Robotics Update

Areas of robotics advancement during 2009:

http://www.technologyreview.com/computing/24231/

Alternative Energies Update

Energy tech innovations over 2009:

http://www.technologyreview.com/energy/24280/?a=f

Cybernetics Update

Machine translates thoughts into actual speech in real time:

http://www.physorg.com/news180620740.html

Technology Update

A new book on DARPA's work discusses its future objectives:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/27/books/review/Saletan-t.html?_r=1

Technology Update

A list of the 100 best innovations in 2009:

http://www.popsci.com/node/42027

Robotics Update

Videos of the robots of 2009 in action:

http://singularityhub.com/2009/12/22/a-review-of-the-best-robots-of-2009/

Some of these robots are quite impressive!

Alternative Energies Update

Theoretical digital quantum battery could very soon increase power density (the speed at which energy can be stored or released) by orders of magnitude, and the energy density (the amount of energy that can be stored) by two to ten times compared with today's best lithium-ion and other battery technologies:

http://www.technologyreview.com/computing/24265/?a=f

Alternative Energies Update

The use of "hot electrons" allows the theoretical maximum conversion of solar energy to electricity to be raised from 35% to 67% (by using the energy normally lost to heat):

http://www.technologyreview.com/energy/24240/?a=f

Computing Update

Complex integrated circuits successfully constructed from carbon nanotubes will take 10+ years to fully develop, but they will be five times faster than equivalent silicon circuits, scale better, and dissipate heat better:

http://www.technologyreview.com/computing/24236/?a=f

Robotics Update

For $225,000 you can buy a robot that looks just like you, can talk, and can move its upper body:

http://www.physorg.com/news180018368.html

Predictions Update

A Ray Kurzweil article describing his predictions for the upcoming decade (and beyond):

http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2009/12/13/2009-12-13_top_futurist_ray_kurzweil_predicts_how_technology_will_change_humanity_by_2020.html

"Specifically what can we expect? Solar power on steroids, longer lives, the chance to get rid of obesity once and for all, and portable computing devices that start becoming part of your body rather than being held in your hand."

Artificial Intelligence Update

A new approach to artificial intelligence allows computers to infer meaning through input from multiple sensors, greatly enhancing their ability to make educated inferences about their environment:

http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2009-12/10/popeye,-the-robot-with-brains-not-brawn.aspx

Robotics Update

Collision avoidance capabilites added to robots allow them to be both fast and safe:

http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/editors/24482/?a=f

Cybernetics Update

The newly developed biometric hand can be controlled by an amputee's thoughts:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10408139-1.html

Nanotechnology Update

Researchers have discovered a way to make the atoms and molecules of peptides "grow" to resemble small forests of grass, which can repel dust and water and thus act as a perfect self-cleaning coating for windows or solar panels which (when dirty, become far less efficient):

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/12/091203132159.htm

Artificial Intelligence Update

Advances in reverse-engineering the brain:

http://hplusmagazine.com/articles/ai/race-reverse-engineer-human-brain

"Supercomputer technology appears to be advancing exponentially in accordance with Kurzweil’s “Law of Accelerating Returns.”"

Alternative Energies Update

A great way to store energy generated by windmills during off-peak hours: turn it into ice:

http://ecogeek.org/power-storage/3000

Robotics Update

Artificial skin embedded with optical sensors could help robots develop a more human touch:

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20427366.700-optical-pressure-sensors-give-robots-the-human-touch.html

Alternative Energies Update

New tandem dye-sensitised solar cells with a three-fold increase in energy conversion efficiency (compared with previously reported tandem dye-sensitised solar cells) have been developed:

http://www.physorg.com/news178889850.html

Robotics Update

A variety of robots displayed at the International Robot Exhibition in Japan:

http://www.popsci.com/technology/gallery/2009-11/gallery-robots-can-do-everything-you

Medicine Update

Atmospheric plasmas can easily kill viruses, bacteria and fungi--even superbugs:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8379604.stm

Alternative Energies Update

New self-assembling, spherical solar cells are capable of capturing more sunlight than flat ones:

http://www.technologyreview.com/biomedicine/24012/

Cybernetics Update

By 2020 we may be controlling our computers through chips implanted in our brains:

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9141180/Intel_Chips_in_brains_will_control_computers_by_2020

Robotics Update

Various types of robots increasingly being developed for and used in surgery:

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20427351.100-medibots-the-worlds-smallest-surgeons.html?full=true

Alternative Energies Update

A new technique allows carbon dioxide to be turned into gasoline, diesel and jet fuel:

http://www.physorg.com/news178203219.html

Artificial Intelligence Update

A Blue Gene supercomputer simulation exceeds the scale of a cat's cortex:

http://www.kurzweilai.net/news/frame.html?main=/news/news_single.html?id%3D11411

This is disputed by a rival trying to also reverse-engineer the human brain:

http://www.nytimes.com/external/idg/2009/11/24/24idg-ibm-cat-brain-simulation-dismissed-as-hoax-by-rival-39598.html

Artificial Intelligence Update

It may be possible to generate consciousness with as few as a few thousand nerve cells:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091117124009.htm

Computing Update

The DoE is working to develop a supercomputer 1,000 times more powerful than today's speed leader (Jaguar, at 2.3 petaflops) by 2018:

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9140928/Supercomputers_with_100_million_cores_coming_by_2018

Alternative Energies Update

Batteries that harness the decay of radioactive isotopes to produce a low-powered electric current (betavoltaics) promise a 25-year lifespan:

http://www.technologyreview.com/energy/23959/

Nanotechnology Update

Researchers have combined the self-assembly ability of DNA with the electronic abilities of carbon nanotubes, suggesting a way to develop self-assembling nanoscale circuits:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091110112440.htm

Cybernetics Update

New implantable sensor can be powered by a wireless source up to a meter away:

http://www.technologyreview.com/computing/23878/?a=f

Cybernetics Update

Musings on the rapidly arriving enhancements to the human species:

http://www.oxfordtoday.ox.ac.uk/2009-10/v22n1/01.shtml

Cybernetics Update

An update on the SmartHand bionic hand, which is capable of transmitting feeling:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091104132708.htm

Nanotechnology Update

Carbon nanotubes, which have so many powerful and unique qualities, can now be processed in bulk for industrial purposes:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091102172024.htm

Alternative Energies Update

Japan plans to build a space-based solar power station to beam energy down to Earth by 2030:

http://www.physorg.com/news176879161.html

Transportation Update

Another milestone in the development of a space elevator is reached as a company wins the $900,000 prize for completing a laser-powered climber:

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn18122-space-elevator-wins-900000-nasa-prize.html

Alternative Energies Update

By wrapping solar cells around an optical fiber, efficiency can be increased six fold:

http://www.technologyreview.com/energy/23829/

Artificial Intelligence Update

As we learn more and more about the human brain, interpreting neural activity accurately is becoming possible. It's now possible to roughly tell what a person is thinking about and even create a motion picture of what a person is viewing based solely on measuring brain activity (within limits):

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20427323.500-brain-scanners-can-tell-what-youre-thinking-about.html

Robotics Update

For anyone who doesn't think functional humanoid robots are only a decade or two away, here's the latest prototype of a bipedal walker ("Petman") from the makers of the four-legged Big Dog:

http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/editors/24313/?a=f

(Be sure to play the video.)

Nanotechnology Update

By adding specific molecules, light and heat to nanoparticles, those nanoparticles can be made to self-assemble into a variety of complex structures, something that will make developing nanotech products much easier:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091022164245.htm

Virtual Reality Update

Several videos demonstrating advances in augmented reality:

http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/editors/24253/?a=f

Robotics Update

Hydrogen could be used to make robot muscles far quieter than compressed air or electric motors:

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20427305.600-hydrogen-muscle-silences-the-domestic-robot.html

Cybernetics Update

Researchers have developed the first bionic hand ("Smart Hand") to not only operate directly from signals from the brain, but also provide tactile feedback so the wearer can feel with the hand:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8313037.stm (watch the video)

This is the first time a bionic limb has approached the functional capabilities of a real hand.

Alternative Energies Update

These are the five top contenders for drastically changing the equation for alternative energy:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703746604574461342682276898.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

(Note the 1,000 megawatts powering 1,000 homes is a mistake; the number of homes powered would be 1,000,000.)

Nanotechnology Update

A breakthrough manufacturing technique now allows diodes to be made much smaller:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091013110042.htm

Society Update

David Brin's "Transparent Society" proposed we'll all soon be continuously recording everything in our lives, leading to a complete loss of privacy...but that it could be turned into a good thing. Now a camera is available to record your every waking moment (it's only a still camera now...but the writing is on the wall):

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17992-new-camera-promises-to-capture-your-whole-life.html

Cybernetics Update

Using bacterial flagella to power micro-machines:

http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/arxiv/24261/

Robotics Update

New submarine and spider robots have been developed to explore the gastrointestinal system:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8301232.stm

Artificial Intelligence Update

Researcher predicts we will be able to reverse-engineer the human brain within ten years:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090904071908.htm

Artificial Intelligence Update

A component of the brain critical for higher level cognition turns out to work much like a digital computer, perhaps simplifying some of the quest for true artificial intelligence:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/10/061005222628.htm

Transportation Update

The US military is developing high-tech airships called LEMVs (Long Endurance Multi-intelligence Vehicles) that use helium to provide 80% of lift, and aerodynamics and thrusters to provide the remaining 20%:

http://ecogeek.org/efficiency/2958

Alternative Energies Update

A new small nuclear battery with a liquid semiconductor could provide SIX orders of magnitude more power than chemical batteries:

http://www.physorg.com/news174139641.html

Cybernetics Update

Signals generated by the brain can now be converted into computer commands, sent over the Internet, and then converted back into brain signals, resulting in what amounts to computer-assisted telepathy!

http://www.soton.ac.uk/mediacentre/news/2009/oct/09_135.shtml

Cybernetics Update

Beetles can now be remotely controlled to fly, land and turn:

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17895-freeflying-cyborg-insects-steered-from-a-distance.html

Fitted with cameras they should make excellent scouts and spies.

Robotics Update

Japan's Robot-One competition introduced dancing and fighting robots. One is essentially a car-humanoid robot transformer!

http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/09/robot-videos-roboone/

Robotics Update

Developments in wing technology for small flying robots take a cue from flying insects:

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20327275.600-locust-flight-simulator-helps-robot-insects-evolve.html

Medicine Update

If part of the battle for gaining the benefits of mature nanotechnology is to live long enough to see its development, then life extension technology is worth persuing:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/29/science/29aging.html

Robotics Update

A new robotic hand uses a softer, more natural grip with fewer sensors and a single motor to pick up objects with the flexibility of a human hand:

http://www.technologyreview.com/computing/23534/?a=f

Artificial Intelligence Update

A new mathematical model may help us reverse engineer the human brain:

http://newswire.rockefeller.edu/?page=engine&id=974

Singularity Update

An interview with Ray Kurzweil, describing why he thinks we'll be able to upload our brains to computers by the end of the 2030s:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/by-2040-you-will-be-able-to-upload-your-brain-1792555.html

Nanotechnology Update

Here's an article on that manufacturing process that allows one to beam instructions for a part to a receiving station, which can build the part on demand layer by layer. This article describes it in reference to Star Trek's transporter system:

http://www.universetoday.com/2009/09/29/nasas-version-of-star-trek-replicator-ready-for-on-orbit-test/

It's the first stages toward my idea for creating "real" teleportation: if we do achieve mature molecular nanotechnology (over the next two decades or so), then there's the possibility we'll be able to disassemble an entire human being and store all the data that make up that person. Send that data to a ship or even another planet via radio or laser or whatever, and have assemblers on the ship/planet reassemble the person from common raw materials. It wouldn't be teleportation in seconds, but it would be effectively teleportation in hours, and a hell of a lot cheaper than sending that person to the destination by conventional means.

(Of course, this assumes all aspects of the brain can be captured and replicated, but it's not that big a stretch.)

Robotics Update

Examples of the rapidly expanding area of controling robots remotely (telepresence):

http://spectrum.ieee.org/robotics/humanoids/the-reality-of-robot-surrogates/0

Cybernetics Update

Contact lenses with HUD will soon be available to provide a variety of data superimposed on our vision:

http://spectrum.ieee.org/biomedical/bionics/augmented-reality-in-a-contact-lens/

Virtual Reality Update

(Also a Robotics Update)

Scientists are studying the "uncanny valley" of almost human-looking animated characters and robots to try and eliminate the creepiness factor:

http://www.physorg.com/news172854181.html

Artificial Intelligence Update

Automated video surveillance system uses human brain techniques to spot abnormal behavior:

http://www.net-security.org/secworld.php?id=8144

Another small step on the path to true machine intelligence.

Alternative Energies Update

Google isn't happy with the slow pace of development and high cost of production in solar power, so it's jumping into the field:

http://ecogeek.org/solar-power/2949

With its deep pockets and keen interest in alternative energies, maybe they can speed up the process.

Alternative Energies Update

Carbon nanotube springs may be used to create batteries that mechanically store as much energy pound-for-pound as the best of today's lithium-ion batteries:

http://www.physorg.com/news172758740.html

Alternative Energies Update

Nanosolar's advanced solar panels are coming to market:

http://www.technologyreview.com/business/23482/?a=f

Robotics Update

The iCub robot is designed to learn like a human toddler:

http://www.physorg.com/news171703166.html

Artificial Intelligence Update

A neuroscientist expects to have a functioning model of the human brain within ten years (which matches the conclusions from other prognosticators):

http://www.physorg.com/news171565512.html

"When we first switched it on it already started to display some interesting emergent properties. But this is just the beginning because we know now that it is possible to build it."

Alternative Energies Update

A major "recycling" advance in the use of hydrogen for use in vehicles:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090901143317.htm

Singularity Update

To develop an AI that will want to improve itself and pass that desire on to its succeeding generations, it will need more than just intelligence. It will also have to include motivation and focus:

http://www.technologyreview.com/biomedicine/23354/

Nanotechnology Update

Yet another material made from nanoscale carbon molecules. After buckminsterfullerine, nanotubes and graphene, we now have magnetic graphone, which should facilitate the creation of the next generation of computer miniaturization:

http://www.physorg.com/news171126902.html

Robotics Update

Micro-robots are being developed with insect swarm behavior and "programmed for a variety of applications, such as surveillance, micromanufacturing, medicine, cleaning, and more":

http://www.physorg.com/news170678733.html

Cybernetics Update

Researchers are developing a plasmodium (slime mold)-based robot:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090827073256.htm

"This new plasmodium robot, called plasmobot, will sense objects, span them in the shortest and best way possible, and transport tiny objects along pre-programmed directions. The robots will have parallel inputs and outputs, a network of sensors and the number crunching power of super computers. The plasmobot will be controlled by spatial gradients of light, electro-magnetic fields and the characteristics of the substrate on which it is placed. It will be a fully controllable and programmable amorphous intelligent robot with an embedded massively parallel computer."

Artificial Intelligence Update

As a departure from my usual posts, here's an interview with Noel Sharkey, who holds the opposite position from me, claiming artificial intelligence will not be developed:

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20327231.100-why-ai-is-a-dangerous-dream.html?full=true

However, his claim that sentience "could be a physical system that cannot be recreated by a computer" would require some evidence to support it. So far it seems we've managed to successfully reproduce various portions of the human brain, and there is no evidence that we won't eventually reproduce the rest.

His thinking is also mired in the very short term, using existing examples of AI (such as Deep Blue) as the basis for all AI. But if we do managed to reproduce every functional aspect of the brain on a computer platform (as we are on track to complete within the next few decades at most), we will have AI based on a proven existing model, only capable of taking advantage of the advantages brought by computers.

He also claims, "Like all humans, the elderly need love and human contact, and this often only comes from visiting carers. A robot companion would not fulfil that need for me." Again, this is short-term thinking. Considering that people are even now bonding with the very basic AI we have now, even a non-sentient machine will likely become convincing enough to allow humans to develop sincere friendships and romances with machines.

Concerning military robots, he says, "There is no way for any AI system to discriminate between a combatant and an innocent." Again, not YET. But what evidence is there to think AI will be unable to do as good or a better job than humans over the next decade or two? Humans in combat often behave irrationally; a machine wouldn't have that problem, and thus would be less likely to make such mistakes. Computers are becoming more and more accurate in their ability to discern patterns, and it's reasonable to believe they will eventually be able to distinguish between friend and foe more easily and more quickly than humans.

Artificial Intelligence

Robotics Update

A new robot designed with bones, tendons and muscles similar to human form moves more like a real human:

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20327223.900-robot-with-bones-moves-like-you-do.html

Robotics Update

Robots are speeding up...a lot. Here they dribble a ball, toss an object and catch it, throw a ball, use tweezers to pick up an object, and more, all with robotic precision and some with far greater speed than humans can do:

http://www.hizook.com/blog/2009/08/03/high-speed-robot-hand-demonstrates-dexterity-and-skillful-manipulation

Computing Update

Magazines with video displays integrated into them to go on sale soon:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8211209.stm

Robotics Update

Robots learn to deceive. Researchers have found that robots equipped with artificial neural networks and programmed to find "food" eventually learned to conceal their visual signals from other robots to keep the food for themselves:

http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/editors/24010/?a=f

Computing Update

Upgraded RFID tags will allow computing without a standard power source:

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17616-rfid-tags-get-an-intelligence-upgrade.html

Computing Update

Another crucial milestone crossed in the creation of a viable quantum computer:

http://www.technologyreview.com/computing/23137/?a=f

Virtual Reality Update

Another article on the touchable hologram technology that uses sonic waves to simulate contact with the objects:

http://www.physorg.com/news168797748.html

Various Technological Updates

Some very cool ideas shown at SIGGRAPH 2009, including touchable holography, augmented reality for ordinary toys, hyper-realistic virtual reality, 3D teleconferencing and scratchable input:

http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/editors/23940/?a=f

I can especially see serious potential for the hyper-realistic VR for not just games, but business meetings and even casual interactions.

Medicine Update

DARPA's looking to use adult stem cells to completely and rapidly regenerate battlefield wounds:

http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2009/08/miitary-aims-for-instant-repair-of-wartime-wounds/

Robotics Update

A new modular robot can break apart or assemble as needed (shades of Transformers!):

http://www.nytimes.com//interactive/2009/07/27/science/20090721-modular-graphic.html

Cybernetics Update

Hybrid Assistive Limb exoskeletons tested in public with a long, slow walk with little effort expended:

http://www.physorg.com/news168507367.html

Computing Update

DNA computing takes a big step forward:

http://www.physorg.com/news168510956.html

Alternative Energies Update

National Academies symposium concludes that emphasizing new solar technologies isn't necessary; instead, support for developing existing technologies will more quickly and efficiently reduce costs to grid parity:

http://www.technologyreview.com/energy/23108/

Alternative Energies Update

General Fusion claims it can bring us a grid-capable 100 MW fusion power plant within ten years for an investment of less than a billion dollars:

http://www.technologyreview.com/business/23102/

The magnetized target fusion technique it will use isn't a new concept, but the digital precision necessary to make it work has only recently become available.

Robotics Update

It's finally here: the promise of miniature robots capable of crawling through the body to deliver precise medication, clear arteries, etc.:

http://www.ats.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=6063&security=1141&news_iv_ctrl=1261

This is far larger than a true "nanobot," but it's a big step on the path to having implanted robots constantly monitoring and repairing our bodies.

Alternative Energies Update

A biotech startup claims it has a process to produce 20,000 gallons of biofuel per acre per year, at a price competitive with fossil fuels:

http://www.technologyreview.com/business/23073/

Artificial Intelligence Update

A panel of AI scientists, roboticists, and ethical and legal scholars discusses worst-case scenarios for the upcoming emergence of artificially intelligent machines:

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17518-smart-machines-whats-the-worst-that-could-happen.html

Notably, some on the panel think human-level AI could take 1,000 years to develop, while others said 20. I've been reading a lot more of the latter than the former.

Another article, with additional perspectives:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/26/science/26robot.html?_r=2

Alternative Energies Update

A new design for a less expensive solar thermal power generator:

http://www.technologyreview.com/energy/23079/

Alternative Energies Update

A detailed description of the state of the Electrical Energy Storage Unit (EESU) capacitor, which may soon (or not) become a far more efficient replacement for batteries:

http://www.theoildrum.com/node/5557

Artificial Intelligence Update

As the social behavior of large groups of humans becomes more definable through progress in data gathering, new informatics tools and increases in computational power, we will be able to "predict with unprecedented foresight, specificity and scale such things as the economic and social effects of billions of new Internet users in China and India, or the exact location and number of airline flights to cancel around the world in order to halt the spread of a pandemic":

http://www.physorg.com/news167579576.html

Artificial Intelligence Update

We may be only ten years away from having a reverse-engineered model of the human brain:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8164060.stm

Alternative Energies Update

PetroAlgae promises to cheaply provide both food and fuel from just sun and algae:

http://www.ecogeek.org/component/content/article/2855

Robotics Update

Limiting robot finger joints with the same limitations of the human hand speeds up the computation required to mimic human hand movement:

http://www.technologyreview.com/computing/23023/