Information Technology

The first 3D maps of the UK underworld are to be created in a new £2.2m project which will save the UK millions of pounds by reducing the amount we dig up our roads.

There are enough pipes and cables buried under our streets to stretch to the moon and back ten times, but we don’t know where many of them are. Researchers from the Universities of Leeds and Nottingham will help to locate them, by finding a way to integrate existing digital and paper-based records and link these with

A new platform to help small and medium-sized government organisations (SMGOs) implement e-government strategies – with the emphasis on cross-border cooperation – has been created and tested by a pan-European team.

With people, goods, and now services, able to move freely within the Member States of the European Union, it’s perhaps surprising how exchanging information across borders can still present such a barrier. Yet even in border regions, cities geographically close to each

A study by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) shows that computerized systems that match fingerprints using interoperable minutiae templates–mathematical representations of a fingerprint image–can be highly accurate as an alternative to the full fingerprint image. NIST conducted the study, called the Minutiae Interoperability Exchange Test (MINEX), to determine whether fingerprint system vendors could successfully use a recently approved standard* for minutiae data rather t

Optical-wireless convergence

Telecommunications researchers have demonstrated a novel communications network design that would provide both ultra-high-speed wireless and wired access services from the same signals carried on a single optical fiber.

The new hybrid system could allow dual wired/wireless transmission of the same content such as high-definition television, data and voice up to 100 times faster than current networks. The new architecture would reduce the cost o

Digital vermin poses a real threat to RFID tags
Is your pet infected with a computer virus?

Has your dog or cat contracted a computer virus? It’s not impossible. These days, large numbers of pets and livestock have a small chip implanted under the skin so that they can be identified if they stray or turn out to be infected with a disease. As these chips only have a limited memory capacity, it was widely assumed that they could not become infected with a computer virus. Howe

The first day of racing at the Cheltenham Festival, the Olympics of steeplechasing, gets under way today. There will be many betting tips offered over the next few days, and advice given on how to back a winner. However, Royal Veterinary College researchers reveal that a great racehorse is more than just quick footed – it must also be rather average.

The Royal Veterinary College research reveals the secret to what makes a fast thoroughbred. Some 80 percent of modern thoroughbred r