Nanotechnology Update

More nanotechnology developments in 2008:

http://www.technologyreview.com/computing/21900/?a=f

Alternative Energies Update

An effective biofuel developed for jet engines:

http://news.aol.com/article/airline-uses-vegetable-oil-to-fuel-jet/289514

Computing Update

Researchers working on atomic-scale computing have managed to design a simple logic gate with 30 atoms that perform the same task as 14 transistors:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/12/081222113532.htm

Nanotechnology Update

Nanotechnology's biggest stories of 2008:

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16340-nanotechnologys-biggest-stories-of-2008.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=online-news

Transportation Update

FINALLY, scientists have developed a turbo encabulator to solve the problem of inverse reactive current per use in unilateral phase detractors and synchronizing cardinal grammeters in vehicle transmissions:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLDgQg6bq7o

(C'mon, gotta have a little levity now and then....)

Alternative Energies Update

Solar energy finally reaches "grid parity" (equal or cheaper cost than coal-based energy)...depending on how you calculate it:

http://www.ecogeek.org/content/view/2400/83/

Nanotechnology Update

Researchers design and build a fully functional nanocar, which is four nanometers across and includes a chassis with an engine, a pivoting suspension and rotating axles attached to rolling buckyball wheels:

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&taxonomyName=Storage&articleId=9123959&taxonomyId=19&pageNumber=1

Predictions Update

Here's a long, old but well-written article on the path to the singularity, using references to science fiction throughout the ages:

http://www.grg.org/charter/Krell2.htm

Notable quote:

"If we assume that self-programming ability follows processing power, very soon after the point that computers of human brainpower are mass-production items, we may expect that computers will attain the total information processing power of all human minds on the planet. They will have long since become the experts in the design of more complex computers, just as they are today the reigning experts at chess strategy. At some point not long after that, computers will recapitulate human history, human culture, and human thought. They will then teach each other everything we humans know in a matter of years (months? days? hours?), and then move on. The whole thing will happen in a flash, and if it happens at all, will certainly happen long before we’re really ready for it. The "flash" seems inevitable before the end of this century, and seems quite probable (given even modest extrapolation) before the middle of it. And, of course, we’ll be unable to stop it, anymore than we can stop anything on the Internet. Before we know it, it will be done."

Computing Update

Researchers create graphene-based memory that can potentially store many times the memory of current flash memory, and is far more resistant to heat:

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9123838

Genetic Engineering Update

Researchers engineer bacteria beyond the limits of nature to create higher-density biofuels:

http://www.physorg.com/news148833955.html

Artificial Intelligence Update

Researchers are working to build a machine that can learn from experience:

http://www.physorg.com/news148754667.html

Predictions Update

A list of upcoming inventions, from HUD contact lenses to bionic limbs. Also mentioned is uploading human minds to computers, allowing us to become truly immortal:

http://www.aolhealth.com/health/bionic-human-scientific-advancements?icid=200100397x1215240606x1201026834

Transportation Update

And now electric vehicle technology has extended to the airplane. Here is a modified glider that not only can go 70 mph for 90 minutes for a total recharge cost of 70 CENTS, but when parked the propeller acts as a windmill to recharge the battery!

http://www.ecogeek.org/content/view/2353/69/

Transportation Update

For electric vehicle fans, here's a race between the Tango and the Tesla Roadster:

http://www.ecogeek.org/content/view/2355/69/

Electric vehicles and their immediate full torque can give them performance to put IC engines to shame.

Robotics Update

Medical robot likely to see battlefield use within a year:

http://www.physorg.com/news148069187.html

It's more like telepresence than it is a robot, but it's a significant step.

Alternative Energies Update

New thin film solar cells are 15% more efficient and use hundreds of times less material than conventional solar cells:

http://www.technologyreview.com/energy/21755/?a=f

Computing Update

First superconducting transistor promises PC revolution:

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20026856.600-first-superconducting-transistor-promises-pc-revolution.html

Alternative Energies Update

Nanoporous silicon allows the creation of lithium batteries that can hold at least double the charge:

http://www.technologyreview.com/energy/21750/?a=f

Alternative Energies Update

Nanoporous silicon allows the creation of lithium batteries that can hold at least double

Alternative Energies Update

New wind power system borrows technology from jet engines to potentially decrease the cost of wind power by half:

http://www.technologyreview.com/energy/21737/?a=f