Menu

Blog

Page 6401

May 12, 2020

DARPA picks experimental VTOL planePolitics

Posted by in categories: robotics/AI, transportation

No one has ever seen any airplane like this, except on computer animation. Now, some of the world’s top aeronautical engineers are going to build it for real.

The plan calls for constructing a six-ton unmanned, remote controlled plane the size of a business jet with 24 spinning propellers embedded in its huge moveable wings that allow it to magically hover in midair.

It’s an experimental airplane they call LightningStrike.

May 12, 2020

DARPA to begin launching Blackjack satellites in late 2020

Posted by in categories: military, satellites

WASHINGTON — The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency plans to launch the first experimental satellites of the Blackjack program in late 2020 and early 2021, the agency said May 11.

DARPA’s Tactical Technology Office started the Blackjack program in 2018 to show the military utility of low Earth orbit constellations and mesh networks of low-cost satellites.

As many as 20 satellites will be launched by 2022.

May 12, 2020

Active machine learning helps drug hunters tackle biology

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

A growing cadre of startups is pursuing iterative cycles of machine learning, wet-lab experimentation and human feedback to accelerate target drug discovery.

May 12, 2020

This AI tool predicts who’s got COVID-19 without testing

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

A new AI diagnostic tool trained on crowdsourced symptom data can predict whether someone likely has COVID-19 without testing.

The model was trained on data from more than 2.5 million users of the COVID Symptom Study app developed at King’s College London, which anyone can download to report their daily health status.

May 12, 2020

Musk Reads: Starlink transceiver revealed in image

Posted by in category: space travel

Starlink’s transceiver gets pictured and Starship passes a key test. Tom Cruise in space? How can readers volunteer with the space community? It’s Musk Reads: SpaceX Edition #167.

A version of this article appeared in the “Musk Reads” newsletter. Sign up for free here.

May 12, 2020

Supercharged brains and the quest to think better and faster

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, neuroscience

Are you taking any pills to enhance performance?


When it comes to the mind, there are a host of drugs that have become popular in various settings as nootropics, from college campuses to high power startups in Silicon Valley. Of these, a few families of drugs have accumulated a collection of research studies suggesting that they could be utilized safety, and also produce a desired effect.

The first such category of such drugs that performance enhancement seekers often try are stimulants. Two common such drugs are methylphenidate and dexamphetamine, which are used routinely and safely to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and narcolepsy. Despite their popularity for off-label use to boost concentration, however, these drugs are not really nootropics. They are actually quite dangerous if you don’t have ADHD or narcolepsy, or some other deficit, because tolerance builds up quickly, leading to dependence. Thus, while methylphenidate can keep you awake overnight or give you a boost in the morning, and possibly move you faster through a pile of non-creative work, they don’t really make you think better, and if you keep taking them you will be back to square one on performance, and with a drug dependence problem. You’d be better off with a strong cup of coffee.

Continue reading “Supercharged brains and the quest to think better and faster” »

May 12, 2020

Artificial Intelligence Is Driving A Silicon Renaissance

Posted by in categories: innovation, robotics/AI

Conclusion

The race is on to develop the hardware that will power the upcoming era of AI. More innovation is happening in the semiconductor industry today than at any time since Silicon Valley’s earliest days. Untold billions of dollars are in play.

This next generation of chips will shape the contours and trajectory of the field of artificial intelligence in the years ahead. In the words of Yann LeCun: “Hardware capabilities…motivate and limit the types of ideas that AI researchers will imagine and will allow themselves to pursue. The tools at our disposal fashion our thoughts more than we care to admit.”

May 12, 2020

Researchers develop real-time physics engine for soft robotics

Posted by in categories: physics, robotics/AI

Motion picture animation and video games are impressively lifelike nowadays, capturing a wisp of hair falling across a heroine’s eyes or a canvas sail snapping crisply in the wind. Collaborators from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and Carnegie Mellon University have adapted this sophisticated computer graphics technology to simulate the movements of soft, limbed robots for the first time.

May 12, 2020

NASA releases design for a warp drive ship

Posted by in categories: physics, space travel

Star Trek fans get hyped as scientists at NASA’s Johnson Space Center have just unveiled a design for a warp drive ship. NASA scientist and Advanced Propulsion Team Lead Harold White revealed that he was investigating if a warp drive ship could travel faster than light and if so, how can we build one.

enterpriseship1[Image Source: Mark Rademaker]

Continue reading “NASA releases design for a warp drive ship” »

May 12, 2020

Germany’s daily coronavirus cases nearly TRIPLE — states bring back tougher lockdown

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

CORONAVIRUS cases in Germany have almost trebled in the past 24 hours sparking fears of a second wave of COVID-19 infections.