Impact Lab – Page 413 – A Laboratory of the Future Human Experience

Here’s what happened when AI and humans met in a strawberry-growing contest

February 6, 2021

Do they really need a human touch?

In Pinduoduo’s Smart Agriculture Competition, four technology teams competed with traditional farmers over four months to grow strawberries.
Data analysis, intelligent sensors and greenhouse automation helped the scientists win.
Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies such as AI are forecast to deliver huge productivity gains – but need the right governance, according to the Global Technology Governance Report 2021.

Strawberries can be easy to grow – especially, it seems, if you’re an algorithm.

When farmers in China competed to grow the fruit with technology including machine learning and artificial intelligence, the machines won, by some margin.

Data scientists produced 196% more strawberries by weight on average compared with traditional farmers.

Elon Musk, Science & Technology News

What Starlink beta testers really think about Elon Musk’s satellite internet

February 6, 2021

For people otherwise stuck with sluggish performance from earlier satellite technologies or DSL, Starlink looks like a promising way to get up to speed.

BY ROB PEGORARO

In less than a year, Elon Musk’s space startup SpaceX has gone from having launched 242 Starlink satellites to exceeding 1,000 as it builds its constellation of satellites dedicated to providing broadband internet access back on Earth, particularly for people who might lack other good options.

Those 1,025 “smallsats” sent to space (962 remain in orbit, as tracked by astronomer Jonathan McDowell) have given rise to something new on the ground: testimony from early Starlink customers about SpaceX’s low-Earth-orbit broadband.

Since the October opening of Starlink’s “Better Than Nothing Beta” to early adopters willing to pay $499 for receiver hardware and $99 per month for the service, reports have been bubbling up in such online forums as Reddit’s r/Starlink.

They generally agree that Starlink’s satellites, around 340 miles up, easily beat the previous options in much of the target rural market: aging DSL connections that might be no faster than 3G wireless speeds, and laggy satellite broadband from geosynchronous orbit, 22,236 miles up.

“I am more than satisfied,” emailed Leigh Phillips, a software developer in Kelowna, British Columbia. He called his speeds—downloads averaging 110 megabits per second (Mbps) and uploads of 20 Mbps, per the dashboard he posted— “good to go” for a household with two working parents, plus moderate gaming and video streaming.

Another r/Starlink regular, a business owner in Duluth, Minnesota, who asked to be identified as Bryan, reported slower connectivity— “upload speeds are pretty consistent (around 7 Mbps) but download speeds seem to swing quite a bit from 40-190 Mbps”—that he called “definitely acceptable” for streaming.

He said his other broadband, CenturyLink DSL, hits 30 Mbps down and 2 Mbps up on good days.

Driverless vehicles, Science & Technology News

Driverless bus trials draw 320, including curious passengers

February 5, 2021

Japanese housewife Satoko Nemoto boarding one of the driverless buses at Haw Par Villa.

Singapore- Ms. Satoko Nemoto, a 43-year-old Japanese housewife who has been in Singapore for only three months, travelled by MRT all the way from her home is Pasir Ris to Haw Par Villa just to ride on a driverless buss operated by SMRT.

She said the bus ride was quiet and smooth, and she especially liked that the bus was fully electric thus, eco-friendly.

She was among a total of 320 people who have taken the driverless buses at HawPar Villa and Jurong Island since they were launched last month, with some specially making the trip to the two areas for the ride.

Most found it a pleasant enough experience, saying the buses were not as slow as they had expected and the presence of a driver at the wheel in case of emergencies reassured them.

There remained concerns, however, over safety issues.

Medical Breakthrough, Science & Technology News

New realm of personalized medicine with brain stimulation

February 5, 2021

Research represents a major step forward in achieving new therapies for a whole host of neurological and mental disorders. Credit: Cornelia LI

Millions of patients suffering from neurological and mental disorders such as depression, addiction, and chronic pain are treatment-resistant. In fact, about 30% of all major depression patients do not respond at all to any medication or psychotherapy. Simply put, many traditional forms of treatment for these disorders may have reached their limit. Where do we go from here?

Research to be published in Nature Biomedical Engineering led by Maryam Shanechi, the Andrew and Erna Viterbi Early Career Chair in electrical and computer engineering at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, paves the way for a promising alternative: personalized deep brain stimulation. The work represents a major step forward in achieving new therapies for a whole host of neurological and mental disorders.

Until now, the challenge of personalized deep brain stimulation has been the human brain itself. Mental disorders can manifest differently in each patient’s brain. Similarly, whether and how each patient’s brain activity and their symptoms will respond to stimulation can be very different. This makes it difficult to know the effect of stimulation in a given patient or how to change the dose of stimulation—that is, its amplitude or frequency—over time to tailor it to a patient’s needs.

Science & Technology News, SpaceX

Elon Musk reveals ambitious plans to get humans to Mars by 2026 – seven YEARS before NASA aims to take astronauts to the Red Planet

February 5, 2021

The worlds richest man, Elon Musk, has revealed an ambitious plan to get humans on Mars by 2026 – seven years before NASA aims to land astronauts on the Red Planet.

By Ryan Morrison

Elon Musk says the first crewed flight to the Red Planet could happen in 2026
This isn’t a ‘hard deadline’ as a number of new technologies are needed first
Speaking on Clubhouse, Musk says it is vital humans become multi-planetary
He said the first Mars colony will be a ‘frontier’, dangerous and a ‘hard place’
Musk said by the fourth or fifth Martian landing – operating every two years or so – he’d consider allowing his children to make the trip to the Red Planet

Speaking on the audio-only Clubhouse app on Sunday, the SpaceX founder told the Good Times Show his goal was to establish a self-sustaining Martian civilisation.

The ambitious deadline gives him five and a half years to get the massive Starship spacecraft off the ground – but there is a long way to go as the massive 160ft rocket is still at the prototype stage – with a second high-altitude test flight due soon.

It currently takes at least six months to get to the planet, but Musk believes that could be down to as little as a month, with flights operating every two years.

He said the first colony will be a tiny, dangerous, ‘frontier-like’ environment as they begin to establish propellant manufacturing, food production and power plants.

NASA plans to put the first humans on Mars by 2033 as part of its Artemis program that will see the next man and first woman land on the Moon in 2024.

Elon Musk, Science & Technology News

Elon Musk says Neuralink implanted a chip in a monkey’s brain, and now he ‘can play video games using his mind’

February 4, 2021

Ben Gilbert

Elon Musk’s Neuralink implanted a chip that enabled a monkey to “play video games using his mind.”
Musk claimed as much in a wide-ranging interview on Clubhouse on Sunday night.
Neuralink is focused on human-computer interfaces for artificial intelligence in people.

Elon Musk’s human-computer-interface company, Neuralink, seems to be off to a strong start.

“We’ve already got a monkey with a wireless implant in their skull, and the tiny wires, who can play video games using his mind,” Musk said in an interview on the “Good Time Show” on the app Clubhouse on Sunday night.

“One of the things we’re trying to figure out is can we have the monkeys play mind ‘Pong’ with each other,” he said. “That would be pretty cool.”

Neuralink has been testing neural interfaces on animals for years. In a video released last year, Neuralink demonstrated its work on a pig named Gertrude.

Robots, Science & Technology News

Hyundai unveils hotel robot developed with KT

February 4, 2021

BY MAI TAO

Hyundai Robotics has unveiled a new service robot designed for hotels and developed with KT, formerly Korea Telecom.

The UNI-050H is a mobile service robot co-developed by Hyundai Robotics and KT to perform hotel amenities delivery, and can now be found at the Daegu Marriott Hotel & Residences.

UNI-050H delivers amenities such as towels and bottled water, to guest rooms upon request.

KT GiGA Genie’s voice command function enables easy ordering, which is expected to allow residents to enjoy the convenience of a hotel and a home at the same time. It is also expected to improve the service quality and efficiency of hotel operations by reducing the simple work hours of the employees.

UNI-050H, introduced in December 2019, uses advanced ICT technologies such as spatial mapping and autonomous driving.

In addition, it includes various features such as the ability to overcome the height difference between the elevator and the floor, a spacious storage design, and an ergonomic design that is convenient for anyone to use regardless of gender.

quantum computing, Science & Technology News

Microsoft opens its Azure quantum computer cloud service to the public

February 4, 2021

An ion chamber houses the brains of a Honeywell quantum computer.

By Stephen Shankland

Azure Quantum shows the growing commercial possibilities for the revolutionary form of computing.

Microsoft’s Azure Quantum service opened to the public on Monday, bringing the radically different computing technology to the world’s second-biggest cloud computing service.

Azure Quantum includes quantum computers made by Honeywell and IonQ. These machines use a design called an ion trap that employs electrically charged atoms as qubits, the fundamental element used by quantum computers to store and process information. Microsoft plans to add another design by Quantum Circuits, whose qubits are supercooled electrical circuits, in the future.

Microsoft will eventually add its own homegrown quantum computers to the service. Its approach, called topological qubits, promises qubits that are more stable than those used in rival designs and are designed to allow quantum computations to run longer. Unlike rival quantum computer makers, Microsoft hasn’t yet demonstrated that technology, though.

The opening of Azure Quantum marks the latest step in the commercialization of quantum computing, which promises to tackle problems that are out of conventional machines’ reach. BMW, Airbus and Roche are among those trying out quantum computers, although it will be years before it’s practical for more than research projects.

3D Printer, Science & Technology News

Ceramic ink could allow doctors to 3D print bones directly into a patient’s body

February 3, 2021

By Luke Dormehl

The term 3D bioprinting refers to the use of 3D printing technology to fabricate biomedical parts that, eventually, could be used to create replacement organs or other body parts as required. While we’re not at that point just yet, a number of big advances have been made toward this dream over the past couple of decades.

Now research from the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, have demonstrated a promising advance in one of the toughest areas of 3D bioprinting: 3D printing bones.

They have developed a special ceramic ink that’s able to be printed with live cells, and without dangerous chemicals, at room temperature. The eventual goal is to be able to 3D print bones directly into the cavity of a patient, for scenarios in which a certain portion of bone has been removed or destroyed.

Coronavirus, Science & Technology News

New biosensors quickly detect coronavirus proteins and antibodies

February 3, 2021

An illustration of a new biosensor binding to a targeted molecule and emitting light. The creation of the biosensor was led by the UW Medicine Institute for Protein Design. Credit: Ian Haydon/UW Medicine Institute for Protein Design

by University of Washington

Scientists have created a new way to detect the proteins that make up the pandemic coronavirus, as well as antibodies against it. They designed protein-based biosensors that glow when mixed with components of the virus or specific COVID-19 antibodies. This breakthrough could enable faster and more widespread testing in the near future. The research appears in Nature.

To diagnose coronavirus infection today, most medical laboratories rely on a technique called RT-PCR, which amplifies genetic material from the virus so that it can be seen. This technique requires specialized staff and equipment. It also consumes lab supplies that are now in high demand all over the world. Supply-chain shortfalls have slowed COVID-19 test results in the United States and beyond.

In an effort to directly detect coronavirus in patient samples without the need for genetic amplification, a team of researchers led by David Baker, professor of biochemistry and director of the Institute for Protein Design at UW Medicine, used computers to design new biosensors. These protein-based devices recognize specific molecules on the surface of the virus, bind to them, then emit light through a biochemical reaction.

Antibody testing can reveal whether a person has had COVID-19 in the past. It is being used to track the spread of the pandemic, but it ,too, requires complex laboratory supplies and equipment.

Alternative Transportation, Science & Technology News

Inside the world’s first airport for drones and flying cars

February 3, 2021

By Daniel Bennett

We talk to Ricky Sandhu, CEO of Urban Air Port, about the ambitious plan for an off-grid transport hub for drones and air-taxis.

Plans to build the world’s first off-grid transport hub for drones and air-taxis have just received government funding. The company Urban Air Port, which is building the hub in Coventry, will provide flying electric vehicles, carrying cargo and eventually people, with a place to charge and load up.

The project aims to lay the groundwork for a web of transport hubs that could provide a green, clean remedy to our cities’ groaning infrastructure.

We talk to Ricky Sandhu, the Founder & CEO of Urban Air Port, to find out if the idea could take off.

Science & Technology News, Space Flight

New Rocket Thruster Concept to Take Humans to Mars 10 Times Faster

February 2, 2021

The fusion rocket concept

By Fabienne Lang

What’s next might be building a solid prototype.

A physicist has come up with a new rocket engine thruster concept that could take people to Mars ten times more quickly.

The physicist in question, Fatima Ebrahimi, is the concept’s inventor and is part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL).

Ebrahimi’s study was published in the Journal of Plasma Physics.