A team of engineering researchers has made a fundamental advance in controlling so-called soft robots, using magnetic fields to remotely manipulate microparticle chains embedded in soft robotic devices. The researchers have already created several devices that make use of the new technique. “By putting these self-assembling chains into soft robots, we are able to have …
Amazon, which currently charges a $99 annual fee for two-day deliveries under its “Prime” service, will eventually offer two-tier pricing for delivery services, Jindel said. One will be a “Gold Prime” membership costing $199 to $249 a year that covers next-day deliveries, the other a platinum membership for $399 a year that includes same-day deliveries. …
A new company, Gravity has unveiled of its first product, the Daedulus flight suit. The company claims Daedulus should be able to fly at speeds up to several hundreds of miles per hour, although Browning hasn’t been able to find a large enough test flight area to get it going that fast just yet. Browning …
Dragonfly Pictures’ DP14 Hawk, a dual-rotor unmanned aerial system, could one day evacuate wounded soldiers from the battlefield. It resembles a miniature CH-47 Chinook helicopter, can carry 430 pounds in its six-foot by 20-inch cargo space for about 2.4 hours. It has a cruising speed of about 82 miles per hour and is capable of …
In collaboration with OpenAI, DeepMind, YC Research, and others, Google has announced the launch of Distill, a new open science journal and ecosystem supporting human understanding of machine learning. Distill is an independent organization, dedicated to fostering a new segment of the research community. We can create interactive diagrams and user interfaces the enable intuitive …
Intel remains confident about scaling CMOS and extending Moore’s law beyond 2024 Someday we may reach a physical limit. But Intel does not see that point on their horizon. 1990, when the features on the wafer were the same size as the wavelength of the light we used to print them: 193 nm. Physics was …
Measuring brain activity with precision is essential to developing further understanding of diseases such as epilepsy and disorders that affect brain function and motor control. Neural probes with high spatial resolution are needed for both recording and stimulating specific functional areas of the brain. Now, researchers from the Graphene Flagship have developed a new device …
“Made in China 2025” is an initiative to comprehensively upgrade Chinese industry. The initiative draws direct inspiration from Germany’s “Industry 4.0” plan, which was first discussed in 2011 and later adopted in 2013. The heart of the “Industry 4.0” idea is intelligent manufacturing, i.e., applying the tools of information technology to production. In the German …
The Wall Street Journal reports that Elon Musk has revealed that he started a brain-computer interface company called Neuralink. The company has no public presence. It will creating devices that can be implanted in the human brain for mind computer interfaces. @elonmusk What abour neural lace? Announcement soon? — Revol Devoleb (@BelovedRevol) January 25, 2017 …
Uber is suspending its self-driving car program after one of its autonomous vehicles was involved in a high-impact crash in Tempe, Arizona, the latest incident for a company reeling from multiple crises. one of Uber’s Volvo self-driving SUVs is pictured on its side next to another car with dents and smashed windows. An Uber spokeswoman …
Traditional semiconductor scaling is expected to reach an end by about 2024, according to a white paper from engineers working on a new version of the semiconductor roadmap. The good news is a wide variety of new kinds of devices, chip stacks and systems innovations promise to continue benefits in computing performance, power and cost. …