"A rapid DNA-synthesis technique has been used to synthesize a complete mitochondrial genome from scratch":
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Robotics Update
Google has been testing autonomous, robot-driven cars for some time now:
“We’ve driven down Lombard Street, crossed the Golden Gate bridge, navigated the Pacific Coast Highway, and even made it all the way around Lake Tahoe. All in all, our self-driving cars have logged over 140,000 miles."
Alternative Energies Update
Improved storage for solar thermal power plants:
"Developing a supercritical fluid thermal storage system promises increased power storage and lower cost for solar thermal power plants. The proposed system is expected to have twice the energy storage density of current two-tank molten salt systems and cost less than 70% of what current systems cost."
Artificial Intelligence Update
SETI should be searching for machine intelligence, not biological intelligence:
"If we build a machine with the intellectual capability of one human, then within 5 years, its successor is more intelligent than all humanity combined."
Friday, October 1, 2010
Alternative Energies Update
"Makani Power is one of six recent US Department of Energy ARPA-E grant winners for their Airborne Wind Turbine (AWT), a tethered flying wing that flies in endless loops around its anchor point on the ground and generates electricity from propellers on board. Makani believes it will be able to produce wind power that is 40% cheaper than conventional wind power and, more importantly, at an unsubsidized real cost competitive with coal-fired power plants":
Cybernetics Update
"Raytheon has unveiled its second-generation exoskeleton (XOS 2), essentially a wearable robotics suit. XOS 2 is lighter, stronger and faster than its predecessor, yet it uses 50 percent less power, and its new design makes it more resistant to the environment":
Nanotechnology Update
"Carbon nanotubes — those tiny particles poised to revolutionize electronics, medicine, and other areas — are much bigger in the strength department than anyone ever thought, scientists are reporting. New studies on the strength of these submicroscopic cylinders of carbon indicate that on an ounce-for-ounce basis they are at least 117 times stronger than steel and 30 times stronger than Kevlar, the material used in bulletproof vests and other products":
Alternative Energies Update
"University of Arizona physicists have discovered a new way to harvest waste heat and turn it into electrical power":
Robotics Update
I'm not sure how much this hints at self-awareness (not being privy to the programing), but...
Computing Update
"Research is closing in on the next-generation of ultra-high-density magneto-optical storage devices that could store more than 6,000 Terabits (6 petabits) of data, more than 70 times the contents of the entire U.S. Library of Congress, on a single 5-inch disc":
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