TED just released the full video of Meta CEO Meron Gribetz’s preview of Meta’s next-generation augmented reality (AR) technology at the TED 2016 conference on Feb. 17. It can be found online at metavision.com and TED.com.
The presentation, which Forbes said “dazzles TED crowd” and received a standing ovation from TED attendees, dramatically showcases the capabilities of the Meta 2 Development Kit.… read more
Traffic-light-free transportation design, if it ever arrives, could allow twice as much traffic to use the roads, according to a newly published open-access study in PLoS One co-authored by MIT researchers.
The idea is based on future vehicles equipped with the kind of sensors used in autonomous vehicles and that communicate wirelessly with each other, rather than grinding to a halt at traffic lights.
The researchers created a… read more
A new sonar technology called FingerIO will make it easier to interact with screens on smartwatches and smartphones by simply writing or gesturing on any nearby surface. It’s is an active sonar system using the device’s own microphones and speakers to track fine-grained finger movements (to within 8mm).
Because sound waves travel through fabric and do not require line of sight, users can even interact with these… read more
UC Berkeley engineers have shown for the first time that magnetic chips can actually operate at the lowest fundamental energy dissipation theoretically possible under the laws of thermodynamics. That means dramatic reductions in power consumption are possible — down to as little as one-millionth the amount of energy per operation used by transistors in modern computers.
The findings were published Mar. 11 an open-access paper in… read more
Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) researchers have taken early steps towards producing a bioengineered heart for transplantation that would use cells from the patient receiving the heart.
Using a patient’s own cells would help to overcome some of the problems associated with receiving a heart donated by another person, including immune rejection of the donated heart, as well as the long-term side effects of life-long treatment with the immunosuppressive… read more
Penn State University researchers have released a roadmap for developing future additive manufacturing (3D printing) materials and processes.
It’s much needed. Most of the feedstock materials currently used in 3D printing are costly, not readily available, and limited, according to the researchers. The first additive manufacturing (AM) processes were actually developed 30 years ago. All of the metal alloys currently used, for example, were developed to be… read more
A new study of the exotic “motors” that bacteria use to swim reveals details of how they “swim” that may make it possible to design specific drugs that sabotage the flagella (tails) in targeted bacterial species.
Using a newly installed high-powered electron microscope, researchers at Imperial College London, led by Morgan Beeby, PhD from the Department of Life Sciences, has been able visualize these motors… read more
Machine learning systems are becoming ubiquitous, but what about false or damaging information about you (and others) that these systems have learned? Is it even possible for that information to be ever corrected? There are some heavy security and privacy questions here. Ever Google yourself?
Some background: machine-learning software programs calculate predictive relationships from massive amounts of data. The systems identify these predictive relationships using advanced algorithms — a… read more
A UCLA research team has developed a plan for capturing carbon from power-plant smokestacks (the largest source of harmful global greenhouse gas in the world) and use it to create a new building material — CO2NCRETE — that would be fabricated using 3D printers while replacing production of cement (which creates about 5 percent of the planet’s greenhouse gas emissions).
“I decided to get involved in this project because… read more
Drexel University engineers have developed a method for using electric fields to help microscopic bacteria-powered robots detect obstacles in their environment and navigate around them. Uses include delivering medication, manipulating stem cells to direct their growth, or building a microstructure, for example.
The method is a follow-up to a 2014 report that presented a way to use the flagellated bacteria Serratia marcescens and an electric field to make a microrobot mobile.… read more
Duke University scientists have developed a “neurofeedback” technique to improve self motivation by manipulating specific neural circuits using thoughts and imagery. (Neurofeedback is a specialized form of biofeedback that can help generate strategies to overcome anxiety and stress or to cope with other medical conditions.)
“These methods show a direct route for manipulating brain networks centrally involved in healthy brain function and daily behavior,” said the study’s… read more
A new molecule known as 6S has reduced the death of brain tissue from ischemic stroke by up to 66 percent in rats while reducing the accompaning inflammation, researchers at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the National University of Singapore reported March 9 in an open-access paper published by the journal ACS Central Science.
The inhibitor molecule works by binding to cystathionine beta-synthase… read more
Replacing inefficient experimentation, UConn researchers have used machine learning to systematically scan millions of theoretical compounds for qualities that would make better materials for solar cells, fibers, and computer chips.
Led by UConn materials scientist Ramamurthy ‘Rampi’ Ramprasad, the researchers set out to determine which polymer atomic configurations make a given polymer a good electrical conductor or insulator, for example.
A polymer is a large… read more
Older adults who recalled more robots portrayed in films had lower anxiety toward robots than seniors who remembered fewer robot portrayals, Penn State researchers found in a study.
That could help elders accept robots as caregivers, said S. Shyam Sundar, Distinguished Professor of Communications and co-director of the Media Effects Research Laboratory.
“Increasingly, people are talking about smart homes and health care facilities and the roles… read more
Researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and Shiley Eye Institute, with colleagues in China, have developed an eye lens restoration treatment that has been tested in monkeys and in a small human clinical trial. It produced much fewer surgical complications than the current standard-of-care and resulted in regenerated lenses with superior visual function in all 12 of the pediatric cataract patients who received the new surgery.… read more