2018 – Page 12 – Impact Lab

AI, Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, China, Crime Prevention

Chinese ‘Gait Recognition’ tech ID’s people by how they walk

November 20, 2018

CHINESE ‘GAIT RECOGNITION’ TECH IDS PEOPLE BY HOW THEY WALK

In this Oct. 31, 2018, photo, Huang Yongzhen, CEO of Watrix, demonstrates the use of his firm’s gait recognition software at his company’s offices in Beijing. A Chinese technology startup hopes to begin selling software that recognizes people by their body shape and how they walk, enabling identification when faces are hidden from cameras. Already used by police on the streets of Beijing and Shanghai, “gait recognition” is part of a major push to develop artificial-intelligence and data-driven surveillance across China, raising concern about how far the technology will go. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Continue reading… “Chinese ‘Gait Recognition’ tech ID’s people by how they walk”

Amazon.com, Home Technology, LED

This LED faucet light changes color based on water temperature and it’s my new favorite thing

November 20, 2018

Sometimes the simplest little gadgets can be so cool, and that’s exactly the case with the DLAND RC-F03 Colorful LED Water Faucet Attachment. This little device screws into any standard tap in your sink and water flows through it normally. But here’s the cool part: it has different color LEDs inside that automatically turn on when water flows through it! Red means hot, blue means cold, and green means just right. 2-packs are only $9.99 right now on Amazon, so definitely check it out.

Continue reading… “This LED faucet light changes color based on water temperature and it’s my new favorite thing”

Biotech, Business, Employment, Hot Issues, Science & Technology News

Alarm over talks to implant UK employees with microchips

November 20, 2018

Trades Union Congress concerned over tech being used to control and micromanage.

Britain’s biggest employer organisation and main trade union body have sounded the alarm over the prospect of British companies implanting staff with microchips to improve security.

UK firm BioTeq, which offers the implants to businesses and individuals, has already fitted 150 implants in the UK.

Continue reading… “Alarm over talks to implant UK employees with microchips”

Engineering, Inventions, New Inventions, new technology

Quantum ‘compass’ promises navigation without using GPS

November 20, 2018

It could keep society humming when satellites fail.

GPS is vital to modern navigation, but it’s extremely fragile. Never mind coverage — if a satellite fails or there’s a jamming attack, it quickly becomes useless. Scientists may have a much more robust answer, though. Scientists have demonstrated a “commercially viable” quantum accelerometer that could provide navigation without GPS or other satellite technology. The device uses lasers to cool atoms to extremely low temperatures, and then measures the quantum wave properties of those atoms as they respond to acceleration.

Continue reading… “Quantum ‘compass’ promises navigation without using GPS”

Agriculture, Artificial Intelligence, Farming, Food, Robotics

How small robots may kill the tractor and make farming efficient

November 19, 2018

The Bristol-based Small Robot Company has created a series of agile robots for farming. By being customisable they could help to replace the tractor

Agriculture has a reputation of being stuck in the past. In reality, for farmers, their workplaces are a fertile testbed for innovative technology – they were among the first to embrace commercial drone use, and autonomous vehicles that could work effectively (and safely) in confined areas of farmland. Among the latest developments in agri-tech are small, farming robots that can improve crop yield and reduce farming’s impact on the environment.

Continue reading… “How small robots may kill the tractor and make farming efficient”

China, Internet, Latest Trend, Science & Technology News, Shopping

Alibaba just had the biggest online shopping day of all time, nearly tripling every company’s 2017 Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales combined

November 19, 2018

Alibaba founder Jack Ma. Marcos Brindicci/Reuters

Alibaba made e-commerce history on Sunday, with $30.8 billion in sales over the last 24 hours as part of the company’s massive Singles Day celebration.
The $30.8 billion in generated sales is a significant increase from 2017, when customers spent $25.3 billion.
For comparison, total online sales on Black Friday reached $5 billion in 2017, according to Adobe Analytics data. Cyber Monday sales last year reached about $6.6 billion.

SHANGHAI, China — Alibaba just made e-commerce history.

With the company’s massive Singles Day celebration on 11/11 — November 11 — coming to a close, Alibaba reports that customers spent $30.8 billion online over the last 24 hours. That is a significant increase from the $25.3 billion in gross merchandise volume (GMV) Alibaba shoppers spent in 2017.

Continue reading… “Alibaba just had the biggest online shopping day of all time, nearly tripling every company’s 2017 Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales combined”

Health & Fitness, Human Behavior, Latest Trend

The growth of yoga and meditation in the US since 2012 is remarkable

November 19, 2018

The number of Americans who meditate has tripled. Yoga is up 55 percent.

In 2017, about 14.3 percent of US adults surveyed said they had done yoga in the past 12 months. That’s up from 9 percent in 2012. Timothy Clary/AFP/Getty Images

Yoga and meditation, two ancient practices, are now officially the most popular alternative health approaches in the United States, each used by around 35 million adults.

That’s the word from two reports from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention out Thursday, which looked at the changes in the use of yoga, meditation, and chiropractors between 2012 and 2017.

Continue reading… “The growth of yoga and meditation in the US since 2012 is remarkable”

Google, Internet, People Making a Difference

Sundar Pichai of Google: ‘Technology doesn’t solve humanity’s problems’

November 18, 2018

Growing up in India, he slept on the floor of a house without a refrigerator. Today, the chief executive is steering Google through the most turbulent period in its history.

Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google, last week.CreditCreditErik Tanner for The New York Times

Google is facing more challenges today than at any time in its 20-year history. Employees are outraged over sexual harassment. Executives are under scrutiny for an effort to secretly make a censored version of its search product for China. Google will shut down its social network next year after a security vulnerability was discovered. Political and social debates, including one over building military-grade artificial intelligence, are roiling the work force.

Continue reading… “Sundar Pichai of Google: ‘Technology doesn’t solve humanity’s problems’”

Science & Technology News

“Remarkable” decline in fertility rates

November 18, 2018

There has been a remarkable global decline in the number of children women are having, say researchers.

Their report found fertility rate falls meant nearly half of countries were now facing a “baby bust” – meaning there are insufficient children to maintain their population size.

The researchers said the findings were a “huge surprise”.

And there would be profound consequences for societies with “more grandparents than grandchildren”.

Continue reading… ““Remarkable” decline in fertility rates”

China, City Planning, Housing

A fifth of China’s homes are empty. That’s 50 million apartments

November 18, 2018

Risk is potential for flood of sales during any property slump. Xi has said homes are for living in, not for speculation.

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s mantra that homes should be for living in is falling on deaf ears, with tens of millions of apartments and houses standing empty across the country.

Soon-to-be-published research will show roughly 22 percent of China’s urban housing stock is unoccupied, according to Professor Gan Li, who runs the main nationwide study. That adds up to more than 50 million empty homes, he said.

The nightmare scenario for policy makers is that owners of unoccupied dwellings rush to sell if cracks start appearing in the property market, causing prices to spiral. The latest data, from a survey in 2017, also suggests Beijing’s efforts to curb property speculation — considered by leaders a key threat to financial and social stability — are coming up short.

Continue reading… “A fifth of China’s homes are empty. That’s 50 million apartments”

AI, Alzheimer's Disease, Artificial Intelligence, Healthcare, Science & Technology News

Deep learning algorithm detects Alzheimer’s up to six years before doctors

November 17, 2018

A new algorithm significantly outperformed human clinicians in predicting which patients would go on to develop Alzheimer’s disease.

A powerful new deep learning algorithm has been developed that can study PET scan images and effectively detect the onset of Alzheimer’s disease up to six years earlier than current diagnostic methods.

The research is part of a new wave of work using machine learning technology to identify subtle patterns in complex medical imaging data that human clinicians are unable to pick up. Continue reading… “Deep learning algorithm detects Alzheimer’s up to six years before doctors”

Alternative Transportation, Aviation, Law Enforcement, Science & Technology News

Dubai Police start training on flying motorbikes

November 17, 2018

(CNN) — The flying motorbike is back in Dubai — and you could see the police riding one in the not-too-distant future.

A year after California-based startup Hoversurf showcased its hoverbike at tech expo GITEX in the white and green livery of the Dubai Police, the company has returned with a new model and evidence its electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicle might be, well, taking off.

Making good on a deal signed in 2017, Hoversurf has now gifted Dubai Police its first serial production unit of the S3 2019 Hoverbike and has begun training officers to fly it.

Brigadier Khalid Nasser Alrazooqi, general director of Dubai Police’s artificial intelligence department, described the eVTOL vehicle as a first responder unit used to access hard to reach areas. He said he aims to have hoverbikes in action by 2020.

Continue reading… “Dubai Police start training on flying motorbikes”