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June 29, 2005
Microbes that can Produce Miniature Electrical Wires
Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst have discovered a tiny biological structure that is highly electrically conductive. This breakthrough helps describe how microorganisms can clean up groundwater and produce electricity from renewable resources. It may also have applications in the emerging field of nanotechnology, which develops advanced materials and devices in extremely small dimensions.
Posted by Vishwakarma C. K. @ 06:03 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 28, 2005
Buddhabot
A 1-year old, Artificial Intelligence (AI) named the Buddhabot is now fielding questions and conversing with people around the world who seek answers to philosophical questions.
According to Canadian inventor and futurist, Ron Ingram, “the Buddhabot is a ‘human-friendly’ benevolent AI created to entertain, evolve and spark a peaceful philosophical revolution.”
Posted by Vishwakarma C. K. @ 06:27 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 22, 2005
The next generation of prosthetics
Every week, 3,000 people lose a limb. They join the more than 4 million American amputees living in the United States. Prosthetics can help, but they're a far cry from the real thing.
Jay Martin, of Scott Sabolich Prosthetics & Research in Oklahoma City says much has been mimicked in prosthetics, but a few things are lacking. One is the control system. Prosthetics don't allow people to have a varied control corresponding to their environment. Secondly, they don't mimic whole natural biomechanical movements independent of the terrain. Martin says with the most advanced technology currently available, the ankle is positioned at a set angle and has a limited range of motion.
Posted by Vishwakarma C. K. @ 07:58 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 21, 2005
Further steps towards artificial eggs and sperm
Human embryonic stem cells have been coaxed in the lab to develop into the early forms of cells which eventually become eggs or sperm, UK researchers have revealed.
Work by several groups has shown that a tiny proportion of human embryonic stem cells (ESCs) spontaneously develop into primordial germ cells when allowed to differentiate in a dish. In this latest study, Behrouz Aflatoonian and colleagues at the University of Sheffield, produced primordial germ cells which began to express the proteins characteristic of sperm cells, while others resembled eggs.
Posted by Vishwakarma C. K. @ 08:02 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 19, 2005
Is this the future of air combat?
For 65 years, the Mojave Desert has spawned the fastest, highest-flying and most agile airplanes in the world. This vast expanse of scrub and Joshua tree forests encompasses the U.S. Air Force’s deadly-secret Area 51 in Nevada, Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works in Palmdale, California, and, at Mojave airfield itself, Burt Rutan’s sci-fi enclave, Scaled Composites. At the heart of it all is the flight-test center at Edwards Air Force Base—and here is where a very nontraditional confrontation over the future of air combat is beginning to play out.
In one corner of the base resides the USAF’s current star project, the Lockheed Martin F/A-22 Raptor. The Raptor is fast, cruising at speeds other fighters can attain only in short sprints. It’s also agile, heavily armed, and stealthy. In tests last year, the pilots of older F-15s that engaged the Raptors in simulated combat never saw the airplane that “hit” them.
Posted by Vishwakarma C. K. @ 11:18 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 18, 2005
Mind Science Foundation
Einstein once walked these hallways as did the bongo-drum beating physicist Richard Feynman. Both offered theories that turned the scientific doctrine of their time on its head.
Next week at the famed California Institute of Technology some of the world's leading researchers in the fields of neuroscience, psychology, neurology, artificial intelligence, philosophy and physics will gather to ponder one of the top questions in modern science -- an enigma that has eluded brilliant minds for centuries: how does consciousness arise in human beings?
"How does the pulsating gray matter in our brains give rise to the sensorial richness of the world around us and the intricate complexities of our own self-perception?" asks Joseph Dial, Executive Director of the Mind Science Foundation, which is the lead sponsor of this year's Cal-Tech conference.
Posted by Vishwakarma C. K. @ 08:51 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 16, 2005
'Curious' Aibos
Sony has succeeded in giving selected Aibo pet robots curiosity, researchers at Sony Computer Science Laboratory (SCSL) in Paris said last week. Their research won't lead to conscious robots soon, if ever, but it could help other fields such as child developmental psychology, they said during an open day in Tokyo.
More than 50 years ago Alan Turing, considered by many to be the father of computer science, speculated about the possibility of creating synthetic consciousness. Progress has been made with AI (artificial intelligence) systems, which have typically used task-defined learning algorithms that enable programs to define what is good or bad about particular sets of information in relation to achieving preset goals, according to SCSL researcher Frederic Kaplan.
Posted by Vishwakarma C. K. @ 08:26 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 15, 2005
Japan's robot-led recovery
Ten teenagers huddled over a Transformer-like robot in a humble classroom are pioneers in a Japanese initiative called "super science", a nationwide effort in public education to nurture future leaders in technology.
While fears are growing that Japan is being overshadowed by the clout of China, along with increasingly successful businesses in other Asian nations, hopes are high for the program, which grants high schools money to pay for their own original technology curriculum.
Posted by Vishwakarma C. K. @ 05:59 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 13, 2005
BIONIC MAN
Researchers at Imperial College London are planning to implant tiny computer chips into patients to monitor their condition.
Trials on diabetics are expected to take place by as early as this Christmas.
The "999 chip" will keep an eye on blood sugar levels, transmitting a signal to doctors the instant there is any dangerous change in the patient's condition.
It is the latest development in the field of cyborg technology which began with the very first heart pacemakers in the 1950s.
Posted by Vishwakarma C. K. @ 06:45 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 11, 2005
CajunBot
To help protect American military personnel, the U.S. Department of Defense has been mandated by the U.S. Congress to have one-third of its ground combat force unmanned by 2015. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the research agency for the U.S. Department of Defense, created the Grand Challenge to encourage the development of an autonomous “thinking” ground vehicle capable of navigating totally on its own.
A total of 106 teams applied to participate in the March 13, 2004 race, of those, UL Lafayette's CajunBot was one of only 13 vehicles that competed in the Grand Challenge. As expected, none of the vehicles were able to complete the course in 2004. The longest distance traveled by any contestant was 7.4 miles.
Read more about CajunBot
Posted by Vishwakarma C. K. @ 01:19 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 09, 2005
Intelligent Design
Posted by Vishwakarma C. K. @ 07:05 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 07, 2005
The machine that can copy anything
A revolutionary machine that can copy itself and manufacture everyday objects quickly and cheaply could transform industry in the developing world, according to its creator.
The "self-replicating rapid prototyper," or "RepRap" is the brainchild of Dr. Adrian Bowyer, a senior lecturer in mechanical engineering at the University of Bath in the UK.
It is based on rapid prototyping technology commonly used to manufacturer plastic components in industry from computer-generated blueprints -- effectively a form of 3D printer.
Posted by Vishwakarma C. K. @ 07:23 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 06, 2005
IBM Aims To Simulate A Brain
IBM has embarked on a quest for the holy grail of neuroscience--the far-off goal of creating a computer simulation of the human brain.
When the first mammals evolved from reptiles 200 million years ago, one of the biggest changes was inside their heads. Their brain cells were structured together into columns, an innovation that could be repeated like a computer chip to make larger and more powerful minds-- from mice to cats and dogs to humans.
"This was the jump from reptiles to mammals," says Henry Markram, founder of the Brain/Mind Institute at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale in Lausanne, Switzerland. "It was like discovering a G5 processor or Pentium 4 and just copying it."
Posted by Vishwakarma C. K. @ 06:50 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 05, 2005
Aging Universe May Still Be Spawning Massive Galaxies
NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer has spotted what appear to be massive "baby" galaxies in our corner of the universe. Previously, astronomers thought the universe's birth rate had dramatically declined and only small galaxies were forming.
"We knew there were really massive young galaxies eons ago, but we thought they had all matured into older ones more like our Milky Way. If these galaxies are indeed newly formed, then this implies parts of the universe are still hotbeds of galaxy birth," said Dr. Chris Martin. He is principal investigator for the Galaxy Evolution Explorer at the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, Calif., and co-author of the study.
Posted by Vishwakarma C. K. @ 03:51 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 04, 2005
Next-Generation Memory Chip
A team of international scientists has made a gigantic stride forward to develop next-generation memory chips, which are more progressed compared to the current best 60-nanometer products.
The team, participated by Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology professor Kim Sang-ouk, said yesterday that they established a pattern helpful in building the futuristic memory chips.
Posted by Vishwakarma C. K. @ 01:05 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 03, 2005
Transhumanist Values
Transhumanism is a loosely defined movement that has developed gradually over the past two decades. It promotes an interdisciplinary approach to understanding and evaluating the opportunities for enhancing the human condition and the human organism opened up by the advancement of technology. Attention is given to both present technologies, like genetic engineering and information technology, and anticipated future ones, such as molecular nanotechnology and artificial intelligence.
The enhancement options being discussed include radical extension of human health-span, eradication of disease, elimination of unnecessary suffering, and augmentation of human intellectual, physical, and emotional capacities. Other transhumanist themes include space colonization and the possibility of creating superintelligent machines, along with other potential developments that could profoundly alter the human condition. The ambit is not limited to gadgets and medicine, but encompasses also economic, social, institutional designs, cultural development, and psychological skills and techniques.
Posted by Vishwakarma C. K. @ 04:01 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 02, 2005
Magnetic Resonance goes Nano
Researchers from NTT Basic Research Labs in Japan and the Japan Science and Technology Agency have built a nuclear magnetic resonance device that has the potential to overcome the limit because it is small enough to fit on a computer chip. It could also be tapped to allow nuclear magnetic resonance devices used in chemistry, biology and medicine to examine smaller samples, according to the researchers.
Quantum computers use properties like spin to represent the 1s and 0s of digital information. In theory, quantum computers would be able to solve certain types of very large problems, including those underpinning today's encryption technologies, many orders of magnitude faster than today's classical computers.
Posted by Vishwakarma C. K. @ 07:25 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
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