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Under the skin, a tiny blood-testing laboratory

March 20, 2013

(credit: EPFL)

EPFL scientists have developed a tiny, portable personal blood testing laboratory: a minuscule device implanted just under the skin provides an immediate analysis of substances in the body, and a radio module transmits the results to a doctor over the cellular phone network.

This feat of miniaturization has many potential applications, including monitoring patients undergoing chemotherapy.

Humans are veritable chemical factories — we manufacture… read more

Topics: Biomed/Longevity | Nanotech/Materials Science

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Stanford University’s president predicts the death of the lecture hall as university education moves online

May 31, 2012

susskind_video

Stanford University recently explored offering online courses to a larger audience with a programming class for iPhone applications, first available in 2009, that has been downloaded more than one million times.

This past fall, more than 100 000 students around the world took three engineering classes — Machine Learning, Introduction to Artificial Intelligence, and Introduction to Databases.

Stanford president John L. Hennessy says that’s just the beginning. In fact,… read more

Topics: Social Networking/Web/Education

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With ‘flyover’ 3D rendering and Yelp/Siri integration, Apple Maps makes Google Maps look like child’s play

June 21, 2012

new_apple_maps

Apple just launched its stunning Maps product, with “Flyover” — Apple’s incredible new 3D maps display, which makes Google Maps look antiquated.

“We built an entire new mapping solution from the ground up,” Forstall said while demoing the product, “It is beautiful. We did all the cartography ourselves.”

In addition to the 3D display, Maps will have Siri integrated turn-by-turn directions. Crucial to the new Maps… read more

Topics: AI/Robotics | Computers/Infotech/UI | Internet/Telecom | Social Networking/Web/Education | VR/Augmented Reality/Computer Graphics

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$99 Raspberry Pi-sized ‘supercomputer’ touted in Kickstarter project

September 28, 2012

adapteva-parallella-640x363

Chipmaker Adapteva wants to make parallel computing available to everyone, using a Kickstarter project to raise at least $750,000 and a stretch goal of $3 million, Ars Technica reports.

Adapteva calls it “Parallella: A Supercomputer For Everyone,” a 16-core board hitting 13GHz and 26 gigaflops performance, costing $99 each. If the $3 million goal is hit, Adapteva will make a $199 64-core board hitting… read more

Topics: Computers/Infotech/UI | Electronics | Innovation/Entrepreneurship

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Google Glass: how it works (infographic)

April 15, 2013

google-glass-projector

German artist Martin Missfeldt has created an infographic that attempts to show how Google Glass works, based on various sources (listed below). One correction: an image is actually not projected directly onto the retina; it is refracted by the cornea and focused by the lens.

Topics: VR/Augmented Reality/Computer Graphics

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Craig Venter’s bugs might save the world

May 31, 2012

Craig_Venter

Inside the laboratories of biotechnology, a literal possibility of artificial life is taking hold: What if machines really were alive?

The possibility of designing a new organism, entirely from synthetic DNA, to produce whatever compounds we want, would mark a radical leap forward in biotechnology and a paradigm shift in manufacturing.

The appeal of biological machinery is manifold:

  • Because organisms reproduce, they can generate not only their

… read more

Topics: Synthetic Biology

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Sandia nuclear-fusion liners break even in tests

September 19, 2012

Ryan_McBride

Magnetically imploded tubes called liners, intended to help produce controlled nuclear fusion at scientific “break-even” energies or better within the next few years, have functioned successfully in preliminary tests, according to a Sandia research paper accepted for publication by Physical Review Letters (PRL).

To exceed scientific break-even is the most hotly sought-after goal of fusion research, in which the energy released by a fusion reaction is… read more

Topics: Energy | Physics/Cosmology

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Tablets + cloud vs. desktop PCs

March 5, 2012

Windows on an iPad? Believe it. (Credit: Onlive)

As the action moves to tablets, mobile devices, and the cloud, what’s the future for the desktop PC?

Dim, according to OnLive, Inc., which has just introduced Onlive Desktop Plus, which displays a Windows 7 desktop on an iPad, with the full, latest versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Internet Explorer, Adobe Reader, and Flash videos, plus 5 GB of cloud storage.

The trick:a high-speed server farm in the cloud… read more

Topics: Computers/Infotech/UI | Internet/Telecom

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California passes driverless car bill

September 1, 2012

(Credit: iStockphoto)

Catching up with Nevada, it will be legal for autonomous cars to drive in California, probably within the next five years, if Gov. Brown signs SB 1298, just passed by the California Senate, the San Jose Mercury reports.

The bill charges the DMV by January 2015 with determining standards for vehicles and rules.

Automakers would have to get their vehicles approved by the state, and then licensed… read more

Topics: AI/Robotics

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New way to store solar energy for use whenever it’s needed

July 14, 2011

Storing solar energy in chemical form (credit: Grossman/Kolpak)

MIT researchers have developed a new application of carbon nanotubes that shows promise as an innovative approach to storing solar energy for use whenever it’s needed.

Storing the sun’s heat in chemical form — rather than first converting it to electricity or storing the heat itself in a heavily insulated container — has… read more

Topics: Energy | Nanotech/Materials Science

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How to become the engineers of our own evolution

March 20, 2012

singularityfringe

Adherents of “transhumanism” — a movement that seeks to transform Homo sapiens through tools like gene manipulation, “smart drugs” and nanomedicine — hail developments such as prototype bionic eyes and printed tracheas as evidence that we are becoming the engineers of our own evolution.

Transhumanists say we are morally obligated to help the human race transcend its biological limits; those who disagree are sometimes called Bio-Luddites. “The human quest… read more

Topics: Human Enhancement | Singularity/Futures

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Printable houses are coming

April 11, 2012

Italian inventor Enrico Dini, chairman of Monolite UK Ltd, has developed a huge three-dimensional printer called D-Shape that can print entire buildings out of sand and an inorganic binder. The printer works by spraying a thin layer of sand followed by a layer of magnesium-based binder from hundreds of nozzles on its underside. The glue turns the sand to solid stone, which is built up layer-by-layer from the bottom up to form anything from a sculpture to a sandstone building. (Credit: Monolite)

The first “printed homes” will be coming soon, says World Future Society blogger Thomas Frey.

One construction technology that has great potential for low-cost, customized buildings is “contour crafting — a form of 3D printing that uses robotic arms and nozzles to squeeze out layers of concrete or other materials, moving back and forth over a set path to fabricate a large component.

Structures would be quicker to make,… read more

Topics: Nanotech/Materials Science

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Pirate island attracts more than 100 startup tenants

May 9, 2012

Blueseed

More than 100 international tech companies have registered their interest in floating geek city Blueseed, to be launched next year in international waters outside of Silicon Valley.

The visa-free, start-up-friendly concept launched late last year aims to create a fully commercial technology incubator where global entrepreneurs can live and work in close proximity to the Valley, accessing VC funding and talent as required.

The… read more

Topics: Innovation/Entrepreneurship | Social/Ethical/Legal

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Bitcoin price soars above $9 for the first time in almost a year

July 19, 2012

bitcoinaccepted

The price of Bitcoins surged this week, rising above $9 for the first time in almost a year, Ars Technica reports. The increase suggests growing public interest in the peer-to-peer cryptocurrency.

Vices like pornography and gambling continue to be a significant factor in the currency’s value.

But other new uses for the currency continue to pop up. Coinbase, a startup aiming to… read more

Topics: Internet/Telecom | Social/Ethical/Legal

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iRobot files patent application for autonomous all-in-one 3D printing, milling, drilling and finishing robot

January 28, 2013

irobot_patent

Well, just when you thought 3D printing was finally putting you back in charge of creating your own stuff, along comes iRobot Corporation with a U.S. patent application for a “Robotic Fabricator.”

It’s conceived as a completely autonomous all-in-one product fabrication robot that handles manufacturing (including 3D printing) and all the post-printing work, from seed component to mature product, 3Ders reports.

A… read more

Topics: AI/Robotics | Nanotech/Materials Science | Social Networking/Web/Education

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