researchers

Personally, I find video games both relaxing and a lot of fun. And it appears that this isn't just the case for thirty-somethings like me; in fact, a new study shows that seniors who play video games are less likely to become depressed. Researchers ... at North Carolina State University recently studied the impact video games had on people aged 63 and older. Researchers separated the study's subjects (whose median age was 77) into three groups: regular gamers (who play games once a week), occasional gamers (who play games less than once per week), and people who never play video games. Senior ... (view more)

A newly-discovered form of malware can reportedly spread via malicious PDF documents. An infected system can then be controlled via Twitter. Called 'MiniDuke' by security experts, it appears the malware is still very active. Russian security company ... Kaspersky Lab, who recently discovered MiniDuke, said that recovered fragments of the malware had been created as recently as February 20, 2013. That has led Kaspersky researchers to suggest that MiniDuke is still being used to attack computer systems. Hackers Capitalize on Adobe Flaw The malware is reportedly being spread in the form of malicious ... (view more)

A recent study by Swedish researchers has led to claims that it is possible to erase emotional memories from the human brain. It's an idea that appears to come straight from the 2004 movie "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind." The startling ... assertion is related to a new theory that suggests memories (predominantly those associated with fear) can be turned into benign memories and remain that way for a lifetime. Emotions Altered Before Becoming Long-Term Memory Scientists agree that a long-term memory is formed when individuals learn new information through the process of ... (view more)

A team of international researchers is currently exploring the possibility that someone could "hack" a person's brain. For now, such a process would require technology that is difficult to obtain. The study is related to Electroencephalography (EEG) ... technology, which is a way of measuring brain activity. EEG was originally developed to diagnose neurological problems. For many years, EEG technology has been extremely expensive and therefore limited to professional medical use. However, today the cost has come down to the point where it can be used in other ways, for other purposes. This ... (view more)

It appears that Microsoft and its users may be experiencing a security problem potentially as dangerous and devastating as the 2010 debacle that hit Playstation owners. Back then, innocent purchasers of PlayStations were hit by one of the most ... stunning security invasions in recent memory. Millions saw their supposedly-secure account information leaked, including credit card data. The problem ran so deep that Sony felt compelled to offer substantial compensation packages. The current problem may prove just as significant, unless Microsoft changes how it stores sensitive customer information. ... (view more)

A recent study has found that some smartphone applications unnecessarily waste battery life. The worst offenders appear to be free games that make money for their developers by bombarding gamers with advertising. Most free apps fall into one of ... three categories: Promotional tools or pieces of larger information campaigns. Trial or demo versions of apps that charge for their "full" version. Advertising-supported apps that normally display advertising as they operate. Excessive App Power Use: Researchers Identify Causes Apps in the third category -- ad supported -- have attracted the ... (view more)

According to a new study, older people are able to read text off the iPad much faster than if they were using a "real" book. In fact, the iPad proved easier for reading than even e-readers like the Kindle. The study was performed by a research team ... from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, in Germany. "E-books and e-readers are playing an increasingly important role on the worldwide book market," the researchers said in their report. "However, readers can be particularly skeptical when it comes to e-books and electronic reading devices. The objective of the study was to investigate ... (view more)

A tandem of researchers in Singapore claim to have discovered a way to use table salt as a means to increase the density at which bits of data can be stored on a hard disk drive platter. Early projections indicate that this 'salty' method is ... actually 5 times more efficient than current hard disk densities. The method was first introduced by Joel Yang, a scientist at the Institute of Materials Research and Engineering (IMRE) at Singapore's Agency for Science, Technology and Research. Yang was able to hone his method using an extremely high-resolution e-beam lithography -- the same process by ... (view more)

Wildlife researchers have created the first ever "smart" collar for animals in the wild that is able to track and record their daily patterns in ways never before thought imaginable. Thanks to a series of tests featuring a ten-year-old captive ... female mountain lion, researchers were able to develop a "library of signatures" to identify nearly every kind of animal movement. The collar itself utilizes a combination of global positioning technology and accelerometers to measure the metabolic inner life of the animal when leaping, running or sleeping. The end result, as University of California ... (view more)

Can playing video games make you smarter? While there may not be oodles of benefits for those who spend hours in front of the television regularly, a new study suggests gaming may actually help to improve the way we process information. According to ... researchers at the University of Rochester, video gamers are very good at probabilistic inference, which in layman's terms simply means that they're better at making rapid, quality decisions based on evidence around them. In essence, educated researchers (many of whom may be gamers) found that gamers make for good researchers. (Source: cnet.com ... (view more)