1. MIt Technology Review reports that tiny implants that connect to nerve cells could make it easier to control prosthetic limbs A novel implant seeded with muscle cells could better integrate prosthetic limbs with the body, allowing amputees greater control over robotic appendages. The construct, developed at the University of Michigan, consists of tiny cups, …
From a slide from 2007, later slides below are from a 2009 talk. From wikipedia: Retrocausality (also called retro-causation, backward causation and similar terms) is any of several hypothetical phenomena or processes that reverse causality, allowing an effect to occur before its cause. According to Paul March from a Talk Polywell comment: Dr. Cramer’s retrocausal …
Carnival of Space 119 is up a the Planetary Society blog. This site provided an update on attempts to modify plants to be survivable on Mars and the Moon. Centauri Dreams takes another look at advanced space propulsion. The Centauri Dreams article is triggered by a lengthy article in Air and Space magazine. A curious …
Guest Post: One problem social networks can run into is spam – whereby users login to a social network and have to shuffle through unwanted offers and emails before reading what their friends had to say. This, however, doesn’t seem to be as much of an issue for Twitter as it is difficult to penetrate …
the Economist Magazine reports, Mikko Myrskyla of the University of Pennsylvania has a study which shows that wealthier people are starting to have more children. The wealthier are heading back up to replacement levels of 2 children per couple. Dr Myrskyla speculates that the introduction of female-friendly employment policies in the most developed countries allows …
Singularity University is pleased to invite the public to a panel discussion with leading experts on “Humanity’s Grandest Challenges,” on Thursday, July 9 at 7pm PT. Exponentially accelerating “grand challenges” will take political power, significant investments, and necessitate the development of equally accelerating technologies to affect the large numbers of people required to make a …
Wireless Gigabit Alliance will be creating a 60 Ghz communication standard. The group’s vision is to create a global ecosystem of interoperable products based on this specification, which will unify the next generation of entertainment, computing and communications devices at speeds more than 10 times faster than today’s wireless LANs. All products based on the …
Kenji Nakano, Senior Chief Engineer, Honda, outlined a potential product portfolio running from internal combustion engined vehicles; mild hybrids; strong hybrids; plug-in hybrids; range extended electric vehicles; and full battery electric vehicles. The best choice, he said, will differ depending upon the vehicle type and use. We think simple lightweight hybrid systems such as IMA …
A 16 page Strategy for Nuclear Energy Research and Development has been put together by Idaho National Labs and the Electric Power Research Institute. Six goals are defined to achieve this vision:1) Maintain today’s nuclear fleet of light water reactors2) Significantly expand the fleet with advanced light water reactors3) Develop non-electric applications for high-temperature reactors4) …
Ultra-high-speed wireless connectivity – capable of transferring 15 gigabits of data per second over short distances – has taken a significant step toward reality. A recent decision by an international standards group could help bring this technology to market soon. Multi-gigabit technology could also help enable “viral communications.” Viral communications scenarios envision a future of …
The Navy is ordering another copy of WB 7 (Wiffle Ball Version 7 Unit) from EMC2 for modification and testing. This is the Bussard Inertial Electrostatic Confinement Fusion Device. H/T to Schwinn who commented on the last article indicating that the WB7 tests had positive results. Brian WangBrian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and …