Technology

Crossing the road may soon be as straightforward -- and safe -- for blind and visually impaired people as it is for someone with good eyesight, thanks to a new device that acts as an "electronic eye."

Two Japanese scientists have developed the navigation system, which is attached to a pair of spectacles.

Using a camera, the device detects when the wearer is approaching a "zebra" pedestrian crossing by identifying the crossing's white stripes, how far the other side of the road is and what color traffic light is showing.

"How do you steer this thing?" passengers might wonder as they step into the cartoon-like vehicle. It's a golf cart–sized car with seats and a dashboard that accelerates, turns and stops, but it has no steering wheel — and no driver. The CyberCar uses the latest in computer technology to dispense with human navigation.

IBM, Sony Corp. and Toshiba Corp. on Monday unveiled some key details on the powerful new "Cell" processor the three are jointly producing to run next-generation computers, game consoles and TVs.

Cloaked in secrecy and the object of much speculation since the three conglomerates announced the project in 2001, Cell will be 10 times more powerful than conventional chips and able to shepherd large chunks of data over broadband networks.

It's an idea that was popularized by Princess Leia's plea for help in Star Wars: sending a 3-D hologram.

Now, two Japanese scientists have developed technology they hope will one day turn the humble telephone booth into a high-tech chamber for beaming holographic images.

Curtis Sathre said it was like a bomb going off.

His 13-year-old son Michael stood stunned, his ears ringing, hand gushing blood and body covered in black ash.

In a split second last August, fragments from Michael's exploding cell phone had hit him between the eyes and lodged in the ceiling of the family's home in Oceanside, California.

Over the past two years, federal safety officials have received 83 reports of cell phones exploding or catching fire, usually because of incompatible, faulty or counterfeit batteries or chargers.

True art would never be mistaken for a crude, paint-by-the-numbers copy. But a researcher has developed a statistical tool for determining whether a purported masterpiece is only a skilled imitation, suggesting that art may be a numbers game after all.

Using high-resolution digital images and complex mathematical formulas, associate professor Hany Farid of Dartmouth College analyzed works by Renaissance artists to determine their authenticity.

Whether it's processors, graphics chips or memory modules, the semiconductor industry keeps upping the stakes for microchip speed and complexity. But the rapid pace of development is in danger of running into the buffers.

The brakes are on for faster clock speeds due to the problem of heat, because the structures in modern semiconductors are only a few layers of atoms thick. Quantum mechanical effects ensure that current leakage via the thin layers vastly increases and the chips' power consumption and heat loss also see an increase.

Texas--In front of her gated apartment complex, Courtney Payne, a 9-year-old fourth grader with dark hair pulled tightly into a ponytail, exits a yellow school bus.

Moments later, her movement is observed by Alan Bragg, the local police chief, standing in a windowless control room more than a mile away.

Nokia Corp. on Tuesday (Nov. 16) demonstrated the use of IPv6 on a mobile phone.

The Finnish company demonstrated what it called the industry's "first Mobile IPv6 call." Mobile IPv6 is the mobility protocol for IPv6 enabled handsets.

The demonstration at the 3G World Congress Convention and Exhibition in Hong Kong showed real-time streaming video with seamless handoff between two CDMA access networks using Mobile IPv6.

IBM and top scientific research organizations are joining forces in a humanitarian effort to tap the unused power of millions of computers and help solve complex social problems.

The World Community Grid will seek to tap the vast underutilized power of computers belonging to individuals and businesses worldwide and channel it into selected medical and environmental research programs.

Volunteers will be asked to download a program to their computers that runs when the machine is idle and reaches out to request data to contribute to ongoing research projects.