Impact Lab – Page 356 – A Laboratory of the Future Human Experience

AI

RUSSIA IS ON ITS WAY TO RULE SPACE WITH ITS NEW AI POWERED SPACE STATION

September 22, 2021

THE AI-POWERED SPACE STATION IS ON THE WAY.

At present, AI is being used in almost every industry on earth and now it’s time for it to go to space. Russia’s new space station will operate autonomously to a large extent, using artificial intelligence as well as include extravehicular robots. The system aims to demonstrate the intelligence of the highest level. The Roscosmos (a state corporation of the Russian federation) chief has added that robotics should be used aboard Russia’s new orbital station. The new orbital outpost in conjunction with the Zeus nuclear-powered space tug can serve as a prototype for future systems of lengthy inter-planetary flights, he said.

The agency aims to develop the new space station with a higher efficiency factor than that of the current International Space Station (ISS). In April, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov announced that the condition of the ISS left much to be desired and Russia might focus on creating its own orbital outpost. The country wants to make a station whose efficiency factor will be several orders of magnitude higher than that of the ISS.

Alzheimer's Disease

Alzheimer’s can be ‘stalled or reversed’ using oxygen

September 22, 2021

Hyperbaric chambers have been posited as a means of solving one of medicine’s great challenges.

By Tim Kiek

Therapy mimics state of ‘hypoxia’ and is similar to that employed by deep-sea divers.

Alzheimer’s disease can be effectively treated by giving oxygen to patients in pressurised chambers, a study from Tel Aviv University suggests.

Over the course of three months, for 90 minutes a day, five days a week, six elderly patients exhibiting the early signs of dementia were administered oxygen in a hyperbaric chamber.

Researchers said the results showed blood flow increased to the triallists’ brains from 16 per cent to 23 per cent and all demonstrated significantly improved brain function.

Memory test scores increased by 16.5 per cent, attention by six per cent, and information processing speeds by 10.3 per cent.

The chamber works by mimicking the state of oxygen shortage or ‘hypoxia’, effectively changing the structure of vessels in the brain. This means that when those in the chamber are fed oxygen, their tissue absorbs it at a faster rate and in a greater volume.

Robots

These Are the Robots Taking Up Dallas’ Open Restaurant Jobs

September 21, 2021

Plano’s American Robotech provides area businesses, mostly restaurants, with robots like these. Courtesy of American Robotech

BY ALEX MACON

Restaurants are increasingly turning to automated solutions to their staffing shortages. Is the future of labor a delivery robot on wheels?

If you want a picture of the future of work, maybe it’s this: a cat-like cartoon displayed on an iPad-like screen perched on a vertical aluminum or plastic frame on wheels, rolling right up to your table, forever. The robot also sings “Happy Birthday” at you. And, look there, it has your beer.

You can see it for yourself at several Dallas businesses, including the McKinney Avenue restaurant La Duni, whose owner told the Dallas Morning News that robots have saved him thousands of dollars a month in labor costs as well as the trouble of finding enough human servers to staff his restaurant in a tight market for low-wage workers.

The machines are built in China by Pudu Robotics. But they are programmed and delivered here by the Plano company American Robotech, which has either sold or rented about 30 of its robots to area businesses, mostly restaurants so far. They lease for about $500 a month and sell for anywhere between $10,000 to $17,000 a pop.

Solar Power

World’s First Solar Powered Mobile Home to Go on 1,800 Mile Journey

September 21, 2021

by Sebastian Toma

Solar Team Eindhoven, a Dutch student team known for its solar-powered vehicles, has unveiled the world’s first solar-powered mobile home. Its makers have called it Stella Vita, and they say it can generate enough solar electricity to drive 730 kilometers (454 miles) in a day, along with also being a house on wheels. 6 photos

The Dutch students behind the project will undertake a month-long journey through Europe starting September 19, 2021. Stella Vita will be driven on solar energy alone from Eindhoven in The Netherlands, all the way to the southernmost tip of Spain.

This solar house on wheels features a shower, a kitchen, a sleeping space, and a cockpit. Its roof has several solar panels, which can be expanded when the vehicle Is parked, revealing a 17.5-square-meter (188 sq ft.) area. The latter is double when compared to the surface of the roof in the driving mode.

Employment

In the Middle of the Great Resignation, Employers Are Rejecting Millions of Qualified Workers, New Harvard Research Finds

September 21, 2021

Problematic hiring software and bad job descriptions deserve a big chunk of the blame.

BY JESSICA STILLMAN

A scroll through business media or even a stroll through your local downtown is enough to reveal just how desperate companies are to hire right now. “Help Wanted” signs adorn nearly every shop window, and the press is full of stories of companies offering extraordinary perks to attract talent.

Given the incredible difficulty of hiring during “the Great Resignation,” you’d therefore probably be pretty shocked to hear that many of America’s most respected businesses are turning away millions of qualified applicants for no good reason at all. But that’s just what recent research from Harvard and Accenture found.

Robots

Xpeng Unveils Prancing, Rideable Robot Unicorn, Smarter Than Autonomous Vehicles

September 21, 2021

by Otilia Drăgan

Forget autonomous vehicles, there’s something even cooler around the corner – a robotic pony that not only can be ridden just like a real one, but is even able to interact in a clever way. Xiaomi-backed Chinese carmaker Xpeng is the one who’s introducing it on the market, and it’s probably safe to say it will be a big hit. 6 photos

Robotic representations of animals aren’t new, with the most famous one probably being Spot, the yellow dog created by Boston Dynamics. Launched last year, the friendly-looking dog delighted fans around the world with his abilities, such as dancing or picking up stuff off the floor – that is, when it wasn’t busy detecting radiation or taking part in military exercises.

But this new pony takes things further, by blurring the lines between a robot and an autonomous vehicle for kids. A creation of Xpeng Robotics, a new subsidiary of the Xpeng car manufacturing company, this adorable four-legged creature (with a barely-noticeable unicorn) is actually rideable. And, from what we can see in the launch video, its walk is remarkably similar to a pony gait.

drones

India kicks off ‘Medicine from the Sky’ BVLOS drone delivery trials

September 20, 2021

By Ishveena Singh

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The state of Telangana in India is beginning trial runs for the delivery of COVID-19 vaccines, medicines, and other healthcare items using drones from today. For this “Medicine from the Sky” project, logistics company Blue Dart has teamed up with drone delivery startup Skye Air Mobility and UK-based Unified Traffic Management (UTM) technology platform Altitude Angel.

India’s Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) has granted the Government of Telangana a conditional exemption from drone regulations for its “Medicine from the Sky” project, which is being supported by World Economic Forum, Healthnet Global, and Indian think tank Niti Aayog. Eight consortiums have been approved to carry out BVLOS drone delivery trials.

AI

AI IN REPRODUCTIVE MEDICINE: REVOLUTIONIZING ASSISTED REPRODUCTIVE TECHNOLOGY

September 20, 2021

by Aratrika Dutta

There is a rapid growth in technology, especially artificial intelligence over the past few years. AI has gone through various stages from the stage of experimental to the stage of implementation in various fields and medicine is not an exception. Can the integration of AI in reproductive medicine revolutionize assisted reproductive technology?

AI and ML are rapidly changing the practice of medicine across various disciplines. AI is proving to be increasingly applicable to healthcare. Major instances have already been made in disciplines where pattern recognition and classification are integral to the practice such as dermatology, radiology, and pathology. The field of reproduction science has been slow to track the opportunities in AI. Despite this, multiple artificial intelligence solutions have been used to enhance the performance of assisted reproductive technology (ART).

Robotics

Picking the way to a better asparagus future with robotic harvesting

September 20, 2021

A robotic asparagus harvester project led by growers and supported by the Government is set to reinvigorate the New Zealand asparagus industry by alleviating ongoing labour challenges.

BY DAVID EDWARDS

The New Zealand Asparagus Council and Tauranga-based Robotics Plus will work alongside New Zealand asparagus growers to develop a world-first commercial-scale autonomous robotic asparagus harvester to help address ongoing labour shortages in the industry and support growers to tap into high-value export markets.

The Government’s Sustainable Food and Fibre Futures fund is contributing $2.6 million to the $5.83 million project.

“We’re really excited to get this project under way as we simply don’t have enough people to do the work,” says Mangaweka Asparagus grower and NZAC Chair, Sam Rainey.

“Robotic harvesting will be a game-changer for the asparagus industry that currently relies heavily on picking asparagus by hand, which is hard toil. An average picker will walk 10 kilometres per day, so it’s extremely difficult to attract people to do the work.

facebook

Review: Facebook’s Ray-Ban Stories make the case for smart glasses

September 19, 2021

The Stories realize the vision that Snap’s Spectacles dreamed

By Lucas Matney

Facebook’s first pair of smart glasses doesn’t feel like much of a Facebook product.

You won’t find the Facebook logo emblazoned on them or even its name in small print by the serial code. They aren’t “Facebook Stories” or “Ray-Ban’s Facebook Stories” or even “Ray-Ban Stories in collaboration with Facebook.” Unlike other Facebook-designed hardware like the Quest 2 or Portal, the Ray-Ban Stories feel more self-aware and restrained as though the company knew exactly what use cases they needed to hit, and stopped themselves from trying to do much more than that.

The glasses made in partnership with eyewear giant EssilorLuxottica are certainly the most basic device Facebook has shipped. They only do a few things: You can take photos and videos; you can take phone calls; and you can listen to music. That’s it. But bringing audio into the mix via near-ear speakers embedded in the arms of the frames makes these a much more realized device than Snap’s Spectacles that shipped five years ago.

Driverless cars

Russian tech firm Yandex to test self-driving taxis in Moscow this year – ET Auto

September 19, 2021

Robotaxis will available through the company’s Yandex.Go application in one Moscow district for certain customers.

MOSCOW: Adventurous Muscovites may soon be able to travel around parts of Moscow in driverless taxis as Russian tech giant Yandex plans to start testing the autonomous vehicles in the city this year, the company said on Wednesday.

Yandex, which operates a raft of services from online search to food delivery, has been testing self-driving technology for more than three years in Russia, Israel and the United States.

Robotaxis will available through the company’s Yandex.Go application in one Moscow district for certain customers, Yandex said in a statement.

Robotics

Seattle’s first robotic parking garage opens

September 19, 2021

A car on a piston at the robotic parking garage in the Spire

BY Joshua McNichols

Residents of this luxury Seattle tower drive their car onto a platform, exit the car, and punch in a code. Then their car disappears down a hole.

That’s called “parking” at the Spire.

Upon seeing the technology demonstrated for the first time, most people say: “Whoa.” And then they want to see what’s down the hole.

“We’re the only ones that have a key to this door, because the parking system is a building-sized machine and no one should be in the lower basement levels while the machine is in operation, except skilled technicians and engineers,” said Michael Dennison with the US company that distributes the Swiss-made robotic parking equipment.

Seattle’s first automated parking system is part of the Spire, a 41-story luxury condominium tower constructed on the edge of Belltown, not far from the Space Needle.