Impact Lab – Page 461 – A Laboratory of the Future Human Experience

Automation, Robotics, Robots, Science & Technology News, Shopping

Japanese robot to clock in at a convenience store in test of retail automation

July 27, 2020

TOKYO (Reuters) – In August, a robot vaguely resembling a kangaroo will begin stacking sandwiches, drinks and ready meals on shelves at a Japanese convenience store in a test its maker, Telexistence, hopes will help trigger a wave of retail automation.

Following that trial, store operator FamilyMart says it plans to use robot workers at 20 stores around Tokyo by 2022. At first, people will operate them remotely – until the machines’ artificial intelligence (AI) can learn to mimic human movements. Rival convenience store chain Lawson is deploying its first robot in September, according to Telexistence.

“It advances the scope and scale of human existence,” the robot maker’s chief executive, Jin Tomioka, said as he explained how its technology lets people sense and experience places other than where they are.

The idea, dubbed telexistence, was first proposed by the start up’s co-founder, University of Tokyo professor Susumu Tachi, four decades ago.

Continue reading… “Japanese robot to clock in at a convenience store in test of retail automation”

Coronavirus, Economy, Elon Musk, government, Money Talk, Science & Technology News, Twitter

Elon Musk advocates for universal basic income instead of second stimulus check

July 26, 2020

Tesla CEO Elon Musk wants his followers to know he still supports universal basic income, even though he thinks another coronavirus stimulus package from the U.S. government is a bad idea.

In a Twitter thread published early Friday morning, Musk tweeted that any additional stimulus package from Congress is “not in the best interests of the people,” and emphasized the point by pinning the tweet at the top of his Twitter profile.

Continue reading… “Elon Musk advocates for universal basic income instead of second stimulus check”

Business, Science & Technology News, Shopping, Trending

DoorDash inks deal with Walgreens to provide over-the-counter medicine and snack deliveries

July 27, 2020

Walgreens signed a similar deal with Postmates in April

DoorDash announced that it’s introducing on-demand delivery services from Walgreens to provide “everyday essentials” to your doorstep. Customers in Atlanta, Chicago, and Denver can now order over 2,300 items from the pharmacy chain, including over-the-counter medication, groceries, snacks, and beauty products. DoorDash and Walgreens did not mention whether users can also have their prescription medication delivered, so you’ll probably still need to go to the store for that.

Continue reading… “DoorDash inks deal with Walgreens to provide over-the-counter medicine and snack deliveries”

AI, Automation, Automobiles, Driverless vehicles, Machine Learning, Science & Technology News

The ‘android of self-driving cars’ built a 100,000x cheaper way to train AI for multiple trillion-dollar markets

July 26, 2020

Level 5 self-driving means autonomous cars can drive themselves anywhere, at any time, in any conditions.

How do you beat Tesla, Google, Uber and the entire multi-trillion dollar automotive industry with massive brands like Toyota, General Motors, and Volkswagen to a full self-driving car? Just maybe, by finding a way to train your AI systems that is 100,000 times cheaper.

It’s called Deep Teaching.

Perhaps not surprisingly, it works by taking human effort out of the equation.

And Helm.ai says it’s the key to unlocking autonomous driving. Including cars driving themselves on roads they’ve never seen … using just one camera.

Continue reading… “The ‘android of self-driving cars’ built a 100,000x cheaper way to train AI for multiple trillion-dollar markets”

Biotech, Environment, New Discoveries, new technology, Science & Technology News

Bacteria that eats metal accidentally discovered by scientists

July 26, 2020

Manganese oxide nodules generated by the bacteria discovered by the Caltech team.

(CNN)Scientists have discovered a type of bacteria that eats and gets its calories from metal, after suspecting they exist for more than a hundred years but never proving it.

Now microbiologists from the California Institute of Technology (or Caltech) accidentally discovered the bacteria after performing unrelated experiments using a chalk-like type of manganese, a commonly found chemical element.

Continue reading… “Bacteria that eats metal accidentally discovered by scientists”

Battery, Electric Vehicles, Elon Musk, Science & Technology News, Tesla

A look inside Tesla Gigafactory Nevada [Updated]

July 25, 2020

The science channel got access to Tesla’s Gigafactory Nevada for their new show ‘Super Factories’ – giving us a rare new look inside the plant.

Tesla Gigafactory Nevada was the first major step in Tesla’s effort to secure battery cell supply for its ambitious growth.

The automaker partnered with Panasonic to deploy new battery cell production capacity at the facility and Tesla used those cells to build battery packs for its vehicles and energy storage products.

When originally announcing the plan for the factory, Tesla was talking about the plant producing 105 GWh of battery cells per year and 150 GWh of battery packs per year once completed.

Continue reading… “A look inside Tesla Gigafactory Nevada [Updated]”

Ecological Products, Engineering, Science & Technology News, Solar Power, Tourism

This 100% electric pod inspired by James Bond is the worlds first floating eco-hotel suite!

July 25, 2020

Half the year is over and we haven’t been able to catch a break. To keep my hopes up, I continue to make a travel bucket list, and right now all I want to do is go off-the-grid regardless of the place. And there is nothing more perfect for that than Anthénea which is the world’s first autonomous and eco-friendly floating suite equipped with high-end facilities. This modern pod will literally wash all those worries away and you can continue being an eco-conscious traveler!

Anthénea is a UFO-shaped water suite made in France by veteran designers, engineers, and naval architects, whose vision was to create a nomadic vessel for eco-conscious tourists. It was a project born from the dreams of Jean-Michel Ducancelle, a naval architect, who was inspired by James Bond’s floating pod in ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’ (1977). The 50 sqm pod has three living spaces – a living area, a sleeping zone, and a lounge area that features a 360° solarium on its roof for 12 people. All interior elements are entirely made from sustainable materials. Anthénea adapts to a wide temperature range (-30°C to +40°C) and its stabilizing ballasting keeps the seasickness at bay! Coastlines are often overburdened with tourism and Anthénea offers an ecological way to lighten that load while promoting sustainable travel which is our ultimate future.

Continue reading… “This 100% electric pod inspired by James Bond is the worlds first floating eco-hotel suite!”

Coronavirus, government, Science & Technology News, security

NSA says Russian hackers are trying to steal COVID-19 vaccine research

July 25, 2020

Russian hackers are trying to steal research on COVID-19 vaccines, according to intelligence services in the US, UK and Canada, The National Security Agency (NSA) said a group that has been linked to Russian intelligence has targeted health care organizations in the three countries.

The group — which is known as APT29, Cozy Bear or The Dukes — is using malware and spear-phishing attacks, according to a joint advisory from the NSA, the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, the UK’s National Cyber Security Center (NCSC) and Canada’s Communications Security Establishment. The latter two also published guidance to help health care organizations beef up their systems’ defenses.

“It is completely unacceptable that the Russian Intelligence Services are targeting those working to combat the coronavirus pandemic,” Dominic Raab, the UK’s foreign secretary, said in a statement. “While others pursue their selfish interests with reckless behavior, the UK and its allies are getting on with the hard work of finding a vaccine and protecting global health.”

Continue reading… “NSA says Russian hackers are trying to steal COVID-19 vaccine research”

Science & Technology News

Population in more than 20 countries to halve by 2100: Study

July 24, 2020

Japan, Italy, Poland, Portugal, South Korea, Spain and Thailand will see their numbers diminish by at least half by 2100 [File: Reuters]

The Earth will be home to 8.8 billion people in 2100, two billion fewer than current UN projections, says new study.

More than 20 countries, including Italy, Japan, Poland, Portugal, South Korea, Spain and Thailand, will see their numbers diminish by at least half by the year 2100, according to projections in a major study.

China’s population will fall from 1.4 billion people today to 730 million in 80 years, said the study led by an international team of researchers, published in The Lancet on Wednesday.

Continue reading… “Population in more than 20 countries to halve by 2100: Study”

Ecological Products, Farming, Food, new technology, Science & Technology News

This former semiconductor factory is now the worlds largest indoor farm, producing 10k heads of lettuce per day

July 24, 2020

This indoor Japanese farm uses LED lights and hydroponics to produce lettuce 2.5 times faster, with just 1% of the water, when compared to an outdoor farm.

When we think about factories, and what we decry as “factory farms,” we probably don’t think very highly of them as being a key component in the future of agriculture, but if we can take what factories do best, such as use technology to build efficient production lines, and pair that with what nature does best, which is growing biomass from light and water and minerals, then growing food in plant factories starts to make a lot of sense.

Converting what were formerly industrial buildings into indoor farming operations, especially in urban areas and locations that aren’t conducive to year-round outdoor food production, could be an excellent reuse of existing resources (the buildings themselves, the infrastructure that supports them, and their locations in or near cities) to help build a more sustainable food system. And this sort of operation can be done in a way that’s both highly efficient and productive (PDF), in essence turning our ideas about industrial-scale factory farming on their heads.

Continue reading… “This former semiconductor factory is now the worlds largest indoor farm, producing 10k heads of lettuce per day”

AI, App, mobile apps, Science & Technology News

How Intuit is moving from mobile-first to AI-first

July 24, 2020

“AI fundamentally changes how we develop apps and what apps can do, and I would say we’re at the beginning of that revolution,” Intuit CTO Marianna Tessel said.

In a conversation with Nara Logics CEO Jana Eggers at Transform 2020 today, Tessel outlined some of the key ways that AI is changing the mindset at Intuit, with a focus on the app development process. Notably, Intuit is trying to adapt much in a similar way to how it adapted to the emergence of smartphones.

Continue reading… “How Intuit is moving from mobile-first to AI-first”

communication, Internet, new technology, Record Breaker, Science & Technology News

Samsung: Expect 6G in 2028, enabling mobile holograms and digital twins

July 23, 2020

Just as the earliest 5G networks began to go live two years ago, a handful of scientists were eager to publicize their initial work on the next-generation 6G standard, which was at best theoretical back then, and at worst an ill-timed distraction. But as 5G continues to roll out, 6G research continues, and today top mobile hardware developer Samsung is weighing in with predictions of what’s to come. Surprisingly, the South Korean company is preparing for early 6G to launch two years ahead of the commonly predicted 2030 timeframe, even though both the proposed use cases and the underlying technology are currently very shaky.

Given that the 5G standard already enabled massive boosts in data bandwidth and reductions in latency over 4G, the questions of what more 6G could offer — and why — are key to establishing the need for a new standard. On the “what” side, Samsung expects 6G to offer 50 times higher peak data rates than 5G, or 1,000Gbps, with a “user experienced data rate” of 1Gbps, plus support for 10 times more connected devices in a square kilometer. Additionally, Samsung is targeting air latency reductions from 5G’s under 1 millisecond to under 100 microseconds, a 100 times improvement in error-free reliability, and twice the energy efficiency of 5G.

Continue reading… “Samsung: Expect 6G in 2028, enabling mobile holograms and digital twins”