Changing the Way Undergraduates Are Taught

 
Washington University in St. Louis has received a $562,000 National Science Foundation grant to research changing how undergraduate students are taught. The new “active learning” approach, led by associate professor of computer science and engineering Kenneth J. Goldman, replaces passive learning through lectures with a stronger emphasis on studio courses that involve team projects and [...]

Wireless Bridge Sensors Without Batteries

Wireless monitoring of civil engineering structures such as bridges and overpasses has gained a lot of interest in the recent years. Bridge collapses happen suddenly and unpredictably and often lead to tragic loss of human lives. Many will remain in service for many years, they need monitoring and rehabilitation.
Wireless battery-powered sensors that monitor bridges and report [...]

Intelligent Clothing

Virginia Tech professors Tom Martin and Mark Jones have spent the past six years developing electronic textiles and clothing with embedded wires and sensors. One such piece of clothing is a suit that can monitor the movement of the person wearing it, including whether the person is walking, running, standing, or sitting. “One student could [...]

Forecast: Sex and Marriage With Robots by 2050

LiveScience (10/12/07) Choi, Charles Q.

In David Levy’s recently completed Ph.D. thesis at the University of Maastricht in the Netherlands on human-robot relationships, “Intimate Relationships with Artificial Partners,” he predicts that robots will become so human-like that by 2050 humans and robots will have intimate relationships and even marry each other. “There’s a trend of [...]

Technology Could Enable Computers to ‘Read the Minds’ of Users

Computers capable of responding to users’ emotional states could be facilitated by methods developed by Tufts University researchers through the novel application of non-invasive and easily portable imaging technology. “Measuring mental workload, frustration and distraction is typically limited to qualitatively observing computer users or to administering surveys after completion of a task, potentially missing valuable [...]