The New York Times reported on the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence 2008-2009 Presidential Panel on Long-Term AI Futures conference. Co-chairs: Eric Horvitz and Bart Selman Panel: Margaret Boden, Craig Boutilier, Greg Cooper, Tom Dean, Tom Dietterich, Oren Etzioni, Barbara Grosz, Eric Horvitz, Toru Ishida, Sarit Kraus, Alan Mackworth, David McAllester, Sheila McIlraith, …
This weeks news makes it a tough week to deny technology acceleration or an eventual technological Singularity. It is looking far more certain that a very powerful three dimensional DNA/RNA/Protein Nanotechnological capability is emerging and that nanotechnology will be integrated with carbon nanotubes and nanoparticle metal and can be used to bootstrap precise control and …
Carnival of Space #99 is up at Alice Astro Info. This site provided information on microscale solar sails and the article with details on PGE (Pacific Gas and Electric) signing an agreement with startup Solaren for Space based solar power by 2016. Innumerable Worlds looks at the tiny movement of our sun caused by Earth …
Universe Today has the carnival of space week 98. This site provide the interview of Tom Shelley, VP of Space Adventures. The interview was done by Sander Olson Centauri Dreams had the interview they had with Friedwardt Winterberg on Starship Design. 21st Century waves looks at the recent World Future Society predictions for 2010-2030 with …
Schematic showing the experimental setup. The sample with PI/NI interface is composed of an array of different designed Helmholtz resonators machined from analuminum plate. Unit cells of each half part and the corresponding inductor–capacitor circuit analogy are shown in the insets. Metamaterials are progressing to enable invisibility to sonar and creating superlenses for ultrasound. Superlenses …
There are several new approaches to E-bombs and EMP devices. The Army is creating hybrid devices by adding e-bombs to regular explosives. 1. There are shockwave ferromagnetic generators for e-bomb and EMP devices. This is a magnet that blows up and spontaneously demagnetizes, releasing energy as a pulse of power. The effect is known as …
Mini-Helicon plasma thrusters are the first three parts of a Vasimr plasma propulsion unit. The Mini-Helicon is the first rocket to run on nitrogen, the most abundant gas in our atmosphere. Nitrogen is cheaper than Xenon and other gases used in other electric propulsion. The new system, called the Mini-Helicon Plasma Thruster, is much smaller …
Deep roots. For a hair follicle to begin a new phase of growth, an elusive group of cells called the hair germ (bright red) must be activated. This progression of images shows that the hair germ begins proliferating (green) before other cells do, suggesting a two-step mechanism. Research from Rockefeller University reveals that a structure …
This is a review of the status of fusion tokomaks for steady state continuous operation and suitability as a consistent neutron source for the proposed fusion-fission hybrid nuclear waste to nuclear fuel transmutation system From the 2008 overview of Fusion research by R. Stambaugh of General Atomics: The Fusion Development Facility Mission (FDF): Develop Fusion’s …
Between 11,000 and 23,000 miles of dedicated CO2 pipeline would need to be laid in the United States before 2050, according to PNNL’s estimates, in addition to the 3,900 miles already in place (which carry mostly naturally occurring CO2 used to stimulate production from aging oil wells). The MIT Future of Coal 2007 report estimated …
A large increase in the capability of computers to augment our intelligence and productivity is coming but the societal impact will be dwarfed by the increasing democratization of the capability of many more people to have meaningful opportunities to tackle the big problems. Intelligence and Productivity Enhancement with Computers 1. Besides the basic connection, there …