Science & Technology News – Page 353

Agriculture, Ecological Products, Farming, Food, Great New Product, Green Friendly, Plant Life, Science & Technology News

Ikea just launched a DIY flat-pack indoor garden that can feed a whole lot of people at once

March 9, 2017

Swedish architects Mads-Ulrik Husum and Sine Lindholm collaborated with Space10, Ikea’s innovation lab, to design a piece of living furniture that can feed quite a few people, from the looks of it.

Called the Growroom, it’s a flat-pack spherical garden that grows plants, veggies, and herbs.

“Standing tall as a spherical garden, it empowers people to grow their own food much more locally in a beautiful and sustainable way,” its designers write on Medium.

Though Space10 launched the Growroom in late 2016, the designers just made the plans open-source. You can download the instruction manual on Space10’s site.

Continue reading… “Ikea just launched a DIY flat-pack indoor garden that can feed a whole lot of people at once”

3D Printer, Biotech, Health & Fitness, Medical Breakthrough, Medicine, Science & Technology News

Humans Can Now “Print” Genetic Code and Engineer Life

March 9, 2017

We have learned how to manipulate the code of life. Why this hasn’t received more attention is beyond me.

Synthetic Biology is a multidisciplinary field that often defies definition. Yet despite its complexity, it is a remarkably easy field to apply once you’ve learned the science behind it. From a computer, you can input your desired genetic sequence, print it out, glue it together, put it into a cell and then watch whatever you have created sprout.

Continue reading… “Humans Can Now “Print” Genetic Code and Engineer Life”

AI, Artificial Intelligence, Hot Issues, Human Behavior, Intelligence, Legal Issues, Robotics, Robots, Science & Technology News

Do Robots and AI Deserve Rights?

March 9, 2017

When it comes to robot-human relations, the conversation typically centers on the welfare of the sentient. Science fiction paints us as petrified by our own creations; fears of a bot planet have influenced everything from Asimov’s “Laws of Robotics” to HAL 9000’s homicidal impulses to Skynet’s global genocide.

These human-centric anxieties are understandable. However, as our assorted bots and bits gain skills and personalities, should they be afforded some form of protection from us? It’s a question people are starting to seriously ponder.

Continue reading… “Do Robots and AI Deserve Rights?”

Inventions, New Inventions, Science & Technology News, Virtual Reality, VR, Wearables, Weather

Now You Can Feel Wind and Temperature While in Virtual Reality

March 9, 2017

Realistic visuals and audio are essential to shaping an immersive virtual reality (VR) experience. But these researchers from the National University of Singapore believe VR shouldn’t just cater to sight and sound. For the ultimate VR experience, other senses should come into play as well.

Last year, Nimesha Ranasinghe and his team demonstrated how electrodes can be used to add a sense of taste to VR. Their latest accessory, Ambiotherm, adds another element of realism to the experience: atmosphere.

Continue reading… “Now You Can Feel Wind and Temperature While in Virtual Reality”

Big Problems, Business, Economy, government, Internet, Science & Technology News, Social Media

What if the internet stopped working for a day?

March 8, 2017

Jeff Hancock likes to give his Stanford University students weekend assignments that let them experience concepts discussed in class for themselves. Before 2008, he would sometimes challenge his students to stay off the internet for 48 hours and then discuss how it affected them. But when Hancock returned to work in 2009, after a year-long sabbatical, things had changed.

“When I tried to introduce the task, there was a class revolt,” says Hancock, who studies the psychological and social processes involved in online communication. “The students emphatically said the assignment was impossible and unfair.”

Continue reading… “What if the internet stopped working for a day?”

Computer Security, Crime, Hackers, Hacking, Hot Issues, Internet, Internet of Things, Science & Technology News, security

Welcome to the Internet of Dangerous Things

March 6, 2017

Bruce Schneier: Last year, on October 21, your digital video recorder — or at least a DVR like yours — knocked Twitter off the internet. Someone used your DVR, along with millions of insecure webcams, routers, and other connected devices, to launch an attack that started a chain reaction, resulting in Twitter, Reddit, Netflix, and many sites going off the internet. You probably didn’t realize that your DVR had that kind of power. But it does.

Continue reading… “Welcome to the Internet of Dangerous Things”

Clothing, Economy, Employment, Robotics, Robots, Science & Technology News, Textiles

Sewbo is getting closer to disrupting the sweatshop

March 6, 2017

Jon Zornow, the founder of Sewbo, made waves in September after announcing that he had built the first robot to sew a t-shirt without human intervention. Using a robot arm and an automatic sewing machine, Zornow took some carefully prepared material and ran it through a pre-programmed series of moves.

It worked. Out popped a t-shirt.

Continue reading… “Sewbo is getting closer to disrupting the sweatshop”

Big Problems, Biotech, Healthcare, Hot Issues, Medicine, Science & Technology News

The 12 most dangerous superbugs, ranked by the WHO

March 3, 2017

The World Health Organization says we need to step up the fight against a dozen bacteria that are growing resistant to all the antibiotics we have to treat them.

One of the scariest features of the antibiotic resistance crisis — which has been accelerated by how we overuse these drugs — is that pharmaceutical companies aren’t developing new antibiotics quickly enough. They also often place profits ahead public health when choosing which drugs to develop.

Continue reading… “The 12 most dangerous superbugs, ranked by the WHO”

Biotech, Ecological Products, Engineering, New Discoveries, Science & Technology News, Textiles

Fiber-reinforced hydrogel is 5 times stronger than steel

March 3, 2017

Hydrogels have shown significant potential in everything from wound dressings to soft robots, but their applications have been limited from their lack of toughness – until now. A team of scientists at Hokkaido University have developed a new set of hydrogel composites or “fiber-reinforced soft composites” that combine hydrogels with woven fiber fabric to create a material that is five times stronger than carbon steel.

Continue reading… “Fiber-reinforced hydrogel is 5 times stronger than steel”

AI, Analysis, Big Data, government, Intelligence, Military, Science & Technology News

The Data-Driven Transformation of Intelligence

February 28, 2017

When “little green men” invaded Crimea in early 2014, they left a data trail that went largely unnoticed by the U.S. Intelligence Community (IC). Distracted by a large Russian exercise to the west, the IC did not connect the digital dots that indicated the impending invasion. In the Information Age, the “dots” are more plentiful and glaring as everyone now leaves a data trail. Given that, how can intelligence analysts better gather, share, organize, and view data to reveal intent, more accurately predict behavior, and make better decisions with limited resources?

Continue reading… “The Data-Driven Transformation of Intelligence”

AI, Artificial Intelligence, Big Problems, Business, City Planning, Current Events, Economy, Employment, Engineering, Future, Hot Issues, Latest News, Latest Trend, Robotics, Robots, Science & Technology News, Technological Unemployment

Robots will replace over 250,000 government jobs — and that’s just the beginning

February 24, 2017

Automation could replace 250,000 jobs in government over the next 10 to 15 years — with potentially one million more under threat. The UK’s public sector workforce stood at around 5.3 million in the middle of last year, and has been falling since 2009, when it stood at 6.4 million. But that could be slashed significantly if the public sector adopts a policy of automating predictable jobs, according to a report from thinktank Reform.

Continue reading… “Robots will replace over 250,000 government jobs — and that’s just the beginning”

Breakthrough Thinking, Crazy Stuff, cutting edge, Future, Science & Technology News

Researchers invent paper that can be printed with light and reused 80 times

February 24, 2017

In an effort to fight the detrimental environmental impact of inkjet printing, researchers have invented a new type of “paper” that can be printed with light and re-written up to 80 times. Their invention employs the color-changing chemistry of nanoparticles, which can be applied via a thin coating to a variety of surfaces – including conventional paper.

Continue reading… “Researchers invent paper that can be printed with light and reused 80 times”