Dark Lightning Produces Gamma Rays and Antimatter

Move over dark matter and dark energy. Say hello to dark lightning!

http://youtu.be/hN0wGga5e0I

Graphene electronics with very low energy consumption

Graphene can be made magnetic and its magnetism switched on and off at the press of a button, opening a new avenue towards electronics with very low energy consumption:

http://www.manchester.ac.uk/aboutus/news/display/?id=10201

New All-Solid Sulfur-Based Battery Outperforms Lithium-Ion Technology

http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/603965/

The Omni Takes Virtual Reality to the Next Level

For many years now I've been saying virtual reality won't really arrive until we have an omnidirectional treadmill to allow natural movement in any direction. Now a new Kickstarter project aims to bring exactly that to the market, in an elegantly simple package:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1944625487/omni-move-naturally-in-your-favorite-game

Be sure to play the video.

Another benefit I predicted was that such a system would turn gamers from couch potatoes into fit athletes. I'd LOVE to get my workout in an immersive game.... 

Graphene is the Strongest Material in the World Even With Defects

http://cleantechnica.com/2013/06/02/graphene-is-the-strongest-material-in-the-world-even-when-it-has-defects-research-finds/

Graphene Camera Sensors 1,000 Times More Sensitive to Light

http://theweek.com/article/index/245052/1000-times-more-sensitive-to-light-how-graphene-camera-sensors-could-revolutionize-photography

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

The Story of Quantum Computing

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

The truly fascinating story of D-Wave's development of a quantum computer. The idea of accessing multiple universes to make calculations is a mind blower.

90 y.o. grandmother uses VR for the first time

This is just fun:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAC5SeNH8jw&feature=player_embedded

You’ll Probably Never Upload Your Mind Into A Computer

http://io9.com/you-ll-probably-never-upload-your-mind-into-a-computer-474941498

Mostly these are arguments from ignorance, but interesting nevertheless.

The Solar Cell That Turns 1 Photon into 2 Electrons

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=the-solar-cell-that-turns-1-photon-into-2-electrons

Moore's Law applied to life

http://news.yahoo.com/could-life-older-earth-itself-175255318.html

(Don't bother viewing the video--it's lame and not really related to the article.)

UPDATE: A scornful refutation of that claim:

http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2013/04/18/graaarh-physicists-biologists/

Artificial leaf gains the ability to self-heal damage and produce energy from dirty water

http://portal.acs.org/portal/acs/corg/content?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=PP_ARTICLEMAIN&node_id=222&content_id=CNBP_032564&use_sec=true&sec_url_var=region1&__uuid=895f6852-200e-4ef5-af3d-d18b12b85dd9

Artificial Intelligence Awakening

The beginning to a poignant story:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhoYLp8CtXI

Petman Robot Almost Moves Like a Human

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFrjrgBV8K0&feature=endscreen

Kinda scary in that gas mask. ;-)

Solar Power Achieves Grid Parity in Parts of the World

http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/blog/post/2013/03/solar-reaching-parity-with-other-energy-sources-say-new-reports

Astronomers anticipate 100 billion Earth-like planets

http://www.ras.org.uk/news-and-press/224-news-2013/2239-astronomers-anticipate-100-billion-earth-like-planets

With 100 billion Earth-like planets...surely SOME must have advanced life....

All-optical switching promises terahertz-speed hard drive and RAM memory

https://www.ameslab.gov/news/news-releases/quantum-tricks-drive-magnetic-switching-fast-lane

Obama to Unveil Initiative to Map the Human Brain

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/02/science/obama-to-unveil-initiative-to-map-the-human-brain.html?_r=0

Circuits That Mimic the Brain’s Design

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/03/21/i-b-m-research-points-to-circuits-that-mimic-the-brains-design/

Lockheed Martin Put Quantum Computer to Work

This could herald the tipping point:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/22/technology/testing-a-new-class-of-speedy-computer.html?_r=0

Tackling the Uncanny Valley

Facial rendering is almost there!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOil2HSDq0E

and

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5d1ZOYU4gpo

Bringing a Virtual Brain to Life

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/19/science/bringing-a-virtual-brain-to-life.html?_r=0

Whole brain cellular-level activity mapping once a second

An important next step:

http://www.kurzweilai.net/whole-brain-cellular-level-activity-mapping-once-a-second

Rapyuta: The RoboEarth Cloud Engine

Moving robotic computation to the cloud to make robotic learning less expensive and more expansive:

http://www.roboearth.org/

Isn't this how the Battlestar Galactica reboot started? :-)

Crowdfunding Accelerates Clean Energy Investment

This is terrific to hear, as is the fact that per-watt solar prices have dropped to less than 100th what they were in 1977:

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/03/06/crowd-funding-clean-energy/

Deus Ex Bionic Augmentations vs. the Real World

Short documentary comparing the augmentations from the game Deus Ex with the current state of the art bionics:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TW78wbN-WuU&feature=player_embedded

The Age of Enhancement

Superhuman abilities seeping into our world:

http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/superman/2013/03/superman_2_0_how_human_enhancement_technologies_are_giving_us_all_superpowers.html

A 3D Printed Car That Runs for Free

We're on the verge of 3D printing becoming mainstream, and that's the conceptual foundation of nanofactories:

http://www.wired.com/autopia/2010/11/3d-printed-hybrid-uses-sunlight-ethanol-or-gas/

Brain Interface Allows Rats to Communicate by Thought Alone

I predicted this method of telepathy in the late 1980s. :-)

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn23221-first-mindreading-implant-gives-rats-telepathic-power.html?full=true

Big Dog Throws Cinder Blocks

C'mon, don't tell me you're not thinking Terminator-ish thoughts!

http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/military-robots/bigdog-throws-cinder-blocks-with-huge-robotic-facearm

Bendable, Inexpensive Graphene Micro-Supercapacitors

http://newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/ucla-researchers-develop-new-technique-243553.aspx

Watson's New Jobs

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/28/technology/ibm-exploring-new-feats-for-watson.html?_r=0

Software for Designing at the Nanoscale

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/25/for-autodesk-a-step-into-a-nanoscale-world/

Nanotubes to Take Over for Silicon in a Decade

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/20/technology/nanotubes-seen-as-an-alternative-to-silicon-circuits.html

3D Printing Developing Faster Than Expected

Nice:

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/17/disruptions-3-d-printing-is-on-the-fast-track/

Virtual Reality Gaming is Finally Becoming Affordable

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/18/technology/oculus-rift-headset-aims-for-affordable-virtual-reality.html?_r=0

Another Thin Film Solar Breakthrough

They keep coming...so when are we going to hit the tipping point and open the floodgates?

http://actu.epfl.ch/news/new-world-record-efficiency-for-thin-film-silicon-/

Robot That Moves by Internal Explosions

A robot that's powered by lighting its own farts. That's just wrong....

http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/nstv/2013/02/three-legged-robot-uses-exploding-body-to-jump.html?cmpid=NLC|NSNS|2012-1102-GLOBAL|threeleggedrobot&utm_medium=NLC&utm_source=NSNS&utm_content=threeleggedrobot

Robots Evolve Better Movement With Evolving Brains

http://www.fastcompany.com/3005313/evolved-brains-robots-creep-closer-animal-learning

British Mini-Drones

As the iPod Shuffle is to boom boxes, so is the Black Hornet Nano Unmanned Air Vehicle to the Reaper:

http://news.sky.com/story/1047004/mini-drones-army-deploys-tiny-helicopters

Raging (Again) Against the Machines

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/03/sunday-review/raging-again-against-the-robots.html?src=recg

It's interesting that Europe and Japan don't share the US's robot Armageddon stories. I personally like the stories because they're great adventure, not because I fear the consequence of robots.

First artificial enzyme created by evolution in a test tube

http://www1.umn.edu/news/news-releases/2013/UR_CONTENT_429344.html

The Cost of Exploring Space vs. Films About Space

Rather depressing:

http://www.universetoday.com/99683/the-cost-exploring-space-film-vs-reality/

ARGUS 1.8 Gigapixel UAV Camera

This camera isn't so much about zooming in on a single spot to see all the pores on your hand, but zooming in at a still-impressive level over a 10 square mile area ALL AT ONCE and in real time:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=QGxNyaXfJsA

All-in-One Robot Factory

A precursor to nanofactories?

http://www.3ders.org/articles/20130123-irobot-filed-a-patent-for-autonomous-all-in-one-3d-printing-milling-drilling-and-finishing-robot.html

Print Your Own Robot for $1000

Download the specs for this work-in-progress robot, print it out with a 3D printer, add some basic components, and you too can have a robot for $1000 or so:

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/01/25/tech/innovation/inmoov-robot-3d-printing/index.html

And here it is in motion:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=tojIdfywYVI

More Thoughts on Driverless Cars

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/don-tapscott/going-down-the-road-in-a-_b_2554361.html?utm_hp_ref=tw

Is Moore's Law Slowing Down?

Man vs. Machine

by Rana Foroohar

Remember the booming economy of the 1990s? A big factor in that growth was technology, which fueled productivity gains at a much faster clip than it does now. Moore's law--the observation credited to Intel co-founder Gordon Moore that computer chips double in power roughly every 18 months--appeared to be squarely in effect. From 1995 to 2005, large companies invested heavily in technology that increased efficiency and productivity, eventually creating entirely new areas of business and boosting employment growth. The fact that American companies invested more than, for example, European ones is a key reason many U.S. multinationals increased revenue and market share during that time. So given the rise of social media, big data and other tech trends, can we expect a similar boost to growth sometime in the near future?

No--at least according to "Is I.T. Over?," a new report by JPMorgan Chase's chief U.S. economist, Michael Feroli. Using U.S.-government data, Feroli shows that prices for IT equipment--things like software, computers and networking technology--are declining at the slowest pace in over a generation. That's important, because a slower price decline for technology implies slower gains in the power of technology. As Feroli writes, an average computer may retail for about $1,000, but historically "the power of that computer has increased dramatically" over time. As the power of new devices increases, prices of old ones fall. The fact that they aren't falling so quickly now means that technology isn't increasing at the same pace it once did.

This doesn't mean that Moore's law is dead. Strictly speaking, it refers to the number of transistors that can be squeezed onto a chip. Other factors, like microarchitecture and memory, can constrain computer advances even if the sheer number of circuits continues to increase. The bottom line, though, is that slower tech-price declines and slower gains in computing power suggest that the pace of innovation in the near future is likely to resemble that of the recent past. In other words, it will be sluggish for the next few years.

Indeed, a number of economists, including Northwestern University's Robert Gordon, believe that we are entering an even longer period of slow tech gains and slow growth. Gordon argues that the productivity gains of the decade beginning in 1995 were nothing compared with earlier, arguably more cataclysmic tech shifts like the advent of the combustion engine, electricity and indoor plumbing. "Which changes your life more," he asks, "an iPad or running water?" What's more, even if innovation were to continue into the future at its pre-2005 rate, Gordon says, the U.S. faces new headwinds--including debt levels, an aging population, environmental challenges, inequality and lower levels of education relative to international standards--that will hinder growth more than in the past.

There may be a silver lining to this story. Despite the boost it has given to overall growth, the white-hot pace of tech advancement over the past few decades is also a key driver of higher unemployment and inequality, as less-educated workers lost their jobs to machines. Research shows that technology powers job growth only if educational levels keep pace with technological change--a relationship that began to break down in the 1970s in the U.S. If IT advances are finally slowing, "then workforce skills may be better able to catch up with the level of technology," notes Feroli. In an era when many economists believe inequality is an obstacle to growth, that's a rare bit of good economic news.

China's Robot Car First to Pass Freeway Test

http://www.china.org.cn/china/2013-01/23/content_27773068.htm

Come on, do we really want to let China surpass us in robotics?

Molecular Memory Promises 1000x Increase in Storage Capacity

http://www.mit.edu/newsoffice/2013/storing-data-in-individual-molecules.html

Cloning Neanderthal

An interview with George Church on the future of DNA manufacturing:

http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/george-church-explains-how-dna-will-be-construction-material-of-the-future-a-877634.html

New World Record in Solar Cell Efficiency

The efficiency gap between silicon wafer and thin film solar cells has been closed:

http://www.empa.ch/plugin/template/empa/3/131438/---/l=2

Leonar3Do 3D graphic design program

Very cool and easy way to design in 3D:

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/this-could-be-big-abc-news/become-own-3d-producer-155546885.html

Should compliment 3D printers nicely.

Mind control of computers

TED talk about an easy-to-use, easy-to-set up, inexpensive headset that interprets brain waves to interact with a computer or robotic device:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVhggGSjXVg#!

Controlling heat like light

A fascinating concept, perhaps with implication like "War of the Worlds" heat rays, beamed heating, local refrigeration, etc.:

http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2013/how-to-treat-heat-like-light-0111.html

Not your standard self-parking car

I wonder how this would deal with restricted parking areas, but otherwise it's pretty impressive, and another step in the road to full robot driving:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=rgN8MOrss40#!

Accessible Virtual Reality Gaming on its Way

This is extremely cool, something I've been waiting for for decades now:

http://www.kurzweilai.net/ces-2013-hands-on-with-the-oculus-vr-rift-virtual-realitys-greatest-hope

Click on the Oculus VR link in the article to access a video introducing the product.

Paper Tab...paper-thin computing

Cool...but perhaps a bit to space-consuming and awkward? It may make a good adjunct to regular computers, but it currently appears confined to a literal desktop:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=81iiGWdsJgg

Hundreds of Billions of Planets

Not exactly an advancing technology, but it's the result of advancing technology...and it's just too cool:

http://www.universetoday.com/99309/nearly-all-sun-like-stars-have-planetary-systems/

Computers are learning to write jokes

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/06/opinion/sunday/can-computers-be-funny.html?_r=0

Below Absolute Zero

Temperatures can go BELOW absolute zero? And it could be exploited to create engines that are MORE than 100% efficient?

http://www.livescience.com/25959-atoms-colder-than-absolute-zero.html

Arthur C. Clarke's predictions of the future

Clarke's predictions from 1964 are amazingly accurate, despite his prediction for the fate of cities:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=FxYgdX2PxyQ

Light-Powered Maglev Motion

Simplistic now, cool potential:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=AJ7fMVp_O5s

Flutter

An amusing and highly functional little app for Google Chrome!

https://flutterapp.com/

Legged Squad Support System Robot in Action

http://www.darpa.mil/NewsEvents/Releases/2012/12/19.aspx

Computer gaming improves brain function

This article is about testing for IQ:

http://www.uwo.ca/its/brain/iqmyth/

But this line stood out in the results:

“Intriguingly, people who regularly played computer games did perform significantly better in terms of both reasoning and short-term memory, says study researcher Adam Hampshire from Western’s Brain and Mind Institute. “And smokers performed poorly on the short-term memory and the verbal factors, while people who frequently suffer from anxiety performed badly on the short-term memory factor in particular.”

Kurzweil Joins Google!

Google has just hired futurist Ray Kurzweil to be Director of Engineering:

http://singularityhub.com/2012/12/16/ray-kurzweil-teams-up-with-google-to-tackle-artificial-intelligence/

The AI and Singularity visionary coupled with massive financing? I think this is the best boost we've had yet.

I’m Just a Love Machine

More on the likelihood of developing sexbots:

http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/cascio20121212

10 Reasons to be Terrified of Robots

http://listverse.com/2012/12/13/10-reasons-to-be-terrified-of-robots/

Most human-realistic robot muscular-skeletal system so far

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=6JNq1COqB_s

Global Trends: 2030

http://www.kurzweilai.net/global-trends-2030-alternative-worlds?utm_source=KurzweilAI+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=75bb0dfaab-UA-946742-1&utm_medium=email

Computer System to Track What You're Thinking

No, this is nothing snazzy like mind-reading, but it's a cool idea for computers detecting what you're interested in and helping provide it to you:

http://www.aol.com/video/a-computer-that-knows-what-youre-thinking/517576308/?ncid=wsc-video-cards-image

Organic Material Flows Like Liquid But Returns to its Original Shape

Bizarre stuff:

http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/Dec12/ShapeGel.html

Programmable Matter

This robot can reconfigure itself into various simple shapes, like protein does:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=AQf0qsRTsoA

Making Moral Machines

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2012/11/google-driverless-car-morality.html

New Sabre engine and SKYLON space plane

Mach 5 travel anywhere in the world?

http://www.reactionengines.co.uk/

Fuel Out of Thin Air

If this can be scaled up and made more efficient, it could be a game changer:

http://www.treehugger.com/clean-technology/scientists-make-gas-air.html

Nanotech Muscle Developed

At 200x stronger than biological muscle, imagine what a human-scale robot could do:

http://www.utdallas.edu/news/2012/11/15-20871_Wax-Filled-Nanotech-Yarn-Behaves-Like-Super-Strong_article-wide.html

Andrew McAfee: Are droids taking our jobs?

Great TED talk:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMF-Z74C1QE