Nanotechnology Update

True nanotechnology requires the precise arrangement of molecules. A research team at the University of St Andrews has developed a way of forming an easily modified network of molecules over a large area:

http://www.physorg.com/news139066118.html

Alternative Energies Update

Windmills only generate energy when the wind blows. Here's a way to store the wind to use when it doesn't want to blow:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/26/nyregion/26wind.html?adxnnl=1&ref=environment&adxnnlx=1220036497-dwEpr69H8guJ+SSXqsvfAw

Nanotechnology Update

For those who think nanotech is an over-hyped concept that won't really change the world, this Lux Research report says nanotechnology will impact over $3 trillion of manufactured goods by 2015:

http://www.luxresearchinc.com/press/RELEASE_Nano-SMR_7_22_08.pdf

Alternative Energies Update

Using residual heat from sun-baked asphalt to provide energy after hours:

http://www.ecogeek.org/content/view/2032/83/

Singularity Update

Intel believes we're on track for achieving the Singularity, and that machines that morph into different shapes are just a few years away:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-11386_3-10023055-76.html

(Watch the video at the bottom.)

And here's Singularity Hub's reaction to the announcements:

http://singularityhub.com/2008/08/24/singularity-hub-reviews-intel-cto-justin-rattners-idf-keynote-on-the-future-of-technology/

Alternative Energies Update

Could this technique to power devices remotely be used to power nanomachines working inside a human body?

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/21/technology/21intel.html?_r=1&ref=technology&oref=slogin

Alternative Energies Update

Not sure it's good news to make gasoline cheap again, but scientists have created a technique to make gasoline directly out of biomass:

http://www.physorg.com/news138384297.html

The fuel would cost between $1.70 and $2.00 per gallon (excluding all government subsidies and tax credits) and could be made available by 2010.

Energy Storage Update

A genetically engineered virus used to create tiny batteries:

http://www.nature.com/news/2008/080818/full/news.2008.1047.html

Virtual Reality Update

A new modeling technology allows the creation of computer generated characters that are so lifelike they are almost indistinguishable from real:

http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article4557935.ece

Be sure to view the video!

Once truly practical virtual reality and artificial intelligence arrive, we won't be able to tell the difference between virtual and real people.

Alternative Energies Update

A plan to feed algae carbon dioxide and sewage to drastically increase their oil production:

http://www.physorg.com/news138338233.html

Clean up the environment while generating biofuels!

Alternative Energies Update

Scientists mimic the process plants use to split water into oxygen and hydrogen using only sunlight:

http://www.physorg.com/news138179858.html

Materials Update

A company has figured out how to have plants actually grow plastic inside them, eliminating the need for petroleum:

http://www.ecogeek.org/content/view/1996/64/

"The advantage here over other bioplastics is that all of the chemical processes occur within the plant. There is no need for polymerization or complex chemistry after harvesting. Just cut the grass, get rid of the plant matter, and you've got plastic."

Brilliant!

Computing Update

Quantum entanglement may allow for communication 10,000 times faster than the speed of light! Well, perhaps....

http://www.newscientist.com/channel/fundamentals/mg19926695.000-quantum-strangeness-breaks-the-light-barrier.html?feedId=online-news_rss20

Computing Update

New RAM is more efficient and ten times faster than current RAM:

http://technology.newscientist.com/channel/tech/dn14525-spin-flip-trick-points-to-fastest-ram-yet.html?feedId=online-news_rss20

Alternative Energies Update

Yet another advance to solar power efficiency:

http://www.technologyreview.com/Energy/21255/

Cybernetics Update

US Army researching telepathy through translating active EEG scans of thought. Very cool!

http://www.physorg.com/news137863959.html

Materials Update

This new, nanotech-based material should allow for easy, cheap purification of any water:

http://www.nanowerk.com/news/newsid=6744.php

Robotics Update

One key to effective robot motion is too let them learn for themselves what works and what doesn't, and adapt to their environments:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7544099.stm

Materials Update

Making nearly anything out of diamond cheaply and with perfect precision is a Holy Grail of nanotechnology, since it will allow us to build those nano-scale machines that will transform the world. Hopefully, a $3 million grant will help usher that in:

http://www.kurzweilai.net/news/frame.html?main=/news/news_single.html?id%3D9180

Robotics Update

A new hexapod robot can climb stairs, crouch under small spaces...and dance:

http://eetimes.com/news/latest/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=209904252

(Be sure to watch the video.)

Alternative Energies Update

First Solar could reach "grid parity"--the Holy Grail of solar power--in 2-4 years:

http://spectrum.ieee.org/aug08/6464

Materials Update

An actual invisibility cloak may become a reality:

http://www.physorg.com/news137649366.html

Transportation Update

Warp drive theoretically possible?

http://www.universetoday.com/2008/08/11/warp-drive-and-cloaking-devices-not-just-science-fiction-anymore/

Alternative Energies Update

Kite technology could end up generating more energy than wind turbines and for half the cost:

http://www.physorg.com/news137388314.html

Medicine Update

We may have a new tool to destroy viruses the way we destroy some bacteria:

http://www.newscientist.com/channel/health/dn14480-first-virophage-could-take-the-fight-to-viruses.html?feedId=online-news_rss20

Computing Update

A new hologram-based computer interface taken directly from the film Minority Report:

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/216582/obscura-demonstrates-minority-report-display.html#

Alternative Energies Update

EEStor's promises their highly efficient, ultracapacitor-based battery will revolutionize the industry:

http://www.technologyreview.com/Energy/21171/?a=f

Update

Now that I've gotten my pile of backlogged technology articles posted, I figure I should give a little more information on the topic of this blog.

For anyone interested in seeing where technology may ultimately lead, I recommend reading K. Eric Drexler's "Engines of Creation" and "Unbounding the Future," as well as Ray Kurzweil's "The Age of Intelligent Machines," "The Age of Spiritual Machines" (my favorite), and "The Singularity is Near." Both these writers have an impressive track record on technological prognostication.

Basically, they point to the double exponential growth of various technological benchmarks and extrapolate on where they may lead over the next couple of decades. These include reverse engineering the human brain (which should allow the creation of true artificial intelligence), achieving mature nanotechnology (which should allow us to create almost any material objects for very little cost), and eventually reaching the Singularity (when computers and robotics far exceeding human capabilities in all areas, leading to a technological and sociological change so drastic we cannot predict the outcome in any meaningful way). Eventually, we may need to either become our machines or be left in their technological dust.

We've already hit a number of the predicted milestones, so I'm inclined to believe the projections stand a reasonable chance of coming true. At the very least, the next couple of decades should prove very interesting. Most of us should still be alive to witness what happpens, so keep your eyes open and brace yourselves....

Alternative Energies Update

This new technology uses solar power to extract hydrogen from water cheaply and easily:

http://www.technologyreview.com/Energy/21155/

"For solar power, Meyer says, 'this is probably the most important single discovery of the century.'" (Actually, I think of this more as a hydrogen power breakthrough than solar power breakthrough, but...)

Very promising!

Nanotechnology Update

This isn't actually nanotech, but it's today's crude ability that gives a hint what real nanotech home factories will be capable of doing:

http://www.technologyreview.com/Infotech/21152/?a=f

Just instead of relatively simple polymer objects, you could construct pretty much ANY object you might want, from a laptop computer to a robot to a vehicle (in manageable pieces, of course).

Alternative Energies Update

Thin film solar panels gaining traction:

http://www.nature.com/news/2008/080730/full/454558a.html

Internet Update

Rebuilding the Internet from scratch, for very little scratch, really:

http://www.physorg.com/news136655891.html

Fast enough to stream 30 high quality movies simultaneously? Nice.

Transportation Update

Been waiting for your personal jet pack? It's here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/29/science/29jetpack.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&ref=science&adxnnlx=1217446196-59U90mSAjrejJCfCRGrxbQ

Well...still needs testing, but it's taken jet packs from 30 second to 30 minute flight times!

Alternative Energies Update

Tidal power comes online in Ireland:

http://www.technologyreview.com/Energy/21142/

Robotics Update

The one thing robot lovers/companions aren't supposed to be able to do better than humans is reproduce...but now even that's likely untrue:

http://www.livescience.com/health/080716-baby-techs.html

Alternative Energies Update

An interesting combination of a fuel cell and a battery offers much better fuel density than even gasoline:

http://technology.newscientist.com/channel/tech/dn14401-fuel-battery-could-take-cars-beyond-petrol.html?feedId=online-news_rss20

Alternative Energies Update

Concentrated sunlight reaching temperatures as high as the sun's:

http://www.ecogeek.org/content/view/1909/83/

Transportation Update

GE is partnering with utilities companies to outfit homes with "smart meters" to deliver electricity to recharge electric cars and plug-in hybrids during off-peak hours even if they're plugged in during peak times (thus causing the existing infrastructure to handle the anticipated load):

http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-9996348-54.html

They're also going to create outlets connected to many streetlight poles to make access to electricity for charging vehicles easy and ubiquitous.

Cybernetics Update

ReWalk allows paraplegics to walk slowly but quite well with crutches:

http://www.medgadget.com/archives/2008/07/video_of_rewalk_exoskeleton_system.html

Beats a wheelchair.

Materials Update

To give you an idea of how strong nanomaterials are:

http://technology.newscientist.com/article/mg19926656.300-invisible-nanotube-cable-could-support-a-human.html

"A cable only 1 centimetre in diameter weighing a mere 10 milligrams per kilometre" would be strong enough to support a human.

Alternative Energies Update

Now sawdust and other lignin may be converted into biofuels, taking the pressure off food stocks:

http://technology.newscientist.com/article/dn14360-chemical-breakthrough-turns-sawdust-into-biofuel.html

Alternative Energies Update

A new and efficient form of generating electricity from wave power:

http://www.technologyreview.com/Energy/21072/?a=f

Artificial Intelligence Update

Language barriers are falling and will soon no longer be an obstacle to communication:

http://www.kurzweilai.net/news/frame.html?main=/news/news_single.html?id%3D9076

Materials Update

Perfect graphene would be strong enough that a sheet of it would be able to withstand the weight of a car concentrated on a sharp point:

http://www.technologyreview.com/Nanotech/21098/?a=f

The concern about imperfect graphene sheets at macro scales shouldn't be a problem with mature nanotech manufacturing.

Robotics Update

Robots are now learning to recognize human emotions:

http://cordis.europa.eu/ictresults/index.cfm/section/news/tpl/article/BrowsingType/Features/ID/89893

Alternative Energies Update

A curious alternative to the windmill:

http://www.ecogeek.org/content/view/1883/86/

Transportation Update

A solar powered glider capable of 30 to infinite mpg:

http://www.ecogeek.org/content/view/1855/69/

Alternative Energies Update

Dye absorbs and redirects sunlight to photo-sensitive cells:

http://technology.newscientist.com/article/dn14293-organic-dye-lets-window-panes-harvest-the-sun.html

Robotics Update

A functional household assistant robot:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080710113026.htm

Materials Update

Carbon nanotubes may be used to create artificial photosynthesis:

http://technology.newscientist.com/article/dn14297-nanotubes-bring-artificial-photosynthesis-a-step-nearer.html

Artificial Intelligence Update

"First, a supercomputer beats a chess master. Then, an artificial intelligence program deals defeat to a poker champion. Next: A robot takes on humans in air hockey."

http://eetimes.com/news/latest/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=208803140&printable=true&printable=true

Artificial Intelligence Update

Another human benchmark falls to machines:

http://www.eetimes.com/news/latest/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=TUMO0MDJH0GJEQSNDLSCKHA?articleID=208802992

Cybernetics Update

Mind machine interface advances:

http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/research/4272246.html

Sensor Update

This microchip is so small and low-powered that would be the size of a grain of sand and have enough power to last 10 years:

http://www.technologyreview.com/Infotech/21046/?a=f

Cybernetics Update

A list of the advances in bionics:

http://technology.newscientist.com/article/dn14256-do-we-have-the-technology-to-build-a-bionic-human.html

One short-sighted statement, though (especially considering we have already reproduced a few dozen regions of the brain on computers):

"The brain's complexity makes it doubtful we will ever recreate it. But some of its functions, and those of other parts of the nervous system can already be replaced by electronics."

I wouldn't want to bet against our ever recreating it; in fact, I'd bet real money we'll recreate a human brain by 2030, perhaps even 2025.

Cybernetics Update

The technology to essentially read "worded" thoughts is achieving some success:

http://www.technologyreview.com/Biotech/21037/

Computing Update

Moore's Law (the basis for the Law of Accelerating Returns) is still going strong, as Intel maps out the path to sub-10 nm-scale chips:

http://www.crn.com/hardware/208801780