Information Technology

Researchers at the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute at Virginia Tech have launched a publicly-available microbial database to host a range of microbial genome sequences.

The VBI Microbial Database (VMD), which is described in a recent article published in Nucleic Acids Research (Vol.34, D379-D381), contains genome sequence and annotation data for the plant pathogens Phytophthora sojae and Phytophthora ramorum. The purpose of the database is to make widely available to researc

The University of Kent has launched UltraSoC Technologies Ltd, a new spin-out company that is developing a technology platform for real-time embedded systems-on-chip (SoC). This ground-breaking technology has produced improved debugging tools and testing methods for many computer systems within devices such as mobile phones, white goods and motor vehicles. The work has already resulted in applications for three worldwide patents.

UltraSoC Technologies Ltd recently won a Proof-of-Concept

Barrels of chemicals that ‘talk’ to each other to improve safety and smart shelves that automatically log inventory changes are just some of the ways businesses stand to benefit from new sensor network technology currently being developed in Europe.

The IST-funded CoBIs project is going a step beyond existing Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) systems – the generally passive smart tags used to identify goods, pets and even people – to create Collaborative Business Items (CoBIs

’Synthetic validity’ holds promise for better hiring decisions, billions in savings

With the assembly line, Henry Ford created a unified production process that revolutionized the manufacturing industry. Now, a University of Calgary business professor has designed a unified selection process that promises to revolutionize the world of human resources.

Its technical name is ’synthetic validity,’ and it has been the Holy Grail of business academics for the past 50 ye

Research financiers Vinnova in Sweden and Tekes in Finland have granted SEK 6 million to a Nordic research project in printed electronics and RFID, Radio Frequency Identification. Eventually RFID will replace bar codes on packaging, for example. With the help of radio technology, many items can then be identified at the same time, which is of great value in taking inventory, for instance. The research project was initiated by a research team in RFID technology at Mid Sweden University.

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A survey has revealed that girls would miss their mobile phones most if they were denied them for 40 days while boys would not want to live without the Internet.

The poll, which was conducted by the University of Hertfordshire in the run up to the University’s 40th anniversary of the degree in Computer Science, asked students what technology they would miss most if they had to give it up for 40 days and which would they happily live without.

Respondents were asked to in