Menu

Blog

Page 8547

Oct 5, 2018

Intel plots a weird, spooky future in quantum computing

Posted by in categories: computing, particle physics, quantum physics, space

There, engineers are doing something strange. They’re freezing computer chips to 460 degrees Fahrenheit below zero, colder than deep space, to simulate the quantum structure of the universe.

At such extreme temperatures these remarkable chips, called qubits, enable scientists to peer into the complex, uncertain interaction of particles at the atomic level — an unseen world in which seemingly contradictory results can exist simultaneously, a place where simply observing an interaction can change it. Or wreck it altogether.

“Quantum — it’s something weird,” said Mike Mayberry, Intel’s chief technology officer and general manager of Intel Labs.

Continue reading “Intel plots a weird, spooky future in quantum computing” »

Oct 5, 2018

A new era in the quest for dark matter

Posted by in categories: cosmology, particle physics

Since the 1970s, astronomers and physicists have been gathering evidence for the presence in the universe of dark matter: a mysterious substance that manifests itself through its gravitational pull. However, despite much effort, none of the new particles proposed to explain dark matter have been discovered. In a review that was published in Nature this week, physicists Gianfranco Bertone (UvA) and Tim Tait (UvA and UC Irvine) argue that the time has come to broaden and diversify the experimental effort, and to incorporate astronomical surveys and gravitational wave observations in the quest for the nature of dark matter.

Over the past three decades, the search for dark matter has focused mostly on a class of particle candidates known as weakly interacting massive particles (or WIMPs). WIMPs appeared for a long time as a perfect dark matter candidate as they would be produced in the right amount in the early universe to explain dark matter, while at the same time they might alleviate some of the most fundamental problems in the physics of elementary particles, such as the large discrepancy between the energy scale of weak interactions and that of .

Read more

Oct 5, 2018

These Photos of Asteroid Ryugu from the Successful MASCOT Landing Are Amazing

Posted by in category: space

Before the MASCOT lander spent 17 hours studying the asteroid Ryugu, the spacecraft captured some incredible photographs.

Read more

Oct 5, 2018

NASA says Voyager 2 may be nearing interstellar space

Posted by in category: space

Voyager 1 could soon welcome its twin to the space outside our solar system.

    by

  • Amanda Kooser

Read more

Oct 5, 2018

This Agile Robot Assists with Various Construction Tasks

Posted by in categories: engineering, robotics/AI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7Xqu3Hw4fk

AIST recently unveiled its HRP-5, the fifth iteration of a humanoid robot design at the International Conference on Intelligent Robots. The long-term vision for the robot is to assist, not replace, workers with certain repetitive tasks. HRP-4 weighed 39kg and stood 151 cm tall with a 0.5kg maximum payload (per hand), so most likely the newest version will at the least boast an increased payload and sensor technology.

Facebook: fb.com/interestingengineering
Twitter: twitter.com/intengineering
Instagram: instagram.com/interestingengineering
Linkedin: linkedin.com/company/10070590

Continue reading “This Agile Robot Assists with Various Construction Tasks” »

Oct 5, 2018

Brown bear saliva kills a bacteria that current antibiotics are unable to treat

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

Slather me in it!

Read more

Oct 5, 2018

Above And Beyond: NASA’s Journey to Tomorrow

Posted by in category: space

As NASA celebrates its 60th anniversary, see how the historic institution is taking us to the moon, to the surface of Mars, to the outer edge of our solar system and beyond. 🔭

Watch above and beyond: nasa’s journey to tomorrow saturday oct 13 at 9p on discovery and discovery GO.

Read more

Oct 5, 2018

Nanosatellites Are Hitching A Ride To Space

Posted by in category: space

Nanosatellites are the new low-cost way to get your research into space.

Read more

Oct 5, 2018

Company that sucks CO2 from air announces a new methane-producing plant

Posted by in category: sustainability

Company says net negative emissions need to start now to limit global warming.

Read more

Oct 5, 2018

Are You Sure Eighty Years Are Enough?

Posted by in categories: business, life extension

Sometimes, people say that around 80 years of life will be enough for them, but have they thought it through?


When asked how long they want to live, people often say no more than ten years above their country’s average lifespan. This, mind you, is in a world where aging is still inevitable; people know they won’t be in top shape during those ten extra years, and yet, perhaps hoping they might be an exception to that rule, they still wish they could get that little extra time. Even when told that they will live these extra years in complete health, the most common choice is the current maximum recorded human lifespan, which is roughly 120 years.

If we assume that no rejuvenation therapies are available to extend the time you spend in youthful health, then it is somewhat understandable if you don’t feel up for a very long life, because the odds are that its final decades will be increasingly miserable ; however, if rejuvenation therapies were available, and you could be fully healthy for an indefinite time, why stop at 120 years? Life extension advocates have probably all had their fair share of conversations with people who insist that 80-odd years will be more than enough for them, health or no health—worse still, some don’t care about preserving their health precisely because they think that 80 years is a sufficiently long time to live.

Continue reading “Are You Sure Eighty Years Are Enough?” »