Using natural selection to create drugs cheaply

http://www.kurzweilai.net/the-bioretrosynthesis-solution-shifting-evolution-into-reverse-to-make-cheaper-drugs?utm_source=KurzweilAI+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=f3c174328a-UA-946742-1&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6de721fb33-f3c174328a-281903081

Oculus Rift may be the new computer interface, not just a gaming device

http://time.com/39577/facebook-oculus-vr-inside-story/

And more on the coming of age of VR:

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/03/24/arts/video-games/oculus-rift-and-morpheus-take-games-to-a-new-dimension.html?from=technology

Honda partners a solar home with an electric vehicle

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/25/business/car-companies-take-expertise-in-battery-power-beyond-the-garage.html?partner=yahoofinance&_r=1

Quora question on why batteries haven't improved recently

http://www.quora.com/Batteries/Why-havent-there-been-improvements-to-battery-technology-recently

WiFi and Bluetooth communications...without the Internet or cell towers

http://www.cultofmac.com/271225/appreciated-ios-7-feature-will-change-world/

Infrared and ultraviolet vision...from contact lenses

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/20/night-vision-contact-lenses_n_4992829.html?utm_hp_ref=tw

Virtual reality technology gets a boost from Sony entering the game

http://blog.us.playstation.com/2014/03/18/introducing-project-morpheus/

Landmark Alzheimer's Study Pinpoints Protein That Protects Aging Brain

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/19/alzheimers-research_n_4995098.html?utm_hp_ref=tw

Volkswagen To Triple Battery Capacity With Lithium-Air Technology?

http://autos.yahoo.com/news/volkswagen-triple-battery-capacity-lithium-air-technology-110005389.html?soc_src=mediacontentstory

President's Budget Would Double Funding for BRAIN Initiative

Good!

http://www.livescience.com/43888-obama-budget-doubles-brain-funding.html

Google Reaps Tax Breaks in $1.4 Billion Clean Energy Bet

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-03-10/google-reaps-tax-breaks-in-1-4-billion-clean-energy-bet.html?cmpid=yhoo

IBM’s Supercomputer Watson Chef Uses Science to Throw Together Wild, Unexpected Recipes

https://www.yahoo.com/tech/ibms-supercomputer-chef-uses-science-to-throw-together-79220802823.html

Now You Can Walk Into A Best Buy And Get A Solar System For Your Home

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/03/12/3395101/best-buy-solar-system-leasing/#

Solar Industry Has Record Year in 2013

http://wallstcheatsheet.com/business/solar-industry-has-record-year-in-2013.html/?ref=YF

Supplement added to a standard diet improves health and prolongs life in mice

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-02/cp-sat022014.php

What the inside of driverless cars should look like

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-26433493

Can space elevators really work?

http://www.kurzweilai.net/can-space-elevators-really-work?utm_source=KurzweilAI+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=c3ac475f88-UA-946742-1&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6de721fb33-c3ac475f88-281903081

"David quotes Arthur C. Clarke: “The space elevator will be built ten years after they stop laughing…and they have stopped laughing!”"

Ultra-thin capacitors could acclerate development of next-gen electronics

http://www.kurzweilai.net/ultra-thin-capacitors-could-acclerate-development-of-next-gen-electronics?utm_source=KurzweilAI+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=c3ac475f88-UA-946742-1&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6de721fb33-c3ac475f88-281903081

"In addition, the new capacitor has a capacitance density of as high as ∼27.5 μF (microfarads) per square centimeter, which is approximately 2000 times higher than those of currently available commercial products."

Tesla takes the first step toward obliterating the utility companies

Yay, Elon!

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/tesla-just-took-first-step-232131217.html

Number of verified planets almost doubles today

http://www.universetoday.com/109764/mega-discovery-715-alien-planets-confirmed-using-a-new-trick-on-old-kepler-data/

Kurzweil interview on machine intelligence and his work at Google

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/feb/22/robots-google-ray-kurzweil-terminator-singularity-artificial-intelligence

New wireless technology will enable unlimited number of devices to share the same spectrum simultaneously

Wow, really?

http://www.kurzweilai.net/new-wireless-tech-may-radically-transform-mobile-video-streaming?utm_source=KurzweilAI+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=661f9aef81-UA-946742-1&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6de721fb33-661f9aef81-281903081

Artificial muscles from fishing line and thread are 100x stronger than equivalent human muscle

http://www.utdallas.edu/news/2014/2/21-28701_Researchers-Create-Powerful-Muscles-From-Fishing-L_story-wide.html

Kurzweil claims robots will be smarter than humans within 15 years

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/technology-science/technology/ray-kurzweil-robots-smarter-humans-3178027

'Tumour monorail' can lead cancers to their doom

This is just bizarre:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-26189827

3D printing moving to large scale

http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2014/02/16/how-these-partners-are-working-to-make-gigantic-10.aspx

Nanomotors controlled inside living human cells for the first time

Another important step:

http://www.theverge.com/2014/2/16/5417266/nanomotors-controlled-inside-living-human-cells-for-the-first-time

New speed record for big data

http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/43171.wss

The universe could be a simulation

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/16/opinion/sunday/is-the-universe-a-simulation.html?_r=0

Termite-inspired robots build complex structures

http://www.seas.harvard.edu/news/2014/02/robotic-construction-crew-needs-no-foreman

Order of magnitude improvement in fusion yield

https://www.llnl.gov/news/aroundthelab/2014/Feb/NR-14-02-06.html#.Uv1A1PldV8E

Research reveals white matter 'scaffold' of human brain

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-02/uosc-hob020614.php

The "Ubi" computer turns your house into a smart home

Still has a lot of features to add, but it's inexpensive and actually does turn your house into a smart home:

http://www.kurzweilai.net/ubi-ubiquitous-computer-beta-test-program-launched?utm_source=KurzweilAI+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=8b405031de-UA-946742-1&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6de721fb33-8b405031de-281903081

Watson tasked with helping fix Africa's problems

The first steps to a cyberocracy!

http://www.kurzweilai.net/ibm-brings-watson-to-africa?utm_source=KurzweilAI+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=98cb194be5-UA-946742-1&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6de721fb33-98cb194be5-281903081

Solar becomes increasingly cost effective and produces more jobs than coal and oil combined

http://www.nationofchange.org/need-jobs-us-solar-industry-provides-employment-more-people-coal-and-oil-combined-1391783404

and

http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2014/02/06/jobs-in-solar-power-caught-fire-in-2013.aspx

Nanoscale control processor developed

Sounds like a major step forward:

http://www.mitre.org/news/press-releases/mitre-harvard-teams-ultra-tiny-nanocomputer-may-point-the-way-to-further

The first flexible, transparent, and conductive material

http://www.uh.edu/news-events/stories/2014/January/0129RenFoldable.php

New form of graphene allows electrons to behave like photons

Strange stuff:

http://www.kurzweilai.net/new-form-of-graphene-allows-electrons-to-behave-like-photons?utm_source=KurzweilAI+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=536e708bb2-UA-946742-1&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6de721fb33-536e708bb2-281903081

Cybernetic hand that conveys a sense of touch

This is huge:

http://www.everydayhealth.com/news/amputee-feels-objects-first-time-decade/?xid=aol_eh-news_11_20140203_&aolcat=HLT&ncid=webmail23

It's a necessary step to get bionics that act just like the real thing.

Having to give the hand back, though, seems rather creepily like amputation to me....

http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2014/02/02/bill-gates-backs-renewable-battery-startup.aspx

Is Google the real-world equivalent of Skynet?

http://gizmodo.com/googles-buying-an-ai-startup-called-deepmind-for-500m-1509664408

Renewable Energy Is Winning the Battle Versus Fossil Fuels

http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2014/01/28/renewable-energy-is-winning-the-battle-versus-foss.aspx

Note from the president of Plug In America

Happy first newsletter of 2014!

The timeline of electric vehicles spans back to the 1800s. During the EV “golden age” (late 1890s and early 1900s) 38 percent of American automobiles were powered by electricity and “America became the country where electric cars had gained the most acceptance.” The period between 1920 and 1990 saw some small-scale electric car projects, but most progress was lost.

In the 1990s, driven by research programs like the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles and legislation such as California’s ZEV Mandate, we were introduced to vehicles by U.S. Electricar, Solectria and GM and Toyota which were faster and could go further than ever before. Some call this the “modern age”, but because development was purely research and legislative-based, and sales never reached critical mass, the term chosen by Wikipedia is very fitting. It was a “revival of interest.”

The “modern age” arguably began with a disaffected Tesla Motors developing the Roadster which began deliveries in 2008, and really solidified in late 2010/early 2011 with the start of Chevy Volt and Nissan LEAFs deliveries. Plug In America was founded on the hope that something would make this wave of vehicles different. That highway-speed electric cars would “stick” and become once more an indelible part of America’s transportation system. And that perhaps we could help.

How do we know this is an “age” at all, instead of merely another “revival?” Here are a couple of reasons:

Exponential Growth

We know, of course, that EVs are a great product. So just like in the old (but brilliant)shampoo commercial, we expected that early drivers would tell their friends. In fact, we’ve used an adage for a couple of years now—“It takes a driver to make a driver.” Seeing an exponential growth curve is a clue that drivers may be selling cars to other drivers. And now that we have three years of data, that’s just the curve we see in this chart (again from the very useful Luskin study to which we’ve referred several times already).

Just three simple numbers can convey this phenomenon. 17,000, 53,000, 96,000. Those are the rounded last three years of PEV sales. More on that last number in the 2013 summary below.

Variety of Models

Depending on who you ask, there are nine to thirteen new PEV models coming out this year. History shows that new models are often delayed, and never (in my recollection at least) come early, so some of these may be pushed back as always.

Diversity is important for any ecosystem, including the electric car industry. 2014 will be an exciting year because we will be welcoming:

• The BMW i3 with its REx option, which will offer a new combination of battery and auxiliary power
• Models from car companies who have so far stayed on the sidelines of the “modern age”. These include the aforementioned BMW i3 and i8, the Volkswagen e-Golf, the Kia Soul EV, and the Porsche Panamera Plug-In S-E (which has already started deliveries).
• Upscale versions of existing platforms. The Cadillac ELR and Infiniti Electric Sedan allow GM and Nissan to leverage their existing Volt and LEAF technologies and reach new customers.
• Hopefully a second model from Tesla Motors. The Model X may however, bedelayed until next year.
• Breakout sales of e-motorcycles

More Cars

There have been many predictions made lately. One of the most respected (and quoted) studies to come out recently was “10 Predictions for 2014”. In it, Navigant Research predicts 86% growth in worldwide electric car sales in 2014. If this is true in the United States (and the 3-year chart above seems to indicate this as well) we may be seeing two milestones in 2014. The first 15K sales month, and the doubling of all electric cars on the road by the end of the year.

So welcome to the modern age of electric vehicles. It’s so exciting to be witnessing this first-hand. We’re not quite back to 38% of cars (we’re still working on cracking 1%). But we’re headed in the right direction.

Thank you,

Richard Kelly
President

PS: The peak of the “golden age” was also the peak of lead-acid vehicle sales, the “revival of interest” in the ’90s coincided with the first NiMH cars, and the “modern age” began with the new lithium battery EVs. Referring to battery chemistry may be a bit geeky to some drivers who don't want to delve to that level of detail, but it remains a clear way to identify the different periods.

Plug-in Vehicle Roundup (December Plug-In Vehicle Sales and 2013 Summary)

First of all, let’s talk about December.

The biggest news is that Nissan sold an all-time record number of LEAFs, 2,529. Nissan recently announced that awaited production capacity has finally come on line. So we hope to see in 2014 what sales look like with less supply bottleneck. Pricing for 2014 LEAFs has been bumped up $180 for all trim levels.

The Cadillac ELR marked its first month in the charts, selling a few vehicles. This beauty has been called an “upscale Volt” and may represent GM’s first shot across Tesla Motors’ bow.

Looking back on all of 2013, it was really a great year. 96,000 vehicles is a breathtaking accomplishment and represents more vehicles sold in one year than were sold in the last 100 years.

The “real” cars made up the bulk (86%) of sales. The Chevy Volt was the winning model for 2014, with more than 23,094 sold. Nissan LEAF followed closely at 22,610, and the other models’ numbers start dropping off a bit after that.

In 2011 we heard critics say that low initial sales of PEVs signaled their doom. However many noticed that compared to initial conventional hybrid (eg. Prius) sales, adoption rates looked pretty good. The Luskin researchers did this apples-to-apples comparison as well and show that BEVs and PHEVs are actually doing a little better than conventional hybrids did at the same time in their introduction. And this is true even for BEVs and PHEVs individually. We all know how well hybrids are doing today, so this is likely just the beginning.

Military considering replacing troops on battlefield with robots

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/robots-replace-troops-battlefield-111500084.html?soc_src=mediacontentstory

Lithium ion batteries expanding to larger storage units

http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2014/01/26/will-a-simple-battery-reshape-the-future-of-energy.aspx

Tapping more of the sun’s energy using heat as well as light

http://www.kurzweilai.net/tapping-more-of-the-suns-energy-using-heat-as-well-as-light?utm_source=KurzweilAI+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=85e37caa13-UA-946742-1&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6de721fb33-85e37caa13-281903081

The military's plans for robotics

http://breakingdefense.com/2014/01/bird-dogs-drones-terminators-swarms-the-race-towards-robotic-warfare/?ncid=webmail24

$1000 genome sequencing price barrier broken

WAY outpacing Moore's Law:

http://res.illumina.com/documents/products/datasheets/datasheet-hiseq-x-ten.pdf

Harvard creates inexpensive, organic carbon-based "quinone" molecules free flow battery

Great potential for storing energy for overnight use in homes with solar panels:

http://m.fool.com/investing/general/2014/01/14/harvard-research-team-has-breakthrough-on-battery?source=eogyholnk0000001

The movie "Her" emphasizes hidden technology

http://www.wired.com/design/2014/01/will-influential-ui-design-minority-report/

I already have a passive-aggressive relationship with Siri. A romantic relationship can't be far behind.

California residents install more solar panels in 2013 than in all the previous 30 years combined

http://www.nationofchange.org/california-residents-install-more-solar-panels-last-year-previous-30-combined-1389623227

Ken Jennings TED talk on Jeopardy and Watson

Fascinating insights:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2M-SeKey4o

An intermittent energy storage solution, paved the way by...rhubarb?

http://www.kurzweilai.net/organic-flow-battery-promises-breakthrough-for-renewable-energy?utm_source=KurzweilAI+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=bb9a1769d9-UA-946742-1&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6de721fb33-bb9a1769d9-281903081

Major gains in solar energy production and storage

http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2014/01/12/how-you-can-give-up-oil-and-go-100-green-today.aspx

The Next Step For IBM's Watson

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/09/technology/ibm-is-betting-that-watson-can-earn-its-keep.html

Self-Assembling Circuits Should Extend Moore's Law

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/10/science/designing-the-next-wave-of-computer-chips.html?_r=0

World’s fastest organic transistor could lead to low-cost transparent electronics

http://www.kurzweilai.net/worlds-fastest-organic-transistor-could-lead-to-low-cost-transparent-electronics?utm_source=KurzweilAI+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=bb1faf571b-UA-946742-1&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6de721fb33-bb1faf571b-281903081

Fully Autonomous Autos Expected by 2030

http://press.ihs.com/press-release/automotive/self-driving-cars-moving-industrys-drivers-seat

I hope WELL before 2030....

Rupturing The Nanotech Rapture

I suspect the author is yet another person who observes near-term engineering problems in a narrow area, while underestimating accelerating returns and ignoring the developments in converging fields. He says he hasn't seen much progress in nanotech in the last 15 years, but then critics of the Human Genome Project scoffed at the 1% sequencing achieved after 7 years (halfway through the project), even though the project was completed a couple years ahead of schedule. But it's still an interesting perspective, and he does ultimately accept that we may achieve achieve the goals of advanced nanotech and the technological singularity, just not so soon nor through the same methods predicted:

http://spectrum.ieee.org/semiconductors/nanotechnology/rupturing-the-nanotech-rapture

Lockheed Martin uses graphene to purify water

Helping to eliminate 99% of disease-related deaths in the developing world:

http://www.nationofchange.org/weapon-maker-finds-cheap-way-desalinize-sea-water-1388415840

Why is Google snapping up robotics firms?

To become Skynet? To colonize the moon? To beat everyone to the technological singularity punch? Inevitably, robots and AI will massively dominate (not necessarily the negative connotation) our future. Google appears to recognize this and is going balls-to-the-wall to be the one that makes it happen:

http://www.dailytech.com/Google+Wins+DARPA+Challenge+to+Produce+TerminatorLike+Robot/article33995.htm

RIKEN to build exascale computer by 2020

http://www.riken.jp/en/pr/topics/2013/20131226_1/

30 times faster than the current fastest supercomputer, China’s Tianhe-2.

The Navy is now working on a fleet of underwater drones

http://swampland.time.com/2013/12/22/navy-underwater-drone/?xid=newsletter-weekly

Google's Schaft robot wins Darpa rescue challenge trial

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-25493584

http://www.kurzweilai.net/time-meet-the-google-robot-that-won-darpa-robotics-challenge-trials?utm_source=KurzweilAI+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=0a6751537c-UA-946742-1&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6de721fb33-0a6751537c-281903081

Breakthrough in Creating Fuel From Algae

http://www.nationofchange.org/us-scientists-convert-algae-crude-oil-less-hour-1387812791

It still takes more energy to produce than you get out of the process, but at least it's carbon-neutral and simple.

Morphing micro-muscular motor is 1,000 times more powerful than a same-size human muscle

http://www.kurzweilai.net/morphing-micro-muscular-motor-is-1000-times-more-powerful-than-a-same-size-human-muscle?utm_source=KurzweilAI+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=14b7da7bbb-UA-946742-1&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6de721fb33-14b7da7bbb-281903081

Restoring Your NADs May Reverse Aging!

Not THOSE 'nads...

http://www.kurzweilai.net/a-new-and-reversible-cause-of-aging?utm_source=KurzweilAI+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=2aa099345b-UA-946742-1&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6de721fb33-2aa099345b-281903081

Another story on the same topic:

http://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/dec/20/anti-ageing-human-trials

And another:

http://io9.com/scientists-develop-an-elixir-that-reverses-a-known-ca-1487149703?utm_campaign=socialflow_io9_facebook&utm_source=io9_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow

How to Communicate With Nanobots

Radio transmissions don't work well enough to communicate with nanobots that might inhabit your cells, so there has to be a different system. Here's a way to digitally communicate with chemicals:

http://www.kurzweilai.net/worlds-first-text-message-via-molecular-communication-sent?utm_source=KurzweilAI+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=2aa099345b-UA-946742-1&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6de721fb33-2aa099345b-281903081

Phone Robot Who Claims She's a Real Person

Unless you're paying attention, you would likely be fooled by her:

http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/12/10/meet-the-robot-telemarketer-who-denies-shes-a-robot/?xid=newsletter-weekly (listen to the audio files)

How much longer before she passes the Turing test?

MetaPro Augmented Reality Glasses

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuMv29nKo2k

Cellulose Nanocrystals are as Stiff as Steel

http://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/releases/2013/Q4/cellulose-nanocrystals-possible-green-wonder-material.html

Google's Road Map to Global Domination

Long but insightful:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/15/magazine/googles-plan-for-global-domination-dont-ask-why-ask-where.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1

Promising Trends in Renewable Energy Technologies

http://m.theweek.com/article.php?id=254215

The Beginning of Personalized Learning

http://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PLaFe0BJiho2qpq9gHIT-PvfaD9D2WvWDL&v=hTA5GyWamR0

Producing Hydrogen From Just Water, Nanoparticles and Sunlight

http://www.kurzweilai.net/researchers-split-water-into-hydrogen-oxygen-using-light-nanoparticles?utm_source=KurzweilAI+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=7fb0bbf631-UA-946742-1&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6de721fb33-7fb0bbf631-281903081

Conflicts Between Solar and The Grid

http://news.yahoo.com/analysis-clouds-over-hawaii-39-rooftop-solar-growth-121006876--finance.html?soc_src=mediacontentstory

Moving Away From a Centralized Grid

Boulder is moving in the direction of local green energy production, something Drexler's "Engines of Creation" predicted would become a common development:

http://truth-out.org/news/item/20564-the-transformation-of-americas-energy-economy

Google Has Bought 8 Robot Companies

Sounds to me like the best way to hurry the arrival of personal robots:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/14/technology/google-adds-to-its-menagerie-of-robots.html?_r=0

Super Hydrophobic Treatment

Applied to electronics, boat hulls and even ordinary windows, I would think this could save a lot of money:

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

The Environment Over the Next 100 Years

Ugh:

http://www.upworthy.com/the-future-of-the-earth-s-next-100-years-visualized?c=bl3

I think nanotech may be the only way out.

NASA's New Valkyrie Robot

Watch the video:

http://www.theverge.com/2013/12/11/5198124/nasas-valkyrie-robot-made-for-darpa-robotics-challenge

It's speed is not impressive. Yet. But I can't wait to see how the challenge works out.

Solar Power Small But Growing Fast

Projected to go from less than 1% of the market now to 5% by 2020 and 20% by 2035 (I'm hoping for much faster than that, if nanotech takes off in the mid-20s as projected):

http://news.yahoo.com/us-solar-power-sector-small-growing-115605453.html

DARPA Robotics Challenge Entries

I am really excited to see what will come from this:

http://www.theroboticschallenge.org/teamlist

Thin, Efficient, Flexible Solar Cell Manufacturing Process

http://www.kurzweilai.net/a-new-way-to-make-solar-cells-thin-efficient-and-flexible?utm_source=KurzweilAI+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=c4fd6f5a6e-UA-946742-1&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6de721fb33-c4fd6f5a6e-281903081

New Technique Can Improve Fiber Optic Throughput Ten Fold

http://actu.epfl.ch/news/ten-times-more-throughput-on-optic-fibers/

Scientists Sequence DNA of 400,000-Year-Old Human Relative

http://news.yahoo.com/39-pit-bones-39-yields-oldest-known-human-203310093.html?soc_src=mediacontentstory

Inflatable Solar Energy Chimney More Efficient Than Photovoltaic

http://www.theengineer.co.uk/energy-and-environment/news/per-lindstrand-plans-1km-high-inflatable-solar-energy-chimney/1017508.article

Documentary on Advances in Robotics

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zP7yP8hdLE#t=94

I especially like the giant mech with dual Gatling cannons. The Japanese will ensure society is destroyed by giant robots before anything else does. :-)

And Asimo can take everyone's orders at once. Whoa, I hadn't been aware of that one!

A Variety of the Latest Robot Types

http://www.kurzweilai.net/googles-droids-take-on-amazons-drones?utm_source=KurzweilAI+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=4eaf9434a0-UA-946742-1&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6de721fb33-4eaf9434a0-281903081

Scientists build a low-cost, open-source 3-D metal printer

http://news.yahoo.com/3d-metal-printer-open-source-affordable-182234682.html

and

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-12/mtu-sba112613.php

Printing metal objects is the most critical step for universal 3D printing.

Amazon Looking to Deliver Packages by Autonomous Robot Drones

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/amazons-jeff-bezos-looks-to-the-future/

Turn off the ad video, then watch the "Amazon Unveils Futuristic Plan" video.

Here's a shorter version of the process:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98BIu9dpwHU#t=30

Getting to 100% Renewable Energy Sources

https://medium.com/armchair-economics/47a04ab0450d

Another Kurzweil Interview

Nothing really new here, but he's still drawing media buzz:

http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2013/11/ray_kurzweil_s_singularity_what_it_s_like_to_pursue_immortality.html

A side note about the video: The reason why most future fiction about life extension is dystopian is not because it's been out of reach for us, but because of the nature of fiction. Fiction is about conflict, and the easiest way to generate conflict in stories about the future is to make it dystopian. It's something to fight against. The reason we don't see much in the way of utopian futures is because they would be boring stories. Really, the only way to have utopian stories with real conflict and tension is to have the utopian society ultimately be or become dystopian, drop a character from a utopian society into a dystopia, make the utopian society a goal, that sort of thing. Which means that even if/when these technologies arrive, stories about the future will continue to be dystopian.

Alzheimer's May Be Caused By Diabetes

You can't really extend the life of a person if their mind is gone, and one way to avoid losing your mind may be to avoid getting type 2 diabetes:

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22029453.400-are-alzheimers-and-diabetes-the-same-disease.html?full=true#.UpehjMSsjvY

Go Wilford, go Wilford...

Kepler Planet Finder May Still Find More Planets

http://www.universetoday.com/106765/kepler-may-go-planet-hunting-again-infographic-shows-how-that-would-work/

Amazing iPad 3D Scanner

http://www.bitrebels.com/technology/structure-sensor-ipad-3d-scanner/

Combine this with a 3D printer to recreate any object you can walk around. Create virtual environments of any building interior for everything from games to business meetings to real estate tours. Huge potential!

Will 2D Tin be the Next Supermaterial?

Might this be a room-temperature superconductor?

https://www6.slac.stanford.edu/news/2013-11-21-tin-super-material-stanene.aspx

Qubits survive at room temperature for a world-record 39 minutes

http://www.kurzweilai.net/quantum-world-record-smashed?utm_source=KurzweilAI+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=daa44f702e-UA-946742-1&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6de721fb33-daa44f702e-281903081

First Sustainable Single-Atom Bit Created

Only for 10 seconds...but that's still a billion times longer than before:

http://www.kurzweilai.net/scientists-create-single-atom-bit-smallest-memory-in-the-world?utm_source=KurzweilAI+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=8ba5fae05a-UA-946742-1&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6de721fb33-8ba5fae05a-281903081

Inexpensive and Corrosion-Free Method For Extracting Hydrogen From Water

http://www.kurzweilai.net/a-durable-low-cost-water-splitter-made-of-silicon-and-nickel?utm_source=KurzweilAI+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=8ba5fae05a-UA-946742-1&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6de721fb33-8ba5fae05a-281903081