Author, Speaker, and Consultant on Hyperinnovation, Future Studies, GigaMarket$, The New Industrial Revolution, and Advanced Robotics and (iRev) Intelligence Revolution.
Sunday, 27 December 2009
If you've just read my post above, then this will only confirm that Nanomedicine is real and heading our way.
For decades, scientists and fiction writers alike have been fascinated by the possibility of tiny machines that can enter a patient, travel to otherwise inaccessible regions, and then diagnose or repair problems with far less pain and with far greater precision than existing medical procedures.
In his famous speech from 1959, 'There’s Plenty of Room at the Bottom', Richard Feynman, an American physicist, called this concept “swallow the surgeon”. More recently proponents of nanotechnology have imagined swarms of 'nanobots;' tiny machines just billionths of a meter, or nanometeres, across, that might fix mutations in a person’s DNA or kill off cancer cells before they have a chance to develop into a tumour.
People in the field acknowledge that there are many obstacles to overcome. A big problem, for example, is how to provide power to tiny medical robots. Batteries can provide enough energy for passive capsules like the Pillcam, but robots with active locomotion pose more of a challenge, and micro-robots are likely to need more energy than batteries can store at such small scales. Instead of adding a power source to the device, which increases its weight and bulk, one approach is to apply external magnetic fields to a small robotic device that contains magnetic material, allowing it to be steered simply by controlling the magnetic fields around it.
At the NanoRobotics Laboratory at Ecole Polytechnique de Montréal in Canada scientists are using magnetic fields, generated by a magnetic-resonance imaging (MRI) machines to ferry small beads through the stream with the goal of delivering therapeutics close to tumours.
This has several advantages. For one thing most hospitals already have an MRI machine, so there is no need to construct or buy additional equipment. Furthermore, as well as propelling a magnetic device through the body, an MRI machine can also locate it.
Last year the team achieved a milestone when it manoeuvred a 1.5-millimetre bead through a 5-millimetre artery in a living pig. Since then the researchers have reduced the bead’s size to about 250 micrometres.
Want to find out more? Then click here and visit the conference website.
Sunday, 20 December 2009
Passive structure design of 'Wind Energizer' by 'Leviathan Energy Inc' reportedly increases wind turbine efficiency 30% in field tests.
They say in a report:
'Technological advancements in wind energy efficiency have generally come incrementally and usually made via a process of increasingly large wind turbine blades . Put simply: longer blades meant more output per turbine.
But that pattern of incremental improvements may be a thing of the past if Leviathan Energy has anything to say about it.
Leviathan Energy has completed initial testing on their Wind Energizer unit and is reporting gains in wind turbine output in the ballpark of 30% — and as much as 150% at lower wind speeds.
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The principle theory at work:
By placing passive objects around a wind farm will change the circulation or wind around a large turbine. The advancement is not in the turbine itself, but rather in the area around it
Units can be adapted to any wind turbine from any manufacturer.
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“This is a disruptive technology.... We are changing the environment of the wind turbine; this is a very different approach." they say.'
Brit Tech Genius: 10 Innovators Changing Your World.
Think all your gadgets are dreamt up across the pond or in secret Far East bunkers owned by the world’s biggest tech titans? Think again. Britain is at the forefront when it comes to bleeding edge gadgetry, whether it’s the latest shiny must-have from Apple, or a motor that’s all set to break the land speed record. It’s easy to forget British boffins are behind some of the world’s greatest gadgets so, without further ado, here are my top 10 British innovators you need to know.
Jonny Ive, Senior Vice President of Industrial Design at Apple: Every modern day Apple gadget owes its existence to one man. Not Steve Jobs, but Jonny Ive, the Chingford (UK) born designer who’s been in charge of Cupertino’s industrial design since 1997. In that time he’s created the classic iMac, turned the MP3 player from niche plaything to global phenomenon with the iPod, and made touchscreens work seamlessly on the iPhone. .
Ive’s a shy genius, rarely speaking about his work and showing his face in public even less often. He’s most frequently found toeing the company line in official Apple videos, but the clip below from American TV show Objectified shows him more relaxed, working in his studio, and explaining the thought processes which keeps him at the top of the tech design pile.
James Dyson, inventor the Dyson Dual Cyclone: Dyson’s first vacuum cleaner, the G-Force, was sidelined when it was first unleashed in the 80s. Yet it’s follow-ups have set the tone for household gadgets all over the world. With the Dyson Dual Cyclone now found in the home of every self-respecting cleanliness freak Dyson has set his sights further afield.
Not content with fighting dust, Dyson’s Airblade hand drier has called time on weak-willed air blowers in loos across the globe, and earlier this year he set out to change desktop fans forever with his Dyson Air Multiplier.
Tim Berners Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web Without Tim Berners Lee, what you’re doing right now might not be possible. The British engineer developed the www back in 1989, going on to build the first ever web browser and web server.
After the first website was built in 1991, Berners Lee’s creation went from niche networking to global colossus in ten short years. Tell me you could live without the world wide web now and you’d be lying.
John Piper, Chief Designer, Hound: You might not have heard of John Piper, but pay attention: Piper’s car, Hound, isn’t like other motors. That’s because it’s being primed to top 1,000mph in 2011, smashing the world land speed record in the process.
Whizzing by in a faster-than-sound blur, it’ll be driven by current record holder, Wing Commander Andy Green. Piper recently finished the design of Hound, positioning a small rocket underneath the engine of a Eurofighter jet. He reckons it’ll be enough to bring him success with the landspeed record, and cements him a place on my list of British tech giants.
Gordon Murray, McLaren F1 designer turned eco car maker: Murray is known as the man behind the McLaren F1 sports car. But he’s all set to make a name for himself at the bleeding edge of eco motoring with the T.27, a brand new type of electric car that’ll be ready to roll on British streets in just under two years.
A completely new concept, Murray is hoping to have s built and on sale by 2011. It’ll have a top seed of 60mph when it hits the tarmac in 18 months time, weighing around half the mass of today’s ‘leccy motors at 600Kg. At the moment, Murray’s prototypes look like he’s hammered them together in a shed, but he’s got form for creating fantastic cars in the past, and could be about to start a Prius-style revolution right here in the UK.
Trevor Baylis, inventor of the clockwork radio: Baylis is best known for inventing the clockwork radio, letting people snaffle signals without relying on batteries or the mains for their breakfast banter. His Freeplay radio, as it became known, was first unleashed in Africa, before a smaller hit the UK.
Since then Baylis has become a champion of British inventors, helping young bucks bring their high tech dreams to reality with the Trevor Baylis Foundation.
Kane Kramer, inventor of the Digital Audio Player: While Jonny Ive may have brought the MP3 player to the masses, it’s possible the iPod would never have happened without Kane Kramer. The British inventor first conceived a Digital Audio Player (DAP) back in 1979, also touting the idea of downloading music of your phone line and something that looks very much like an Apple store. It may have seemed mad back then, but he was bang on the money.
Kramer’s original drawings of a DAP clearly show a slab like device that many of us would recognise as an iPod today. In 1979 though, his ideas were seen as marginal. Apple was even moved to recognise Kane’s idea in 2007, although it won’t be stumping up any cash in return for making it popular.
Peter Molyneux, creator of Fable, Theme Park and Milo: Britain’s gaming industry is teeming with successful developers that are the envy of the world. But Molyneux has been a leading light in the world of video games since the 80s. Classics such as Theme Park, Populous and Fable all bear his hallmark. And he’s not shuffling off into retirement yet.
Molyneux is one of the driving forces behind the Xbox 360’s Project Natal. At its launch, he showed off a project dubbed Milo and the forthcoming Fable 3. If a gaming technology has Molyneux behind it, you’re guaranteed big crowds, and with his vote firmly in Natal’s ballot box he’s already making sure British games studios are taking Microsoft’s system seriously.
Richard Palmer, founder D3O: D3O is about to revolutionise gadgets. You might not know its name, but it’s one of the world’s first smart materials, and it was invented by a Brit! Chemical engineer Richard Palmer set up his own business to create the substance, which acts like silly putty in your hands, but stiffens up to absorb shocks and bumps whenever it’s hit.
It’s a silicon polymer that has the look and feel of playdoh, and is already in laptop and iPod cases from Tech 21, saving your precious tech from taking a battering. Palmer also says it could go into body armour too. Think futuristic football shin pads that mould to your legs but harden up when you’re hit by a crunching tackle. Smart materials are the future, and Palmer proves you needn’t be a mega multinational to make your mark.
Sir Howard Stringer, CEO Sony: Stringer hasn’t had it easy heading up one of the planet’s biggest tech giants. But his Sony United plan has made the gadget colossus more lean, better focused and able to make the most of its assets.
His first triumph was with the robotic Rolly. The device itself was never going to be a huge seller, but it let Stringer pull together Sony’s Walkman, Aibo and mobile teams to create a single product that was more than the sum of its parts. It was niche and bizarre, and stole headlines while proving that Sony’s sprawling divisions could work together effectively. And he hasn’t stopped there.
With the likes of the PlayStation 3’s XMB interface heading to Sony Ericsson phones and onto Blu-ray players, he’s helped Sony’s products have one core interface. The impending Sony Online Service, flogging eBooks, music and video will also be a huge match for iTunes, finally turning Sony’s ragtag army of products into a unified fighting force ready to stomp all over tech rivals.
eSolar Inc., has engineered a paradigm shift in CSP technology.
eSolar designs and develops utility-scale Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) projects starting at 46 MW. The eSolar power plant utilized small mirrors which track the sun with high precision and reflect the sunlight to a tower-mounted receiver, which boils water to create steam. This steam powers a traditional turbine and generator to produce solar electricity.
The simple concept of making renewable energy cost-competitive with fossil fuel energy has driven eSolar to engineer a paradigm shift in CSP technology, providing a cost-effective and scalable solution.
eSolar builds an individual 46 MW power unit on 160 acres (64 hectares) and can scale up to 500 MW or larger capacity with multiple units. The utility-scale CSP power plant is based on mass-manufactured components and designed for rapid construction, uniform modularity, and unlimited scalability.
It’s Christmas (again), and So Time for an End of Year Story.
'Galen Point.'
People - lots of people - challenge me about my work in and around Future Studies. Not only its legitimacy, but its practicality. ‘You just can’t predict the future.’ they say.
To begin with my Futurology work really is much more than mere projection; but looking towards how we can put together a better, smarter, fairer and more-capable world. It's about tracking trend-lines and directions so that strategies, plans and new ventures can be designed and realised in structured and pragmatic way.
But it's even more than that!
The best rational/empirical future thinkers are good historians. I don't mean knowledge of lots of dates and events, or even the meanings and the lessons we can learn from the past. But more. My favorite part of the job is to show how far we have come based on the evidence, and thus potentially how far we can go in the short, medium and extremely long-term. How far we can improve the human condition, our lives, the planet and much much more.
So, let me take you on a journey. Let’s go back in time!
Let’s go back in time to around AD 149; roughly 2000 years ago. You are invited to a dinner party. Not any dinner party, but a doo at the Great Galen’s home, in the Court of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius.
Galen gained fame as a surgeon to the gladiators of Pergamos; and taking Hippocrates’ notions of pathology, Galen incorporated and developed anatomical knowledge. He was the first experimental physiologists, researching the function of the kidneys and the spinal cord in controlled experiments (c.2000 years ago).
A man of acute intellect, reason and vision. A man that not only innovated, but thought way, way ahead.
And so to Dinner.
We meet, seat, eat, and drink Bacchus’ great wines, to the point where our tongues and minds loosen and open up.
Galen:'Arrr, thank you for joining me at my table.’
You: ‘Delighted.’
Galen:‘You know? I see something in you! But I can’t quite make it out. You seem to have some foresight in you, vision even. Let me ask you, and bearing in mind, I’ve been thinking about the future of medicine for many, many years now. What do you think we can achieve? How far can medicine go?’
You:‘I don’t know, I’m not a physician. But I am a bit of a futurist (you say coming from year 2009). Well, I see a day when physicians, such as yourself, will have tools that allow you to see inside the human body in sub-microscopic detail, in real-time. You’ll have tools that will automate not only routine sugary, but the complex transplant of organs such as the heart, liver, kidney and lungs. You’ll have medication that will halt tremendous pain, almost instantaneously. Cure vicious infections overnight. Prophetic limbs that enable people to run faster than folk with human limbs. That scourge, you cannot quite get your head around now, that eats the body away (Cancer), will become so well understood that over 80% of people that are diagnosed with it will overcome it and resume normal lives. You’ll have technology such as artificial eyes, that will allow the blind to see……’
Galen interrupts.
Galen:'Now, now my dear fellow, all that wine has gone to your head…. "Artificial eyes." "Instant pain killers." "The transplanting of vital organs by machines." Come, come my dear boy/girl… Well, I must say, you do have vivid imagination. Still, if only that vision would be true!...... It’s getting late, I’ll think I’ll retire; perhaps we can meet again and carry on this visionary dream. "Artificial Eyes" indeed…. Good night.’
You’re off home, back to the future. Good’ol 2009 (and 2010+). But you truly, madly, deeply begin to wonder?
You think:‘Galen lived c.2000 years ago. And made tremendous breakthroughs in medical practice, experimentation, understanding and medication.... So I wonder what the next decade, century will bring (you think)?...... And good job I didn't even begin to mention about heaver than air machines that fly 75-thousand feet in the air faster than the speed of sound. Airplanes that use tap-water (and soon sea water) as fuel input. 3D-TV. Hyperphones. WiMax Internet. Commercial Space Flight. Men on the Moon. A plan for The Mission to Mars. Nanotechnology. Artificial Intelligence; and Heaven forbid Star-Trek!.... Yes, I wonder what will happen in time?’
So:
Of course, from Galen's point of view, in his own time, he could not have appreciated (even begun to conceive) the projections (now facts) you could have made at his dinner table. What you now know is all well and true.
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Such as the facts that:
Visual prosthesis such as'Artificial Retinal Implants' are now allowing the partially, even the profoundly blind Grandfather to see his teenage Grandchildren for the very first time (re: my Post Sunday 29 November 2009).
And that 'Tomographic Scanners'have reached a point where biological detail can be seen at the nano-scale (spacial and temporal), meaning greater elucidation of dreadful neurological problems such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and Stroke (re: my Post Sunday, 28 March 2008).
And so, to conclude:
The 'Galen Point' is a fact of our lives. We are obscured to such wondrous futures because of the time, place and context we live in.
Our horizons are not often that far away, and for most the far future is merely the next day or perhaps the planning of an event some months or years away (e.gs.; a holiday or a new product). We are obscured by the unimaginative, political and acutely myopic media. With day-to-day preoccupation: family, work, bills and the loft-conversion.
It's so easy to get trapped in those kind of Galen Points. So easy to fall into a pattern where we take things for granted. Where all that is around us has been here forever and day.
But it hasn't.
It's taken 4.5 billion years for life to evolve on this planet to a point where you are now reading this blogpost. What will happen in the next 4.5 billion years (ever cross your mind)? Practically speaking what will happen in the next 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 1000 and more years (ever think about it)?
My last point is, it does not just have to happen. You can have a hand in the future. You can break out of the Galen Point by not only appreciating the power of methodological Futures Studies, but engage in it. Learn the skills and tools of objectively projecting the future. Because a Futurist job is to smash and breakthrough through the limited Galen Point. To see, and build a future that benefits us all.
Wishing 'You' an Inventive Christmas and Visionary New Year.
Chris Harris.
Sunday, 13 December 2009
A Sussex University student just asked me a rather curious question:
'How did I get to the top of my game?'
Here's how the conversation went:
Student:'Chris liked the article on you in Omni Magazine. But, how did you do it. I mean, get to the top of your profession?'
Me:'Easy! I started at the top!'
Student:'What!? That's rubbish. How can you start at the top. You have to work your way up.'
Me:'That's the least of it. Because you to can start at the top of your field if you invent it.... If you do something original, and, of course by definition, there's nobody else doing it, and master the discipline of innovation, you start out at the top. The trick is to keep being original, keep innovating, be constantly different, but relevant to the time, and always keep a good eye on the future.'
Student: 'Oh. Oh I see... Your round of drinks then Chris!'
Rene Daalder's SpaceCollective.
I'v known Rene Daalder's - the Dutch writer/director – MIND BLOWING work for sometime. In fact I remember vividly the night and where I first experienced it.
Daalder is regarded as a pioneer of Virtual Reality and digital motion picture technologies. He's made many cult films (see wiki). Producing some highly acclaimed, award winning, culminating in directorial feature film debut ‘The White Slave.’
Often operating at the cutting-edge of his field and heavily involved with special effects, software development and music, Daalder has gained worldwide recognition as a pioneer of Virtual Reality and digital motion picture technologies.
His Los Angeles based company ‘American Scenes Inc’ consults for computer imaging studios all over the world and develops technology-driven TV show formats as well as groundbreaking community driven website projects, with interaction designer Folkert Gorte.
Daalder - a man of many firsts - developed digital film making tools and movie projects at NYITÕs Computer Graphics Lab, which spawned the Computer Graphic medium we know today, ranging from SGI to George Lucas' Industrial, Light and Magic and Pixar. Daalder created computer effects and consulted, are RobocopII, Lawnmower Man, Michael Apted's Blink, Brainscan and the X-Files TV series.
His new piece ‘Strawberry Fields’, a computer animated musical feature film and gaming event for which Daalder and his partners have secured the rights to 40 Beatles songs, is now in production.
Only, once again he has blown my mind. His website: 'SpaceCollective.’ Is a multimedia gallery of 'The Future of Everything.' Panning across his and others work, showing an extraordinary array of mini-to-max-vids, hyperthinking and fascinating futurism!
Please take a look at his site. Click Here. But be warned: it's a multidimensional future ride!
Alternatively you can also view his personal site by clicking here.
Saturday, 12 December 2009
New Book: Elizabeth Grossman and the Green Chemistry Revolution.
Title: 'Chasing Molecules.'
Toxic chemicals are seemingly ubiquitous. Since everything on Earth is Hyperinterconnected, chemicals intended for one use, in one product, can easily find their way into other things, like soil, air, water and bodies.
Scientists have been trying to determine where toxic chemicals are ending up, and the results are shocking: Dangerous chemicals are even being found in the blood of newborn babies. These alarming facts are what investigative journalist Elizabeth Grossman came across while researching her latest book.
Grossman said she became increasingly disturbed by the amount of chemicals that were being found in our consumer products. It all began when she wanted to know why the Center for Disease Control (CDC) was finding the exact same chemicals in polar bears, newborn babies and our food. After asking why, she began wondering if it was possible to do any better. Could products and the chemicals they are created from be made environmentally ‘benign by design?’
She says that there is a solution: green chemistry. Green chemists are redesigning the future and learning from nature to create new, non-harming chemicals and products.
Without green chemistry will be entering into a very dangerous world. Many of the chemicals she was chasing are endocrine disruptors, which have the ability to change our genetic makeup. They can mess with reproduction and lead to an increase in fat cells, which leads to higher rates of diabetes and slower metabolism. They have been shown to reduce sperm count and also mess with neurological function. Grossman quotes Theo Colburne as saying that without green chemistry the future is going to be "fat, stupid and impotent.
But, it's not so easy to convince some industries to become green, as many of the harmful chemicals that are being used have been on the market since the 1930s. The research has been done and the products made. Many companies, too entrenched in the old ways, do not see the benefit of redesigning their entire line.
Without strong political will and support to discontinue dangerous chemical use, companies stuck in their ways will continue to use harmful methods, and chemicals will continue to find their way into every aspect of our ecosystem.
For those who are new to the toxic chemical debate, Chasing Molecules provides a strong argument for the implementation of green chemistry. For those who are aware and motivated, it provides a hopeful look at the benign design revolution already taking place.
Read it.... If not wait for the publication of my new book: 'New Industrial Revolution.'
Friday, 11 December 2009
Picture of Airplane Hydrogen Fuel-Cell
It's gonna-be cheaper, more efficient, ecologically cleaner and safer to fly in the future.
I for one am over-the-moon with the pace of the R&D in Aeronautical Hydrogen Fuel Cell Technology.
Commercial jet engines that run off water, use anode/cathode molcular convertion systems to split the H2O molecule, then use the hydrogen as power-fuel, whilst spitting out the Oxygen into the atmosphere.
And too boot: fly through the clouds and refuel for free! There's even breakthrough work-in-progress using sea water. Much work to do, but the push-through is happening.
Read the post below: It's happening now.
Airplane Launches On Fuel-Cell Power
This Tuesday, the Antares DLR-H2 took off at Hamburg Airport in Germany using only power from Hydrogen Fuel Cells, a feat that its builders say is a first for a piloted aircraft.
The motorglider, built at the German Aerospace Center, flies with zero carbon-dioxide emissions and is much quieter than similar aircraft. "
This motorglider achieves new quality standards in the field of high-efficiency, zero-emission energy conversion and clearly demonstrates the progress that has been made in fuel-cell technology.
The DLR-H2 is based on the Antares 20E motorglider, and has a wingspan of 66 feet. With its fuel-cell propulsion system, the aircraft can stay aloft for five hours and reach speeds of about 105 mph.
With the successful first flight, they have verified the feasibility of fuel-cell-powered flight and their next steps will focus on improving efficiency levels and on extending the service life of these systems.
At this stage, they have only tapped into a fraction of the performance capabilities of this technology for aerospace applications. The Antares DLR-H2 will help make much greater use of these areas of potential.
To accommodate the fuel cell and its hydrogen supply, two external pods were attached under the aircraft's wings, which were reinforced to carry the load. The total efficiency of the drive system from tank to powertrain, including the propeller, is about 44 percent, making it about twice as efficient as conventional propulsion technologies based on combustion processes, according to the Aerospace Center.
For more details about the project, click here to read the Aerospace Center's lengthy news release.
Q: How many bloggers does it take to screw in a light bulb?
Rene Daalder, said @ SpaceCollective Project:
'The real answer to this timeworn question of course is one. It took just one Gandhi to set off a wave of enlightenment across the planet; and one maverick scientist by the name of Nikola Tesla to invent the electric age, prompting us to screw in a never ending supply of lightbulbs. On the other hand, the will of just one zealous despot, Adolf , almost succeeded in throwing us back into the dark ages.
It only takes one mutant cell to change the course of human evolution. And every time one internet user shares a good idea, it may exponentially reach the minds of two, four, or perhaps a million people who come across it on their non-linear path.
We owe the rapid rise of human civilization (and our ability to screw in a light bulb) to a simple evolutionary modification of our digital extremities known as the opposable thumb.
Now we have the mouse, which at this very moment puts you just one click away from playing a role in the future of everything.'
A phrase from the book Radical Evolution has been linked to art in an intriguing way by Los Angeles artist Folkert Gorter.
His project, he says, 'aims to showcase artists and connect visual art with ideas in interesting ways. The post in question presents generative art created by Leonardo Solaas, constructed with the use of software algorithms.'
In my experience the notion that producing art in an environment without barriers between ideas and their 'physical' incarnation is one of the most interesting activities to be engaged in.
Hyperart: the multidimensional interconnection of artistic ideas. Emm!!
Brit Tech Genius. . Think all your gadgets are dreamt up across the pond or in secret Far East bunkers owned by the world’s biggest tech titans?
Think again?
Britain is at the forefront when it comes to bleeding edge gadgetry, whether it’s the latest shiny must-have from Apple, or a motor that’s all set to break the land speed record.
It’s easy to forget British boffins are behind some of the world’s greatest gadgets.
One omy favrite inventors is Richard Palmer, founder D3O In Hove, Brighton UK.
D3O is about to revolutionise gadgets. You might not know its name, but it’s one of the world’s first smart materials, and it was invented by a Brit! Chemical engineer Richard Palmer set up his own business to create the substance, which acts like silly putty in your hands, but stiffens up to absorb shocks and bumps whenever it’s hit.
It’s a silicon polymer that has the look and feel of playdoh, and is already in laptop and iPod cases from Tech 21, saving your precious tech from taking a battering.
Palmer also says it could go into body armour too. Think futuristic football shin pads that mould to your legs but harden up when you’re hit by a crunching tackle. Smart materials are the future, and Palmer proves you needn’t be a mega multinational to make your mark.
One Giant Leap for Man, One Giant Leap for Robots!
Robots have been employed by a number of NASA’s missions in the past, particularly those to the Moon, where they have been used to scan the surface and collect samples and various kinds of data. NASA has also been a pioneer in semi-autonomous robots exploring the surface of Mars; the twin Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity are still operating on the surface of the Red planet several years after their initial mission was completed. The Phoenix robot successfully landed on Mars last year and completed its 3-month mission. Moreover, NASA is preparing to launch soon a new generation Mars rover aka the Mars Science Laboratory while testing the ATHLETE rover for a mission to the Moon.
But none of these very cool robots have been able to walk—or build Japanese rock gardens.
In a presentation entitled “Realization of Moon Exploration Using Advanced Robots by 2020,” Toyota shared plans about the future use of its innovative Toyota Partner Robot series. Initially, these humanoid robots were designed to help with life down here on Earth, specifically with elderly care and assistance. A result of Japan’s aging population and a lack of labor force, they are able to perform a variety of tasks, including transporting passengers and helping citizens in need. Their application, however, is set to be taken quite a big step further—to the moon.
There, the Toyota Robots will assemble space tents and relay stations, as well as deploy solar array and use a telescope. Additionally, they will work alongside a Rover to collect further data of the moon. The presentation also showed them building a traditional Japanese rock garden, which is rather cooler than planting a simple flag. To perform these tasks, they will be equipped with a number of big upgrades. As the specs in the yellow table predict, they will have:
joints that are protected from regolith
a small capacity solar battery onboard
their internal status showing on screen on chest
arms exchangeable for different tasks
ability to jump with springs in legs
keep warm during night covered in a metal cloak
That last one paints quite the endearing picture of our robot helpers working all day and camping out beneath the stars at night on a lonely desolate planet. With 2020 being the proposed date, however, we are still a decade away from finding out whether this is yet possible.
Monday, 30 November 2009
Remote radio control of insect flight.
Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of California at Berkeley and the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Michigan, USA, and 3 School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, USA;
Have demonstrated the remote control of insects in free flight via an implantable radio-equipped miniature neural stimulating system.
The pronotum mounted system consisted of neural stimulators, muscular stimulators, a radio transceiver-equipped microcontroller and a microbattery. Flight initiation, cessation and elevation control were accomplished through neural stimulus of the brain which elicited, suppressed or modulated wing oscillation.
Turns were triggered through the direct muscular stimulus of either of the basalar muscles. We characterized the response times, success rates, and free-flight trajectories elicited by our neural control systems in remotely-controlled beetles.
I believe this type of technology will open the door to in-flight perturbation and recording of insect flight responses.
Further, a new spy, the size of penny stamp, is about to become the new 007!
A really great breakthrough in the fight against blindness!
This story sounds like it is taken out of a science fiction novel but news reports around the world say that Mr. Peter Lane, 51, from Stretford, has his lost sight partially restored using a new device under development by California-based Second Sight Medical Products.
The story is that Lane is one of several blind people who are testing the new device known as Argus II Retinal Stimulation System and he is the one who recently found fame in the media having his lost sight partially restored to the extend that he can now read some small words and navigate the outside world with increased ease.
According to Second Sight, the device consists of a small camera and an electrode-studded array implanted on the patient's retina.
Head Tracking for Desktop VR Displays using the Wii Remote.
Using an infrared camera in the Wii remote and a head mounted sensor bar (two IR LEDs), you can accurately track the location of your head and render view dependent images on the screen.
This effectively transforms your display into a portal to a virtual environment. The display properly reacts to head and body movement as if it were a real window creating a realistic illusion of depth and space.
You may need the most recent version of DirectX installed for this to work the Software to run the DesktopVR program.
FusionGFX is a company based just down the road from where I live.
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Fusion GFX are a Hyperinnovative concern that provide 3D visualisation and simulation equipment, including Real-Time Dynamic Immersive 3D Applications; Immersive Displays, 3D Laser Scanning, and Consultancy.
'This short guidance document outlines how particular futures techniques can be used for particular parts of policy development. It is based on a detailed analysis that is available as a separate document.1 It builds on the guidance provided in the Foresight Horizon Scanning Centre (HSC) toolkit'
Qubits store more information than the simple "on" or "off" bits of conventional computing, which means that a quantum computer outperform conventional computers in tasks such as cryptanalysis.
As in a classical computer, a series of logic gates processes the information – although here the gates are quantum logic, or qubit, gates. For example, a simple single-qubit gate would change a 'one' to a 'zero' and vice versa.
But unlike the physical logic gates of a classical computer, the quantum logic gates used in the team's device are each encoded into a laser pulse.
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So what does all this mean?
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The size of pin a head: more computing-power-per-nanosecond than all the computingpower the world has receiveduntil now. That means watches, phones and other such devices with super-ultra-computingpower for pennies within a decade.
New scientific work shows that the brain works much differently about reasoning a future scenario than we thought. . For any serious futurist, this is a must read.
Millions of people are spending real money on virtual clothes in online hangouts, digital items in multiplayer games and presents for their friends in social networking sites.
This digitalisation of consumption is an inherent consequence of the increasing involvement of communication technology in everyday social activities, says Helsinki Insititute for Information Technology HIIT Researcher ViliLehdonvirta. Lehdonvirta's thesis "Virtual Consumption" will be examined on 14th of Dec at Turku School of Economics, Finland.
You don't have to be an Internet addict or live in an online community to appreciate virtual goods. Today, around 10 percent of users in a typical online service are likely to be spending money on microtransactions, such as virtual items and gifts. Much of this spending relates to social activities involving friends and family, says Lehdonvirta.
In public discourse, spending real money on virtual goods is frequently dismissed as an irrational fad or as a result of abusive marketing. But Lehdonvirta's thesis suggests that the fundamental drivers of virtual consumption are found in individuals' social and hedonic motivations. - People buy virtual goods for the same reasons as they buy material goods. In online spaces, virtual goods can function as markers of status, elements of identity and means towards ends in the same way as material consumer goods do in similarly contrived physical spaces, says Lehdonvirta.
In his doctoral thesis, Lehdonvirta also considers the economic and ecological consequences of the digitalisation of consumption. According to Lehdonvirta, the present economic downturn may turn out to be a boost to virtual consumption, because consumers spend more time at home and favour small purchases over large ones. The ecological sustainability of virtual consumption depends on whether it continues to spur additional computer hardware purchases or whether it substitutes material consumption by providing an alternative use for money.
From a macroeconomic perspective, it does not matter what consumers buy, as long as they keep on spending. Virtual consumption might offer an ecological way out of this consumer society's dilemma, says Lehdonvirta.
According to Lehdonvirta's thesis, people in East Asian countries such as Korea, China and Japan have been quicker to adopt virtual consumption styles.
What is considered as an appropriate way to spend your time and money varies between cultures and changes over time. Perhaps in three years' time, virtual consumption is considered rational in the West, and the rationality of filling your house with expensive objects starts to be questioned, ponders Lehdonvirta.
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So my question is: When will the VR Economy become bigger than the physical?
Wednesday, 4 November 2009
Desktop Factory Unites with 3D Systems.
Continued effort to find the best financial alternative for Desktop Factory. That search, which put them on the road to a sale of the company, has finally come to an end. What I could not confirm at that time is that their buyer is the leadership brand in the Additive Manufacturing industry, which means that they have the resources and desire to deliver on the promise of a truly low cost, easy to use 3-D printer.
The complete terms of the sale, which closed on August 31, 2009, have not been disclosed. However, 3D Systems Corporation of Rock Hill, South Carolina has acquired the key assets of Desktop Factory including intellectual property, know-how and tools. Recognizing the importance of continuity, the core team of remaining Desktop Factory employees was invited to join 3D Systems, underscoring their intention to move forward with the development of a sub-$5K 3-D printer.
Paula Apsell, NOVA's senior executive producer laments the sad state of science journalism and discusses how NOVA is more essential than ever.
In a world where the public understanding of science is diminishing, she makes a strong case for NOVA's tradition of depth and substance, tackling the most pressing issues in science, in a thoughtful and visually complex manner.
Apsell brings clips from some recent NOVA programs to illustrate the role of television's most prestigious science documentary series in the vast television and web content landscape.
She provides insights into the editorial processes of topic selection, treatment, and production standards. In a world of decreasing attention spans, Apsell considers the challenges of providing meaningful science content, keeping it interesting, while not leaving the audience behind.
Imagine driving at top speed on a steep, winding mountain pass in the Alps, or the Himalayas, or the Rocky Mountains.
Now, take your hands off the steering wheel and cover your eyes. Or grab a camera and take some pictures of the snowy mountain peaks. Or send a text message to a friend describing the scenery. You'd skid off the road and plunge into a deep ravine within seconds, right? Not if a group of graduate students at Stanford University can program the car to drive itself.
The mechanical engineering students are creating an autonomous -- or driverless -- car that they plan to race up and down the treacherous Pikes Peak highway in the Rocky Mountains next year. The vehicle is the latest creation of a Stanford team, funded in part by Volkswagen, that in recent years has won awards for speed and manoeuvrability in competitions among unmanned cars.
The students say programming a car to run by itself up a curving mountain road is more than simply an engineering exercise; it's a way of creating and testing safety systems they hope one day will be used in all vehicles.
WEDGE.
The`WEDGE' immersive projection theater has been built as an affordable installation for university VR infrastructure in Australia. It achieves a 'semi-immersive' sense of presence without, apparently, giving rise to significant discomfort.
The vertex region of the theater appears to be especially effective in giving a sense of presence.
In the interests of investigatng how broad-scope problems can be solved using Internet technologies (and to remind everybody that they invented the Internet 40 years ago), DARPA is offering $40,000 to the first person who can solve the following problem.
On Dec. 5, 2009, for one day, DARPA 1s going to put out a large red weather balloon in each of 10 locations, in plain sight, across the continental U.S. First person to identify the locations of all 10, wins.
Or Pascal's Gambit is a suggestion posed by the FrenchphilosopherBlaise Pascal that even though the existence of God cannot be determined through reason, a person should wager as though God exists, because so living has everything to gain, and nothing to lose. It was set out in note 233 of his Pensées, a posthumously published collection of notes made by Pascal in his last years as he worked on a treatise on Christian apologetics.
Historically, Pascal's Wager was groundbreaking as it had charted new territory in probability theory, was one of the first attempts to make use of the concept of infinity, marked the first formal use of decision theory, and anticipated the future philosophies of pragmatism and voluntarism.
However! Nick has probably moved it on a good march.
Nick Bostrom has something to say about the furture of man.
'Suppose we get many little things right and make some progress. What use, if we are marching in the wrong direction? Or wasting our resources on projects of small utility while pivotal tasks are left undone? What if we are profoundly mistaken about what matters most?
There are big potential gains from getting better at thinking about the right kinds of macro-questions, because at stake is our whole scheme of priorities.
Some of these questions are about moral judgment and values. Others have to do with rationality and reasoning under uncertainty. Still others pertain to specific concerns and possibilities, such as existential risks, the simulation hypothesis, human enhancement, transhumanism, and the singularity hypothesis.
My working assumption: These high-leverage questions deserve to be studied with at least the same level of seriousness, scholarship, and creativity that is routinely applied to all sorts of insignificant micro-questions.
This assumption might be wrong. Perhaps we are so irredeemably inept at thinking about the big picture that it is good that we usually don’t. Perhaps attempting to wake up will only result in bad dreams. But how will we know unless we try?'
Amazing how far we have come. One of my favorite robots, BigDog kicks back at a beach in Thailand in this video. Wet sand, salt water, no problem. Would love to think he's carrying fruity drinks and paper parasols.
Quote from EgilsMilbergs Center for Accelerating Innovation Website.
'U.S. Commerce Secretary Locke announced a new Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship and National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Inc. 500/5000 Conference.
Recognizing that new businesses are vital to the economic growth of the USA, the Office will focus on removing barriers for entrepreneurs seeking to take ideas and translate them into new products and services. The Office will work with the White House and other federal agencies to find ways to encourage entrepreneurship, including training, access to capital and policy incentives.
The National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship will advise the Secretary and the Administration on key issues relating to innovation and entrepreneurship. It will include successful entrepreneurs, innovators, angel investors, venture capitalists, non-profit leaders, and other experts on these issues.
The Council will identify and recommend solutions to issues critical to the creation and development of entrepreneurship ecosystems that will spawn new businesses and jobs. It will also serve as a vehicle for ongoing dialogue with the entrepreneurship community and other stakeholders.
Secretary Locke speaks about entrepreneurship and its importance to economic growth and job creation.'
End quote.
Now me:
We (the UK) need to set up a similar agency. Innovation and Entrepreneurship is not getting the support or the notion required to reach effectivity.
