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edited by Cindy Wagner 

Hum That Tune

There's a record you want to buy but you can't remember the song's name. Serenading the record-store clerk or the radio DJ doesn't help. Now, a "Query by Humming" system is under development that will let you hum a few bars and have the song fetched from a database of some 2 million song samples. Researchers with the Fraunhofer Institute for Digital Media Technology have teamed with Musicline.de, the German record industry's joint Internet platform, to offer Query by Humming to consumers equipped with a PC, sound card, microphone, and Internet access. Your simple 15-second "la-la-laaaaa-la-la" query is recorded and compared with the database samples, and the 10 most-likely matches are displayed--along with links to information on the artists and on purchasing the song. Further development of the system will allow searches by musical instruments. The system could be a boon for record stores and radio stations hoping to help music lovers find their favorite tunes.
Source: Fraunhofer Institute for Digital Media Technology, Langewiesener Strasse 22, 98693 Ilmenau, Germany. Web site www.idmt.fraunhofer.de.

Robotic Librarian

Robots may help free library clerks for higher-level research. Combining speech-recognition, artificial vision, grippers, and mobility, a robotic librarian will be able to retrieve books from the stacks and bring them to readers. Researchers at the Intelligent Robotics Laboratory at the University of Jaume I in Castellón, Spain, are developing a robot that uses speech-recognition to identify a requested book, then determines its location, identifies the label on the spine of the book, and pulls it off the shelf. In the future, the robot will also be equipped with a navigation system--including infrared, sonar, and laser sensors--enabling it to move freely around the library without colliding into scholars slouched among the stacks.
Source: Office of Scientific Communications, University Jaume I-OCIT, Campus Universitario Riu SEC, Castelló de la Plana, 12006, Spain.

Luminescent Alarms for Light Awakenings  Blankets that slowly illuminate in the morning may replace noisy, jarring alarm clocks. Working with electronics and textiles, freelance designer and researcher Rachel Wingfield has developed the Light Sleeper, a pillow and duvet that use light to awaken sleepers gently. You set the time you want to be awakened, and the bedding slowly brightens with light that simulates the dawn. The technique could benefit people with seasonal affective disorder, simulating natural light to release hormones that help relieve depression. Wingfield's work with electroluminescent textiles was recently exhibited at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

credit: RACHEL WINGFIELD High-tech, low-stress bedding: Electric blanket uses silent, sun-simulating light to awaken sleepers

Source: Rachel Wingfield, Springfield House, 5 Tyssen Street, London E8 2LY, United Kingdom. Web site http://loop.ph.

More Students Studying Abroad

The number of students leaving their home countries for higher education will triple by 2020, from 2 million to nearly 6 million a year, according to a study by the British Council. The biggest market for this international scholarship is the United States, followed by the United Kingdom; English-speaking countries will see their ranks of international scholars swell from 1 million now to 2.6 million by 2020, according to the study, Vision 2020. International students are increasingly computer-literate and discerning, and they are valued for what they can contribute to the economies and academic progress in their host countries. Demand for transnational education delivered through distance learning will grow even faster, outstripping onshore learning by 6%, the study predicts.
Source: Education Exports Team, British Council, 10 Spring Gardens, London SW1A 2BN, U.K. Web site www.britishcouncil.org.

A Multimedia Kitchen

A new multipurpose communications and entertainment center in the kitchen could also help busy families keep secure. The iCEBOX, developed by Salton Inc.'s Beyond Connected Products division, is a multimedia device with flip-down monitor on which families can play DVDs, watch television, surf the Internet, order groceries, and download recipes for the family chef. The device also allows for closed-circuit video monitoring, allowing a parent in the kitchen to monitor visitors at the door or the kids anywhere in the house or yard.
Source: Salton Inc., 83 South King Street, Suite 520, Seattle, Washington 98014. Web site www.beyondconnectedhome.com.

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