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Aug 5, 2014

Meet the Online Tracking Device That is Virtually Impossible to Block

Posted by in categories: internet, surveillance

Julia Angwin — Nation of Change
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A new, extremely persistent type of online tracking is shadowing visitors to thousands of top websites, from WhiteHouse.gov to YouPorn.com.

First documented in a forthcoming paper by researchers at Princeton University and KU Leuven University in Belgium, this type of tracking, called canvas fingerprinting, works by instructing the visitor’s Web browser to draw a hidden image. Because each computer draws the image slightly differently, the images can be used to assign each user’s device a number that uniquely identifies it.

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Aug 4, 2014

Gravity Modification Workshop Schedule (Final)

Posted by in categories: business, disruptive technology, general relativity, innovation, physics, science, space travel, time travel, transportation

The Xodus One Foundation will be conducting workshops on Gravity Modification, based on Ben Solomon’s 12-year study titled “An Introduction to Gravity Modification” and other later peer reviewed papers. And has been vetted by the Foundation’s Chief Science Office, Dr. Andrew Beckwith.

This thought provoking & bleeding edge physics/technology workshop will assists attendees to understand how the future of propulsion technology is changing. And therefore, adjust their corporate programs to expect these future technologies and research programs.

Continue reading “Gravity Modification Workshop Schedule (Final)” »

Aug 4, 2014

‘Impossible’ Space Engine Might Work, NASA Test Suggests

Posted by in categories: space, space travel

Mike Wall — Space.com

Image: Unconventional propulsion

NASA researchers have reported fresh evidence that an “impossible” space propulsion technology might actually work.

A study from NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston says a microwave thruster system that requires no propellant appears to generate a tiny amount of thrust. If the technology pans out, it could make spaceflight far cheaper and speedier, advocates say. They argue that the thruster harnesses subatomic particles that pop into and out of existence in accordance with quantum physics — a hypothesis that’s mentioned in the study.

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Aug 2, 2014

Getting the Corporate Ears of the People Who Rule the World! By Andres Agostini at www.linkedin.com/in/andresagostini

Posted by in categories: economics, education, engineering, futurism

Getting the Corporate Ears of the People Who Rule the World! By Andres Agostini at www.linkedin.com/in/andresagostini

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If you want to seize the undivided attention of top executives at Los Alamos National Laboratory and Procter & Gamble, talk to them through the notions of and by Process Re-engineering.

If you want to seize the undivided attention of top executives at GE, talk to them through the notions of and by Six Sigma.

Continue reading “Getting the Corporate Ears of the People Who Rule the World! By Andres Agostini at www.linkedin.com/in/andresagostini” »

Aug 2, 2014

A transistor material intended to replace silicon by 2024

Posted by in categories: engineering, materials

Kuzweil AI

USC Viterbi School of Engineering researchers have developed a flexible, transparent, energy-efficient, lower-cost hybrid design that could replace silicon as the traditional transistor material used in electronic chips.

The new design, described in a paper recently published in Nature Communications, combines carbon nanotube thin-film transistors with thin-film transistors comprised of indium, gallium and zinc oxide (IGZO).

Electrical engineering professor Dr. Chongwu Zhou and USC Viterbi graduate students Haitian Chen, Yu Cao, and Jialu Zhang developed this energy-efficient circuit by integrating carbon nanotube (CNT) thin film transistors (TFT)

The inclusion of IGZO thin film transistors was necessary to provide power efficiency to increase battery life. If only carbon nanotubes had been used, the circuits would not be power-efficient.

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Aug 2, 2014

Citizen Scientists Track Bee Health and Shed Light on Colony Collapse Disorder

Posted by in categories: bees, environmental

Maureen Wise — Nation of Change
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You’ve probably heard that bees—their honey, their awesome pollinating powers and their stingers—are on the decline. It’s a global problem that affects more than just the little yellow and black buzzers; it can and will interrupt the way we produce food if it continues. Bees pollinate most of the crops farmers grow worldwide, so without them, we don’t have food. Most scientists agree that pesticides, drought, habitat loss, pollution and other major environmental concerns are all contributing to colony collapse disorder. It’s a big deal and there are a lot of people working to keep bees buzzing.

A new project has set out to help understand the issue in individual colonies and bring the problem to the people called Open Source Beehives. This multi-continent partnership between Open Tech Collaborative and Fab Lab Barcelona proposes public participation through easily made backyard hives in conjunction with software that will track hive health.

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Aug 2, 2014

How a Solar-Powered Water Wheel Can Clean 50,000 Pounds of Trash Per Day

Posted by in categories: engineering, solar power, water

Brandon Baker — Nation of Change
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A large wheel has been strolling the Baltimore Inner Harbor the past month, doing its best to clean the trash that has littered a city landmark and tourist attraction.

It’s called the Inner Harbor Water Wheel, and though it moves slow, it has the capability to collect 50,000 pounds of trash. The timing for John Kellett’s solar-powered creation is crucial—hands and crab nets simply can’t keep up with the growing amount of wrappers, cigarette butts, bottles and other debris carried from storm drains into the harbor.

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Aug 2, 2014

This Floating Platform Could Filter the Plastic from our Polluted Oceans

Posted by in categories: engineering, water

ArchDaily

“Plastic is an extremely durable material, taking 500 years to biodegrade, yet it’s designed to be used for an average of 5 minutes, and so it’s thrown away. Few know where this mass of junk will end up … in the oceans, killing and silently destroying everything, even us.”

Cristian Ehrmantraut has developed a prototype for a floating platform that filters the ocean and absorbs plastic. Located 4 km from the coast of , close to the center of the mega-vortex of plastic located in the South Pacific, the tetrahedral platform performs a kind of dialysis, allowing the natural environment to be recovered as well as energy and food to be produced.

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Aug 2, 2014

What Else Could Smart Contact Lenses Do?

Posted by in categories: augmented reality, bionic, biotech/medical, cyborgs

By Suzanne Jacobs — MIT Technology Review

Last week Google and Novartis announced that they’re teaming up to develop contact lenses that monitor glucose levels and automatically adjust their focus. But these could be just the start of a clever new product category. From cancer detection and drug delivery to reality augmentation and night vision, our eyes offer unique opportunities for both health monitoring and enhancement.

“Now is the time to put a little computer and a lot of miniaturized technologies in the contact lens,” says Franck Leveiller, head of research and development in the Novartis eye care division.

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Aug 2, 2014

Robot Olympics Planned for 2020 Powered by Japan’s ‘Robot Revolution’

Posted by in category: robotics/AI

Written By: — Singularity Hub
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Japan likes robots. And while some Americans raised on a confusing sci-fi diet of Star Wars, Terminator, and iRobot are perhaps a little wary of advanced AI and robotics—Japan simply can’t wait for the “robot revolution.”

In a recent tour of Japanese robotics firms, Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe declared his intention to create a government task force to study and propose strategies for tripling the size of Japan’s robotics industry to $24 billion.

And one more thing, Abe said, “In 2020, I would like to gather all of the world’s robots and aim to hold an Olympics where they compete in technical skills.”

While mere mortals compete in the 2020 summer Olympics in Tokyo—in a stadium somewhere nearby, the world’s most advanced robots may go head to head in events showcasing their considerable prowess (hopefully by then, right?).

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