Carnegie Mellon University

15 Stories

Scientists Figure Out How That Idea Pops in Your Head

Study tracks changes in brain through learning

(Newser) - Scientists using cutting-edge brain imaging technology finally know how that new idea pops into your head and may even be able to read the thought by looking at your brain. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University observed 16 participants' brains as they learned about the habitat and eating habits of eight...

Having More Sex Might Make You Less Happy
Having More Sex Might
Make You Less Happy
study says
May 8, 2015 3:24 PM CDT

Having More Sex Might Make You Less Happy

Study asks couples to ramp it up, gets surprising results

(Newser) - You've heard the message, seen the magazine covers: Having more sex will make you happier. A new study out of Carnegie Mellon University, however, suggests that the opposite is true, according to a post at Phys.org . In their experiment, researchers asked one group of married couples to have...

Disney's New 3D Printer Churns Out Soft Bunnies

And other squeezable objects made of fabric

(Newser) - If anyone were going to create a 3D printer that would create cuddly objects made out of felt, it would be Disney. And that's exactly what's happened, in conjunction with Cornell and Carnegie Mellon universities. The printer "slices" a 3D model of an object into layers, then...

Carnegie Mellon Wins $265M Gift

Steel magnate William Dietrich's donation largest in years

(Newser) - Carnegie Mellon University just scored a big boost, as former steel magnate William Dietrich pledged $265 million to the Pittsburgh-based school, reports AP . With charitable giving down due to the economic downturn, Dietrich's gift is considered one of the largest to a private university in recent years. "It...

Researchers Use Facebook to Identify Passersby

Facial-recognition software makes it a breeze

(Newser) - Online privacy concerns are migrating to the real world. A researcher at Carnegie Mellon was able to identify 31% of students passing by with the help of facial recognition software, reports Mashable . First he collected 25,000 photos from Facebook profiles. Then he asked passersby to pose for a quick...

Nerdiest Colleges in America: MIT, CIT lead the way
 Nerdiest 
 US Colleges 
Jul 9, 2011 11:10 AM CDT

Nerdiest US Colleges

MIT, CIT lead the way

(Newser) - While some colleges are known for their sports teams or ability to party, others make time to observe Pi Day (3/14, of course), run scientific studies on campus graffiti, design campus-wide (literally) Rube Goldberg machines, and pump up their students by playing Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyries during finals...

Obama Wants $500M for High-Tech Manufacturing

He will tour robotics site in Pittsburgh

(Newser) - Imagining advances from lighter cars to smarter robots, President Obama is announcing a $500 million project to spur high-technology manufacturing, a sector of US industry that presidential advisers say has lost ground to such competitors as Germany and Japan. Today in Pittsburgh, Obama is to call for a joint effort...

Ranking America's Most Stressful Schools

These colleges might just drive you to suicide

(Newser) - This month, lots of high school overachievers will be anxiously awaiting acceptances from the halls of Ivy—even as concerns mount that these schools might not be great for your mental health. Cornell University, for example, had two suicides in as many days last month. So the Daily Beast decided...

Lose Sleep, Catch a Cold
 Lose Sleep, Catch a Cold 
Jan 13, 2009 4:06 AM CST

Lose Sleep, Catch a Cold

Little sleep makes us vulnerable to colds

(Newser) - Mom was right: get a good night's sleep. Researchers have discovered a direct link between lack of sleep and vulnerability to disease, Reuters reports. Study volunteers who slept less than seven hours a night for just two weeks were three times more likely to come down with cold symptoms after...

You Can't Afford to Read the Fine Print

Actually reading online privacy policies would cost $365B per year

(Newser) - No one bothers to read websites' online privacy policies. But if Americans did—just once a year for each site they visit—it would take 200 hours per person, amounting to $365 billion worth of lost time, Ars Technica reports. That may all be theoretical, but the researchers behind the...

Last Lecturer Randy Pausch Dies of Cancer
Last Lecturer Randy Pausch Dies of Cancer
Obituary
Jul 25, 2008 12:04 PM CDT

Last Lecturer Randy Pausch Dies of Cancer

Noted Carnegie Mellon prof inspired millions with fairwell lesson

(Newser) - Randy Pausch, the Carnegie Mellon professor whose "last lecture" became an international phenomenon, succumbed in his long battle with cancer today, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. Pausch, 47, was a noted computer scientist before he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, but it was his final, inspirational address—now read by...

In One Domain, Anyway, Man Still Conquers Machine

CAPTCHAs, where humans distill words from squiggles, hold line in spam war

(Newser) - Every web user has come across CAPTCHAs: wavy-lettered depiction of words you must retype as text. Most pay them no mind, but, Lev Grossman writes in Time, we should reflect upon completing one. They're one of the rare visible skirmishes in the largely invisible war between spammers and security programmers....

Credit Crunch Extends to Student Loans

Investors balk on bonds key to students, museums, cities

(Newser) - A huge new group of borrowers—from students to museums to local governments—are about to find their credit drying up, as the subprime meltdown that has already cost banks $100 billion continues to spread, reports the Wall Street Journal.  In the last few days, investors have backed away...

Carnegie Mellon Wins $2M in Robot Car Race

Only three of 11 cars finished the 60 miles in 6 hours allotted

(Newser) - A robot car built by Carnegie Mellon University and General Motors beat out ten others to win a race for self-driving vehicles, race officials announced today. The cars had 6 hours to complete a 60-mile course—including missions like parking and merging into traffic—in pursuit of a $2 million...

3D Pioneer Delivers Lecture of a Lifetime

Beloved prof evokes ovations, tears with inspiring farewell

(Newser) - The "Last Lecture Series" is an academic task for some, but computer science prof Randy Pausch - who will live only 3 months with pancreatic cancer - took this talk to be literally his last, the Wall Street Journal reports. Yet he was exuberant as he showed photos of...

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