Lifeboat News: The Blog – Safeguarding Humanity

In-orbit services poised to become big business

Posted by Klaus Baldauf in business, government, robotics/AI, satellites

Jun 11
2018

A transition is happening in the satellite business. Fast-moving technology and evolving customer demands are driving operators to rethink major investments in new satellites and consider other options such as squeezing a few more years of service out of their current platforms.

Which makes this an opportune moment for the arrival of in-orbit servicing.

Sometime in early 2019, the first commercial servicing spacecraft is scheduled to launch. The Mission Extension Vehicle built by Orbital ATK on behalf of subsidiary SpaceLogistics, will the first of several such robotic craft that are poised to compete for a share of about $3 billion worth of in-orbit services that satellite operators and government agencies are projected to buy over the coming decade.

Scientists Can Design ‘Better’ Babies. Should They?

Posted by Genevieve Klien in genetics

Jun 10
2018

Advances in reproductive technology have put genetic choices within reach of perspective parents. But critics warn of ethical peril.

Rutgers physicists create new class of 2D artificial materials

Posted by Genevieve Klien in materials, physics

Jun 10
2018

In 1965, a renowned Princeton University physicist theorized that ferroelectric metals could conduct electricity despite not existing in nature.

For decades, scientists thought it would be impossible to prove the theory by Philip W. Anderson, who shared the 1977 Nobel Prize in physics. It was like trying to blend fire and water, but a Rutgers-led international team of scientists has verified the theory and their findings are published online in Nature Communications.

“It’s exciting,” said Jak Chakhalian, a team leader of the study and Professor Claud Lovelace Endowed Chair in Experimental Physics at Rutgers University-New Brunswick. “We created a new class of two-dimensional artificial materials with ferroelectric-like properties at room temperature that don’t exist in nature yet can conduct electricity. It’s an important link between a theory and an experiment.”

AI cancer detectors

Posted by Genevieve Klien in biotech/medical, robotics/AI

Jun 10
2018

Researchers suggest artificial intelligence is now better and faster at detecting cancer than clinicians.

Ian Tucker

20 Years of Earth Data Now at Your Fingertips

Posted by Michael Lance in satellites

Jun 10
2018

Powerful Earth-observing instruments aboard NASA’s Terra and Aqua satellites, launched in 1999 and 2002, respectively, have observed nearly two decades of planetary change. Now, for the first time, all that imagery — from the first operational image to imagery acquired today — is available for exploration in Worldview.

Isaac Launches New Era of Autonomous Machines

Posted by Klaus Baldauf in food, robotics/AI

Jun 10
2018

Computex—NVIDIA today announced the availability of NVIDIA® Isaac™, a new platform to power the next generation of autonomous machines, bringing artificial intelligence capabilities to robots for manufacturing, logistics, agriculture, construction and many other industries.

Launched at Computex 2018 by NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang, NVIDIA Isaac includes new hardware, software and a virtual-world robot simulator.

“AI is the most powerful technology force of our time,” said Huang. “Its first phase will enable new levels of software automation that boost productivity in many industries. Next, AI, in combination with sensors and actuators, will be the brain of a new generation of autonomous machines. Someday, there will be billions of intelligent machines in manufacturing, home delivery, warehouse logistics and much more.”

Researchers Have Invented an Awesome And Scary Nuclear Battery Pack

Posted by Shane Hinshaw in materials, nuclear energy

Jun 10
2018

Are we ready?

Batteries powered by radioactive materials have been around for more than a century, but what they promise in power they usually lose in bulk.

Not so with a new kind of power source, which combines a novel structure with a nickel isotope to pack ten times more power than an electrochemical cell of the same size. The only question is, are we ready to go nuclear?

A team of Russian researchers have put a new spin on technology that uses the beta decay of a radioactive element to create differences in voltage.

Continue reading “Researchers Have Invented an Awesome And Scary Nuclear Battery Pack” | >

Another “missing” component could revolutionize electronics

Posted by Shane Hinshaw in business, computing

Jun 10
2018

Business Impact

Another “missing” component could revolutionize electronics.

A new theory predicts the existence of an electronic device that works like an inverse transistor. It could make circuits, smaller, faster, and less power hungry.

Playing piano with a mind-controlled robotic arm

Posted by Dan Kummer in biotech/medical, cyborgs, robotics/AI

Jun 10
2018

The arm/hand probably intended for the ATLAS robot. I’d be curious if they are already playing with attaching it on to the robot.

The first person to live with a mind-controlled robotic arm is teaching himself piano. Johnny Matheny has spent the last five months with an advanced prosthetic, designed to replace the human hand and arm.

The robot arm is part of a research project run through the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab, and funded, in part, by the US Department of Defense. Data that researchers collect could revolutionize future mind-controlled robotics.

Continue reading “Playing piano with a mind-controlled robotic arm” | >

Nucleus of the cell mapped in 3D

Posted by Dan Kummer in biotech/medical, genetics

Jun 10
2018

For the first time, researchers have mapped the cell nucleus in 3D, revealing the packaging and organization of a cell’s DNA in unprecedented detail.

June 8 (UPI) — The nucleus of the cell is where the action happens, but it’s not easy to analyze the behavior of a massive genome inside an area 50 times smaller than the width of a human hair.

Now, for the first time, researchers have mapped the cell nucleus in 3D, revealing the packaging and organization of a cell’s DNA in unprecedented detail.

Inside each cell is the same massive chain of DNA. But most of the coding lies dormant. The combination of genetic sequences within in the chain that are turned off or on — and expressed via RNA — determines the role and functionality of each cell.

Continue reading “Nucleus of the cell mapped in 3D” | >