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The Yale Law Journal's Betsy Cooper wrote an essay examining our favorite Jeopardy! champion (and new medical diagnoser) robot Watson, but from a new angle: Could Watson help judges make legal decisions? More »
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While the comparison between the computer and the human brain is one that has been made for over half a century, the way each one processes information could not be more different. Now, IBM researchers have designed a revolutionary chip that, for the first time, actually mimics the functioning of a human brain. More »
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In the 1960s, IBM tapped Jim Henson and composer Raymond Scott to create "The Paperwork Explosion," a four-minute advertisement for the MT/ST word-processing machine. The commercial was jarring brew of jargon and flashing images seemingly custom-made for an office-drone dystopia. More »
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IBM's wants to patent a geegaw called the "SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING VEHICLE ENGINE RUNNING STATE AT BUSY INTERSECTIONS FOR INCREASED FUEL CONSUMPTION EFFICIENCY." In other words, the traffic light is in charge of when you stop and go. More »
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Researchers at IBM are farming nanowires, growing wires a thousand times thinner than a human hair like microscopic silicon bonsai trees. This image shows the wires sprouting silicon. More »
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Scientists have long been able to pelt lots of electrons at atoms to "see" them, but this process did too much damage to be used on molecules. Now, scientists have found a new, less destructive way to visualize whole molecules. More »
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Square America is a web site devoted to American vernacular photography, found photos, and snapshots. In addition to a ton of great pix from the 1940s to the 70s, they are currently showing selections from a 56-image "pre-powerpoint IBM slide presentation with one foot in the future and the other stuck solidly in the 70s." There's no sound, so you'll have to imagine the tone telling you to move to the next slide, but the word "online" figures prominently. Click through for another couple of examples. More »
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Listen to the heartbeat of SAGE (Semi-Automatic Ground Environment), IBM's giant air defense computer, in this propaganda ... I mean, educational ... film from approximately 1956. Weighing in 250 tons and using 60,000 vacuum tubes, SAGE "was the largest computer ever built." It required an acre of floor space. More »
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Video game tech could literally save your brain. Currently, when your neurologist needs to make a snap judgment about brain surgery, a 3-D brain image like the one above might not be ready for hours — far too long in an emergency. But now the Mayo Clinic is teaming up with IBM to develop ways to create a 3-D image from an MRI or CT scan in minutes, thanks to microprocessor architecture developed for the Sony PlayStation 3, which amps those scans up like Sonic the Hedgehog. Brain image from Harvard. [Computerworld] More »
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As the Virtual Worlds conference kicked off in Silicon Valley yesterday, IBM announced a partnership with Linden Lab, makers of Second Life, to create portable avatars that you can bring with you to any virtual world. But how? IBM and Linden Lab say they are developing open data formats, or a "universal character creation system," that will let people use their Second Life avatars anywhere. The problem is that most virtual world companies like Blizzard, which owns World of Warcraft, have very strict rules about what your avatar can look like. Same goes for things like the Barbie virtual world. You can't just bring your trippy Burning Man avatar from Second Life into a WOW campaign and slay dragons with your powers of fashion and relating deeply to other people. And I doubt the Barbie world people will welcome your naked sex god avatar. More »
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