May 2012
Persistent sensory experience is good for aging... →
Virus Infects Computers Across Middle East →
Kaspersky, the computer security firm, says a new virus called Flame has invaded computers in Iran, Israel, Lebanon, Sudan, Syria, Saudi Arabia and Egypt for at least two years.
Smart Pebble Robots Will Let You Duplicate Objects... →
Imagine that you could toss an object such as a wrench into a container filled with tiny robots and, within seconds, the robots would “sense” the shape of the wrench and bind to each other to form a replica of the tool. Creating robots that could turn this sci-fi-like scenario into reality is the goal of an MIT team led by Professor Daniela Rus. They call the technology Smart Sand.
...
Quantum Physics and Photosynthesis →
Quantum physics and plant biology seem like two branches of science that could not be more different, but surprisingly they may in fact be intimately tied. Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory and the Notre Dame Radiation Laboratory at the University of Notre Dame used ultrafast spectroscopy to see what happens at the subatomic level during the...
RNA breakthrough transforms idea of gene control -... →
Robots will quickly recognize and respond to human... →
FutureNow! 24/7: TAPPING ALGAE ENERGY →
futurenow321:
Sapphire Energy, the Sorrento Valley company that’s on a mission to turn algae into the fuel of the future for cars and jets, is on a roll.
And Cynthia “C.J.” Warner who joined the company in 2009 as president and was tapped as CEO this year should know.
Last month, the company…
Technology Time Machine 2012: Networks in 2020... →
Robot Finger Does What Your Finger Can't →
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The Day You Discard Your Body →
Chapter 1 - Is our science fiction right? by Marshall Brain
Stop for a moment and think about your favorite science fiction stories.
For example, there are the two most popular science fiction franchises of all time: Star Wars and Star Trek. Both of them have brought in billions of dollars through movies, syndication, books and merchandise.
There are popular TV shows — everything from...
Open the Future: The Pink Collar Future →
Talking Monkeys In Space: On The Amazing Benefits... →
talkingmonkeynews:
Music and paying the gas bill have been digitalized, so you knew this was next. How can we stop abusing the environment, give ourselves superintelligence, and live forever? H+ Magazine on the inevitable necessity of switching from spongy flesh brains to uploaded ones:
Universal mind…
“One single asteroid in our solar system – 241 Germania – has $95.8 (£60)...”
– Single Asteroid Worth GBP 60 Trillion If It Was Mined – As Much as World Earns in a Year (Daily Mail)
“The finding comes in the wake of the founding of Planetary Resources, a venture backed by Avatar director James Cameron, which aims to mine asteroids for their wealth. Asterank is based on...
Driverless Cars Promise Huge Impact in Our... →
Imagine going to the grocery store in 25 years in your sleek new auto-drive car: You hop in, voice the destination and off you go. The quiet, electric-powered vehicle drops you off at the supermarket entrance, then auto-parks itself while you shop. As you exit the store, your car drives to the entrance, picks you up and returns home. You marvel at this incredible car that can also run errands...
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The Ukrainian “Human Barbie Doll” - Valeria... →
Immaculate doll-face, globulous breasts, teeny waist, slender limbs, vacant ice-blue eyes, long platinum hair - Valeria Lukyanova of Odessa, Ukraine, has re-designed her physical form to resemble Barbie, the plastic Mattel toy. Is the result “beautiful”? Critics screech that she’s “creepy” and “lifeless” with an “uncanny valley” absence of sexuality, but… let’s not kid ourselves here.
The 5’ 7”...
Come the Revolution →
Through ventures like Coursera, world-class learning is coming at bargain-basement prices.
Laboratory Equipment: Prototype Allows for... →
laboratoryequipment:
Researchers from North Carolina State Univ. have developed a new way to fine-tune wireless power transfer (WPT) receivers, making the systems more efficient and functional. WPT systems hold promise for charging electric vehicles, electronic devices and other technologies. Researchers have shown…
http://www.forbes.com/sites/markfidelman/2012/05/16... →
Hyperconnected Bodies, the rising cloud of... →
Hyperconnected Bodies, the rising cloud of self-aware data
by Wildcat onMay 14, 2012
Of course it is natural to augment reality, we do it with our eyes and brains ever since perception got, in a poetic sense, hijacked by our imagination.
A plethora of new apps are here to help us keep track of everything. Sharing and benchmarking are becoming the casual reality applications of our lives,...
Generating electricity from viruses as you walk →
singularitarian:
Scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have developed a way to generate power using harmless viruses that convert mechanical energy into electricity.
The generator produces enough current to operate a small liquid-crystal display. It works by tapping a finger on a postage stamp-sized electrode coated with specially...
First gene therapy successful against... →
More healthy years
As Blasco says, “aging is not currently regarded as a disease, but researchers tend increasingly to view it as the common origin of conditions like insulin resistance or cardiovascular disease, whose incidence rises with age. In treating cell aging, we could prevent these diseases.”
With regard to the therapy under testing, Bosch explains: “Because the vector...
http://www.ted.com/talks/michael_nielsen_open_scien... →
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Talking Monkeys In Space: How Telerobotics Could... →
talkingmonkeynews:
Advances in telerobotics are in high gear here on Earth, enabling scientists to plumb the deepest oceans, extract resources from dangerous mines and even carry out high-precision surgery from thousands of miles away.
Now researchers are considering ways to adopt and adapt telerobotics for…
http://www.fastcoexist.com/1679803/can-online-video... →
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Why Technoprogressives Should Join the Pirate... →
The liberation of people through technology, and the liberation of technology from the oppressive forces that want to control it, is part of the pirate DNA. This will be reflected at some point in actual policies of the Pirate Party, the party of the future.
http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2012-04/ch... →
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Signs of the Singularity →
This is part of IEEE Spectrum’s SPECIAL REPORT: THE SINGULARITY
Image: Bryan Christie Design
I think it’s likely that with technology we can in the fairly near future create or become creatures of more than human intelligence. Such a technological singularity would revolutionize our world, ushering in a posthuman epoch. If it were to happen a million years from now, no big deal. So...
Lunchtime Reading: Vernor Vinge's Latest Ideas... →
The latest issue of IEEE Spectrum, a journal for speculative engineering geeks, is devoted to “the singularity,” that moment when our society changes so dramatically that it becomes incomprehensible to people who lived in the past.
Made in space coming soon to a product near you →
singularitarian:
The European Space Agency is hatching plans for a branding campaign aimed at making people more aware of the benefits of spending their hard-earned taxes on the International Space Station (ISS).
Light touch keeps a grip on delicate nanoparticles →
Light Touch Keeps a Grip On Delicate Nanoparticles
ScienceDaily (May 4, 2012) — Using a refined technique for trapping and manipulating nanoparticles, researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have extended the trapped particles’ useful life more than tenfold. This new approach, which one researcher likens to “attracting moths,” promises to give...
What is your dog thinking? Brain scans unleash... →
Eye implants restore 'useful sight' to two blind... →
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'Microsubmarines' designed to help clean up oil... →
