Skype Translator
Soon, Skype users will be able to conduct voice and video calls supported by a near-real time translation technology. Microsoft’s new idea for its video chat platform surely feels like something straight out of science fiction.
Continue reading… “Microsoft demos Skype ‘universal translator’”
This 3D printer has been developed to build cheap, sustainable houses using a clay-like paste.
WASP, an Italian 3D printer company, demonstrated a giant, three-armed printer they created at Maker Faire Rome. WASP’s 3D printer is unique as it can be assembled on site within two hours, and then filled with mud and fiber to build extremely cheap houses in some of the most remote places on Earth. (Video)
Larry Hester is the 7th person in the U.S. to have a bionic eye implanted.
Thanks to bionic eye technology, people diagnosed with a degenerative eye disease are seeing a new future. And Larry Hester is the seventh person in the U.S. to have a so-called bionic eye – an Argus II Retinal Prosthesis Device — implanted. It allows him to see for the first time in 33 years. (Videos)
Continue reading… “Blind man regains partial sight thanks to bionic eye”
A new app for Google Glass provides text captions from the spoken word.
Life can be a little bit easier for those who have lost some or all of their hearing thanks to a new application for Google Glass. The free Captioning on Glass app was created by a team at the Georgia Institute of Technology and does precisely what it sounds like: It provides text captions of the spoken word on the small screen of Google’s wearable display. (Video)
Continue reading… “Google’s Captioning on Glass app is a boon for the hearing impaired”
The gravity model of the North Atlantic ocean basin reveals tectonic history in sharp detail.
It’s like someone pulled a plug in the oceans and drained them away as a sea-floor map has exposed thousands of never-before-seen underwater mountains and ridges. The map was generated by the highest-resolution gravity model ever made for the oceans and will guide deep-sea research for years to come. (Video)
Continue reading… “Gravity map exposes mysteries of the deep oceans”
The multidirectional “perfect paraxial” cloak bends light around the hand to show the grid on the wall.
Two University of Rochester scientists have taken invisibility cloaking back to basics. Their novel arrangement of four standard, off-the-shelf lenses keeps an object hidden (and the background undisturbed) as the viewer moves up to several degrees away from the optimal viewing angle. (Video)
Continue reading… “Scientists develop 3D, continuously multidirectional cloaking device”
High Concentration PhotoVoltaic Thermal (HCPVT)
A cutting-edge solar system that resembles a 10-meter-high sunflower has just been unveiled by IBM Research and Swiss solar technology company Airlight Energy. The High Concentration PhotoVoltaic Thermal (HCPVT) system can concentrate the sun’s radiation 2,000 times and convert 80 percent of it into useful energy, generating up to 12 kilowatts of electrical power and 20 kilowatts of heat on a sunny day—enough to power several average homes. It can also produce clean, fresh water as a result of the process used to cool the solar cells. (Video)
Space elevator
The Japanese construction giant Obayashi has announced they will have a space elevator up and running by the year 2050. If successful it would revolutionize space travel and potentially transform the global economy. (Video)
Continue reading… “Japanese company Obayashi plans to have a space elevator up and running by 2050”
“Cognitive ecstasy” is one reason humans persevere in science, art, and invention.
Humans are curious because discovery is pleasurable. In Jason Silva’s latest video. he says humans don’t care about spectacle—what we care about is ecstatic understanding: “In other words, cognitive ecstasy defined as an exhilarating neurostorm of intense intellectual pleasure.” (Video)
Continue reading… “Progress in technology is driven by our growing addiction to ‘cognitive ecstasy’”
Nick Hanauer, venture capitalist and author
An unrepentant capitalist and rich guy, Nick Hanauer has something to say to his fellow plutocrats: Wake up! Growing inequality is about to push our societies into conditions resembling pre-revolutionary France. Hear his argument about why a dramatic increase in minimum wage could grow the middle class, deliver economic prosperity … and prevent a revolution. (Video)
Continue reading… “Beware, fellow plutocrats, the pitchforks are coming: Nick Hanauer”
Automatic sperm extractor.
A hospital in Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu Province, China, has introduced a new machine that makes sperm donation even easier- an automatic hands-free sperm extractor. Have scientists gone a little too far with this invention? (Video)
Continue reading… “Chinese hospital introduces hands-free automatic sperm extractor”
The machine hitching a ride on the Space X cargo shuttle isn’t your average, off-the-shelf MakerBot printer.
The SpaceX Dragon commercial cargo craft lifted off from Cape Canaveral in Florida last week carrying something that’s never been taken into space: A 3D printer. When it docked with the ISS, it delivered the first machine capable of making things in orbit—a huge step forward for exploration. (Video)
Continue reading… “NASA blasts first 3D printer into space”
By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.
Learn More about this exciting program.