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Oct 25, 2019

What Google’s ‘quantum supremacy’ means for the future of computing

Posted by in categories: quantum physics, supercomputing

For the first time ever, a quantum computer has performed a computational task that would be essentially impossible for a conventional computer to complete, according to a team from Google.

Scientists and engineers from the company’s lab in Santa Barbara announced the milestone in a report published Wednesday in the journal Nature. They said their machine was able to finish its job in just 200 seconds—and that the world’s most powerful supercomputers would need 10,000 years to accomplish the same task.

The task itself, which involved executing a randomly chosen sequence of instructions, does not have any particular practical uses. But experts say the achievement is still significant as a demonstration of the future promise of .

Oct 25, 2019

Los Angeles Is Building a Road From Recycled Plastic Bottles

Posted by in category: materials

First India, now LA.


It’s taking a new approach to road construction.

Oct 25, 2019

NASA high definition images from Mars, epic background music … It seems to be there already

Posted by in categories: media & arts, space

Read more

Oct 25, 2019

DARPA Grand Challenge Finale Reveals Which AI-Managed Radio System Shares Spectrum Best

Posted by in categories: economics, robotics/AI

(Vanderbilt University, University of Szeged, Budapest University of Technology and Economics)—Team leveraging their radio expertise to create AI “advisors” that shift their radio systems’ strategies on the fly.

Oct 25, 2019

Rocket Report: Would you buy Virgin Galactic stock? Rocket Lab goes lunar

Posted by in categories: materials, satellites

Potential for small science missions … “Small satellites will play a crucial role in science and exploration, as well as providing communications and navigation infrastructure to support returning humans to the Moon,” Rocket Lab head honcho Peter Beck said. “They play a vital role as pathfinders to retire risk and lay down infrastructure for future missions. We think this could be useful for CubeSat science around the Moon or possibly communications relay capability on the cheap.” (submitted by 3ch0 and ADU)

Firefly considering AR1 engine for its Beta rocket. Firefly Aerospace has said it is collaborating with engine-maker Aerojet Rocketdyne to increase the performance of its upcoming Alpha launch vehicle, and the company is also considering Aerojet Rocketdyne’s AR1 engine for a future launch vehicle, SpaceNews reports. In a statement, Firefly CEO Tom Markusic praised the AR1 as an engine well suited for Beta but stopped short of saying the engine’s selection is a done deal.

How far along is AR1 really? … Markusic: “Aerojet Rocketdyne’s AR1 engine, which incorporates the latest advances in propulsion technology, materials science, and manufacturing techniques, is incredibly well-suited to power Beta given its cost-effective, high-performance capabilities.” It is not at all clear to us how close Aerojet is to completing and qualifying the AR1 engine. It also seems like Firefly should get Alpha up and running before it worries too much about the larger Beta rocket. (submitted by Unrulycow)

Oct 25, 2019

New-Found Comet Gateway Funnels Icy Bodies Into Inner Solar System

Posted by in category: space

Newly-discovered comet gateway links icy bodies from the outer solar system into near-Earth trajectories, says paper.

Oct 25, 2019

Automated gardener ushers in new era of ‘robotony’

Posted by in categories: futurism, robotics/AI

With its whirring rotary blades and extendable cutting arm it would not look out of place stalking the streets of a futuristic urban dystopia.

But Edinburgh University’s new robot has actually been developed to pootle sedately around the garden, pruning rose bushes and trimming topiary.

The semi-autonomous machine — dubbed Trimbot — is programmed to recognise leaves, stalks and flowers, so it does not inadvertently dead-head the living blooms.

Oct 25, 2019

SpaceX’s Starlink Broadband Service Will Begin in 2020: Report

Posted by in categories: internet, satellites

X, the private spaceflight company known for reusable rockets and a giant, shiny Starship, will begin offering its own satellite internet service in 2020, according to SpaceNews. In fact, the U.S. Air Force is already testing it in planes.

To build the service, SpaceX will have to launch up to eight Falcon 9 rockets filled with the company’s Starlink satellites, SpaceX President and Chief Operating Officer Gwynne Shotwell told SpaceNews and other reporters this week at the 70th International Astronautical Congress in Washington.

“We’ll continue to upgrade the network until mid to late next year,” SpaceNews’ Jeff Foust quoted Shotwell as saying during a media roundtable on Tuesday (Oct. 22). “We’re hoping for 24 launches by the end of the year.”

Oct 25, 2019

Health and Wellness Providers Are Banking On Virtual Care To Better Serve America’s Aging Boomers

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, finance, life extension

Nearly half the U.S. population is projected to have one or more chronic conditions by 2030 and the need to better manage both care delivery and costs has never been greater.

At the same time, Baby Boomers are entering their “Golden Years” and seeking out preventative and lifestyle medicine to ensure that they live longer and with more personal freedom. And they want to do all of this while “aging in place” and not being relegated to the decrepit and outdated nursing homes of their own parents’ generation. After all, we live in a new era of instant song selection, streaming movies, and Amazon home delivery.

Oct 25, 2019

Large Mammal BPF Prize Winning Announcement

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, cryonics, life extension, neuroscience

A technology designed to preserve synapses across the whole brain of a large mammal is successful

Using a combination of ultrafast glutaraldehyde fixation and very low temperature storage, researchers have demonstrated for the first-time ever a way to preserve a brain’s connectome (the 150 trillion synaptic connections presumed to encode all of a person’s knowledge) for centuries-long storage in a large mammal. This laboratory demonstration clears the way to develop Aldehyde-Stabilized Cryopreservation into a ‘last resort’ medical option, one that would prevent the destruction of the patient’s unique connectome, offering at least some hope for future revival via mind uploading. You can view images and videos demonstrating the quality of the preservation method for yourself at the evaluation page.