The purpose of this blog is the creation of an open, international, independent and free forum, where every UFO-researcher can publish the results of his/her research. The languagues, used for this blog, are Dutch, English and French.You can find the articles of a collegue by selecting his category. Each author stays resposable for the continue of his articles. As blogmaster I have the right to refuse an addition or an article, when it attacks other collegues or UFO-groupes.
Druk op onderstaande knop om te reageren in mijn forum
Zoeken in blog
Deze blog is opgedragen aan mijn overleden echtgenote Lucienne.
In 2012 verloor ze haar moedige strijd tegen kanker!
In 2011 startte ik deze blog, omdat ik niet mocht stoppen met mijn UFO-onderzoek.
BEDANKT!!!
Een interessant adres?
UFO'S of UAP'S, ASTRONOMIE, RUIMTEVAART, ARCHEOLOGIE, OUDHEIDKUNDE, SF-SNUFJES EN ANDERE ESOTERISCHE WETENSCHAPPEN - DE ALLERLAATSTE NIEUWTJES
UFO's of UAP'S in België en de rest van de wereld Ontdek de Fascinerende Wereld van UFO's en UAP's: Jouw Bron voor Onthullende Informatie!
Ben jij ook gefascineerd door het onbekende? Wil je meer weten over UFO's en UAP's, niet alleen in België, maar over de hele wereld? Dan ben je op de juiste plek!
België: Het Kloppend Hart van UFO-onderzoek
In België is BUFON (Belgisch UFO-Netwerk) dé autoriteit op het gebied van UFO-onderzoek. Voor betrouwbare en objectieve informatie over deze intrigerende fenomenen, bezoek je zeker onze Facebook-pagina en deze blog. Maar dat is nog niet alles! Ontdek ook het Belgisch UFO-meldpunt en Caelestia, twee organisaties die diepgaand onderzoek verrichten, al zijn ze soms kritisch of sceptisch.
Nederland: Een Schat aan Informatie
Voor onze Nederlandse buren is er de schitterende website www.ufowijzer.nl, beheerd door Paul Harmans. Deze site biedt een schat aan informatie en artikelen die je niet wilt missen!
Internationaal: MUFON - De Wereldwijde Autoriteit
Neem ook een kijkje bij MUFON (Mutual UFO Network Inc.), een gerenommeerde Amerikaanse UFO-vereniging met afdelingen in de VS en wereldwijd. MUFON is toegewijd aan de wetenschappelijke en analytische studie van het UFO-fenomeen, en hun maandelijkse tijdschrift, The MUFON UFO-Journal, is een must-read voor elke UFO-enthousiasteling. Bezoek hun website op www.mufon.com voor meer informatie.
Samenwerking en Toekomstvisie
Sinds 1 februari 2020 is Pieter niet alleen ex-president van BUFON, maar ook de voormalige nationale directeur van MUFON in Vlaanderen en Nederland. Dit creëert een sterke samenwerking met de Franse MUFON Reseau MUFON/EUROP, wat ons in staat stelt om nog meer waardevolle inzichten te delen.
Let op: Nepprofielen en Nieuwe Groeperingen
Pas op voor een nieuwe groepering die zich ook BUFON noemt, maar geen enkele connectie heeft met onze gevestigde organisatie. Hoewel zij de naam geregistreerd hebben, kunnen ze het rijke verleden en de expertise van onze groep niet evenaren. We wensen hen veel succes, maar we blijven de autoriteit in UFO-onderzoek!
Blijf Op De Hoogte!
Wil jij de laatste nieuwtjes over UFO's, ruimtevaart, archeologie, en meer? Volg ons dan en duik samen met ons in de fascinerende wereld van het onbekende! Sluit je aan bij de gemeenschap van nieuwsgierige geesten die net als jij verlangen naar antwoorden en avonturen in de sterren!
Heb je vragen of wil je meer weten? Aarzel dan niet om contact met ons op te nemen! Samen ontrafelen we het mysterie van de lucht en daarbuiten.
30-01-2017
"Holy Grail" Metallic Hydrogen Is Going to Change Everything
"Holy Grail" Metallic Hydrogen Is Going to Change Everything
The substance has the potential to revolutionize everything from space travel to the energy grid.
Two Harvard scientists have succeeded in creating an entirely new substance long believed to be the “holy grail” of physics — metallic hydrogen, a material of unparalleled power that could one day propel humans into deep space. The research was published Thursday in the journal Science.
Scientists created the metallic hydrogen by pressurizing a hydrogen sample to more pounds per square inch than exists at the center of the Earth. This broke the molecule down from its solid state and allowed the particles to dissociate into atomic hydrogen.
The best rocket fuel we currently have is liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, burned for propellant. The efficacy of such substances is characterized by “specific impulse,” the measure of impulse fuel can give a rocket to propel it forward.
“People at NASA or the Air Force have told me that if they could get an increase from 450 seconds [of specific impulse] to 500 seconds, that would have a huge impact on rocketry,” Isaac Silvera, the Thomas D. Cabot Professor of the Natural Sciences at Harvard University, told Inverse by phone. “If you can trigger metallic hydrogen to recover to the molecular phase, [the energy release] calculated for that is 1700 seconds.”
Metallic hydrogen could potentially enable rockets to get into orbit in a single stage, even allowing humans to explore the outer planets. Metallic hydrogen is predicted to be “metastable” — meaning if you make it at a very high pressure then release it, it’ll stay at that pressure. A diamond, for example, is a metastable form of graphite. If you take graphite, pressurize it, then heat it, it becomes a diamond; if you take the pressure off, it’s still a diamond. But if you heat it again, it will revert back to graphite.
Scientists first theorized atomic metallic hydrogen a century ago. Silvera, who created the substance along with post-doctoral fellow Ranga Dias, has been chasing it since 1982 and working as a professor of physics at the University of Amsterdam.
Metallic hydrogen has also been predicted to be a high- or possibly room-temperature superconductor. There are no other known room-temperature superconductors in existence, meaning the applications are immense — particularly for the electric grid, which suffers for energy lost through heat dissipation. It could also facilitate magnetic levitation for futuristic high-speed trains; substantially improve performance of electric cars; and revolutionize the way energy is produced and stored.
But that’s all still likely a couple of decades off. The next step in terms of practical application is to determine if metallic hydrogen is indeed metastable. Right now Silvera has a very small quantity. If the substance does turn out to be metastable, it might be used to create room-temperature crystal and — by spraying atomic hydrogen onto the surface —use it like a seed to grow more, the way synthetic diamonds are made.
0
1
2
3
4
5
- Gemiddelde waardering: 0/5 - (0 Stemmen) Categorie:SF-snufjes }, Robotics and A.I. Artificiel Intelligence ( E, F en NL )
28-01-2017
Is er metaalwaterstof gemaakt? Wellicht!
Is er metaalwaterstof gemaakt? Wellicht!
Tim Kraaijvanger
Al tachtig jaar proberen wetenschappers metaalwaterstof te maken, maar nu is het mogelijk eindelijk gelukt. Dit beweren wetenschappers in het wetenschappelijke vakblad Science Magazine.
Waterstof komt in normale toestand in gasvorm voor. Toch zou het theoretisch mogelijk zijn dat waterstof onder extreme druk de vorm van een hard metaal aanneemt. De atomen en elektronen gedragen zich dan als een metaal, waardoor er allerlei interessante toepassingen mogelijk zijn. Denk bijvoorbeeld aan raketbrandstof.
Harvard-wetenschappers Ranga Dias en Isaac Silveira schrijven dat het metaalwaterstof niet groter is dan de breedte van een haar op jouw hoofd, oftewel veertig tot vijftig micronen. Het is dus nog te weinig om raketbrandstof te maken. Toch verwachten Dias en Silveira dat ze de productie in de toekomst kunnen opschroeven.
4,95 miljoen bar Om het metaalwaterstof te creëren, plaatsten de onderzoekers een kleine hoeveelheid moleculair waterstof tussen twee synthetische diamanten. De diamanten werden tegen elkaar geduwd, waardoor de druk toenam tot 495 gigapascal, oftewel 4.950.000 bar. Eén bar is de atmosferische druk op aarde, dus bijna vijf miljoen keer deze druk is waarschijnlijk niet voor te stellen. Zelfs in het midden van de aarde is de druk minder groot.
Van waterstof naar metaalwaterstof Naast dat de druk flink werd opgevoerd, koelden de onderzoekers het waterstof tot een temperatuur van -270 graden Celsius werd bereikt. De wetenschappers beweren in het paper dat de waterstofatomen aan elkaar kleefden, waardoor de atomen elektronen met elkaar gingen delen en een kristalrooster ontstond. Het materiaal zou vervolgens dezelfde eigenschappen hebben als metaal. “Toen we de druk opvoerden, zagen we de kleur van het materiaal veranderen van zwart naar glanzend metallic,” zegt Silvera tegen BBC. “Het materiaal kaatst evenveel licht terug als een spiegel van aluminium.”
Reacties De grote vraag is of het metaalwaterstof is. Eerst moeten de wetenschappers aantonen dat experiment herhaald kan worden. Daarnaast moeten grotere hoeveelheden metaalwaterstof gemaakt worden om aan te tonen dat het ook daadwerkelijk metaalwaterstof is. Andere onderzoekers zijn sceptisch, maar ook optimistisch. “Bij zo’n hoge druk is een overgang naar metaalwaterstof niet ondenkbaar”, reageert Marcus Knudson van Sandia National Laboratories. Natuurkundige Rinke Wijngaarde van de Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam laat aan NRC weten dat de kans dat het echt metaalwaterstof is ongeveer zeventig procent is.
Raketbrandstof 2.0 Als metaalwaterstof ooit in grote hoeveelheden gemaakt kan worden, dan is dit wellicht de nieuwe raketbrandstof. Bij de omzetting van metaalwaterstof in waterstof komt twintig keer zoveel energie vrij als bij de verbranding van waterstof met zuurstof, waardoor metaalwaterstof drie tot vier keer meer stuwkracht per kilo brandstof biedt. Daarnaast kan metaalwaterstof gebruikt worden als supergeleider, waardoor windenergie bijvoorbeeld efficiënter getransporteerd kan worden naar huishoudens. Voor nu is dit allemaal nog toekomstmuziek.
Scientists at Harvard University succeeded in creating a tiny amount of the rarest, and possibly most valuable, material on the planet
For nearly 100 years, scientists have dreamed of turning the lightest of all the elements, hydrogen, into a metal.
Now, in a stunning act of modern-day alchemy, scientists at Harvard University have finally succeeded in creating a tiny amount of what is the rarest, and possibly most valuable, material on the planet, they reported in the journal Science.
For metallic hydrogen could theoretically revolutionise technology, enabling the creation of super-fast computers, high-speed levitating trains and ultra-efficient vehicles and dramatically improving almost anything involving electricity.
And it could also allow humanity to explore outer space as never before.
But the prospect of this bright future could be at risk if the scientists’ next step – to establish whether the metal is stable at normal pressures and temperatures – fails to go as hoped.
Professor Isaac Silvera, who made the breakthrough with Dr Ranga Dias, said: “This is the holy grail of high-pressure physics.
“It's the first-ever sample of metallic hydrogen on Earth, so when you're looking at it, you're looking at something that’s never existed before.”
At the moment the tiny piece of metal can only be seen through two diamonds that were used to crush liquid hydrogen at a temperature far below freezing.
The amount of pressure needed was immense – more than is found at the centre of the Earth.
The sample has remained trapped in this astonishing grip, but sometime in the next few weeks, the researchers plan to carefully ease the pressure.
According to one theory, metallic hydrogen will be stable at room temperature – a prediction that Professor Silvera said was “very important”.
“That means if you take the pressure off, it will stay metallic, similar to the way diamonds form from graphite under intense heat and pressure, but remains a diamond when that pressure and heat is removed,” he said.
If this is true, then its properties as a super-conductor could dramatically improve anything that uses electricity.
“As much as 15 per cent of energy is lost to dissipation during transmission, so if you could make wires from this material and use them in the electrical grid, it could change that story,” the scientist said.
And metallic hydrogen could also transform humanity’s efforts to explore our solar system by providing a form of rocket fuel nearly four times more powerful than the best available today.
“It takes a tremendous amount of energy to make metallic hydrogen,” Professor Silvera said.
“And if you convert it back to molecular hydrogen, all that energy is released, so it would make it the most powerful rocket propellant known to man, and could revolutionize rocketry.
“That would easily allow you to explore the outer planets.
“We would be able to put rockets into orbit with only one stage, versus two, and could send up larger payloads, so it could be very important.”
However some scientists have theorised that metallic hydrogen will be unstable on its surface and so would gradually decay.
Asked what he thought would happen, Professor Silvera said: “I don’t want to guess, I want to do the experiment.”
But it could be a moment almost as exciting as the time the researchers first realised what they had created.
“Ranga was running the experiment, and we thought we might get there, but when he called me and said, ‘The sample is shining’, I went running down there, and it was metallic hydrogen.
“I immediately said we have to make the measurements to confirm it, so we rearranged the lab ... and that's what we did.
“It's a tremendous achievement, and even if it only exists in this diamond anvil cell at high pressure, it's a very fundamental and transformative discovery.”
0
1
2
3
4
5
- Gemiddelde waardering: 0/5 - (0 Stemmen) Categorie:SF-snufjes }, Robotics and A.I. Artificiel Intelligence ( E, F en NL )
27-01-2017
Soon printing a human heart on demand will no longer be sci-fi
Soon printing a human heart on demand will no longer be sci-fi
Julian Littler, special to CNBC.com
Sebastian Kaulitzk | Getty Images
Imagine being able to grow a liver in a laboratory from cells and tissue for a transplant patient. Or engineering cells to grow into a heart valve to replace one damaged from heart disease. Around the world, start-ups — like Tokyo-based Cyfuse Biomedical — are emerging to develop such breakthroughs in the field of regenerative medicine. It is a market projected to reach $101.3 billion by 2022.
Unlike conventional medicines and treatments, regenerative medicines have the ability to restore or heal the body's own cells or create new body parts from a patient's own cells and tissues, thereby eliminating tissue rejection and the excessively long wait for a donor organ.
It may sound like science fiction, but already scientists at Cyfuse have bioprinted blood vessels able to withstand 10 times the pressure of those already in the human body, according to Koji Kuchiishi, co-founder and former CEO.
Bioprinting works like this: Scientists harvest human cells from biopsies or stem cells, then allow them to multiply in a petri dish. The resulting mixture, a sort of biological ink, is fed into a 3-D printer that is programmed to arrange different cell types and materials into a three-dimensional shape. Doctors hope that when placed into the body, these 3-D printed cells will integrate with existing tissue.
While breakthroughs in central nervous system and cardiac treatments remain in the future for now, Cyfuse's Regenova bioprinter is attracting attention from the scientific community. The bioprinter is a robotic system that facilitates the fabrication of 3-D cellular structures by placing cellular spheroids in fine needle arrays according to predesigned 3-D data. Among Cyfuse's goals: to treat spinal injuries and heart failure.
This year the company transplanted human neural tissue into the brain of a small animal with positive results. Blood vessels migrated into the transplanted tissue and the graft was healing after a month.
Cyfuse has also started a clinical trial of a cartilage project, transplanting its stem cell construct into damaged articular cartilage that will gradually differentiate into cartilage and bone and regenerate the tissue.
Cyfuse is one of a growing number of tech start-ups trying to get a toehold in the global marketplace. The sector is blossoming due to innovations in stem cell therapy and tissue engineering. North America accounted for nearly 50 percent of revenue share of global market revenues for regenerative medicines in 2016. Europe is second, at US$24 billion, with Germany leading the region.
Japan and South Korea are steadily gaining ground, however. Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry forecasts the regenerative medicine market to grow to 1 trillion yen ($9.6 billion) domestically by 2030.
With technological adoption and emphasis on research of these medicines, Asia-Pacific is currently one of the fastest-growing regions for regenerative medicine.
The medical power of Japanese art
While there are several companies around the globe leading the 3-D bioprinting space — including Organovo in San Diego, Aspect Biosystems in Vancouver, 3D Bioprinting Solutions in Russia and Rokit in South Korea — Cyfuse says its Kenzan method, a proprietary technique developed by Cyfuse co-founder and human tissue engineer, Koichi Nakayama, differentiates it from the pack.
Named after the spikes used to secure flowers in place in the Japanese art of Ikebana, Kenzan relies on the cultivation of cell aggregates into spheroids that are skewered on stainless-steel spines in the bioprinter.
Regenova is also scaffold-free, meaning the printer fabricates tissue without needing to add any extraneous matter that might pollute it. And unlike many of the other bioprinters, there is no need for collagen or hydrogels; the cells produce their own extracellular matrix.
"To unlock the potential [of bioprinting], it's going to take the marriage between the machine and the imagination of scientists."
-Dr. David Yu, vice president of business development at Cell Applications
In February 2016, San Diego-based Cell Applications became the first U.S. company to use Regenova. In the same month, Virginia-based Lifenet, an institution specializing in regenerative medicine and transplants, became the first buyer anywhere in the world to purchase the system.
"I did a market assessment and review and reached out to a number of companies, including Cyfuse," said Cell Applications' vice president of sales and marketing Daniel Schroen, Ph.D. "Some of them were pretty far upstream from commercialization."
The Californian company is using the bioprinter to create 3-D tissue for a range of clients spanning academic and corporate research.
"We've printed small, tiny beating heart tissue here. We've also printed blood vessels," explained Dr. Schroen.
Medical schools are finding uses for the bioprinter as well. Pediatric cardiac surgeon Narutoshi Hibino of Johns Hopkins is using Regenova to develop bioprinted heart patches to patch the damaged hearts of patients with heart failure who are unable to cope with medication or receive complex cardiac surgery.
At the Indiana University School of Medicine, Dr. Lester Smith, assistant research professor of radiology and imaging sciences and manager of the school's 3D Bioprinting Core,is engaged in clinical biofabricating projects aimed at repairing bone and tendon damage and nipple tissue generation, as well as liver, pancreatic and breast cancer models for metabolic activity and drug-response analysis.
"The bioprinter holds promise to more naturally reproduce tissues in the body than other current bioprinting methods," said Dr. Smith.
Now, with a staff of 23, the company has eight 3-D printer systems operating at Japanese universities and five in U.S. institutions and companies.
While Cyfuse's prospects seem bright, just how quickly futuristic ideas resembling science-fiction fantasy can be realized is unknown.
"This system has a lot of potential because it is unique in many ways," said Dr. David Yu, vice president of business development at Cell Applications. "To unlock that potential, it's going to take the marriage between the machine and the imagination of scientists.
0
1
2
3
4
5
- Gemiddelde waardering: 0/5 - (0 Stemmen) Categorie:SF-snufjes }, Robotics and A.I. Artificiel Intelligence ( E, F en NL )
26-01-2017
Scientists Create the Highest Quality Hologram Device Ever Made
Scientists Create the Highest Quality Hologram Device Ever Made
Lei Wang, ANU
IN BRIEF
A researchers from Australian National University were able to develop a hologram device that gives the highest quality images to date.
According to the study, the compact device is made up of millions of tiny silicon pillars, which are up to 500 times thinner than human hair.
HIGH QUALITY
Holograms are a staple of almost every science fiction movie or TV show out there – from Star Wars to Star Trek. Now, thanks to researchers from the Australian National University (ANU), we may be a step closer to achieving just that — and sending messages to Obi Wan Kenobi.
The ANU team was able to develop a hologram device that gives the highest quality images to date. “As a child, I learned about the concept of holographic imaging from the Star Wars movies. It’s really cool to be working on an invention that uses the principles of holography depicted in those movies,” said lead researcher Lei Want, from ANU’s Research School of Physics and Engineering. The team published their research in the journal Optica.
Wang’s device is able to create high-quality hologram images in infrared, using “transparent metaholograms based on silicon metasurfaces that allow high-resolution grayscale images to be encoded,” according to the study. The device is also quite small. It’s made up of millions of tiny silicon pillars, which are up to 500 times thinner than human hair.
“This new material is transparent, which means it loses minimal energy from the light, and it also does complex manipulations with light,” said co-researcher Sergey Kruk. “Our ability to structure materials at the nanoscale allows the device to achieve new optical properties that go beyond the properties of natural materials. The holograms that we made demonstrate the strong potential of this technology to be used in a range of applications.”
DEFINING HOLOGRAPHIC IMAGES
The real-life applications of such a hologram device aren’t too far from the sci-fi counterparts. “While research in holography plays an important role in the development of futuristic displays and augmented reality devices, today we are working on many other applications such as ultra-thin and light-weight optical devices for cameras and satellites,” Wang said.
Furthermore, because of its size, this device is very portable. This significantly reduces the size and weight of the usually bulky components used in other imaging devices. This can cut the cost for space missions, for example, where heavier loads translate to higher rocket fuel consumption. Apart from these, holograms can also be used to aid medical research and develop treatments for various diseases.
Holography isn’t very different from what augmented or virtual reality (AR/VR) technology is enabling us to do. Essentially, this technology allows us to see and interact with our environment in a much deeper way, so to speak. This tech can even let us see something as if we were really there, in the moment, with added empathy. This could change the way we enjoy news, documentaries, or even live events from afar. Soon, we may be able to send messages that capture emotion or urgency much better than a phone call ever could.
Researchers have discovered that chemically active droplets grow to a set size and then divide on their own accord in a way that's very similar to living cell division.
The discovery could help us understand how the very first living cells initially evolved from protocells billions of years ago, though much more research is still ahead of us.
THE ORIGIN OF LIFE
Modern science has advanced significantly over the last couple of decades. We’ve managed to answer several of the world’s most long-standing questions, but some answers have continued to elude today’s scientists, including how life first emerged from the Earth’s primordial soup. However, a collaboration of physicists and biologists in Germany may have just found an explanation to how living cells first evolved.
In 1924, Russian biochemist Alexander Oparin proposed the idea that the first living cells could have evolved from liquid droplet protocells. He believed these protocells could have acted as naturally forming, membrane-free containers that concentrated chemicals and fostered reactions.
In their hunt for the origin of life, a team of scientists from the Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems and the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, both in Dresden, drew from Oparin’s theory by studying the physics of “chemically active” droplets (droplets that cycle molecules from the fluid in which they are surrounded). Unlike a “passive” type of droplet, like oil in water, which will just continue to grow as more oil is added to the mix, the researchers realized that chemically active droplets grow to a set size and then divide on their own accord.
This behavior mimics the division of living cells and could therefore be the link between the nonliving primordial liquid soup from which life sprung and the living cells that eventually evolved to create all life on Earth. “It makes it more plausible that there could have been spontaneous emergence of life from nonliving soup,” said Frank Jülicher, co-author of the study that appeared in the journal Nature Physicsin December 2016. It’s an explanation of “how cells made daughters,” said lead researcher David Zwicker. “This is, of course, key if you want to think about evolution.
ADD A DROPLET OF LIFE
Some have speculated that these protocellular droplets might still be inside our system “like flies in life’s evolving amber.” To explore that theory, the team studied the physics of centrosomes, which are organelles active in animal cell division that seem to behave like droplets. Zwicker modeled an “out-of-equilibrium” centrosome system that was chemically active and cycling constituent proteins continuously in and out of the surrounding liquid cytoplasm. The proteins behave as either soluble (state A) or insoluble (state B). An energy source can trigger a state reversal, causing the protein in state A to transform into state B by overcoming a chemical barrier. As long as there was an energy source, this chemical reaction could happen. “In the context of early Earth, sunlight would be the driving force,” Jülicher said.
Lucy Reading-Ikkanda/Quanta Magazine
Odarin famously believed that lighting strikes or geothermal activity on early Earth could’ve triggered these chemical reactions from the liquid protocells. This constant chemical influx and efflux would only counterbalance itself, according to Zwicker, when a certain volume was reached by the active droplet, which would then stop growing. Typically, the droplets could grow to about tens or hundreds of microns, according to Zwicker’s simulations. That’s about the same scale as cells.
The next step is to identify when these protocells developed the ability to transfer genetic information. Jülicher and his colleagues believe that somewhere along the way, the cells developed membranes, perhaps from the crusts they naturally develop out of lipids that prefer to remain at the intersection of the droplet and outside liquid. As a kind of protection for what’s within the cells, genes could’ve begun coding for these membranes. But knowing anything for sure still depends on more experiments.
So, if the very complex life on Earth could have begun from something as seemingly inconspicuous as liquid droplets, perhaps the same could be said of possible extraterrestrial life? In any case, this research could help us understand how life as we know it started from the simplest material and how the chemical processes that made our lives possible emerged from these. The energy and time it took for a protocell to develop into a living cell, and the living cells into more complex parts, until finally developing into an even more complex organism is baffling. The process itself took billions of years to happen, so it’s not surprising we need some significant time to fully understand it.
This transparent film can detect a warm body the size of a teddy bear from a meter away and is twice as sensitive as human skin at sensing temperature changes.
Because it is made of low-cost pectin, the material could prove very useful in creating heat-sensitive humanoid robots that could navigate crowds or assist in search and rescue missions.
INSPIRED BY NATURE
Drawing inspiration from nature, scientists have created a heat-sensing film that would allow robots to detect temperature changes in their environment.
Image Credit: D-MAVT, ETH, CIT
Developed by the team from ETH Zurich in Switzerland, the material mimics how the natural membrane of a snake works to help the animal identify nearby prey. Surprisingly, the researchers were able to achieve this using pectin — a low-cost substance that’s primarily used to thicken jam.
To make the film, a pectin solution was mixed with calcium chloride and then dehydrated to create a transparent, flexible material. Unlike traditional electronics, which detect temperature changes via currents of electrons, this film senses temperature variations through ion currents, which is the process used by snakes. Any change in the nearby temperature would affect the film’s resistance, which the researchers could measure via electrodes along the film’s edges.
To test the film, the team microwaved a teddy bear to 37° C (98.6° F) and measured how it affected the film from various distances. Results showed that the membrane was able to recognize the warmed bear from as far away as one meter. It could also detect temperature changes as small as 10 millikelvin — that’s twice as sensitive as human skin.
HEAT-SENSING FOR MACHINES AND AI
“Pectin films are ultra-low cost and scalable, insensitive to pressure and bending, and can be used to augment temperature sensing when integrated in synthetic skin platforms,” the researchers explain in their published study. This could be particularly useful in creating artificially intelligent (AI) robots, as covering a robot’s entire body with this film would essentially give it a layer of “skin” capable of 360-degree thermal sensing.
“The most important thing about combining AI and humanoid robots is that this AI needs to be shaped by its senses like we are,” research lead Raffaele Di Giacomo told New Scientist. “You need to provide full sensory feedback so the AI can build up a picture of the world.” Indeed, heat-sensing features could help robots learn more about their environment and function more efficiently. For starters, the technology could allow robots to seamlessly navigate crowded areas. It would also make it easier for robots developed for emergency response to locate humans during search and rescue missions.
Because the film makes it possible to give nearly any object temperature-sensing capabilities, it has applications outside of robotics as well. It could be used in prosthetics to help provide sensory feedback for wearers, and given the film’s flexibility, it could easily be fitted around mechanical parts, too. The team says that it can be applied either as a spray-on or dip-coating — yet another example of the technology featured on the show “Westworld” potentially cropping up in real life.
0
1
2
3
4
5
- Gemiddelde waardering: 0/5 - (0 Stemmen) Categorie:SF-snufjes }, Robotics and A.I. Artificiel Intelligence ( E, F en NL )
16-01-2017
A New Jetpack is About to Take to the Skies
A New Jetpack is About to Take to the Skies
Jetpack Aviation
IN BRIEF
A jetpack is finally looking for its first civilian test pilot but only the "well qualified" need apply to ensure safety.
The pack can take a ride up to 914 meters (3,000 feet) but only for a short period of five to ten minutes.
Jetpack Aviation CEO David Mayman with the older model JB-9 jetpack(Credit: Loz Blain/New Atlas)
The New Wave of Personal Flight
In November, we wrote about a jetpack that was being made available to the general public – well, for those who have $250,000 to spare.
It’s called the JB-10, and it was fabricated by Jetpack Aviation. A month prior, CEO David Mayman successfully flew the jetpack off the coast of Monaco.
Regarding specs, this jetpack comes packed with twin jet engines and 7 percent more power than it’s former JB-9 model. It can ascend to 305 meters (1,000 ft) per minute and lasts about 5 to 10 minutes per ride.
“It’s like a Segway,” Mayman described. “If you want to go forward, you just lean forward. If you want to stop, you just lean back. It’s incredibly simple. If you wanted to fly a helicopter, you’d need 150 hours of training — but with this, you can learn everything you need to know in about 3 hours.”
Ready to buy one? Not just yet. The JB-10 might be available for consumers, but only to “well-qualified buyers.” It’s a company tactic to prevent people from flying recklessly. So they announced a contest to award one lucky person the special opportunity to test fly the JB-10 as Jetpack Aviation’s first civilian guinea pig. This is an incredible occasion, knowing that Mayman is the only one to have flown one as of yet.
Mayman hopes to include safety training for potential customers as part of the sales process in the near future. If this civilian flight is successful, it will pave the way for a new era of personal flight. Also on his radar is an all-electric jetpack that will be used to train test pilots without the gas-guzzling feature.
WANT MORE JETPACK IDEAS?
Other options for a good time in the air include BW-Air, a golf cart jetpack that was released by the Martin Aircraft Company. It can rise up to 914 meters (3,000 feet), and can reach speeds of up to 46 mph (74 km/hr). Only hurdles: a mere $200,000 and a permit to ride from authorities.
Martin Aircraft Company also engaged in another project, partnering with Dubai officials in order to tackle the issue of fighting fires from skyscrapers. These jetpacks accelerate up to speeds of 75 km/hr (46 mph) and can reach up to 914 meters (3,000 feet). That’s slightly taller than the Burj Khalifa.
With all these technological advancements, what will they come up with next? We’re excited to find out.
The transition from one year to the next is always a little uncertain – an uneasy blend of anxiety and optimism, it’s also a time of retrospection, introspection, and even a little tentative prognostication. And since the latter is our stock-in-trade at Futurism, we believe now is the perfect time to look ahead at what 2017 has in store for us.
Here’s some of what we can expect for artificial intelligence in the year ahead.
Personal AI
2016 saw the growth of more consumer-oriented AI. Alexa, Siri, and Cortana—among many others—now come standard in our handy personal devices, and Amazon even open-sourced Alexa for developers. Look for 2017 to be the year when AI begins to be a commonplace in some apps, and also expect the other major tech companies to follow Amazon’s lead in opening up their AI systems to outside development.
With this more collaborative approach to the evolution of AI, we may finally begin to see the personalization of artificial intelligence, and a great proliferation of new AI programs with idiosyncratic personalities, temperaments, and even intellectual outlooks.
Some of the artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms currently helping machines think. Credit: CIO Journal/Narrative Science
A Better Conversationalist
Trying to hold a conversation with Siri or Alexa is like watching two people in the same canoe paddling in opposite directions—it just ain’t goin’ anywhere. For one thing, neither have much a sense of humor; furthermore, these robotic ladies just lack that wonted je ne sais quoi we expect in our intellectual sparring partners—they’re dull, frankly, and haven’t really got much to say.
But in 2017, that’s all about to change.
“In 2017 there will be a chatbot that passes the Turing test, exhibiting responses so human-like that an average person wouldn’t be able to tell if it’s human or machine,” forecasts Jim McHugh, Vice President and General Manager at NVIDIA. Such extraordinary capabilities will be the natural sequel to the new advances in machine learning, natural language processing, and pattern recognition that will finally beget more empathic and intuitive AI programs.
“In the coming year, we will see advances that are used to endow systems with new human-centered qualities, including more natural, fluid conversation—that can address several topics or needs in one ongoing interaction, and deeper understanding of human values and intentions, such as recognizing the commitments we make to others in our email and text messaging,” observes Eric Horvitz, Technical Fellow and Managing Director at Microsoft Research.
Very soon now, you’ll really be able to have that deep, meaningful conversation with Alexa that you always wanted.
Cognitive Machinery
According to the big brains at Ovum, “machine learning will be the biggest disruptor for big data analytics in 2017.” They’ve got a point, too—a damn good one. Deep learning and neural networks have shown remarkable promise, even holding out the hope that they might point the way toward achieving some sort of serviceable, human-like machine intelligence—not a terrible surprise, since their mechanism mimics the layered cognitive processing employed by the human brain.
And in 2017, we can expect even greater strides in machine learning, as massive upgrades to parallel processing power enable the networks to crunch ever-larger blocks of data. “Generative adversarial networks” (GANs) are the next big thing in machine learning—essentially dual networks, one that learns from datasets and another that distinguishes between real and fake data.
So look for our machines to become better learners in 2017, as AI approaches its “terrible twos” and begins to cognitively mature.
A Companion Mind
Harry Shrum, Executive Vice President of Microsoft’s AI and Research Group, is cheerfully optimistic about AI’s outlook in the coming year:
“In 2017 we’ll see increased acceleration in the democratization of AI for every person and every organization. With advances in technology, computers will gain even greater ability to see, hear and understand our world—to make us more productive, to have more fun and also enable greater strides towards solving some of society’s most pressing challenges like fighting disease, ignorance, and poverty.”
And that seems to be the general consensus about what the New Year holds for artificial intelligence. Not a mystical singularity; not the sudden “awakening” of an inchoate machine mind—inhuman, alien, perhaps even malevolent or at least antipathetic to all we hold dear. That’s a fantasy—the reality will be far more prosaic.
If AI is taken to mean the evolution of tools that act in concert with their makers, and are instilled with a limited, almost instinctual awareness, then we seem to be well on the way toward building a world in which our machines are active partners in the business of life. So don’t look for the coming of Skynet or HAL 9000 in 2017—nothing so dramatic as all that. For now, baby steps—incremental steps toward a world in which our very tools are endowed with the same sort of sensory and reactive faculties that are found throughout the living world.
Now, as for 2018… that’s a different story altogether.
Every year, the Consumer Electronics Show highlights the latest in tech, and this year's innovations include paper-thin televisions, autonomous cars, and advanced AI systems.
Though not all of the products showcased at the CES will make it to market, the event is an inspiring showcase of humanity's capacity for innovation and imagination.
It’s the first week in January, and that can only mean two things — painful hangovers from New Year’s revelries and the international Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas! Forget Christmas…for tech nerds, the CES is like dying and going to heaven — a heaven full of shiny new technology, self-driving cars, flying cars, vibrating pants, robots, smart beds, and loads of other neat stuff.
There’s a lot of new tech to get through, so let’s take a look at some of the coolest (and weirdest) offerings at the CES 2017:
NVIDIA’S SPOT AND SHIELD
NVIDIA founder and CEO Jen-Hsun Huang was the keynote speaker on Wednesday night, and he revealed some of the company’s big plans for the coming year. Among the most notable was the “Shield,” a 4K HDR streaming media player, but it’s NVIDIA’s new AI platforms that are really turning heads. NVIDIA’s SPOT device, which can be simply plugged into any outlet and linked with the Shield, is capable of natural language processing and voice recognition, and it even knows where you are in your house. Big Huang is watching you!
BOSCH CONCEPT CAR
Bosch’s new concept car gives us a preview of a world in which cars are personalized and, frankly, little more than big, expensive smart devices that can move you from place to place. Bosch’s futuristic vehicle concept includes facial recognition technology to customize the driving experience to an individual driver’s tastes, and the car’s haptic touch display, gesture control, and eye-tracking systems seem awfully “sci-fi” to us.
Credit: Bosch
THE FF91
Faraday Future, meanwhile, launched its FF91 — a fully electric, fully connected self-driving car with a 1,050-hp engine that can take it from 0 to 60 mph in 2.39 seconds. And it even includes a smartphone-operated “driverless valet” that parks the car for you. Eat your heart out, Tesla!
DRIVERLESS AI
In other news, the German automotive company ZF has partnered with NVIDIA to create the ProAI, a deep-learning artificial intelligence (AI) program that represents a huge step toward “intellectualizing” our vehicles. According to an NVIDIA press release, the ZF ProAI “will be able to process inputs from multiple cameras, plus lidar, radar and ultrasonic sensors, in a process we call sensor fusion,” generating a 360-degree sensory sphere for the vehicle.
Looks like our vehicles are finally getting the futuristic smarts they’ll need to survive in the 21st century.
WALLPAPER TV
COMING SOON - LG SIGNATURE OLED TV W - 4K HDR Smart TV - 77" Class (76.7" Diag)
In the world of television (a perennial favorite), LG debuted the Signature OLED TV W — known on the street as “The Wallpaper TV.” It’s got a flexible screen with a depth of just 4 millimeters (.15 inches). You can hang it on the wall with magnets, and it comes in 65- and 77-inch versions. It’s slim, sleek, and futuristic, and you can have it in April for the low, low price of only $8,000.
VIBRATING PANTS
Easily the most anticipated product at the CES 2017 — and without question 2017’s most promising transformative technology — is Spinali Design’s vibrating short-shorts, which sync with your phone and translate directions from your favorite navigation app into goading twitches to your left or right cheeks. For the time being, however, the technology is limited to women who habitually go braless and have an unhealthy denim fixation.
Credit: Spinali Design
Virtual reality shoes
Developed by Japanese firm Cerevo, the Taclim VR shoes allow you to use your feet to interact with what you see in virtual reality.
The shoes give haptic feedback and vibrations to the wearer to give them a sense of walking on the virtual surfaces they see in front of them.
Hypersuit
Another extension to a virtual reality headset, the Hypersuit is a wearable simulator from French firm THEORY that gives the wearer the impression they have wings or can fly like a superhero.
Intended for entertainment and gaming purposes, users lie on a movable exoskeleton platform and use their arms to control the direction of "flight", while a fan blows in their face to complete the illusion.
Smart cane
Created by French company Dring, this smart cane for the elderly is designed to learn the user's habits and detect any unusual activity, such as falling over.
It can then automatically alert carers and family, without any action from the user, and share their location over text or email.
Smart bed
The Sleep Number 360 smart bed is designed to keep you comfortable by sensing your movements and automatically adjusting your position to keep you sleeping blissfully.
It works even when there are two people in the bed, can warm your feet to help you fall asleep faster, and even raise you head to stop snoring.
We’ll continue to keep you updated on the weird and wonderful technology being showcased at the CES 2017.
Two teams have advanced to the final round of the Qualcomm Tricorder XPRIZE competition to create a medical tricorder inspired by the one in the "Star Trek" television series.
A handheld diagnostic device could improve healthcare tremendously, giving people instant access to information about their vital signs, illnesses, and more.
Credit: Paramount Television
“I’M A DOCTOR, NOT AN ENGINEER”
Nonprofit organization XPRIZE aims to incentivize innovation through competition, and they recently teamed up with Qualcomm to host a contest inspired by one of the most beloved of all sci-fi universes, “Star Trek.”
The world was first introduced to the medical tricorder in the original “Star Trek” series, which debuted in 1966. The device was used by Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy, chief medical officer of the USS Enterprise, to quickly scan and diagnose medical conditions. XPRIZE is hoping to help bring that kind of futuristic technology to the present.
The competition has chosen two finalists to continue developing their tech. One, Dynamical Biomarkers Group (DBG), is composed of physicians, scientists and engineers out of Taiwan. The other, Final Frontier Medical Devices, is led by siblings Basil and George Harris, an ER doctor and a network engineer, respectively.
According to Space.com, the DBG group’s device employs an HTC smartphone they’ve modified and several sensors. Those sensors connect to the smartphone via Bluetooth, and all of the components fit into a box where they can be charged using just one USB cable. The Final Frontier Medical Devices’ tricoder prototype comes in a kit that includes multiple 3D-printed devices that are wirelessly paired with an iPad Mini for diagnoses.
Credit: XPRIZE
BEAMING UP THE FUTURE
Under the rules of the competition, each device must be able to detect or monitor three different sets of information: the Core Set, the Elective Set, and the Vital Signs Set.
In this final round, the devices must be able to test for all 13 of the conditions on the Core Set list, which includes anemia, diabetes, and stroke. It must also be able to test for any three items from the Elective Set list, which includes hypertension, food poisoning, strep throat, and HIV. Finally, the device must be able to continuously monitor five essential vital signs: blood pressure, heart rate, body temperature, respiratory rate, and oxygen saturation.
With just a little incentive, like $6 million, we can move the clock of technology forward centuries. “Star Trek” is set in 2265, but we have already surpassed a lot of the technology portrayed in the original series with devices like smartphones and software like Skype. Who knows? By the time even 2200 rolls along, we could be centuries ahead of those who first lived long and prospered.
0
1
2
3
4
5
- Gemiddelde waardering: 0/5 - (0 Stemmen) Categorie:SF-snufjes }, Robotics and A.I. Artificiel Intelligence ( E, F en NL )
05-12-2016
Atlas the Life-Sized Robot Just Became a Bit More Human
Atlas the Life-Sized Robot Just Became a Bit More Human
IHMC
IN BRIEF
Humanoid robots just got a major upgrade: they can walk!
A new "walking algorithm" has been developed at the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC) for Boston Dynamics' Atlas robot.
A sped-up animation of the algorithm in action.
STEPPING OUT
We’ve come a step closer to those human-like, walking “droids” we all love from the Star Wars universe. A new locomotion algorithm has been developed that allows the Atlas robot to gingerly walk through rough and uneven terrain.
Most robots would need flat surfaces to traverse. This control algorithm, developed at the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC) for the Atlas robot from Boston Dynamics, mimics a human-like line of thinking of deliberating carefully before making a step. Atlas balances itself before stepping onto an uneven foothold.
“Our humanoid projects are focused on enabling our bipedal humanoids [to] handle rough terrain without requiring onboard sensors to build a model of the terrain,” said the developers from IHMC. “Our goal is to tackle increasingly more difficult walking challenges.”
HUMAN ROBOTS?
Boston Dynamics’ Atlas has been in the works for a while now under the DARPA Robotics Challenge, a competition funded by the US Government. The company, a subsidiary of Google, has been continuously bringing out developments to make this robot as close to the human form as possible. Particularly, they have been focusing on equipping Atlas with balance and agility, qualities that traditionally would be quite difficult for robots.
Humanoid robots, once a tale from science fiction, are slowly coming to life. Today, they’re mastering walking through rubble and keeping balance on a thin plank of wood. Tomorrow, they could be indispensable partners in our daily lives. The calculated steps that Atlas now makes could be life-saving when put to the right uses. Like in the movies, the future could have artificially intelligent healthcare providers, policemen, and more.
MIT and NASA researchers have developed a morphing airplane wing which could greatly simplify the manufacturing process and will make planes more fuel efficient.
The design is similar to that of Wright brothers’ Flyer 1, which they did more than a century ago. The entire wing bends and twists, but in place of wires and pulleys, this wing uses a high-strength foil on an aluminum frame.
The wing’s aerodynamics and its agility have been improved. Using an “array of tiny, lightweight structural pieces” dubbed “digital materials,” the scientists made the wings that can be assembled into a virtually infinite variety of shapes, just like LEGO blocks. The wings are able to twist with the help of activating two small motors that apply a twisting pressure to each wingtip.
Image courtesy Kenneth Cheung/NASA
As per MIT, “Wind-tunnel tests of this structure showed that it at least matches the aerodynamic properties of a conventional wing, at about one-tenth the weight.”
The wings are bendable and are made of lightweight carbon fiber reinforced plastic and are assembled by a team small robots. Miniature robots crawl along or inside the wing structure as it takes shape.
Gonzalo Rey, chief technology officer for Moog Inc., said, “Ultralight, tunable, aeroelastic structures and flight controls open up whole new frontiers for flight. The broader potential in this concept extends directly to skyscrapers, bridges, and space structures, providing not only improved performance and survivability but also a more sustainable approach by achieving the same strength while using, and reusing, substantially less raw material.”
0
1
2
3
4
5
- Gemiddelde waardering: 0/5 - (0 Stemmen) Categorie:SF-snufjes }, Robotics and A.I. Artificiel Intelligence ( E, F en NL )
28-11-2016
Synthetic Future: Revolutionary Center Will 3D-Print Human Tissues and Organs
Synthetic Future: Revolutionary Center Will 3D-Print Human Tissues and Organs
Stevens Health Institute
IN BRIEF
A new 'biofabrication institute' is being made that will scan, model, and 3d-print patient-specific tissues in one building.
The ultimate goal is to 3D-print entire organs, which could save the lives of thousands of people on organ transplant lists.
A PLACE OF COLLABORATION
Most developments happening right now in the field of bioprinting come from individual laboratories that publish results that come from a controlled lab setting. At the present moment, rarely do the research institutes themselves specialize in 3D bioprinting. Instead, there is a separation between those doing the work and those using the fruits of this labor.
Driven by this emerging technology, the Queensland University of Technology (QUT), in partnership with the Metro North Hospital and Health Service, has announced that they will establish a ‘biofabrication institute’ that will scan, model, and 3d-print patient-specific tissues in one building.
Credit: QUT
The institute will occupy two floors at the Herston Health Precinct and will be capable of performing the major processes in the bioprinting process, namely: clinical scanning, 3d modeling, and tissue engineering. It will also contain learning spaces and an innovation hub.
The Minister for Health, Cameron Dick, has expressed optimism on the endeavor, saying in the Brisbane Times that it will bring together various experts in the field of medicine, science, and engineering to “deliver the best outcome for patients.”
He adds, “This institute, opening in 2017, will catapult Queensland onto the global stage as a leader in medical innovation and technology that will change the face of healthcare.”
THE ULTIMATE GOAL
The ‘end goal’ for this institute, according to QUT Biofabrication and Tissue Morphology Group Associate Professor Mia Woodruff, is the 3D-printing of an organ. The institute could speed up developments in bioprinting, which may ultimately mean the difference between life and death for people waiting for an organ donor.
Woodruff says that the 3D-printed organs are taken from a patient’s tissue and, to that end, are not rejected by the body, eliminating the need for metallic implants or extensive antibiotics.
She concludes, “Organ transplant lists are endless at the moment and we want to be able to help these people.” Other advantages that 3d-printed organs have are much more customized prosthetics, drugs tailored to a patient, and 3D-printed bones.
Divergent 3D has shown off the Blade Supercar, the first-ever 3D-printed sports car capable of reaching 97 km (60 mph) in 2.2 seconds.
The car is made from a more sustainable approach to materials that, if widely adopted, could help alleviate the carbon footprint of automakers.
LEGO BLOCK “SUPERCAR”
At the Los Angeles Auto Show, automaker Divergent 3D showed off their 3D-printed Blade Supercar. The 635 kilogram (1,400 pound) car is made of a combination of aluminum and carbon fiber; accelerates to 97 kilometers per hour (60 miles per hour) in 2.2 seconds with its 700 hp engine; and can use either gasoline or compressed natural gas asfuel.
Jon Lloyd
The Blade Supercar debuted last year in June, heralding the company’s radical, environmentally-sustainable approach to manufacturing. Divergent calls the manufacturing approach NODE, where they 3D print aluminum nodes joined together by carbon fiber tubing.
The process, which is similar to using Lego blocks, requires less capital and uses up fewer materials. The ease of assembly means that even semi-skilled workers can run the process.
As an added bonus, Divergent 3D’s cars are 90 percent lighter and more durable than cars built with traditional techniques.
Divergent 3D's printed supercar greets visitors in the atrium of the LA Convention Center at the LA Auto Show.
The rear of the Blade 3D printed supercar Wednesday Nov. 16, 2016 at the LA Auto Show.
MANUFACTURING THE FUTURE CAR
Divergent 3D aims to manufacture competitive automobiles while radicalizing the usual car manufacturing process that can be taxing on the environment.
Making a car can be just as polluting as driving one. Metals, rubbers, plastics, paints, and more are extracted from nature and synthesized through a long process where resources are shipped from all across the world. As The Guardian reported in 2010, producing a medium-sized car like a Ford Mondeo could generate more than 17,000 kilograms (17 tonnes) of carbon dioxide equivalent.
But more industries today are taking a global shift into sustainability. Divergent, together with its partner companies, are helping take the lead in changing auto manufacturing for the better.
0
1
2
3
4
5
- Gemiddelde waardering: 0/5 - (0 Stemmen) Categorie:SF-snufjes }, Robotics and A.I. Artificiel Intelligence ( E, F en NL )
A Self-Piloting Human Transport Drone Flew Untethered for the First Time
A Self-Piloting Human Transport Drone Flew Untethered for the First Time
Urban Aeronautics
Urban Aeronautics Cormorant
Formerly known as the "Air Mule," this is a flying taxi, or maybe a future unmanned ambulance.
Tactical Robotics
IN BRIEF
The autonomous aerial vehicle (UAV) prototype AirMule has completed its first completely untethered flight, but its control system made a handful of incorrect decisions.
Tactical Robotics, the makers of the AirMule, envisions UAVs landing and taking off from rugged terrain that human pilots can't handle.
Below is some additional technical information related to the recent flight and also in general--the challenge of NOE (Nap of the Earth) flight:
As tech companies, car manufacturers, and governments like France usher in a self-driving transit ecosystem, handing the keys over to computers seems to make more sense.
Israeli firm Tactical Robotics wants to take self-piloting tech to the air. AirMule, an autonomous vertical take off and landing (VTOL) prototype capable of carrying people and supplies, has just demonstrated its first fully untethered autonomous flight along a preplanned route.
The unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) — now known as Comorant — uses internal rotor blades and rear horizontal thrust ducted fans to take off. It also has two laser altimeters, a radar altimeter, inertial sensors, and an electro-optic payload camera as sensors to guide its flight decisions.
That doesn’t mean the whole flight was smooth sailing. On three occasions, the robot’s flight management system (FMS) had to take over the autonomous flight control system (FCS) because the tech made incorrect decisions. And two times the FCS misjudged altitude due to inaccurate laser altimeter readings, causing the transport to land early.
“While the FCS was ‘learning’ to fly the aircraft through the various pattern maneuvers, the FMS was continuously monitoring the level of safety, and making judgements regarding if and when to intervene,” Tactical Robotics said in a press release.
More R&D is clearly in order. But the manufacturers say the UAV will one day be able to land and take off vertically from rough terrain human pilots can’t handle. They envision the drones carrying supplies and soldiers to battlefields and war zones.
0
1
2
3
4
5
- Gemiddelde waardering: 0/5 - (0 Stemmen) Categorie:SF-snufjes }, Robotics and A.I. Artificiel Intelligence ( E, F en NL )
10-11-2016
Paralyzed Monkeys Able to Walk Again With Brain Implant. Human Trials Are Next
Paralyzed Monkeys Able to Walk Again With Brain Implant. Human Trials Are Next
A neural interface helped a monkey walk again after its spinal cord was cutSwiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne
Jemere Ruby
IN BRIEF
Using a system of electrodes, transmitters, receivers, scientists were able to restore leg function in a primate, completely bypassing damaged nerves.
While this remarkable feat may be decades away from human use, it is a promising development for the hundreds of thousands of people in the U.S. with spinal cord injuries
Gregoire Courtine, a neurologist at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, holds a silicone model of a primate's brain with an electrode array. The goal is to pick up signals from the brain and transmit them to the legs.
Alain Herzog/EPFL
INSTANT FUNCTION
Electrodes implanted in the brain and spine have helped paralyzed monkeys walk. The neurologists behind the study reported that the implants restored function in the primates’ legs almost instantaneously. The findings are detailed in Nature.
The spinal cord of the subject monkey was partially cut, so the legs had no way of communicating with the brain. To mend the brain-spine interface, electrodes were placed on key parts of the monkey’s body. Implants were placed inside the monkey’s brain at the part that controls leg movement, together with a wireless transmitter sitting outside the skull. Electrodes were also placed along the spinal cord, below the injury.
A computer program decoded brain signals indicative of leg movement and transmitted the signals to the electrodes in the spine. Within just a few seconds, the monkey was moving its leg. In a few days, it was walking on a treadmill.
Alain Herzog/Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL)
“The primate was able to walk immediately once the brain-spine interface was activated. No physiotherapy or training was necessary,” said Erwan Bezard, one of the authors of the study.
PRIMATE-TO-PRIMATE
This study is a massive breakthrough—it’s the first time implants have helped a primate walk. There has been much research to develop tech for paralyzed patients, but most lab trials were done on rodents. “It seems the principles learned in rats are now translating into primates,” said Jen Collinger, a University of Pittsburgh bioengineer.
The results were astoundingly positive, but the researchers say that it will take at least a decade to fine-tune the technology for use in humans. Still, our bodies are greatly similar to that of monkeys, and the researchers believe transition could be quick.
Exciting news about the study is that the components that the researchers used are legal for human use in Switzerland. The Swiss group of the study have started clinical trial with eight people with partial leg paralysis.
We’re all eager for further development in the study—an innovation that could greatly change the lives of approximately 282,000 people in the U.S. with spinal cord injuries.
0
1
2
3
4
5
- Gemiddelde waardering: 0/5 - (0 Stemmen) Categorie:SF-snufjes }, Robotics and A.I. Artificiel Intelligence ( E, F en NL )
07-11-2016
This Quarter-Sized, Self-Powered Drone Is the Smallest in the World
This Quarter-Sized, Self-Powered Drone Is the Smallest in the World
UPenn/Scott Spitzer
IN BRIEF
The Piccolissimo comes in two sizes, a quarter-sized one weighing less than 2.5 grams and a larger, steerable one that's heavier by 2 grams and wider by a centimeter.
According to the researchers, 100 or 1,000 small controllable flyers like the Piccolissimo could cover more of a disaster site than a single large drone and more cheaply.
The Piccolissimo is the world’s smallest self-powered controllable drone. It comes in two sizes, a quarter-sized one weighing less than 2.5 grams and a larger, steerable one that’s heavier by 2 grams and wider by a centimeter (.39 inches). Size-wise, it is actually a bit larger than Harvard’s RoboBee, but the latter is hooked to an external power source and consequently has more limited motion.
Piccolissimo is made possible by UPenn’s ModLab, which specializes in “underactuated” robots that can achieve great ranges of motion with the fewest motors possible. The tiny tech only has two parts: the propeller and the body. The motor spins the body 40 times per second in one direction, while the propeller spins 800 times per second the opposite way. The drone can be steered because the propeller is mounted slightly off-center. Changing the propeller speed at precise points during the drone’s flight changes its direction.
“One of the interesting things about the design is that much of the complexity is in the design of the body which is 3D printed,” researcher Mark Yim told Digital Trends. “Since the cost of 3D-printed parts are based on the volume of plastic in the part, and independent of complexity, the flyer is very low-cost.”
COMPLEX FUNCTION, SIMPLE DESIGN
Tiny flying microbots have huge potential for applications in agriculture or disaster relief. When equipped with smart sensors, autonomously flying micro-robots could be used for crop pollination or to monitor agriculture for dryness or drought. In search and rescue missions, they could allow rescuers to cover larger areas faster and more cheaply. “Having 100 or 1,000 small controllable flyers could explore more of a disaster site than a single big, expensive one,” says Yim.
Microbots like Piccolissimo are taking function to a fundamental size, showing that in the future of tech, sometimes less can be more.
0
1
2
3
4
5
- Gemiddelde waardering: 0/5 - (0 Stemmen) Categorie:SF-snufjes }, Robotics and A.I. Artificiel Intelligence ( E, F en NL )
03-11-2016
Meet the Nightmare Machine: An AI That Creates Your Worst Fears
Meet the Nightmare Machine: An AI That Creates Your Worst Fears
DeepDream Project/Google
IN BRIEF
Dr. Cebrian and his colleagues fed 200,000 images of human faces into the machine – then, they fed a zombie face into the neural network.
When a machine learns what images scare humans, it can be taught to do the opposite, and generate behavior that makes us feel comforted.
GENERATING FEAR
The artificial intelligence (AI) currently being developed is largely benevolent. It can mimic the way humans think, complete menial and repetitive tasks, and more. But that doesn’t prevent people from being afraid of AI, thinking it will take away jobs or eventually turn Terminator into a documentary.
Somebody thought AI wasn’t scary enough, and did something to change that. Researchers from MIT and Australia’s CSIRO have created AI that actively warps pictures into scary nightmare fuel.
Nightmare Machine
Aptly named the Nightmare Machine, the algorithm started like any nightmare would, rather benignly. The researchers fed their algorithm 200,000 faces, for it to recognize and generate a normal face.
But they then fed it just one picture of a zombie, and changed the code so the zombie face would have more weight in the images generated. Soon after, the algorithm was generating nightmare fuel like crazy.
FOR COMFORT AND WARMTH
Creating sleepless nights is not the main reason for the Nightmare Machine. It has a higher purpose: to tell machines how to comfort us. When it learns what images or things scare humans, AI can then be taught to do the opposite, and generate behavior that makes us feel safe.
“Just like a child, or an adult, by learning behavior that upsets humans, a machine can then be trained to avoid that behavior,” says Manuel Cebrian Ramos, of the CSIRO, in a statement. “So the same technology we are using in this silly project could actually be used to comfort, to invite humans to co-operate with machines.”
In fact, he believes that this is the best way to create benign AI, as opposed hard wiring rules. “Instead of [Asimov’s] top-down rules, which are always going to have loopholes, it’s better for a machine to learn bottom up,” says Cebrian.
Essentially, if machines can help us understand them, then it’s going to be easier to work with them. “If we perceive them as alien, as too different from us, then we will fight them, and I don’t like that, I like co-operation,” he says.
How ny drones does it take to screw in a light bulb? Apparently two, and about nine smashed bulbs (hey, progress requires risks), according to the description of a fascinating video uploaded to YouTube Sunday.
The video shows a quadcopter attempting to replacing a ceiling’s light bulb, while putting a new spin on the worn-out joke, and highlighting how we could one day keep the lights on.
During the drone’s first attempt, the remote-controlled flyer struggles to connect with the bulb and crashes to the ground. (It wiped out pretty good, which we think could be when the second drone came into play.) After multiple tries the drone successfully grasps the bulb with its three prongs. Just a few spins later, it unscrews the bulb.
The drone then carries a replacement bulb up to the outlet before taking another spin to secure it in place. This last step proves to be the easiest and soon the bulb is glowing.
What other hard-to-reach light fixtures could drones one day maintain for us? The future is clearly bright.ma
Beste bezoeker, Heb je zelf al ooit een vreemde waarneming gedaan, laat dit dan even weten via email aan Frederick Delaere opwww.ufomeldpunt.be. Deze onderzoekers behandelen jouw melding in volledige anonimiteit en met alle respect voor jouw privacy. Ze zijn kritisch, objectief maar open minded aangelegd en zullen jou steeds een verklaring geven voor jouw waarneming! DUS AARZEL NIET, ALS JE EEN ANTWOORD OP JOUW VRAGEN WENST, CONTACTEER FREDERICK. BIJ VOORBAAT DANK...
Druk op onderstaande knop om je bestand , jouw artikel naar mij te verzenden. INDIEN HET DE MOEITE WAARD IS, PLAATS IK HET OP DE BLOG ONDER DIVERSEN MET JOUW NAAM...
Druk op onderstaande knop om een berichtje achter te laten in mijn gastenboek
Alvast bedankt voor al jouw bezoekjes en jouw reacties. Nog een prettige dag verder!!!
Over mijzelf
Ik ben Pieter, en gebruik soms ook wel de schuilnaam Peter2011.
Ik ben een man en woon in Linter (België) en mijn beroep is Ik ben op rust..
Ik ben geboren op 18/10/1950 en ben nu dus 74 jaar jong.
Mijn hobby's zijn: Ufologie en andere esoterische onderwerpen.
Op deze blog vind je onder artikels, werk van mezelf. Mijn dank gaat ook naar André, Ingrid, Oliver, Paul, Vincent, Georges Filer en MUFON voor de bijdragen voor de verschillende categorieën...
Veel leesplezier en geef je mening over deze blog.
