WHAT IS COMPUTER SCIENCE?

Computer science mostly deals with software and software systems. It is the study of computers and computational methods. It deals with their design, theory, development and their applications. It is the study of both hardware and software of computer technology. Several reasons make computer science popular across the globe. The field is not densely populated. The fact that it is not flooded makes it possible to have very high starting salaries compared to other job opportunities. There is an assurance of job security. Since the people who are experts in that area are few, one feels secure in that field and works without worries of unexpected lying off. There is a wide range of job opportunities in the industries. With this kind of a course, you are likely to find a job in almost all sectors. Today’s world depends on technology. Due to this situation, computer science is very much required.

Computer science has four main branches. Scientific computing, computer theory, hardware and software systems form the central core of computer science. Students are required to specialize in their area of study. The field has so many options to choose from. The choice of the sub-disciple of the computer science determines what kind of a job you will apply in the industry. Before any specializations, the most critical question that should be answered is the definition of computer science. That’s where the need of defining the term comes in.

Reference: https://www.internationalstudent.com/study-computer-science/what-is-computer-science/

How Does Amazon Go Work?

Several months ago, Amazon finally launched its much buzzed-about Amazon Go retail store. Amazon Go sells mostly grocery and convenience-store style goods, but with one significant improvement. Using the Amazon Go app on your phone, you just walk in, grab all the things you want, and exit. Everything that you obtained, from the apple to the bottle of orange juice, will be automatically deducted from your credit card.

Amazon Go isn’t the online shopping giant’s first foray into the grocery space, with Amazon Fresh – a grocery delivery service that sources food shops near your home – having just launched several years ago. However, Amazon Go is certainly the buzziest. Many companies have tried experimenting with the concept of a cashier-free, checkout-free store, and some in Japan have successfully opened similar stores, but the concept is new to the United States market.

In the first couple of months, the stores have been moderate successes. The concept mostly appeals to people with short breaks that don’t have time to wait in line to buy a quick meal, such as nearby office workers. Amazon has plans to expand their physical retail business into more big cities in the coming months.

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/21/technology/inside-amazon-go-a-store-of-the-future.html

Google’s Virtual Assistant Can Mimic a Human Voice

Google’s new virtual assistant has been the cause of a ton of debate recently, as it has the ability to mimic voices and sound human in conversations. Google says that this new feature is mostly intended to help you book appointments and make mundane phone calls, but many have been arguing that this is a serious ethical issue as most would not be able to discern that the person on the other line is not actually a real person.

The voices are eerie in how lifelike they sound. Not only does the Google Assistant sound authentic, but it also uses pauses and interjections such as ‘er’ and ‘mmm-hmm’ in its speech patterns to be fully convincing. Depending on the type of user you are, the actual functionality of this may seem either very useful if you have a busy schedule or completely pointless, as you’d rather be making your dinner reservations yourself.

However, regardless of how useful you find this, there’s no denying that there’s something kind of creepy, yet impressive about this. The company uses a technology called Google Duplex, which uses a set of details given by the user as well as the details available on their Google

account to carry out the full conversation.

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/may/08/google-duplex-assistant-phone-calls-robot-human

Self-Starting Microchip That Operates Even With Dead Battery

Led by Associate Professor Massimo Alioto, a group of researchers from the National University of Singapore have developed BATLESS, a smart device that is able to self-start and can run continuously, even after its battery has run out of power. This new invention could see the emergence of smarter and better Internet of Things (IoT) devices. One of the biggest challenges facing IoT is having gadgets that can operate for long hours in an environment that has limited energy resources. The self-sufficiency of devices such as sensors is essential. This is because such objects are usually deployed in remote areas that are difficult to access. Current IoT batteries are up to 3 times bigger and cost more than conventional batteries.

To reduce costs and environmental impacts, these batteries are usually charged slowly using solar cells. BATLESS is able to continue functioning with a dead battery due its incredible power management mechanism. It has a solar cell which makes use of dim light to provide continuous functionality. This new study provides an opportunity to make IoT batteries that are up to 10 times smaller and cheaper. The breakthrough was showcased at San Francisco’s 2018 International Solid-State Circuits Conference. It presents major advancements and paves way for the achievement of IoT goals.

Research source link:

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/05/180503101739.htm

This New Device Could Make Your Phone Last for Weeks

Almost everyday at work, you hear someone go “did someone bring their phone charger? I left mine at home.” One of the principal complaints that everyone has with their smartphone, laptop, tablet, and even your Bluetooth earphones sometimes is that the battery lives seem to be shrinking more and more. You basically need to bring your phone charger with you to work just to get through the day. A group of researchers may have found a way to fix that.

Scientists at the University of Missouri have created a material that uses magnetic diodes to decrease the amount of power that dissipates from a device, which makes the device consume significantly less power and emit much less heat for the same amount of processing. The researchers say this could increase a 5-hour charge to a more than 500-hour charge.

The implications for this are enormous, as it applies to basically any device that runs on a battery. While whether this technology will end up becoming widely adopted on the global market is yet to be seen, as there is a large market for replacements and new iterations of phones, but the idea of a phone lasting for a thousand hours is definitely an exciting concept.

Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/05/180516123644.htm

App for Sjogren’s syndrome Patients

Sjorgen’s Syndrome is an immune system disorder which causes the body to attack its own tissues and cells. The condition is common in people older than 40. It first targets the mucous membranes of the eyes and mouth, causing reduced tears and saliva. It is characterized by having dry eyes and mouth. Five years ago, Professor Monica McGill’s daughter was diagnosed with the condition. After gathering enough information about the disorder, she challenged her computer science students to come up with new ideas that would put her findings into use. The main aim was to increase awareness and help those affected by the condition.
According to what she found out, Sjorgen’s symptom is the most prevalent autoimmune disease in America. People know little to nothing about it. Her students designed two apps, one which provides information and another which helps to detect and track symptoms. For Musa Khan, a computer science major, getting to work on these apps enabled him together with his colleagues to see and experience how technological skills can be used to impact lives. The students got to interview various patients in order to find out what they would want the apps to contain. People suffering from Sjorgen’s may also experience prolonged fatigue, vaginal dryness, persistent dry coughs, dry skin, skin rashes, joint pain and swollen salivary glands. McGill hopes to continue working on the apps further in order to improve their workability.
Research source links:
https://sjogrenssyndromenews.com/2018/04/24/computer-science-students-design-apps-people-living-with-sjogrens/
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/sjogrens-syndrome/symptoms-causes/syc-20353216

Making Road Maps from Aerial Images

In the last few years, map apps have made tremendous efforts to ensure that majority of the world’s 20 million plus miles of roads are fully covered. However, this has not been achieved yet. The process is tedious. It involves taking of aerial images and sometimes manually tracing out the routes to ensure that everything is clear. Having gaps within the system could pose a problem especially in the era of self-driving cars. In an effort to curb the issue, a group of researchers from MIT recently developed a new method of building road maps from aerial images which is 45% more accurate than conventional tools.

The tool is called RoadTracer. It not only comes with better accuracy but is also cost-effective. In areas where there is low population or continuous construction, the tool could come in handy in updating old maps and incorporating developments as they take place. In a test which involved aerial images of New York City, the tool performed better than the traditional tools which work on the basis of image segmentation. Segmentation processes often yield errors which have significant effects on the final map. Using neural networks, RoadTracer is able to map roads step by step. It examines the surroundings of a road from a known location, then decides which points make up the next part of the road. It also makes it easier to correct any errors made in the mapping process.

Research source link:

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/04/180417130055.htm

Tackling Substance Abuse Using AI Tool

Studies suggests that the company one keeps as they try to fight substance abuse greatly determines their recovery. It can easily cause relapse. Group intervention programs are important in this fight, but where high-risk youths are involved, they coul work backwards, exposing participants to undesired behaviors. A group of researchers from the USC Centre for Artificial Intelligence in Society have developed an algorithm that aims at grouping intervention program participants into subgroups that help maintain positive social connections and break those that are detrimental to positive progress. In order to achieve this, there is need to understand how people influence each other when grouped.

Every year, about 2 million youth experience homelessness in the United States. 39 to 70% abuse alcohol or drugs. Group therapy enables those affected to share their experiences, build positive social networks and learn healthy coping mechanisms. This, however, if not properly structured could negatively affect the youth by encouraging formation of friendships based on similar behaviors. Co-authors of the research were able to show that the algorithm works significantly better than group control strategies currently in us. Data was collected from surveys carried out on homeless youth in Los Angeles. Behavioral studies and observations from previous programs we also used. Using the model, researchers could determine the effects of groups on participants. The study was published in the student abstract section of the AAAI conference on Artificial Intelligence.

Research source link:

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-03/uosc-atp032218.php

Getting Robots Closer to Nature

Researchers from the Tokyo Institute of Technology are working to create ways in which multi-legged robots can be controlled using two-level controllers. The proposed controllers are said to use non-linear oscillator networks that allow robots to perform multiple gestures and gaits. The study provides a foundation for research that tries to find out how multi-legged robots can be controlled not only using controllers, but also brain-computer interfaces. Even the most advanced robots are yet to be equipped with features that enable them to walk over irregularly shaped surfaces and slopes. Different animal species do this seamlessly.
The simplest of brains found in the smallest of animals contain CPGs (pattern-generator circuits) which allow for flexibility patterns. The replication of these circuits into robots has yielded little success. Using an ant-like robot, scientists from Italy and Japan were able to showcase a new approach which incorporates a network of hierarchical electronic oscillators. This opens a new avenue for studies revolved around the same field. The proposed controllers have two levels, one at the top and another at the bottom. These control gait and the trajectory of individual legs respectfully. The research was published in the IEEE Access journal. It was funded in part by the Polish Academy Of Sciences, the World Research Hub Initiative and Italy’s University of Catania.
Research source link:
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/03/180309095434.htm

Development of Silicon Quantum Chip in Quantum Race

The worldwide race to build better and reliable quantum processors is on. A group of scientists from the Delft University Technology, led by Professor Vandersypen, have realized that in a silicon quantum chip, quantum information can be transferred from an electron spin to a photon. This is important as it gives provision for scaling to large numbers of qubits. Companies and institutions all over the world are working tirelessly to ensure that future computers are capable of conducting computations at remarkable speeds. Several types of quantum chips are already being worked on by researchers and scientists. At Delft, they are using silicon, the very familiar material in the manufacture of devices, to produce quantum chips.

The challenge, however, comes in the construction of large systems. Large numbers of qubits are required to make sure useful computations are achieved. These qubits need to be connected. Currently, electrons available are only able to connect to their immediate neighbors. Professor Vandersypen is proud of what his team has accomplished so far. They have been able to make progress despite the pressure and competition from other teams of researchers. The scientists are working hard to realize the goal of being able to transfer information through a photon from an electron spin to another. A publication in the Science journal on the 25th of January showed that other researchers are also making similar progress.

Research source link:

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/01/180125140829.htm