SINGLED OUT In the home of the future, a Wi-Fi router and a computer could work together to personalize the home experience.
Twin Design/Shutterstock
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Magazine
In the October 1 SN: Meet the SN 10 — up-and-coming scientists exploring big questions, Tasmanian devils resist an epidemic of cancer, the ebb and flow of one man’s microbiome, oldest fossils, Juno’s first closeups of Jupiter and more.
Math & Technology
Topic Image Rail
SCROLL PATROL A digital analysis enabled scientists to virtually unwrap a fragile, more than 1,700-year-old scroll and determine that it contains the oldest known Biblical text, other than the Dead Sea Scrolls. The charred scroll itself is at right.
W.B. Seales et al/Science Advances 2016 (CC BY-NC)
Materials scientist Qian Chen explores the boundary between living and nonliving matter by examining and manipulating materials in liquid environments.
L. Brian Stauffer/Univ. of Illinois News Bureau
Math & Technology
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Numbers
Screentime
Website tests predictive powers of the hive mind
Metaculus.com asks people to make predictions about the likelihood of future events.ContextCourts’ use of statistics should be put on trial
Bayesian statistics offer a useful tool for avoiding fallacies in legal reasoning. -
Computing
Feature
Shayan Oveis Gharan finds the shortest route to success
Theoretical computer scientist Shayan Oveis Gharan has identified connections between unrelated fields to tackle the traveling salesman problem.Science Visualized
Supersmall device uses individual atoms to store data
Scientists manipulate chlorine atoms to store data on a supersmall device. -
Technology
For Daily Use
Wi-Fi can help house distinguish between members
Using Wi-Fi, computers could one day identify individual family members in a smart home.Science TickerSpaceX rocket explodes on Florida launchpad
SpaceX has lost a Falcon 9 rocket and its satellite payload in a standard prelaunch test. -
Robotics
News
Light-activated heart cells help guide robotic stingray
Layers of silicone, gold and genetically engineered rat heart cells make up the body of a new stingray robot that can swim in response to light.News in Brief
Insect-sized bot is first to both fly, land
A tiny aerial robot nicknamed RoboBee uses static electricity to perch on surfaces midflight. The landing device could one day help robots conserve energy during search and rescue missions.
