Using "Shells" to Terraform a Planet

http://news.yahoo.com/incredible-technology-shells-terraform-planet-140940649.html

An interesting idea, but what happens when meteoroids and especially comets and asteroids hit the shell? Also, Kevlar? Seriously? That's like Jules Verne suggesting whalebone struts for Victorian Era spaceships.

The Current Maximum Bionic Man

What you get when you assemble all the machine replacements we've created into a single bionic man:

http://news.yahoo.com/bionic-man-walks-breathes-artificial-parts-151617572.html

New Treatment Halts Alzheimer's Disease

Since we are our brains, Alzheimer's is a form of living death. Finding a treatment for it is thus HIGHLY important for those of us approaching old age but who wish to live long enough to benefit from indefinite life-extension technologies:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-24462699

Better Robot Vision Algorithm Developed

http://web.mit.edu/press/2013/better-robot-vision.html

Fusion Powered Rockets Technically Viable

http://news.yahoo.com/quick-fusion-powered-trips-mars-no-fantasy-scientists-113723220.html

Moore's Law Continues as Existing Fabricators are Adapted to Photonics

http://www.colorado.edu/news/features/cu-mit-breakthrough-photonics-could-allow-faster-and-faster-electronics

The Human Brain Project Has Begun

http://www.kurzweilai.net/the-human-brain-project-has-officially-begun?utm_source=KurzweilAI+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=1d3b55b24b-UA-946742-1&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6de721fb33-1d3b55b24b-281903081

Introducing the Wildcat Robot From Boston Dynamics

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wE3fmFTtP9g

Sleep well tonight. ;-)

Self-Assembling Swarmbots Invented

http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2013/simple-scheme-for-self-assembling-robots-1004.html

Watch the video. Fascinating stuff.

Renewable Energy is Now Competitive With Fossil Fuels

Even before renewable energy subsidies are taken into account:

http://wallstcheatsheet.com/stocks/is-the-cost-of-renewable-energy-falling.html/?a=viewall

First Carbon Nanotube Computer Made

An important step:

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v501/n7468/full/nature12502.html

The Terrafugia Transition Flying Car is Here

And for the same price as a Cessna:

http://translogic.aolautos.com/2013/09/02/translogic-137-terrafugia-transition-flying-car/?ncid=webmail2

First Human Brain-To-Brain Interface Lets Scientist Control Colleague's Body

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/28/first-human-brain-to-brain-interface_n_3824853.html

Half of All Jobs at Risk for Computerization

http://www.futuretech.ox.ac.uk/news-release-oxford-martin-school-study-shows-nearly-half-us-jobs-could-be-risk-computerisation

I think that's optimistic. I see the writing on the wall for education, too--at least in my field of computer application instruction.

Using Bacteria to Generate Electricity From Sewage

http://engineering.stanford.edu/news/stanford-scientists-use-wired-microbes-generate-electricity-sewage

Bits of Information Teleported Across Computer Chip

http://www.livescience.com/39655-qubits-teleported-across-computer-chip.html?cmpid=545408

New Method Increases Solar Efficiency 3-10x...

...and that's not even optimized:

http://www.upenn.edu/pennnews/news/penn-scientists-demonstrate-new-method-harvesting-energy-light

Increase in Solar Energy Efficiency

http://news.ncsu.edu/releases/wms-bedair-junction-2013/

The Future of Design by Elon Musk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNqs_S-zEBY&feature=youtu.be

Researchers create artificial robot muscles that can lift 80x their weight

Potentially a huge step forward...

http://newshub.nus.edu.sg/pressrel/1309/020913.php

First Human-to-Human Brain Interface

http://www.washington.edu/news/2013/08/27/researcher-controls-colleagues-motions-in-1st-human-brain-to-brain-interface/

Translating Brain Images Into Actual Pictures

Preliminary steps to mind-reading?

http://www.kurzweilai.net/how-to-reconstruct-from-brain-images-which-letter-a-person-was-reading?utm_source=KurzweilAI+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=ff047d01a1-UA-946742-1&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6de721fb33-ff047d01a1-281903081

Sea Squirt Ancestor May Allow Us to Regenerate

http://gma.yahoo.com/sea-squirt-could-help-grow-limbs-043807953--abc-news-tech.html

Common car lubricant speeds up a wide variety of devices tremendously

http://m.networkworld.com/community/blog/common-car-lubricant-speeds-imaging-apps-10x

Researchers Building a Computer Chip Based on the Human Brain

http://www.nanomagazine.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2278:researchers-building-a-computer-chip-based-on-the-human-brain&catid=38:nano-news&Itemid=159

People Who Age at a Snail's Pace

Could this hold the key to unaging?

http://gma.yahoo.com/8-old-11-pounds-never-ages-040317717--abc-news-health.html

3D Printers Now Moving into the Fashion Industry

Soon all our clothes will be printed at home:

http://www.livescience.com/38720-3d-printing-weaves-its-way-into-fashion.html?cmpid=532487

Computer-Brain Interfaces Making Big Leaps

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/08/04/disruptions-rather-than-time-computers-might-become-panacea-to-hurt/?_r=0

Graphene-Based Supercapacitors Rival Conventional Batteries

The quick-charging and infinite life of supercapacitors, now with the life of conventional batteries:

http://monash.edu.au/news/show/soft-approach-leads-to-revolutionary-energy-storage

World-changing technology enables crops to take nitrogen from the air

http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/news/pressreleases/2013/july/world-changing-technology-enables-crops-to-take-nitrogen-from-the-air-.aspx

The previous advance allowed the world to feed a billion more people. This could be even more of a game-changer.

New Teeth Made Out of Stem Cells in Urine

Okay, then...

http://healthyliving.msn.com/blogs/daily-apple-blog-post?post=f6eed00e-94af-4be4-97eb-8271781ffc64&_nwpt=1

3D Printers Can Already Pay For Themselves

3D printers are poised to replace much of what we purchase today:

Article:
http://www.mtu.edu/news/stories/2013/july/story93519.html

Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8Wv3LCJcUE

The Real Promise of 3D Printing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69SsHvZ5Vsk&feature=youtu.be

;-)

Rooftop Solar Vexes Utility Companies

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/27/business/energy-environment/utilities-confront-fresh-threat-do-it-yourself-power.html?_r=0

Chips that mimic the brain

Another important step....

http://www.mediadesk.uzh.ch/articles/2013/chips-die-das-gehirn-imitieren_en.html

Is Faster Than Light Travel Possible?

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/23/science/faster-than-the-speed-of-light.html?_r=0

Artificial intelligence is currently as smart as a 4 year old

http://news.uic.edu/a-computer-as-smart-as-a-four-year-old

Human Powered Helicopter Takes Sikorsky Prize

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=syJq10EQkog

DARPA Robotics Challenge Contest to Create Highly Adaptable Rescue Robot

http://www.darpa.mil/NewsEvents/Releases/2013/07/11.aspx

Driverless Car Update

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=OKnicIBhEAg

Breakthrough could lead to "artificial skin" that senses touch, humidity and temperature

http://support.ats.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=7871&news_iv_ctrl=1161

5D optical memory in nanostructured quartz glass could lead to unlimited lifetime data storage

http://www.southampton.ac.uk/mediacentre/news/2013/jul/13_131.shtml

60 Billion Habitable Planets in the Milky Way Alone?

http://www.universetoday.com/103379/60-billion-habitable-planets-in-the-milky-way-alone-astronomers-say-yes/

I posted a comment questioning the viability of tidally locked worlds, since I think evaporation and precipitation would eventually cause the light side to lose all its water, which would precipitate out into the dark side. I've received a couple of responses, but I think one is false and the other irrelevant.

A Robot That Walks Like a Human

This robot uses gravity to "fall forward" and swing its legs the way humans do, saving energy and moving more naturally:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYmhY-rUFXQ

Turning Robots Into Adaptive, Learning Beings

http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/blog/startups/2013/06/neurala-robot-intelligence-software.html?page=all

See their explanation video here:

http://neurala.com/

Faster Than Light Travel Possible?

http://news.yahoo.com/why-warp-drives-arent-just-science-fiction-150255793.html

So many "ifs" involved here, but it's nice to know there's at least a possibility.

New Design for Efficient Concentrating Solar Power

http://ecogeek.org/component/content/article/3866

Nano Hummingbird in Action

It looks and flies just like a hummingbird...but with a camera. Add a little C4 and you have a perfect assassination weapon:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=96WePgcg37I

Robot that runs like a cat

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=UWlzMIl7E48

Dark Lightning Produces Gamma Rays and Antimatter

Move over dark matter and dark energy. Say hello to dark lightning!

http://youtu.be/hN0wGga5e0I

Graphene electronics with very low energy consumption

Graphene can be made magnetic and its magnetism switched on and off at the press of a button, opening a new avenue towards electronics with very low energy consumption:

http://www.manchester.ac.uk/aboutus/news/display/?id=10201

New All-Solid Sulfur-Based Battery Outperforms Lithium-Ion Technology

http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/603965/

The Omni Takes Virtual Reality to the Next Level

For many years now I've been saying virtual reality won't really arrive until we have an omnidirectional treadmill to allow natural movement in any direction. Now a new Kickstarter project aims to bring exactly that to the market, in an elegantly simple package:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1944625487/omni-move-naturally-in-your-favorite-game

Be sure to play the video.

Another benefit I predicted was that such a system would turn gamers from couch potatoes into fit athletes. I'd LOVE to get my workout in an immersive game.... 

Graphene is the Strongest Material in the World Even With Defects

http://cleantechnica.com/2013/06/02/graphene-is-the-strongest-material-in-the-world-even-when-it-has-defects-research-finds/

Graphene Camera Sensors 1,000 Times More Sensitive to Light

http://theweek.com/article/index/245052/1000-times-more-sensitive-to-light-how-graphene-camera-sensors-could-revolutionize-photography

Enhanced Reality Goggles With Kinect Built In

http://allthingsd.com/video/?video_id=12398AFF-65D3-4094-9255-66EBD13A940D

Carbon Nanotube Thread Developed

As strong as carbon fiber but able to conduct electricity:

http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/145446-rice-creates-first-long-strong-flexible-and-conductive-carbon-nanotube-thread?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rice-creates-first-long-strong-flexible-and-conductive-carbon-nanotube-thread

Still...it's not nearly as strong as carbon nanotube thread should be because it's made of trillions of short bundles of nanotubes assembled like cotton thread, rather than made of massively long single fibers...I think.

Are we on the cusp of a solar energy boom?

http://news.yahoo.com/cusp-solar-energy-boom-075000286.html#

Using Nanotechnology to Capture the Energy Around Us

http://www.yalescientific.org/2013/05/electricity-from-thin-air-using-nanotechnology-to-capture-the-energy-around-us/

Humans Fully Outsourced to Robots by 2045?

http://www.activistpost.com/2013/05/humans-fully-outsourced-to-robots-by.html

Building a Supercomputer Replica of the Human Brain

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/05/neurologist-markam-human-brain/all/

And here's the TED Conference talk by Henry Markram:

http://blog.ted.com/2009/10/15/supercomputing/

"In hype-driven contexts (such as his 2009 TED talk), Markram has hinted at the possibility that a sim embodied in a robot might become conscious. Hardwired with Markram’s model and given sufficient experience of the world, the machine could actually start thinking (à la Skynet and HAL 9000). While that has gained him a following among sci-fi enthusiasts, he separates such speculations from the hard work of doing real science. When pressed, he shows a rare touch of modesty. “A simulation is not the real thing,” he says. “I mean, it’s a set of mathematical equations that are being executed to re-create a particular phenomenon.” Markram’s job, simply put, is to get those equations right.

He plans to give the EU an early working prototype of this system within just 18 months—and vows to “open up this new telescope to the scientific community” within two and a half years—though he estimates that he’ll need a supercomputer 100,000 times faster than the one he’s got to build the premium version. Ever the optimist, he believes that Moore’s law (and the European Union) will deliver him that raw power in about a decade."

Robot Learns to Write

Siri has nothing to worry about, but it's still another step:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hqNi2S4rlM

NASA Buys Into D-Wave Quantum Computer

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22554494

Rapid Developments in Artificial Intelligence

An interesting article in how the singularity is developing:

http://www.digitaltonto.com/2013/the-singularity-apocalypse-or-nerd-rapture/

First Ship-Mounted Laser Weapon

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/14/science/how-a-laser-weapon-works.html?_r=0

Where are my sharks with frickin' laser beams attached to their heads???

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bh7bYNAHXxw

Cybernetic Limbs Gain Sense of Touch...

...at least for monkeys, for now:

http://sciencelife.uchospitals.edu/2013/05/09/building-the-sense-of-touch-into-prosthetic-arms/

Terrafugia's TF-X Autonomous Flying Car

Another flying car. This one flies itself--you just tell it where you want to go, and off it goes:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bp2TWNpTA7s

PAL-V Flying Car

What do you get when you cross a Persu Hybrid V3 with a gyrocopter?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgHSaNtAMjs

Want. Now. Period.

Why Teaching a Robot to Fetch a Cup of Coffee Matters

http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/robotics-software/pr2-robot-fetches-cup-of-coffee

Robotic insects make first controlled flight

http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2013/05/robotic-insects-make-first-controlled-flight/

Boosting ‘cellular garbage disposal’ can delay the aging process

http://newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/boosting-cellular-garbage-disposal-245496.aspx

Experts Say Intelligent Robots Will Overtake Humans by 2100

http://www.livescience.com/29379-intelligent-robots-will-overtake-humans.html?cmpid=525411

Government Lab Reveals It Has Operated Quantum Internet For Over Two Years

Perfectly secure communications:

http://www.technologyreview.com/view/514581/government-lab-reveals-quantum-internet-operated-continuously-for-over-two-years/

New Robotic Hand is Strong, Dexterous, Robust and Inexpensive

Down from typical prices of $50,000 per hand, this $3,000 robotic hand is surprisingly capable:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvhCk6BvLBE

My favorite bit? The hand picking up tweezers to pick up a toothpick....

Antimatter = antigravity?

If so, then it might be possible to create inexpensive transportation and floating cloud cities:

http://www.livescience.com/29164-antimatter-antigravity-fall-up.html?cmpid=525408

That makes me wonder if antimatter has something to do with dark energy....

IBM creates the world's smallest movie...

...with individual atoms!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSCX78-8-q0

The Story of Quantum Computing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptuFckypqzE

The truly fascinating story of D-Wave's development of a quantum computer. The idea of accessing multiple universes to make calculations is a mind blower.

90 y.o. grandmother uses VR for the first time

This is just fun:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAC5SeNH8jw&feature=player_embedded

You’ll Probably Never Upload Your Mind Into A Computer

http://io9.com/you-ll-probably-never-upload-your-mind-into-a-computer-474941498

Mostly these are arguments from ignorance, but interesting nevertheless.

The Solar Cell That Turns 1 Photon into 2 Electrons

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=the-solar-cell-that-turns-1-photon-into-2-electrons

Moore's Law applied to life

http://news.yahoo.com/could-life-older-earth-itself-175255318.html

(Don't bother viewing the video--it's lame and not really related to the article.)

UPDATE: A scornful refutation of that claim:

http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2013/04/18/graaarh-physicists-biologists/

Artificial leaf gains the ability to self-heal damage and produce energy from dirty water

http://portal.acs.org/portal/acs/corg/content?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=PP_ARTICLEMAIN&node_id=222&content_id=CNBP_032564&use_sec=true&sec_url_var=region1&__uuid=895f6852-200e-4ef5-af3d-d18b12b85dd9

Artificial Intelligence Awakening

The beginning to a poignant story:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhoYLp8CtXI

Petman Robot Almost Moves Like a Human

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFrjrgBV8K0&feature=endscreen

Kinda scary in that gas mask. ;-)

Solar Power Achieves Grid Parity in Parts of the World

http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/blog/post/2013/03/solar-reaching-parity-with-other-energy-sources-say-new-reports

Astronomers anticipate 100 billion Earth-like planets

http://www.ras.org.uk/news-and-press/224-news-2013/2239-astronomers-anticipate-100-billion-earth-like-planets

With 100 billion Earth-like planets...surely SOME must have advanced life....

All-optical switching promises terahertz-speed hard drive and RAM memory

https://www.ameslab.gov/news/news-releases/quantum-tricks-drive-magnetic-switching-fast-lane

Obama to Unveil Initiative to Map the Human Brain

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/02/science/obama-to-unveil-initiative-to-map-the-human-brain.html?_r=0

Circuits That Mimic the Brain’s Design

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/03/21/i-b-m-research-points-to-circuits-that-mimic-the-brains-design/

Lockheed Martin Put Quantum Computer to Work

This could herald the tipping point:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/22/technology/testing-a-new-class-of-speedy-computer.html?_r=0

Tackling the Uncanny Valley

Facial rendering is almost there!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOil2HSDq0E

and

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5d1ZOYU4gpo

Bringing a Virtual Brain to Life

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/19/science/bringing-a-virtual-brain-to-life.html?_r=0

Whole brain cellular-level activity mapping once a second

An important next step:

http://www.kurzweilai.net/whole-brain-cellular-level-activity-mapping-once-a-second

Rapyuta: The RoboEarth Cloud Engine

Moving robotic computation to the cloud to make robotic learning less expensive and more expansive:

http://www.roboearth.org/

Isn't this how the Battlestar Galactica reboot started? :-)

Crowdfunding Accelerates Clean Energy Investment

This is terrific to hear, as is the fact that per-watt solar prices have dropped to less than 100th what they were in 1977:

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/03/06/crowd-funding-clean-energy/

Deus Ex Bionic Augmentations vs. the Real World

Short documentary comparing the augmentations from the game Deus Ex with the current state of the art bionics:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TW78wbN-WuU&feature=player_embedded

The Age of Enhancement

Superhuman abilities seeping into our world:

http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/superman/2013/03/superman_2_0_how_human_enhancement_technologies_are_giving_us_all_superpowers.html

A 3D Printed Car That Runs for Free

We're on the verge of 3D printing becoming mainstream, and that's the conceptual foundation of nanofactories:

http://www.wired.com/autopia/2010/11/3d-printed-hybrid-uses-sunlight-ethanol-or-gas/

Brain Interface Allows Rats to Communicate by Thought Alone

I predicted this method of telepathy in the late 1980s. :-)

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn23221-first-mindreading-implant-gives-rats-telepathic-power.html?full=true

Big Dog Throws Cinder Blocks

C'mon, don't tell me you're not thinking Terminator-ish thoughts!

http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/military-robots/bigdog-throws-cinder-blocks-with-huge-robotic-facearm