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Nov 29, 2018

Study unlocks full potential of ‘supermaterial’ graphene

Posted by in categories: computing, physics, solar power, sustainability

New research reveals why the “supermaterial” graphene has not transformed electronics as promised, and shows how to double its performance and finally harness its extraordinary potential.

Graphene is the strongest material ever tested. It’s also flexible, transparent and conducts heat and electricity 10 times better than copper.

After graphene research won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 2010 it was hailed as a transformative material for flexible electronics, more powerful computer chips and solar panels, water filters and bio-sensors. But performance has been mixed and industry adoption slow.

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Nov 29, 2018

Little Sophia: A New Robot Citizen Has Entered Our World

Posted by in category: robotics/AI

Recently, I came across a video featuring Jimmy Fallon interacting with the world’s first robot citizen, Sophia, and a new edition to the robot world, her little sister, Little Sophia. If you have not come across Sophia and Hanson Robotics then check out Zara‘s article to find out more. In short, Sophia is a human-like robot created by Hanson Robotics, an artificial intelligence company located in Hong Kong.

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Nov 29, 2018

Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity Just Survived a Massive Crash in Outer Space

Posted by in category: space

Once again, the decades-old theory of gravity has survived a modern scientific onslaught. Einstein wins again.

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Nov 29, 2018

Transhumanist Zoltan Istvan interviews on Playboy TV

Posted by in categories: electronics, transhumanism

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Nov 29, 2018

Bezos and Musk Will Both be Trillionaires in the Space Internet Age

Posted by in categories: computing, internet, satellites

There are huge multi-trillion dollar opportunities developing with Space and the further evolution of the internet.

Space launch and space satellites were already a $300 billion per year industry. Cloud Computing is a $200 billion market in 2018. Global Internet services is a $600 billion market. The Global IT market is nearing $5 trillion in size. The global Auto industry is $2 trillion in size. The Global supply chain industry is $40 trillion in size.

Space launch, Internet and communication, Internet of Things, Space mining, Space Colonization will each become future multi-trillion markets. Those that are already trillion dollar markets will become even larger.

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Nov 29, 2018

Would I Want a Designer Baby?

Posted by in categories: bioengineering, biotech/medical, genetics

A couple of days ago, news about the first designer babies has shaken the world. A Chinese researcher, Jiankui He, and his team at the Southern University of Science and Technology of China have been recruiting couples in order to create the world’s first babies with artificially increased resilience to HIV. The embryos were modified using the CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing tool before being implanted in their mother.

According to the research lead, the twins were born healthy a few weeks ago, and genetic testing performed after they were born confirmed that the editing had actually taken place. While the academic community discusses whether it is acceptable or not to modify human genes, taking into account that the changes made will be inherited by these babies’ offspring and are now added to mankind’s genetic pool, I want to share my own views on designer babies.

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Nov 29, 2018

Stone Tools at Arabian “Crossroads” Present Mysteries of Ancient Human Migration

Posted by in categories: materials, neuroscience

Scerri now knows when people dropped their tools on the barren ridge, but she can only speculate as to just who they were.

“The hominins responsible for the Acheulean at the site made their way into the heart of now arid Arabia by following lake and river channels. Once there, they climbed up the largest dyke, which was also a source of raw material,” she says. The toolmaking site they created there, perched at a lofty vantage point from which they could observe the surrounding plains, hints at how they may have thought and lived. “We don’t know which hominin taxon made these tools, but what we can say is that the hominins were resourceful and intelligent,” adds Scerri, of the Max Planck Institute and the University of Oxford.

Why these hominins took such a route at all is another area of intriguing speculation. “Although Arabia was wetter when these hominins were at Saffaqah, it was still a marginal environment,” Scerri says. “Were they pushed to the margins by larger brained hominins elsewhere, such as Neanderthals or even Homo sapiens in Africa?”

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Nov 29, 2018

If Light Can’t Escape Black Holes, How Do We Get Photos of Them… and More Questions From Our Readers

Posted by in category: cosmology

You asked, we answered.

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Nov 29, 2018

New catalyst material produces abundant cheap hydrogen

Posted by in categories: chemistry, energy, engineering, government, sustainability

QUT chemistry researchers have discovered cheaper and more efficient materials for producing hydrogen for the storage of renewable energy that could replace current water-splitting catalysts.

Professor Anthony O’Mullane said the potential for the chemical storage of renewable energy in the form of hydrogen was being investigated around the world.

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Nov 29, 2018

Google is Closer Than Ever to a Quantum Computer Breakthrough

Posted by in categories: computing, quantum physics

This is a critical step along the way to functional quantum computers that can achieve problems far beyond the capacity of traditional systems.

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