The success of the London Eye has reinvigorated demand for Ferris wheels, with new “observation wheels” recently opening or being built in Malaysia, Singapore, and Australia, with others planned for Berlin, Dubai, and Beijing. And like with skyscrapers, a heated competition is under way for the world’s tallest.
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Until now, the most prominent holder of MP3 patents has been the Fraunhofer Society of Germany. But other companies, including Thomson, Philips and Alcatel-Lucent, are increasingly being backed up by aggressive enforcement efforts.
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Mathematical models generally make more accurate predictions than humans do. Studies have shown that models can better predict, for example, the success or failure of a business start-up, the likelihood of recidivism and parole violation, and future performance in graduate school.
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From humble origins as geeky novelties, thumb-size U.S.B. flash drives have grown into a billion-dollar market.
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Virtual volunteers at an aid network known as Nabuur give people in the developing world advice on projects like how to start a youth computer-training center, improve local water quality, or better integrate the village’s disabled people. The assumption is that small communities can carry out many public-works projects by themselves if provided with the right information.
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Focusing your camera phone on a code and then clicking any button launches a wireless service — for example, the ability to buy a train ticket, check an airplane’s departure time, or download a ring tone from a store display.
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Beyond their applications in law enforcement, lie-detector tests are being used in everything from telemarketing to matchmaking. But the technology’s reliability is still a matter of debate.
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Now a team of researchers in the Netherlands have developed a computer system that quickly examines hundreds of paintings for telltale patterns. The results, they say, can lend credence to existing attributions or help dismiss them.
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When the technology first appeared, U.S.B. meant keyboards, joysticks and the like. But manufacturers began cottoning to U.S.B.’s ability to provide a power source, leading to a host of gizmos that have nothing to do with computers: radios, reading lights, even massage balls and air purifiers.
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High-definition television may be only just beginning to catch on, but researchers at the Japanese national broadcaster NHK are already working on a successor. The format, called Ultra High Definition Video, or UHDV, has a resolution 16 times greater than plain-old HDTV, and its stated goal is to achieve a level of sensory immersion that approximates actually being there.
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