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Insects inspiring new robot vision technology for collision avoidance

Reverse-engineering the locust's motion sensitive movement-detector interneuron
February 25, 2013

locust-controlled robot

A computerized system that allows for autonomous navigation of mobile robots based on the locust’s unique visual system has been created by scientists from the University of Lincoln and Newcastle University

The work could provide the blueprint for the development of highly accurate vehicle collision sensors, surveillance technology, and even aid video game programming, according to the researchers.

Locusts have a distinctive way of… read more

Topics: AI/Robotics

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Collision in the making between self-driving cars and how the world works

January 26, 2012

Robot Car

Questions of legal liability, privacy and insurance regulation self-driving vehicles have yet to be addressed, and such challenges might pose far more problems than the technological ones.

Should the police have the right to pull over autonomous vehicles?

Human drivers frequently bend the rules by rolling through stop signs and driving above speed limits; how would a polite and law-abiding robot vehicle fare against such competition?

What… read more

Topics: AI/Robotics | Computers/Infotech/UI | Social/Ethical/Legal

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Scientists close to entering Vostok, Antarctica’s biggest subglacial lake

February 2, 2012

lake-vostok-antarctica-nasa-gsfc

After drilling for two decades through more than two miles of antarctic ice, Russian scientists are on the verge of entering a vast, dark lake that hasn’t been touched by light for more than 20?million years.

This is the first direct contact with what scientists now know is a web of more than 200 subglacial lakes in Antarctica.

Scientists are enormously excited about what life-forms might… read more

Topics: Environment/Climate | Space

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A real fMRI high: my ecstasy brain scan

September 19, 2012

5,6-Methylenedioxy-N-methyl-2-aminoindane (credit: Wikipedia)

New Scientist reporter Graham Lawton is taking part in a groundbreaking study on MDMA, the drug commonly known as ecstasy.

The research is run by David Nutt of Imperial College London, a former government adviser and one of the few UK researchers licensed to study class-A drugs. Objectives: discover what MDMA does to the human brain and study MDMA as a… read more

Topics: Cognitive Science/Neuroscience

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Have astronomers found chemical precursor to life in gas clouds?

January 14, 2013

star-formation-orion

Astronomers have found tentative traces of a precursor chemical to the building blocks of life near a star-forming region about 1,000 light-years from Earth, Space.com reports.

The signal from the molecule, hydroxylamine, which is made up of atoms of nitrogen, hydrogen and oxygen, still needs to be verified. But, if confirmed, it would mean scientists had found a chemical that could potentially seed life on other worlds,… read more

Topics: Biotech | Space

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A Star Trek ‘tractor’ beam for microscopic objects

January 28, 2013

In the experimental system, a light beam is converted into a pulling device that gathers microscopic polystyrene spheres just like when using a chain (credit: University of St Andrews)

A miniature “tractor” beam that allows a beam of light to attract objects (as featured in Star Trek movies) has been created by researchers from the University of St Andrews and the Institute of Scientific Instruments (ISI) in the Czech Republic.

This is the first time a light beam has been used to draw objects towards a light source. It generates a special optical field… read more

Topics: Nanotech/Materials Science | Physics/Cosmology

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Can interacting with avatars reduce depression?

February 12, 2013

Depression

A preliminary study by researchers at Case Western Reserve University suggests that depression symptoms may be significantly reduced when 18- to 25-year-olds interact with computerized avatars — virtual 3D images of a healthcare provider like a nurse practitioner or physician — as a way to rehearse office visits ahead of time and learn self-management skills.

At this age, a majority of young people do not… read more

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

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Folding bikes and cars offer solutions to urban transportation problems

June 15, 2012

folding_car

BMW has come up with an innovative two-wheeler, the BMW i Pedelec (Pedal Electric Cycle) Concept, designed mainly for urban areas, BMW Blog reports.

It’s a compact bicycle fitted with an electric motor that tops up the rider’s muscle power with an extra dose of torque.

It has a range of 25 to 40 kilometers (16 to 25 miles). Under braking and when riding downhill, the hub motor… read more

Topics: Social/Ethical/Legal

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Nuance introduces Nina, the virtual assistant for mobile customer-service apps

August 7, 2012

meet_nina_nuance

Nuance Communications, Inc. has introduced Nina, the virtual assistant for mobile customer service apps.

With Nina, companies can now quickly add speech-based virtual assistant capabilities to their existing iOS and Android mobile apps, Nuance said.

In other words, companies can now create custom Siri-like apps.

Nina combines Nuance speech recognition, Text-to-Speech (TTS), voice biometrics, and natural language understanding (NLU) technology hosted in… read more

Topics: AI/Robotics | Computers/Infotech/UI | Human Enhancement

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How synthetic biology will change the world

August 23, 2012

Biocounter

Professor Pamela Silver of Harvard Medical School (HMS) believes in biology’s potential to change the world.

For example: scientists routinely wield microbes against disease, using computers to turn bacteria into microscopic drug factories rapidly assembled from off-the-shelf biological parts; crops ease world hunger and convert sunlight into biomass; and the cells of astronauts remember if they’ve been damaged by gamma rays, alerting doctors before cancer… read more

Topics: Biotech | Synthetic Biology

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Imec and Nantero launch joint carbon-nanotube-memory program for high-density next-generation memory below 20nm

November 2, 2012

Illustration of CNTs forming an electrical connection (credit:

 

Imec, a world-leading research institution in nanoelectronics, and Nantero, Inc., a nanotechnology company using carbon nanotubes (CNTs) for the development of next-generation semiconductor devices, have announced a joint development program.

The collaboration will focus on the carbon-nanotube-based memory developed by Nantero, NRAM, and its application in high-density next-generation memories with a size under 20nm.

Carbon nanotubes… read more

Topics: Electronics | Innovation/Entrepreneurship | Nanotech/Materials Science

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Neal Stephenson on science fiction, building towers 20 kilometers high … and insurance

April 19, 2012

Neal Stephenson

In a public interview at MIT with Technology Review‘s Jason Pontin, the best-selling author talked about the obstacles faced by real emerging technologies, Technology Review Editors Blog reports.

Neal Stephenson worries that the gloomy outlook prevalent in modern science fiction may be undermining the genre’s ability to inspire engineers and scientists. Last year, he launched the Heiroglyph Project, with the goal of creating an… read more

Topics: Singularity/Futures

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Volvo’s autonomous cars travel 124 miles in Spain in ‘road train’

May 31, 2012

Volvo has tested its fuel-saving”road train” technology on public roads in Spain, finding the historic test “highly successful.”

Volvo used one lead vehicle and four trailing vehicles — consisting of a Volvo S60, a Volvo V60 and a Volvo XC60 plus a truck — that drove autonomously for 200 kilometers (124 miles) at 85 kilometers an hour (53 miles per hour) on the roads outside Barceolona.

Existing safety… read more

Topics: AI/Robotics | Social/Ethical/Legal

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100 Year Starship Study report

January 5, 2012

Project Daedalus

Physics World’s January issue features a report on the 100 Year Starship Study (100YSS) conference, where delegates, from ex-astronauts to engineers, artists, students, and science-fiction writers, looked at the range of issues facing scientists who would like to make interstellar travel a reality.

Starting with the development of a rocket engine that can reach high velocity, humans are not short of initiative, but, as Perkowitz describes, even… read more

Topics: Physics/Cosmology | Space

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DARPA works on ‘virtual reality’ contact lenses

February 2, 2012

DARPAlens

The Defense Advanced Research Projects (DARPA) agency is working with Innovega to create  wearable contact lenses with tiny, full-color displays that digital images can be projected onto to give the wearers better situational awareness in intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) activities, according to the agency.

iOptiks are contact lenses that enhance normal vision by allowing a wearer to view virtual and augmented reality images without the… read more

Topics: Survival/Defense | VR/Augmented Reality/Computer Graphics

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