Seamless integration of computing into everyday objeccts

Seamless integration of computing into everyday objects isn’t quite here yet, in large part because we still don’t have cheap, thin, flexible electronics. But the technology is already on a path toward ubiquity: radio frequency identification (RFID) tags are used to track goods (and, increasingly, pets and people), flexible sensors in car seats warn parents …

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IBM Watson providing superior cancer treatment plans and will accelerate the adoption of new cancer research

The IBM Watson system gained fame by beating human contestants on the television quiz show Jeopardy! almost two years ago. Since that time, Watson has evolved from a first-of-a-kind status, to a commercial cognitive computing system gaining a 240 percent improvement in system performance, and a reduction in the system’s physical requirements by 75 percent …

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George Church Blames Neanderthal clone story on poor translation

The headline flying across the Internet yesterday seemed too outlandish to be true: “Wanted: ‘Adventurous woman’ to give birth to Neanderthal man — Harvard professor seeks mother for cloned cave baby,” Britain’s Daily Mail exulted. And Harvard University geneticist George M. Church, the scientist at the center of the viral vortex, says it was: Way …

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Distribution center robots

Everything Robotics covered the improvements in the speed of distribution centers through the use of robotics and the Kiva goods to man process. Kiva Goods to man process achieves 600 units per hour versus 160 picks per hour for Man to Goods Amazon has and continues to lead e-commerce-driven distribution with their pick-to-cart method (otherwise …

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Lawrenceville Plasma Physics Fusion Project has solved its arcing problem and a leak

In a December 3, 2012 Lawrencevill Plasma Physics (LPP) status report – Two shots with no arcing indicate the problem is solved, although more proof is needed. A leak held up key tests while we implement a solution. Analysis of photos taken in October confirms our understanding of plasmoid structure. Arcing appears to be solved …

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Carnival of Space 280

The Carnival of Space 280 is up at Starry Critters Revealing Hidden Black Holes A search using archival data from previous Chandra observations of a sample of 62 nearby galaxies has shown that 37 of the galaxies, including NGC 3627, contain X-ray sources in their centers. Most of these sources are likely powered by central …

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SkyCity waiting on water, electricity and transportation infrastructure to the site and further design work

A translated report from Soufun news in China. (H/T to reader Daniel Biri) Highlights -The lot has just been purchased at ~390 Million Yuan. But no construction prep work – The geotechnical survey and environmental review has been completed, but there is still a pending audit by a government agency – The city government is …

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An immersive display room driven by a graphic supercomputer with 1.5 billion pixels from 416 screens

Stony Brook University unveiled its latest engineering feat, a 1.5 billion pixel Reality Deck. The Reality Deck, a 416 screen super-high resolution virtual reality four-walled surround-view theater, is the largest resolution immersive display ever built driven by a graphic supercomputer. Its purpose and primary design principle is to enable scientists, engineers and physicians to tackle …

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Stanford expert: ‘Black swans’ and ‘perfect storms’ become lame excuses for bad risk management

Instead of reflecting on the unlikelihood of rare catastrophes after the fact, Stanford risk analysis expert Elisabeth Paté-Cornell prescribes an engineering approach to anticipate them when possible, and to manage them when not. Her research suggests that other fields could borrow risk analysis strategies from engineering to make better management decisions, even in the case …

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