Impact Lab – Page 505 – A Laboratory of the Future Human Experience

Automation, Aviation, Military, military drones, Science & Technology News

The Navy’s surprise unmanned fighter is a glimpse of war’s near future

February 12, 2020

The Navy converted manned combat jets into unmanned ones. Nobody had any idea they were doing it.

The U.S. Navy announced that it converted EA-18G Growler electronic attack jets into unmanned vehicles.

In a test, a manned Growler controlled two unmanned Growlers.

The previously unknown test could mean that unmanned Navy warplanes are coming sooner than experts thought.

In a surprise announcement, the U.S. Navy revealed on Tuesday that it had successfully flown tests involving unmanned versions of the EA-18G Growler electronic attack fighter. The tests involved a single manned EA-18G controlling two unmanned versions of the same aircraft, opening up the possibility that the U.S. Navy could fly armed unmanned aircraft sooner than originally thought.

Continue reading… “The Navy’s surprise unmanned fighter is a glimpse of war’s near future”

2020 Predictions, Batteries, Energy, Latest Trend, Science & Technology News

10 disruptive trends for 2020

February 12, 2020

Disruption is everywhere. Here are 10 trends that will create opportunities – and threats – in 2020.

Twenty years ago, when I started advising startups and Fortune 500 companies on their innovation strategies, a “2020 vision” served as a key staple in most business planning efforts. The future is finally here.

Emerging technologies catalyze disruption. But 2020 promises to be especially extra turbulent. Election year dynamics, coupled with an increase in grassroots business activism, and governments taking action on environmental issues, will infuse even greater chaos into our everyday experiences.

Last year, I described the disruptions facing a variety of industries, including healthcare, packaging, travel and hospitality, software, real estate and construction, retail shopping, and manufacturing.

Here’s my take on the biggest forces transforming business and society in 2020:

Continue reading… “10 disruptive trends for 2020”

Batteries, Breakthrough Thinking, Energy, Science & Technology News

MIT’s solid-state battery breakthrough may see phones last for days

February 11, 2020

A breakthrough in battery architecture could lead to lithium batteries with far greater energy densities than those used today

One of the many ways scientists hope to improve the performance of today’s lithium batteries is by swapping out some of the liquid components for solid ones. Known as solid-state batteries, these experimental devices could greatly extend the life of electric vehicles and mobile devices by significantly upping the energy density packed inside. Scientists at MIT are now reporting an exciting advance toward this future, demonstrating a new type of solid-state battery architecture that overcomes some limitations of current designs.

In a regular lithium battery, a liquid electrolyte serves as the medium through which the lithium ions travel back and forth between the anode and cathode as the battery is charged and discharged. One problem is that this liquid is highly volatile and can sometimes result in battery fires, like those that plagued Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 smartphone.

Replacing this liquid electrolyte for a solid material wouldn’t just make batteries safer and less prone to fires, it could also open up new possibilities for other key components of the battery. The anode in today’s lithium batteries is made from a mix of copper and graphite, but if it were made of pure lithium instead, it could break the “energy-density bottleneck of current Li-ion chemistry,” according to a recent study published in Trends in Chemistry.

Continue reading… “MIT’s solid-state battery breakthrough may see phones last for days”

Architecture, Business, Coworking, Science & Technology News

From privacy booths to smart parking garages: These photos show what offices of the future will look like

February 11, 2020

Technology has dramatically changed where, when and how people work. Another contributing factor that isn’t as sexy but is arguably just as influential for the working world: the rising price of commercial real estate.

As the cost of traditional 10- to 15-year office leases has ticked up nationwide, corporate tenants who want to be able to scale quickly are turning to shorter and less costly 1- to 5-year leases where they can add (or reduce) square footage at a much faster pace. As a result, flexible and co-working spaces are now the fastest-growing type of office space in commercial real estate. They currently comprise less than 5% of the market and are expected to make up 30% by 2030, according to real-estate company JLL.

CNBC Make It spoke with experts in the office design space for what workers can expect in 2020 and beyond.

NOTE: For more information about Colony Workspace at the DaVinci Institute in Westminster, Colorado, please go to ColonyWorkspace.com.

Continue reading… “From privacy booths to smart parking garages: These photos show what offices of the future will look like”

3D Printer, Engineering, new technology, Record Breaker, Science & Technology News

3D printing gets bigger, faster and stronger

February 11, 2020

HARP in action as it vertically and continuously prints a large 3D object.

Research advances are changing the image of a once-niche technology.

A resin printer from Chad Mirkin’s lab at Northwestern University in Illinois can create structures as large as a person in hours (image sequence sped up). Credit: Northwestern University

As a metal platform rises from a vat of liquid resin, it pulls an intricate white shape from the liquid — like a waxy creature emerging from a lagoon. This machine is the world’s fastest resin-based 3D printer and it can create a plastic structure as large as a person in a few hours, says Chad Mirkin, a chemist at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. The machine, which Mirkin and his colleagues reported last October1, is one of a slew of research advances in 3D printing that are broadening the prospects of a technology once viewed as useful mainly for making small, low-quality prototype parts. Not only is 3D printing becoming faster and producing larger products, but scientists are coming up with innovative ways to print and are creating stronger materials, sometimes mixing multiple materials in the same product.

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Medicine, new technology, Report, Science & Technology News

Smart bandage detects infections, auto-releases antibiotic

February 10, 2020

THE SMART BANDAGES SHORTENED WOUND-HEALING TIMES IN MOUSE STUDIES.

A colorful new weapon has emerged in the war on antibiotic resistance.

On Wednesday, researchers in China published a study in the journal ACS Central Science detailing their creation of a new kind of smart bandage. At first, when you apply it to a wound, the bandage is green. But if it detects a bacterial infection, the bandage turns yellow — and releases a built-in antibiotic to treat the infection.

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2020 Predictions, Futurist, Great New Product, Inventions, Science & Technology News, Tom Frey

12 futuristic things that actually already exist

February 10, 2020

The future is now

As this list of items will reveal, the space-age electric future that we once only dreamed about is here. (Yes, right now!)

The speed at which technology is evolving and changing every aspect of our lives is astounding. Think about it. As Futurist Thomas Frey has pointed out, before 2007, our phones were…phones! They did not have the ability to stream every song in the known universe or tell us how to beat traffic on the way to the mall. And now? Your phone does everything. You use it to monitor and control your finances. It keeps you entertained in myriad ways. It checks your heart rate, how many steps you took today, and so much more.

In fact, many things that were once solely the dreams of science-fiction writers or only existed in episodes of The Jetsons are now basic parts of our everyday lives. Take a look at some of the crazy futuristic things that actually exist right now. And while you’re at it, check out these other products that will become “smart” in 2020.

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Breakthrough Thinking, Energy, Engineering, Science & Technology News

New quantum switch turns metals into insulators

February 10, 2020

Artist’s impression of the dissolving of the electronic ‘traffic jam.’ The red atoms are different in their quantum nature and allow transport of electrons in their surroundings.

Most modern electronic devices rely on tiny, finely-tuned electrical currents to process and store information. These currents dictate how fast our computers run, how regularly our pacemakers tick and how securely our money is stored in the bank.

In a study published in Nature Physics, researchers at the University of British Columbia have demonstrated an entirely new way to precisely control such electrical currents by leveraging the interaction between an electron’s spin (which is the quantum magnetic field it inherently carries) and its orbital rotation around the nucleus.

“We have found a new way to switch the electrical conduction in materials from on to off,” said lead author Berend Zwartsenberg, a Ph.D. student at UBC’s Stewart Blusson Quantum Matter Institute (SBQMI). “Not only does this exciting result extend our understanding of how electrical conduction works, it will help us further explore known properties such as conductivity, magnetism and superconductivity, and discover new ones that could be important for quantum computing, data storage and energy applications.”

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Energy, Environment, Green Friendly, Science & Technology News, Transportation

Hydrogen is a bad car fuel, but it’s the perfect boat fuel

February 9, 2020

Because boats are cars too

There are issues inherent with hydrogen as a fuel for cars. It is incredibly expensive and energy intensive to create, it is difficult to pressurize and transport, and the infrastructure for hydrogen as fuel is far less developed than battery electric charging. A few automotive manufacturers, chiefly Honda and Toyota, have hung their zero emissions program hat on the hydrogen peg, but it’s still a very small sliver of the automotive market. It’s pretty much only viable in a small area of Southern California near the fueling stations. As a car fuel, hydrogen straight up sucks.

Toyota and the Energy Observer are proving that hydrogen might be best served as a fuel for traversing the high seas, however. Toyota has adapted what it has learned from the Mirai hydrogen experiment to the Energy Observer, a former racing catamaran which now travels the world preaching the gospel of maritime ZEVs.

Continue reading… “Hydrogen is a bad car fuel, but it’s the perfect boat fuel”

Big Problems, Environment, Health & Fitness, Science & Technology News

The ‘forever chemicals’ fueling a public health crisis in drinking water

February 9, 2020

About 700 PFAS-contaminated sites have been identified across the US while those exposed to enough chemicals can face devastating health consequences

Recent tests revelaed dangerous levels of PFAS in rain, a range of foods and sewage sludge that farmers spread on cropland as fertilizer.

In 2002, the French multinational Saint-Gobain boosted production of chemically weatherproofed fabrics that it produced in its Merrimack, New Hampshire, plant. Soon after, serious health problems began hitting residents living near the facility.

The Merrimack Citizens for Clean Water (MCCW) advocacy group says people there suffer from high levels of cancer, cardiovascular issues, autoimmune disorders, kidney disease and developmental disorders. That includes an alarming number of children facing rare and aggressive cancers, said MCCW’s Laurene Allen, who lives in the city of about 30,000 that sits an hour north of Boston.

Continue reading… “The ‘forever chemicals’ fueling a public health crisis in drinking water”

Alternative Transportation, Aviation, Science & Technology News, Transportation

Hydrogen-powered drone developed in Hungary

February 9, 2020

Hydrogen-powered drone in Hungary.

What is being touted as the world’s first hydrogen fuel cell-powered aircraft that could be made suitable for carrying passengers has been unveiled at Jakabszallas airport in central Hungary. The Hungarian-American development was presented in the attendance of Minister of Innovation and Technology László Palkovics, who told a news conference that the government regards the aerospace industry as a key sector.

Whereas automotive is the Hungarian economy’s flagship industry, investments in recent years are putting aerospace in a stronger position, he added. He noted that the government has the hydrogen economy as a separate chapter in its recently unveiled energy and climate strategy, alongside AI, industry 4.0 and 5G.

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Analysis, Business, Science & Technology News, Startup

For entrepreneurs, 45 is the new 25

February 8, 2020

Many have argued that entrepreneurship is a young man’s game. Look no further than the storied entrepreneurs of Silicon Valley. Mark Zuckerberg. Evan Spiegel. Elon Musk. Larry Page. Sergey Brin. Steve Jobs. All of these individuals achieved success before turning 30.

But is it really the case that young people are more likely to succeed in entrepreneurial ventures? Or, is there more to the story than meets the eye?

New research forthcoming in the American Economic Review casts doubt on the idea that youth is advantageous when it comes to entrepreneurial success, especially in the case of high-growth entrepreneurship.

A team of researchers led by Pierre Azoulay of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology investigated the connection between age and high-growth entrepreneurship.

Continue reading… “For entrepreneurs, 45 is the new 25”