying person’s perspective, are nothing new. What has changed is the quality of the images; the encounter with death is more intense, more intimate. What does that do to the viewer? What impact do such videos have on people affected by conflicts?