Adaptive A.I. Inc. (a2i2) of Playa del Rey, CA plans to announced Monday, Jan 12, 2009 the “world’s first commercial AGI (artificial general intelligence) system” — a virtual IVR (interactive voice response) call center operator that can hold “smart, productive conversations,” CEO Peter Voss, a computer scientist and entrepreneur, told KurzweilAI.net in an exclusive interview. …
This site has looked at arrays of laser modules for launching into space several times before and considers it a very promising approach. Jordin Kare had a proposed development plan to demonstrate a one megawatt launch system over 4.5 years for $32 million back in 2005. It did not get funded but Jordin is working …
Graphene Energy Inc., an Austin, Texas-based startup formed in December 2008 to commercialize chemically modified graphene (CMG) ultracapacitors has raised $500,000 in seed money from Quercus Trust and 21Ventures. The company also concluded licensing terms for its technology from the University of Texas at Austin and The College of William and Mary. Graphene Energy says …
China’s BYD E6, a pure electric vehicle GM announced on Jan. 12, 2009 that it would buy lithium ion cells from LG Chem of Seoul, South Korea. The cells will be manufactured in Korea and assembled into battery packs at a new facility that GM will build in Michigan. Robert Lutz, a GM vice chairman, …
A Biodesign Institute research team is working on applying the same principles used to remove contaminants from the environment, on the human body, in an effort to reverse the effects of aging. This work is the Lysosens project. Their collaboration addresses age-related problems, such as heart disease, macular degeneration, and Alzheimer’s disease, by understanding the …
The Chinese economy expanded a revised 13% in 2007 from a year earlier, up from an original estimate of 11.9%, the National Bureau of Statistics said in a statement on its Web site. Therefore, China economy at the end of 2007 was 25.731 trillion yuan ($3.766 trillion) as compared to Germany’s GDP was $3.54 trillion …
Current steam catapults use about 615 kg/ 1,350 pounds of steam for each aircraft launch, which is usually delivered by piping it from the nuclear reactor. Now add the required hydraulics and oils, the water required to brake the catapult, and associated pumps, motors, and control systems. The result is a large, heavy, maintenance-intensive system …
Via Greencarcongress: Democrats in the US House of Representatives unveiled their $825-billion recovery package, a combination of $550 billion in spending and $275 billion in tax cuts. * $46.75 billion is to be directly applied to the transportation sector, including on-road, rail, air and maritime segments. – Of the direct transportation money, $30 billion (64%) …
Scientists at the RIKEN Advanced Science Institute in Wako, and co-workers at the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (NASU), have shown for the first time that the Casimir force has a complex dependence on temperature. They propose a related experiment that could clarify the theory around this important interaction, which has widespread applications in …
Pictured is the new cloak with bump, left, and the prototype, right. (Image: Duke University) Invisibility, cloaking, superlenses, hyperlenses, super-microscopes, advanced lithography are all closer to being practically achieved. New algorithms were developed and the latest cloaking device was completed from conception to fabrication in nine days, compared to the four months required to create …
Follistatin was used in mice to determine if enhanced muscle mass impacts the symptoms of spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). After treatment, the mice had increased muscle mass, gross motor function improvement and an increase in average life span of 30 percent.” With the therapy, MU researchers inhibited myostatin, a protein that limits muscle tissue growth. …