new technology – Page 17

AI, Artificial Intelligence, new technology, Science & Technology News, Social Media

Adobe’s prototype AI tool automatically spots Photoshopped faces

June 29, 2019

An example of a manipulated photo, the defects spotted by the algorithm, and the original image. Credit: Adobe

Though it’s just a research project for the moment.

The world is becoming increasingly anxious about the spread of fake videos and pictures, and Adobe — a name synonymous with edited imagery — says it shares those concerns. Today, it’s sharing new research in collaboration with scientists from UC Berkeley that uses machine learning to automatically detect when images of faces have been manipulated.

It’s the latest sign the company is committing more resources to this problem. Last year its engineers created an AI tool that detects edited media created by splicing, cloning, and removing objects.

Continue reading… “Adobe’s prototype AI tool automatically spots Photoshopped faces”

Automobiles, Engineering, new technology, Science & Technology News

The Reinvention of steel could make car bodies 30% lighter

June 10, 2019

To keep clients, Nippon Steel is developing super-strong metal

Cars must get lighter to meet new emissions rules or electrify.

Imagine the weight of 24 elephants bearing down on a tiny spot the size a postage stamp.

That’s how much pressure Nippon Steel Corp.’s strongest metal can withstand. The Japanese company is pushing the envelope in order to stay relevant as the auto industry, its most important customer, goes through major changes.

Continue reading… “The Reinvention of steel could make car bodies 30% lighter”

Driverless vehicles, new technology, Science & Technology News, Transportation

First commercial crossing of the north sea by autonomous vessel

June 5, 2019

A 12-meter (40-foot) autonomous vessel has sailed across the North Sea with a token cargo of oysters – making it the first commercial crossing by an autonomous vessel.

The vessel, designed and built in Essex, U.K., docked in the Belgian port city of Oostende last week following a successful transit from West Mersea. The voyage lasted 22 hours.

The box of oysters weighed around 5 kg – just a fraction of the current model’s maximum payload of up to 2.5 tons.

The SEA-KIT vessel USV Maxlimer is operated by SEA-KIT International Ltd, and is designed and developed by Hushcraft Ltd, based in Tollesbury, Essex. The vessel can be transported in a single 40-foot container.

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Big Problems, Inventions, new technology, Science & Technology News, Solar Energy

This desalination device delivers cheap, clean water with just solar power

June 3, 2019

In a coastal city in Namibia, a small shipping container near the beach sits surrounded
by solar panels. Inside, new technology uses that solar power
to turn ocean water from the Atlantic into drinking water.

Namibia is in the middle of a prolonged drought. The president recently declared the second state of emergency in three years because the lack of rain is leading to severe food shortages. But if scaled up, this technology could help supply households and agriculture with fresh water. The basic tech that it uses for desalination, called reverse osmosis, isn’t new. But because the system can run on solar power, without the use of batteries, it avoids the large carbon footprint of a typical energy-hungry desalination plant. It’s also significantly cheaper over the lifetime of the system.

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communication, Internet, new technology, Science & Technology News

Japan plans for 10 billion 5G devices by adding 14-digit phone numbers

May 23, 2019

Increased data bandwidth might be the best-known advantage of 5G cellular technology, but new 5G networks will also support billions of newly connected devices, ranging from cars to internet of things sensors — each with their own telephone number. With its 5G rollout just around the corner, Japan is preparing for a surge in demand for new phone numbers by expanding the maximum number of digits from 11 to 14, a change that will enable mobile carriers to offer 10 billion new numbers starting with the 020 prefix.

In the United States, seven-digit local numbers are always preceded by three-digit geographic area codes, and while Japan has a similar 10-digit system for geographic numbers, it has used either 10- or 11-digit numbers for non-geographic numbers. Japanese mobile phones and other wireless devices are assigned non-geographic numbers.

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Food, Google, new technology, Science & Technology News

Restaurants are ignoring calls from Google’s Smart Assistant

May 13, 2019

Hello, This Is Robot

Almost exactly a year ago, everyone was flipping out over Google’s newly announced Duplex feature, which basically pretends to be a human assistant in order to make reservations at restaurants or schedule trips to the hairdresser.

But the AI-powered assistant has struggled to win over the hearts of service workers. The Verge reports that restaurants are hanging up on Google’s auto-calling voice assistant — sometimes because they’re creeped out by how lifelike it sounds.

“I was spooked at how natural and human the machine sounds,” server Shawn Watford of Birmingham, Alabama told The Verge. “It was so weird [that] when it called, I immediately hung up.”

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cutting edge, Engineering, new technology, Science & Technology News, security

Move over, silicon switches: There’s a new way to compute

May 9, 2019

Logic and memory devices, such as the hard drives in computers, now use nanomagnetic mechanisms to store and manipulate information. Unlike silicon transistors, which have fundamental efficiency limitations, they require no energy to maintain their magnetic state: Energy is needed only for reading and writing information.

One method of controlling magnetism uses electrical current that transports spin to write information, but this usually involves flowing charge. Because this generates heat and energy loss, the costs can be enormous, particularly in the case of large server farms or in applications like artificial intelligence, which require massive amounts of memory. Spin, however, can be transported without a charge with the use of a topological insulator—a material whose interior is insulating but that can support the flow of electrons on its surface.

Continue reading… “Move over, silicon switches: There’s a new way to compute”

Alzheimer's Disease, Machine Learning, new technology, New Viewpoints, Science & Technology News

Five key ideas you need to understand now if you want to be ready for the world of 2030

April 14, 2019

With a new series of the BBC science podcast Futureproofing on air this month, presenter Timandra Harkness explains how to get ready for the world of the future.

Just a building that keeps the rain out and your clean underwear in? Think again. The home of 2030 will be smart, connected and emotional.

“Our notion of home will change drastically,” says Sce Pike, CEO of Oregon-based IOTAS. “The notion of home is no longer four walls and a roof and a place, a location, but actually something that travels with you throughout your life.”

How does it do that? By learning your preferences and your habits, and automatically adjusting the light, heat, even your TV channels, before you have to ask. “It’s about how that home reacts to you and makes you comfortable,” says Pike.

Continue reading… “Five key ideas you need to understand now if you want to be ready for the world of 2030”

Engineering, new technology, Science & Technology News, Solar Energy, Solar Power

Nanocrystal ‘factory’ could revolutionize quantum dot manufacturing

March 29, 2019

A new system for synthesizing quantum dots across the entire spectrum of visible light drastically reduces manufacturing costs, can be tuned on demand to any color and allows for real-time process monitoring to ensure quality control.

NC State researchers have developed a microfluidic system for synthesizing perovskite quantum dots that drastically reduces manufacturing costs, can be tuned on demand to any color and allows for real-time process monitoring to ensure quality control.

North Carolina State University researchers have developed a microfluidic system for synthesizing perovskite quantum dots across the entire spectrum of visible light. The system drastically reduces manufacturing costs, can be tuned on demand to any color and allows for real-time process monitoring to ensure quality control.

Continue reading… “Nanocrystal ‘factory’ could revolutionize quantum dot manufacturing”

Engineering, Inventions, new technology, Science & Technology News

Near-perfect performance in low-cost semiconductors

March 29, 2019

Researchers redefine what it means for low-cost semiconductors, called quantum dots, to be near-perfect and find that quantum dots meet quality standards set by more expensive alternatives.

Tiny, easy-to-produce particles, called quantum dots, may soon take the place of more expensive single crystal semiconductors in advanced electronics found in solar panels, camera sensors and medical imaging tools. Although quantum dots have begun to break into the consumer market — in the form of quantum dot TVs — they have been hampered by long-standing uncertainties about their quality. Now, a new measurement technique developed by researchers at Stanford University may finally dissolve those doubts.

“Traditional semiconductors are single crystals, grown in vacuum under special conditions. These we can make in large numbers, in flask, in a lab and we’ve shown they are as good as the best single crystals,” said David Hanifi, graduate student in chemistry at Stanford and co-lead author of the paper written about this work, published March 15 in Science.

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3D Printer, Housing, Inventions, new technology, Science & Technology News

ICON unveils a new large scale 3D printer to build affordable homes

March 20, 2019

Mayor Steve Adler with ICON Cofounder Evan Loomis at ICON’s headquarters for an event to unveil its newest large-scale 3D printer, Vulcan II which can be used to create affordable homes

Austin-based ICON on Monday unveiled its new “Vulcan II” 3D printer that can print up to a 2,000 square foot house quickly at half the cost.

“It’s four times as big, it’s twice as fast, and it’s going to start shipping to customers next month,” said Jason Ballard, CEO and Co-founder of ICON. “This is not science fiction, it’s science fact. The world you all have been waiting for is about to arrive.”

ICON has also created proprietary concrete/mortar material which it calls “Lavacrete” that has passed every structural test and is safe for people and resilient to the varieties of conditions it may encounter, according to the company.

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communication, Future, Internet, new technology, Science & Technology News

5G is coming fast and it’s a game-changer

March 15, 2019

The blistering speed and versatility of the coming 5G network herald a quantum leap for mobile technology – here are the fast facts.

What is 5G?

5G is the fifth generation of mobile networks, following on from 2G, 3G and 4G. But while the move from 3G to 4G was all about speeds, 5G is about so much more.

Sure, 5G is extremely quick, but it’s also stable and reliable, with characteristics that will allow it to form the underlying communication networks for connected vehicles, virtual reality worlds and robotics systems.

The new network’s greater capacity will allow these bandwidth-hungry applications to run simultaneously, without having the knock-on effect of slowing down the network for other users.

Continue reading… “5G is coming fast and it’s a game-changer”