Impact Lab – Page 318 – A Laboratory of the Future Human Experience

How Self-Driving Vehicles Fit In Perfectly With the Future of Retail

March 3, 2022

The days of needing to drive to the store to pick up a whole cartful of groceries are gone. If you live near a major metropolitan area in the United States or a populous suburb, nearly everything you can imagine is available for delivery to your doorstep through mobile apps and e-commerce sites—sometimes in a matter of hours. Even the small, local mom-and-pop shops just down the street are quickly changing.

Among the many hardships of the COVID-19 pandemic was that it forced brick and mortar retailers to radically rethink their approach, accelerating the long-term trends of consumers moving away from in-person shopping. After previously relying heavily on foot traffic and in-store customers, they suddenly needed to figure out how to reach their customers online, safely at home, or socially distanced.

Now, as parts of the world emerge from the pandemic (or at least adjust to a less dire “new normal”), autonomous vehicles are poised to help these retailers rebuild even more sustainable, efficient, and long-lasting businesses with new ways to connect to their customers. “Retailers are shifting capital to change their stores,” says Troy Beeler, cofounder of the Future Commerce Initiative, a consulting firm. “All the effort is going into distribution, getting the inventory close to the consumer in a way that the consumer can either pick it up or you can deliver it to them in the most cost-effective way.”

We’re seeing these changes happen today. Fast food restaurants are experimenting with drive-through-only locations. Weather permitting, entire store facades now slide open to allow circulation. Kiosks are wheeling outside. Customers and delivery contractors pick up orders at the curb or via newly installed takeout windows. Consumers seeking the ability to touch and feel products can still do so, but outside, in more limited quantities, and they are encouraged to look up more inventory on the store’s website. “The idea of super-dense interior spaces is no longer palatable,” says Zachary Colbert, an architecture professor at Carleton University. Now it’s all about open-air courtyards, verandas, pop-up tents, parklets, and pickup zones.

Robots

Verdant Robotics launches multi-action agricultural robot for ‘superhuman farming’

March 2, 2022

BY DAVID EDWARDS

To meet farmers’ demands for more sustainable and profitable growing practices, Verdant Robotics has expanded its robot-as-a-service (RaaS) model to ensure access for more specialty crop farmers.

Founded in late 2018 by a leading roboticist, a software engineer, and a California farmer, Verdant has raised $21.5 million to develop the industry’s first multi-action, autonomous farm-robot capable of millimeter-accurate spraying, laser weeding, and AI-based digital crop modeling.

Together with farming partners, Verdant uses these tools to deliver better outcomes: larger produce, greater yields and significant savings.

Verdant has already contracted to service approximately 40 percent of the US carrot market exclusively for the next five years and is currently scaling to meet the needs of the US multi-billion-dollar fruit and vegetable industry.

Great New Product

WE NOW HAVE THE FIRST EVER GRAPHENE HEADPHONES

March 2, 2022

The Ora GQ headphones by Ora Sound uses a membrane made of a patented material called GrapheneQ.

By PRATEEK JOSE

Graphene has, despite the odds, lived up to its hype. The carbon compound has made everything from solar-powered artificial skin to safer condoms a reality. Now it has been tapped to reinvent the world of high-performance audio by Ora Sound, who have created the first ever graphene headphones, the Ora GQ. The Montreal-based company’s pitch has been a hit on Kickstarter, where they have raised $270,000 with contributions from over a thousand backers.

So the obvious question that comes to mind is, “Why graphene?” And the answer has everything to do with the material’s properties, which make it 200 hundred times sturdier than steel and lighter than paper by 1000 times. The latter makes it possible to create extremely thin graphene membranes, which Ora has patented under the name GrapheneQ. The GrapheneQ diaphragms that are used on the Ora GQ headphones lend it a high level of fidelity, resulting in improved sound quality compared to standard mylar membranes.

And it doesn’t end there. The benefits of using graphene include an extended frequency response, lower distortion, and more efficient heat dissipation as a result of the ability to direct heat away from the headphone’s voice coil. They also claim a 70 percent increase in battery efficiency, which would mean having to plug them in much less often. The company has put the device through third party tests, and the results are available on their Kickstarter page with a bunch of graphs and measurements.

Medical Breakthrough

First Woman Has Been ‘Cured’ of HIV Using Stem Cells

March 2, 2022

The novel treatment using umbilical cord blood could help dozens of people with both HIV and aggressive cancers

By Corryn Wetzel

A woman of mixed race is the third person in the world believed to be cured of HIV after receiving a stem cell transplant from a donor naturally resistant to the virus, scientists announced last week. The success of the new method involving umbilical cord blood could allow doctors to help more people of diverse genders and racial backgrounds, Apoorva Mandavilli reports for the New York Times.

Two previous patients that appear to have been cured of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, underwent a different treatment. Instead of using stem cells from umbilical cord blood, Timothy Brown and Adam Castillejo received a bone marrow transplant from donors with a genetic mutation that blocks HIV infection, reports Nicoletta Lanese for Live Science. Both bone marrow and umbilical cord blood, which is collected at the time of a baby’s birth and donated by parents, contain adult hematopoietic stem cells. Those stem cells develop into all types of blood cells that support the immune system.

When the female patient needed umbilical cord blood as a treatment for leukemia, her doctors chose a donor with natural immunity to HIV with the hope of helping her fight both illnesses. According to doctors, the woman, who is keeping her identity private, has now been free of the virus for 14 months.

quantum computing

New quantum storage technique could make quantum networking possible

March 1, 2022

By California Institute of Technology

Engineers at Caltech have developed an approach for quantum storage.

It could help pave the way for the development of large-scale optical quantum networks.

The new system relies on nuclear spins—the angular momentum of an atom’s nucleus—oscillating collectively as a spin wave.

This collective oscillation effectively chains up several atoms to store information.

The work, which is described in a paper published on February 16 in the journal Nature, utilizes a quantum bit (or qubit) made from an ion of ytterbium (Yb), a rare earth element also used in lasers.

Automobiles

Airless tyres could be a reality this decade

March 1, 2022

An upcoming electric car from one of the world’s biggest manufacturers could launch with puncture-proof tyres.

By William Davis

Airless tyres could be rolling out onto public roads before the end of this decade, according to a Michelin executive.

The concept of punctureless rubber has been around since the first motorists were confronted with the inconvenience of flats. However, a safe, durable, and cost effective example has never gone into mass-production.

The world’s biggest tyre maker now claims that’s all about the change, revealing US automotive giant General Motors is looking to offer an electric car fitted from the factory with its non-pneumatic spinners.

Medical Breakthrough

How sound waves could help regrow bones

March 1, 2022

Magnified image showing adult stem cells in the process of turning into bone cells after treatment with high-frequency sound waves. Green colouring shows the presence of collagen, which the cells produce as they become bone cells. Magnification: 60X.

by RMIT University

Researchers have used sound waves to turn stem cells into bone cells, in a tissue engineering advance that could one day help patients regrow bone lost to cancer or degenerative disease.

The innovative stem cell treatment from researchers at RMIT University offers a smart way forward for overcoming some of the field’s biggest challenges, through the precision power of high-frequency soundwaves.

Tissue engineering is an emerging field that aims to rebuild bone and muscle by harnessing the human body’s natural ability to heal itself.

A key challenge in regrowing bone is the need for large amounts of bone cells that will thrive and flourish once implanted in the target area.

To date, experimental processes to change adult stem cells into bone cells have used complicated and expensive equipment and have struggled with mass production, making widespread clinical application unrealistic.

Additionally, the few clinical trials attempting to regrow bone have largely used stem cells extracted from a patient’s bone marrow—a highly painful procedure.

In a new study published in the journal Small, the RMIT research team showed stem cells treated with high-frequency sound waves turned into bone cells quickly and efficiently.

Futurati Podcast, Science & Technology News

Futurati Podcast with Trent Fowler

February 28, 2022

Listen on Futurati Podcast

Watch Trent’s talk on Youtube.

Trent Fowler is a machine learning engineer, author, and co-host of the Futurati Podcast. As someone who’s worked at several crypto startups, he has years of experience dealing with blockchain data and thinking about the blockchain’s mechanics. This episode is adapted from a talk he recently gave explaining at a high level how this remarkable technology works and what it might mean for the future.

Robotics

Take a look inside a robot fast-food kitchen with fully autonomous ovens, freezers, and cleaning systems that don’t require any staff

February 28, 2022

Hyper Robotics’ kitchens.

By Kate Duffy

Hyper Robotics’ kitchens can make fast-food using autonomous robotic machines.
The 40-feet kitchens have ovens, freezers, and metal detectors that don’t need human help.
The first kitchen was built for a Pizza Hut location in Israel, which can make 50 pizzas an hour.

Hyper Robotics is building 40-feet robotic fast-food kitchens filled with fully autonomous machines which don’t require human staff.

Science & Technology News, Space Flight

This Hyperspeed Space Sail Could Take Us to Next-Door Star Systems

February 28, 2022

An artist’s conception of the Starshot Lightsail spacecraft during acceleration by a ground-based laser array.

By Monisha Ravisetti

For years, physicists have been trying to perfect a way to catapult space probes at a fifth the speed of light. One team is flagging an important section of the blueprint.

Only about 4 light-years away from our solar system lies Alpha Centauri, another bustling space neighborhood. It’s anchored by three stars with the same job as our sun, holds planets analogous to our eight famous orbs and may even have an Earth twin hanging out in the habitable zone.Almost like an alternate reality, the star system is a tantalizing region for space explorers.

There’s just one, glaring issue. With our present technology, spacecraft sent toward Alpha Centauri wouldn’t arrive until somewhere around the year 82022. That’s why, in 2016, late astrophysicist Stephen Hawking and investor Yuri Milner launched Breakthrough Starshot — an initiative to send microchip-size space probes over to Alpha Centauri at 20% the speed of light, reducing the whopping travel time to a mere 20 years.

DNA

Stanford University uses AI computing to cut DNA sequencing down to five hours

February 28, 2022

Speeding up the genome sequencing process has earned the project a Guinness World Record title.

By Aimee Chanthadavong

A Stanford University-led research team has set a new Guinness World Record for the fastest DNA sequencing technique using AI computing to accelerate workflow speed.

The research, led by Dr Euan Ashley, professor of medicine, genetics and biomedical data science at Stanford School of Medicine, in collaboration with Nvidia, Oxford Nanopore Technologies, Google, Baylor College of Medicine, and the University of California, achieved sequencing in just five hours and two minutes.

The study, published in The New England Journal of Medicine, involved speeding up every step of genome sequencing workflow by relying on new technology. This included using nanopore sequencing on Oxford Nanopore’s PromethION Flow Cells to generate more than 100 gigabases of data per hour, and Nvidia GPUs on Google Cloud to speed up the base calling and variant calling processes.

Blockchain

JPMORGAN UNVEILS RESEARCH ON QUANTUM RESISTANT BLOCKCHAIN NETWORK

February 26, 2022

“QKD is the only solution that has been mathematically proven to defend against a potential quantum computing-based attack,” JPMorgan emphasized in its announcement.

United States banking giant JPMorgan Chase has unveiled research on a quantum key distribution (QKD) blockchain network that is resistant to quantum computing attacks.

QKD utilizes quantum mechanics and cryptography to enable two parties to exchange secure data and detect and defend against third parties attempting to eavesdrop on the exchange. The technology is seen as a viable defense against potential blockchain hacks that could be conducted by quantum computers in the future.

According to a Thursday announcement, JPMorgan collaborated with Toshiba and Ciena to deploy and test the QKD blockchain.

“At this time, QKD is the only solution that has been mathematically proven to defend against a potential quantum computing-based attack, with security guarantees based on the laws of quantum physics,” the announcement read.