Impact Lab – Page 426 – A Laboratory of the Future Human Experience

TO BOOST BIRTH RATE, JAPAN’S GOVERNMENT CONSIDERS AI TO MATCH SPOUSES

December 24, 2020

japan-government-AI-Match-spouses — In Japan, not only can you have artificial intelligence pick your mate, but you can also have two giant Pikachu mascots standing by as you say I do.

Japan’s Cabinet Office is asking for budget approval for a new dating service driven by artificial intelligence.

Finding the perfect mate can feel impossible, especially when in-person interactions have come to a screeching halt due to COVID-19 lockdowns. But if you live in Japan, the government there wants to help you find eternal love — or at least your future spouse — using artificial intelligence.

In an effort to boost Japan’s declining birth rate, the government has been trying to help single heterosexual men and women find true love so they get married and start families. The number of annual marriages in Japan has fallen from 800,000 in 2000 to 600,000 in 2019.

According to Sora News 24, roughly 25 of Japan’s 47 prefectures currently have some sort of government-run matchmaking service for singles where the users plug in their preferences for a potential mate — including age, income and educational level. The dating services then provide a list of other users who meet their criteria.

drones, Science & Technology News

DARPA says it’s getting closer to snatching drones out of midair

December 24, 2020

Kris Holt

DARPA-snatching-drones-midair-gremlins — The agency is still working on its Gremlins reusable drone project.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is still developing its Gremlins project, which is apparently getting closer to grabbing drones out of the sky. The agency said it was “inches from success” during its latest round of test flights.

Each of the three X-61A Gremlins Air Vehicles (GAV) flew for more than two hours in the third series of test flights. DARPAmade nine attempts to capture the GAVs using a docking bullet extended from a C-130, but none were successful. The agency said that “relative movement was more dynamic than expected.” The GAVs parachuted safely to the ground.

“All of our systems looked good during the ground tests, but the flight test is where you truly find how things work,” Scott Wierzbanowski, Gremlins program manager at DARPA’s Tactical Technology Office, said in a statement. “We came within inches of connection on each attempt but, ultimately, it just wasn’t close enough to engage the recovery system.”

Science & Technology News

Electric, self-driving tractor may just be the future of farming as we know it

December 23, 2020

By Luke Dormehl

electric-self-driving-tractor-future-farming-monarch — Monarch Tractor

The world of farming is changing rapidly. Whether it’s CRISPR editing for improving crop yields, smart scarecrows, or robot weeding machines, this sector continues to transform at a breakneck speed.

But rather than simply being capable of driving from point A to point B, the Monarch Tractor promises to carry out any function a farmer might use a tractor for, interfacing with other tractor attachments, along with carrying out assessments on crop health and more. Depending on the mode, they can work autonomously, controlled in a fleet by farmers on the ground, or tailing other drivers in a shadow mode. It’s an impressive piece of tech.

“The Monarch Tractor is fully autonomous, but it also works with existing tractor drivers, as well as interfacing with existing implements,” Praveen Penmesta, founder and CEO of Monarch, told Digital Trends. “We didn’t want to change the appearance [too much from the traditional vehicle so] that the farming community didn’t recognize it as a tractor. However, we wanted to make the Monarch Tractor adaptive so that it can grow with the farmer. We wanted to ensure our compact tractor could implement any attachment and have it work fully electrically like the tractor, and maintain balance and productivity.”

Robots, Science & Technology News

Hyundai is buying a majority in Boston Dynamics, maker of those acrobatic robots that freak everyone out

December 24, 2020

HYUNDAI SEES HUMANOID BOTS EVENTUALLY BEING USED IN THE HEALTHCARE SECTOR “FOR SOPHISTICATED SERVICES SUCH AS CAREGIVING FOR PATIENTS AT HOSPITALS.”

Hyundai Motor Group has announced it is buying a majority stake in Boston Dynamics, the maker of the advanced robots seen in all those viral videos that seem to freak everyone out. The Korean-based Hyundai announced the deal today, saying it was acquiring 80% of Massachusetts-based Boston Dynamics from Japan’s SoftBank Group for $1.1 billion.

Hyundai says the deal fits within the company’s vision of its desire to transform “human life by combining world-leading robotics technologies with its mobility expertise.” The firm says its decision to acquire Boston Dynamics was based on the key technologies their robots already possess, including “perception, navigation, and intelligence.”

Currently, Boston Dynamics has one commercial robot, Spot, which is the dog-shaped quadruped robot that the company positions as an intelligent surveillance tool to deploy in potentially dangerous locals such as construction sites and oil and gas fields. Boston Dynamics also positions Spot as the bot you want if you need to inspect potentially hazardous packages from afar.

But Boston Dynamics also makes bipedal robots (check out the video below) that Hyundai now says it hopes can be deployed in the service sector. Hyundai sees these humanoid bots eventually being used in the healthcare sector as helpers for the disabled or caretakers of the elderly, specifically noting that its aim is to develop “humanoid robots for sophisticated services such as caregiving for patients at hospitals.”

Alternative Transportation, Science & Technology News

First electric air taxis set to fly in Singapore by 2023

December 23, 2020

Posted by Mallika Soni

first-electric-air-taxis-singapore-volocopter — VOLOCOPTER COMPLETED

Singapore is set to host the world’s first electric-powered air taxi service by the end of 2023, according to Volocopter GmbH, which is developing the vertical-takeoff craft.

The German manufacturer is committed to starting operations within three years once it completes flight trials, evaluation and certification in collaboration with the city-state, it said in a statement Wednesday. Tickets for a 15-minute trip costing 300 euros ($364) are already on sale.

Volocopter completed a demonstration flight over Singapore’s Marina Bay area in October last year, and the first commercial route is likely to fly tourists over the same district, offering spectacular views of the skyline, the company said. Later services could including cross-border journeys.

Science & Technology News

Long-term study of gene therapy technique in monkeys finds no adverse health effects

December 22, 2020

by Oregon Health & Science University

A decade after the birth of the first primates born with the aid of a gene therapy technique designed to prevent inherited mitochondrial disease, a careful study of the monkeys and their offspring reveals no adverse health effects.

Led by scientists at Oregon Health & Science University, the study published Dec. 8 in the journal Human Reproduction.

The new study generally bolsters the scientific basis for mitochondrial replacement therapy in human clinical trials, with an important caveat: Researchers found varying levels of carryover maternal mitochondrial DNA that had preferentially replicated and accumulated within some internal organs, although not enough to cause health effects.

Aviation, Science & Technology News

NASA Air Taxi Partnership Takes Autonomous Flight Sky-high

December 22, 2020

David Mantey Dec 09, 2020

NASA-air-taxi-pertnership-autonomous-flight — Nasa AirTaxi

There’s nothing more exciting than the thought of being ferried around in an autonomous flying taxi, unless you’re a risk averse person… in which case, there is probably nothing LESS exciting than the thought of a self-flying air taxi.

But regardless of your personal inclinations, there are some exciting developments being made as it relates to autonomous passenger flight, and it involves the biggest name is aerospace: NASA.

NASA has announced that it has established a partnership with Wisk, the urban air mobility company behind the world’s first first autonomous, all-electric air taxi featuring vertical takeoff and landing.

Wisk’s craft, called Cora, has undertaken more than a thousand test flights since taking to the air in 2017 and the company hopes that by teaming up with NASA, the two organizations can help build a framework for autonomous passenger flight on a national scale.

brain hacking, Science & Technology News

Brain implants enable man to simultaneously control two prosthetic limbs with thoughts

December 22, 2020

by Johns Hopkins University

brain-implants-enable-man-control-prosthetic-limbs — Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory engineer Francesco Tenore (standing) watches as Buz Chmielewski (seated), a patient with minimal movement in his arms and hands, uses brain implants to control two robotic prosthetic arms. Credit: Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory

In what is believed to be a medical first, researchers from Johns Hopkins Medicine (JHM) and the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) have enabled a quadriplegic man to control a pair of prosthetic arms with his mind.

In January 2019, surgeons implanted six electrodes into the brain of Robert “Buz” Chmielewski during a 10-hour operation. The goal was to improve the sensation in his hands and enable him to mentally operate his prostheses. For more than three decades after a surfing accident while in his teens, Chmielewski has been paralyzed with only minimal movement in his arms and hands.

Now, almost two years into the joint JHM/APL research study following the surgery, has reached an important milestone—he can now use both of his robotic appendages to perform simple tasks such as feeding himself.

Science & Technology News, Space

Space Force opens SpaceWERX technology accelerator in Los Angeles

December 21, 2020

by Sandra Erwin

space-force=spacewerx-technology-accelerator — Will Roper, assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, technology and logistics (left) and Lt. Gen. John Thompson, commander of the Space and Missile Systems Center, announced Dec. 7 the opening of a SpaceWERX technology accelerator office that will work with commercial companies in the space industry.

Lt. Gen. Thompson: SpaceWERX will “help us ensure the Space Force can tap into cutting edge space technologies.”

WASHINGTON — Will Roper, assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, technology and logistics, announced Dec. 7 the opening of a technology accelerator office that will work with commercial companies in the space industry.

Known as SpaceWERX, the new organization will be the “space arm of AFWERX,” Roper said during a virtual event in a joint appearance with Lt. Gen. John Thompson, commander of the Space and Missile Systems Center.

Thompson said SpaceWERX will be located at the SMC campus in Los Angeles and will be led by Lt. Col. Rock McMillan.

Batteries, Science & Technology News

This super-energy-dense battery could nearly double the range of electric vehicles

December 21, 2020

James Temple

super-energy-dense-battery-1 — QuantumScape’s single-layer, solid-state lithium-metal battery cell.COURTESY: QUANTUMSCAPE

But some observers aren’t convinced that QuantumScape’s lithium-metal batteries will power cars and trucks on the road as soon as the company claims.

Scientists have long seen lithium-metal batteries as an ideal technology for energy storage, leveraging the lightest metal on the periodic table to deliver cells jam-packed with energy.

But researchers and companies have tried and failed for decades to produce affordable, rechargeable versions that didn’t have a nasty habit of catching on fire.

Then earlier this year Jagdeep Singh, the chief executive of QuantumScape, claimed in an interview with The Mobilist that the heavily funded, stealth Silicon Valley company had cracked the key technical challenges. He added that VW expects to have the batteries in its cars and trucks by 2025, promising to slash the cost and boost the range of its electric vehicles.

Science & Technology News, Shopping

AI Go Debuts Hybrid Autonomous Shopping in Shanghai C-Store

December 21, 2020

By Jessie Dowd

The AI-powered autonomous shopping experience just got bigger, in the form of a 4,000-square-foot hybrid convenience market called AI Go in Shanghai. The store combines a manned checkout with the use of computer vision as part of checkout-free shopping powered by AiFiSolutions.

Stocking 2,000 SKUs ranging from fresh meats to snacks, this store represents the largest deployment to date of the AiFiAutonomous Store Platform OASIS. Consumers shopping autonomously check in using an AiFi app, or they can continue to shop as usual with a cashier at checkout.

Science & Technology News

Smart traffic signs that warn drivers about hazards and accidents on the road ahead using RADAR are created by Polish scientists

December 20, 2020

By Jonathan Chadwick

smart-traffic-signs-warn-drivers-radar-polish-scientists-1 — Poland is pioneering new road signs that combine an array of sensors to monitor road traffic and conditions to warn drivers of hazards on the road ahead.

Polish project is creating smart road signs for adaptive control of vehicle traffic
The signs combine video cameras, weather sensors and acoustic vector sensors
And they feature built-in Doppler radar – a technique based on the Doppler effect

Researchers are building ‘intelligent’ motorway signs to track traffic volume and alert drivers in real time to potential dangers as part of a national project called INZNAK.

AVS reads reflected sound waves and calculates traffic on a particular stretch of motorway, which can then be relayed to drivers to warn of congestion.