Lifeboat Foundation

These spring-loaded screws turn your entire drywall into a sound deadening structure that can reduce perceived noise levels by nearly half. They’re pricey for screws, says the Swedish scientist behind them, but very cheap for sound insulation. Known as the Revolutionary Sound Absorbing Screw (or the Sound Screw for short), the device was created by a team at Malmö University, led by senior lecturer Håkan Wernersson. It consists of a threaded section at the bottom, a coil spring in the middle, and a section with a flat head at the top.

Nobody likes hearing their neighbors’ music, TV shows or loud conversations. Soundproof wall materials, however, can be quite thick and expensive. Swedish scientists have developed a thinner, less costly alternative, in the form of a spring-loaded sound-damping screw.

Known as the Revolutionary Sound Absorbing Screw (or the Sound Screw for short), the device was created by a team at Malmö University, led by senior lecturer Håkan Wernersson. It consists of a threaded section at the bottom, a coil spring in the middle, and a section with a flat head at the top.

Continue reading “Spring-loaded screw could be a cheaper form of soundproofing” »

The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has selected three teams of researchers led by Raytheon, BAE Systems, and Northrop Grumman to develop event-based infrared (IR) camera technologies under the Fast Event-based Neuromorphic Camera and Electronics (FENCE) program. It is designed to make computer vision cameras more efficient by mimicking how the human brain processes information. DARPA’s FENCE program aims to develop a new class of low-latency, low-power, event-based infrared focal plane array (FPA) and digital signal processing (DSP) and machine learning (ML) algorithms. The development of these neuromorphic camera technologies will enable intelligent sensors that can handle more dynamic scenes and aid future military applications.

New intelligent event-based — or neuromorphic — cameras can handle more dynamic scenes.

A new DIY robot called PetBot is a unique development that will help to recycle ordinary plastic bottles. The process is not yet fully automated, and the device does not claim to be used for commercial purposes, but the benefits of its operation are obvious. Built by JRT3D, the PetBot automates the plastic recycling process by cutting PET bottles into the tape and then turning them into filament. The robot combines several mechanics, each of which performs its part of the task. It carries out the two separate processes at the same time using the same stepper motor.

The machine automates the plastic recycling process by cutting PET bottles and turning them into filament.

Continue reading “Meet PetBot, a DIY robot that turns plastic bottles into filaments” »

AI taking over voice acting is just the beginning. Why cant the AI render and generate the game world all by itself. Why cant it generate the models, and actors for the game from scratch; and then use deepfake type animation to animate characters. And, then write an original script for the story. These things are all possible now. Only a matter of time before someone has the idea to put it all together.

Voice actors are rallying behind Bev Standing, who is alleging that TikTok acquired and replicated her voice using AI without her knowledge.

These attacks — along with news of several high-profile data breaches linked to the Russian government-backed hack of American software company SolarWinds, including at tech titans like Microsoft — have prompted questions about how these attacks have occured, and how to better guard against them.

State and local leaders testified June 17 before the Senate about how cyber threats they face have grown. And along with the increased penalties for cybercriminials included in a bipartisan Senate infrastructure package, a second bipartisan Senate bill would require public and private entities to report cybersecurity breaches to the government within 24 hours, as well as add liability protections to help encourage businesses to come forward.

Here’s what you should know as debate over cybersecurity and how to fight ransomware continues.

Yay 😃

The Perceiver is kind-of a way-station on the way to what Google AI lead Jeff Dean has described as one model that could handle any task, and “learn” faster, with less data.

Quantum computers could make modern day Macs look like the very first Commodore computer.

Initial tests on Google and NASA’s quantum computing system D-Wave showed that it was a staggering one hundred million times faster than a traditional desktop.

Hartmut Nevan, director of engineering at Google, claimed: “What a D-Wave does in a second would take a conventional computer 10000 years to do.”

A Harvard-led team has created a 256-qubit programmable quantum simulator that represents the cutting edge in the world-wide quantum race.