Buy low, sell high: Imagine traveling to the future, finding the next hot stock, jumping back and buying it. Tom Cover, MS '61, PhD '64, a professor of statistics, has an algorithm that could help investors do just that. It uses the past to predict the future. The algorithm analyzes every stock in the market and then readjusts daily to buy more of the best performers and sell losers.
Brains and brine: Researchers continue to find evidence that babies' brains develop faster in a rich sensory environment. The newest evidence comes from a surprising source -- squid. Scientists at Stanford's Hopkins Marine Station found that newborn squid learn through trial and error, much as humans do, and that early experiences may alter a squid's nervous system. The findings suggest that there is a short period of time after birth when squids' brains can be molded.
Kinder cut: A study by a team of Stanford physicians has shown for the first time that an innovative surgical technique can help doctors safely remove malformed blood vessels deep within the brain. During the procedure, sophisticated equipment measures signals from the patient's muscles, allowing surgeons to determine when they are getting dangerously close to critical brain structures.
Darkness visible: Researchers from 10 institutions, including Stanford, report that they have obtained the best evidence yet of the existence of dark matter, the invisible subatomic particles believed to make up more than 90 percent of the mass in the universe. The scientists used a new detector technology that employs supercooled crystals to distinguish between the collision of ordinary particles and the presence of rare dark-matter interactions.
