Glitch News
Androids are being developed that have an uncanny resemblance to people.
A pinnacle example is an android crafted by roboticist David Hanson
that resembles the famous and deceased science fiction writer Philip K.
Dick. What makes android Dick so remarkable isn’t so much his appearance
as it is his ability to hold an intelligent conversation.
29-08-2015
28-08-2015
Simulations back up theory that Universe is a hologram
Nature
A team of physicists has provided some of the clearest evidence yet that our Universe could be just one big projection.
In 1997, theoretical physicist Juan Maldacena proposed1
that an audacious model of the Universe in which gravity arises from
infinitesimally thin, vibrating strings could be reinterpreted in terms
of well-established physics. The mathematically intricate world of
strings, which exist in nine dimensions of space plus one of time, would
be merely a hologram: the real action would play out in a simpler,
flatter cosmos where there is no gravity.
A team of physicists has provided some of the clearest evidence yet that our Universe could be just one big projection.
26-08-2015
Facebook’s Human-Powered Assistant May Just Supercharge AI GettyImages-565258861 Rights Managed
Face it: Siri sucks. So often, she has no clue what you’re saying. And when she does, there’s a pretty good chance she’ll respond with nothing more than a page filled with Internet links.
24-08-2015
New record energy efficiency for artificial photosynthesis
Gizmag
As the world moves towards developing new avenues of renewable energy, the efficiencies of producing fuels such as hydrogen must increase to the point that they rival or exceed those of conventional energy sources to make them a viable alternative. Now researchers at Monash University in Melbourne claim to have created a solar-powered device that produces hydrogen at a world-record 22 percent efficiency, which is a significant step towards making cheap, efficient hydrogen production a reality
As the world moves towards developing new avenues of renewable energy, the efficiencies of producing fuels such as hydrogen must increase to the point that they rival or exceed those of conventional energy sources to make them a viable alternative. Now researchers at Monash University in Melbourne claim to have created a solar-powered device that produces hydrogen at a world-record 22 percent efficiency, which is a significant step towards making cheap, efficient hydrogen production a reality
Carbon nanofibres made from CO2 in the air
BBC
It currently produces 10g per hour.
The team says it can be "scaled up" and could have an impact on CO2 emissions, but other researchers are unsure.
Nonetheless, the approach offers a much cheaper way of making carbon nanofibres than existing methods, according to Prof Stuart Licht of George Washington University.
Scientists in the US have found a
way to take carbon dioxide (CO2) from the air and make carbon
nanofibres, a valuable manufacturing material.
Their solar-powered
system runs a small current through a tank filled with a hot, molten
salt; the fluid absorbs atmospheric CO2 and tiny carbon fibres slowly
form at one of the electrodes.It currently produces 10g per hour.
The team says it can be "scaled up" and could have an impact on CO2 emissions, but other researchers are unsure.
Nonetheless, the approach offers a much cheaper way of making carbon nanofibres than existing methods, according to Prof Stuart Licht of George Washington University.
22-08-2015
Magnetic Wormhole Created in Lab
Ripped from the pages of a sci-fi novel, physicists have crafted a wormhole that tunnels a magnetic field through space.
"This device can transmit the magnetic field from one point in space to another point, through a path that is magnetically invisible," said study co-author Jordi Prat-Camps, a doctoral candidate in physics at the Autonomous University of Barcelona in Spain. "From a magnetic point of view, this device acts like a wormhole, as if the magnetic field was transferred through an extra special dimension."
21-08-2015
IBM has built a digital rat brain that could power tomorrow’s smartphones
In August 2014, IBM announced that it had built a “brain-inspired” computer chip—essentially a computer that was wired like an organic brain, rather than a traditional computer. These chips are designed to work like neurons—the brain’s nerve cells. Wired reported on Aug. 17 that the team working on the brain chips recently hit a new milestone—a system has about 48 million digital neurons, which is roughly as many as found in the brain of a rodent.
18-08-2015
Fairy Lights in Femtoseconds
Digital Nature Group
We present a method of rendering aerial and volumetric graphics using femtosecond lasers. A high-intensity laser excites a physical matter to emit light at an arbitrary 3D position. Popular applications can then be explored especially since plasma induced by a femtosecond laser is safer than that generated by a nanosecond laser. There are two methods of rendering graphics with a femtosecond laser in air: Producing holograms using spatial light modulation technology, and scanning of a laser beam by a galvano mirror. The holograms and workspace of the system proposed here occupy a volume of up to 1 cm^3; however, this size is scalable depending on the optical devices and their setup. This paper provides details of the principles, system setup, and experimental evaluation, and discussions on scalability, design space, and applications of this system.
We present a method of rendering aerial and volumetric graphics using femtosecond lasers. A high-intensity laser excites a physical matter to emit light at an arbitrary 3D position. Popular applications can then be explored especially since plasma induced by a femtosecond laser is safer than that generated by a nanosecond laser. There are two methods of rendering graphics with a femtosecond laser in air: Producing holograms using spatial light modulation technology, and scanning of a laser beam by a galvano mirror. The holograms and workspace of the system proposed here occupy a volume of up to 1 cm^3; however, this size is scalable depending on the optical devices and their setup. This paper provides details of the principles, system setup, and experimental evaluation, and discussions on scalability, design space, and applications of this system.
3D holograms that can be touched and felt
RT
Immersive, highly visual, 3D environments are now on the horizon after British scientists managed to recreate mid-air sensory experiences by controlling sound waves to project 3-D haptic holograms that can be seen and felt.
A team from the University of Bristol’s Interaction and Graphics research group, using the UltraHaptics, a system for creating haptic feedback in mid-air, were successful in testing several shapes, including spheres and pyramids.
Immersive, highly visual, 3D environments are now on the horizon after British scientists managed to recreate mid-air sensory experiences by controlling sound waves to project 3-D haptic holograms that can be seen and felt.
A team from the University of Bristol’s Interaction and Graphics research group, using the UltraHaptics, a system for creating haptic feedback in mid-air, were successful in testing several shapes, including spheres and pyramids.
16-08-2015
LG Display Unveils Incredible New Flexible Televisions
IFL Science
LG Display continues to be the leading pioneer in flexible technology - debuting its new flexible TV panel at an event in Korea this week.
18 inches wide, the screen offers high definition viewing and 1 million megapixels – but can be rolled up into a 3 cm radius without damage to the screen or technology.
The screen was made possible by its OLED, or organic light emitting diode, technology, which allows it to be lighter, thinner and more flexible than standard LCD screens.
At an event in Korea earlier this week, LG demonstrated its newest flexible display screens, which are 55 inches wide and paper-thin at 0.97 mm thick, and weigh just 1.9 kg – all the while still offering high definition. Attachable to surfaces via magnets, the new screen can be fitted to curved walls.
LG Display continues to be the leading pioneer in flexible technology - debuting its new flexible TV panel at an event in Korea this week.
18 inches wide, the screen offers high definition viewing and 1 million megapixels – but can be rolled up into a 3 cm radius without damage to the screen or technology.
The screen was made possible by its OLED, or organic light emitting diode, technology, which allows it to be lighter, thinner and more flexible than standard LCD screens.
At an event in Korea earlier this week, LG demonstrated its newest flexible display screens, which are 55 inches wide and paper-thin at 0.97 mm thick, and weigh just 1.9 kg – all the while still offering high definition. Attachable to surfaces via magnets, the new screen can be fitted to curved walls.
Robots evolve faster when you kill them
TechRadar
Computer scientists have discovered that robots evolve faster and more efficiently after a mass extinction.
The team at the University of Texas, Austin used a simulated mass extinction modelled on real-life disasters, and found that it hastens evolution in artificial intelligence.
The simulation involved connecting neural networks to simulated robot legs with the aim to make a robot evolve to the point it was walking stably.
Computer scientists have discovered that robots evolve faster and more efficiently after a mass extinction.
The team at the University of Texas, Austin used a simulated mass extinction modelled on real-life disasters, and found that it hastens evolution in artificial intelligence.
The simulation involved connecting neural networks to simulated robot legs with the aim to make a robot evolve to the point it was walking stably.
Disney ups investments in mind-reading tech
Cnet
Few people actually focus on the videos they watch online. That might even be for the best. What would it say about us if we gave our complete attention to cat GIFs on Twitter, Chuck Norris memes on Imgur or dancing babies on Vine?
But distraction, it turns out, is bad for advertisers. An AOL-commissioned study by global marketing firm Nielsen last year confirmed as much, finding that "distracted video viewing dramatically impacts advertising effectiveness." Such results just might explain why the Walt Disney Co. keeps investing in technology to get inside people's heads.
Few people actually focus on the videos they watch online. That might even be for the best. What would it say about us if we gave our complete attention to cat GIFs on Twitter, Chuck Norris memes on Imgur or dancing babies on Vine?
But distraction, it turns out, is bad for advertisers. An AOL-commissioned study by global marketing firm Nielsen last year confirmed as much, finding that "distracted video viewing dramatically impacts advertising effectiveness." Such results just might explain why the Walt Disney Co. keeps investing in technology to get inside people's heads.
15-08-2015
MIT claims to have found a “language universal” that ties all languages together
Language takes an astonishing variety of forms across the world—to such a huge extent that a long-standing debate rages around the question of whether all languages have even a single property in common. Well, there’s a new candidate for the elusive title of “language universal” according to a paper in this week’s issue of PNAS. All languages, the authors say, self-organise in such a way that related concepts stay as close together as possible within a sentence, making it easier to piece together the overall meaning.
13-08-2015
The evolution machine: Mother robot makes each child better than the last
Gizmag
It was only last month that futurists Elon Musk and Stephen Hawking warned about the dangers of intelligent machines, and a new research project led by the University of Cambridge won't do much to put their minds at ease. Scientists have created a mother robot that can not only build its own children robots, but mimic the process of natural selection to improve their capabilities with each generation.
The process begins with a robotic arm and a set of five plastic cubes with motors inside. Each cube features a unique "genome" made up of a combination of between one and five genes. This genome gives each cube its own set of attributes, relating to its shape, construction and motor commands.
It was only last month that futurists Elon Musk and Stephen Hawking warned about the dangers of intelligent machines, and a new research project led by the University of Cambridge won't do much to put their minds at ease. Scientists have created a mother robot that can not only build its own children robots, but mimic the process of natural selection to improve their capabilities with each generation.
The process begins with a robotic arm and a set of five plastic cubes with motors inside. Each cube features a unique "genome" made up of a combination of between one and five genes. This genome gives each cube its own set of attributes, relating to its shape, construction and motor commands.
Will Humans Ever Live Under the Sea?
Motherboard
A wise crab named Sebastian once dispensed some sage advice about the virtues of ocean living. “Up on the shore they work all day, out in the Sun they slave away,” he pointed out, “while we devotin’ full time to floatin’ under the sea.”
This sales pitch for the undersea lifestyle is undeniably attractive, and it will probably be stuck in your head all day now. It is also part of a much larger, cross-cultural obsession that humans have with underwater civilizations, which dates at least as far back as ancient Greece.
Much like outer space, the isolation and foreign nature of subocean habitats lends itself naturally to grand themes of humanity’s place in the natural world, and our drive to settle exotic and unexplored frontiers.
A wise crab named Sebastian once dispensed some sage advice about the virtues of ocean living. “Up on the shore they work all day, out in the Sun they slave away,” he pointed out, “while we devotin’ full time to floatin’ under the sea.”
This sales pitch for the undersea lifestyle is undeniably attractive, and it will probably be stuck in your head all day now. It is also part of a much larger, cross-cultural obsession that humans have with underwater civilizations, which dates at least as far back as ancient Greece.
Much like outer space, the isolation and foreign nature of subocean habitats lends itself naturally to grand themes of humanity’s place in the natural world, and our drive to settle exotic and unexplored frontiers.
10-08-2015
See Through Walls by the Glow of Your Wi-Fi
IEEE Spectrum
It used to be that a bad guy besieged by police could just shoot out the lights and hide in the dark. As if it weren’t enough that today’s cornered malefactors have to worry about night vision goggles, tomorrow’s thugs may also have to worry about the soft radio glow of wireless routers and mobile communications towers.
It used to be that a bad guy besieged by police could just shoot out the lights and hide in the dark. As if it weren’t enough that today’s cornered malefactors have to worry about night vision goggles, tomorrow’s thugs may also have to worry about the soft radio glow of wireless routers and mobile communications towers.
U.S. Sets Goal for Faster Supercomputers. Much, Much Faster.
NewYork Times
President Obama
has announced an ambitious plan to build the world’s fastest computer, a
machine capable of speeds far beyond technology’s current reach, in a
bid to enlarge the frontiers of fields including medicine, biology and
astronomy.
By
2025, the government will aim to create a machine capable of performing
a quintillion operations a second, or one exaflop, roughly 30 times
faster than today’s fastest computer.
06-08-2015
How to control someone else's arm with your brain
Greg Gage is on a mission to make brain science accessible to all. In this fun, kind of creepy demo, the neuroscientist and TED Senior Fellow uses a simple, inexpensive DIY kit to take away the free will of an audience member. It’s not a parlor trick; it actually works. You have to see it to believe it.
Bionics man offers a taste of our cyborg future
Tell me about your bionic legs…
I have a company that produces what I’m wearing: the BiOM Ankle System. For the first time in history we’ve normalised walking speed and its energy cost. In other words, if you simply measure a user’s speed and metabolic energy expenditure, you can’t tell whether they have bionic legs or biological legs.
04-08-2015
How I gave up alternating current
Ars Technica
The walls are buzzing. I know this because I have a magnet implanted in my hand and whenever I reach near an outlet I can feel them. I can feel fortresses of industry miles away burning prehistoric hydrocarbons by the megaton. I can feel the searing pain and loss of consciousness from when I was shocked by exposed house wiring as a boy. I can feel the deep cut of the power bill when I was living near the poverty line. I can feel the cold uncertainty of the first time the power went out due to a storm when I was a child. How long before the delicate veil of civilization turns to savagery with no light nor heat nor refrigeration?
The walls are buzzing. I know this because I have a magnet implanted in my hand and whenever I reach near an outlet I can feel them. I can feel fortresses of industry miles away burning prehistoric hydrocarbons by the megaton. I can feel the searing pain and loss of consciousness from when I was shocked by exposed house wiring as a boy. I can feel the deep cut of the power bill when I was living near the poverty line. I can feel the cold uncertainty of the first time the power went out due to a storm when I was a child. How long before the delicate veil of civilization turns to savagery with no light nor heat nor refrigeration?
Here’s That Lexus Hoverboard Finally in Action
Wired
After a month of teasers and speculation, Lexus has finally shown off its real, live, working hoverboard. It may not be Back to the Future, but it’s still a mighty satisfying ride.
As it turns out, the future is hard; professional skateboarder Ross McGouran has plenty of spills on the way to mastering even basic moves. That’s perhaps not surprising, given that riding the Lexus hoverboard is basically like straddling a maglev train. As we explained in June, the Lexus hoverboard relies on superconductors and magnets, which work against gravity to lift board and rider above the ground. That cool-looking steam coming off of the sides isn’t decorative; it’s liquid nitrogen, cooling the superconductors to -321 degrees Fahrenheit, the temperature at which they become superconducting.
After a month of teasers and speculation, Lexus has finally shown off its real, live, working hoverboard. It may not be Back to the Future, but it’s still a mighty satisfying ride.
As it turns out, the future is hard; professional skateboarder Ross McGouran has plenty of spills on the way to mastering even basic moves. That’s perhaps not surprising, given that riding the Lexus hoverboard is basically like straddling a maglev train. As we explained in June, the Lexus hoverboard relies on superconductors and magnets, which work against gravity to lift board and rider above the ground. That cool-looking steam coming off of the sides isn’t decorative; it’s liquid nitrogen, cooling the superconductors to -321 degrees Fahrenheit, the temperature at which they become superconducting.
03-08-2015
A new hunt for ET could well find AI on non-Earthlike worlds
NewScientist
AS WE discover planets across our galaxy – and perhaps beyond – it is right that the search for alien entities should be stepped up. Breakthrough Listen, a $100-million project led by the Russian billionaire and venture capitalist Yuri Milner, is set to reinvigorate the hunt for ET.
AS WE discover planets across our galaxy – and perhaps beyond – it is right that the search for alien entities should be stepped up. Breakthrough Listen, a $100-million project led by the Russian billionaire and venture capitalist Yuri Milner, is set to reinvigorate the hunt for ET.
Asimov's Yeast Vats May Be the Real Future of Food
Gizmodo
Isaac Asimov and other classic sci-fi writers envisioned a future in which great vats of yeast or bacteria could feed humanity. We’re not there yet, but today’s startups are using yeast cultures to produce milk, egg whites, and even coffee. And if you’re not sure about yeast-brewed egg whites, you can always try lab-grown cultures of beef, produced by a company whose other line of work is “bioprinted leather.”
Isaac Asimov and other classic sci-fi writers envisioned a future in which great vats of yeast or bacteria could feed humanity. We’re not there yet, but today’s startups are using yeast cultures to produce milk, egg whites, and even coffee. And if you’re not sure about yeast-brewed egg whites, you can always try lab-grown cultures of beef, produced by a company whose other line of work is “bioprinted leather.”
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