In a vision shared by innovators, entrepreneurs, and planners in both defense and civilian contexts, the skies of the future will be busy with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Unseen but central to the realization of this vision is wireless communication within and between those future fleets of UAVs that is reliable and resistant to both …
The United States Navy would like to develop two key features for its next-generation SSN(X) successor to the Virginia-class attack submarines. One feature would effectively turn the future attack submarine into a underwater mother-ship for unmanned underwater vehicles (UUV) while another would dispense with noise-generating moving parts such as a propulsor or driveshaft in the …
The US Navy has revamped its large drone strategy. Now midair refueling and spying are in the plan. The primary mission would be so-called “recovery tanking.” This involves refueling planes flying in a fixed orbit around the aircraft carrier. On April 15, 2015 over the Chesapeake Bay, a U.S. Navy drone linked up with an …
Google announced plans to expand Google Fiber to LA and Chicago — the second- and third-largest US cities. Google also is planning to expand to San Jose, San Diego, Phoenix, Portland, Jacksonville and Tampa. Google Fiber starts with a connection that’s up to 1,000 megabits per second. Super fast downloads. Brian WangBrian Wang is a …
Researchers at the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN) of A*STAR have developed a drug-delivering hydrogel to treat chronic diseases such as hepatitis C, a liver disease that kills around 500,000 people worldwide every year. “The new gel from IBN prevents premature drug release in the body. This allows for long-term drug delivery and reduces …
Scientists in the US (Sandia Labs) and Germany (Max Planck Institute for Chemistry) have successfully transformed liquid deuterium into a metal at pressures rivalling those at the center of our own planet. The discovery is another step along the long road to obtaining solid metallic hydrogen, a phase of matter that has eluded scientists for …
Researchers at Japan’s Atomic Energy Agency have come up with a new method of processing seawater to extract lithium—an element that plays a key role in advanced batteries for electric vehicles and one that, if current predictions for the EV market prove accurate, could be in short supply before the end of the decade. Tsuyoshi …
Minimally invasive surgery is becoming more popular. A surgeon uses video game like controls to manipulate robotic arms with long tools on them. These surgical robotic systems do not provide haptic feedback. This can result in accidents that cause bleeding or broken sutures. Robot-assisted minimally invasive surgery (RMIS) holds great promise for improving the accuracy …
Guardians of the Galaxy is soaring at the Friday box office for a possible $95 million-plus North American debut, far more than expected and marking another sizeable victory for Marvel Studios as it launches a new franchise outside of the Avengers series. Rotten Tomatoes has critics 92% positive and the audience is 96% positive Guardian …
If you liked this article, please give it a quick review on ycombinator or StumbleUpon. Thanks Brian WangBrian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and trends including Space, Robotics, Artificial …
The American physical society sees no technical reasons not to extend nuclear reactors to 80 years of operation and recommends doing so in a 28 page report. Renewing Licenses for the Nation’s Nuclear Power Plants Extending operating licenses for reactors in a safe and reliable way is a smart move, as they are a “near …