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