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Berkeley’s new Center for Long-Term CyberSecurity will map out what the cybersecurity problem will mean a few years down the road, and to stimulate interdisciplinary research efforts that will make a difference in resolving the threat.
Tag: technology and computing
Campus alerts individuals to IT security breach
December 15, 2014:
The campus is notifying about 1,600 individuals that their personal informational may have been accessed during an IT security breach in the Real Estate Division. Letters have been sent to those impacted.
Organic electronics could lead to cheap, wearable medical sensors
December 10, 2014: UC Berkeley researchers have created a pulse oximeter, commonly used to measure heart rate and blood oxygen levels, using all organic materials instead of silicon. The advance could lead to cheap, flexible sensors that could be used like a Band-Aid.
Cybertools offer new channels for free speech, but grassroots organizing still critical
October 2, 2014: The communication tools of today have changed social movements since the Free Speech Movement 50 years ago. Whether it is an online petition or survey software that makes it easier for users to register their opinions for elected officials, more options are available for expressing views than ever before. Still, cautionary flags are raised about the limits of the Internet and online tools by many who know the behind-the-scenes work needed for a movement to be successful.
Tech innovator does good by taking connectivity to people who need it
August 22, 2014: UC Berkeley postdoc Kurtis Heimerl never intended to focus on technology in underdeveloped areas. But stints with the big tech companies didn’t inspire him; working on tech issues in India did. Now, with support from the Blum Center for Developing Countries, he’s involved in development engineering in Indonesia. He was recently recognized by MIT for his innovative humanitarian work.
Vision-correcting display makes reading glasses so yesterday
July 29, 2014: Researchers at UC Berkeley are developing vision-correcting displays that can compensate for a viewer’s visual impairments to create sharp images without the need for glasses or contact lenses. The technology could potentially help those who currently need corrective lenses to use their smartphones, tablets and computers, and could one day aid people with more complex visual problems.
Tapping real-time financial data can improve economic policymaking
July 11, 2014: Measuring the nation’s economic health has long been a slow, costly and imprecise exercise. Now, researchers at UC Berkeley have helped develop a new way to measure real-time consumer behavior.
Blind lead the way in brave new world of tactile technology
July 1, 2014: Imagine feeling a slimy jellyfish, a prickly cactus or map directions on your iPad display. Virtual textured touchscreens are where tactile technology is headed. New research has found that people are faster at navigating tactile technology when using both hands and several fingers. Moreover, blind people in the study outmaneuvered their sighted counterparts.
Information School team app for West African fishermen snags sustainable=fishing prize
June 18, 2014: Trolling for real-world solutions to support ocean fisheries, the U.S. State Department sponsored a “Fishackathon” at five sites across the country over the June 14-15 weekend. A team from UC Berkeley’s School of Information, working out of the Monterey Bay Aquarium, took home the national grand prize for a mobile app designed to help West African fishermen.
Five early-career faculty named 2014-15 Bakar Fellows
May 27, 2014:
Five UC Berkeley faculty members have been selected as 2014-15 Bakar Fellows. Launched in 2012, the Bakar program supports innovative research by early-career campus faculty pursuing projects that hold commercial promise. (Read background on the program here.)
Berkeley Founders’ Pledge connects alumni entrepreneurs
May 21, 2014:
Partnering with alumni business founders and executives, the campus has created the Berkeley Founders’ Pledge. Through the program, Cal alumni and faculty at startups make a non-binding pledge to support UC Berkeley when assets become liquid, and stay connected to the campus network as their companies grow.
A king comes to campus
May 14, 2014:
King Abdullah II of Jordan came to International House on Tuesday as part of a discussion on entrepreneurship and technology ecosystems, startups and innovation in Jordan and the Middle East.
Planning professor-turned-entrepreneur to help SF tackle urban problems with Big Data
April 23, 2014: From the classroom to the city, a UC Berkeley planning professor/entrepreneur is using Big Data to make a difference in urban life.
‘Heartbleed’ security vulnerability: what you should do
April 11, 2014:
A widely reported critical security flaw, called “Heartbleed,” has been discovered that affects not only some campus systems, but also many information systems worldwide. Here are some recommended precautions for computer users.
At Berkeley, experts mine questions of Big Data, power and privacy
April 3, 2014:
Capped by a keynote from Obama adviser John Podesta, a daylong workshop brought together the worlds of government, business, the law and academia for what Berkeley’s Deirdre Mulligan called “a frank and honest conversation about our values,” and about how to balance those values with the omnipresent, often invisible collection of data about every aspect of our lives.
Big Data workshop to broaden conversation on privacy, values and government
March 31, 2014: A live-streamed workshop headlined by White House adviser John Podesto will explore privacy issues in the context of increased digital information and computing power.
Corporate-funded academic inventions spur increased innovation, analysis says
March 19, 2014:
The assumption that corporate funding yields academic work that is less useful and less accessible to other researchers is challenged by an analysis of two decades of data from more than 12,000 inventions in the University of California system. The paper is published in the peer-reviewed journal “Nature.” Read about how new technology is spreading from campus faster than ever.
New ideas and technology spreading from campus faster than ever
March 19, 2014: In the 10 years since UC Berkeley established its techonology-transfer office, more than 800 companies have sponsored Berkeley research projects, investing important resources in many areas across the campus — and resulting in significant patent and licensing fees.
As students embrace new ways to learn, library learns to adapt
March 17, 2014: At Moffitt Undergraduate Library’s new information gateway and reading lounge, students have access to 2,000 new books, a top-notch computing experience, free digital scanning, reduced-price printing and — starting this semester — a laptop and digital-tablet check-out service.
Watch: Scientists ‘herd’ cells in new approach to tissue engineering
March 11, 2014:
UC Berkeley engineers have found that an electrical current can be used to orchestrate the flow of a group of cells. This achievement sets the stage for more controlled forms of tissue engineering and for potential applications such as “smart bandages” that use electrical stimulation to help heal wounds.
Preschoolers outsmart college students at figuring out gizmos
March 6, 2014:
In a world where children are learning to use smartphones before they can even tie their shoelaces, it may not be surprising to learn that preschoolers can outperform college students in certain learning tasks because they are more flexible and less biased in their ideas about cause and effect. UC Berkeley psychologists show this in a game they call “Blickets.”
Century-old ham radio club making waves in Richmond
February 24, 2014: With one new station built and another on the way, UC Berkeley’s century-old Amateur Radio Club is celebrating its past by revving up for its future.
I School’s Tapan Parikh named a 2014 Sloan Research Fellow
February 18, 2014:
Tapan Parikh thinks information tools like mobile phones can help transform the lives of poor people in rural India, Guatemala and other countries. He’s a Sloan Foundation “rising star.”
Zettl awarded Foresight Feynman Prize in experimental nanoscience
January 29, 2014:
Physics professor Alex Zettl is the winner of the 2013 Feynman Prize for Experiment, announced Jan. 23, 2014, by the Foresignt Institute. The prize, honoring the late physicist Richard Feynman, is given annually to honor those working toward one of the physicist’s dreams for nanotechnology: an atomic scale molecular manufacturing system.
New data science master’s program kicks off
January 23, 2014: The School of Information this week welcomed 27 new students into its innovative new master’s program in data science.
Symposium spotlights clean-technology solutions
January 10, 2014: Through the Cleantech to Market program, scientists and students are working together to bring new, environmentally friendly innovations to the world.
First Science for Solutions Award goes to a new professor exploring answers to economic/environmental issues
December 11, 2013: Solomon Hsiang’s deep curiosity about the intersection of the environment, economics and public policy and answers to the serious problems emerging in that realm has netted him a brand new prize.
Law clinic cautions against unchecked surveillance
November 25, 2013:
Berkeley Law’s Samuelson Clinic on law, technology and public policy has submitted an amicus brief supporting a federal case against the National Security Agency. Represented by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, 22 organizations — from gun advocates to Greenpeace — are challenging the NSA practice of collecting and storing Americans’ phone records.
Court, ruling for Google Books, cites Berkeley Law brief
November 18, 2013:
A U.S. Court of Appeals judge has found that Google Book Search — a project to digitize millions of books from major libraries — constitutes fair use under U.S. copyright law. In his decision, Judge Denny Chin quotes extensively from a brief submitted by Berkeley Law’s Samuelson Law, Technology and Public Policy Clinic, headed by Jennifer Urban.
New technology lets gestures replace touch or voice control in tiny devices
November 1, 2013:
Researchers at UC Berkeley are developing a tiny chip that uses ultrasound waves to detect a slew of gestures in three dimensions. Because it draws less power, the chip could be used to allow gesture control of tiny wearable devices, like smart watches and computers on glasses.
