Science & Technology News – Page 83

quantum computing, Science & Technology News

Phasecraft makes quantum computing breakthrough

July 19, 2021

Quantum computing start-up Phasecraft has developed a novel technique for modelling electrons that is said to significantly reduce quantum hardware resources needed to perform simulations.

Published in the Physical Review B journal from the American Physical Society, the study’s method for modelling fermionic particles could hold potential to advance global R&D efforts toward better energy technologies through more efficient and accurate material simulation.

“Many important fields such as chemistry and materials science are concerned with the dynamics of fermion particles in physical systems — in the form of electrons,” said co-leader of the study Charles Derby, a PhD candidate at UCL and Phasecraft team member.

Children, Science & Technology News

South Korea’s population paradox

July 17, 2021

By Miriam Quick

With a rapidly ageing population, low birth rates and young people who are increasingly shunning marriage, South Korea is in a population conundrum.

When countries undergo economic change, the effects of the transition aren’t only financial – they have major population implications, too.

This is very much the case in South Korea where, over the last three generations, the country has evolved like few others due to rapid industrialisation. Today, South Korea has a $1.6 trillion economy – the fourth largest in Asia after China, Japan and India.

As South Korea has transformed so too has its population, and very quickly at that, leaving the country in a true population paradox.

Robots, Science & Technology News

Robots have started to share the bike lane in Austin to deliver pizza

July 17, 2021

By Nathan Bernier

Riley Pakes, with Refraction AI robotics company, monitors a REV-1 delivery robot on South Congress Avenue in Austin, TX on June 16, 2021. Gabriel C. Pérez/KUT News

Austin, Texas, is one of the latest American cities where robots are now making deliveries — and competing with people for space on the road.

A fleet of 10 such robot vehicles, which look like futuristic ice cream carts, has started deliveries for the Austin chain Southside Flying Pizza.

The company behind the robots is Michigan-based Refraction AI, which has been operating in Ann Arbor since 2019. The company’s REV-1 robot can go up to 15 miles an hour with somebody monitoring journeys over the internet. For now, an attendant follows the robot on an electric scooter while the AI learns Austin’s streets.

drones, Science & Technology News

Researchers have taught a drone to recognize and hunt down meteorites autonomously

July 16, 2021

by Nancy Atkinson

Example image of two meteorites deployed during a field test near Walker Lake, Nevada. The meteorites are marked with orange flags. Note the dark shadow of the quadrictoper drone. Credit: Robert Citron et al.

Planetary scientists estimate that each year, about 500 meteorites survive the fiery trip through Earth’s atmosphere and fall to our planet’s surface. Most are quite small, and less than 2% of them are ever recovered. While the majority of rocks from space may not be recoverable due to ending up in oceans or remote, inaccessible areas, other meteorite falls are just not witnessed or known about.

But new technology has upped the number known falls in recent years. Doppler radar has detected meteorite falls, as well as all-sky camera networks specifically on the lookout for meteors. Additionally, increased use of dashcams and security cameras have allowed for more serendipitous sightings and data on fireballs and potential meteorite falls.

A team of researchers is now taking advantage of additional technology advances by testing out drones and machine learning for automated searches for small meteorites. The drones are programmed to fly a grid search pattern in a projected “strewn field” for a recent meteorite fall, taking systematic pictures of the ground over a large survey area. Artificial intelligence is then used to search through the pictures to identify potential meteorites.

Driverless vehicles, Science & Technology News

World’s Most Advanced Autonomous Research Vehicle Completes Ocean Crossing from San Francisco to Hawaii

July 16, 2021

The uncrewed, autonomous, Saildrone Surveyor will arrive in Hawaii today after a groundbreaking maiden voyage from San Francisco to Honolulu.

Over 80% of Earth’s oceans remain unmapped. Saildrone intends to map the world’s oceans in the next 10 years.

While ocean crossings are nothing new for Saildrone’s autonomous surface vehicles, the Saildrone Surveyor is a new, much larger class of vehicle optimized for deep-ocean mapping. During the 28-day voyage, the Saildrone Surveyor sailed 2,250 nautical miles and mapped 6,400 square nautical miles of seafloor.

Using renewable wind and solar energy for its primary power source, the Saildrone Surveyor is the only vehicle in the world capable of long-endurance, uncrewed ocean mapping operations. The valuable data it collects will help address issues impacting our world including climate change, offshore renewable energy, natural resource management, and maritime safety.

Measuring 72 feet long (22 m) and weighing 14 tons, the Saildrone Surveyor carries a sophisticated array of acoustic instruments, normally carried by large, manned survey ships. The Surveyor’s sensors interrogate the water column looking at underwater ecosystems and map the seafloor in high resolution to a depth of 23,000 feet (7,000 m).

Science & Technology News, Space Flight

New Plasma Thruster Concept Could Make Space Missions 10x Faster

July 16, 2021

Space travel might take less time than ever with the new plasma thruster design developed at the US Department of Energy.

By Rupendra Brahambhatt

Fatima Ebrahimi, a physicist from the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) has designed a plasma thruster that is likely to make space travel way faster than any other existing technology.

Fast and efficient space travel has the potential to push mankind towards a better future. There might be planets, resources, and even life forms located far away that can bring a drastic change in our knowledge, understanding, and lifestyle. There are strong chances that, if it turns out to be successful, the new plasma thruster design from Ebrahimi could change the dynamics of space travel.

Robots, Science & Technology News

Fully Automated ‘Hands-Free’ Farm Will Replace Workers With Robots and AI

July 15, 2021

The human farmers of the future may be behind a screen rather than in the field.

By Chris Young

Farmers may soon have to get accustomed to life behind the screen instead of in the field as robots and AI increasingly catch up with, and in many cases, greatly exceed the capabilities of human workers.

The latest such development comes in the form of Australia’s first fully automated farm, which was created at a cost of $20 million, a report from ABC News explains.

Science & Technology News, Virtual Reality

Virtual Reality is the future of employee training and onboarding, post-pandemic

July 15, 2021

The means of actually recruiting an employee and onboarding them with the job has changed its meaning in 2020.

By Brand Post

Virtual reality – The future or should we say the present and the most prominent technology for the best user interface. Virtual reality has changed the means of interaction and shopping. Among the successful conversion rates in eCommerce sectors, Virtual reality is incorporating itself in the corporate world, i.e workplace. Virtual reality in the workplace assures, to enhance the learning process, better produce in expressing innovative ideas and of course seamless onboarding as well as training of employees.

Science & Technology News, SpaceX

Elon Musk Wants to Turn SpaceX Starship to a Giant Space Telescope; Is It Possible?

July 15, 2021

Elon Musk, SpaceX Chief Engineer, and the SpaceX team are recognized by Vice President Mike Pence inside the Vehicle Assembly Building following the launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the company’s Crew Dragon spacecraft on NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 mission with NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley onboard, Saturday, May 30, 2020, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

By Aubrey Clarke

Elon Musk, SpaceX CEO, recently stated that the company’s Starship could be converted into a “huge telescope” with 10 times the resolution of NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. The recent revelation indicates that the billionaire still has lots of ambitious ideas for the company’s spaceship.

SpaceX’s Starship might bring the first astronauts to the Moon’s surface since the Apollo missions, clean up our planet’s increasingly polluted orbit, and possibly assist in the establishment of a metropolis on Mars.

Musk has now stated that he wishes to bring astronomical observations into the twenty-first century.

Medical Breakthrough, Science & Technology News

Latest ‘organ-on-a-chip’ is a new way to study cancer-related muscle wasting

July 14, 2021

Studying drug effects on human muscles just got easier thanks to a new “muscle-on-a-chip,” developed by a team of researchers from Penn’s School of Engineering and Applied Science and Inha University in Incheon, Korea.

Muscle tissue is essential to almost all of the body’s organs, however, diseases such as cancer and diabetes can cause muscle tissue degradation or “wasting,” severely decreasing organ function and quality of life. Traditional drug testing for treatment and prevention of muscle wasting is limited through animal studies, which do not capture the complexity of the human physiology, and human clinical trials, which are too time consuming to help current patients.

An “organ-on-a-chip” approach can solve these problems. By growing real human cells within microfabricated devices, an organ-on-a-chip provides a way for scientists to study replicas of human organs outside of the body.

Using their new muscle-on-a-chip, the researchers can safely run muscle injury experiments on human tissue, test targeted cancer drugs and supplements, and determine the best preventative treatment for muscle wasting.

Robots, Science & Technology News

Degradable microrobots could help deliver cells within the body

July 14, 2021

Microrobot cultured with cells

Researchers find the sweet spot between strength and biocompatibility in these tiny cell-carrying microrobots.

Cell-based therapies are promising in medicine, helping to repair damaged tissue following injury, such as a heart attack, or have found application in the treatment of different cancers. This sounds well and good, but delivering said cells poses a bit of a challenge as this is usually done through invasive procedures.

Similar in size to human cells, microrobots offer an alternative means of cell delivery with fewer complications as these tiny robots are far less likely to cause tissue damage. But building microrobots that can not only effectively navigate the complex environment that is a living body, but who are also equipped to deliver live cells to an affected area is a different ball game all on its own.

Driverless cars, Science & Technology News

Startup Halo will bring driverless car service to Las Vegas later this year on T-Mobile 5G

July 14, 2021

Halo says it will use remote drivers to operate its vehicles over T-Mobile 5G.

By Allison Johnson

Driverless car startup Halo has announced a new service coming to Las Vegas later this year: a fleet of remotely operated electric vehicles, using T-Mobile’s 5G network. It’s potentially a big step toward fulfilling the promise of 5G remote driver tech, with a significant catch: the cars don’t operate solely on T-Mobile 5G. While it’s the primary network they’ll use (mid- and low-band 5G, specifically, with LTE as a fallback), they will also rely on other networks.

The idea is simple enough: Halo employs remote drivers to operate the vehicles, delivering them to waiting customers who then get behind the wheel and take the car to their destination. When the trip has ended, the car moves on to its next pick-up under remote control. Halo is also currently operating test drives with safety drivers in vehicles, which it says it won’t include when the service launches for paying customers. That’s easier said than done.

There’s no shortage of driverless and autonomous vehicle pilot programs in Las Vegas; Lyft has operated a driverless taxi service in the city, and more recently Motional has been testing autonomous rides without a backup driver behind the wheel. Halo’s service is a little different, using a remote driver, along with an “Advanced Safe Stop” mechanism to automatically bring the car to a halt if a hazard is detected. The company says that ultimately it hopes to achieve full autonomy, and that in the meantime its vehicles are designed to “learn” from their human operators.