science wire

The world's fiber-optic network spans more than 550,000 miles of undersea cable that transmits e-mail, websites, and other packets of data between continents, all at the speed of light. A rip or tangle in any part of this network can significantly slow telecommunications around the world. Now engineers at MIT, along with computer scientists at Columbia University, have developed a method that predicts the pattern of coils and tangles that a cable may form when deployed onto a rigid surface.

King's College London Mathematics School was officially opened by Nicky Morgan MP, Secretary of State for Education yesterday afternoon.

All goes swimmingly From whales to larvae, common principles at work in water propulsion, study says A t nearly 100 feet long and weighing as much as 170 tons, the blue whale is the largest creature on the planet, and by far the heaviest living thing ever seen on Earth. So there's no way it could have anything in common with the tiniest fish larvae, which are mere millimeters in length and tip the scales at a fraction of a gram, right? Not so fast, says L. Mahadevan, the Lola England de Valpine Professor of Applied Mathematics, of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, and of Physics.

University of Washington Posted under: News Releases , Politics and Government , Research , Social Science Using modern statistical tools, a new study led by the University of Washington and the United Nations finds that world population is likely to keep growing throughout the 21st century. The number of people on Earth is likely to reach 11 billion by 2100, the study concludes, about 2 billion higher than widely cited previous estimates.

A statistician with an eye for spotting pioneering trends, Hans Rosling, a Swedish medical doctor and academic, dispels myths about the developing world.

If implemented on a wide scale, quantum key distribution technology could ensure truly secure commerce, banking, communications and data transfer.

Cellphone apps that find users car rides in real time are exploding in popularity: The car-service company Uber was recently valued at $18 billion, and even as it faces legal wrangles, a number of companies that provide similar services with licensed taxi cabs have sprung up. What if the taxi-service app on your cellphone had a button on it that let you indicate that you were willing to share a ride with another passenger?

University of Washington Washington state's housing market rebounded from its first quarter performance, as the annual rate of existing home sales rose 6.4 percent in the second quarter of 2014.

In the near future, the package that you ordered online may be deposited at your doorstep by a drone: Last December, online retailer Amazon announced plans to explore drone-based delivery, suggesting that fleets of flying robots might serve as autonomous messengers that shuttle packages to customers within 30 minutes of an order.

Maryam Mirzakhani is the first woman to ever win the Fields Medal - known as the "Nobel Prize of mathematics" - in recognition of her contributions to the understanding of the symmetry of curved surfaces.

The case for the Reserve Bank of Australia to increase interest rates is building, although the central bank should leave rates unchanged after its August board meeting, The Australian National University RBA Shadow Board has found.

Press release issued: 1 August 2014 Competition to create the smallest, lightest and cheapest laptop on the market is motivating the ongoing search for a better computer-memory device then the current, conventional 2D hard-disk technology. Mathematicians from the University of Bristol have been analysing the potential of one such initiative: the 'racetrack memory' device, proposed by researchers at IBM.

The blurred image on the left shows how a farsighted person would see a computer screen without corrective lenses.

Much artificial-intelligence research addresses the problem of making predictions based on large data sets.

String bends, tapping, vibrato and whammy bars are all techniques that add to the distinctiveness of a lead guitarist's sound, whether it's Clapton, Hendrix, or BB King.

Computer scientists at MIT and Israel's Technion have discovered an unexpected source of information about the world's languages: the habits of native speakers of those languages when writing in English.

"Imagine a heart surgeon operating to repair a blocked coronary artery. Someday soon, the surgeon might run a detailed computer simulation of blood flowing through the patient's arteries, showing how millions of red blood cells jostle and tumble through the small vessels.

Dan Spielman, a Yale computer scientist, wasn't looking for a new problem. He was already deeply immersed in a tricky effort to model complex online communities like Facebook, hoping to gain insight into how they form and interact.

Scientists at the University of Liverpool are exhibiting at Manchester's Festival of Mathematics and its Applications, to show how they solved a mathematical problem that has challenged researchers for more than four decades. The team's work is related to phase-locking, a phenomenon where two oscillating systems interact with each other, like two pendulum clocks hanging on the same wall that eventually synchronize.

01 Jul 2014 England's early exit from the World Cup may have left football fans feeling forlorn but for those inclined to spice things up with a flutter on the remaining fixtures, help may be at hand.

Twelve schools are putting their mathematics and statistics skills to the test as they bid to be crowned champions of a prestigious national competition.

Junior research fellow Dr Eva-Maria Graefe has won a fellowship from global cosmetics firm L'ORÉAL for her work in quantum mechanics.

David Steurer, assistant professor of computer science, has been awarded a Microsoft Research Faculty Fellowship to support research to find the "laws of efficient computation," which might settle a

The Australian National University Council has approved a new model for capital works investment to enable the construction of two buildings, to house the Research School of Social Sciences (RSSS) an

John Abowd, the Edmund Ezra Day Professor of Economics, director of graduate studies for the Department of Economics and a professor of information science and statistics, will be recognized in Augus

Once again, Vienna is one of the capitals of logic research, more than 80 years after Kurt Gödel wrote down his incompleteness theorems.

Mints' pioneering research created new connections between proof theory and computation - leaving an indelible mark on generations of students and colleagues in philosophy, mathematics and computer science.

ANN ARBOR-Whether it's initiated by their parents, friends or themselves, students often feel pressure to perform well in tests.

'Metamaterials' have unusual properties not seen in natural material The University of Liverpool is conducting research into materials which could help to divert the waves associated with earthquakes around buildings.

One of the favorites to win the 2014 FIFA World Cup is host Brazil. However, statisticians headed by Achim Zeileis from the University of Innsbruck show that the winning margin is considerably higher for Brazil than generally expected.

One of the favorites to win the 2014 FIFA World Cup is host Brazil. However, statisticians headed by Achim Zeileis show that the winning margin is considerably higher for Brazil than generally expected.

The Reserve Bank of Australia should leave interest rates unchanged in June despite uncertainty over the economic outlook, the Australian National University's RBA Shadow Board has found.

The Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies has named Hans Rosling, a Swedish medical doctor, academic and statistician, the 2014 Bartels World Affairs Fellow.

Logic and computer science are closely related. Basic research in logic is crucial for computer and software engineering.

Soap films with complex shapes shed light on the formation of mathematical singularities, which occur in a broad range of fields. This is an example of experimental mathematics, in the sense that we are using laboratory studies to inform conjectures on mathematical connections Raymond Goldstein The way in which soap films collapse and re-form when twisted or stretched could hold the key to predicting the formation and location of mathematical singularities, which can be seen in the motion of solar flares and other natural phenomena.

Green technology meets high-powered computing at the new Stanford Research Computing Center, which supports the growing computational needs of researchers on campus while saving energy.

A team from the University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center has received a five-year, $3.9 million award from the National Cancer Institute to serve as a Lead Academic Participating Site for the newly created National Clinical Trials Network.

University of Washington Washington state's housing market finished weaker in the first quarter of 2014 when compared to the end of 2013, according to the  Runstad Center for Real Estate Studies at the University of Washington.

The faculty members have been elected to receive one of the highest honors for an American scientist in recognition of their achievements in original research.

A medical student from The University of Queensland has applied his background in mathematics to the field of nuclear medicine to improve liver imaging methods, which may improve diagnosis time and save patients undergoing unnecessary surgery.

The Reserve Bank of Australia should leave interest rates unchanged ahead of the federal budget despite some promising signs for the domestic economy, the Australian National University's RBA Shadow Board found has found.