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Issue no. 16, 2006 Published: Apr 28, 2006
Digital cameras leave unique 'pixel' fingerprints
Brain training can change autistic behaviour
Brazil launches lab for agricultural nanotechnology
US researchers flex $10m bionic arm
Wi-Fi chip offers tenfold performance boost
Insect eye inspires future vision
New research puts life back into subliminal advertising
Google unearths physics gems
Scientists 'Clever' answer to city traffic
Your thoughts are your password
Patent news: Kodak's red-eye age checker
Tattoos made of 'disappearing' ink

Digital cameras leave unique 'pixel' fingerprints
Digital photographers could soon lose their ability to anonymously shoot sensitive or illegal subject matter, thanks to new research that can link digital images to the camera with which they were taken. The research, conducted at Binghamton University in New York, analyses the slight variations created by the image sensor in each camera to uniquely identify pictures. The technology is being presented as potentially useful in nailing child pornographers. The researchers found that every digital picture is overlaid by a weak noise-like pattern of pixel-to-pixel non-uniformity. That digital noise pattern will be consistent among all images taken from the same camera. The researchers analysed 2,700 pictures taken by nine digital cameras, with 100 per cent accuracy. However, the technique will not work on analysis of a single photo. Investigators have to have either the actual camera or multiple photos to get a line on the noise pattern.
TechWeb Apr 27, 2006	back to top

Brain training can change autistic behaviour
Neurofeedback practice may be able to alleviate some of the symptoms of autism, according to a pilot study on eight children with the disorder. The technique involves hooking people up to electrodes and getting them to try and control their brain waves. In people with autism, the 'mu' wave is thought to be dysfunctional. Since this wave is associated with 'mirror neurons' - the brain cells that underpin empathy and understanding of others - Jaime Pineda at the University of California wondered if controlling it through neurofeedback could exercise faulty mirror neurons and improve their function. He attached sensors to the necks and heads of eight children with autism and had them watch a video game of a racing car going round a track. For all of the children, sitting still and concentrating kept the car travelling around the track, but five of them were also able to harness their mu waves and use them to adjust the car's speed. After 30 sessions over 10 weeks, the five children's mu brainwaves had changed and they performed better on tasks involving imitation, typically difficult for people with autism.
New Scientist Apr 25, 2006	back to top

Brazil launches lab for agricultural nanotechnology
Brazil is taking steps to increase the value of its exports by developing agricultural nanotechnologies - microscopic products intended to improve the quality of farm produce. The Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa) said last week that it would be building a US$1.9m laboratory dedicated to the field. The National Nanotechnology Laboratory for Agribusiness will be housed at Embrapa's agricultural instrumentation unit in São Paulo while purpose built facilities are set up in the city later this year. Areas of research have already been defined. They include producing 'nanofibres' to strengthen natural fibres, for example those from coconut and sisal, and making 'nanoparticles' that contain pesticides and control their release. Additional funds will support a network of researchers from Embrapa units, universities, research institutions and the private sector to encourage research collaborations. Agriculture accounts for about 30 per cent of Brazil's gross domestic product.
SciDev.Net Apr 26, 2006	back to top

US researchers flex $10m bionic arm
US researchers have been promised funding of up to $10.3m to help develop a bionic arm that would work, feel and look like a real limb. The grant to the University of Utah is a key part of a US Department of Defense contract worth up to $55m to develop next-generation prosthetic arms for injured soldiers. Researchers will focus on developing and testing an implanted 'peripheral nerve interface' that would relay impulses from nerves in the residual limb to a small computer worn on a belt and then to the bionic arm. This would allow a person to move the artificial limb like a real one, according to the researchers. Sensors in the artificial arm would send signals to the computer and on to the interface device which would relay the signals to nerves in the remainder of the amputated arm and then to the brain, allowing the person to sense the arm's motion and location, and feel objects with the mechanical hand and fingers.
VNUnet UK Apr 24, 2006	back to top

Wi-Fi chip offers tenfold performance boost
A new form of radio chip that could be used in mobile phones and Wi-Fi and Bluetooth devices can cut the power needed to broadcast and receive wireless data by a factor of 10. Developed at the University of Rochester in New York the chipset uses a technique called injection locked frequency divider (ILFD) to cut the amount of power used for radio data transfer by up to 90 per cent. For two radio users to communicate they must be on exactly the same frequency. The phone therefore needs to maintain a very accurate and stable clock, which is generated by a special circuit called a phase-locked loop. But this consumes a dramatic portion of the battery life on wireless devices. The ILFD method uses less power than conventional digital methods because the 'ones' and 'zeroes' that comprise digital information waste energy. An ILFD device, on the other hand, does not use the brute-force approach of counting each pulse, but employs an analogue method that requires less power. To overcome the limitations in matching frequencies correctly, the number of transistors on the chipset are increased.
VNUnet UK Apr 24, 2006	back to top

Insect eye inspires future vision
An artificial insect eye that could be used in ultra-thin cameras has been developed by scientists at the University of California, Berkeley. The dimpled eye, contains over 8,500 hexagonal lenses packed into an area the size of a pinhead. The dome-shaped structure is similar to a bee's eye. The researchers say the work may also shed light on how insects developed such complex, visual systems. Insect eyes, known as compound eyes, usually consist of hundreds of tiny lens-capped optical units, known as ommatidia, which are crammed side by side into bulges that create a wide field of view for the insect. The artificial eye could be used in tiny, omni-directional surveillance devices, ultra thin cameras or for high-speed motion sensors. It may also have medical applications such as imaging the gut.
BBC News / Science Apr 27, 2006	back to top

New research puts life back into subliminal advertising
Subliminal advertising, which caused a scare in the 1950s and 60s before being written off as a stunt, may work after all, new research says. University of Nijmegen researchers in the Netherlands have discovered that, if conditions are right, it can successfully promote a brand. In a first study, the team asked 61 volunteers to perform a nonsense task while a 23-ms message flashed up. One group received the words 'Lipton Ice' for the iced tea brand, while the other, called the control group, received the meaningless words 'Nipeic Tol.' Then the volunteers were asked to rate how thirsty they were and to choose what drink they would order, between Lipton Ice and Spa Rood. Those who rated themselves thirsty were likelier to choose Lipton Ice, but only if they had received the subliminal message. In a second study, the team recruited 105 volunteers, half of whom ate a very salty sweet before the same tasks. Eighty per cent of those who were thirsty and who had been exposed to the Lipton Ice message chose that product. By comparison, only 20 per cent of those in the control group who were thirsty chose Lipton Ice. In addition, the thirstier a volunteer was, the likelier he was to choose Lipton Ice. Those who were not thirsty were only slightly likely to choose that product.
Physorg / AFP / New Scientist Apr 26, 2006	back to top

Google unearths physics gems
Google could be a good way of measuring the 'impact' of a particular scientific paper and might even be used to replace traditional citation indices. Researchers at Boston University and the Brookhaven National Laboratory have found that the Google PageRank algorithm, which measures the relative importance of webpages, can provide a systematic way to find important papers. The technique also uncovers scientific 'gems -- top papers overlooked by conventional searches. Scientists usually measure the importance of a paper by counting the number of times it is cited by other papers. However, the technique is not always reliable. It can overlook papers with relatively few citations that have nonetheless had a great influence on physics. The researchers now propose a new technique to unearth such papers using the Google PageRank algorithm. The team found that the results from the PageRank technique are linearly correlated with those obtained from citation indices. In other words, highly cited papers also have high Google rank numbers. However, the team was surprised to find a few 'outliers' - exceptional papers that have anomalously high Google rank numbers compared with their citation rank.
PhysicsWeb Apr 21, 2006	back to top

Scientists 'Clever' answer to city traffic
British scientists have unveiled what they claim could be the congestion-busting answer to city traffic. The Clever - Compact Low Emission Vehicle for Urban Transport - is a cross between a car and a motorbike. It has a top speed of 100 km per hour and runs on compressed gas. The two-seater uses a novel tilting chassis and is the result of a 40-month project by researchers in nine European countries. The three-year EU-funded research project aimed to produce a totally different class of private motor vehicle specifically designed for the urban environment. The prototype Clever car is one metre wide and less polluting than normal vehicles. Unlike the prototype, the finished version will have a roof and will be even narrower than a Smart car.
Ananova / BBC News Apr 24, 2006	back to top

Your thoughts are your password
What if you could one day unlock your door or access your bank account by simply 'thinking' your password? Researchers at Carleton University in Canada, are exploring the possibility of a biometric security device that will use a person's thoughts to authenticate her or his identity. Their idea of utilising brain-wave signatures as 'pass-thoughts' is based on the premise that brain waves are unique to each individual. Even when thinking of the same thing, the brain's measurable electrical impulses vary slightly from person to person. A pass-thought could be anything from a snatch of song, the memory of your last birthday or even the image of your favourite painting. A more achievable alternative might present you with predetermined pictures, music or video clips, to which you would think 'yes' or 'no'. The system has the potential to become a new kind of biometric security tool that - in contrast to fingerprint readers, iris scanners or facial recognition - would allow users to change their pass codes periodically.
Wired News Apr 27, 2006	back to top

Patent news: Kodak's red-eye age checker
This could be bad news for anyone else trying to lie about their age. Camera maker Kodak is adapting the technology used to automatically correct flash-induced 'red-eye' in digital images to determine a person's age. A patent filed by company suggests the technique could provide a quick and easy way to check someone's date of birth. Red-eye is the effect seen when a person's open pupils allow a camera's flash light to be reflected off their retinas. Red eye correction software analyses a picture, looking for a pair of red dots in the centre of a face, and automatically dulls them to remove the effect. As a person gets older, their pupils have greater difficulty widening to cope with dim light, it says. The company suggests that an age-verification system could take mug shots of a person from a set distance in controlled lighting, using a flash. Software would then measure the size of their red-eye dots to determine how wide their pupils are and make an estimate of their age.
New Scientist Apr 26, 2006	back to top

Tattoos made of 'disappearing' ink
If you are planning to express your undying love for someone with a tattoo, you might want to wait a little while before going under the needle. New inks that are safer to use, and far easier to remove should you have a change of heart, are set to be launched next year. US company Freedom-2 is planning to introduce a range of dyes that have already been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for use in cosmetics, food, drugs and medical devices. Such dyes have not been used in tattoos before as they are readily absorbed by the body. But Rox Anderson at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston has developed a way to encapsulate the dyes in protective polymer beads just 1 to 3 micrometres in diameter. This is small enough to allow them to be injected into the skin and absorbed by skin cells to form a tattoo. The pigment can be removed with a single laser treatment. This splits the beads open, dumping the dye into cells where it is absorbed. The tattoo then quickly fades away.
New Scientist Apr 27, 2006	back to top