Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have unveiled the world’s smallest self-powered drone, which weighs only 2.5 grams and is the size of a quarter. The tiny drone is called Piccolissimo, after the Italian word for pocket-sized. The drone comes in two versions: the quarter-sized one, and a slightly larger and heavier one that is steerable.
Continue reading… “World’s smallest drone spinning itself in the air”
Product companies compete by building ever bigger factories to turn out ever cheaper widgets. But a very different sort of economics comes into play when those widgets start to communicate. It’s called the network effect—when each new user of a product makes its value higher. Think of the telephone a century ago. The greater the number of people who used Bell’s invention, the more valuable it became to all of them. The telephone became a platform for countless new businesses its inventor never imagined.
Continue reading… “The Economics of IoT”
Researchers armed with some nifty algorithms and a set of paper glasses frames have found a way to trick facial recognition systems. Users can either evade being recognized – or more interestingly, impersonate another individual – with up to at least 80 per cent success rate, the researchers from Carnegie Mellon University and the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill boasted.
Continue reading… “Facial recog defeated by paper glasses”
The internet is about to become a vicious, chaotic battlefield, and Elon Musk says advanced A.I. could make the carnage even worse. According to a short exchange on Musk’s Twitter today, the systems that keep the internet running are particularly vulnerable to simple, brute-force computing attacks — the kind of cyberwarfare that artificial intelligence excel at.
Continue reading… “Elon Musk believes advanced A.I. could “Take Down the Internet””
Just as people originally bought mobile phones to protect against hypothetical emergencies, so internet-connected smart devices now often sell comfort from fear. Motion cameras that deter evil babysitters. Recording doorbells that stave off solicitors and burglars. Propane scales that avert cook-out disaster. Sensor-tentacled boxes that warn against flooding.
A culture where everyone is always being filmed, always able to share their most intimate moments at the push of a button, is coming.
Continue reading… “Hover foldable camera drone”
New research published in the journal Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior shows how machine learning can help identify suicidal behavior using a person’s spoken or written words. The technology was able to pinpoint which participants in the study were suicidal, mentally ill but not suicidal, or neither in the vast majority of cases.
Continue reading… “Study: 93% of suicidal patients detected with machine learning algorithms”
Electric car chargers in the U.K. were used 26,119 times during August, up from 12,939 in August 2015 and nine times the usage in August 2014, ChargePlace Scotland said.
Electric vehicle drivers appeared to favor rapid charge points, with many standard charge points not used at all.
Continue reading… “Use of electric car chargers double in U.K.”
When it comes to jobs disappearing, here’s another area where our talent will have to consider new careers.
Vinod Khosla, former Sun Microsystems founder and the billionaire founder of famed Silicon Valley venture firm Khosla Ventures, was instrumental in the rise of what we now think of as the computer server.
Continue reading… “Vinod Khosla says 80% of IT jobs can be replaced by automation”
A solar panel on your roof could soon capture drinkable water for your faucet. Called Source, this solar panel system developed by Zero Mass Water, a startup with a mission to “democratize drinking water,” turns water vapor in the air into clean, drinkable water.
Continue reading… “Solar panels can pull drinking water from the air”
The list of benefits to purchasing an electric car has long included cleaner air and cheaper fuel, and now the American Lung Association (ALA) has added another to the list: government savings.
Continue reading… “Electric cars better for the environment and they save us billions”
Venezuela’s currency has lost so much of its value that people have given up on counting the notes—they just weigh piles of cash. So far this year, the bolívar has lost nearly half its value compared to the dollar, while inflation has shot up as much as 15 times. That’s according to best estimates, since official data isn’t available.
Continue reading… “Venezuelans turn to bitcoin as the bolívar crumbles”
By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.
Learn More about this exciting program.