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February 16 2011
Why Beekeepers May Soon Be Strapping iPhones to Their Beehives
Do bees have a use for smartphones? Sure: Bee researchers have found a way to harness a smartphone’s accelerometer technology to predict when the queen honeybee will leave her hive–thereby allowing keepers to thwart the loss of up to half their bees.
In a phenomenon known as “swarming,” the flight of a queen honeybee can lead to the loss of half of the hive. As the queen bee makes her exit, many of the bees follow their leader–and with the departure of both its queen and half of its workers, the remaining hive is severely weakened. But if beekeepers know when the queen bee will leave, they can attract the departing bees with another, strategically positioned hive.
The art of predicting when a queen honeybee will leave has a long history. “In the spring time, many clues … demonstrate the proximity to swarming, such as the presence of more or less mature queen cells,” the researchers explain in their paper. “In spite of this the actual date and time of swarming cannot be predicted accurately…” But that was before beekeepers harnessed the power of smartphone technology.
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January 24 2011
Android… in… Space! A Smartphone Prepares for Blast-Off
Cell phones will soon make a giant leap for mankind–right into outer space. In the coming year, British engineers from Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL) plan to send a cell phone into orbit to test whether cell phones are tough enough to withstand outer space, and whether they’re powerful enough to control satellites. As the BBC reports:
“Modern smartphones are pretty amazing,” said SSTL project manager Shaun Kenyon…. “They come now with processors that can go up to 1GHz, and they have loads of flash memory…. We’re not taking it apart; we’re not gutting it; we’re not taking out the printed circuit boards and re-soldering them into our satellite – we’re flying it as is,” Mr Kenyon explained.
The jury’s still out as to what cell phone model will be the world’s first orbital smartphone–but the scientists have already decided to pick one that uses Google’s Android operating system. That software is open source, allowing the engineers to tweak the phone’s functions. Not every phone, after all, comes off the shelf with the ability to navigate a nearly 12-inch-long, GPS-equipped,
November 09 2010
Step 1: Pee on Stick. Step 2: Ask Your Phone if You Have an STD
Pee-on-a-stick sexually transmitted disease tests could be making their way onto pharmacy shelves and bathroom vending machines in the UK soon. And in this system, a cell phone can take the place of a clinic doctor.
The country’s burgeoning STD problem has got doctors thinking about ways to make testing quicker, easier, and less embarrassing. One answer: A pee-on-a-stick test that could be connected to your computer or mobile phone to provide results, and treatment advice, within minutes. This has been heralded as a “pee on your phone” test, but of course it would be neater and better for your electronics if you pee first, then plug in.
If this new home testing procedure could make diagnosis and treatment of these all-too-common ailments easier, it would hopefully reduce their spread and prevalence, said Dr. Tariq Sadiq, who is leading the group developing the new testing strategies. He talked to The Guardian about sexually transmitted infections (STIs), as the Brits call them:
“We need to tackle the rising epidemic of STIs, which have been going up and up and up. Britain is one of the worst [countries] in western Europe for teenage pregnancy and STIs. That there’s a major embarrassment factor here, especially among young people, makes the situation worse.”
The idea comes from the UK Clinical Research Collaboration, a consortium looking for ways to make STD testing available and affordable for the affected populations–who are often young and often mobile phone addicts, Sadiq told The Guardian:
“Your mobile phone can be your mobile doctor. It diagnoses whether you’ve got one of a range of STIs, such as chlamydia or gonorrhea and tells you where to go next to get treatment,” said Dr Tariq Sadiq….
Diagnostic sticks for chlamydia, gonorrhea, and herpes are estimated to cost a little over a dollar, and could be sold in pharmacies and vending machines in night clubs. A worried person would take the test by peeing or spitting on the computer chip-enabled diagnostic stick, connecting it to their phone or computer, and would get the results in minutes. (This microfluidic device sounds similar to other “lab-on-a-chip” devices under development.) The mobile or computer app could also recommend doctors.
The details and implementation of the testing technology is still being worked out, and researchers want to address privacy-related questions to ensure the tests are anonymous and patient information can’t be leaked, Sadiq told Gizmag:
“The required technology is very close to becoming a reality,” said Dr Sadiq. “But there are other issues we need to address before we can use devices in the community – confidentiality and data protection, for example, are supremely important. It will also be vital to have tests that can be easily adapted to detect newly identified STIs, as all the causes of sexually transmitted diseases have still not been discovered.”
Related content:
Discoblog: Finally! An iPhone App That Lets You Track Your Bathroom Habits
Discoblog: First Rule of Being a Successful STD: Make Sure the Host Still Has Sex
80beats: Diagnostic Lab Made of Paper and Tape Could Lead to a 3-Cent HIV Test
80beats: Check Your Inbox, You May Have an STD
DISCOVER: How Often Do Animals Get STDs?
Image: iStockphoto
November 01 2010
iPhone Alarm Bug Gave Thousands of Europeans an Excuse to Sleep in
A glitch in the iPhone’s alarm software gave many Europeans an extra dose of sleep this morning, when their alarms went off an hour later than expected.
While the time on the phone correctly “fell backward” with Europe’s scheduled switch from daylight saving time, because of a software bug the alarm function didn’t recognize the switch, and all recurring alarms went off an hour later than intended. Frustrated iPhone users took to twitter, said the Daily Mail:
Users of Twitter were also quick to make jokes at Apple’s expense today. Garrettc wrote: ‘Daddy, do you remember where you were during the great iPhone alarm calamity of 2010?’ ‘No son, I was asleep’
Siobhan-83 wrote: ‘Ben’s iPhone alarm didn’t go off this morning, used it as an opportunity to tell him younger, newer models aren’t always the better option.’
And Jamiei said: ‘A whole hour of peace and quiet in the office this morning without any iPhone users courtesy of Apple.’
Hilariously, the bug was discovered a month ago when the exact opposite thing happened in Australia and New Zealand following their “spring forward” daylight switch–everyone got up an hour early. Apple had promised a fix to the problem then, and still claims the bug will be fixed with the release of an update (iOS4.2) in the coming weeks. But it probably won’t come out in time for the American daylight saving switch next Sunday (November 7) night.
The glitch is only affecting recurring alarms, and users can get around it when the time comes by setting a single-use alarm–so don’t expect the iPhone bug to be an acceptable excuse to sleep in next Monday. Any recurrent alarms created after the switch will work properly, but old alarms will continue to go off at the wrong time.
Just another reason to get rid of the time change all together, some say, as the perennial arguments continue over the benefits and costs of daylight saving time. New studies this year indicate that extending daylight saving time in northern areas could save energy and decrease pollution, bringing major health and environmental benefits.
Northern areas need the daylight saving time more, experts said, because they waste energy lighting the afternoons when it gets dark. Also, extra sunlight in the afternoons would make people more likely to exercise and soak up some Vitamin D. Many northern countries are wondering if it is time for a change to the policy, daylight saving expert Mayer Hillman told Reuters:
In some countries, such as Britain and Russia, politicians are being asked to consider parliamentary bills suggesting it’s time for a change. “It must be rare to find a means of vastly improving the health and well-being of nearly everyone in the population — and at no cost,” said Mayer Hillman of the Policy Studies Institute in Britain, where a bill on DST is coming up for consideration in parliament soon. “And here we have it.”
Hillman’s study found that time zone changes in Scotland could give residents 300 extra hours of light per year, and that setting the clocks in Britain ahead by one hour in the winter could save 0.3 percent of daily energy demand. Either way, it still won’t fix the iPhone’s faux pas this morning.
Related content:
Discoblog: An iPhone App, a Refractometer, an Objectively Perfect Cup of Coffee
80beats: Steve Jobs: There’s No iPhone “Antenna-Gate,” But Here’s a Free Case
DISCOVER: 20 Things You Didn’t Know About… Time
DISCOVER: What Do Urban Sounds Do to Your Brain?
DISCOVER: Discover Data: The Technologies We Love to Hate
Image: Flickr/Robert Couse-Baker
October 29 2010
Everest Gets 3G Coverage; Avalanche of Tweets & Status Updates to Follow
Ncell, a subsidiary of the Swedish telecom company TeliaSonera, has installed a 3G data network in a Nepalese town that should reach the summit of Mount Everest. This high up, high-tech improvement will allow summit-ers to communicate with friends, family, and organizers from the top of the world.
A phone base station was set up near the town of Gorakshep at 17,000 feet above sea level, and the signal should reach to the peak about 12,000 feet above that, telecom officials said–but it hasn’t been tested yet. The service should be fast enough to allow adventurers to make video calls and surf the Internet from their phones.
Lars Nyberg, CEO of TeliaSonera, told the Associated Foreign Press how excited they were to take the mountain into the wireless internet age:
“This is a great milestone for mobile communications as the 3G high speed internet will bring faster, more affordable telecommunication services from the world’s tallest mountain,” said Lars Nyberg.
The service is definitely an upgrade from the voice-only network set up in 2007 by China Mobile on the Chinese side of the mountain, and the erratic coverage of satellite phones. Who wouldn’t want to update their Facebook status to “chilling at the summit of Mount Everest” or “check-in” there? Now we can all wait with bated breath to see who gets the first Mayorship.
An Irish mountain climber named Gavin Bate was aiming to send the first tweet from the summit in 2009, but because of the weather conditions couldn’t reach the summit. Perhaps as people start to use the data network Everest will get better reviews on Google Maps; right now it’s at 2.5 stars.
But apparently the mountain committee had other ideas of how to use the connection–at least that’s what Ang Tshering Sherpa told the Associated Foreign Press:
“The erratic and expensive satellite connection that many times does not work for days will be replaced with this service, making it possible for all climbers to keep in touch with their organisers and family,” said Ang Tshering Sherpa, a member of the International Mountain Protection Commission. “This will also be helpful, possibly, when there is an accident or an expedition mishap,” he added.
Related content:
Discoblog: Would You Give Up Sex for Internet Access?
80beats: EXTREME SCIENCE: Doctors Drop Their Pants on Everest for a Blood Oxygen Test
80beats: Why Climbers Die on Everest: It’s Not the Avalanches (or the Yeti)
80beats: “Interplanetary Internet” Will Soon Bring Twitter to the ISS
DISCOVER: How Much Does The Internet Weigh?
Reality Base: “PopeTube” Launches, Brings New Holiness to Internet
Image: Flickr/stevehicks
August 23 2010
Gr8. Victorians txted 2. B4 cells.
A message from the Victorians: “I 1 der if you got that 1 I wrote 2U B4.” Helz ya, 1800s Brit10! We got it. Though they didn’t have cellphones or their 160-character limits, phrases like this one show nineteenth century English writers weren’t above an occasional stylistic shortcut.
The line comes from the poem “Essay to Miss Catharine Jay,” part of Charles Carroll Bombaugh’s 1867 Gleanings From the Harvest-Fields of Literature. The poem will appear in a forthcoming exhibit at The British Library as an example of “emblematic poetry.”
As Discovery News reports, such shortcuts appeared even before the Victorians; for example, the phrase IOU (for I owe you) originated in 1618. Txtese abbreviations appeared in literature from both sides of the Atlantic, with Americans also writing to Miss Catharine Jay, or Miss K T J.
Perhaps the proto-texts teach an important lesson: Lopping off word parts doesn’t mean you don’t have class. Another excerpt meant for Miss Catharine Jay:
But friends and foes alike D K,
As U may plainly C,
In every funeral R A,
Or Uncle’s L E G.
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Discoblog: Texting While Diving? Buoy Allows Text Messages From Submarines
Discoblog: Woman Receives First Ever PhD in Texting
Discoblog: Watch Those Thumbs Go! Champion Texter Wins $50,000
Discoblog: The New Defense Against Despotism: Text Messaging
Image: Wikimedia
August 16 2010
Can Greasy Fingerprints on Smart Phones Give Away Passcodes?
That grease trail you’ve smeared on your smart phone’s touchscreen could give away more than your lightsaber skills or virtual girlfriend’s whims: Would-be smudge attackers, a recent paper argues, could follow your finger oils as a clue to your passcode.
In the paper “Smudge Attacks on Smartphone Touchscreens,” which we first saw on Gizmodo, a team in the computer science department at the University of Pennsylvania tried to pick out grease patterns from Android phones by photographing the phones and enhancing the patterns with photo-editing software. From the paper’s introduction:
“We believe smudge attacks are a threat for three reasons. First, smudges are surprisingly persistent in time. Second, it is surprisingly difficult to incidentally obscure smudges through wiping or pocketing the device. Third and finally, collecting and analyzing oil residue smudges can be done with readily-available equipment such as a camera and a computer.”
Though the smudge alone can’t confirm the exact passcode, the study’s authors hint that it may help an attacker rule out possibilities. In the paper, the authors describe the three by three number grid of “contact points” that some earlier Android phones employed for entering passcodes. The team assumed three limitations on smudge patterns using this grid: it must have four or more contact points; it cannot use any contact point more than once; and if there is any contact point between two others on a smudge trail, then it must also be a contact point. They calculate that using just the last of these restrictions, an attacker could reduce the number of possible patterns from 1 million to 389,112 patterns–a way to reduce a phone lockout during hacking.
The study also investigated the best conditions for identifying a smudge pattern. A particularly easy partial pattern to find, the researchers say, appeared when the phone was “dirty prior to password entry,” i.e. after the user had just finished chatting, allowing the phone’s screen to soak up some extra face dirt for finger smudge contrast.
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Discoblog: One Small Step Closer to Superhuman Cyborg Vision
Discoblog: Will the Laptops of the Future Be a Pair of Eye Glasses?
Image: flickr / p_kim
May 21 2010
Science Explains: Why Overheard Cell Phone Conversations Are So Annoying
April 26 2010
The Saga of the Lost iPhone May End With Criminal Charges
April 20 2010
OMG! Study Sez Teen Textng’s Totally Up :0
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