Impact Lab – Page 313 – A Laboratory of the Future Human Experience

Liverpool Hospital trials smart gloves to train surgeons

March 31, 2022

Liverpool Hospital is trialling smart gloves that are said to provide surgical trainees with instant and accurate feedback.

The surgical gloves, invented by engineers at Western Sydney University, have been built around low-cost sensors which can record hand movements in fine detail, giving trainee surgeons and their mentors actionable data to evaluate and improve on intricate surgical procedures.

The research team are working closely with surgeons and students at Liverpool Hospital to develop the technology, which will augment rather than replace traditional surgical training.

Dr Gough Lui, who led the work, believes the device could objectively measure the intricate hand manoeuvres of surgeons, allowing for clear and actionable feedback for trainees.

“Training surgeons in a more objective and evidence-based manner ensures evidence-based competency. Teachers will be able to give precise feedback on minute details post-surgery, and students can analyse their performance,” Dr Lui said.

drones

World’s longest 165-mile ‘drone superhighway’ proposed in the UK

March 31, 2022

By Ishveena Singh

A UK consortium has revealed its blueprint to build the world’s largest and longest “drone superhighway,” connecting towns and cities across the nation. The 165-mile (265 km) Project Skyway is being hailed as “the most ambitious transport project proposed for the UK since the advent of the railway network in the 18th century.”

Led by Unified Traffic Management (UTM) software provider Altitude Angel, the consortium says it would initially connect the Midlands with the Southeast to cover cities such as Reading, Oxford, Milton Keynes, Cambridge, Coventry, and Rugby. In the second phase of the project, the superhighway could be extended to Southampton on the south coast and Ipswich on the east coast.

The idea is to enable businesses in these regions to develop and grow through the commercialization of new drone-based products, processes, and services. However, a decision on whether the project would receive the green light is not expected for a few weeks at least.

But that’s not stopping Richard Parker, CEO and founder at Altitude Angel, from calling the proposed drone superhighway a harbinger of the second transport revolution in Britain. Here’s Parker:

Bitcoin, Science & Technology News

Leumi becomes the first Israeli bank to offer Bitcoin and Ethereum trading

March 31, 2022

by Florence Muchai

Israeli`s Bank Leumi approves crypto trading.
Banks worldwide start to embrace crypto services and blockchain innovations.
Israel gears up for crypto adoption.

According to reports, Bank Leumi, an Israeli bank, will enable crypto trading and become the first in the country to allow such trading activity. On March 24, Pepper Invest, the bank’s digital platform, announced that it would collaborate with Paxos to provide the service. Bank Leumi is Israel’s second-largest financial bank after Bank Hapoalim.

Robots, Science & Technology News

MEET YOUR NEW DELIVERY DRIVER – A ROBOT THAT CAN STAND ON TWO LEGS AND CALL A LIFT

March 30, 2022

The future of delivery will see robots with brains downloaded into them. Incredible new scenes highlighting the tech show a robot standing on two legs – and calling itself an elevator.

The latest abilities of the ANYmal robot were showcased as a key part of tech giant NVIDIA’s Artificial Intelligence conference this week.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang kicked off GTC22 with a keynote speech presenting the latest breakthroughs in AI, data science, high-performance computing, and autonomous machines, featuring the wheeled-legged robot in the real and digital world.

He suggested robots would learn to walk and know their environment in the omniverse; a physically accurate virtual replica of real-world environments.

Mr Huang explained: “The trained AI brain is then downloaded into the physical robot. And since omniverse is physically accurate, the robot, after getting its bearings, should adopt the skills of its digital twin.”

Futurati Podcast, Science & Technology News

Ep. 77 With Vilina Tchakarova

March 30, 2022

Watch our interview with Velina Tchakarova on Youtube or on the Futurati Podcast website.

Velina Tchakaravo is the Director at the Austrian Institute for European and Security Policy (AIES) in Vienna, Austria. Her work includes research, consulting, and lectures on Global System Transformation and the geostrategy of global actors.

AI

AI-Powered Robotic Workcell Optimizes Small Parcel Fulfillment

March 30, 2022

The INDUCT workcell will help parcel, post and e-commerce fulfillment companies alleviate capacity shortages and increase efficiency.

By Marina Mayer Kindred

Kindred Powered by Ocado Group announced plans to develop INDUCT, an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered robotic system designed to automate the small parcel induction process.

“Kindred INDUCT is a highly-intelligent robotic system that modernizes induction processes so customers can meet the breakneck pace of consumer demand for e-commerce shipments,” says Marin Tchakarov, CEO of Kindred. “The proprietary Kindred CORE/AutoGrasp reinforcement learning platform is continuously improving, becoming smarter, faster and more efficient as it learns from millions of picks across our fleet of deployed robots every day.”

3D Printer

X-BOW EXITS STEALTH MODE WITH ITS 3D PRINTED ROCKET ENGINES

March 29, 2022

X-Bow testing one of its solid fuel rocket engines. Photo via X-Bow.

By KUBI SERTOGLU

X-Bow Launch Systems, a space technology 3D printing company, has exited stealth mode this week.

Originally founded in 2016, the New Mexico-headquartered startup specializes in the development of 3D printed solid fuels and rocket motors and has already created a lineup of small launch vehicles suitable for both orbital and suborbital launches.

Having already secured several contracts with U.S. government organizations, X-Bow’s existing customers include the Air Force Research Lab, AFWERX, Los Alamos National Lab, Sandia National Lab, and the Defense Research Projects Agency(DARPA).

Jason Hundley, CEO of X-Bow, said, “X-Bow is leveraging a unique combination of technologies with an improved manufacturing model to serve existing aerospace markets and enable new ones. Our breakthrough 3D printing technology is positioned to rapidly innovate the solid propulsion and energetics markets just as SpaceX revolutionized the launch market. Our mission is to modernize solid motor production through additive manufacturing while dramatically improving unit economics.”

brain-computer interfaces

SCIENTISTS SAY BRAIN IMPLANT LET COMPLETELY PARALYZED MAN COMMUNICATE AGAIN

March 29, 2022

“I MYSELF COULD NOT BELIEVE THAT THIS IS POSSIBLE.”

A 34-year-old paralyzed man who had even lost the ability to move his eyes due to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), is able to communicate again through a brain implant.

Rather than the system tracking his eyes as with current-generation tech, The New York Times reports, the implant was able to pick up on the man imagining moving his eyes. It’s a notable neuroscience achievement that could give others in a similar locked-in state a way to express themselves again — though it’s not a perfect solution, and will require additional work before it can help others.

The results of the 2020 experiment conducted by Ujwal Chaudhary, a since retired biomedical engineer then at the University of Tübingen, Germany and co-author of a study about the project published in the journal Nature Communications this week, came as a shock.

“I myself could not believe that this is possible,” Chaudhary told the NYT.

Futurati Podcast, Science & Technology News

Ep. 78 with Elaine PoFeldt

March 29, 2022

Watch our interview with Elaine Pofeldt on Youtube or listen on the Futurati Podcast.

Elaine Pofeldt is an independent journalist and speaker specializing in careers and entrepreneurship. In 2018 she published a well-received book called “The Million-Dollar, One-Person Business”, and today she’s joining us to discuss her newest book “Tiny Business, Big Money”.

Space Flight

‘Groundbreaking moment’ UK to launch nuclear reactor in space to create unlimited energy

March 28, 2022

BRITAIN is poised to launch a nuclear fusion reactor into space by 2027, which could create limitless clean energy in a major breakthrough for the future of both interplanetary travel and energy security.

By JACOB PAUL

Pulsar Fusion Ltd, a UK nuclear fusion company based in Bletchley, is developing green rocket technology that could eventually send humans to distances further than our Solar System. Nuclear fusion is the energy process that powers the stars which scientists have been scrambling to create on Earth to produce unlimited supplies of low-carbon, low-radiation energy.

This could play an incredibly important role in the UK as the Government presses ahead with its net zero targets while seeking to slash its dependence on foreign imports.

Pulsar has claimed that this could be “the answer to the energy crisis”.

Bur Pulsar is also seeking to harness the process of nuclear fusion in space with its nuclear fusion reactors, which it says could enable rockets to access travel to planets beyond our solar system.

As fusion rocket technology only works in the vacuum of space, Pulsar has had to develop hybrid rocket engines, which it has been testing.

se lay the groundwork for the Pulsar’s hyper-speed propulsion engines, which could even slash the journey time from Earth to Mars by half, according to scientists.

According to Pulsar CEO Richard Dinan, the firm is looking to use this technology to launch its nuclear fusion reactors into space.

The first prototype for the propulsion engine is expected by 2025.

drones

Skyports takes off with $23 million to scale up drone services

March 28, 2022

The London-based startup will scale its drone services operations in new and existing markets, building on active operations in the U.K., Europe, and Asia drone operations markets

By Megha Paul

London-based electric air taxi infrastructure and drone services provider Skyports has raised $23 million. The first close of its Series B round saw the participation of existing institutional shareholders, including Deutsche Bahn Digital Ventures, Groupe ADP, Solar Ventus, Irelandia and Levitate Capital, and new investors such as Japanese conglomerate Kanematsu Corporation, global industrial property group Goodman Group, Italian airport platform 2i Aeroporti, Ardian’s Infrastructure Fund and F2i Italian Infrastructure Fund, and US-based VC firm GreenPoint.

The capital will enable the company to consolidate its position in the advanced air mobility infrastructure and drone operations markets.

Offering advanced air mobility (AAM), the startup builds and operates take-off and landing infrastructure for air taxis, and partners with electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) passenger and cargo vehicle manufacturers to enable safe, sustainable, and efficient flight operations within urban and suburban environments.AD

Space Flight

A startup wants to provide high-speed internet on the Moon by 2024

March 28, 2022

The company will also provide asteroid detection data for planetary defense.

A startup called Aquarian Space announced that it just received $650,000 in seed funding to work on the development of a broadband internet connection that would link the Earth, Moon, and maybe even Mars.

The company announced on Thursday, March 17, that it had received funding from Draper Associates. The company aims to deploy its first lunar system as soon as 2024, according to a report from Space.