science + technology news

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Princeton/Adobe technology will let you edit voices like text

Are you ready for fake audio (and maybe video) news?
May 19, 2017

fake audio ft

Technology developed by Princeton University computer scientists may do for audio recordings of the human voice what word processing software did for the written word and Adobe Photoshop did for images.

“VoCo” software, still in the research stage, makes it easy to add or replace a word in an audio recording of a human voice by simply editing a text transcript of the recording. New words… read more

Topics: Computers/Infotech/UI | Entertainment/New Media

Google rolls out new ‘smart reply’ machine-learning email software to more than 1 billion Gmail mobile users

A faster, easier way to reply to email messages
May 17, 2017

side-by-side2 ft

Google is rolling out an enhanced version of its “smart reply” machine-learning email software to “over 1 billion Android and iOS users of Gmail,” Google CEO Sundar Pichai said today (May 17, 2017) in a keynote at the annual Google I/O conference.

Smart Reply suggests up to three replies to an email message — saving you typing time, or giving you time to think through a… read more

Topics: AI/Robotics | Internet/Cloud/Telecom

New 3D printing method may allow for fast, low-cost, more-flexible medical implants for millions

Cuts time to create implants from days or weeks to hours, potentially saving lives
May 15, 2017

Model silicone 3D-printed trachea implant (credit: University of Florida)

UF Soft Matter | Silicone is 3D-printed into the micro-organogel support material. The printing nozzle follows a predefined trajectory, depositing liquid silicone in its wake. The liquid silicone is supported by the micro-organogel material during this printing process.

University of Florida (UF) researchers have developed a method for 3D printing soft-silicone medical implants that are stronger, quicker, less expensive, more flexible, and more comfortable… read more

Topics: Biomed/Longevity | Nanotech/Materials Science

Virtual-reality therapy found effective for treating phobias and PTSD

May 14, 2017

A soldier using "Bravemind" VR therapy (credit: USC Institute for Creative Technologies)

Virtual reality (VR) technology can be an effective part of treatment for phobias, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in combat veterans, and other mental health conditions, according to an open-access research review in the May/June issue of the Harvard Review of Psychiatry.

“VR-based exposure therapy” (VRE) has been found effective for treating panic disorder, schizophrenia, acute and chronic pain, addictions (including smoking), social anxiety disorder, claustrophobia, agoraphobia (fear or… read more

Topics: Cognitive Science/Neuroscience | VR/Augmented Reality/Computer Graphics

Humanity must populate a new planet within 100 years, warns Stephen Hawking, PhD

May 11, 2017

(credit: www.hawking.org.uk)

“The human species will have to populate a new planet within 100 years if it is to survive,” famed physicist Stephen Hawking, PhD says in “Expedition New Earth” — a documentary that debuts this summer as part of the BBC’s forthcoming Tomorrow’s World TV series.

He cites “climate change, overdue asteroid strikes, epidemics and population growth” as reasons to leave.

That 100 figure is dramatically lower that… read more

A deep-learning tool that lets you clone an artistic style onto a photo

May 10, 2017

New research from Computing and Information Science and Adobe may add another creative option to image editing software. (credit: Cornell University)

“Deep Photo Style Transfer” is a cool new artificial-intelligence image-editing software tool that lets you transfer a style from another (“reference”) photo onto your own photo, as shown in the above examples.

An open-access arXiv paper by Cornell University computer scientists and Adobe collaborators explains that the tool can transpose the look of one photo (such as the time of day, weather, season, and artistic effects) onto… read more

Topics: AI/Robotics | Computers/Infotech/UI | VR/Augmented Reality/Computer Graphics

A ‘smart contact lens’ for diabetes and glaucoma diagnosis

May 10, 2017

Smart contact lens on mannequin eye

Korean researchers have designed a “smart contact lens” that may one day allow patients with diabetes and glaucoma to self-monitor blood glucose levels and internal eye pressure.*

The study was conducted by researchers at Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) and Kyungpook National University School of Medicine, both of South Korea.

Most previously reported contact lens sensors can only monitor a single analyte (such as glucose)… read more

Topics: Biomed/Longevity | Electronics

The world’s fastest video camera

Can capture rapid processes in chemistry, physics, biology and biomedicine that so far have never been caught on film
May 6, 2017

Elias Kristensson and Andreas Ehn (credit: Kennet Ruona)

A research group at Lund University in Sweden has developed a video camera* that can record at a rate equivalent to five trillion images per second, or events as short as 0.2 trillionths of a second. This is far faster than has previously been possible (100,000 images per second).

The new super-fast camera can capture rapid processes in chemistry, physics, biology and biomedicine that so far have… read more

Topics: Electronics

Precision typing on a smartwatch with finger gestures

"Watchsense" would also work with smartphones, smart TVs, and virtual-reality or augmented reality devices
May 5, 2017

A smartwatch could have an embedded depth sensor on its side, aimed at the back of the hand and the space above it, allowing for easy typing and control. Or in a music program, the volume could be adjusted. (credit: Srinath Sridhar et al.)

If you wear a smartwatch, you know how limiting it is to type it on or otherwise operate it. Now European researchers have developed an input method that uses a depth camera (similar to the Kinect game controller) to track fingertip touch and location on the back of the hand or in mid-air, allowing for precision control.

The researchers have created a prototype called “WatchSense,” worn on… read more

Topics: Electronics | VR/Augmented Reality/Computer Graphics

Deep learning-based bionic hand grasps objects automatically

"Hands with eyes" offer new hope to amputees
May 5, 2017

bionic hand ft

British biomedical engineers have developed a new generation of intelligent prosthetic limbs that allows the wearer to reach for objects automatically, without thinking — just like a real hand.

The hand’s camera takes a picture of the object in front of it, assesses its shape and size, picks the most appropriate grasp, and triggers a series of movements in the hand — all within milliseconds.

The… read more

Topics: AI/Robotics | Cognitive Science/Neuroscience | Human Enhancement

New nuclear magnetic resonance technique offers ‘molecular window’ for live disease diagnosis

Could use existing non-invasive MRI technology
May 3, 2017

A novel NMR technique developed at U of T Scarborough has the potential for noninvasive disease diagnosis using current MRI technology. (credit: University of Toronto Scarborough)

University of Toronto Scarborough researchers have developed a new “molecular window” technology based on nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) that can look inside a living system to get a high-resolution profile of which specific molecules are present, and extract a full metabolic profile.

“Getting a sense of which molecules are in a tissue sample is important if you want to know if it’s cancerous, or if… read more

Topics: Biomed/Longevity | Cognitive Science/Neuroscience

An atomically thin layer of water stores more energy and delivers it faster, researchers discover

Could lead to thinner batteries, faster storage for renewable-based power grids, or faster acceleration in electric vehicles
May 3, 2017

A high-resolution transmission electron microscope image of layered, crystalline tungsten oxide dihydrate acts as a better supercapacitor than plain tungsten oxide (without the water layer). The "stripes" are individual layers of atoms separated by atomically thin water layers. (credit: James B. Mitchell et al./Chemistry of Materials)

Researchers at North Carolina State University have found that a material* that incorporates atomically thin layers of water can store more energy and deliver it much more quickly than the same material without the water.

The proof-of-concept finding could “ultimately lead to things like thinner batteries, faster storage for renewable-based power grids, or faster acceleration in electric vehicles,” according to Veronica Augustyn, an assistant professor… read more

Topics: Electronics

Elon Musk’s Los Angeles tunnel-boring machine plan revealed

... and a coast-to-coast Hyperloop connection
May 1, 2017

Musk's plan for a tunnels under Los Angeles (credit: The Boring Company)

Things happen fast with Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Motors and CEO/CTO of SpaceX. It starts December 17, 2016 when he’s stuck in Los Angeles traffic:

On February 3, Musk reveals he has already begun digging a “demo tunnel” in the SpaceX parking lot, Bloomberg reports.

Bloomberg also reports that Musk plans to build an underground network that “includes as many as 30 levels… read more

Topics: Innovation/Entrepreneurship

Robotic system can 3-D print basic structure of an entire building

The annual $8.5 trillion construction industry may in for a major redesign
May 1, 2017

urban building concept ft

MIT researchers have designed a “Digital Construction Platform” system that can 3-D print the basic structure of an entire building. It could enable faster, cheaper, more adaptable building construction — replacing traditional fabrication technologies that are dangerous, slow, and energy-intensive in the annual $8.5 trillion construction industry.

Described in an open-access paper in the journal Science Robotics, this free-moving system is intended to be self-sufficient and can construct… read more

Topics: AI/Robotics | Nanotech/Materials Science

New artificial photosynthesis process converts CO2 in air to fuel

April 28, 2017

Professor Fernando Uribe-Romo and his team of students created a way to trigger a chemical reaction in a synthetic material called metal-organic frameworks (MOF) that breaks down carbon dioxide into harmless organic materials. Think of it as an artificial photosynthesis process similar to the way plants convert carbon dioxide (CO2) and sunlight into food. But instead of producing food, Uribe-Romo's method produces solar fuel. (credit: UCF: Bernard Wilchusky)

A University of Central Florida (UCF) chemistry professor has invented a revolutionary way to remove carbon dioxide (CO2) from air by triggering artificial photosynthesis in a synthetic material — breaking down carbon dioxide while also producing fuel for energy.

UCF Assistant Professor Fernando Uribe-Romo and his students used a synthetic material called a metal–organic framework (MOF), which converts carbon dioxide into harmless organic materials — similar… read more

Topics: Environment/Climate | Nanotech/Materials Science

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