Innovative Technique Can Spot Errors in Key Technological Systems
National Science Foundation (01/27/10) Dybas, Cheryl
Researchers at the University of Colorado at Boulder (CU) and the U.S. National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) have developed the Intelligent Outlier Detection Algorithm (IODA), a computational technique that can detect errors in sensitive technological systems. IODA is designed to perform quality control on time series data. The algorithm uses statistics, graph theory, image processing, and decision trees to compare incoming data to common patterns of failure. IODA identifies problems with data points and determines how a particular datum is inaccurate by treating the data as an image. "We thought that, by using image processing, we could teach the system to detect inconsistencies, somewhat like a person would," says NCAR's Andrew Weekley. CU's Kent Goodrich says their approach "is a radical departure from the usual techniques found in the time series literature."
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Blog: Innovative Technique Can Spot Errors in Key Technological Systems
Monday, January 25, 2010
Blog: To Beat Spam, Turn Its Own Weapons Against It
To Beat Spam, Turn Its Own Weapons Against It
New Scientist (01/25/10) Giles, Jim
Researchers from the International Computer Science Institute and the University of California, San Diego have developed a method for blocking the most common type of spam. The researchers employed a trick that spammers use to defeat email filters. Each spam message is generated from a template that specifies the message content and a slight variation used to bypass the filter. The researchers analyzed the messages to reveal the template that created them, and since the template describes all the emails a bot will send, possessing it might provide a method of blocking all spam from that bot. After testing, the team was able to block spam from a specific bot with 100 percent accuracy. In addition, the new system did not produce a single false positive in more than a million messages, says team member Andreas Pitsillidis. "This is an interesting approach which really differs by using the bots themselves as the oracles for producing the filters," says the Messaging Anti-Abuse Working Group's Michael O'Reirdan.
Friday, January 22, 2010
Blog: An Organic Transistor Paves the Way for New Generations of Neuro-Inspired Computers
An Organic Transistor Paves the Way for New Generations of Neuro-Inspired Computers
National Center for Scientific Research (France) (01/22/10)
Researchers at the National Center for Scientific Research have devised an organic transistor that can emulate a synapse's primary functionalities. The researchers say the breakthrough could lead to new generations of neuro-inspired computers capable of functions comparable to those of the human brain. The nanoparticle organic memory field-effect transistor (NOMFET) successfully mimics synapse plasticity. Gold nanoparticles are fixed in the transistor channel and coated with pentacene, and they have a memory effect that permits them to imitate the way a synapse operates during the transmission of action potentials between a pair of neurons. Thus the electronic element can evolve as a function of the system in which it is encapsulated. The NOMFET's performance matches that of at least seven complementary metal-oxide semiconductor transistors that up to now have been needed to mimic plasticity. Neuro-inspired computers can address visual recognition and other challenges that are beyond the capabilities of silicon computers.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Blog: Group Thinker: Researcher Gets $2.9 Million to Further Develop Swarm Intelligence
Group Thinker: Researcher Gets $2.9 Million to Further Develop Swarm Intelligence
Scientific American (01/13/10) Greenemeier, Larry
The European Research Council recently awarded a $2.9 million grant to Belgian Funds for Scientific Research's Marco Dorigo to develop a universal engineering methodology for designing and implementing swarm intelligence systems. Dorigo says swarm intelligence could provide a novel way of designing systems that are more autonomous and self-sufficient. "We believe that in the future, swarm intelligence will be an important tool for researchers and engineers interested in solving certain classes of complex problems," he says. Dorigo and his team have chosen certain areas to concentrate their research, including optimization, robotics, networks, and data mining. Dorigo has used swarm intelligence to solve complex human problems, such as routing trucks, scheduling airlines, and guiding military robots. He also founded the swarmanoid project, which aims to design, implement, and control a robotic system of small heterogeneous, dynamically connected, autonomous robots. "The swarmanoid that we intend to build will be comprised of numerous autonomous robots of three types: eye-bots, hand-bots, and foot-bots," according to the swarmanoid Web site. Foot-bots are used to transport objects on the ground, hand-bots can climb walls and manipulate objects, and eye-bots can fly around and provide information to the other robots.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Blog: Fixing a Hole in the Web
Fixing a Hole in the Web
Technology Review (01/12/10) Naone, Erica
A fix that the Internet Engineering Task Force recently approved to patch a vulnerability in the protocol that encrypts sensitive Web-based communications and transactions is expected by experts to take a year or more to be fully deployed. The patch fixes the Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocol, which is built into Web browsers and servers and shields critical information, and which has supplanted the Secure Socket Layer protocol. By exploiting the TLS flaw, an attacker can commandeer the first moment of the encrypted conversation between a Web browser and server and insert a command of his own. Exploiting the vulnerability requires the hacker to first carry out a man in the middle attack to capture traffic between the client and the server, and then take advantage of TLS' renegotiation feature. This feature permits a Web server or client to revise some of the parameters of an encrypted session while the session is taking place. Security professional Frank Breedijk says the protocol is patched by a draft fix that effectively produces two versions of TLS--thus keeping the danger of attack alive if either the client or the server fails to install the patch. Apache Software Foundation founding director Ben Laurie says that this double installation requirement makes the fix "unprecedented," so browser makers working to correct the problem will need to make accommodations for a period in which the client will continue communicating with unpatched servers.
Blog: Aussie Quantum Experiment Challenges Einstein, Computer Science
Aussie Quantum Experiment Challenges Einstein, Computer Science
Computerworld Australia (01/12/10) Pauli, Darren
University of Queensland (UQ) and Harvard University researchers have completed an experiment that could have massive ramifications for science through the application of quantum mechanics to chemistry to predict molecular reactions. Project co-author and UQ professor Andrew White says the existence of quantum computing implies that either quantum mechanics is incorrect or computer science's underlying Church Turing Thesis is faulty. "What we have done is a 2 qubit [quantum bit], toy experiment--it won't put anyone out of a job anytime soon ... but if we scale to tens and then hundreds of qubits, that's when we will exceed the computational capacity of the planet ... that will happen [within] 50 years," White says. The experiment ran an algorithm called the iterative phase estimation to quantify the exact energy of molecular hydrogen against a predicted model. White calls the results, which were accurate inside of six parts in 1 million, "astounding." Data was calculated to 20 bits, and in some cases as many as 47 bits, and experiments were redone 30 times for classical error correction. White theorizes that the experiment's results could be utilized to forecast the outcome of chemical reactions without the innate randomness missing from controlled computer simulations.