Science & Technology News – Page 224

Aviation, Military, new technology, Science & Technology News

U.S. Air Force scientists developed liquid metal which autonomously changes structure

January 2, 2020

As reported by the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory, military scientists have developed a “Terminator-like” liquid metal that can autonomously change the structure, just like in a Hollywood movie.

The scientists developed liquid metal systems for stretchable electronics – that can be bent, folded, crumpled and stretched – are major research areas towards next-generation military devices.

Conductive materials change their properties as they are strained or stretched. Typically, electrical conductivity decreases and resistance increases with stretching.

The material recently developed by Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) scientists, called Polymerized Liquid Metal Networks, does just the opposite. These liquid metal networks can be strained up to 700%, autonomously respond to that strain to keep the resistance between those two states virtually the same, and still return to their original state. It is all due to the self-organized nanostructure within the material that performs these responses automatically.

Continue reading… “U.S. Air Force scientists developed liquid metal which autonomously changes structure”

Computer Security, Inventions, Medicine, Science & Technology News

Quantum computing : Solving problems beyond the power of classical computing

January 2, 2020

Quantum computers will lead to vast improvements in drug discovery, weather forecasting and supply chain optimisation.

Weather forecasting today is good. Can it get better? Sure, it can, if computers can be better. This is where quantum computers come into the picture. They possess computing capacity beyond anything that today’s classical computers can ever achieve. This is because quantum computers can run calculations exponentially faster than today’s conventional binary computers. That makes them powerful enough to bridge gaps which exist in today’s weather forecasting, drug discovery, financial modelling and many other complex areas.

Classical computing has been the backbone of modern society. It gave us satellite TV, the internet and digital commerce. It put robots on Mars and smartphones in our pockets.

“But many of the world’s biggest mysteries and potentially greatest opportunities remain beyond the grasp of classical computers,” says Stefan Filipp, quantum scientist at IBM Research. “To continue the pace of progress, we need to augment the classical approach with a new platform, one that follows its own set of rules. That is quantum computing.”

Continue reading… “Quantum computing : Solving problems beyond the power of classical computing”

Economy, Latest Trend, Money Talk, Science & Technology News

The coming boom in Millennial wealth

December 31, 2019

Historically, much written on Millennials has focused on economic strife and crushing student loan debt. While, as with virtually every other generation in history, many Millennials have struggled financially during their youth, a new report from youth marketing experts YPulse makes four predictions that are suggestive of a significant turnaround being on the horizon.

Before getting to the predictions, it is important to take into account two key factors pertaining to Millennial wealth. First, the U.S. economy has been booming for a sustained period of time. Unemployment reached the point in 2018 where there are more open jobs than workers, the stock market is up, GDP has been growing at a healthy pace, and average real earnings have been increasing. In such an environment, those becoming established in jobs are in a better position to thrive. Moreover, many Millennials have been known to be careful spenders on many consumer products.

A second factor that bodes well for wealth growth is that student loans are not the albatross they are made out to be for most Millennials. While this does not mean that a significant number of individuals do not struggle with student debt, when one takes a macro view of the situation, it is not as bad as it has often been made out to be. One needs to remember that average level of $30,000 of student loan debt in 2019 would have translated to about $4650 in 1970 when an average aged Baby Boomer was taking out loans.

Continue reading… “The coming boom in Millennial wealth”

Finance, Higher Education, Money Talk, Science & Technology News

How An Unlimited Supply Of Borrowed Cash Is Destroying Higher Education

December 31, 2019

Both of us grew up poor. College was our way out of poverty. Now, we see too many young people locked into poverty by a college education.

“You have to go to college” was an article of faith when we were growing up in poor families. Now we wonder if our ticket out of poverty still has the same value. Far too many of this generation are leaving college with substantial debt and few meaningful job opportunities.

Put a little differently, what is the value of a bachelor’s degree in women’s studies or sociology or any other fields that are not science, technology, engineering, mathematics, or business? Ask some of the young people working at your local coffee shop or favorite restaurant. They will probably tell you, “not much.”

Continue reading… “How An Unlimited Supply Of Borrowed Cash Is Destroying Higher Education”

Analysis, Human Behavior, Internet, Science & Technology News

88% of Americans use a second screen while watching TV. Why?

December 31, 2019

Second screens and the sickness unto death.

When it comes to tech, I like to think I’m a pretty hoopy frood. I added the System Tuner UI to my Android phone’s settings. I’ve crimped my own ethernet cables. I got Wing Commander III running, back when that required the dark arts of HIMEM.SYS tweaking. What I’m trying to say is: I am with it!

Except when it comes to staring at screens while staring at other screens. I just don’t suss it. But apparently 88 percent of Americans do.

Continue reading… “88% of Americans use a second screen while watching TV. Why?”

Breakthrough Thinking, Engineering, Machine Learning, Science & Technology News

Researchers observe brain-like behavior in nanoscale device

December 30, 2019

A device like the one in the study (right), and an electron microscope image showing the device’s neuron-like arrangement of nanowires.

UCLA scientists James Gimzewski and Adam Stieg are part of an international research team that has taken a significant stride toward the goal of creating thinking machines.

Led by researchers at Japan’s National Institute for Materials Science, the team created an experimental device that exhibited characteristics analogous to certain behaviors of the brain—learning, memorization, forgetting, wakefulness and sleep. The paper, published in Scientific Reports, describes a network in a state of continuous flux.

“This is a system between order and chaos, on the edge of chaos,” said Gimzewski, a UCLA distinguished professor of chemistry and biochemistry, a member of the California NanoSystems Institute at UCLA and a co-author of the study. “The way that the device constantly evolves and shifts mimics the human brain. It can come up with different types of behavior patterns that don’t repeat themselves.”

Continue reading… “Researchers observe brain-like behavior in nanoscale device”

Batteries, Elon Musk, Science & Technology News, Tesla

Tesla patents new chemistry for better, longer-lasting and cheaper batteries

December 30, 2019

Tesla has made a lot of battery moves this year and it is closing the year by filing a patent on a new chemistry for better, longer-lasting and cheaper batteries.

Earlier this year, we reported on Tesla’s battery research partner, Jeff Dahn and his team at Dalhousie University, unveiling the impressive results of tests on a new battery cell that could last over 1 million miles in an electric vehicle.

The new battery tested is a Li-Ion battery cell with a next-generation “single crystal” NMC cathode and a new advanced electrolyte.

Since then, Tesla has been filing US and international patents on the new battery chemistry.

Continue reading… “Tesla patents new chemistry for better, longer-lasting and cheaper batteries”

communication, Computer Security, Higher Education, new technology, Science & Technology News

Colleges are turning students’ phones into surveillance machines, tracking the locations of hundreds of thousands

December 30, 2019

Syracuse University is among the dozens of schools in the United States that use tracking systems to monitor students’ academic performance, analyze their conduct or assess their mental health.

When Syracuse University freshmen walk into professor Jeff Rubin’s Introduction to Information Technologies class, seven small Bluetooth beacons hidden around the Grant Auditorium lecture hall connect with an app on their smartphones and boost their “attendance points.”

And when they skip class? The SpotterEDU app sees that, too, logging their absence into a campus database that tracks them over time and can sink their grade. It also alerts Rubin, who later contacts students to ask where they’ve been. His 340-person lecture has never been so full.

“They want those points,” he said. “They know I’m watching and acting on it. So, behaviorally, they change.”

Continue reading… “Colleges are turning students’ phones into surveillance machines, tracking the locations of hundreds of thousands”

Employment, Human Behavior, New Viewpoints, Science & Technology News

Science explains why we should all work shorter hours in winter

December 27, 2019

People tend to feel gloomier when the nights draw in and cold weather descends. But altering our working hours to fit the seasons could help lift our mood

For many of us, winter, with its chillier days and lingering nights, ushers in with it a general sense of malaise. It’s increasingly difficult to peel ourselves out of bed in the half-light of morning, and, hunched over our desks at work, we can feel our productivity draining away with the remnants of the afternoon sun.

For the small subsection of the population who experience full-blown seasonal affective disorder (SAD), it’s even worse – winter blues mutate into something far more debilitating. Sufferers experience hypersomnia, low mood and a pervasive sense of futility during the bleaker months. SAD notwithstanding, depression is more widely reported during winter, suicide rates increase, and productivity in the workplace drops during January and February.

Continue reading… “Science explains why we should all work shorter hours in winter”

Automation, Fashion, Science & Technology News

Uniqlo’s robots have already replaced 90% of its human workers at its flagship warehouse, now they’ve cracked the difficult task of folding T-shirts

December 27, 2019

Japanese clothing brand Uniqlo.

Uniqlo is coming close to full automation at its flagship warehouse in Tokyo, according to a new report from The Financial Times.

According to The FT, Uniqlo’s parent company, Fast Retailing, has partnered with a Japanese startup that develops industrial robots to create a two-armed robot that is able to pick up t-shirts and box these up, a task that could previously only be done by a human.

This is an important innovation as it could enable this factory, which has already replaced 90% of its workers with robots, to roll out a fully automated process.

Continue reading… “Uniqlo’s robots have already replaced 90% of its human workers at its flagship warehouse, now they’ve cracked the difficult task of folding T-shirts”

Nanotechnology, New Inventions, new technology, Science & Technology News

Researchers demonstrate chip-to-chip quantum teleportation

December 27, 2019

Llewellyn et al realize an array of microring resonators (MRRs) to generate multiple high-quality single photons, which are monolithically integrated with linear-optic circuits that process multiple qubits with high fidelity and low noise.

A research team led by University of Bristol scientists has successfully demonstrated quantum teleportation of information between two programmable micrometer-scale silicon chips. The team’s work, published in the journal Nature Physics, lays the groundwork for large-scale integrated photonic quantum technologies for communications and computations.

Quantum teleportation offers quantum state transfer of a quantum particle from one place to another by utilizing entanglement.

Continue reading… “Researchers demonstrate chip-to-chip quantum teleportation”

Aviation, Electric Vehicles, Record Breaker, Science & Technology News

Rolls-Royce ACCEL all-electric plane prepares to set a world record

December 27, 2019

Rolls-Royce wants to create the ‘fastest electric plane ever,’ a goal that falls under its Accelerating the Electrification of Flight (ACCEL) initiative. The project is part of Rolls-Royce’s mission to advance aviation with the electrification of flight, opening the door for green air travel. The company is backed by government funding in this effort.

Assuming everything goes according to plan, ACCEL will usher in the fastest all-electric airplane in the world. The company announced last week that it has taken ‘an important step’ in this project by officially unveiling the electric model at the Gloucestershire Airport.

The company explains that its team is starting work on the ACCEL plane’s electrical propulsion system, specifically on integrating this system ahead of the record-breaking flight currently planned for next spring. Rolls-Royce expects the electric plane to reach or exceed 300 MPH.

Continue reading… “Rolls-Royce ACCEL all-electric plane prepares to set a world record”