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Feb 26, 2017

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab created these super-strong grippers

Posted by in category: space

These NASA-designed grippers can lift massive rocks.

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Feb 26, 2017

Five Robots Named Paul

Posted by in category: robotics/AI

These five robots will draw custom portraits of you.

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Feb 26, 2017

AIDS vaccine ‘cures’ 5 patients and are ’virus free‘

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

A new study from the IrsiCaixa AIDS Research Institute in Barcelona, Spain has found a vaccine that has ‘functionally cured’ five HIV patients. It could prevent the need to take antiretroivral drugs again.

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Feb 26, 2017

Don’t fall for Silicon Valley’s hubris—our technological future is more fragile than we think

Posted by in categories: futurism, transportation

Lompico is the rough jewel of Santa Cruz, California—high in the mountains and deep in the redwood forest, population 1,140. Weather providing, it takes less than an hour to get here from Silicon Valley, where technologists are hard at work designing our brave new world.

But heavy rains have made the valley barely accessible to Lompico residents like me this winter. Road closures are common in Lompico, caused by mudslides, fallen trees, and rising waters. California governor Jerry Brown requested federal disaster relief funds on Feb. 11 for this and other nearby counties, estimating damage at $162 million.

Now, just getting out of my neighborhood takes an hour. I navigate perilous one-lane trails with caravans of cars waiting their turn in either direction. Drivers back up onto cliff edges in the dark and fog to let each other by, hoping for the best. Out here, a comfortable, technologically advanced future hardly seems assured. It’s impossible to ignore the fact that our lives are still subject to the whims of nature. All it takes is a few hours of steady rain to down a dead tree and wreak havoc on an otherwise peaceful week.

Continue reading “Don’t fall for Silicon Valley’s hubris—our technological future is more fragile than we think” »

Feb 26, 2017

The ‘Celestial Empire’ Looks to Space

Posted by in categories: futurism, satellites

China’s State Council, the country’s chief administrative authority, recently published a White Paper on its space policies. It not only lifted a veil of secrecy that shielded Beijing’s space policies, but also outlined the country’s recent achievements and offered a five-year outlook on future activities.

Since its first satellite launch in 1970, China has become a major player in the space domain. However, it was only in 2003 that China became the third country to independently send people into space.

Beijing has placed significant resources into narrowing the capability gap that has separated it from other leading nations in this area. It took only eight years from its entry into manned spaceflight, in 2003, to the launch of the first prototype component of its space station, the Tiangong-1.

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Feb 26, 2017

Australian Scientists Have Designed a Filter That Removes Arsenic From Drinking Water

Posted by in category: health

Arsenic poisoning from drinking water is still a health concern for 137 million people in more than 70 countries around the world.

But a new filtration system created by Australian researchers could be the cheap and easy technology required to help solve this huge health issue — and best of all, it can be made using recycled parts.

Current systems for removing arsenic from ground water, such as reverse osmosis or iron exchange, aren’t cost effective or efficient, which means they’re not much use in the countries that really need them, like Vietnam and Bangladesh.

Continue reading “Australian Scientists Have Designed a Filter That Removes Arsenic From Drinking Water” »

Feb 26, 2017

What Does Artificial Intelligence See In A Quarter Billion Global News Photographs?

Posted by in categories: information science, robotics/AI

What deep learning algorithms can tell us about the visual narratives of the world’s news imagery, from depictions of violence to the importance of people to visual context – a look inside what we see about the world around us.

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Feb 26, 2017

Tesla Model X P100D is the stuff of dreams

Posted by in categories: sustainability, transportation

The falcon-wing doors sealed shut and the boy studied the moonroof above his seat. His eyes trailed forward to the panoramic front windshield. The 17-inch touch screen in the center stack arrested his attention, like headlights to a deer, causing the boy to mutter, as if in a trance, “This is how I imagine cars of the future.”

Then I floored it and the kid erupted in a fit of giggles as the all-electric performance SUV rocketed to 60 mph in 2.9 seconds.

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Feb 26, 2017

Who are grinders and can they really live forever?

Posted by in categories: computing, life extension

These are the people implanting microchips under their skin as they attempt to take human evolution into their own hands.

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Feb 26, 2017

EDGEcard: EDGE is a dynamic all-in-one smartcard with a companion mobile wallet smartphone app

Posted by in category: mobile phones

Simply load all of your credit, debit, loyalty, and gift cards onto your EDGE and make payments anywhere.

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