• Space telescope to unravel mysteries of solar wind

    The Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) spacecraft was launched into orbit early this morning on a mission to determine how the sun heats its atmosphere to millions of degrees, sending off rivers of particles that define the boundaries of the solar system. The study is far from academic. Solar activity directly impacts Earth's climate and the space environment beyond the planet's atmosphere and solar storms can knock out power grids, disrupt radio signals and interfere with communications , navigation and other satellites in orbit. "We live in a very complex society and the sun has a role to play in it," said physicist Alan Title, with Lockheed Martin Space Systems Advanced Technology Center in Palo Alto, California, which designed and built the telescope. The mission is designed to…

  • Wi-Fi based gesture recognition technology invented

    University of Washington (UW) computer scientists have shown it is possible to leverage the Wi-Fi signals around us to detect specific movements without needing sensors on the human body or cameras. By using an adapted Wi-Fi router and a few wireless devices in the living room users could turn off lights with a simple finger-swipe or change the song playing on their music system in the next room by moving their hand to the right. “This is repurposing wireless signals that already exist in new ways,” said lead researcher Shyam Gollakota, a UW assistant professor of computer science and engineering. “You can actually use wireless for gesture recognition without needing to deploy more sensors.” The UW research team, which includes Shwetak Patel, an assistant professor of computer science and engineering…

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