| A Question for Quora and Blog - 'Flasher Detection' Algorithm Aims to Clean Up Video Chat |
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Social space: When a user first visits Quora, a pop-up shows how to craft a question properly.Credit: Technology ReviewSilicon Valley's most talked-about new Web company, Quora, offers a novel spin on an old concept: it takes a standard Q&A site and adds Twitter-like social networking to the mix. The site has grown rapidly in recent weeks, in part because of the quality of its content and community—but now its newfound popularity may jeopardize the content that made the site a success in the first place.Quora was founded by two Facebook alumni: Adam D'Angelo, previously the social network's chief technology officer, and Charlie Cheever, the engineer and manager responsible for creating Facebook Connect and the Facebook Platform.Their new site launched in an invitation-only beta in January 2010. [Read the full article] No glue required: Broken polymer chains reform to repair a crack in this material when it is pressed together and exposed to UV light.Credit: Krzysztof Matyjaszewski, Carnegie Mellon UniversityA new polymer material that can repeatedly heal itself at room temperature when exposed to ultraviolet light presents the tantalizing possibility of products that can repair themselves when damaged. Possibilities include self-healing medical implants, cars, or even airplane parts.The polymer, created by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University and Kyushu University, heals when a crack in the material is pressed together and exposed to UV light. The same treatment can cause separate chunks of the material to fuse together to form one solid piece.The researchers were able to cut the same block into pieces and put them back together at least five times. [Read the full article] If you have a smart phone, online criminals may soon have your number. Smart phone malware is getting increasingly sophisticated, and now a security researcher has created software that turns a smart phone into a "zombie" that can be controlled remotely.Georgia Weidman created the program, which controls an Android phone via short message service (SMS). She will demonstrate the software at the Shmoocon hacking conference in Washington, D.C., later this month.Once only theoretical, real-world cell-phone viruses are becoming more common. Last August, a scam in Russia tricked users into installing malicious software on Android phones, and using the SMS functionality to send messages to a number that charged a premium fee. In late 2010, a Chinese virus for Android devices was used to steal personal data.Botnets, or networks of computers that have been compromised by cybercriminals, have become a staple of Internet crime. [Read the full article] 
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