Sep 18, 2015
700 mph in a tube: The Hyperloop experience
Posted by Shailesh Prasad in categories: Elon Musk, transportation
It’s Elon Musk’s idea, but Hyperloop Transportation Technologies is trying to make this “pipe dream” a reality.
Page 10878
Sep 18, 2015
Hacking sleep: Meet the transhumanists making sleep obsolete
Posted by Shailesh Prasad in categories: health, life extension, neuroscience, transhumanism
Not everyone wants to sleep in. A growing transhumanism community wants to sleep less, and better, and they’re going to great lengths to make it happen.
For those unaware, transhumanism is an intellectual and cultural movement that aims to improve the human condition, to push beyond our biological limitations, largely through technological advancements. They’re particularly focused on extreme longevity. But with treatments for an extended healthy life still works in progress (and playing out on a very long timeline), some transhumanists have turned their attention to sleep.
The average well-rested person sleeps eight hours a day. The average American lives 79 years. That’s a little more than just 50 years being awake. Life is much shorter than you realized — at least if you agree with your typical sleep-hacker that sleeping is wasted downtime.
Sep 18, 2015
Satya Nadella: Once you use HoloLens, there’s no going back
Posted by Shailesh Prasad in categories: augmented reality, computing
Speaking at Salesforce’s Dreamforce 2015 conference, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella shared updates on the company’s HoloLens holographic headset-based computing technology.
Sep 17, 2015
The UK’s first self-driving ‘pod’ vehicle hits the streets
Posted by Shailesh Prasad in categories: robotics/AI, transportation
https://youtube.com/watch?v=erjo8yfyD9w
The self-driving vehicle revolution has gotten underway in the UK, with the first of a number of automated ‘pod’ trial vehicles unveiled to the public in Milton Keynes this week.
The LUTZ (Low-carbon Urban Transport Zone) Pathfinder is a diminutive electric-powered two-seater that’s about half the length of an ordinary car. If you feel the need for speed, however, you may want to look elsewhere for now. The Pathfinder is designed for use in pedestrianised areas, with a top speed of just 24 km/hr.
Continue reading “The UK’s first self-driving ‘pod’ vehicle hits the streets” »
Sep 17, 2015
Roomba advances robot intelligence with a model that can map your house and remember where it’s cleaned
Posted by Shailesh Prasad in categories: habitats, neuroscience, robotics/AI
The future of household robots owes a lot to 19th century American explorers Lewis and Clark.
At least, that’s what iRobot CEO Colin Angle told a crowd of reporters at a press event in New York on Sept. 16, introducing the Roomba 980, iRobot’s newest trashcan-lid-shaped vacuuming robot. It may look like every other Roomba the company has released over the past decade or so, but this one has a new trick: It knows how to map out its surroundings and find its way home.
“Roomba’s mission is to clean, which is not as exciting as Lewis and Clark,” Angle said, “But nonetheless very important.”
Sep 17, 2015
There could be a smart way to use orange peels that the juice industry throws away
Posted by Shailesh Prasad in category: sustainability
Sep 17, 2015
Mercedes-Benz announces plans to develop luxury driverless cars
Posted by Shailesh Prasad in categories: robotics/AI, transportation
CEO of parent company, Damiler, says Mercedes premium driverless cars are a ‘concrete development goal’.
Sep 17, 2015
Single photon decision-maker solves multi-armed bandit problem
Posted by Shailesh Prasad in categories: computing, information science, particle physics, quantum physics
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-armed_bandit
In probability theory, the multi-armed bandit problem (sometimes called the K- or N-armed bandit problem) is a problem in which a gambler at a row of slot machines (sometimes known as “one-armed bandits”) has to decide which machines to play, how many times to play each machine and in which order to play them. When played, each machine provides a random reward from a distribution specific to that machine. The objective of the gambler is to maximize the sum of rewards earned through a sequence of lever pulls.
(Phys.org)—A combined team of researchers from France and Japan has created a decision-making device that is based on basic properties of quantum mechanics. In their paper published in Scientific Reports (and uploaded to the arXiv preprint server), the team describes the idea behind their device and how it works.
Continue reading “Single photon decision-maker solves multi-armed bandit problem” »
Sep 17, 2015
The world’s first all-electric propulsion satellite is now operational
Posted by Shailesh Prasad in categories: electronics, internet, space
Boeing has announced that the ABS–3A, the world’s first all-electric propulsion satellite, has commenced its tour of duty.
The communications satellite is being operated by ABS, a Bermuda-based satellite network that provides TV, Internet, and cellular services across the world. Unlike conventional satellites, which have mostly used propellant systems that burn chemicals of one kind or another to get about the place, the ABS–3A makes use of a xenon-ion propulsion system to achieve thrust.
Specifically, the all-electric propulsion system uses electron bombardment to create xenon ions, which are then expelled by the spacecraft, producing thrust in the opposite direction.
Sep 17, 2015
System can convert MRI heart scans into 3D-printed, physical models in a few hours
Posted by Shailesh Prasad in categories: 3D printing, biotech/medical, computing, engineering
Researchers at MIT and Boston Children’s Hospital have developed a system that can take MRI scans of a patient’s heart and, in a matter of hours, convert them into a tangible, physical model that surgeons can use to plan surgery.
The models could provide a more intuitive way for surgeons to assess and prepare for the anatomical idiosyncrasies of individual patients. “Our collaborators are convinced that this will make a difference,” says Polina Golland, a professor of electrical engineering and computer science at MIT, who led the project. “The phrase I heard is that ‘surgeons see with their hands,’ that the perception is in the touch.”
This fall, seven cardiac surgeons at Boston Children’s Hospital will participate in a study intended to evaluate the models’ usefulness.
