Tech
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Computing
Strength and weakness in diversity
Although the Internet's redundancy and diversity help it survive local node malfunctions despite its vast size and complexity, it is vulnerable to attacks aimed specifically at the most highly connected nodes.
- Computing
Computer grid cracks problem
A large network of powerful computers solved a 32-year-old optimization challenge known as the "nug30" quadratic assignment problem.
- Computing
Tight packaging for digitized surfaces
A novel digital compression scheme may make it practical to transmit detailed models of three-dimensional surfaces over the Internet.
- Tech
The Little Engines That Couldn’t
Tired of grinding their gears, micromachine researchers turn to surface science.
- Tech
Technique boosts data rate in light pipes
Turning a liability into an asset, a new technique for passing information through optical fibers increases the data flow by exploiting the very trait that has long held that flow back.
- Tech
Magnifier May Crack Crimes, Crashes
Gumshoes equipped with a novel device for magnifying magnetic fields may spy clues on damaged, erased, or deliberately corrupted audio tapes and other magnetic media.
- Tech
Satellite links may don quantum cloaks
A theoretically foolproof scheme to shield secrets via the laws of quantum mechanics demonstrates its readiness to take on Earth-satellite communications.
- Computing
A loosely woven Web
The World Wide Web is less like a network of heavily interconnected superhighways and more like a jungle of one-way streets often leading to dead ends.
- Computing
‘Love bug’ lessons
In early May, the malicious ILOVEYOU computer virus shut down hundreds of thousands of computers and caused several billion dollars in damage.
- Computing
Software’s beginnings
The earliest known use of the term software to describe computer programs dates back to 1958.
- Tech
Civilians get better GPS
President Clinton directed the Defense Department to stop degrading signals from 24 Global Positioning System satellites, allowing civilians to receive the same location-pinpointing accuracy long available to the U.S. military.
- Tech
DNA embrace might drive micromachines
DNA interactions that bend tiny diving boards, or cantilevers, may open the door to powering micromachines by means of molecular reactions.
