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Sep 12, 2015

Ras Labs Is Testing Futuristic Muscle Material That Could Make Robots Feel More Human

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, cyborgs, materials, robotics/AI, space

Synthetics startup Ras Labs is working with the International Space Station to test “smart materials” that contract like living tissue. These “electroactive” materials can expand, contract and conform to our limbs just like human muscles when a current moves through them – and they could be used to make robots move and feel more human to the touch.

Ras Labs co-founder Lenore Rasmussen accidentally stumbled upon the synthetic muscle material years ago while mixing chemicals in the lab at Virginia Tech. The experiment turned out to be with the wrong amount of ingredients, but it produced a blob of wobbly jelly that Rasmussen noticed contracted and expanded like muscles when she applied an electrical current.

It would be years later when Rasmussen’s cousin nearly lost his foot in a farming accident that she would start to employ that discovery to robotic limbs and space travel. The co-founder thought her cousin might lose his foot and started researching prosthetics.

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Sep 12, 2015

Samsung Chip to Bring 6GB of RAM to Your Smartphone

Posted by in category: computing

Many of the top smartphones today have around 3GB of onboard memory.

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Sep 12, 2015

$11mn, 36-hour historic head transplant to be carried out in China in 2017

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

Italian doctor Sergio Canavero, along with his Chinese colleague Ren Xiaoping, is set to conduct the world’s first head transplant on a 30-year-old Russian patient suffering from a rare disease. The operation is planned for December 2017.

The project was first announced in 2013, and the man who volunteered for the procedure is Russian Valery Spiridonov, who suffers from the extremely rare, progressive Werdnig-Hoffmann disease.

“Canavero initially joked it would be a Christmas present, but now this is becoming a reality.

Continue reading “$11mn, 36-hour historic head transplant to be carried out in China in 2017” »

Sep 12, 2015

Silicon Valley is raiding tech academia: “Uber would like to buy your Robotics Department”

Posted by in categories: robotics/AI, transportation

Your next Uber driver may not be human.


Silicon Valley is raiding technology departments of universities around the U.S.—can tech academia survive?

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Sep 12, 2015

Scientists discover cause of and potential treatment for muscle weakness and loss due to aging

Posted by in categories: chemistry, life extension

As we grow older, we lose strength and muscle mass. However, the cause of age-related muscle weakness and atrophy has remained a mystery.

Scientists at the University of Iowa have discovered the first example of a protein that causes and loss during aging. The protein, ATF4, is a transcription factor that alters gene expression in , causing reduction of , strength, and mass. The UI study also identifies two natural compounds, one found in apples and one found in green tomatoes, which reduce ATF4 activity in aged skeletal muscle. The findings, which were published online Sept. 3 in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, could lead to new therapies for age-related muscle weakness and atrophy.

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Sep 12, 2015

How curly nanowires can absorb more light to power nanoscale electronic circuits

Posted by in categories: electronics, energy, materials, nanotechnology, solar power, sustainability

This illustration shows a prototype device comprising bare nanospring photodetectors placed on a glass substrate, with metal contacts to collect charges (credit: Tural Khudiyev and Mehmet Bayindir/Applied Optics)

Researchers from Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey, have shown that twisting straight nanowires into springs can increase the amount of light the wires absorb by up to 23 percent. Absorbing more light is important because one application of nanowires is turning light into electricity, for example, to power tiny sensors instead of requiring batteries.

If nanowires are made from a semiconductor like silicon, light striking the wire will dislodge electrons from the crystal lattice, leaving positively charged “holes” behind. Both the electrons and the holes move through the material to generate electricity. The more light the wire absorbs; the more electricity it generates. (A device that converts light into electricity can function as either a solar cell or a photosensor.)

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Sep 12, 2015

Our Aging World: Wave Goodbye To The Population Pyramid

Posted by in category: life extension

https://youtube.com/watch?v=QwfH1gYkXTw

The young have always outnumbered the old, but as fertility rates drop and lifespans go up, this is starting to change.

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Sep 12, 2015

Introduction to Quantum Computers (2014, 1080p)

Posted by in categories: computing, quantum physics

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fb3gn5GsvRk

FOLLOW on:
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Sep 12, 2015

Quantum Computing – Artificial Intelligence Is Here

Posted by in categories: computing, quantum physics, robotics/AI

Geordie Rose, Founder of D-Wave (recent clients are Google and NASA) believes that the power of quantum computing is that we can ‘exploit parallel universes’ to solve problems that we have no other means of confirming. Simply put, quantum computers can think exponentially faster and simultaneously such that as they mature they will out pace us. Listen to his talk now!

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Sep 12, 2015

Will Bitcoin End the Reign of Government?

Posted by in categories: bitcoin, cryptocurrencies, economics, government

When my daughter was just starting primary school, she would look inside a book for the pictures before reading the text. She was old enough to read without pictures, but she wanted to get a quick synopsis before diving in. “Look, Dad! a bunny is carrying a giant clock into a rabbit hole.”

White Rabbt-01This is my first article without pictures. At least none of Bitcoin, because the copper coin metaphors are tired and inaccurate. At the user level, owning bitcoin is simply your stake in a widely distributed ledger. Ownership exists only as strings of secret code and public code. There is no physical coin.

Since the only pictures in this post show a white rabbit with a big clock, let me give you the quick synopsis: The answer is “No”. Bitcoin will not end government, nor its ability to tax, spend—or even enforce compliance.

But there is an irony: Most lawmakers and regulators have not yet figured this out. They perceive a great threat to their national interests. That’s why Andreas M. Antonopoulos runs around the world. He briefs prime ministers, cabinets and legislators with the noble purpose of demystifying and de-boogieing Bitcoin.

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