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Feb 21, 2016
Interesting Engineering Animation
Posted by Shailesh Prasad in categories: engineering, materials, nanotechnology
The nanoscale coating that’s at least 95% air repels the broadest range of liquids of any material in its class, causing them to bounce off the treated surface, according to the University of Michigan engineering researchers who developed it.
Feb 21, 2016
There’s a massive shift happening in the world right now
Posted by Shailesh Prasad in categories: energy, sustainability
The cost of renewable energy is plummeting while fossil fuel companies are in distress.
Now is the time to keep on pushing.
Feb 21, 2016
Photonic Laser Propulsion to send a 100 kg vehicle to Mars in 3 days and to get to wafercraft to 30% of the speed of light
Posted by Klaus Baldauf in categories: robotics/AI, space travel
Philip Lubin describes his appraoch to achieving laser driving spacecraft propulsion in the near term.
100kg robotic craft could be sent to Mars in 3 days.
1kg could go overnight to Mars.
50–100 GW could send a wafercraft to 30% of the speed of light and i would involve 10 minutes.
Feb 21, 2016
Did You Know? The Future Is Better Than You Think!
Posted by Shailesh Prasad in categories: biotech/medical, media & arts, nanotechnology, Peter Diamandis, Ray Kurzweil, robotics/AI, singularity
A video about how fast technological progress is going, how much technology has improved the world and the potential for technology to solve our most pressing challenges. Inspired in part by the book Abundance by Peter Diamandis and Steven Kotler, and by the video “Shift Happens 3.0” (also known as “Did You Know”) by Karl Fisch and Scott McLeod: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cL9Wu2kWwSY
Among the things mentioned are developments and possibilities within information technology, biotechnology, nanotechnology and artificial intelligence. The video also touches upon how several of these developments are exponential, but it does not get into the realm of technological singularity and the thoughts of people such as Ray Kurzweil, which is the topic of some of my other videos.
Continue reading “Did You Know? The Future Is Better Than You Think!” »
Feb 21, 2016
The mother of all wireless is coming. 5G will bring drastic change
Posted by Shailesh Prasad in categories: drones, internet, robotics/AI, transportation
The advent of 5G is likely to bring another splurge of investment, just as orders for 4G equipment are peaking. The goal is to be able to offer users no less than the “perception of infinite capacity”, says Rahim Tafazolli, director of the 5G Innovation Centre at the University of Surrey. Rare will be the device that is not wirelessly connected, from self-driving cars and drones to the sensors, industrial machines and household appliances that together constitute the “internet of things” (IoT).
It is easy to dismiss all this as “a lot of hype”, in the words of Kester Mann of CCS Insight, a research firm. When it comes to 5G, much is still up in the air: not only which band of radio spectrum and which wireless technologies will be used, but what standards makers of network gear and handsets will have to comply with. Telecoms firms have reached consensus only on a set of rough “requirements”. The most important are connection speeds of up to 10 gigabits per second and response times (“latency”) of below 1 millisecond (see chart).
Feb 21, 2016
PlayStation VR Will Launch In Fall 2016, Says GameStop CEO During Live TV Interview
Posted by Sean Brazell in categories: entertainment, virtual reality
It’s looking like 2016 will be the year virtual reality hits the mainstream now that Oculus Rift is on the brink of shipping and Google Cardboard is into the millions of units sold. Now, we finally know when Sony is releasing its new VR headset too. GameStop CEO Paul Raines revealed the PlayStation VR will launch in the third quarter of this year during a live television interview.
“We will launch the Sony product this fall,” said Raines, “and we’re in discussions with the other two players.” Shortly after blurting out the PlayStation VR release date, Raines redirected the conversation to GameStop’s dominance in gaming hardware sales. To watch the flub, jump to the 2:40 mark in the clip below:
Feb 20, 2016
Optical Interferometry Going Nanoscale to Make New Types of Biosensors
Posted by Shailesh Prasad in categories: biotech/medical, electronics, nanotechnology
Plasmonics, the study of how electrons behave in a metal under an electromagnetic field, requires the use of specialty coherent light sources as a basic tool. Optical interferometry can potentially become more important in biomedicine if only the technology could be made more compact, practical, and proven useful.
Toward that end researchers at Brown University have developed a way of using plasmonics techniques without using a coherent light source at all. This allows optical interferometry at the nanoscale and should lead to new types of biomedical sensors that can do rapid wide spectrum analysis for a variety of markers.
Here’s more details about the technology from Brown University:
Feb 20, 2016
Answering Singapore’s call to value IT must start from the top
Posted by Karen Hurst in category: futurism
IT work sometimes can be considered a peice of art; if I say so myself. I like Singapore’s new call to appreciate IT. Maybe more will follow.
The government needs to first ensure its own ministries and agencies recognise the importance of tech products and services, and regard them as more than just support functions.
