Science & Technology News – Page 72

Higher Education, Science & Technology News

College enrollment is lower now than it’s been at any time in the last half-century

November 5, 2021

Jesse James Oct 26th, 2021 3:31 pm

You know college—the hugely expensive four-to-six year investment of time and resources that many students spend their entire lifetimes paying off? Yeah for some reason more people are opting out of it.

College enrollment was supposed to bounce back this fall. Instead, more students opted out.

Nationwide, fewer students went back to school again this year, dragging undergraduate enrollment down another 3.2% from last year, according to a new report from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center that’s based on early data from colleges. There were roughly 17.5 million students enrolled as of the last tally.

Batteries, Science & Technology News

Tesla’s prototype battery with 5 times more energy storage comes to life at Panasonic

November 4, 2021

The Japanese company revealed the prototype in an effort to fulfill Tesla’s future battery dreams.

By Sean Szymkowski

Tesla long promised big changes for its future batteries, and Panasonic hopes its latest prototype battery will deliver for the electric carmaker. On Monday, Automotive News reported on the Japanese company’s new prototype battery created specifically for Tesla. It promises fives times more energy storage, which may increase ranges significantly.

In addition to more energy, the battery will cost 50% less to produce and help boost battery production at Panasonic “100-fold,” by 2030, according to the report. These three elements could produce a game-changing battery pack for Tesla with a lower cost and more range at the core of EV adoption hurdles. Panasonic did not immediately return a request for comment and more information on the prototype battery. Tesla does not operate a public relations department to field requests for comment.

Science & Technology News, Space Flight

Rocket Lab Plans to Use a Helicopter to Catch a Rocket Mid-Air as It Returns from Space

November 2, 2021

by Florina Spînu

Rocket Lab announced plans to make its Electron rocket the first reusable orbital launch vehicle dedicated to small satellites. Towards that goal, a helicopter will monitor the rocket’s descent during the company’s next launch in preparation for future missions that seek to catch returning rocket boosters mid-air as they return to Earth. 7 photos

Rocket Lab’s next mission, dubbed ‘Love At First Insight,’ is set to take off from the company’s Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand during a 14-day launch window that will open on November 11th. This will be Rocket Lab’s fifth mission of this year and the third ocean recovery of an Electron stage.

But, this time, things will go down differently. The ‘Love At First Insight’mission will carry two Earth-observation satellites for global monitoring company BlackSky to Earth’s low orbit and will serve as a testbed for future aerial capture efforts.

Science & Technology News, Tesla

‘Tesla In Tunnels’ Project Of Elon Musk’s Boring Company Gets Green Light To Expand In Las Vegas

October 31, 2021

By Madhukumar Warrier

What Happened: The Boring Company took to Twitter to announce that the transportation system, dubbed the “Vegas Loop,” is expanding and thanked the regulators for their approval.

The regulatory approval would enable the company to expand the Vegas Loop system to a 29-mile route with 51 stations.

Clark County said that the system would have the capacity to transport 57,000 passengers per hour and that no taxpayer money would be spent to build the project.

Science & Technology News, Wearables

Sentons launches smaller sensors that can turn any surface into virtual controls

October 28, 2021

Sentons has launched a new low-power and small sensor with an accompanying gesture engine to be used in wearables (including glasses, earbuds, watches, and fitness trackers) to create virtual controls to navigate apps and features on the devices themselves.

The SDSwave processor (model SNT8255) and gesture engine unlock a customizable, ergonomic user experience, while eliminating UX design restrictions that come from the limited real estate and tiny surfaces found on the displays of wearables. As an example, it can embed a force sensor in wireless earbuds.

“Wearable makers haven’t been able to deliver streamlined, sleek wearable devices with natural user interfaces because of the constraints that come with limited space,” Sentons CEO Jess Lee. “Moreover, traditional touch technologies not only respond to touch but also to water, making them impractical for use on wearables that are often outdoors and exposed to the elements. We’re excited to finally bring a solution to market that allows device designers to make use of even the tiniest surface to make it touch and force interactive. This outdoor and water-immune interactivity unlocks new user experiences and capabilities for wearables, something the industry has never seen before.”

Energy, Science & Technology News

Autonomous Flying Wind Turbines Can Generate Energy at Nearly Half the Cost

October 29, 2021

Kitekraft’s flying turbine during flight tests.

By Chris Young

Sustainable energy is taking flight.

German startup Kitekraft is developing flying wind turbines that require 10 times less materials to develop than traditional wind turbines. The company just announced successful flight tests, which it describes as a “major milestone towards our first 100kW product.”

On its website, Kitekraft explains that the reduced requirement for materials for its flying turbine — which uses a tether instead of a huge tower — means it can reduce the costs of its energy to almost half of that produced by traditional wind farms at megawatt scale. Its carbon footprint is also lower than that of standard wind turbines, the company says, partially due to the fact that large wind turbine towers are typically transported by road.

Robots, Science & Technology News

World’s first ‘human-like’ robot nurse to care for elderly: ‘Feeling of connection’

October 25, 2021

https://youtu.be/UWWttwpD-yQ

A REVOLUTIONARY new ‘robot’ nurse designed to look and act like a human being, and capable of solving complex problems, is one of the star guests at a conference on Alternative Intelligence in California.

By CIARAN MCGRATH

And one of the scientists behind the pioneering technology said the “nursing assistant” machine, named Grace, designed to provide help and companionship to elderly people – will even be able to discuss the weather with them. Grace will make just her second public appearance at the 14th Conference on Artificial General Intelligence, alongside Dr Ben Goertzel, the founder of AI research company SingularityNET.

She is described by the company as the “little sister” of Sophia, a “social humanoid robot” developed by Hong Kong-based Hanson Robotics and activated in 2016.

Janet Adams, Chief Operating Officer at SingularityNET, told Express.co.uk: “Grace’s hardware is based on the same Hanson Robotics platform as Sophia.

“However, their AI software is quite different.”

AI, Science & Technology News

Mark Cuban-backed Alethea AI is building a metaverse of NFT avatars

October 23, 2021

Owners can bring their NFTs to Alethea’s “Noah’s Ark” metaverse to give them human-like behaviors.

Just when we were getting our heads around non-fungible tokens—crypto tokens that represent a unique digital asset—they’re now gaining sentience and moving to the metaverse.

Some of the best-known NFTs are unique avatars that people buy and sell, such as those in the CyberPunks series or Bored Ape Yacht Club. But NFTs don’t do much. Now, Alethea AI, a new company backed by entrepreneur and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, is wrapping avatars in AI that animates them, giving them conversation skills and knowledge. Collectively, the company calls this the avatar’s “pod” or “soul,” Alethea CEO Arif Khan tells me. Then, these intelligent NFTs, or iNFTs, become something like chatbots that can be owned, trained, or sold. Khan says his company originally used OpenAI’s GPT-3 natural language model to give the NFTs their speech and intelligence, but now uses an AI model it developed in-house.

“It’s a way of giving not only a personality to an avatar but to apply interactivity and to make it extensible,” Cuban said in an email to Fast Company. “You can take Alethea AI and let it grow into almost anything.” One of these NFTs, called “Alice,” already sold for $478,000 on Sotheby’s Natively Digital market in June.

Science & Technology News, Trending

These are the top 10 tech trends that will shape the coming decade, according to McKinsey

October 19, 2021

According to McKinsey, these are the 10 top technologies attracting the attention and funds of investors and technologists.

By Sean Fleming

We’ll experience more technological progress in the coming decade than we did in the preceding 100 years put together, says McKinsey.
And 10 tech trends will dominate this shifting landscape.
Understanding the effects of this change can help avoid nasty shocks to the system, for both individuals and organizations.
Businesses that are making the most of advances in tech are also in a good place to make the most in terms of return on their investments.

The pace of change in the technology sector has always been brisk. As much as 10 years worth of growth in e-commerce may have been compressed into just three months in late 2019, according to McKinsey & Company, which predicts that we’ll experience more technological progress in the coming decade than we did in the preceding 100 years put together.

Any change can be unsettling and keeping pace with developments even more so. Part of the challenge is knowing which are the most significant changes and which are the ones that are less likely to bear fruit.

According to McKinsey, these are the 10 top technologies attracting the attention and funds of investors and technologists. They are also the ones most likely to feature prominently in the changing face of the modern workplace. Understanding the impact they will have on organizations and on the people whose jobs will be affected, could be key to avoiding any of the worst downsides of the disruption that may follow.

Driverless vehicles, Science & Technology News

New York-based Buffalo Automation unveils Greycraft, the world’s first fully autonomous, AI-driven water taxi concept | Tech News | Startups News

October 16, 2021

By Laurie Foti

We wrote about Buffalo Automation in November of 2019 after the New York-based tech startup was selected as one of the 19 semi-finalists to compete for the $3 million investments by New York accelerator GENIUS NY. A lot of exciting things have happened since them.

Last week, Buffalo Automation unveiled the world’s first fully autonomous, AI-driven, passenger-carrying robotaxi in Knoxville, Tennessee next week, opening the door for cities nationwide to adopt this alternative form of transportation. The official launch of the fully operational Greycraft Water Taxi is targeted for early 2021 and will initially be cost-free for residents pending proper transportation permits.

Greycraft is the only solar-powered, autonomous vessel currently capable of carrying passengers and traversing busy waterways. Using the newly released Mayday app, it can also be hailed much like Lyft or Uber. Buffalo Automation has made the possibility of using autonomous water taxis as a safe, reliable, environmentally friendly means of transport, a reality.

Founded in 2015 Thiru Vikram, Buffalo Automation is an AI startup that provides autonomous systems for commercial ships, recreational boats, ports, and waterways. Buffalo Automation’s flagship product, Automate, is a predictive boat navigation system that guides large commercial ships.

Housing, Science & Technology News

HADRIAN X ROBOT TO BUILD MULTI-UNIT DWELLINGS

October 15, 2021

Perth construction robotics company FBR has announced its has won a $500,000 contract for its first multi-home construction project as part of its Wall as a Service (WaaS) construction system.

The Hadrian X bricklaying robot will construct eight two-storey townhouses at a development site in St James, Perth, with the robot constructing the slab, footings, structural walls, second storey slab and roof trusses.

The $5 million project by Riculallo Pty Ltd will start as soon as approvals are achieved and be completed using normal manual construction systems.

Science & Technology News, Space Flight

Graphene in Space: Wonder Material Strengthens New Space Habitat Prototype

October 15, 2021

An artist’s impression of the space habitat.

By Chris Young

The material can protect against micrometeorites and space junk.An artist’s impression of the space habitat.

Since it was first isolated in 2004 at The University of Manchester, graphene has been touted as a wonder material that can massively improve the strength of buildings and machines across the globe. Now, the robust carbon allotrope is set to go to space to strengthen future astronaut habitats.

An international team led by Dr. Vivek Koncherry at The University of Manchester is developing a prototype for the graphene-enhanced space habitat. According to Koncherry, who we reached out to by email, the material will help balance the massively contrasting temperatures to which a space structure is subjected, making it safer for its future inhabitants.