Wednesday, June 3, 2015
Tuesday, June 2, 2015
Military technology: Laser weapons get real
Enjoy the tech boner! I love that they're applying sounds from SF movies:
http://www.nature.com/news/military-technology-laser-weapons-get-real-1.17613
http://www.nature.com/news/military-technology-laser-weapons-get-real-1.17613
Tuesday, May 26, 2015
Sunday, May 24, 2015
New ‘deep learning’ technique enables robot mastery of skills via trial and error
http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2015/05/21/deep-learning-robot-masters-skills-via-trial-and-error/
It's interesting how the process is more like how a human fumbles with something than the precision we associate with robots.
It's interesting how the process is more like how a human fumbles with something than the precision we associate with robots.
A concept for a thermal space solar power satellite
Too vulnerable to terrorism and space debris, I think, but an interesting addition to the options for replacing fossil fuels:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-Lrj35HcbQ&feature=youtu.be
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-Lrj35HcbQ&feature=youtu.be
Thursday, May 21, 2015
Monday, May 18, 2015
Google plans to test its new self-driving vehicle prototypes on Mt. View roads
Friday, May 15, 2015
System designed to label visual scenes according to type turns out to detect particular objects, too
http://newsoffice.mit.edu/2015/visual-scenes-object-recognition-0508
The most fascinating section to me:
“Deep learning works very well, but it’s very hard to understand why it works — what is the internal representation that the network is building,” says Antonio Torralba, an associate professor of computer science and engineering at MIT and a senior author on the new paper. “It could be that the representations for scenes are parts of scenes that don’t make any sense, like corners or pieces of objects. But it could be that it’s objects: To know that something is a bedroom, you need to see the bed; to know that something is a conference room, you need to see a table and chairs. That’s what we found, that the network is really finding these objects.”
I suspect the road to full general A.I. will be littered with many such "we don't know how it's doing this" sentiments.
The most fascinating section to me:
“Deep learning works very well, but it’s very hard to understand why it works — what is the internal representation that the network is building,” says Antonio Torralba, an associate professor of computer science and engineering at MIT and a senior author on the new paper. “It could be that the representations for scenes are parts of scenes that don’t make any sense, like corners or pieces of objects. But it could be that it’s objects: To know that something is a bedroom, you need to see the bed; to know that something is a conference room, you need to see a table and chairs. That’s what we found, that the network is really finding these objects.”
I suspect the road to full general A.I. will be littered with many such "we don't know how it's doing this" sentiments.
Thursday, May 14, 2015
Tuesday, May 12, 2015
Solar power is booming. But is it booming fast enough?
http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/Energy/2015/0505/Solar-power-is-booming.-But-is-it-booming-fast-enough
We can only hope that as prices drop, people will demand it faster and faster until there's simply no upside to fossil fuel plants.
We can only hope that as prices drop, people will demand it faster and faster until there's simply no upside to fossil fuel plants.
Google Blames Humans for Accidents Involving Its Self-Driving Cars
http://time.com/3854528/google-self-driving-cars-accidents/?xid=newsletter-brief
Over 700 thousand driverless test miles in California and Nevada, and 1.7 million total miles so far, with only 11 minor accidents, apparently all caused by human error. Not bad. Now if they can just make the price of a robot car affordable to all....
Over 700 thousand driverless test miles in California and Nevada, and 1.7 million total miles so far, with only 11 minor accidents, apparently all caused by human error. Not bad. Now if they can just make the price of a robot car affordable to all....
Thursday, May 7, 2015
Wednesday, May 6, 2015
Tuesday, May 5, 2015
Sunday, May 3, 2015
Saturday, May 2, 2015
Friday, May 1, 2015
Thursday, April 30, 2015
Tuesday, April 28, 2015
DARPA's steerable bullet proves it can hit moving targets
This could be a game-changer for soldiers and police (yikes!), but if terrorists got hold of it...
http://www.engadget.com/2015/04/27/darpas-steerable-bullet-proves-it-can-hit-moving-targets/
Still, very cool!
http://www.engadget.com/2015/04/27/darpas-steerable-bullet-proves-it-can-hit-moving-targets/
Still, very cool!
Audi Just Invented Fuel Made From CO₂ and Water
I'd much prefer to go with the smoothness and quietness and instant torque of electric engines, but this could be a viable source for existing ICE cars. I wonder how cost-effective this is? Could the high heat part of the production be cost prohibitive?
http://time.com/3837814/audi-environmental-protection-green-energy-climate-change-cars/?xid=newsletter-brief
http://time.com/3837814/audi-environmental-protection-green-energy-climate-change-cars/?xid=newsletter-brief
Monday, April 27, 2015
A way to (potentially) massively increase data speeds
Thursday, April 23, 2015
Wednesday, April 22, 2015
Tuesday, April 21, 2015
A Diet Might Cut the Risk of Developing Alzheimer’s
http://www.wsj.com/articles/a-diet-might-cut-the-risk-of-developing-alzheimers-1429569168?mod=trending_now_1&ncid=newsltushpmg00000003
One odd thing, though:
"The study compared the so-called MIND diet with the popular, heart-healthy Mediterranean diet and the DASH diet, which is intended to help control high blood pressure. The MIND diet borrows significantly from the other two, and all are largely plant-based and low in high-fat foods. But the MIND diet places particular emphasis on eating “brain-healthy” foods such as green leafy vegetables and berries, among other recommendations.
The study, conducted by researchers at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, found strict adherence to any of the three diets lessened the chances of getting Alzheimer’s. But only the MIND diet seemed to help counter the disease even when people followed only some of the diet’s recommendations."
If the MIND diet is largely based on the other two diets, and only following some of the MIND diet's recommendations is still effective...doesn't it follow that the other diets would show the same effect?
One odd thing, though:
"The study compared the so-called MIND diet with the popular, heart-healthy Mediterranean diet and the DASH diet, which is intended to help control high blood pressure. The MIND diet borrows significantly from the other two, and all are largely plant-based and low in high-fat foods. But the MIND diet places particular emphasis on eating “brain-healthy” foods such as green leafy vegetables and berries, among other recommendations.
The study, conducted by researchers at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, found strict adherence to any of the three diets lessened the chances of getting Alzheimer’s. But only the MIND diet seemed to help counter the disease even when people followed only some of the diet’s recommendations."
If the MIND diet is largely based on the other two diets, and only following some of the MIND diet's recommendations is still effective...doesn't it follow that the other diets would show the same effect?
Monday, April 20, 2015
New electric aircraft motor is five times more powerful than comparable powerplants
http://www.gizmag.com/siemens-world-record-electric-motor-aircraft/37048/
I wonder if this could be applied equally to ground vehicles?
I wonder if this could be applied equally to ground vehicles?
Sunday, April 19, 2015
Boosting creativity with electrical brain stimulation
The effects appear rather significant. I wonder what it would do to someone already highly creative?
http://www.kurzweilai.net/alpha-rhythm-brain-stimulation-shown-to-boost-creativity?utm_source=KurzweilAI+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=ac3411d781-UA-946742-1&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6de721fb33-ac3411d781-281903081
http://www.kurzweilai.net/alpha-rhythm-brain-stimulation-shown-to-boost-creativity?utm_source=KurzweilAI+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=ac3411d781-UA-946742-1&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6de721fb33-ac3411d781-281903081
Friday, April 17, 2015
Wednesday, April 15, 2015
The Cubic robot personal assistant
http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/242431
Sounds great, but it took all of ten seconds before I started referring to it as "pubic."
Sounds great, but it took all of ten seconds before I started referring to it as "pubic."
Monday, April 13, 2015
Friday, April 10, 2015
Thursday, April 9, 2015
Sunday, April 5, 2015
Friday, April 3, 2015
A hyperspectral smartphone-based Star Trek ‘tricorder’
Thursday, April 2, 2015
Wednesday, April 1, 2015
Monday, March 30, 2015
Texas Town First Of Many To Switch To 100% Renewable Power
I love the irony of an oil state leading the way....
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/texas-town-first-many-switch-000000293.html?soc_src=mail&soc_trk=ma
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/texas-town-first-many-switch-000000293.html?soc_src=mail&soc_trk=ma
Friday, March 27, 2015
Analysis sees many promising pathways for solar photovoltaic power
http://newsoffice.mit.edu/2015/promise-challenges-solar-photovoltaics-0326
Researchers combine two types of photovoltaic material to make a cell that harnesses more sunlight
http://newsoffice.mit.edu/2015/tandem-solar-cell-0324
"In this initial version, the efficiency is 13.7 percent, but the researchers say they have identified low-cost ways of improving this to about 30 percent — a substantial improvement over today’s commercial silicon-based solar cells — and they say this technology could ultimately achieve a power efficiency of more than 35 percent."
"In this initial version, the efficiency is 13.7 percent, but the researchers say they have identified low-cost ways of improving this to about 30 percent — a substantial improvement over today’s commercial silicon-based solar cells — and they say this technology could ultimately achieve a power efficiency of more than 35 percent."
Thursday, March 26, 2015
Tuesday, March 24, 2015
Vehicle battery prices falling faster than many expect
http://www.rtcc.org/2015/03/23/falling-battery-prices-boost-outlook-for-electric-vehicles/
"We reviewed more than 80 different sources and found that in 2007, cost estimates for lithium-ion batteries for EV manufacturers were above US$1000 per kWh.
"We reviewed more than 80 different sources and found that in 2007, cost estimates for lithium-ion batteries for EV manufacturers were above US$1000 per kWh.
Seven years later, the battery cost for leading electric car models was around US$300 per kWh. This is particularly impressive, given that production and sales of EVs have only really started to pick up in the last couple of years.
If prices keep falling at this rate, we could be on course to reach US$150 per kWh – the price point around which some people believe EVs can become directly competitive with petrol-driven cars – in the next decade."
Sunday, March 22, 2015
New ‘MIND’ diet may significantly protect against Alzheimer’s disease
https://www.rush.edu/news/press-releases/new-mind-diet-may-significantly-protect-against-alzheimers-disease
"The MIND diet has 15 dietary components, including 10 “brain-healthy food groups” — green leafy vegetables, other vegetables, nuts, berries, beans, whole grains, fish, poultry, olive oil and wine — and five unhealthy groups that comprise red meats, butter and stick margarine, cheese, pastries and sweets, and fried or fast food.
The MIND diet includes at least three servings of whole grains, a salad and one other vegetable every day — along with a glass of wine. It also involves snacking most days on nuts and eating beans every other day or so, poultry and berries at least twice a week and fish at least once a week. Dieters must limit eating the designated unhealthy foods, especially butter (less than 1 tablespoon a day), cheese, and fried or fast food (less than a serving a week for any of the three), to have a real shot at avoiding the devastating effects of Alzheimer's, according to the study."
"The MIND diet has 15 dietary components, including 10 “brain-healthy food groups” — green leafy vegetables, other vegetables, nuts, berries, beans, whole grains, fish, poultry, olive oil and wine — and five unhealthy groups that comprise red meats, butter and stick margarine, cheese, pastries and sweets, and fried or fast food.
The MIND diet includes at least three servings of whole grains, a salad and one other vegetable every day — along with a glass of wine. It also involves snacking most days on nuts and eating beans every other day or so, poultry and berries at least twice a week and fish at least once a week. Dieters must limit eating the designated unhealthy foods, especially butter (less than 1 tablespoon a day), cheese, and fried or fast food (less than a serving a week for any of the three), to have a real shot at avoiding the devastating effects of Alzheimer's, according to the study."
Thursday, March 19, 2015
Wednesday, March 18, 2015
Imperfect graphene may lead to fast-charging batteries for vehicles
http://www.kurzweilai.net/imperfect-graphene-may-lead-to-fast-charging-batteries-for-vehicles?utm_source=KurzweilAI+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=0b4a244040-UA-946742-1&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6de721fb33-0b4a244040-281903081
http://www.engadget.com/2015/03/18/graphene-fuel-cell-membrane/?ncid=rss_truncated
http://www.engadget.com/2015/03/18/graphene-fuel-cell-membrane/?ncid=rss_truncated
Sunday, March 15, 2015
Thursday, March 12, 2015
Battery Hackers Are Building the Future in the Garage
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2015-03-11/battery-hackers-are-building-the-future-in-the-garage
"Within five years, researchers want to create one or more battery types that can store at least five times more energy than today’s batteries at one-fifth the cost."
"Within five years, researchers want to create one or more battery types that can store at least five times more energy than today’s batteries at one-fifth the cost."
Will Hawaii Be the First State to Go 100% Renewable?
http://ecowatch.com/2015/03/11/hawaii-go-100-percent-renewable/
If one state goes 100% renewable, I suspect the others would hurry to follow suit.
If one state goes 100% renewable, I suspect the others would hurry to follow suit.
Wednesday, March 11, 2015
Even Texas has begun to embrace solar
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/solarcity-mp2-energy-offer-solar-120000513.html?soc_src=mail&soc_trk=ma
I'm glad I've invested with SolarCity. :-)
I'm glad I've invested with SolarCity. :-)
Tuesday, March 10, 2015
Manufacturing meat, leather and milk
For those who don't like factory farming:
Synthetic milk: http://muufri.com/
Synthetic meat and leather: http://blogs.wsj.com/venturecapital/2014/06/18/modern-meadow-raises-10m-to-grow-leather-in-labs-not-from-livestock/
Synthetic milk: http://muufri.com/
Synthetic meat and leather: http://blogs.wsj.com/venturecapital/2014/06/18/modern-meadow-raises-10m-to-grow-leather-in-labs-not-from-livestock/
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)