Jimmy, an open source robot.
If you could build your own robot, what would you have it do? If you’re the type of person who is into building stuff and coding, you may soon get your chance to answer that question for real, courtesy of an interesting project coming from the labs of chipmaker Intel. (Video)
Continue reading… “Futurist at Intel shows how you’ll download and program your own robot”
One common problem with electric cars is there is a lack of charging stations to charge the cars on long drives. “After you run out of battery power, a small four-cylinder engine runs a generator to extend the range of the car for another 300 or 400 miles, and you can always just keep putting more gas into it to keep on going,” writes Evan Ackerman.
Continue reading… “Tesla patents next-gen battery that will last 400 miles”
The big money has moved from developing psychiatric drugs to manipulating our brain networks.
Has the psychiatric drug age reached its peak? Mind-altering drugs have are being prescribed in record numbers but there are signs of a radically new approach to understanding and treating mental illnesses. A huge research effort is now devoted to altering the function of specific neural circuits by physical intervention in the brain and the focus is no longer on developing drugs.
Continue reading… “Why neuroscience is ending the Prozac era”
High energy capacity, cost effective batteries are urgently needed for a wide range of medical, transportation and power generation devices, including in greenhouse gas reduction applications such as overcoming the battery driven “range anxiety” of electric vehicles, and increased capacity energy storage for the electric grid. Now there is a new class of battery that uses a molten electrolyte, are quasi-reversible (rechargeable), and have amongst the highest intrinsic battery electric energy storage capacities.
Continue reading… “Molten Air batteries have the highest storage capacity ever seen”
A coyote boarded a train in Portland, Oregon.
Cities are seen as the hardest place for the hardiest of animals to exist. They are seen as environmental wastelands. But more and more wild animals are adjusting to life in the city as scientists in the the urban ecology field are finding.
Continue reading… “Wild animals are adapting to city life and thriving”
In New York last week, A working prototype of a low-cost electroencephalography device funded by the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) made its debut, the first step in the agency’s effort to jumpstart a do-it-yourself revolution in neuroscience.
Continue reading… “Can DARPA jumpstart the DIY brain-scanning movement?”
Is the movie industry dying at the hands of home theaters, Netflix, Redbox, LoveFilm, and Amazon Instant Video?
Jack Valenti, former President of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) once said, “I say to you that the VCR is to the American film producer and the American public as the Boston strangler is to the woman home alone.” That was a controversial claim but it helps highlight the fears that emerging technologies can cause amongst those with an interest in the status quo. In this instance, the underlying concern was that VHS-enabled time-shifting meant that viewers could not only copy and distribute copyrighted broadcasts, but also fast-forward commercials, which could discourage advertisers.
Continue reading… “The future of movie theaters”
Companies that want to sell software to enterprise in the next few years might be wise to start thinking about data. That doesn’t mean they need to become a “big data” company, per se, but at least thinking of what metrics your customers need tracked and how to deliver that information to them.
Continue reading… “The future of software is all about analytics”
The internet has made it possible for people to educate themselves, independently or in groups large and small, on an unprecedented scale.
There hasn’t been much change in universities since the Middle Ages. Universities have the campus with its lecture halls, dormitories, libraries, and laboratories surrounded by leafy quadrangles. They have added giant sports complexes, gyms and swimming pools, and gourmet restaurants, but the basic layout is the same. And the production process hasn’t changed since around 1200. Professors give lectures, students read books and take notes, there are examinations and grades, along with the occasional tutoring session, and a great deal of hanky panky. The professors wear tweed jackets instead of gowns, and the students wear – well, just about anything, including pajamas – but otherwise the university remains one of society’s most conservative institutions.
Continue reading… “Are universities terrified of MOOCs?”
The results of a recent experiment have been published by FaceResearch.org. Experimental psychologists at the University of Glasgow in Scotland have combined the faces of women around the world to approximate the “average face” of each country. Multiple images of faces are aligned and composited together to form the final result using a modern version of the technique that Sir Francis Galton pioneered in the 1800′s.
Continue reading… “Average faces of women from around the world”
This is the largest campaign we’ve seen that has been focused on drone technology.
Chines hackers based in Shanghai went after one foreign defense contractor after another, at least 20 in all, for nearly two years. Their target, according to an American cyber security company that monitored the attacks, was the technology behind the United States’ clear lead in military drones.
Continue reading… “China hackers are after U.S. military drone technology”
A new study from the Oxford Martin Program on the Impacts of Future Technology suggests that almost half of U.S. jobs could be susceptible to computerization over the next two decades.
Continue reading… “Almost half of U.S. jobs at risk of computerization: Study”
By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.
Learn More about this exciting program.