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May 26, 2020

UN agency warns of fentanyl production threat in SE Asia

Posted by in category: futurism

BANGKOK (AP) — Narcotics police in Myanmar have seized a large amount of liquid fentanyl, providing the first evidence that the synthetic opioid is being produced in quantity in Southeast Asia’s infamous Golden Triangle region.

May 26, 2020

New 5G switches mean battery life improvements, higher bandwidth and speeds

Posted by in categories: computing, internet, mobile phones

The 5G revolution has begun, and the first lines of phones that can access the next generation of wireless speeds have already hit the shelves. Researchers at The University of Texas at Austin and the University of Lille in France have built a new component that will more efficiently allow access to the highest 5G frequencies in a way that increases devices’ battery life and speeds up how quickly we can do things like stream high-definition media.

Smartphones are loaded with switches that perform a number of duties. One major task is jumping between networks and spectrum frequencies: 4G, Wi-Fi, LTE, Bluetooth, etc. The current radio-frequency (RF) switches that perform this task are always running, consuming precious processing power and battery life.

“The switch we have developed is more than 50 times more energy efficient compared to what is used today,” said Deji Akinwande, a professor in the Cockrell School of Engineering’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering who led the research. “It can transmit an HDTV stream at a 100 gigahertz frequency, and that is unheard of in broadband switch technology.”

May 26, 2020

A model that estimates tactile properties of surfaces

Posted by in categories: materials, robotics/AI

The ability to estimate the physical properties of objects is of key importance for robots, as it allows them to interact more effectively with their surrounding environment. In recent years, many robotics researchers have been specifically trying to develop techniques that allow robots to estimate tactile properties of objects or surfaces, which could ultimately provide them with skills that resemble the human sense of touch.

Building on previous research, Matthew Purri, a Ph.D. student specializing in Computer Vision and AI at Rutgers University, recently developed a convolutional neural network (CNN)-based model that can estimate tactile properties of surfaces by analyzing images of them. Purri’s new paper, pre-published on arXiv, was supervised by Kristin Dana, a professor of Electrical Engineering at Rutgers.

“My previous research dealt with fine-grain material segmentation from ,” Purri told TechXplore. “Satellite image sequences provide a wealth of material about a scene in the form of varied viewing and illumination angles and multispectral information. We learned how valuable multi-view information is for identifying material from our previous work and believed that this information could act as a cue for the problem of physical surface property estimation.”

May 26, 2020

Exploring Satrun

Posted by in category: space travel

Exploring the Gold colour planet of our Solar system — Saturn.

#SaturnExploration #SpaceExploration

May 26, 2020

New material could be used to make a liquid metal robot

Posted by in categories: 3D printing, engineering, nuclear energy, robotics/AI

Eric Klien


A liquid metal lattice that can be crushed but returns to its original shape on heating has been developed by Pu Zhang and colleagues at Binghamton University in the US. The material is held together by a silicone shell and could find myriad uses including soft robotics, foldable antennas and aerospace engineering. Indeed, the research could even lead to the creation of a liquid metal robot evoking the T-1000 character in the film Terminator 2.

The team created the liquid metal lattice using a special mixture of bismuth, indium and tin known as Field’s alloy. This alloy has the relatively unusual property of melting at just 62 °C, which means it can be liquefied with just hot water. Field’s alloy already has several applications – including as a liquid-metal coolant for advanced nuclear reactors.

Continue reading “New material could be used to make a liquid metal robot” »

May 26, 2020

Are We In A Simulation? | Why You Are Not Real

Posted by in categories: computing, neuroscience

Eric Klien


Simulation theory points out that we might be living in a giant computer simulation. Exponential technological growth and how far we’ve already come in so little time are big indicators that we can’t possibly imagine what the future of humanity would look like in 100 years, or better yet, 1,000 years!
Will we be able to create simulations so indistinguishable from reality that the characters will not be aware that they are being simulated? Today on Cognitive Culture, you’ll learn about why you’re not real!

Continue reading “Are We In A Simulation? | Why You Are Not Real” »

May 26, 2020

Armed Russian Fighters Fly Dangerously Close To U.S. Navy Patrol Plane Over The Mediterranean

Posted by in category: military

The incident follows the American military’s release of evidence that Russia has sent combat aircraft to join Libya’s civil war.

May 26, 2020

Plant-based metal and metal alloy nanoparticle synthesis: a comprehensive mechanistic approach

Posted by in categories: biological, chemistry, nanotechnology

Circa 2019 o.o


There are enormous methods such as physical, chemical, and biological, for the synthesis of metallic nanoparticles (MNPs), which has become a matter of focus among material scientists. Green chemistry-based MNP synthesis is an area, which has gained much importance presently due to their non-toxicity and monodispersed nanoparticle preparation methodologies. Among green synthesis methods, plants are considered as efficient candidates for nanoparticle synthesis. The meticulous formation of different sizes and shapes of the nanoparticles using plants has spurred encouraging interest. The rate kinetics and stability of nanoparticle synthesis are well studied as well as appreciated in the arena of materials. Their capability to sequester metal ions and fastidiously define the dimensions using a plethora of capping proteins such as glutathione and phytochelatins is intriguing giving it a monodispersed size. This review is a comprehensive understanding of the metal nanoparticles synthesized by plants and apprehends the mechanism of nanoparticle synthesis exhaustively.

May 26, 2020

Scientists Warn “Insect Apocalypse” Could Doom Humanity

Posted by in category: futurism

“Each species represents an unrepeatable part of the history of life,” the scientists wrote. “In turn, each species also interacts with others and their environment in distinctive ways, weaving a complex network that sustains other species, including us.”

Bug Hunt

The scientists wrote, poetically, that the “fates of humans and insects are intertwined.” In other words, our collective ecological footprint doesn’t just threaten our fellow Earthlings — it could also effectively kick the ladder out from under our own position in the ecosystem.

May 26, 2020

Coronavirus outbreak likely to go on for two years, scientists predict

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, policy

The coronavirus pandemic is likely to last between 18 and 24 months, scientists from the University of Minnesota have predicted.

In a report published Thursday, researchers from the university’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) stressed that Covid-19 was more contagious than the flu and was likely to continue circulating after a first wave this spring.