Impact Lab – Page 450 – A Laboratory of the Future Human Experience

Engineering, Nanotechnology, Robots, Science & Technology News

Scientists create a robot made entirely of living cells

September 8, 2020

A Xenobot, 650-750 microns in diameter. The “legs” help it shuffle around in the petri dish.

‘Xenobots’ could be used to clean up microplastics or deliver medication in the body

Scientists have unveiled the first ever “living robot,” an organism made up of living cells, which can move around, carry payloads, and even heal itself.

“All of the computational people on the project, myself included, were flabbergasted,” said Joshua Bongard, a computer scientist at the University of Vermont.

“We didn’t realize that this was possible.”

Teams from the University of Vermont and Tufts University worked together to build what they’re calling “xenobots,” which are about the size of a grain of salt and are made up of the heart and skin cells from frogs.

Continue reading… “Scientists create a robot made entirely of living cells”

Alternative Transportation, Aviation, Breakthrough Thinking, Electric Vehicles, Science & Technology News

UAVOS presents concept SumoAir urban air taxi

September 4, 2020

UAVOS has presented their air taxi SumoAir as an autonomous concept for vertical e-mobility.

The all-electric, tandem rotor helicopter concept consists of a five-seater passenger including the pilot cabin that can be attached to either a car or a flight module.

The helicopter will be operated both manually and autonomously. The project is a part of UAVOS’ R&D efforts to explore and understand the fundamental technologies behind electric aircraft and the urban air mobility (UAM) market.

Continue reading… “UAVOS presents concept SumoAir urban air taxi”

Driverless vehicles, Military, Science & Technology News, Weapons

U.S. military getting closer to autonomous off road combat vehicles

September 4, 2020

Researchers at the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command’s Army Research Laboratory and the University of Texas at Austin have developed an algorithm that could have big implications for autonomous vehicles. With the algorithm, autonomous ground vehicles are able to improve their own navigation systems by watching a human drive.

The approach developed by the researchers is called adaptive planner parameter learning from demonstration, or APPLD. It was tested on an Army experimental autonomous ground vehicle.

The research was published in IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters. The work is titled “APPLD: Adaptive Planner Parameter Learning From Demonstration.”

Continue reading… “U.S. military getting closer to autonomous off road combat vehicles”

Business, Employment, government, Science & Technology News, Transportation, Uber

What happens if Uber and Lyft flee California? Look at Austin

September 4, 2020

Line of rideshare vehicles driving in protest

The ride-hail services are threatening to stop service in the Golden State to protest a judge’s ruling. They did something similar in Texas in 2016.

A California judge has ordered Uber and Lyft to treat drivers as employees; the companies say they’ll leave the state rather than comply.

RAFAEL RODRIGUEZ REMEMBERS the moment he learned Uber and Lyft were leaving Austin. “It was Mother’s Day, and I was with my girl in a restaurant,” he says. “I said, ‘Now I’m not paying for that piña colada.’” Today, he laughs about it. But in 2016, the situation was worrying. Rodriguez was a full-time driver for the ride-hail companies. Just two days later, the platforms ditched the Texas capital, frustrated that they had lost a ballot measure that forced them to fingerprint potential drivers for background checks. Rodriguez was out of a job.

Now, something similar might happen on a much bigger scale, in California. Earlier this month, a state judge ordered the ride-hail companies to treat ride-hail drivers as employees, instead of independent contractors. The companies had said they would stop operating in California on Friday, but an appeals court on Thursday delayed the effective date of the ruling until it could rule on the companies’ appeal.

Continue reading… “What happens if Uber and Lyft flee California? Look at Austin”

Breakthrough Thinking, Healthcare, People Making a Difference, Robotics, Science & Technology News

TrueLimb robotic arms look real and cost less than traditional prosthetics

September 4, 2020

Each arm from Unlimited Tomorrow is custom 3D-printed for a perfect match.

Easton LaChappelle was 14 years old when he designed and built his first robotic arm. Ten years later, he’s now the CEO of his own company, looking to upend the prosthetics industry.

Continue reading… “TrueLimb robotic arms look real and cost less than traditional prosthetics”

Business, Coronavirus, Current Events, Entertainment, Marketing, Science & Technology News

The future of live events is here and depends on these 4 factors

September 4, 2020

The future of live events is here and depends on these 4 factors

When it comes to reimagining what the events industry will look like in the near future, these are the four things we should all be thinking about.

If there was ever a catalyst to reimagine the events space, the coronavirus is it.

Over the years, corporate live events have transformed to include celebrity speakers, VIP access, exclusive private dinners, mobile-first ticketing, and a wide assortment of high production value add-ons—one of which being a film recording or, more recently, live streaming capabilities. But it wasn’t until the majority of the world went into quarantine that the concept of digital broadcasting went from being a cool addition to an in-person event to becoming its central focus.

Continue reading… “The future of live events is here and depends on these 4 factors”

Aviation, Science & Technology News, Transportation, Travel

New ‘bullet’ plane could make private air travel more affordable

September 4, 2020

Bullet-shaped plane that can travel at 460mph for more than 4,500 miles, costs just $328 per hour to operate and is set to revolutionize private air travel is unveiled

The first official information and images of the Celera 500L were revealed by Otto Aviation Wednesday.

The ‘bullet’ aircraft is predicted to revolutionize private air travel
It can travel at a cruising speed of 460mph for more than 4,500 miles
Yet it uses eight times less fuel bringing hourly operating costs down to at $328
It is hoped the the lower costs will make it a competitor for commercial travel
The plan is powered by a RED A03 engine
Otto Aviation plans for first commercial deliveries by 2025 but a price for the aircraft is not yet known

The much-anticipated Celera 500L ‘bullet’ plane which is set to revolutionize private air travel has been revealed.

Continue reading… “New ‘bullet’ plane could make private air travel more affordable”

Biotech, brain hacking, brain-computer interfaces, Elon Musk, Science & Technology News

Elon Musk is one step closer to connecting a computer to your brain

September 4, 2020

Neuralink has demonstrated a prototype of its brain-machine interface that currently works in pigs.

At a Friday event, Elon Musk revealed more details about his mysterious neuroscience company Neuralink and its plans to connect computers to human brains. While the development of this futuristic-sounding tech is still in its early stages, the presentation was expected to demonstrate the second version of a small, robotic device that inserts tiny electrode threads through the skull and into the brain. Musk said ahead of the event he would “show neurons firing in real-time. The matrix in the matrix.”

And he did just that. At the event, Musk showed off several pigs that had prototypes of the neural links implanted in their head, and machinery that was tracking those pigs’ brain activity in real time. The billionaire also announced the Food and Drug Administration had awarded the company a breakthrough device authorization, which can help expedite research on a medical device.

Like building underground car tunnels and sending private rockets to Mars, this Musk-backed endeavor is incredibly ambitious, but Neuralink builds on years of research into brain-machine interfaces. A brain-machine interface is technology that allows for a device, like a computer, to interact and communicate with a brain. Neuralink, in particular, aims to build an incredibly powerful brain-machine interface, a device with the power to handle lots of data, that can be inserted in a relatively simple surgery. Its short-term goal is to build a device that can help people with specific health conditions.

Continue reading… “Elon Musk is one step closer to connecting a computer to your brain”

Analysis, Big Problems, Coronavirus, Healthcare, Science & Technology News

CDC: 94% of Covid-19 deaths had underlying medical conditions

September 4, 2020

This image depicts the exterior of the CDC’s “Tom Harkin Global Communications Center” located on the organization’s Roybal Campus in Atlanta, Georgia.

ATLANTA, Ga. (WEYI) – The Centers for Disease Control released information showing how many people who died from COVID-19 had comorbidities or underlying conditions as they are sometimes referred to by doctors.

According to the CDC, comorbidity is defined as: ” more than one disease or condition is present in the same person at the same time. Conditions described as comorbidities are often chronic or long-term conditions. Other names to describe comorbid conditions are coexisting or co-occurring conditions and sometimes also “multimorbidity” or “multiple chronic conditions.”

Comorbidity and underlying conditions can both be used to describe conditions that exist in one person at the same time. These can also contribute to a persons death who has been diagnosed with COVID-19.

Continue reading… “CDC: 94% of Covid-19 deaths had underlying medical conditions”

Alternative Transportation, Automobiles, Aviation, Electric Vehicles, Science & Technology News

Japan’s Sky Drive ‘flying car’ successfully carries out test flight with a person aboard

September 4, 2020

A contraption that looked like a slick motorcycle with propellers lifted several feet off the ground

The vehicle hovered in the air, over a netted area, for four minutes.

The decades-old dream of zipping around in the sky as simply as driving on highways may be becoming less illusory.

Japan’s SkyDrive, among the myriads of “flying car” projects around the world, has carried out a successful though modest test flight with one person aboard.

In a video shown to reporters on Friday, a contraption that looked like a slick motorcycle with propellers lifted several feet off the ground, and hovered in a netted area for four minutes.

Continue reading… “Japan’s Sky Drive ‘flying car’ successfully carries out test flight with a person aboard”

3D Printer, Biotech, Healthcare, Medicine, Science & Technology News

Robot skin 3D printer close to first-in-human clinical trials

September 4, 2020

In just two years a robotic device that prints a patient’s own skin cells directly onto a burn or wound could have its first-in-human clinical trials. The 3D bioprinting system for intraoperative skin regeneration developed by Australian biotech start-up Inventia Life Science has gained new momentum thanks to major investments from the Australian government and two powerful new partners, world-renowned burns expert Fiona Wood and leading bioprinting researcher Gordon Wallace.

Codenamed Ligō from the Latin “to bind”, the system is expected to revolutionize wound repairs by delivering multiple cell types and biomaterials rapidly and precisely, creating a new layer of skin where it has been damaged. The novel system is slated to replace current wound healing methods that simply attempt to repair the skin, and is being developed by Inventia Skin, a subsidiary of Inventia Life Science.

“When we started Inventia Life Science, our vision was to create a technology platform with the potential to bring enormous benefit to human health. We are pleased to see how fast that vision is progressing alongside our fantastic collaborators. This Federal Government support will definitely help us accelerate even faster,” said Dr. Julio Ribeiro, CEO, and co-founder of Inventia.

Continue reading… “Robot skin 3D printer close to first-in-human clinical trials”

AI, brain hacking, Energy, Engineering, Science & Technology News

Brain-inspired electronic system could vastly reduce AI’s carbon footprint

September 4, 2020

A wafer filled with memristors.

Extremely energy-efficient artificial intelligence is now closer to reality after a study by UCL researchers found a way to improve the accuracy of a brain-inspired computing system.

The system, which uses memristors to create artificial neural networks, is at least 1,000 times more energy efficient than conventional transistor-based AI hardware, but has until now been more prone to error.

Existing AI is extremely energy-intensive—training one AI model can generate 284 tons of carbon dioxide, equivalent to the lifetime emissions of five cars. Replacing the transistors that make up all digital devices with memristors, a novel electronic device first built in 2008, could reduce this to a fraction of a ton of carbon dioxide—equivalent to emissions generated in an afternoon’s drive.

Since memristors are so much more energy-efficient than existing computing systems, they can potentially pack huge amounts of computing power into hand-held devices, removing the need to be connected to the Internet.

Continue reading… “Brain-inspired electronic system could vastly reduce AI’s carbon footprint”