There are multiple potential paths to a technological singularity. Although many people think a singularity would result if computers acquired sentience and general intelligence, a singularity might also happen if methods were found to increase the IQ of individuals and populations. In Singularity Rising: Surviving and Thriving in a Smarter, Richer, and More Dangerous World …
IEEE Spectrum – Today, large suppliers and their large customers dominate industrial robotics. But almost any manufacturer can afford a Baxter (or two). In the United States alone, there are roughly 300 000 small and medium-size manufacturers, Brooks points out. So it’s not inconceivable that Rethink could make humanoid robots a normal part of the …
Fueling nuclear reactors with uranium harvested from the ocean could become more feasible because of a material developed by a team led by the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The combination of ORNL’s high-capacity reusable adsorbents and a Florida company’s high-surface-area polyethylene fibers creates a material that can rapidly, selectively and economically extract …
Scientists at the Naval Research Laboratory have demonstrated, for the first time, the use of graphene as a tunnel barrier — an electrically insulating barrier between two conducting materials through which electrons tunnel quantum mechanically. They report fabrication of magnetic tunnel junctions using graphene, a single atom thick sheet of carbon atoms arranged in a …
ETH-Zurich researchers have developed an economic, fast and reproducible method for printing tiny structures in a way similar to printing art by an ink-jet printer. Now they are planning a spin-off. Using a new nanodroplet printing method, tiny structures can be applied to different surfaces in a quick and reproducible manner. It is fast because …
Breakout Nations is Ruchir Sharma’s book on the Bric countries – Brazil, Russia, India, China – and the rest of the developing world. In his day job, Sharma is head of emerging market equities and global macro at Morgan Stanley Investment Management. He warns that today’s “mania” for emerging markets is driven largely by the …
Larry’s 20-minute talk presents some insights into the Google worldview, both in terms of where the company invests its energy and how it is shaping the future. But his real message extended beyond Google’s accomplishments and aimed squarely at encouraging people to make bold dreams that take advantage of the amazing opportunities modern technology provides …
The Carnival of Space 249 is up at Riding with Robots Examiner – Is Newt Gingrich’s Moon Colony Idea Dead? Not Yet Despite the derision the moon colony idea received in some quarters, Gingrich’s vision did have resonance. Writing in Bloomberg, for example, Jeffrey Goldberg uttered the plea, “Let Space Shuttle Demise Awaken Gingrich Dream,” …
There was a Statistical Analysis of Life Expectancy across Countries that explained 87.7% of the differences in Life Expectancy. (from the year 2000) Life Expectancy at Birth = 62.9 years + (0.0001095 * GNP per Capita) + (1.4555274 * Annual Population Growth) + (-3.623246 * Fertility Rate) + (-0.066892 * AIDS) + (-0.016498 * Tuberculosis) …
Centauri Dreams – Adam Crowl explain the latest thinking about a classic concept for antimatter rockets that Friedwardt Winterberg would like to take to the next level. In 1954, Winterberg made the first proposal to test general relativity with atomic clocks in earth satellites and his thermonuclear microexplosion ignition concept was adopted by the British …
Samson Motorworks is still developing the Switchblade three wheeled flying motorcycle * The current schedule, kit deliveries should begin first quarter 2013. * Target price of the kit is $60k without engine or avionics, resulting in an overall targeted price of approximately $85k. Much of this will be determined by the actual price of the …