Science & Technology News – Page 182

Banking, Economy, Money Talk, Science & Technology News

The looming bank collapse

June 12, 2020

The U.S. financial system could be on the cusp of calamity. This time, we might not be able to save it.

After months of living with the coronavirus pandemic, American citizens are well aware of the toll it has taken on the economy: broken supply chains, record unemployment, failing small businesses. All of these factors are serious and could mire the United States in a deep, prolonged recession. But there’s another threat to the economy, too. It lurks on the balance sheets of the big banks, and it could be cataclysmic. Imagine if, in addition to all the uncertainty surrounding the pandemic, you woke up one morning to find that the financial sector had collapsed.

You may think that such a crisis is unlikely, with memories of the 2008 crash still so fresh. But banks learned few lessons from that calamity, and new laws intended to keep them from taking on too much risk have failed to do so. As a result, we could be on the precipice of another crash, one different from 2008 less in kind than in degree. This one could be worse.

Continue reading… “The looming bank collapse”

Coronavirus, Economy, Employment, Science & Technology News, Trending

San Francisco rents plunge as tech employees abandon high-priced city to work remotely

June 12, 2020

Twitter, Facebook among companies that will allow employees to work remotely moving forward

Coronavirus causes ‘big movement’ out of New York City: Moving company president

Roadway Moving President Ross Sapir says more people are leaving New York City for nearby states or southern states, like Florida and Texas.

Coronavirus-related work-from-home policies at the country’s biggest technology companies appear to have caused an exodus from Silicon Valley, which has sent rent prices in San Francisco plummeting.

Rents for a one-bedroom apartment in the major metro area were down 9.2 percent in June when compared with the same period last year, according to data from rental site Zumper. That is the largest decline since at least 2015 and brings the price point ($3,360) down to where it was three years ago.

In the U.S. overall, one-bedroom rents fell by just 0.2 percent. No other major metro city’s data came close to the decrease in San Francisco.

Continue reading… “San Francisco rents plunge as tech employees abandon high-priced city to work remotely”

Augmented Reality, brain hacking, brain-computer interfaces, Robots, Science & Technology News

Disrupting death: Could we really live forever in digital form?

June 12, 2020

Virtual reality, robots, chatbots and holograms could allow us to exist perpetually. Whether we should choose the option is a different story.

In 2016, Jang Ji-sung’s young daughter Nayeon passed away from a blood-related disease. But in February, the South Korean mother was reunited with her daughter in virtual reality. Experts constructed a version of her child using motion capture technology for a documentary. Wearing a VR headset and haptic gloves, Jang was able to walk, talk and play with this digital version of her daughter.

“Maybe it’s a real paradise,” Jang said of the moment the two met in VR. “I met Nayeon, who called me with a smile, for a very short time, but it’s a very happy time. I think I’ve had the dream I’ve always wanted.”

Once largely the concern of science fiction, more people are now interested in immortality — whether that’s keeping your body or mind alive forever (as explored in the new Amazon Prime comedy Upload), or in creating some kind of living memorial, like an AI-based robot or chatbot version of yourself, or of your loved one. The question is — should we do that? And if we do, what should it look like?

Continue reading… “Disrupting death: Could we really live forever in digital form?”

2020 Predictions, communication, Coronavirus, Employment, Science & Technology News

Remote collaboration and virtual conferences, The future of work

June 12, 2020

Ten weeks ago, Jesse Damiani, writing on Forbes.com, told the story of a college professor who turned his course about XR into a research project about remote collaboration and virtual conferences.

“This semester, Chapman University offered an experimental class called “Landscape of Emerging Media” through Dodge College, Chapman’s school for film and media studies. Taught by Charlie Fink, it was intended to introduce students to the XR industry, including conversations with entrepreneurs, pioneers, and artists. (Disclosure: Fink is also a Forbes Contributor).

Then, the Coronavirus pandemic struck, forcing universities nationwide to reimagine how courses would be taught—namely, to bring course instruction into an online format. But where most of these courses rely on video-conferencing through platforms like Zoom, Fink used the premise of the course to address the needs of the moment.

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Aviation, Engineering, Science & Technology News, Space, Space Flight

Scientists create world’s most heat resistant material with potential use for spaceplanes

June 11, 2020

Unmanned aircraft flying in the upper atmosphere.

Reusable spacecraft would make space exploration both more cost-effective and accessible, which is why space agencies have been actively pursuing their development. However, spaceplanes are subjected to extreme temperatures on exiting and re-entering the atmosphere. So, materials which can withstand the scorching temperatures are needed in their construction.

Scientists from the National University of Science and Technology (NUST) in Moscow have now fabricated a ceramic material which is more heat resistant than any other.

The previous material to hold the title of “most heat resistant” was tested in 2016 by a team from the Imperial College London. Using a laser heating technique which allowed them to test the material at extreme temperatures, they calculated that a chemical compound of the elements hafnium, a transition metal, and carbon had the highest melting point ever recorded at the time. Their findings showed hafnium carbide melted at just under 4000 degrees Celsius.

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Coronavirus, Economy, Housing, Science & Technology News

There is a housing market crisis brewing – And here’s where it will strike first

June 11, 2020

A potential housing crisis is brewing in some dense, overpriced housing markets as new work trends come into play.

Recent data on housing shows that sales remain strong, with only a small drop in prices.

However, longer-term trends are likely to lead to significant drops in today’s high-priced markets.

The shift towards a remote workforce will correct housing imbalances in markets that otherwise may have gone unsolved.

Many have feared a repeat of the 2008 housing crisis this year as the economy shut down. So far, however, signs indicate that the overall market is holding up well.

Continue reading… “There is a housing market crisis brewing – And here’s where it will strike first”

Coronavirus, Human Behavior, Latest Trend, Science & Technology News

Things that may become obsolete after Coronavirus

June 11, 2020

Life as we know it has changed since the coronavirus outbreak. We have been forced to rethink simple things that could now contribute toward the spread of the virus.

From handshakes to open-floor offices, here are eight things listed by Insider that could become obsolete once the worst of the pandemic has passed:

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Automobiles, Electric Vehicles, Science & Technology News, Transportation

Are you brave enough to buy this Innotruck?

June 11, 2020

Your chance to own a truck of the future.

Today you have the unique opportunity to purchase one of two Innotrucks ever built. This radical design study was sponsored by Siemens and led by designer Luigi Colani to design and construct their interpretation of the truck of the future. With a focus on efficiency and modernized design, the Innotruck was born. Now you have the opportunity to own this unique example thanks to a listing on the JamesEdition website.

In 2012 Siemens and Luigi Colani debuted their futuristic truck design to a large crowd at the MobiliTec international trade fair in Germany to stunned crowds. The Innotruck reimagined what a tractor-trailer could be introducing aerodynamics and an eco-friendly drivetrain to combat the inefficiency of our current system.

The cab was integrated into the trailer portion allowing the drivetrain to sit below the drive independent from the trailer. The drive sits in a cockpit reminiscent of a fighter jet with a huge amount of glass allowing for optimal visibility. This space is connected to a beautiful living area catering to the needs of long haul truckers. To enter the cockpit area, the glass canopy opens up and the driver climbs in.

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Advertising, Business, Coronavirus, Science & Technology News

COVID-19 Transforms Out-Of-Home Advertising

June 10, 2020

Economic crisis and pandemics like these breed incredible opportunities and this is one such opportunity for the OOH advertising industry to relearn and transform.

Who would have thought while welcoming 2020 that it would change the definition of life, from fighting the daily rat race, combatting Monday blues to being confined in our homes with our families having real conversations, and cherishing those little things that we all took for granted in a free world. The ongoing pandemic has slowed us down, given us time to introspect on a lot of things and re-imagine our lives and businesses.

Looking back at my 12 years of entrepreneurship in the out-of-home (OOH) advertising industry, reading well-articulated pieces on digital transformation and its impact across various sectors and our daily lives, as Reliance says “JIO Digital Life”, I feel it’s time when technology is going to transform old businesses and give life to new innovations creating a world which is more digital and connected than ever before.

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AI, Artificial Intelligence, communication, Microsoft, Science & Technology News

Microsoft sacks journalists to replace them with robots

June 10, 2020

Users of the homepages of the MSN website and Edge browser will now see news stories generated by AI

Dozens of journalists have been sacked after Microsoft decided to replace them with artificial intelligence software.

Staff who maintain the news homepages on Microsoft’s MSN website and its Edge browser – used by millions of Britons every day – have been told that they will be no longer be required because robots can now do their jobs.

Around 27 individuals employed by PA Media – formerly the Press Association – were told on Thursday that they would lose their jobs in a month’s time after Microsoft decided to stop employing humans to select, edit and curate news articles on its homepages.

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Cancer, Healthcare, Medicine, new technology, Science & Technology News

New technology enables fast protein synthesis

June 10, 2020

MIT chemists have developed a protocol to rapidly produce protein chains up to 164 amino acids long. The flow-based technology could speed up drug development and allow scientists to design novel protein variants incorporating amino acids that don’t occur naturally in cells. The automatic tabletop machine, pictured here, is nicknamed the “Amidator” by the research team. Credit: MIT

Many proteins are useful as drugs for disorders such as diabetes, cancer, and arthritis. Synthesizing artificial versions of these proteins is a time-consuming process that requires genetically engineering microbes or other cells to produce the desired protein.

MIT chemists have devised a protocol to dramatically reduce the amount of time required to generate synthetic proteins. Their tabletop automated flow synthesis machine can string together hundreds of amino acids, the building blocks of proteins, within hours. The researchers believe their new technology could speed up the manufacturing of on-demand therapies and the development of new drugs, and allow scientists to design artificial proteins by incorporating amino acids that don’t exist in cells.

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Alternative Transportation, Coronavirus, Science & Technology News, Transportation

Two-wheeler rental startups expect to ride high as public transport comes to a halt

June 10, 2020

Self-drive scooter businesses like Bounce, Vogo, and Yulu expect to see an uptick in adoption, with public transportation utilization capped at less than 50% due to social distancing norms.

Self-drive scooter businesses like Bounce, Vogo, and Yulu expect to see an uptick in adoption, with public transportation utilization capped at less than 50% due to social distancing norms and disposable incomes taking a hit owing to salary cuts and lower earnings, these firms tell ET.

The nationwide lockdown has forced state governments to significantly cut public transportation services, restricting commute options for healthcare workers, civic authorities, and delivery executives.

Shared two-wheelers are more efficient and provide low-cost rider-friendly alternative to public transport. “With the movement of people being staggered out, self-drive shared scooters can help drive down the prices through economies of scale and pass on the benefits to the end consumer, in this case—commuters,” said Vivekananda Hallekere, CEO of Bounce.

These businesses, however, say that state governments and businesses need to jointly build newer ways of shared and public transport to cater to safer mobility solutions. “We need to ensure adequate preparedness of cities to cater to these new requirements in the most efficient manner possible,” Anand Ayyadurai, CEO at Vogo, said.

Continue reading… “Two-wheeler rental startups expect to ride high as public transport comes to a halt”