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May 9, 2016

Siri Creator Demos New AI That Doesn’t Suck This Time

Posted by in categories: neuroscience, robotics/AI

At TechCrunch’s Disrupt NY, Siri creator Dag Kittlaus performed the first public demo of Siri’s new cousin, Viv. Kittlaus described the brains of Viv as, “software that’s writing itself,” which is a pretty bold statement with some implications that call to mind the dreariest of Skynet dystopias. But what exactly makes it any better than Siri?

The fact is we don’t yet know how good this new voice assistant will be, but we can reflect a little bit on what we see during the controlled demo in the video below. For starters, Viv is designed to integrate seamlessly with third party apps, which is a major deficit on Siri’s part. The new AI was able to send money via Venmo, book a room through Hotels.com, and hail a cab from Uber. And it did so quickly and with no apparent hassle. Kittlaus later in the presentation described Viv as a “marketplace” that he saw as an improvement upon app stores.

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May 9, 2016

Is AI ‘the most important technology that anybody on the planet is working on today’?

Posted by in category: robotics/AI

Coplin says AI is the most important technology anybody is working on.

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May 9, 2016

This vitamin stops the aging process in organs, say Swiss researchers

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, life extension

Improved muscle stem cell numbers and muscle function in NR-treated aged mice: Newly regenerated muscle fibers 7 days after muscle damage in aged mice (left: control group; right: fed NR). (Scale bar = 50 μm). (credit: Hongbo Zhang et al./Science)

EPFL researchers have restored the ability of mice organs to regenerate and extend life by simply administering nicotinamide riboside (NR) to them.

NR has been shown in previous studies to be effective in boosting metabolism and treating a number of degenerative diseases. Now, an article by PhD student Hongbo Zhang published in Science also describes the restorative effects of NR on the functioning of stem cells for regenerating organs.

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May 8, 2016

General atomics railgun has successful tests which will lead to army truck based railgun system

Posted by in categories: electronics, transportation

https://youtube.com/watch?v=M3C6lrTkBXU

General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems (GA-EMS) officials demonstrated its Blitzer electromagnetic railgun system at the U.S. Army’s Fires Center of Excellence annual Maneuver and Fires Integration Experiment (MFIX)last month at Ft. Sill in Lawton, Oklahoma.

There were eleven firings of the Blitzer railgun during the MFIX event, all at a target with a range that was greater than previous Blitzer firings. At the end of MFIX, GA-EMS’ Blitzer railgun system will be transported back to Dugway Proving Ground in Utah for more testing later this year.

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May 8, 2016

These Super-Efficient Solar Panels Are Light Enough To Install Almost Anywhere

Posted by in categories: solar power, sustainability

Affix Sunflare’s technology to wherever you want with barely any effort.

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May 8, 2016

You Can “Feel” Your Fingers With This Bionic Arm

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, cyborgs, transhumanism

You Can “Feel” Your Fingers With This Bionic Arm


Researchers have built a bionic arm that allows patients to control and “feel” their individual fingers.

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May 8, 2016

How reverse photosynthesis uses sunlight to make fuel

Posted by in categories: energy, entertainment

Researchers are developing a potentially game-changing method of producing fuels and chemicals.

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May 8, 2016

Scientists Can Now Identify Individuals Based on Brain Waves—And It’s 100% Accurate

Posted by in category: neuroscience

Researchers discovered that people respond to stimuli differently enough that it is possible to create a unique signature, a brainprint, that could one day replace fingerprints in a number of instances.

For the longest time, the world has relied on fingerprints as a way to easily identify individuals. This is because a fingerprint is unique (and permanent) for each person—so what happens when someone’s fingerprint is stolen? This may sound a little farfetched, but it is easy enough to take a fingerprint from another, you just need to swipe a glass that they held.

And of course, you can’t grow a new finger to replace the print. This means that, when it gets compromised, it’s compromised forever. But now, researchers from Binghamton University have found a more efficient way to identify people—using brain waves.

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May 8, 2016

Scientists Make Sea Water Drinkable, Produce 6.3 Million Litres A Day

Posted by in category: space

From a whale song to a kiss, the time capsule sent into space in 1977 had some interesting content NASA placed a more ambitious message a…

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May 8, 2016

Graphene electronic paper developed in China

Posted by in category: materials

The world’s first graphene-based electronic paper for use in both hard and flexible displays for electronic devices has been developed in China.

Electronic paper display company Guangzhou OED Technologies announced it has developed the graphene-based e-paper, which it described as being more pliable and having higher light transmittance than existing types of e-paper.

As a result, graphene-based displays would be brighter but also cheaper, as graphene is based on the abundant element carbon, the firm said. Conventional e-paper is made of the rather costly rare metal indium.

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