This ‘Star Trek’ Visor Could Help The Blind ‘See’ Again.
UK trials are set to begin this year.
Read more
Stupid people are more likely than eggheads to believe in God, a controversial new study claims.
In a move that is bound to offend millions of churchgoers, a British psychologist says he has found a link between having a high IQ and being an atheist.
The discovery helps explain why university academics are less likely to be religious than almost anyone else, he says.
Read more
The US military’s research arm says its robotic “space plane” program has received funding for the next phase of development. Aiming to provide a quicker and cheaper way to launch satellites, the still-conceptual vehicle may fly as early as 2019.
The Experimental Spaceplane (XS-1) program is intended to prove that “routine and responsive access to space can be achieved at costs an order of magnitude lower than with today’s systems,” according to Jess Sponable, program manager at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).
After reviewing studies submitted by several aerospace conglomerates, DARPA has now issued a call for design proposals. The deadline for submissions is July 22.
Read more
Excellent story; glad that this bank in Australia is getting prepared for Quantum now instead of later which will be too late for some. Good news is that Wall Street as well as the US Government are getting educated on Quantum Computing. I do hope more and more businesses and institutions start developing their own internal QC expertise so that they are prepared for the switch that is coming across all industries.
The Commonwealth Bank’s decision to contribute millions of dollars to quantum computing research is not just about the significant commercial potential of the technology itself but also about developing its own in-house expertise in the area, according to chief information officer David Whiteing.
The bank last year committed to contributing $10 million over five years to UNSW’s Centre for Quantum Computation and Communication Technology (CQC2T). That was in addition to $5 million it announced in December 2014 that it would put towards the centre.
(Telstra last year announced it would also invest $10 million in the centre. The government’s $1.1b Innovation Agenda included $26 million for UNSW’s quantum computing research efforts.)
Italian neurosurgeon Dr. Sergio Canavero is firm on his promise to deliver the first human head transplant to the world. He says a Chinese man will be the first patient in 2017, and now all he needs is approval and funding. Other experts are highly skeptical.
Last year, Dr. Sergio Canavero created quite the ruckus (to put it mildly) when he vowed to be the first person to transplant a human head onto a deceased donor’s body. Yes, he is planning on attempting the world’s first human head transplant (or body transplant, depending on how you look at it).
In fact, it has been about a year since his initial proclamation, and the Italian neurosurgeon still stands firm on his declaration, despite claims from other experts that it is nothing but a PR Stunt (at best) or a hoax. Some have even hypothesized it’s all just a plot meant to promote Metal Gear Solid.
Read more
“Astronomy has been a tool of discovery since the dawn of civilization. For thousands of years, humans used the stars to navigate and find their place in the universe,” said physicist Eic Perlman on the Florida Institute of Technolgy in an post on NASA’s Chandra X-Ray Observatory blog. “Astronomy made possible the travels of the ancient Polynesians across the Pacific Ocean as well as measurements of the Earth’s size and shape by the ancient Greeks. Today, astronomers search for hints about what the universe was like when the universe was much younger. So imagine, for a second, what life would be like – and how much less we would know about ourselves and the universe – if the microscopic nature of space-time made some of these measurements impossible.”
Our experience of space-time is that of a continuous object, without gaps or discontinuities, just as it is described by classical physics. For some quantum gravity models however, the texture of space-time is “granular” at tiny scales (below the so-called Planck scale, 10–33 cm), as if it were a variable mesh of solids and voids (or a complex foam). One of the great problems of physics today is to understand the passage from a continuous to a discrete description of spacetime: is there an abrupt change or is there gradual transition? Where does the change occur?
The separation between one world and the other creates problems for physicists: for example, how can we describe gravity — explained so well by classical physics — according to quantum mechanics? Quantum gravity is in fact a field of study in which no consolidated and shared theories exist as yet. There are, however, “scenarios”, which offer possible interpretations of quantum gravity subject to different constraints, and which await experimental confirmation or confutation.
Read more
Walk into any workout facility and, odds are, you’ll see plenty of people working with a personal fitness trainer. It’s common practice to hire a trainer who can help improve your physical fitness, but is it possible to find a trainer for better mental fitness? Entrepreneur Ariel Garten founded her company, InteraXon, around this very idea. Bolstered by new advances in non-invasive brain-machine interfaces (BMIs) that can help people practice ways to reduce stress and improve cognitive abilities, Garten believes this is just the beginning of a lucrative industry.
Garten’s company manufactures a BMI called the Muse, an EEG sensor headband that monitors occipital and temporal brain waves. According to Ariel, the goal of the device is to help people understand their mental processes while at the same time learning to calm and quiet their mind at any time, with the same convenience of carrying around an iPhone.
“We don’t measure stress (with the Muse). What we’re actually measuring is a state of stable, focused attention,” Garten said. “When you hone your mind into a state of stable focused attention, what you’re able to do is resist the thoughts that you have and the distractions that you have. That helps you improve your cognitive function and attention. And, it also helps you decrease your stress, anxiety and all of the downstream physiological responses of that stress.”
According to Garten, when one is in a state of stable, focused attention, their brain-wave signatures are very similar to those seen when one is in a calm, relaxed state. Reaching that state of stable, focused attention leads to more Alpha waves, which have been recorded when people do activities like preparing to go to bed. Those Alpha waves represent a shutting down of external sensory processing, which Ariel says amounts to better holding your focus.
While it has parallels to meditation, Garten noted that BMI-based stable attention exercises can show one’s brain activity in real time. That feedback allows for deeper and faster learning, as well as the ability to maintain the practice or the exercise over time.
Much like the concept of muscle memory, once a user learns how to reach stable, focused attention, the Muse and its accompanying applications help train the user to be able to return to that state whenever it’s needed in their daily lives. Garten noted that a number of research studies have found focused attention exercises can also lead to increased gray matter in the brain, while decreasing anxiety and helping with depression, eating disorders, insomnia and more.
“In the next five years, you’re going to see a proliferation of these types of devices… simple clean, and easy-to-use brain sensing technology applications. What you’ll see is applications that let you play games directly with your mind and applications that let you understand and improve yourself,” she said. “We’re not at the point in technology where you can control stuff directly with your mind by reading a thought. That will happen someday…15 to 20 years in the future.”
While we can look at changes at brain states right now, the future promises more responsive technology that can help provide you with a much more detailed understanding of your brain’s function and use that information to support your interactions with your external environment.
“We’re going to be able to see applications and algorithms that understand you more effectively and are able to give you personalized insight based on you and your own brain and how it works, moment to moment to moment,” Garten said. “We’re going to see the hardware getting smaller, so that it fits into other devices you already wear. We’re also going to also see greater accessibility and cross platform integration with your favorite tools to get a more comprehensive picture of yourself.”
BMI technology that is minimally invasive but offers the user more personalized control certainly seems like a pragmatic first step towards broader acceptance of such technologies in the near future. While not part of the mainstream consumer market quite yet, Muse’s successes with its loyal customer base may point to real opportunity for similar products in the neurotechnology marketplace.
Maybe Elon Musk could work with Waste Management the Waste Company in the US to keep space clean and environmentally happy.
ISRO is all set for its prestigious launch of 22 satellites in a single shot in June, said ISRO Chairman, Kiran Kumar, without giving the details about the possible type of satellites, though expected to be mostly nanosatellites.
Tentatively slated in the second half of June, the PSLV-C34 mission in the PSLV-XL configuration, will launch the Cartosat 2C high-resolution Earth observation satellite and 21 smaller secondary payloads from international customers. Originally scheduled for May, it was postponed to June.
Riding high on successful test of the reusable launch vehicle, he said last month end, “Next month we have a launch where we will be launching about 22 satellites. Also one of a cartographic series satellite will be launched.”
