Lifeboat Foundation

Robots aren’t exactly known for their delicate touch, but soon, the stereotype of the non-gentle machine may change. Scientists say they have managed to develop a robot with “a new soft gripper” that makes use of a phenomenon known as electroadhesion — which is essentially the next best thing to giving robots opposable thumbs. According to EPFL scientists, these next-gen grippers can handle fragile objects no matter what their shape — everything from an egg to a water balloon to a piece of paper is fair game.

This latest advance in robotics, funded by NCCR Robotics, may allow machines to take on unprecedented roles. “This is the first time that electroadhesion and soft robotics have been combined together to grasp objects,” said Jun Shintake, a doctoral student at EPFL. Potential applications include handling food, capturing debris (both in space and at home), or even being integrated into prosthetic limbs.

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At Singularity University, space is one of our Global Grand Challenges (GGCs). The GGCs are defined as billion-person problems. They include, for example, water, food, and energy and serve as targets for the innovation and technologies that can make the world a better place.

You might be thinking: We have enough challenges here on Earth—why include space?

Continue reading “Space and Technology Review: Our Home Among the Stars” »

“Unlike other vertical farms that use market-ready technology, Romano developed Infinite Harvest’s proprietary building management system from the ground up, using his knowledge of space habitat design.

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“Mining in space will take a leap from the realms of science fiction towards commercial reality on Wednesday when Luxembourg launches an official initiative to promote the mining of asteroids for minerals.”

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A few years ago, my friend and I were brainstorming on some NextGen Technologies to look at for investment purposes. And, he suggested Polymer Coating. And, was he ever right. Google and others are using it for screen imaging on Lens, etc. Love this stuff.

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have combined advanced nanometer-scale gratings and a Space Age-era thin-film polymer, to invent a novel technology. This technology can be used to fabricate routers and switches for optical signals, energy-efficient full-color video displays, and smart windows and coatings.

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Welcome to the future, folks.

There is more mineral wealth just floating around our solar system than a million times the amount Earth EVER contained. As these asteroids are mined, tunnels will be built, forming the basis for a space station and/or colony. This fact more than doubling the usefulness of the entire operation, AND it’s return on investment. I think THIS is going to be the way in which we’ll begin to colonize our Solar System. Also, a lot of the hazardous (to the environment, human beings, and/or both) that are an inevitable byproduct of heavy industry on our planet could be exported to stations like these, tripling the value of the entire operation.

Continue reading “The Race To Mine Asteroids Gains International Support” »

http://www.transcendencemovie.com/

Dr. Will Caster: “For 130,000 years, our capacity for reason has remained unchanged. The combined intellect of the neuroscientists, engineers, mathematicians and hackers in this auditorium pales in comparison to even the most basic AI. Once online, a sentient machine will quickly overcome the limits of biology. And in a short time, its analytical power will be greater than the collective intelligence of every person born in the history of the world. So now imagine such an entity with the full range of human emotion. Even self-awareness. Some scientists refer to this as ‘the Singularity’. I call it ’Transcendence’. The path to building such a super-intelligence requires us to unlock the most fundamental secrets of the universe. What is the nature of consciousness? Is there a soul? And if so, where does it reside?”

Luddite: “Dr. Caster.”

Continue reading “‘Some scientists refer to this as the Singularity. I call it Transcendence.’” »

The San Jose Mercury News took a look at SRI’s collaboration with Yamaha to develop Motobot, the first motorcycle-riding humanoid robot. “Consider it a high-tech diagnostic tool for motorcycles that just happens to look like a cyborg.”

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It sounds fairly alarming — but a scientist claims that our galaxy may not just be in the process of dying, but already be dead. Kevin Schawinski of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich, explains that galaxies ‘die’ when they stop forming new stars from gas. ‘This may sound scenic, but refers to the population between the blue star-forming galaxies (the ‘blue cloud’) and the red, passively evolving galaxies (the ‘red sequence’).

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