2020 – Page 32 – Impact Lab

China, drones, Internet, Science & Technology News

Sky Drone & China Mobile partner to create 5G drone network

August 30, 2020

Sky Drone and China Mobile HK have partnered to explore the advantages 5G can have on drone networks by signing a memorandum of understanding earlier this week.

China Mobile HK (CMHK) has already set up up a 5G innovation center that is supporting industries transferring from 4G to 5G as smoothly as possible. The company’s regional laboratory is working with Sky Drones to help with the transfer within the world of drones.

Sky Drones produces 4G/LTE systems that allow drones to always have a connection while in the air. Keeping drones connected while flying long missions is important to ensure the drones stay safe and keep out of the way of other aircraft. The always-connected status of the drone also means data can constantly be sent to the cloud as it’s recorded, allowing for faster turnaround times and removing the chance of the drones going down with the data.

Sky Drones currently has three products, the FPV 3 which is a low latency HD video and control system that uses 4G/LTE networks to always remain connected to the ground station. The Link 3 is a 4K Ultra-HD video transmitter that can be used with any camera that has an HDMI connector with no range limits. Sky Drone also makes a 4G/LTE upgrade kit for the Yuneec H520 drone that turns it into an always-connected drone.

The two companies together have been promoting the use of 5G to government agencies and companies that are using drones autonomously in the following industries:, infrastructure monitoring, surveillance, cargo, and delivery. The Hong Kong government heavily subsidizes 5G developments creating a higher demand for the new tech to be produced and implemented as fast as possible.

Continue reading… “Sky Drone & China Mobile partner to create 5G drone network”

AI, Crime Prevention, government, privacy, Science & Technology News

Artificial intelligence will surveil and study released prisoners to “reduce recidivism”

August 29, 2020

A group of researchers is launching a new artificial intelligence led study that will collect data from recently released prisoners.

Artificial intelligence applications are popping up everywhere these days, from our Internet browsing to smart homes and self-driving cars. Now a group of researchers is launching a new AI-led study that will collect data from recently released prisoners. The ultimate goal of the project is to identify – and, ostensibly, one day eliminate – the psychological and physiological triggers that cause recidivism among parolees.

Researchers at Purdue University Polytechnic Institute plan to monitor volunteer parolees using a panoply of AI-powered tools and methods, including smartphones and biometric wearable bracelets. These gadgets will record and analyze a variety of data, such as the ex-prisoners’ biological information (heart rate), photos, and location meta-data.

According to project-leads Marcus Rogers and Umit Karabiyik, the resulting data will assist them in conducting a forensic psychological analysis. While the monitoring will be gauged in intervals – not real-time – they believe it will help build a profile of the risky behaviors and stressful triggers that recent parolees face when returning to the outside world.

Citing a Department of Justice study, the researchers say over 80 percent of prisoners released from state prisons get arrested in their first 9 years and a plurality of those prisoners get arrested in less than a year.

Continue reading… “Artificial intelligence will surveil and study released prisoners to “reduce recidivism””

Batteries, Energy, Engineering, Science & Technology News

Nano-diamond self-charging batteries could disrupt energy as we know it

August 28, 2020

NDB makes remarkable claims about its self-charging nano-diamond battery, here seen mocked up as a circuit board component

California company NDB says its nano-diamond batteries will absolutely upend the energy equation, acting like tiny nuclear generators. They will blow any energy density comparison out of the water, lasting anywhere from a decade to 28,000 years without ever needing a charge. They will offer higher power density than lithium-ion. They will be nigh-on indestructible and totally safe in an electric car crash. And in some applications, like electric cars, they stand to be considerably cheaper than current lithium-ion packs despite their huge advantages.

The heart of each cell is a small piece of recycled nuclear waste. NDB uses graphite nuclear reactor parts that have absorbed radiation from nuclear fuel rods and have themselves become radioactive. Untreated, it’s high-grade nuclear waste: dangerous, difficult and expensive to store, with a very long half-life.

Continue reading… “Nano-diamond self-charging batteries could disrupt energy as we know it”

Analysis, Coronavirus, Healthcare, Medicine, Science & Technology News

Why do Covid fatalities remain low when infection numbers are rising?

August 28, 2020

While some scientists believe the virus has become less deadly, others look at the factors that suggest otherwise

Are Covid-19 death rates decreasing?

Most statistics indicate that although cases of Covid-19 are rising in many parts of Europe and the United States, the number of deaths and cases of severe complications remain relatively low. For example, patients on ventilators have dropped from 3,000 at the epidemic’s peak in Britain to 70. At the same time, the number of cases in the UK have begun to rise in many areas.

Continue reading… “Why do Covid fatalities remain low when infection numbers are rising?”

Automobiles, Great New Product, Science & Technology News, Transportation

Electric Brand’s eBussy modular electric van can turn into 10 different vehicles

August 29, 2020

Sucks to suck, Optimus Prime.

When it comes time to buy a new vehicle, you usually need to make some choices. Are you looking for a sedan, an SUV, a minivan? If you’ve committed to a pickup truck, you can’t later turn it into a sports car. Which sucks, because most of us use our vehicles for many different purposes, and it’d be great if you could just swap out parts depending on your plans.

That’s one of the driving ideas behind the eBussy, an electric microbus concept from a German company called Electric Brands. The (sigh, unfortunately named) eBussy sports a retro-cute exterior evoking the swinging ‘60s, and a battery that promises a range of 124 miles on a charge. (You can also configure it with a larger battery for about 373 miles worth of driving range.) Roof-mounted solar panels help recharge while you’re driving, and regenerative braking can extend the range.

Continue reading… “Electric Brand’s eBussy modular electric van can turn into 10 different vehicles”

Automobiles, Electric Automobile, Record Breaker, Science & Technology News

Welcome to the age of the all-electric hypercar

August 27, 2020

Boasting up to 2,000bhp with no fuel cap, a trio of new releases from Lotus, Pininfarina and Rimac are here for when your Ferrari just isn’t fast enough

Same old story. You wait ages for one 2,000bhp, all-electric hypercar to arrive, and then three come along at once. Three underdog brands with very different backstories, three cars that are almost impossible to resist comparing, each with startlingly similar statistics and almost identical price tags that sound more like government furlough bill

In Cambiano, the 1,900bhp Pininfarina Battista will become the most powerful Italian road-legal car ever — itself quite a record — and the first to be badged by the coachbuilder and design house behind some of the most beautiful sports cars of the 20th century (the Ferrari 250GT, Cisitalia 202 and Fiat 124 Spider among them), now launching as a carmaker in its own right.

In Norfolk, the £2.2m Lotus Evija is about to enter production as the most powerful road car in the world, in what is the latest comeback chapter for the British sports car maker that is impossible to introduce without using the word “plucky”.

And in Croatia, Rimac is the no-bullshit start-up-cum-electric-powerhouse that is finalising its ultra-technical C_Two hypercar, which has a top speed of 415kmph and promises 0–100kmph acceleration in the time it takes to read the words “faster than a motorbike”. For the record, 1.85 seconds.

Continue reading… “Welcome to the age of the all-electric hypercar”

Elon Musk, Internet, Science & Technology News, SpaceX

Elons Musk’s Space X’s road to the fastest internet from orbit: Here’s what latest stats say

August 27, 2020

SpaceX Launches Falcon 9 Rocket

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has been dreaming of creating a constellation of broadband satellites surrounding the Earth. He vowed to provide the fastest broadband internet service to anyone in the world, and he seems to be on his way to fulfilling his promise.

With the new data from Speedtest.net, Starlink users can expect download speeds from 11 megabits per second (Mbps) to 60 Mbps while upload speeds range between 5 Mbps and 18 Mbps. Starlink is currently at 80% to the required satellites to achieve “moderate” capability, but its recent performance is impressive.

SANTA BARBARA, CA – OCTOBER 07: The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches from Vandenberg Air Force Base carrying the SAOCOM 1A and ITASAT 1 satellites, as seen during a long exposure on October 7, 2018 near Santa Barbara, California. After launching the satellites, the Falcon 9 rocket successfully returned to land on solid ground near the launch site rather than at sea. The satellites will become part of a six-satellite constellation that will work in tandem with an Italian constellation known as COSMO-SkyMed.

Although the results show just 6% of the 1 Gbps that Federal Communications Commission (FCC) requires for the $16 billion funding competition under the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF), it is still much faster internet than many rural service providers.

Continue reading… “Elons Musk’s Space X’s road to the fastest internet from orbit: Here’s what latest stats say”

new technology, Robotics, Robots, Science & Technology News

RoBeetle is a tiny robot that uses methanol for fuel

August 27, 2020

RoBeetle is a tiny robot that uses methanol for fuel

One of the biggest challenges facing researchers who are working on small robots is how to power them. The problem is that most batteries add significantly to the weight and take up lots of space inside small robots, making them impractical. Scientists have come up with a robot called the RoBeetle that doesn’t use a battery, instead relying on liquid methanol for power.

The body of the RoBeetle is a fuel tank filled with methanol. It has four legs with the rear legs fixed and the front legs attached to a transmission. The transmission is connected to a leaf spring-tensioned in a way that pulls the legs backwards. Its design allows the robot to stand upright when still.

Continue reading… “RoBeetle is a tiny robot that uses methanol for fuel”

3D Printer, Engineering, Science & Technology News, Virtual Reality

Scientists develop nanophotonic 3D printing for virtual reality screens

August 27, 2020

In Korea, scientists are turning to better ways for improving our screen time, and this means 3D printing something most of us know little about: quantum dots. Focusing on refining the wonders of virtual reality and other electronic displays even further, researchers from the Nano Hybrid Technology Research Center of Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute (KERI), a government-funded research institute under National Research Council of Science & Technology (NST) of the Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT), have created nanophotonic 3D printing technology for screens. Meant to be used with virtual reality, as well as TVs, smartphones, and wearables, high resolution is achieved due to a 3D layout expanding the density and quality of the pixels.

Led by Dr. Jaeyeon Pyo and Dr. Seung Kwon Seol, the team has published the results of their research and development in “3D-Printed Quantum Dot Nanopixels.” While pixels are produced to represent data in many electronics, conventionally they are created with 2D patterning. To overcome limitations in brightness and resolution, the scientists elevated this previously strained technology to the next level with 3D printed quantum dots to be contained within polymer nanowires.

Powered by light or electricity, dots light up in an array of colors which then translate into the appropriate display. Usually, pixels are covered in a light film for creating a better display, with the ability to see images more clearly; in this research though, the KERI scientists decided to eliminate the film coating in place of a 3D structure, featuring pixels with a lateral dimension of 620nm and 10,000nm in height.

“The 3D structure enabled a 2-fold increase in brightness without significant effects on the spatial resolution of the pixels,” explained the researchers in their abstract. “In addition, we demonstrate individual control of the brightness based on a simple adjustment of the height of the 3D pixels.”

Continue reading… “Scientists develop nanophotonic 3D printing for virtual reality screens”

AI, Automation, Coronavirus, Employment, Science & Technology News

How robotics and automation could create new jobs in the new normal

August 25, 2020

Depending on who you ask, AI and automation will either destroy jobs or create new ones. In reality, a greater push toward automation will probably both kill and create jobs — human workers will become redundant in certain spheres, sure, but many new roles will likely crop up. A report last year from PA Consulting, titled “People and machines: From hype to reality,” supports this assertion, predicting that AI and automation will lead to a net gain in job numbers. This is pretty much in line with findings from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), a pan-governmental economic body spanning 36 member countries, which noted that “employment in total may continue to rise” even if automation disrupts specific industries.

Automation has gained increased attention amid the great social distancing experiment sparked by COVID-19. But it’s too early to say whether the pandemic will expedite automation across all industries. Recent LinkedIn data suggests AI hiring slowed during the crisis, but there are plenty of cases where automation could help people adhere to social distancing protocols — from robot baristas and cleaners to commercial drones.

Of course, any discussion about automation invariably raises the question of what it means for jobs.

Continue reading… “How robotics and automation could create new jobs in the new normal”

Legalized marijuana, Marketing, Science & Technology News, Shopping

Weed vending machine debuts in Colorado with more on the way

August 25, 2020

The first ones landed at Strawberry Fields dispensary in Pueblo

Anna, the weed vending machine, debuted at Strawberry Fields dispensary in Pueblo. The company hopes to expand to other Colorado location in 2020.

In an era when consumers can buy groceries, pet supplies and even a life-size cardboard cutout of Lizzo without directly seeing a human, one company is ensuring Coloradans can also purchase their cannabis contactless.

Matt Frost is founder and CEO of a company called anna, which makes what he calls a “tricked out vending machine” designed to take and fill orders for marijuana products. The first ones landed at Strawberry Fields dispensary in central Pueblo, where customers can now purchase flower, edibles and vape oils without having to interact with a budtender. They’ll debut at a second dispensary, Starbuds in Aurora, sometime this year.

Frost, whose background is in healthcare data analytics, originally developed the concept to adapt the efficiency of a retail self-checkout system to the marijuana industry. In his home state of Massachusetts, dispensary waits can be hours-long and some shops require patrons schedule a pickup time for pre-ordered products.

Continue reading… “Weed vending machine debuts in Colorado with more on the way”

Coronavirus, Healthcare, Housing, New Viewpoints, Science & Technology News

Getting old needs a new look

August 25, 2020

The pandemic has exacerbated issues like social isolation in U.S. nursing homes and assisted-living facilities. But problems with the living situations of older Americans long predate the coronavirus.

Covid-19 has exposed the lethal vulnerabilities of nursing homes and assisted-living facilities. Can better design make aging safer?

In at least one way, the United States’s tragic response to the coronavirus hasn’t been an outlier: Just like in the rest of the world, the consequences of the pandemic were amplified inside living facilities for older adults.

As of August 13, at least 68,000 residents and workers in long-term care facilities in the U.S. have died from the coronavirus, according to New York Times research, a number that comprises more than 40% of the nation’s total. That percentage that’s been matched or exceeded by other countries across the globe. In Europe, half of all Covid-19 deaths happened in nursing homes and long-term care facilities, according to the World Health Organization. In Canada, which has been far more effective at containing the disease, 82 percent of the country’s deaths have been concentrated among these facilities.

The vulnerability of nursing homes was clear from the earliest stage of outbreak in the U.S., when the disease swept through the Life Care Center of Kirkland, Washington in February, claiming dozens of deaths. At Holyoke Soldiers’ Home in Massachusetts, at least 74 residents — a third of the facility’s population — died of Covid-19 in April. The summer resurgence of infections has found its way into care facilities in Texas, Florida, and Arizona, bringing the number of cases in nursing homes nationwide above its previous peak in May.

For the entire multibillion-dollar ecosystem of senior living in the U.S. — including the more than 15,000 nursing homes, nearly 29,000 residential care communities, and about the same number of assisted-living facilities — the pandemic is exposing a deadly dilemma at a challenging time. “We weren’t prepared for Covid,” says Dr. Robyn Stone, co-director of LeadingAge LTSS Center at University of Massachusetts Boston. “Nobody was, including the nursing homes.”

Continue reading… “Getting old needs a new look”