Nanotechnology Update

Relatively inexpensive nano-scale fabricator can construct 3D structures half the size of previous methods:

http://www.technologyreview.com/computing/25217/?a=f

"To show off the tool, the researchers at IBM's Zurich lab made a three-dimensional map of the Earth so small that 1,000 of them would fit onto a single grain of salt."

Virtual Reality Update

New floor tiles use haptics, speakers and video projection to simulate a variety of surfaces that feel like the real thing--grass, snow, ice, pebbles, etc.--when walked upon:

http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/editors/25114/?ref=rss&a=f

Artificial Intelligence Update

Using nanoscale memristors to develop synapses to emulate how the human brain processes information:

http://www.nanowerk.com/spotlight/spotid=15951.php

Artificial Intelligence Update

Circuits that work like the brain to evolve, work together and even self-heal have been developed:

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2010-04/mtu-bco042310.php

Technology Update

Predicted in David Brin's "The Transparent Society," 24/7 video recording of one's life has become a reality:

http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2010/04/life_recorder.html

Robotics Update

Skin for robots developed to improve tactile sensitivity and social acceptance:

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20627566.800-robots-with-skin-enter-our-touchyfeely-world.html

Computing Update

Microchip manufacturers are working with different materials to carry Moore's Law beyond silicon:

http://www.technologyreview.com/computing/25142/?a=f

Transportation Update

DARPA has been commissioned to come up with a VTOL flying car that can also drive off-road by 2015:

http://www.physorg.com/news190913356.html

Technology Update

A new 3D printer could make rock-solid housing structures (even on the moon) far faster and less expensively than conventional means:

http://www.physorg.com/news190873132.html

Alternative Energies Update

Researchers engineer a virus to help split water into hydrogen and oxygen, so the hydrogen can be used for fuel:

http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2010/belcher-water-0412.html

Cybernetics Update

A video update on the HULC exoskeleton for the military, which allows soldiers to carry heavy weights easily:

http://nextbigfuture.com/2010/04/exoskeletons-and-other-technology-to.html

Technology Update

The sidestep in the goal of creating a true invisibility cloak is creating an illusion over an object to appear as something else:

http://www.physorg.com/news189418826.html

Transportation Update

The first solar-powered plane that will fly both day and night completely on solar power has completed its maiden flight:

http://technorati.com/technology/article/solar-powered-plane-solar-impulse-has/

Computing Update

Advances in memristor technology may now make them viable commercially:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/08/science/08chips.html

“Our brains are made of memristors,” he said, referring to the function of biological synapses. “We have the right stuff now to build real brains.”

Nanotechnology Update

Gains in efficiency in nanopiezoelectronics may allow them to power nano-scale machines through scavenged power:

http://www.technologyreview.com/energy/22118/

Computing Update

Software is now able to distinguish between two different things a person is thinking about with 90% accuracy:

http://www.physorg.com/news189919411.html

Artificial Intelligence Update

Advances toward making a conscious machine:

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20627542.000-picking-our-brains-can-we-make-a-conscious-machine.html

Robotics Update

Vehicles are now being built with automatic collision avoidance systems. Within a few years, driving will be semi-automated, and not long after that completely automated:

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20627542.100-look-no-hands-cars-that-drive-better-than-you.html?full=true

Robotics Update

Human-appearing android robots are getting close to indistinguishable from humans...but they're not there yet:

http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/humanoids/040310-geminoid-f-hiroshi-ishiguro-unveils-new-smiling-female-android

Virtual Reality Update

Haptics--being able to feel physical sensations in virtual worlds--is slowly getting off the ground:

http://www.physorg.com/news189649307.html

http://www.physorg.com/news120489000.html

Artificial Intelligence Update

Teaching a computer how to draw the way a human artist draws may reveal the fundamental algorithms of creativity and allow A.I. to be creative:

http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/culturelab/2010/04/life-drawing-robot-could-teach-us-about-art.php

Artificial Intelligence Update

A new "grand unified theory of artificial intelligence" unites two different philosophies in an attempt to achieve AI:

http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2010/ai-unification.html

Robotics Update

Examples of robots currently found in the world:

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/29/the-robots-among-us/

Computing Update

Charles Babbage envisioned a mechanical computer in 1822. It was never fully realized, and electronic computers are much more powerful right now. However, at the nano-scale, it may make sense to create mechanical computers as a way of saving energy:

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20527536.600-babbage-nanomachine-promises-lowenergy-computing.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=online-news

Transportation Update

Fully-covered, 2-wheeled concept cars based on the Segway:

http://www.wired.com/autopia/2010/03/general-motors-en-v

Cybernetics Update

New technique allows merging of carbon nanotubes with neural cells--the basis for a true bionic replacement system:

http://www.aftau.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=11915

Alternative Energies Update

New high-efficiency hydraulic hybrid INGOCAR would weigh much less than conventional hybrids and get 170 mpg:

http://ecogeek.org/automobiles/3112