Futurity.org » Carnegie Mellon University

To put info together, work with others online

Byron Spice-Carnegie Mellon — Mon, 14 May 2012 20:08:24 +0000

CARNEGIE MELLON (US) — People spend 70 billion hours a year figuring out information from the web—but working together could save everyone time, say researchers.

Without ever directly communicating with them, people who have already sifted through online information to make sense of a subject can help strangers facing similar tasks, researchers at Carnegie Mellon University and Microsoft Research have demonstrated.

Touch tech makes almost any object ‘smart’

Byron Spice-Carnegie Mellon — Tue, 08 May 2012 13:53:06 +0000

CARNEGIE MELLON (US) — Scientists have developed new technology that could eventually make a doorknob that knows whether to lock or unlock, admit a guest, or leave a message.

Other potential applications include a smartphone that silences itself if the user holds a finger to her lips and a chair that adjusts room lighting based on recognizing if a user is reclining or leaning forward.

With foursquare, ‘Livehoods’ redraw city limits

Byron Spice-Carnegie Mellon — Mon, 07 May 2012 19:35:48 +0000

CARNEGIE MELLON (US) — The millions of “check-ins” generated by foursquare, the location-based social network, allow researchers to create a dynamic view of a city’s workings and character.

In contrast to static neighborhood boundaries and dated census figures, these “Livehoods” reflect the ever-changing patterns of city life.

Market push may tarnish research ethics

Allison Flynn-McGill — Fri, 04 May 2012 20:56:09 +0000

CARNEGIE MELLON (US) / MCGILL (CAN) — Current research ethics frameworks don’t flag drug trials that, while not putting patients at risk, still produce biased evidence, a new study argues.

Published in Science, the study says that current research ethics focuses on protecting study participants, but fail to prevent problems that undermine the social value of the research.

Young drivers navigate better behind vibrating wheel

Byron Spice-Carnegie Mellon — Wed, 02 May 2012 16:15:01 +0000

CARNEGIE MELLON (US) — A vibrating steering wheel that combines audio, visual, and haptic technology may be an effective way to avoid missed turns while keeping the driver’s eyes on the road.

Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University and AT&T Labs tested the steering wheel and found that younger drivers in particular are less distracted by a navigation system’s display screen when they receive haptic feedback from the vibrating steering wheel.

With all-white jury pools, verdict disparity

Steve Hartsoe-Duke — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 19:27:04 +0000

DUKE (US) — Juries formed from all-white jury pools in Florida convicted black defendants 16 percent more often than white defendants.

That gap was nearly eliminated when at least one member of the jury pool was black, according to a Duke University-led study.

Decisions get tougher as white matter ages

David Salisbury-VU — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 16:16:30 +0000

VANDERBILT (US) — As we age, changes in the brain’s white-matter pathways make decision-making in unfamiliar situations tougher.

The brain-mapping study from Vanderbilt University finds that people’s ability to make decisions in novel situations decreases with age and is associated with a reduction in the integrity of two specific white-matter pathways that connect an area in the cerebral cortex called the medial prefrontal cortex with two other areas deeper in the brain.

Grey matter is the part of the brain that contains the bodies of the neurons while white matter contains the cable-like axons that carry signals from one part of the brain to another. In the past, most brain-imaging research has concentrated on the grey matter.

Stressed body can’t control inflammation

Shilo Rea-Carnegie Mellon — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 17:43:34 +0000

CARNEGIE MELLON (US) — A new study finds that chronic psychological stress is associated with the body losing its ability to regulate inflammatory response.

Psychological stress is associated with greater risk for depression, heart disease, and infectious diseases, but until now, it has not been clear exactly how stress influences disease and health.

The research, led by Carnegie Mellon University‘s Sheldon Cohen, shows for the first time that the effects of psychological stress on the body’s ability to regulate inflammation can promote the development and progression of disease.

No hitch in the ethics of health incentives

Shilo Rea-Carnegie Mellon — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 15:03:36 +0000

CARNEGIE MELLON (US) — Concerns about the ethics of offering people incentives for healthy behaviors may be unnecessary, according to a new study.

It is fairly common for clinical research participants to receive payment for expenses such as travel and parking. What has raised ethical questions are payments or incentives given to encourage people to participate in research or to use a specific health intervention or care plan as part of the research.

In a paper published in PLoS Medicine, Carnegie Mellon University’s Alex John London argues that when incentives are used to encourage people to engage in healthy activities from which they are likely to benefit, and with which they are already familiar, ethical concerns about the use of incentives may be misplaced.

With autism, altered white matter in brain

Shilo Rea-Carnegie Mellon — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 21:48:25 +0000

CARNEGIE MELLON U. (US) — The brain’s white matter may explain some of autism’s mysteries—from communication disorders to restricted interests.

Autism has long been a scientific enigma, mainly due to its diverse and seemingly unrelated symptoms, until now. The findings also have implications for a number of other psychiatric illnesses that involve white matter deficiencies, such as schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s disease, and could provide a way to relate the anatomical deficiencies to thought processes.