Showing papers in "IEEE Spectrum in 2013"
TL;DR: Kaspersky Lab tracked down the malware that stymied Iran's nuclear-fuel enrichment program as mentioned in this paper, which was later used by the US government to stop Iran's enrichment program.
Abstract: The paper discusses how Kaspersky Lab tracked down the malware that stymied Iran's nuclear-fuel enrichment program.
574 citations
TL;DR: In many of these countries, the predicted shortfall of STEM (short for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) workers is supposed to number in the hundreds of thousands or even the millions as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: You must have seen the warning a thousand times: Too few young people study scientific or technical subjects, businesses can?t find enough workers in those fields, and the country's competitive edge is threatened. It pretty much doesn't matter what country you're talking about-the United States is facing this crisis, as is Japan, the United Kingdom, Australia, China, Brazil, South Africa, Singapore, India?the list goes on. In many of these countries, the predicted shortfall of STEM (short for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) workers is supposed to number in the hundreds of thousands or even the millions.
106 citations
[...]
TL;DR: In June 2000, a press conference was held in the White House to announce an extraordinary feat: the completion of a draft of the human genome, which would allow geneticists to investigate how that chemical sequence codes for a human being.
Abstract: In June 2000, a press conference was held in the White House to announce an extraordinary feat: the completion of a draft of the human genome. For the first time, researchers had read all 3 billion of the chemical "letters" that make up a human DNA molecule, which would allow geneticists to investigate how that chemical sequence codes for a human being. In his remarks, President Bill Clinton recalled the moment nearly 50 years prior when Francis Crick and James Watson first discovered the double-helix structure of DNA. "How far we have come since that day," Clinton said.
79 citations
TL;DR: The Internet will break down without new biologically inspired routing algorithms to handle diverse data flows and prevent failures, so early designs might follow an architecture like this one.
Abstract: The Internet will break down without new biologically inspired routing. The future Internet will need smarter routing algorithms to handle diverse data flows and prevent failures. Although there are no tried-and-true solutions yet, early designs might follow an architecture like this one.
70 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors found that clever counterfeiters are selling old components as new, threatening both military and commercial systems, and concluded that now that electronic products are everywhere, the threat of recycled electronics parts is everywhere as well.
Abstract: On 17 August 2011, Boeing warned the U.S. Navy that an ice-detection module in the P-8A Poseidon, a new reconnaissance aircraft, contained a "reworked part that should not have been put on the airplane originally and should be replaced immediately." In a message marked "Priority: Critical," the company blamed the part, a Xilinx field-programmable gate array (FPGA), for the failure of the ice-detection module during a test flight. The finding is that clever counterfeiters are selling old components as new, threatening both military and commercial systems. The article concludes that now that electronic products are everywhere, the threat of recycled electronics parts is everywhere as well. Although we will never be able to eliminate the threat of recycled components completely, we can and should reduce the risks they pose.
66 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a scenario where the basic technological breakthroughs needed to make them work have all been achieved in the past few years and remarkable advances in materials science and simpler fabrication methods are setting the stage for a whole new breed of cheap, bendable, disposable, and perhaps even recyclable electronics.
Abstract: You wake up with a heavy head. Was it the half dozen glasses of champagne last night or are you getting sick? In your bathroom is a little strip of paper that can tell you for sure. You place it on your tongue and after a few seconds, you pull it back to see the bad news: There's a small green dot next to the word "flu." When you fish your doctor's business card out of your wallet, you notice it looks different from the last time you looked at it. The phone number for his office was originally black. Now it's displayed in blinking red letters, a sign that the number was changed recently. The electronics in this scenario are not far off; in fact the basic technological breakthroughs needed to make them work have all been achieved in the past few years. At the moment the costs are still too high for them to be used in things like business cards or package labels, but remarkable advances in materials science and simpler fabrication methods are setting the stage for a whole new breed of cheap, bendable, disposable, and perhaps even recyclable electronics. And some of the most exciting work in this field is happening with paper.
62 citations
[...]
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors show that the driver's eyes become riveted on the most important indicator on the dashboard: the estimated number of kilometers that the car can go on the remaining battery charge.
Abstract: PICTURE AN ALL-ELECTRIC VEHICLE cruising down the highway, emitting little noise and no noxious fumes. It's such an improvement that you have to wonder why only a handful of all-electric vehicles are now available on the mass market. · Here's a big reason: Picture the driver of that same car getting a call from a relative living far away who needs immediate help. Suddenly, the driver's eyes become riveted on the most important indicator on the dashboard: the estimated number of kilometers that the car can go on the remaining battery charge. Will he make it to his relative's house? Even if he does, will he find a charging station so he can get back home?
53 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors proposed an aggressive plan that would push high-voltage direct current (HVDC) from its conventional position on the periphery of AC grids to a central role, and implemented power electronics that are capable of doing something that's never before been done on a commercial line.
Abstract: New developments in high-voltage DC electronics could herald an epic shift in energy delivery. Stuttgart is one of the last places you'd expect to find in a power pinch. This south German city's massive automotive plants run 24-7 without a hiccup, efficiency measures have held industrial power consumption flat, and solar panels flash from atop its major buildings. But now all that is at risk. The country's accelerated shift from nuclear power and fossil fuels to renewable resources, such as wind and solar, has exposed a huge gap in its transmission capacity. If they are to survive, Stuttgart's factories-and power consumers across southern Germany-will need to import a lot more power from the north, and Germany's grid is already at capacity. To fill the gap, Germany is considering an aggressive plan that would push high-voltage direct current, or HVDC, from its conventional position on the periphery of AC grids to a central role. The primary reason is simple: For the first time, HVDC seems cheaper than patching up the AC grid. But Germany's transmission planners also have another motivation: They want to provide as much performance and reliability as they can to an AC grid that's already strained by excess wind power. For that, they're considering implementing power electronics that are capable of doing something that's never before been done on a commercial line: stop DC current in milliseconds flat.
45 citations
[...]
TL;DR: The focus is now on applying an electronic skin, embedded with temperature and pressure sensors, that could be worn by a robot and used to monitor medical conditions or to provide more sensitive and lifelike prosthetics.
Abstract: One decade ago, my research group at the University of Tokyo created a flexible electronic mesh and wrapped it around the mechanical bones of a robotic hand. We had dreamed of making an electronic skin, embedded with temperature and pressure sensors, that could be worn by a robot. If a robotic health aide shook hands with a human patient, we thought, this sensor-clad e-skin would be able to measure some of the person's vital signs at the same time. Today we're still working intensively on e-skin, but our focus is now on applying it directly to the human body. Such a bionic skin could be used to monitor medical conditions or to provide more sensitive and lifelike prosthetics.
42 citations
TL;DR: Engineers are already beginning to define a fifth generation of wireless standards, as carriers rush to roll out 4G equipment.
Abstract: Clothes, cars, trains, tractors, body sensors, and tracking tags. By the end of this decade, analysts say, 50 billion things such as these will connect to mobile networks. They'll consume 1000 times as much data as today's mobile gadgets, at rates 10 to 100 times as fast as existing networks can support. So as carriers rush to roll out 4G equipment, engineers are already beginning to define a fifth generation of wireless standards.
41 citations
TL;DR: The always-on world of PCs, tablets, and smartphones has come about because of one remarkable trend: the relentless miniaturization of the metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistor, or MOSFET as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Our always-on world of PCs, tablets, and smartphones has come about because of one remarkable trend: the relentless miniaturization of the metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor, or MOSFET.
TL;DR: The most powerful car headlight in the world uses a blue-laser diode, which is 1000 times as bright as an LED but uses just two-thirds the energy as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: I am standing in a twilit underground lab looking at the most powerful car headlight in the world. Its source, a blue-laser diode, is 1000 times as bright as an LED but uses just two-thirds the energy. I had to surrender my passport to see it, for I'm at BMW's highly secure, steel-and-glass research mecca, the FIZ (for Forschungs- und Innovationszentrum, or Research and Innovation Center), an immense complex in Munich replete with workshops, clay modelers? "caves," and a vast wind tunnel.
TL;DR: Abe et al. as mentioned in this paper argue that swapping wind and solar power for that nuclear generation, which produced 30 percent of Japan's electricity prior to the 2011 Fukushima crisis, could also lead to major disruptions in energy supply, warns Rikiya Abe, a University of Tokyo professor.
Abstract: Japan's plan to phase out its nearly 50 gigawatts of nuclear capacity over the next two to three decades has opened a window for renewable energy in the country. But swapping wind and solar power for that nuclear generation, which produced 30 percent of Japan's electricity prior to the 2011 Fukushima crisis, could also lead to major disruptions in energy supply, warns Rikiya Abe, a University of Tokyo professor. The problem, says Abe, who came to academia after working in the electrical generation industry for 30 years, is that Japan's grid-and indeed that of many developed countries-is set up to be centrally controlled. The utilities have to carefully regulate the grid's frequency and voltage by maintaining a fine balance between power generation and changing demand. A diverse group of large Japanese firms is starting to explore a solution-a gradual reorganization of the country's power system so that in the end it resembles the Internet, routers and all.
TL;DR: Self-tracking is not really a tool of optimization but of discovery, and if tracking regimes that the authors would once have thought bizarre are becoming normal, one of the most interesting effects may be to make us re-evaluate what "normal" means.
Abstract: Self-tracking is not really a tool of optimization but of discovery, and if tracking regimes that we would once have thought bizarre are becoming normal, one of the most interesting effects may be to make us re-evaluate what "normal" means. For better or for worse, we are data-generating machines. Whenever we pay with a credit card or drive through an automated toll system, or answer an e-mail or make a phone call, we can't help but leave a steady stream of ones and zeroes in our wake. This is our digital exhaust: the trackable or storable actions, choices, and preferences that we generate as we go about our daily lives.
[...]
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors discuss the hybrid electric cars that are looking for environmental friendly, that would help to reduce pollution and fossil fuel dependence, and that would reduce dependence on fossil fuel.
Abstract: This paper discusses the hybrid electric cars that are looking for environmental friendly. The electric cars that would help to reduce pollution and fossil fuel dependence.
TL;DR: The architects were a dedicated group of computer industry representatives in the United Kingdom, France, and the United States who envisioned a complete, open, and multilayered system that would allow users all over the world to exchange data easily and unleash new possibilities for collaboration and commerce.
Abstract: If everything had gone according to plan, the Internet as we know it would never have sprung up. That plan, devised 35 years ago, instead would have created a comprehensive set of standards for computer networks called Open Systems Interconnection, or OSI. Its architects were a dedicated group of computer industry representatives in the United Kingdom, France, and the United States who envisioned a complete, open, and multilayered system that would allow users all over the world to exchange data easily and thereby unleash new possibilities for collaboration and commerce.
TL;DR: With the exchange rate bobbing around US $100, those involved in creating new bitcoins' and upholding the network that makes them valuable' have become locked in an arms race of sorts, seeking new, powerful machines that will enrich them but that could also destabilize the nascent virtual money.
Abstract: Bitcoin, the cryptocurrency powered by a decentralized peer-to-peer network of computers, has been hot this season. With the exchange rate bobbing around US $100, those involved in creating new bitcoins' and upholding the network that makes them valuable' have become locked in an arms race of sorts, seeking new, powerful machines that will enrich them but that could also destabilize the nascent virtual money.
TL;DR: Breadmore as mentioned in this paper drove up the hill outside his village of East Garston to make calls on his company cellphone, which was the only place I could get reception, and had no mobile phone service in the village.
Abstract: During the many years he worked for Hewlett-Packard's branch in the United Kingdom, Alan Breadmore often drove up the hill outside his village of East Garston to make calls on his company cellphone. "It was the only place I could get reception," he says. "We had no mobile phone service in the village-no 2G, nothing".
Journal Article•
[...]
TL;DR: Normally a self-assured guy, Schulman suddenly felt "a little frightened" when he faced military officers in a cheerless high-rise office outside the U.S. capital of Washington, D.C.
Abstract: ONE DAY IN 2003, JOSEPH SCHULMAN FACED A half-dozen or so military officers in a cheerless high-rise office outside the U.S. capital of Washington, D.C. He was 68 then, with piercing blue eyes and a full head of hair dyed chestnut. People who knew him called him a "visionary" and a "mad, brilliant scientist." For nearly 20 years, he had been president of the Alfred Mann Foundation, a medical research center in Santa Clarita, Calif., known for developing cutting-edge electronic aids, including pacemakers and cochlear implants. Normally a self-assured guy, Schulman suddenly felt, he says, "a little frightened." · He had come to what was then the Defense Spectrum Office to present his case for allowing a new medical technology to use some of the radio frequencies assigned to the U.S. military. He began by pulling from his pocket several small ceramic cylinders, which he passed around.
TL;DR: Bendtsen and her husband were curled up on the couch watching TV in their cozy house on the Danish island of Bornholm when the lights flickered briefly and then everything went black as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: What a little Danish island is showing the world about the future of energy. On Christmas night, Maja Bendtsen and her husband were curled up on the couch watching TV in their cozy house on the Danish island of Bornholm. Suddenly the house lost power. "The lights flickered briefly and then everything went black," Bendtsen recalls. Peeking out the window, they saw that the whole neighborhood was dark. A few quick phone calls confirmed that all of Bornholm was without power. Bendtsen, an engineer with the island's utility, Ostkraft Net, mentally ruled out the obvious culprits: It wasn't a particularly busy night, as Christmas festivities had wrapped up with the midday meal, nor was the weather particularly cold or stormy. She thought of one thing, though, and it made her heart sink. She phoned the Ostkraft control room, where the chief engineer confirmed her suspicion: A ship dragging its anchor in the narrow Baltic Sea channel between Bornholm and Sweden had severed the 60-kilovolt, 70-megawatt undersea power cable that is the island's only external source of electricity. It would take a repair crew more than six weeks to pinpoint the damage, haul the cable to the water's surface, and fix it.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors describe how two lost firefighters were trained to follow the right-hand rule, running the fingers of one hand along a wall until they reach a door or window through which they can escape.
Abstract: Firefighters are specifically trained to deal with disorientation. In near-black conditions, they often use hoses or search ropes to find their way back to safety. Without tethers, they follow the “right-hand rule,” running the fingers of one hand along a wall until they reach a door or window through which they can escape. The two lost firefighters didn't have ropes, and their right hands presumably led them only deeper into the warehouse's labyrinth. When they realized they were lost, they did what they'd been taught to do: They stopped moving, radioed for help, and activated the personal alert safety system (PASS) devices attached to their air tank harnesses. These battery-powered boxes emit a piercing alarm for rescuers to listen for.
TL;DR: Parisians have learned to love electric cars by sharing them as mentioned in this paper, and since the late 2011 launch of the French capital's Autolib car-sharing program, Parisians have taken its fleet of 1800 electric vehicles (EVs) on more than 2 million trips using 4000 dedicated charging points.
Abstract: Parisians have learned to love electric cars by sharing them. Since the late 2011 launch of the French capital's Autolib car-sharing program, Parisians have taken its fleet of 1800 electric vehicles (EVs) on more than 2 million trips using 4000 dedicated charging points. That makes Paris one of the world's EV meccas, with more battery-powered cars on the road and more charging points than nearly any other city.
TL;DR: Google Glass as discussed by the authors is a head-mounted, Internet-enabled display that will revolutionize computing and totally rock the world, and it will be available for the first time in 2014.
Abstract: For the past nine months, Google has been priming the public for the launch of Google glass, a head-mounted, Internet-enabled display that will revolutionize computing and totally rock the world.
TL;DR: In this article, researchers at Sony and Stanford have constructed an imaging chip that incorporates a new technology called compressed sensing, to reduce battery drain by compressing video frames before they are digitized.
Abstract: Bothered by how quickly recording video drains your smartphone battery? There's no app for that-but there may soon be a chip. Researchers at Sony and Stanford have constructed an imaging chip that incorporates a new technology called compressed (or compressive) sensing, to radically reduce battery drain by compressing video frames before they're digitized.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors traced the proximate cause of the Boston fire to a short-circuit in one of the batteries, but the ultimate cause remained unclear, and they did not identify the battery that caused the fire.
Abstract: In January, regulators in Japan and the United States grounded the worldwide fleet of Boeing 787 Dreamliners after lithium-ion batteries caught fire in two of them-one in the air over Japan and the other on the ground in Boston. As IEEE Spectrum went to press, authorities were tracing the proximate cause of the Boston fire to a short-circuit in one of the batteries. The ultimate cause remained unclear.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present an interesting alternative to rigid silicon circuits in simple products like photovoltaic cells and television screens, because they can be made for a fraction of the cost.
Abstract: Made primarily from nonsilicon organic and inorganic semiconductors, including polymers and metal oxide semiconductors, flexible chips are an exciting alternative to rigid silicon circuits in simple products like photovoltaic cells and television screens, because they can be made for a fraction of the cost. But today's flexible electronics just don't perform as well as silicon chips made the old-fashioned way.
TL;DR: Precision agriculture brings computing's accuracy to the ancient art of cultivation as discussed by the authors, a new tech-driven trend in agriculture is beginning to take hold in Iowa and in many parts of the world known as precision agriculture, the practice promises to reconcile mass food production with responsible land stewardship
Abstract: Precision agriculture brings computing's accuracy to the ancient art of cultivation A new tech-driven trend-some even say revolution-in agriculture is beginning to take hold in Iowa and in many parts of the world Known as precision agriculture, the practice promises to reconcile mass food production with responsible land stewardship
TL;DR: Andrew Kahng, a professor at the University of California, San Diego, and an expert on high-performance chip design, says the chip industry has made it a priority to keep up the pace of Moore's Law, ensuring that manufacturers can continue to build and release new product families while using a new process every 18 to 24 months as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Andrew Kahng, a professor at the University of California, San Diego, and an expert on high-performance chip design, says the chip industry has made it a priority to keep up the pace of Moore's Law, ensuring that manufacturers can continue to build and release new product families while using a new process every 18 to 24 months. This means there hasn't been time to explore a number of design tricks that could be used to cut down on power or boost performance. “When you're on that kind of schedule, you don't have time to optimize things,” he says. As the value of the simple shrink decreases, he says, chipmakers should then be able to revisit their designs and find chip-improving approaches they may have missed or else left on the cutting-room floor.
TL;DR: In this article, the principles of the Geneva and Hague conventions are brought to bear on cyberconflicts, and they also ban the use of certain chemical agents, such as poisonous gas.
Abstract: This paper proposes to bring the principles of the Geneva and Hague conventions to bear on cyberconflicts. These conventions establish rules for the treatment of civilians, prisoners of war, and the wounded, and they also ban the use of certain weapons, such as poisonous gas. Preserving these principles is of solemn relevance to billions of people, yet there is still no clear way to apply them to cyberattacks. To find the way forward, the EastWest Institute has created the Cyber 40, with delegates from 40 digitally advanced countries. Practical recommendations on spam and hacking have been issued, many of which have already been implemented. Other groups are also working on the legal issues surrounding cyberattacks. If parameters of basic human decency can be set in time of cyberwar, then maybe aspects of such warfare altogether can be avoided. We can bring the principles of the Geneva Conventions into the 21st century if we agree that these rules are worth preserving and agree that war need not be the infliction of maximum suffering on the enemy. Mankind can be civilized even as we engage in a new era of cyberconflicts.