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Jul 20, 2021

Blue Origin’s Jeff Bezos launch on New Shepard: Live updates

Posted by in category: space travel

Liftoff is set for 9 a.m. EDT (1300 GMT) on July 20, 2021.


Read live updates of Blue Origin’s First Human Flight that will launch Jeff Bezos and three others on July 20, 2021.

Jul 20, 2021

Transforming Brain Waves into Words with AI

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, robotics/AI

New research out of the University of California, San Francisco has given a paralyzed man the ability to communicate by translating his brain signals into computer generated writing. The study, published in The New England Journal of Medicine, marks a significant milestone toward restoring communication for people who have lost the ability to speak.

“To our knowledge, this is the first successful demonstration of direct decoding of full words from the brain activity of someone who is paralyzed and cannot speak,” senior author and the Joan and Sanford Weill Chair of Neurological Surgery at UCSF, Edward Chang said in a press release. “It shows strong promise to restore communication by tapping into the brain’s natural speech machinery.”

Some with speech limitations use assistive devices–such as touchscreens, keyboards, or speech-generating computers to communicate. However, every year thousands lose their speech ability from paralysis or brain damage, leaving them unable to use assistive technologies.

Jul 20, 2021

Chip Manufacturer GlobalFoundries Sets Significant Plant Expansion in U.S.

Posted by in category: computing

Investments will boost U.S. chip manufacturing amid a crippling global shortage of semiconductors that has damaged sales of consumer goods.

Jul 20, 2021

Crypto Miners Are Buying Up Entire Power Plants

Posted by in categories: bitcoin, energy

Bitcoin miners are setting up shop to take advantage of existing, unused energy infrastructure.

Jul 19, 2021

Feher Helmets 2018 ACH 1 Overview

Posted by in category: space

Thermoelectric cooling helmets for motorcycles can finally lead to spacesuits becoming electrically cooled.


530361 views • Aug 4, 2018 • The Feher ACH-1 is the world’s first and only self-contained air-conditioned motorcycle helmet. By utilizing thermoelectric technology, the patented full-face ACH-1 evenly distributes filtered, cooled air freely throughout the entire interior of the helmet. Integrating Feher’s patented Tubular Space Fabric with the helmets comfort liner allows the helmet to provide consistent, optimal temperature.

Jul 19, 2021

New Leak Reveals Abuse of Pegasus Spyware to Target Journalists Globally

Posted by in category: futurism

A new leak reveals how governments used Pegasus spy software to silence journalists, attack activists, and suppress dissent.

Jul 19, 2021

Researchers use high-speed cameras to reveal bubbles popping like blooming flowers

Posted by in categories: chemistry, physics

The oil industry, pharmaceutical companies and bioreactor manufacturers all face one common enemy: bubbles. Bubbles can form during the manufacturing or transport of various liquids, and their formation and rupture can cause significant issues in product quality.

Inspired by these issues and the puzzling physics behind , an international scientific collaboration was born. Stanford University chemical engineer Gerald Fuller along with his Ph.D. students Aadithya Kannan and Vinny Chandran Suja, as well as visiting Ph.D. student Daniele Tammaro from the University of Naples, teamed up to study how different kinds of bubbles pop.

The researchers were particularly interested in bubbles with proteins embedded on their surfaces, which is a common occurrence in the pharmaceutical industry and in bioreactors used for cell culture. In an unanticipated result, the researchers discovered that the protein bubbles they were studying opened up like flowers when popped with a needle. Their findings are detailed in a study published in the journal of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on July 19.

Jul 19, 2021

Cheap, sustainable, readily available plasma tech could replace rare iridium

Posted by in categories: chemistry, computing, mobile phones, sustainability, transportation

A team led by a researcher from the University of Sydney has developed a low-cost, sustainable, and readily available technology that can dim the screens of electronic devices, anti-reflection automobile mirrors, and smart architectural windows at a fraction of the cost of current technology.

It would replace one of the world’s scarcest—yet highly ubiquitous in use—modern materials: indium. A rare chemical element, that it is widely used in devices such as smartphones and computers, windscreen glass and self-dimming windows.

Although small amounts are used to manufacture smart screens, indium is expensive as it is hard to source; it naturally occurs only in small deposits. Industrial indium is often made as a byproduct of zinc mining, which means a shortage could occur if demand for optoelectronic devices—such as LCDs and touch panels—ramps up.

Jul 19, 2021

A 3D-printed soft robotic hand that can play Nintendo

Posted by in categories: 3D printing, biotech/medical, cyborgs, robotics/AI

A team of researchers from the University of Maryland has 3D printed a soft robotic hand that is agile enough to play Nintendo’s Super Mario Bros. — and win!

The feat, highlighted on the front cover of the latest issue of Science Advances, demonstrates a promising innovation in the field of soft robotics, which centers on creating new types of flexible, that are powered using water or air rather than electricity. The inherent safety and adaptability of soft robots has sparked interest in their use for applications like prosthetics and biomedical devices. Unfortunately, controlling the fluids that make these soft robots bend and move has been especially difficult—until now.

The key breakthrough by the team, led by University of Maryland assistant professor of mechanical engineering Ryan D. Sochol, was the ability to 3D print fully assembled soft robots with integrated fluidic circuits in a single step.

Jul 19, 2021

Researchers Warn of Linux Cryptojacking Attackers Operating from Romania

Posted by in category: computing

Researchers have discovered that cybercriminals operating from Romania are performing Linux cryptojacking attacks.