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Dec 28, 2015

Why 2016 Could Be a Watershed Year for Emotional Intelligence–in Machines

Posted by in categories: computing, information science, neuroscience

Better cameras, along with more powerful algorithms for computer vision and emotion-sensing facial analysis software, could transform the way we interact with our devices.

By Andrew Moore on December 28, 2015.

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Dec 28, 2015

Terminus: Movie Trailer

Posted by in categories: asteroid/comet impacts, entertainment, existential risks

Blinded by the light of a falling meteor, David has a devastating car accident, leading to a profound discovery: an extra-terrestrial organism that may contain the secret of life itself. When David goes missing for two days, Annabelle searches for her father only to discover him wandering the forest, without so much as a scratch. David’s mysterious reappearance draws the attention of federal authorities and gives Annabelle reason to doubt his sanity. But David has a new sense of purpose, fueled by nightmarish visions. Driven by what he believes is an otherworldly purpose, David must convince Annabelle to believe him and complete his task before government agents can stop him, and before the world destroys itself.

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Dec 28, 2015

Chicks dig droids

Posted by in category: robotics/AI

[via: http://imgur.com/]

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Dec 28, 2015

150 Kilowatt lasers will be tested on predator drones and AC130 gunships in 2016

Posted by in categories: drones, energy, military

A laser set to begin live-fire tests at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, in January uses rare earth minerals. It was developed by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. of Poway, Calif., the company that produced the revolutionary MQ-1 Predator drone. Its precise power levels are classified, but Michael Perry, the company’s vice president for laser programs, said the experimental weapon’s beam is in the 150-kilowatt class. That’s more than 100 times the power needed to heat an electric oven to 350 degrees.

The General Atomics laser is five times more powerful than the only laser the military has fielded, the 30-kilowatt-class Laser Weapon System, a fiber laser the Navy developed that has knocked down small drones and crippled small boat swarms in tests at short range. That laser was installed on the USS Ponce, an Afloat Forward Staging Base deployed to the Middle East, in 2014. This past October, the Navy awarded Northrop Grumman a $53 million contract to develop a more powerful shipboard laser.

Continue reading “150 Kilowatt lasers will be tested on predator drones and AC130 gunships in 2016” »

Dec 28, 2015

Doing nothing is not OK: A call for change at the FDA

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, innovation

Doing nothing is no longer acceptable. Even the FDA admits the system needs fixing. Stem cell work holds huge potential and needs freedom to test breakthrough therapies that could change medicine forever.

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Dec 28, 2015

Shields up ready for Mars shot

Posted by in category: space

A superconductor that deflects cosmic radiation away from interplanetary spacecraft sounds like science fiction, but it’s on its way to becoming reality. Tim Dean reports.

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Dec 28, 2015

Faster entanglement of distant quantum dots

Posted by in categories: futurism, quantum physics

Entanglement between distant quantum objects is an important ingredient for future information technologies. Researchers at the ETH have now developed a method with which such states can be created a thousand times faster than before.

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Dec 28, 2015

Researchers have figured out how to store the entire Internet in a test tube

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, computing, internet

Engineer Robert Grass says that though we believe information is here forever, it’s actually fragile. Hard drives and physical sources of information, like books, decay over time. In a video for the BBC, Grass describes his quest to find a method of preserving information that could be stable for millions of years. The secret is DNA.

In 2012, research showed that you could translate a megabyte (MB) of information into DNA and then read it back again. DNA has a language of its own, and is written in sequences of nucleotides (A, C, T, and G). Think of it as similar to binary, which breaks information down into ones and zeros.

And DNA has the advantage of being able to put an enormous amount of information in a tiny space. Theoretically, one gram of DNA could hold 455 exabytes of information. That’s “enough for all the data held by Google, Facebook and every other major tech company, with room to spare”, according to New Scientist.

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Dec 27, 2015

British couple celebrate after birth of first cloned puppy of its kind

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

West Yorkshire couple Laura Jacques and Richard Remde enlisted South Korean firm offering dog-cloning service for £67,000.

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Dec 27, 2015

NASA’s next Mars mission has been called off

Posted by in categories: futurism, space travel

A U.S. science satellite slated to launch to Mars in March has been grounded due to a leak in a key research instrument, NASA said on Tuesday, creating uncertainty about the future of a widely anticipated effort to study the interior of the planet.

The spacecraft, known as InSight, was designed to help scientists learn more about the formation of rocky planets, including Earth.

The cancellation raises questions about the future of the research effort, as it will be another two years before Earth and Mars are favourably aligned for a launch. NASA has not said if it will have funding for the program, which was capped at $425 million US.

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