Practical artificial intelligence tools you can use today

http://www.kurzweilai.net/practical-artificial-intelligence-tools-you-can-use-today?utm_source=KurzweilAI+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=a943b867ba-UA-946742-1&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6de721fb33-a943b867ba-281903081

How brain architecture relates to consciousness and abstract thought

http://www.kurzweilai.net/how-brain-architecture-relates-to-consciousness-and-abstract-thought?utm_source=KurzweilAI+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=1057a4f9d8-UA-946742-1&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6de721fb33-1057a4f9d8-281903081

The top A.I. breakthroughs of 2015

http://www.kurzweilai.net/the-top-ai-breakthroughs-of-2015?utm_source=KurzweilAI+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=1057a4f9d8-UA-946742-1&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6de721fb33-1057a4f9d8-281903081

Optoelectronic microprocessors shown to dramatically reduce chips’ power consumption

http://www.kurzweilai.net/optoelectronic-microprocessors-shown-to-dramatically-reduce-chips-power-consumption?utm_source=KurzweilAI+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=e916ae1e26-UA-946742-1&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6de721fb33-e916ae1e26-281903081

Big Dog update: US military says robotic pack mules are too noisy to use

https://www.yahoo.com/tech/us-military-says-robotic-pack-140401180.html?soc_src=mail&soc_trk=ma

Wind turbines now produce enough power to energize 19 million U.S. homes

This is a HUGE increase:

https://www.yahoo.com/news/now-over-50-000-wind-014500079.html?soc_src=mail&soc_trk=ma

"Back in 2007, less than 1 percent of total electricity in the U.S. came from wind power. Today, we’re approaching 4.5 to 5 percent of total electricity use in the United States"

"There’s now enough wind power installed to meet the equivalent of total electricity demand in Oklahoma, Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, and Wyoming."

Some scientists fear superintelligent machines could pose a threat to humanity

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/national/2015/12/27/aianxiety/?ncid=newsltushpmg00000003

Fossil fuels are all but finished: Renewable energies are the future, whether the GOP acknowledges it or not

http://www.salon.com/2015/12/25/fossil_fuels_are_all_but_finished_renewable_energies_are_the_future_whether_the_gop_acknowledges_it_or_not_partner/

Scientists Create the Superman of Metals

http://www.newsweek.com/scientists-create-superman-metals-409031

A ‘garbage disposal’ drug may slow Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases

Sounds very promising:

http://www.kurzweilai.net/a-garbage-disposal-drug-may-slow-alzheimers-and-other-neurodegenerative-diseases?utm_source=KurzweilAI+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=10056c6f36-UA-946742-1&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6de721fb33-10056c6f36-281903081

New Underwater Drone Flies AND Swims

There will be no escape:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FC9EJhs0pc0

Solar energy from discarded car batteries

http://nextbigfuture.com/2015/12/solar-energy-from-discarded-car.html

How to teach machines to see

http://www.kurzweilai.net/how-to-teach-machines-to-see?utm_source=KurzweilAI+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=9e34693480-UA-946742-1&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6de721fb33-9e34693480-281903081

Merry Xmas from Boston Dynamics!

Ho, ho, ho-ly shit, that's creepy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDZu04v7_hc

New Technique for Developing Nanodevices at One-Hundredth the Current Cost

It's really microdevices, not nanodevices, but still...

http://scitechdaily.com/nanodevices-at-one-hundredth-the-cost/

Glass Brain 3D visualization of brain activity in real time

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAIQeTeMJ-I

Nitrogen Can Triple Energy Capacity of Supercapacitors

http://spectrum.ieee.org/energywise/semiconductors/materials/nitrogen-can-triple-energy-capacity-of-supercapacitors

Ray Kurzweil talk on the exponential increase in computing power

http://bvp.com/blog/ray-kurzweil-on-exponential-rate-progression

(Watch the video)

Mystery material is a UV light, semiconductor, sensor, superconductor, ferromagnet, and optoelectronic device

http://www.kurzweilai.net/mystery-material-stuns-scientists?utm_source=KurzweilAI+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=8648acff91-UA-946742-1&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6de721fb33-8648acff91-281903081

Facebook’s open-sourcing of AI hardware is the start of the deep-learning revolution

http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2015/12/facebooks-open-sourcing-of-ai-hardware-is-the-start-of-the-deep-learning-revolution/

New glass coating could lead to omnidirectional solar panels

http://www.gizmag.com/glass-coating-omnidirectional-solar-panels/40956/

California regulators reject steeper fees for solar users

http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_29256964/state-regulators-reject-steeper-fees-solar-users

The First Person to Hack the iPhone Built a Self-Driving Car. In His Garage

http://www.bloomberg.com/features/2015-george-hotz-self-driving-car/

Quantum computing may be moving out of science fiction

http://www.computerworld.com/article/3015538/emerging-technology/quantum-computing-may-be-moving-out-of-science-fiction.html

Woodland, NC bans solar farm out of fear it will steal sun's energy . . . No, seriously!

Does this belong here or in my political blog? Either way, it's insane:

http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2015/12/13/1459759/-Woodland-NC-bans-solar-farm-out-of-fear-it-will-steal-sun-s-energy-No-seriously?detail=email

Elon Musk Backs $1 Billion Artificial Intelligence Research Group

Not much on details, but a thrilling development nevertheless:

http://time.com/4146754/elon-musk-artificial-intelligence-2/?xid=newsletter-brief

7 Ways Nanotechnology Could Provide The Solutions To Combat Climate Change

http://www.worldnanofoundation.com/blog/paris-climate-summit-2016-nanotechnology-solutions-7

Personally, I think this is way too conservative. We're talking about future applications, so where's the mention of massive numbers of nanoscale robots filtering carbon from the air and repurposing it for carbon-based products?

Q-carbon: A new phase of carbon so hard it forms diamonds when melted

http://www.gizmag.com/q-carbon-new-phase-of-carbon/40668/

Google and Facebook Race to Solve the Ancient Game of Go With AI

http://www.wired.com/2015/12/google-and-facebook-race-to-solve-the-ancient-game-of-go/?mbid=nl_12715

Record battery energy density achievement compared with gasoline

http://www.openthefuture.com/2012/02/record_battery_energy_density.html

It's catching up fast...and don't forget the factor of greater simplicity and lower weight of electric engines.

Electric planes aim to soar high for cleaner aviation sector

http://news.yahoo.com/electric-planes-aim-soar-high-cleaner-aviation-sector-150616464.html?soc_src=mail&soc_trk=ma

"The plane covered 650 kilometres (400 miles) in the space of two hours with an average speed of 172 kilometres per hour. "The car industry, with all the money it has at its disposal, and practically no weight limitation, even today isn't capable of producing an electric car that would take four passengers for 600 kilometres at a speed of 200 kilometres per hour," Pipistrel's founder, Ivo Boscarol told AFP."

Wood nanobattery could be green option for large-scale energy storage

http://www.gizmag.com/wood-battery-energy-storage/28032/?li_source=LI&li_medium=default-widget

"Water-in-salt" battery bodes well for greener, safer grid storage

http://www.gizmag.com/water-in-salt-battery/40514/

Chemists discover key reaction mechanism behind the highly touted sodium-oxygen battery

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/05/150527151201.htm

Rotating Cone Shaped Solar Collectors Are Putting Out A Lot More Power Than Their Flat Cousins

This sounds like a really cool innovation (pun not intended):

http://www.greenenergyjubilation.com/rotating-cone-shaped-solar-collectors-are-putting-out-a-lot-more-power-than-their-flat-cousins/

How Solar Power Could Slay the Fossil Fuel Empire by 2030

Based on the steady drop in the cost of solar and the many new solar and battery technologies I've been reporting here, this is no surprise...but it's nice to see people more "in the know" confirm it:

http://motherboard.vice.com/read/how-solar-power-could-slay-the-fossil-fuel-empire-by-2030

Scientists Discover Genes for a Longer, Healthier Life

http://scitechdaily.com/scientists-discover-genes-for-a-longer-healthier-life/

The Race to Create Elon Musk’s Hyperloop Heats Up

http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-race-to-create-elon-musks-hyperloop-heats-up-1448899356?&ncid=newsltushpmg00000003

This is the fastest cell phone network ever

10 times faster than Google Fiber and 40 times faster than 4G...but of course there's a catch or two:

http://money.cnn.com/2015/04/08/technology/nokia-5g-cell-phone-network/

‘Invisible wires’ could improve solar-cell efficiency

Watch the video:

http://www.kurzweilai.net/invisible-wires-could-improve-solar-cell-efficiency?utm_source=KurzweilAI+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=9e03d2f3f4-UA-946742-1&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6de721fb33-9e03d2f3f4-281903081

Better batteries to beat global warming: A race against time

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/can-new-types-of-battery-help-wean-the-world-off-fossil-fuels/2015/11/30/8bad2000-9520-11e5-a2d6-f57908580b1f_story.html

Licensed Diabetes Drug Could Dramatically Increase Human Life Span

http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/diabetes-drug-could-let-humans-live-until-120