Alternative Energies Update

General Fusion claims it can bring us a grid-capable 100 MW fusion power plant within ten years for an investment of less than a billion dollars:

http://www.technologyreview.com/business/23102/

The magnetized target fusion technique it will use isn't a new concept, but the digital precision necessary to make it work has only recently become available.

Robotics Update

It's finally here: the promise of miniature robots capable of crawling through the body to deliver precise medication, clear arteries, etc.:

http://www.ats.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=6063&security=1141&news_iv_ctrl=1261

This is far larger than a true "nanobot," but it's a big step on the path to having implanted robots constantly monitoring and repairing our bodies.

Alternative Energies Update

A biotech startup claims it has a process to produce 20,000 gallons of biofuel per acre per year, at a price competitive with fossil fuels:

http://www.technologyreview.com/business/23073/

Artificial Intelligence Update

A panel of AI scientists, roboticists, and ethical and legal scholars discusses worst-case scenarios for the upcoming emergence of artificially intelligent machines:

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17518-smart-machines-whats-the-worst-that-could-happen.html

Notably, some on the panel think human-level AI could take 1,000 years to develop, while others said 20. I've been reading a lot more of the latter than the former.

Another article, with additional perspectives:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/26/science/26robot.html?_r=2

Alternative Energies Update

A new design for a less expensive solar thermal power generator:

http://www.technologyreview.com/energy/23079/

Alternative Energies Update

A detailed description of the state of the Electrical Energy Storage Unit (EESU) capacitor, which may soon (or not) become a far more efficient replacement for batteries:

http://www.theoildrum.com/node/5557

Artificial Intelligence Update

As the social behavior of large groups of humans becomes more definable through progress in data gathering, new informatics tools and increases in computational power, we will be able to "predict with unprecedented foresight, specificity and scale such things as the economic and social effects of billions of new Internet users in China and India, or the exact location and number of airline flights to cancel around the world in order to halt the spread of a pandemic":

http://www.physorg.com/news167579576.html

Artificial Intelligence Update

We may be only ten years away from having a reverse-engineered model of the human brain:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8164060.stm

Alternative Energies Update

PetroAlgae promises to cheaply provide both food and fuel from just sun and algae:

http://www.ecogeek.org/component/content/article/2855

Robotics Update

Limiting robot finger joints with the same limitations of the human hand speeds up the computation required to mimic human hand movement:

http://www.technologyreview.com/computing/23023/

Alternative Energies Update

Urine takes a quarter of the energy to electrolyze into hydrogen than does water:

http://www.ecogeek.org/component/content/article/2845

Cybernetics Update

As we continue to develop the ability to control technology with the mind through direct neural implants, we run the risk of allowing someone to hack our brains:

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/07/neurosecurity/

Cybernetics Update

DARPA's plan to create cybernetic insects to act as spies for the military:

http://www.livescience.com/technology/090714-cyborg-bugs.html

Nanotechnology Update

Recently discovered attractive and repulsive forces in light could allow nanotech computer switches to be pulled or pushed:

http://www.physorg.com/news166711942.html

Cybernetics Update

DARPA to create cyborg crickets to find and identify buried earthquake victims or react to the presence of dangerous chemicals by calling out:

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20327165.900-cyborg-crickets-could-chirp-at-the-smell-of-survivors.html

Robotics Update

A robot practices before a mirror to learn to how to make correct expressions:

http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/editors/23825/

Medicine Update

A new drug, rapamycin, has been shown to increase lifespan in mammals 9-13%, even when administered toward the end of their lifespans, although it does suppress the immune system:

http://www.technologyreview.com/biomedicine/22974/

Artificial Intelligence Update

A computer program learns sign language based on signed gestures and subtitled text on a video image:

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17431-computer-learns-sign-language-by-watching-tv.html

Artificial Intelligence Update

The fascinating history of the discovery and development of memristors, their discovery in biological intelligence, and how they may be applied to artificial intelligence:

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20327151.600-memristor-minds-the-future-of-artificial-intelligence.html?full=true

Computing Update

Researchers create an optical transistor from a single molecule, passing another milestone in the quest for developing quantum computers:

http://www.gizmag.com/optical-transistor-made-from-single-molecule/12157/

Robotics Update

Robo-Bat: Researchers are developing a new MAV (micro-aerial vehicle) based closely on the flight capabilities of a bat:

http://www.physorg.com/news166163661.html

Alternative Energies Update

New flexible nanopillar solar cells could cost one tenth the price of crystaline silicon solar panels:

http://www.technologyreview.com/computing/22958/

Medicine Update

This new "Medicine Update" category will not be for reporting advances in regular medical technology (e.g., treatments for cancer or diabetes or whatnot), which I consider an interim step until we develop true nanotechnology to replace most current and near-future techniques. Instead, it will be to report medical advances that specifically deal with life extension technologies to extend our chances of making it to the time when nanotechnological solutions become available.

This first report is by Ray Kurzweil defending why aging may soon be solved:

http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/guest/23802/

"...information technology grows exponentially, in sharp contrast to the linear growth of hit or miss approaches that have characterized medicine up until recently. As such, these technologies will be a million times more powerful in 20 years (by doubling in power and price performance each year). The genome project, incidentally, followed exactly this trajectory."

Materials Update

Further progress on the development of a true invisibility cloak. Furthermore, the possibility exists to make an object appear completely different from what it actually is:

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20327156.300-modified-invisibility-cloak-could-make-the-ultimate-illusion.html

Computing Update

Carbon ring storage could improve data storage densities by three orders of magnitude:

http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/arxiv/23773/

Virtual Reality Update

Incorporating realistic physics into virtual reality:

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17389-innovation-physics-brings-realism-to-virtual-reality.html

"One expert evens predicts that such techniques could be used to create Matrix-like virtual worlds indistinguishable from reality within just a few years."

Computing Update

"A team led by Yale University researchers has created the first rudimentary solid-state quantum processor, taking another step toward the ultimate dream of building a quantum computer":

http://www.physorg.com/news165418586.html

Alternative Energies Update

"At any moment, the winds in high-altitude jet streams hold roughly 100 times more energy than all the electricity being consumed on Earth."

How to capture that energy:

http://www.physorg.com/news165082424.html

Cybernetics Update

The brain may automatically adapt to incorporate extensions and additions to the body:

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17346

Artificial Intelligence Update

The AI Report:

A series of interesting articles on forbes.com reflecting on the developments in AI and robotics:

http://www.forbes.com/2009/06/22/singularity-robots-computers-opinions-contributors-artificial-intelligence-09_land.html

"Superintelligence would be the last invention biological man would ever need to make, since, by definition, it would be much better at inventing than we are."

Robotics Update

The near-future evolution of small and micro robots for more precision, less collateral damage targetting on the battlefield:

http://www.esquire.com/the-side/feature/new-air-force-drones-in-pakistan-061709

Be sure to watch the military's own video on MAVs (micro air vehicles) to get a real feel for their application:

http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/flight-international/2008/12/video-suicide-micro-air-vehicl.html

Robotics Update

Giving war robots a conscience and a sense of guilt to help them make ethical decisions on the battlefield:

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17332-plan-to-teach-military-robots-the-rules-of-war.html

Robotics Update

Computer scientists develop a technique that lets computers see objects with nearly double the accuracy and 10 times the speed of earlier methods:

http://www.physorg.com/news164509831.html

Alternative Energies Update

High-altitude kites could generate enough power for New York City:

http://news.mongabay.com/2009/0615-wind.html

Nanotechnology Update

Researchers figure out how to line up buckyballs like a string of pearls, called buckywire:

http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/arxiv/23682/

"So what might buckywires be good for? First up is photovoltaics: these buckywires look as if they could be hugely efficient light harvesters because of their great surface area and the way that they can conduct photon-liberated electrons. Then there are various electronic applications in wiring up molecular circuit boards."

Nanotechnology Update

Researchers create a functioning, fully-controlable gear only 1.2 nanometers in size:

http://www.physorg.com/news164281362.html

Transportation Update

Inflatable modules could make a space elevator a reality using currently available materials:

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20227117.000

Robotics Update

A new robot can successfully (if slowly) navigate a building full of open and closed doors, and find where to plug itself in, all without the "cheats" of previous generations:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/09/science/09robot.html?_r=1

Alternative Energies Update

Methanol may turn out to be a better option than hydrogen as a replacement for fossil fuels:

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17240-methanol-challenges-hydrogen-to-be-fuel-of-the-future.html

Robotics Update

The tipping point appears to be here on the implementation of robots to replace farm hands:

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17224

Computing Update

Physicists use ultra-fast lasers that could accelerate storage and retrieval of data on hard discs by up to 100,000 times:

http://www.physorg.com/news162995052.html

Computing Update

This chip is very close to a Star Trek "medical tricorder" in that it can detect even a single virus in a biological sample within five minutes:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090528093004.htm

Robotics Update

A number of scientists, engineers, writers, etc. give their responses to the question, "Is a serminator scenario possible?"

http://www.hplusmagazine.com/articles/ai/poll-terminator-scenario-possible

Of course, the question is a bit vague, since Terminator includes robots, time travel and rogue AI, but the answers are interesting.

Singularity Update

A brief overview of the coming Singularity:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/24/weekinreview/24markoff.html?_r=1

Transportation Update

A rotating space elevator could propel its own car up into space:

http://www.physorg.com/news162112945.html

Transportation Update

A rotating space elevator could propel its own car up into space:

http://www.physorg.com/news162112945.html

Artificial Intelligence Update

Dutch supercomputer establishes a new world record by defeating two human Go professionals in an official match:

http://www.hpcwire.com/offthewire/Dutch-Supercomputer-Establishes-New-Record-in-Go-45094962.html?viewAll=y

Computing Update

Nanotechnology may very soon enable the creation of "five dimensional" discs with a storage capacity 2,000 times that of current DVDs:

http://www.nanowerk.com/news/newsid=10754.php

Computing Update

Nanotechnology may very soon enable the creation of "five dimensional" discs with a storage capacity 2,000 times that of current DVDs:

http://www.nanowerk.com/news/newsid=10754.php

Computing Update

New memory material may keep data safe for a billion years:

http://www.nanowerk.com/news/newsid=10742.php

Robotics Update

A new program allows a robot to use stealth to sneak up on an opponent unseen:

http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/editors/23554/

Robotics Update

An "ethical governor" is being developed to tell military robots how to react in a combat situation:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30810070/

"Fear might influence human decision-making, but math rules for robots. Simplified, various actions can be classified as ethical or unethical, and assigned a certain value. Starting with a lethal action and subtracting the various ethical responses to the situation equals an unethical response. Other similar equations govern the various possible actions."

Alternative Energies Update

Prototype "breathing" battery currently stores 8x the energy of lithium-ion batteries, and could go higher:

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17159-breathing-batteries-could-store-10-times-the-energy.html

Alternative Energies Update

A new technology promises to store and deliver triple the amount of energy of conventional lithium-ion batteries:

http://www.nanowerk.com/news/newsid=10689.php

Artificial Intelligence Update

Nine games computers are ruining for humanity:

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17145-nine-games-computers-are-ruining-for-humanity.html?full=true

Step by step computers are beating humans at their own games.

Nanotechnology Update

This isn't just a nanotech update; DARPA'S list of upcoming advanced research projects include robotics, computer and AI goals as well:

http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/41935

Robotics Update

This is an odd one:

A sensing, solar-powered micro-machine uses electromagnetic pulses to control 3,000 magnetically-sensitive bacteria and make them carry it around like tiny zombie porters:

http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/editors/23533/

Virtual Reality Update

Project LifeLike attempts to make avatars as realistic as possible as vehicles for the most effective human and AI communication in a virtual world:

http://www.physorg.com/news161630099.html

Computing Update

Moore's Law continues, as Fujitsu creates a computer processor 2.5 times faster than the previous record holder:

http://www.physorg.com/news161600187.html

Cybernetics Update

A recent neuroscience meeting discussed the future of brain augmentation:

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20227083.700-will-designer-brains-divide-humanity.html?full=true&print=true

Robotics Update

This article describes a number of different advances in robotics technology, including a robot that can climb telephone poles and another that can detect human pedestrians as it moves along city streets:

http://www.technologyreview.com/computing/22635/

Some of the videos are worth watching.

Artificial Intelligence Update

DARPA is now attempting to prove that "the human mind is nothing more than parts and energy. In other words, all brain activities — reasoning, emoting, processing sights and smells — derive from physical mechanisms at work, acting according to the principles of “thermodynamics in open systems.”"

http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2009/05/darpa-heat-energy-brains-now-make-us-some/

I disagree that it's "spooky," but perhaps it is to some.

Nanotechnology Update

New LED displays based on carbon nanotubes allow the display to be folded and crumpled without damaging the display:

http://www.technologyreview.com/computing/22632/

Alternative Energies Update

Using ink-jet printing to cut the use of expensive silicon in solar cells in half:

http://www.technologyreview.com/energy/22599/

Robotics Update

An autonomous robot submarine will explore the deepest oceans:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8035499.stm

Transportation Update

It turns out that "warp" drives to travel faster than the speed of light may indeed be possible:

http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/090506-tw-warp-drive.html

Robotics Update

Not too many years ago, climbing stairs was a difficult task for robots. Now they're able to do so in a variety of ways:

http://singularityhub.com/2009/05/05/robots-take-to-the-stairs-this-is-just-the-beginning-videos/

Singularity Update

An interview with Ray Kurzweil, the "father" of the singularity:

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20227076.200

My favorite point, referring to the Law of Accelerating Returns:

"When the human genome project was announced in 1990, sceptics said: "No way you're going to do this in 15 years." Halfway through the project the sceptics were still going strong, saying you've only finished 1 per cent of the project. But that's actually right on schedule: by the time you get to 1 per cent you're only seven doublings away."

Alternative Energies Update

A simple "wind energizer" modification to existing wind turbines can increase energy output by 20-150%:

http://www.ecogeek.org/content/view/2719/86/

Alternative Energies Update

"Jet fuel made from camelina reduces carbon emissions 84% compared to regular petro-based jet fuels":

http://www.ecogeek.org/content/view/2714/70/

Artificial Intelligence Update

IBM's new DeepQA project, intended to create a program that can beat humans at the game of Jeopardy, could put us on the path to developing true general AI...or it could reveal that there is no intellectual feat that can't be performed by specialized programs:

http://hplusmagazine.com/articles/ai/rise-answerbots

Nanotechnology Update

Graphene--sheets of carbon one molecule thick--is turning out to have many potential uses:

http://www.nanowerk.com/news/newsid=10425.php

Genetic Engineering Update

Using magnetism to guide super-fast bacteria to deliver medicine to exact locations within the body:

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17071-bacteria-take-fantastic-voyage-through-bloodstream.html

Artificial Intelligence Update

How the Net could become self-aware...and perhaps already is (to some degree):

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20227062.100-could-the-net-become-selfaware.html

Alternative Energies Update

Inexpensive plastic solar cells are gaining in efficiency relative to silicon solar cells...though they still have a way to go:

http://www.technologyreview.com/energy/22563/

Singularity Update

An interview with Vernor Vinge, the writer who came up with the Singularity concept for super machine intelligence far surpassing human intelligence:

http://hplusmagazine.com/articles/ai/singularity-101-vernor-vinge

He believes the Singularity will arrive by 2030. Ray Kurzweil puts the date at 2045.

Computing Update

GE develops the ability to fit 100 DVD's worth of information on a single DVD disc:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/27/technology/business-computing/27disk.html

Artificial Intelligence Update

A Blue Gene supercomputer is being prepped to beat humans at the game of Jeopardy:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/27/technology/27jeopardy.html?_r=1

Artificial Intelligence Update

A Blue Gene supercomputer is being prepped to challenge humans at the game of Jeopardy.

Cybernetics Update

The first generation of technological telekinesis comes of age:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/22/AR2009042204036_pf.html

Robotics Update

Robotic penguins swim--and fly!--as gracefully as real penguins:

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16996-bionic-penguins-take-to-the-water--and-the-skies.html

Alternative Energies Update

Researchers genetically engineer yeast and bacteria to produce gasoline cheaper than with oil:

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16989-yeast-and-bacterium-turned-into-gasoline-factory.html

I'm not sure we want to develop cheaper ways for creating gasoline, considering the environmental cost, but at least the option is available.

Nanotechnology Update

Researchers have found a new way to make transistors smaller and faster using self-assembled, self-aligned, and defect-free nanowire channels made of gallium arsenide:

http://www.physorg.com/news159453806.html

Robotics Update

Several new robots to be used in ordinary businesses:

http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/editors/23396/

Computing Update

Using ultraviolet light to trim edges of circuitry to greatly reduce the size of transistors:

http://www.physorg.com/news159100452.html

Nanotechnology Update

(Could also be Computer Update)

"Unzipped" carbon nanotubes create "nanoribbons" which could lead to much faster computers:

http://www.technologyreview.com/computing/22503/?a=f

It seems like they're coming up with more and more configurations for carbon at the nanoscale: buckyballs, nanotubes, nanosheets and now nanoribbons.

Robotics Update

Researchers develop first flying micro-robot:

http://www.canadianmanufacturing.com/designengineering/news/headlinenews/article.jsp?content=20090413_092316_10180

Nanotechnology Update

Using DNA to efficiently manufacture nanotubes:

http://www.physorg.com/news158858442.html

Alternative Energies Update

Carbon nanotubes are used to create direct and efficient solar propulsion for water vehicles:

http://www.technologyreview.com/energy/22423/

"When light is focused onto it, a boat about a centimeter long can travel as fast as eight centimeters per second. The second machine is a simple rotor with one nanotube strip on one side of each of its four fins. When exposed to direct sunlight, it spins at about 70 rotations per minute."

Alternative Energies Update

Incorporating diatoms into thin film solar cells makes them three times as energy efficient:

http://www.eetimes.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=216500176

Nanotechnology Update

A new $750 thermoplastic extruding 3D printer allows you to make 3D objects on your desktop:

http://singularityhub.com/2009/04/09/3d-printing-and-self-replicating-machines-in-your-living-room-seriously/

This is an early ancestor of the holy grail of nanotechnology: a desktop factory, which will allow us to manufacture anything we want in our own homes. No need to buy products anymore!

Alternative Energies Update

A helpful animation showing how a fusion reactor will amplify the power of lasers to achieve fusion:

http://www.livescience.com/common/media/video/player.php?videoRef=LS_090408_RideBeam

Alternative Energies Update

Merging genetic engineering with nanotechnology, researchers use a virus to create a battery for them:

http://www.ecogeek.org/content/view/2660/80/

Robotics Update

The new $30 Sentience Driving Software is one step away from fully roboticized driving...and saves 5-24% on fuel consumption:

http://nextbigfuture.com/2009/04/sentience-driving-software-can-reduce.html

Robotics Update

"In recent decades, robots have replaced millions of manual laborers; now they're moving in on scientists, too. A fully automated robotic laboratory can design its own molecular biology experiments and has even made its first discoveries":

http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2009/402/1

Alternative Energies Update

Researchers discover how to use iron instead of platinum to create practical catalysts for fuel cells, which should dramatically reduce the cost of fuel cells:

http://www.technologyreview.com/energy/22386/?a=f

Alternative Energies Update

Researchers combine nanotechnology with genetically engineered viruses to build batteries to eventually power hybrid cars and cell phones:

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9130968&intsrc=news_ts_head

Robotics Update

A humanoid robot will help researchers learn how the human brain interacts with the world:

http://www.physorg.com/news157734593.html

Artificial Intelligence Update

Researchers bring the ability to map the brain down to the expense and time frame of desktop computers:

http://www.physorg.com/news157733857.html

"Mapping the billions of connections in the brain is a grand challenge in neuroscience. The current method for mapping interconnected brain cells involves the use of room-size microscopes known as transmission electron microscopes (TEMs). Until now the process of mapping even small areas of the brain using these massive machines would have required several decades. In this week's open-access journal PLoS Biology, research teams at the University of Utah John A. Moran Eye Center and the University of Colorado at Boulder report technical advances that have reduced the time it takes to process high-speed "color" ultrastructure mapping of brain regions down to a few months."

Artificial Intelligence Update

Another step forward in the reverse engineering of the human brain?

http://www.physorg.com/news157717611.html

"Thirty-seven scientists from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) and 20 other major research institutions in the U.S. and Europe have issued a major challenge to the neuroscience community. At long last, the time has come, they argue in a just-published paper, to assemble a comprehensive map of the major neural circuits in the mammalian brain."