2022 – Page 14 – Impact Lab

China successfully launches second lab module for its space station

November 4, 2022

About 10 minutes into the launch, an official of the China Manned Space Agency announced that the mission was successful and the spacecraft reached its intended orbit.

China’s space station lab module Mengtian and the rocket Long March-5B Y4 being transported to the launch area

HIGHLIGHTS

The lab module called Mengtian was launched using a Long March-5B Y4 rocket
It was launched from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site
Long March-5B Y4 rocket is one of China’s biggest rockets

China on Monday successfully launched a second lab module to be part of its ambitious space station currently under construction.

The lab module called Mengtian was launched using a Long March-5B Y4 rocket, one of China’s biggest rockets, from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site on the coast of the southern island province of Hainan.

The launch was telecast live by the news channels here. About 10 minutes into the launch, an official of the China Manned Space Agency announced that the mission was successful and the spacecraft reached its intended orbit.

Later, it will dock with the orbiting core module of the space station.

AI

AI and biobanks could open the way to longevity treatments

November 4, 2022

Kristen Fortney. Image/BioAge

BY JONATHAN SMITH

The development of longevity treatments is hampered by a lack of biomarkers and validated drug targets. BioAge’s co-founder and CEO, Kristen Fortney, explains how the firm is enlisting machine learning (ML), artificial intelligence (AI) and biobanks to fill in the gaps.

The quest for human longevity treatments is attracting big cash in the biotech industry. One of the most impressive investments entering the field was the $3 billion launch of the U.S. anti-aging company Altos Labs in January 2022.

However, efforts to extend our healthy lifespan are dogged by a lack of clear biomarkers that correlate with the aging process. There are a set of observed hallmarks of aging, such as the breakdown of cells, a lack of stem cells in tissues and unstable DNA, but the search for reliable drug targets to slow the aging process is difficult.

In 2020, for example, the U.S. company Unity Biotechnology hit a major setback when its lead drug targeting aged, or “senescent,” cells failed to treat the age-related condition osteoarthritis in a phase 2 trial.

To overcome the challenges of developing longevity treatments, BioAge was launched in the U.S. in 2015. The firm raised a $90 million Series C round in late 2020 to finance the development of small molecule drug candidates for age-related conditions including anemia, muscle atrophy and COVID-19. BioAge also paired up with Age Lab AS in August 2022 to tap into the latter firm’s biobank — containing tissue samples collected from healthy humans over many years.

In an interview, BioAge’s co-founder and CEO, Kristen Fortney, told us how ML and AI in addition to biobank sampling can fuel the search for drug targets in longevity treatment.

Virtual Reality

Your next job interview could take place in virtual reality

November 4, 2022

How would you like to have a job interview conducted in virtual reality by a computer?

By Elizabeth Hotson

Going for a job interview is the stuff of nightmares for many people, while for others it is a chance to shine.

Either way you are typically still interviewed by other human beings, either after walking into a scary office with one or more bosses sitting behind a desk, or via an equally nerve-wracking Zoom call.

Yet thanks to advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and virtual reality (VR) technology, you may soon be interviewed for that job you really want… by a computer.

Earlier this year students at Sandwell College in West Bromwich put on VR headsets to do some mock interviews.

Their avatars – cartoon-like, 3D representations of themselves – were put through their paces by another talking avatar representing the AI software system.

AI

Developing AI Technology Enabling Robots to Communicate With Some Animal Species

November 3, 2022

By Joshua Stan

The civilization humans inhabit is filled with sounds that can’t be heard. Bats chitter and talk in ultrasonic; elephants growl infrared secrets to one another; and coastal ecosystems are aquatic clubs teeming with the cracks, hisses, as well as clicks of marine life. Mankind had no idea those noises existed for millennia. However, as technology advances, so does our ability to listen.

Drones, digital recorders, and artificial intelligence are already allowing humans to listen to the sounds of nature in new ways, altering the field of scientific inquiry and offering the intriguing potential that computers may eventually allow us to communicate with animals. Humans are one step closer to communicating with animals, thanks to new technologies that enable artificial intelligence-powered robots to converse with various species.

Karen Bakker, a University of British Columbia professor, recently disclosed that this innovation is being employed to speak with honeybees, dolphins, and elephants, and she issued a caution about the development.

Robots, Science & Technology News

Sky’s The Limit For World’s First High-Rise Robot Window Cleaner

November 3, 2022

IT SAVES LIVES, IT’S THREE TIMES FASTER, AND IT NEVER MISSES A SPOT

By John Jeffay

Robots using the technology that powers driverless cars are cleaning the windows of some of the world’s tallest buildings.

They can work around the clock, they don’t leave streaks, and unlike their human counterparts they never miss a spot.

But more important than all of that… they save lives.

The “dirty, dull and dangerous” job of cleaning steel and glass skyscrapers has cost thousands of lives, according to Michael Brown, CEO & chairman of Skyline Robotics, based in Tel Aviv. “The problem, put simply, is that cleaning windows at height is extremely dangerous.”

Robots do the job much better, they can do it at least three times quicker, and they mean lives are no longer being put at risk.

Other companies have experimented with automated window cleaning solutions, mostly using rollers, like a car wash. But they’re hit-and-miss in terms of actually getting the windows clean and they’re not designed for buildings over 10 stories.

Skyline proudly describes its machine, called Ozmo, as “the world’s first high-rise window-cleaning robot”.

Continue reading…Sky’s The Limit For World’s First High-Rise Robot Window Cleaner“

Great New Product

Robotics company to introduce the world’s fastest shoe

November 3, 2022

Get to your destination in less than half the time with a 100 per cent increase in your walking speed

By MARLEY DICKINSON

A U.S. start-up, Shift Robotics of Pittsburgh, has launched a Kickstarter campaign for what they claim is the world’s fastest shoe. The “Moonwalker” apparently let you walk at the speed of a run while maneuvering stairs, through crowds, hills and even getting on public transit.

Late to work, and don’t want to run? The Moonwalkers will help you get to your destination in less than half the time it would normally take you to walk there with a 100 per cent increase in your walking speed. The shoes use artificial intelligence (AI) to measure your gait and react to how you walk, reaching the top speed of 12 km/h in a matter of seconds.

The shoes have two modes, lock and shift–and they only move when you do. This means you can go up and down stairs, step into mass transit, and confidently wait at the crosswalk while the AI switches modes using an algorithm to adapt to your walking gait and environment. The shoes have a hinge system that allows your foot to naturally bend at your toes, preserving your natural gait, mobility and balance.

Tom Frey

PREPARING STUDENTS TO WORK IN AN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE WORLD

November 2, 2022

Technology innovations are rapidly changing the nature of work. Advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) are especially transforming the workforce landscape at an accelerating rate. Jobs of tomorrow will not resemble those of decades past, nor even those of today.

By ROBERT J. MARKS AND KERI INGRAHAM

Futurist Thomas Frey estimates that approximately 50% of today’s jobs will cease to exist by 2030. Specifically, AI will replace jobs that algorithm-based machines can perform. In other words, jobs whose functions can be automated by computer programming will become extinct. This is already well underway, for example, as parking garage attendants have largely been phased out by machines capable of collecting payment and opening the gate for customers to exit during off-peak hours — resulting in financial savings for parking garage owners.

Similarly, assembly line workers performing repetitive and sometimes dangerous tasks have increasingly been replaced by advanced programmable robots, who can complete the tasks more rapidly, accurately (removing the element of human error), and at a lower cost thanks to AI.

However, despite the popular notion, robots will not eliminate all jobs because skills that aren’t programmable, which require human ingenuity, won’t be replaced by machines.

Aviation

Alef Aeronautics’ flying car with street driving and vertical take-off ability impresses Tesla investors

November 2, 2022

It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No, it’s a… flying car? That’s right, folks. The future is now, and flying cars are (finally) a reality. To simplify the concept, a flying car is a type of personal aircraft that combines the features of an aeroplane and a car.

BY VIGNESH R

The flying car trend is rising as companies race to develop the first commercially viable model. Several prototypes have been developed recently, and several companies are vying for the first flying car manufacturer title. Recently, SkyDrive got $66M funding to develop flying cars and cargo drones, also there was a flying motorbike startup which was in the news, earlier this year.

The market for flying cars is expected to be worth billions of dollars, and there is significant interest from major automakers and tech giants alike. Flying cars could revolutionise transportation and make getting around much easier, faster, and more efficient.

Space

IBM and Sierra Space develop ‘space cloud’ for orbital data management

November 2, 2022

Future space stations will require significant computing capabilities and IBM is working with Sierra Space to develop a platform to service the space cloud.

By Ryan Morrison

Servicing a growing economy in low-Earth orbit will require a dedicated ‘space cloud’ platform, according to IBM and Sierra Spa

Ushering in the ‘orbital age’ where commercial activity spreads into space will require “robust space compute and data capability,” declares Ken Shields, senior director of business development at Sierra Space, one of the companies developing the Orbital Reef commercial space station.

Within the next three years, Sierra Space plans to send a test station into orbit that will prove its technology works and can be used for humans to stay in space, but first, they need to work out how to manage data and that is where a new partnership with IBM comes into play.

They will work together to develop the next generation of space technology and software platforms that will run across Sierra Space’s range of space vehicles and infrastructure including the Dream Chaser space plane scheduled to fly for the first time next year with cargo for the ISS.

A memorandum of understanding between the two companies will see IBM integrate its technology that will coordinate tasks undertaken by astronauts, connect devices in orbit and help send data from research projects back to the Earth.

Robots

AMAZON TESTS OUT SELF-NAVIGATING ROBOTS IN FULFILLMENT CENTERS

November 1, 2022

By Maia Jenkins

Amazon is testing out a new class of AI-powered, self-navigating robots in their fulfillment centers. Unlike their earlier counterparts, these next-generation robots will be able to roam freely, helping associates with tasks such as transporting oversized and bulky items around harder-to-navigate parts of the facility floors.

The e-commerce leader uses around 500,000 robots in its fulfillment centers, but their current robots are restricted in their movements, sticking to a grid of markers enabled by cloud-based algorithms.

What sets the new robots apart, Amazon says, are their capacity to not only move without restriction, but their “semantic understanding” – that is, the ability to make sense of the three-dimensional structure of their environment and distinguish the behaviors of objects within it. Using LIDAR (light detection and ranging) and computer vision technology, the robots collect data, map out their surroundings, and can learn to avoid both fixed and moving obstacles. Through this, the robots can make sense of ever-changing, crowded settings such as fulfillment centers.

For now, Amazon has rolled out these newer robots in select FCs and assigned them a limited number of tasks. The goal is to integrate the robots safely and seamlessly into the everyday operations of Amazon fulfillment center associates, the company said.

Brain

SCIENTISTS SAY THEY’VE FIGURED OUT A WAY TO READ THOUGHTS USING AN MRI MACHINE

November 1, 2022

THIS IS SERIOUSLY IMPRESSIVE.

BY VICTOR TANGERMANN

Researchers at the University of Texas claim to have built a “decoder” algorithm that can reconstruct what somebody is thinking just by monitoring their brain activity using an ordinary fMRI scanner, The Scientist reports.

The yet-to-be-peer-reviewed research could lay the groundwork for much more capable brain-computer interfaces designed to better help those can’t speak or type.

In an experiment, the researchers used MRI machines to measure the changes in blood flow — not the firing of individual neurons, which is infamously “noisy” and difficult to decrypt — to decode the broader sentiment or semantics of what three study subjects were thinking while listening to 16 hours of podcasts and radio stories.

They used this data to train an algorithm that they say can associate these blood flow changes with what the subjects were currently listening to.

The results were promising, with the decoder being able to deduce meaning “pretty well,” as University of Texas neuroscientist and coauthor Alexander Huth told The Scientist.

SpaceX

SpaceX announces a new ‘flat high performance’ Starlink dish for internet on moving vehicles

November 1, 2022

A vehicle with the new Starlink RV hardware attached.

By Chris Young

The newly-designed dish allows users to have a permanent high-performance Starlink installation on their vehicles.

SpaceX announced it is now accepting orders for its new “flat high-performance” Starlink dish for moving vehicles.

In a Tuesday tweet, the private space firm explained that the new offering allows customers to “enjoy high-speed, low-latency internet while on the move!”

The new type of dish is installed on top of the vehicle and its positioning makes it more streamlined and also means it can connect with more Starlink satellites at any given time, SpaceX explains on its website.

The new hardware is essentially an add-on for the Starlink RV service, announced in May this year, which allows users to connect to the internet while on the move — the service has enabled several users to live an enviable off-grid lifestyle.

SpaceX CEO added on Twitter that the new option “works on any moving land object.” The newly-announced flat high-performance hardware is part of SpaceX’s push to upgrade its Starlink service worldwide by bringing it to more countries — it is currently available in more than 30 countriesworldwide and will come to many more over the next year or two — and also to moving vehicles, including RVs, cruise ships, private jets, and passenger airliners.