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Rebirth of the 1960s cult classic “Fantastic Voyage”; however, this time its not a movie.

When asked what exactly a “nano submarine” was, University of California San Diego chair of nanoengineering professor Joseph Wang described it as like something taken from the 1966 film Fantastic Voyage, where medical personnel board a submarine were shrunk to microscopic size to travel through the bloodstream of a wounded diplomat and save his life.

Professor Wang said his team was getting closer to the goal of using nano submarines in a variety of ways, minus the shrunken humans and sabotage of the 1966 film.

“It’s like the Fantastic Voyage movie, where you want to improve therapeutic and diagnostic abilities through proper timing and proper location to improve efficiency,” he said.

Continue reading “U of California: Nano submarines could change healthcare, says nanoengineer professor” | >

Interesting perspective.

James Dyson is an evangelist for the creative process of change, quoting ‘People think of creativity as a mystical process. Creativity is something that has to be worked at, and it has specific characteristics. Unless we understand how it happens, we will not improve our creativity, as a society or as a world’. Creativity in corporates often defaults to ‘brainstorming’.

If brainstorming sessions are nothing more than an excuse for people to sit in a room, say they are not really sure what to do and then discuss last night’s television, then yes they are a waste of time. In fact, they are worse than that, they are a force for stagnation and serve only to reinforce the idea that there are no original thinkers in the team and that those present are incapable of coming up with any ideas that are interesting, innovative, exploratory or adventurous.

Where brainstorming sessions are allowed to become an environment of devolved responsibility, the phenomenon of social loafing can quickly take hold and encourage people to sit back and idle. If this happens sessions can rapidly turn into a fruitless waste of time that throw up the same old ideas, from the same old people, with the same lacklustre results.

Continue reading “Brain dead brainstorming” | >

I have share my own risks on BMI a while back especially that which is connected (net, cloud, etc.)

brain malware 1Short Bytes: For a moment, forget computer and smartphone malware. There’s even a bigger danger in town in the form of brain malware. By exploiting brain-computer interfaces (BCI) being used in medical and gaming applications, hackers can read your private and sensitive data. Recently, a team of researchers from the University of Washington shed more light on the subject, demanding a policy-oriented regulation on BCIs.

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NORWELL, Mass.—()— Last week, Nature Publishing Group sent the scientific areas of the Internet into a frenzy by publishing a groundbreaking study that proves the positive effects of long-term training with Brain Machine Interfaces (BMI) on patients who have suffered a spinal cord injury (SCI).

The study titled “Long-Term Training with a Brain-Machine Interface-Based Gait Protocol Induces Partial Neurological Recovery in Paraplegic Patients” was conducted by an international group of scientists, led by the Duke University neurobiologist Miguel Nicolelis and demonstrates that it’s never too late to start intensive therapy.

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A few months ago I warned folks about the resettlement and expansion across Siberia; well this was one of the reasons I listed. So, here we are.

Russia has increased its Arctic oil production despite limitations imposed by Western sanctions and a more than two-year plunge in global oil prices, causing angst with environmentalists that warn of serious environmental degradation in case of a mishap.

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Russia has begun designing a new super-heavy carrier rocket, which will be made using the accomplishments of the Energy-Buran program. This was reported by Russian newspaper, Izvestia. According to the General Director of RSC Energia, Vladimir Solntsev, it is expected that the existing RD-171 engine will be used.

“At this moment, we are not considering using hydrogen circuits on the first and second stages of this launch vehicle. In the third stage, we hope to use circuits from Angara, which is already flying,” he explained.

The rocket will launch a capacity of approximately 80 tons into low Earth orbit (LEO). Its further evolution, based on RD-171 technology, may make it possible to increase its carrying capacity to 120 tons and, if necessary, up to 160 tons due to changes in the rocket engine layout, and the expansion of the capabilities of the engines.

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And, AI gets a new Spin.

From time to time, the Singularity Hub editorial team unearths a gem from the archives and wants to share it all over again. It’s usually a piece that was popular back then and we think is still relevant now. This is one of those articles. It was originally published April 1, 2015. We hope you enjoy it!

Many experts studying the topic of automation believe that the current rate of advancement is leading us into a future with fewer and fewer available jobs.

Continue reading “The End of Meaningless Jobs Will Unleash the World’s Creativity” | >

As for the maximum distance the train could journey, “There is no limit,” Bombardier asserts. He reckons the first ship would shuttle cargo and travelers between Earth and the Moon—a trip that would take roughly seven hours to complete at the ideal speed of 15 km/s. “The Moon will serve as a launching pad for other projects, because it is easier to assemble and build this kind of train in the absence of gravity,” he says. “And Mars seems to be a good candidate for the next phase, especially if we can terraform it.”

Though intriguing, the notion begs many questions, and likely won’t be viable for eons. “Obviously there is a lot to consider,” the designer admits. “The general purpose here is to devise a system to transport minerals, materials, and humans from one place to the other in our solar system. Solar Express is a basic idea, and we would like to know how we could improve it.”

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Now, for my friends that luv reading about the truly bizarre or stupid tricks that humans do. 40 knives removed from a policeman today in the Tarn Taran district in India.

In an unusual case, as many as 40 knives were surgically removed from the stomach of a policeman here who claimed that he would feel an “urge” to eat them.

A team of five doctors carried out a five-hour long surgery on Surjeet Singh (40), who is employed with Punjab Police and is posted at Tarn Taran district.

Jitendra Malhotra, MD of Corporate Hospital, said on Tuesday that Mr. Singh had come to them complaining of stomach ache and excessive weight loss.

Continue reading “40 Knives Removed From Stomach of a Policeman” | >

I see a future in TSA, FBI, CIA, local law enforcement, insurance companies’ fraud units, etc.

Purdue is leading part of an international effort to develop a system for the military that would detect doctored images and video and determine specifically how they were manipulated.

“This team has some of the most senior and skilled people out there in the field, some of whom helped to create the area of media forensics,” said Edward Delp, Purdue’s Charles William Harrison Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, in a press release.

The project is funded over four years with a $4.4 million grant from the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The research also involves the University of Notre Dame, New York University, University of Southern California, University of Siena in Italy, Politecnico di Milano in Italy, and University of Campinas, in Brazil.

Continue reading “System might detect doctored images and videos for the military” | >