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Jul 19, 2017
Self-Driving Cars Get Boost With Unanimous Vote
Posted by Dan Kummer in categories: government, robotics/AI, transportation
Congress took the first step toward setting rules for self-driving cars, as a House panel unanimously approved a measure that would allow thousands of automated vehicles to hit the road while federal regulators develop safety standards and preempt state rules.
The legislation garnered bipartisan support after Republican leaders adopted Democratic proposals for provisions to bolster safety oversight of self-driving vehicles by federal regulators.
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Jul 19, 2017
Elon Musk: We need to build a base on the moon
Posted by Dan Kummer in categories: business, Elon Musk, space travel
Elon Musk thinks we need to build a base on the moon if we are going to stoke public interest in space travel.
Speaking at the International Space Station (ISS) Research & Development Conference in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, the SpaceX founder and leader spoke about the various opportunities space offers for business and innovation. He also lamented that many people seem to be unaware of the International Space Station, or do not seem to fully understand “how cool the ISS is.”
Asked what opportunities space affords, Musk cited several things, but said, “If you want to get the public fired up, you’ve got to put a base on the moon,” adding that it would be the “continuance to the dream” of the Apollo missions.
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Jul 19, 2017
Pushing Particles Forwards Might Make Them Go Backwards Because Quantum Physics Is Bonkers
Posted by Sean Brazell in categories: particle physics, quantum physics
You are very lucky that you ended up about the size that you are today, somewhere between one and ten feet tall and weighing somewhere between one and one thousand pounds. This is a very good size. Not to body shame, but if you were, say, a quadrillion times shorter and weighed a nonillion times less (that’s one followed by 30 zeros), that would be very inconvenient for you. Everything would be very inconvenient for you.
One thing you take for granted as a human-sized thing, for example, is that when you push things, they move forward. But a team of researchers realized that this is not necessarily the case if you zoom into the quantum world, where particles might decide to go backwards, no matter what kind of outside force you put on them.
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Jul 19, 2017
You can draw electrical wires with this cheap conductive paint
Posted by Shane Hinshaw in category: futurism
Jul 19, 2017
If you were a tree — By Xin Liu and Yedan Qian | MIT Media Lab
Posted by Odette Gregory in categories: environmental, ethics, innovation, media & arts, virtual reality
“This work is based on our belief that VR offers new methods for storytelling and engagement.”
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Jul 19, 2017
A Brief History of Free Money — By Matthew Heimer | Fortune
Posted by Odette Gregory in categories: economics, governance
“[T]he idea is hardly new: In fact, it has resurfaced repeatedly over the centuries at times of economic transformation, winning allies across the ideological spectrum.”
Jul 19, 2017
No More Metal: Airstream Goes Fiberglass With ‘Nest’ Camper — By Nate Mitka | Gear Junkie
Posted by Odette Gregory in categories: environmental, fun, transportation
“The Airstream Nest, expected early 2018, will be constructed from fiberglass, a lightweight and durable material.”
Jul 19, 2017
U.S. Paves Roads to Trusted Fabs
Posted by Roman Mednitzer in categories: business, computing, government, military
SAN JOSE, Calif. – The U.S. Department of Defense is working with partners on multiple technologies that would make any foundry a trusted source to make classified ASICs for the military. If the government is successful it will be able to tap leading-edge process technologies from multiple fabs by 2019.
The U.S. government currently works with a single fab now operated by Globalfoundries and limited to 32nm and higher design rules. The partnership is a continuation of a longstanding “trusted foundry” deal with IBM, which sold its fabs to GF in 2015.
“We have a very good partner in Globalfoundries, and many people are still there from the [former] IBM…[that help] manage that government ASIC business, and that still works quite well for 32nm and up,” said Bill Chappell, a director at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency that oversees the trusted foundry programs.
Jul 19, 2017
A Son’s Race to Give His Dying Father Artificial Immortality
Posted by Derick Lee in categories: life extension, robotics/AI
So I am anxious to explain the idea to my parents. The purpose of the Dadbot, I tell them, would simply be to share my father’s life story in a dynamic way. Given the limits of current technology and my own inexperience as a programmer, the bot will never be more than a shadow of my real dad. That said, I would want the bot to communicate in his distinctive manner and convey at least some sense of his personality. “What do you think?” I ask.
For months, he recorded his dying father’s life story. Then he used it to re-create his dad as an AI.
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