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
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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!!!
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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.
25-05-2016
MIT Tech Make It Possible To 3D Print Ultra-fine Programmable Hair
MIT Tech Make It Possible To 3D Print Ultra-fine Programmable Hair
Dezeen/youtube
IN BRIEF
New technology lets us 3D print artificial programmable hair, called Cillia, at about 50 microns in width. MIT has already presented several applications for the hair such as jewelry, customized paint brushes, gearless motors, movable surfaces, and adhesive surfaces.
CILLLIA, JUST LIKE CILIA
At this year’s ACM CHI, a team of researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) presented, what is perhaps, one of the most peculiar (but groundbreaking) technologies developed in 3D printing thus far: Printing densely packed, artificial programmable hair.
And at just 50 microns in width (one micron is 1×10−6 of a metre), some of its more serious applications include functioning like cilia.
If you aren’t aware, cilia are extremely small hair-like organelles found on the surface of mammalian cells and organs. They’re responsible for certain functions in your body that you might not actually be aware of, but are rather necessary all the same (they do things like keep your lung airways clear and allow our eyes to function properly so we aren’t all blind).
And with this in mind, the team is calling this technology Cilllia.
PAVING THE WAY TO NEW APPLICATIONS
The team behind Cilllia is from MIT’s Tangible Media Group, and their project is a bitmap-generating program that creates these ultra-fine hair-like structures instead of modelling hair strands individually through other software. A bitmap is a type of memory organization, or image file format, that is used to store digital images.
Since the generated model is a bitmap, these files are 3D printer-ready, meaning you just run the software, set the precise characteristics of the hair, and then print.
Impressive as this already is, the resulting artificial hair has a host of other fascinating applications.
While there are a number of potential aesthetic purposes, customized paint brushes or strong adhesive surfaces might be at the top of people’s lists on what 3D printed hair could be used for.
Moreover, by applying vibration to the hair, it causes them to do interesting things like move objects in a certain pattern, like conveyor belts…without the belts (kind of how cilia function in some instances). And by controlling the characteristics of the hairs and matching them with specific vibrations, the researchers have developed gearless motors.
They even made figurines that can “dance” to music.
And just like sensory cilia, the artificial hair could also pave the way to new tactile sensors. Thanks to the sensitive nature of the hair’s structure, the researchers simply placed a patch over a microphone, and it can sense how you touch it.
There is no doubt about the fact that 3D printed buildings are the future of the construction world. This belief was further reinforced by the CEO of Alphabet, Eric Schmidt, who announced that the company has been investing in the research and development of additive manufacturing processes, which would result in revolutionizing the future of the construction industry. The use of 3D printing in construction that seemed like a dream a few years back is now turning into a reality.
The 3D printing construction technology involves the use of giant sized printers. There is a special kind of concrete that is being used in this type of construction process, which may be thicker than usual, allowing the structures to be self-supporting. The use of this technology will change the structure of the construction industry as it will increase affordability, providing people with housing facilities at lower costs.
Winsun, a Chinese construction company, claims to have built ten houses with the help of 3D printers, where the cost incurred per house was $5,000. 3D printed construction can, however, be made more affordable by customizing the designs of the buildings, so that minimum materials are used. The company took the challenge of taking this construction to the next level, where it moved from single storey houses to five storeys and then an 11,840 sq.ft villa. The printer that was used by the company fabricates huge parts of the buildings at the facility.
These pieces are then assembled by the company together with the help of steel reinforcements.
3dprint.com
Recently, there has been so much fuss being created about the infusion of 3D printed construction because the construction giants have realized the tremendous impact of this new technology on the overall growth of the sector.
There is a Tennessee-based company named Chattanooga that has announced that it will construct its first 3D printed home by July. The company, to further enforce this practice in the industry, introduced “Freeform Home Design Challenge,” where architects were invited to design a construction piece with the help of the Cellular Fabrication Technique being used in 3D printed construction.
However, while everyone is talking about the way 3D construction is going to transform the world, there are still some drawbacks and challenges associated with this new innovation that need to be addressed. The end product of 3D construction is cheap, but still, the cost of equipment is higher, which makes construction expensive. The cost of this construction technology does not seem to be decreasing anytime soon either.
Another barrier to the adoption of this technology is the desire to sit back and wait for it to be proven as a safe and reliable method of building things. Although the change that 3D printed construction will bring to the industry will be enormous, for now, it is slow. It can be anticipated by the growth of ongoing projects that the use of 3D printing technology is going to be “ONE BIG THING,” by the end of the decade.
Edge of Tomorrow is a colossally underrated film, one of the best sci-fi flicks I’ve seen in the past couple of years.
If you haven’t seen it, the film stars Tom Cruise attempting to save humanity from aliens in essentially the same type of transportation exoskeleton we see here from Hyundai.
I’m not sure how long Hyundai’s transportation exoskeleton has been in production, but the similarities between it and the Edge of Tomorrow are striking.
The suit will be part of the company’s ‘Next Mobility’ Group, which focuses on moving people from point A to point B.
A working transportation exoskeleton from Hyundai would find plenty of applications, from factory workers to soldiers carrying out military operations.
Of course, the “wearable robot” could also be used by regular citizens to stave off an attack on Earth from extraterrestrials, should stuff ever really hit the fan.
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New 3D Printer Uses Lasers to Print Metal Objects in Mid-Air
New 3D Printer Uses Lasers to Print Metal Objects in Mid-Air
WYSS Institute
IN BRIEF
A team led by researchers at Harvard's Wyss Institute have created a 3D metal printer that uses laser-assisted direct ink technology, allowing users to create metallic structures made out of silver mid-air.
OVERCOMING LIMITATIONS BY INNOVATION
From human bones to jet engine parts, products made through 3D printing technology have been increasingly transforming our world. The potential is limitless, and perhaps, at some point, it may no longer be a question of “what else can it print?” but “how else can we print?”
In a recent press release, scientists from Harvard’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering announce that they have just constructed a new 3D printer that could spew out conductive metallic ink at the microscale, possibly leading to more complex architectures and electronic devices.
It also has the ability to print objects in mid-air. By printing in mid-air, users can create freeform objects and patterns that were not possible using traditional 3D printers.
RE-ENGINEERING PRINTING
The team was led by Wyss Core Faculty member Jennifer Lewis, and she describes their technology as a “laser-assisted direct ink writing method,” in the report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The 3D metal printer has a nozzle that uses ink composed of silver nanoparticles, and as the ink is being sent out of the nozzle, it is also directly annealed through a precisely programmed laser.
The researchers indicate that this was devised with a heat transfer model to control the distance between the nozzle and the laser, allowing for the ‘on-the-fly’ printing. This level of control allows for the wires to be printed directly on plastic surfaces due to the localized laser heating.
Apart from that, the printer nozzle, which looks much like a pen, is capable of positioning along the x, y, and z axes. Combined with a rotary print stage, you could, in fact, create precise curvilinear shapes like butterfly wire frames.
The silver wires were noted to exhibit excellent electrical conductivity, which the researchers believe could lead to nearly limitless applications. Highly customized electronics, wearables, biomedical devices, and various architectures are just some of the imagined products that this printer could bring the world of technology.
Ultimately, the institute asserts that technology is a testament on how it’s still possible toinnovate current technologies, even ones as sophisticated as 3D printing.
An artist's illustration of DARPA's Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2 (HTV-2) travelling at 13,000 mph, or Mach 20, during its Aug. 11, 2011 test flight.
The US, Russia, and China are building ultra high-speed hypersonic missiles as part of a new strategic arms race focused on weapons that maneuver at speeds from 4,000 to 11,000 mph. Two basic designs include gliders and jet-powered vehicles. These new missiles move so fast that current US missile defense systems would be overwhelmed and rendered obsolete.
In January 2016, China conducted its first test of its new hypersonic missile vehicle, WU-14, that is part of its strategic nuclear and conventional missile program. All told, China has conducted six successful tests of its hypersonic glide vehicle. According to military experts, the WU-14 is designed to be launched from one of China’s intercontinental ballistic missiles. WU-14 is currently designed for a top speed of ten times the speed of sound or about 3,402 mph.
Russia also recently tested the YU-71, a hypersonic glider capable of delivering nuclear and conventional warheads that would penetrate US advanced missile defenses. The Russians are developing air and sea launched missiles capable of destroying naval ships, buildings, air defenses, satellites, and jets.
x51 Waverider Hypersonic Missile attached to a B52 (Image Courtesy www.politicalforum.com)
For its part, the US Army tested DARPA’s Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2 (HTV-2), traveling at 13,000 mph, or Mach 20, during its Aug. 11, 2011, test flight. In another test in 2014, the HTV blew up shortly after launch. Since then, the US has made hypersonic missile technology a major priority, awarding multimillion contracts to Raytheon and Lockheed Martin with new test launches planned as early as 2020.
While all three militaries work on hypersonic missile technology, they are also strengthening underground missile silos and facilities to withstand strikes by hypersonic missiles.
The following video discusses the new arms race between China, Russia, and the US.
David Russell Schilling
David enjoys research and writing about cutting edge technologies that hold the promise of improving conditions for all life on planet earth.
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12-05-2016
Scientists Grow Mini-Organs From Cells That Were Genetically Manipulated
Scientists Grow Mini-Organs From Cells That Were Genetically Manipulated
Intestinal organoid
WIKIMEDIA/MERITXELL HUCH
IN BRIEF
Scientists are currently developing methods to combine the best of both technologies, allowing them to grow organoid not only from naturally-occurring cells, but also from gene edited cells. In essence, the researchers are growing mini organs from cells that have been genetically-manipulated.
THE ERA OF GENE EDITING
The advances made in genetic engineering and gene editing in recent times have been many and amazing. Improvements to the CRISPR/Cas 9 gene editing method have allowed easy, accurate, and targeted modifications to human DNA.
Likewise, the development of a method to grow tissue-specific organoids (kinds of ‘mini-organs’) could help in modeling diseases, screening drugs, and possibly even replacing defective tissue.
What if we can combine these two?
Scientists are currently developing methods to bring together the best of both technologies, allowing them to grow organoid not only from naturally-occurring cells, but also from gene edited cells.
See the video below to learn more about how CRISPR works:
NEW EFFORTS
One such scientist working on these methods is Hans Clevers, of Utrecht University in the Netherlands. He is using adult gut stem cells, which are the only ones that get constantly renewed, in his technique. Ultimately, this allows him to directly grow organoids from patient tissue, without having to first convert the cells to induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPSC).
In his 2013 study regarding cystic fibrosis, a condition caused by a gene defect that leads to thick mucus buildup in the pulmonary and gastrointestinal tract, Clevers was able to show the combination of these two technologies.
Now, there’s been a new breakthrough.
A substance called forskolin has different effects to organoids grown from healthy tissue and those cultured from tissue infected with cystic fibrosis. The problem is that healthy tissue organoids swell when exposed to forskolin, while there is no effect of infected organoids. The researchers then edited the genetic defect away using CRISPR/Cas9 and homologous recombination, and then used these cells to grow organoids. When subjected to forskolin, the genetically-modified organoids swelled up like healthy tissue would.
Clever’s techniques are not limited to simple genetic diseases. In 2015, his team used CRISPR to manipulate genes linked to colon cancer, and then used the resulting cells to grow organoids. When transplanted into mice, these organoids grew the tumors characteristic of invasive carcinoma.
But Clever’s work is not the only ones in the field. Sara Howden of the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute in Australia is using CRISPR to develop kidney organoid models, while University of Washington’s Benjamin Freedman has developed a way to grow kidney organoids, which are used to study diseases like polycystic kidney disease (PKD).
It is truly a new age in fighting disease, and the future is looking remarkably bright.
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Malawi is Using HIV-Fighting Drones To Help Protect Infants
Malawi is Using HIV-Fighting Drones To Help Protect Infants
123rf
IN BRIEF
The African nation of Malawi is now using drones to try and speed up the delivery of HIV tests for infants. The initiative hopes to reduce the delays associated with land transport due to poor roads and also offset the high costs.
SPEEDING UP COMBAT
Drones have seen a massive boon in many areas. Their ability to go nearly anywhere at anytime makes them very important, especially in areas that are hard to access. Moreover, since they can travel rapidly, they could be vital for medicine delivery and disaster relief.
Now, drones can take part in actual medical diagnosis. The African nation of Malawi is now testing the use of drones in speeding up the delivery of HIV testing for infants. The initiative hopes to reduce the delays associated with land transport due to poor roads and high costs.
The Government of Malawi has partnered with UNICEF in conducting the tests, including the first official test. This test was a 10 kilometer run from a community health centre to the Kamuzu Central Hospital laboratory.
EPIDEMIC
HIV is a particularly huge problem in Malawi. It has a 10% prevalence rate in the country, has infected an estimated 1 million people in 2013, and has killed 48,000 in the same year. According to UNICEF, the year 2014 saw nearly 40,000 children in Malawi born to HIV positive mothers.
While 90% of women in the country know their HIV status, there still remains a problem with testing and diagnosis in children. The obstacles to testing in Malawi’s children are summarized by Judith Shermen, UNICEF Chief, in a report:
“There are many delays in the continuum of getting HIV positive children on treatment, they need to come in early for testing, ideally before 2 months, between 6 and 8 weeks. Their tests, the dry bloodspots, need to get from the health facilities to one of the 8 laboratories nationwide.”
The UAV being used was built by US company Matternet exclusively for transportation. The tests will eventually lead to a cost comparison with road transport, and favourable reports will lead to the second phase, which will test flights from remote areas of the country.
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Artificially Intelligent Lawyer “Ross” Has Been Hired By Its First Official Law Firm
Artificially Intelligent Lawyer “Ross” Has Been Hired By Its First Official Law Firm
cosmin4000/iStockphoto
IN BRIEF
Ross, the world's first artificially intelligent attorney, has its first official law firm. Baker & Hostetler announced that they will be employing Ross for its bankruptcy practice, currently comprised of almost 50 lawyers.
ROSS: A VERY SMART ARTIFICIAL CO-WORKER
Law firm Baker & Hostetler has announced that they are employing IBM’s AI Ross to handle their bankruptcy practice, which at the moment consists of nearly 50 lawyers. According to CEO and co-founder Andrew Arruda, other firms have also signed licenses with Ross, and they will also be making announcements shortly.
Ross, “the world’s first artificially intelligent attorney” built on IBM’s cognitive computer Watson, was designed to read and understand language, postulate hypotheses when asked questions, research, and then generate responses (along with references and citations) to back up its conclusions. Ross also learns from experience, gaining speed and knowledge the more you interact with it.
“You ask your questions in plain English, as you would a colleague, and ROSS then reads through the entire body of law and returns a cited answer and topical readings from legislation, case law and secondary sources to get you up-to-speed quickly,” the website says. “In addition, ROSS monitors the law around the clock to notify you of new court decisions that can affect your case.”
Ross also minimizes the time it takes by narrowing down results from a thousand to only the most highly relevant answers, and presents the answers in a more casual, understandable language. It also keeps up-to-date with developments in the legal system, specifically those that may affect your cases.
THE LEGAL INDUSTRY ENHANCED
Baker & Hostetler chief information officer Bob Craig explains the rationale behind this latest hire: “At BakerHostetler, we believe that emerging technologies like cognitive computing and other forms of machine learning can help enhance the services we deliver to our clients.”
“BakerHostetler has been using ROSS since the first days of its deployment, and we are proud to partner with a true leader in the industry as we continue to develop additional AI legal assistants,” he added.
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10-05-2016
Bionic Implant Improves Vision for Some Eye Patient
Bionic Implant Improves Vision for Some Eye Patients
By Christopher Wanjek-
An artist's concept of a bionic eye.
Credit: Andrey VP/Shutterstock.com
It may sound like something out of "Star Trek": Doctors have implanted a device in patients that has restored some central vision after advanced eye disease left those individuals with only limited peripheral vision. This is the first time that artificial and natural vision has ever been integrated in humans, the U.K.-based research team said.
The study was small and preliminary, involving only four patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD). The research team reported that the implant enabled the patients to recognize the outline of faces and some facial characteristics, such as whether the mouth was open or closed — ordinary details of life that had long been lost to these patients, as AMD slowly robbed them of their vision.
AMD, as the name implies, is a deterioration of the eye's macula, a small area in the back of the eye that allows you to see fine details clearly. AMD does not lead to complete blindness, but rather to the gradual loss of central vision that can interfere with everyday activities, such as the ability to see faces, read or do close work, such as cooking. The remaining peripheral vision doesn't provide the acuity for such activities.
AMD is the leading cause of vision loss in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than 2 million Americans have AMD — a number that's expected to more than double by 2050, according to government data. AMD is most common among people over age 65. The cause is unknown, but people's risk of being stricken by the condition is heavily influenced by smoking and genetics.
Doctors have been successful in slowing the advance of AMD through a dietary supplement regimen comprising vitamin C, beta-carotene and other nutrients. Injections of prescription drugs are also used to treat certain kinds of advanced AMD. However, no treatment can reverse the loss of vision.
To restore central vision in four patients with advanced AMD, doctors implanted into their eyes a device called the Argus II electronic epiretinal prosthesis. This is a new commercial product that, in earlier incarnations, has restored very limited sight to people who had only perception-of-light vision as a result of a rare, degenerative eye disease. The device is essentially a miniature camera attached to the back of the eye that captures images and sends electrical signals to the brain. [The 7 Biggest Mysteries of the Human Body]
None of the patients reported "confusion" about what they were seeing when the device was turned on. This was a concern for the researchers, because the brain was receiving a combination of natural electrical impulses from the peripheral areas of the eye as well as artificial impulses from the central implant, and they didn't know how the brain would interpret this.
Another element of success was that the implant didn't seem to cause problems in the patients' bodies; they tolerated them for up to six months, with no signs of infection.
The researchers wrote that, while previous implants have helped people with rare diseases, the latest research results may "indicate a new way of restoring central vision in one of the most common causes of severe loss of central vision in people over the age of 50, dry age-related macular degeneration … for which no other treatments are currently available."
The research team comprised doctors and engineers from the University of Manchester in England and the company that makes the implant, Second Sight Medical Products in Sylmar, California.
Follow Christopher Wanjek @wanjek for daily tweets on health and science with a humorous edge. Wanjek is the author of "Food at Work" and "Bad Medicine." His column, Bad Medicine, appears regularly on Live Science.
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09-05-2016
Cambridge Makes World's Smallest Engine, And It's Tiny Enough to Enter Cells
Cambridge Makes World's Smallest Engine, And It's Tiny Enough to Enter Cells
Expanding polymer-coated gold nanoparticles.
Credit: Yi Ju/University of Cambridge NanoPhotonics
IN BRIEF
Researchers have designed a minuscule engine out of gold nanoparticles; it uses “Van der Waals energy” to power a tiny motor that may be the answer to building functional machines at the nanoscale.
TINY ENGINES
Researchers from the University of Cambridge have just devised a tiny engine—a really tiny engine—that will likely play a key role in realizing the long-awaited dream of truly functional nanotechnology.
Such technology has long been in the offing, and has been much touted for its enormous potential—imagine tiny machines or cellular analogues roaming the bloodstream (à laFantastic Voyage) and zapping cancerous cells, coming to grips with foreign bacteria and viruses, correcting prion diseases, and rejiggering the genomes of patients suffering from genetic disorders.
Imagine, too, what effects such technology could have on materials science, computing, optics…well, the possibilities are virtually endless, so you can pretty well guess that it has the capacity to change the world.
But scientists have had to start with baby steps, because manipulating matter on the nanoscale is notoriously difficult. One major hurdle has been how to supply power to such fantastically minute devices—and the newly discovered engine may be the solution to this problem.
THE GOLD-SEEKERS
The prototype engine does not resemble a classic one: It consists of a jumble of charged gold nanoparticles, clustered together in a “smart” gel of temperature-sensitive polymers. The actual power principle behind the engine is quite simple—no more complicated than the principles powering a slingshot. When the polymerous bundle is heated by a laser, the polymer gel expels water from the mass, which collapses, storing significant quantities of elastic energy.
When the bundle shrinks, the gold nanoparticles are bunched together very tightly, but once the polymers cool, they suck up the expelled water and rapidly expand, causing the gold particles to quickly spring apart and releasing the elastic energy.
And there you have it: A simple, but very effective, nanoscale engine. It’s an ingenious use of fundamental forces operating at this tiny scale, and its practical application would probably involve something like a light-powered piston engine.
Lead researcher professor Jeremy Baumberg, of the Cavendish Laboratory, says, “The whole process is like a nano-spring. The smart part here is we make use of Van der Waals attractionof heavy metal particles to set the springs (polymers) and water molecules to release them, which is very reversible and reproducible.”
These littlest motors also produce forces several orders of magnitude greater than previous devices, besting the force per unit weight of other motors and muscles by nearly a hundredfold. The team has christened the devices “ANTs”— “actuating nano-transducers,” which is very apt, considering that tiny insect’s notorious propensity to do heavy lifting all out of proportion to its size.
The team asserts that the little machines will be cheap to manufacture, are very energy efficient, and could be inserted in biological systems with no threat. The next phase is to collaborate with several companies to commercialize the technology.
Stanford’s new OceanOne humanoid robot, powered by artificial intelligence and haptic feedback systems, was specifically created for sea exploration, but not without the help of a human operator for the time being.
Honestly, the human operator thing makes me feel better because something about these humanoid robots just come off a bit creepy since they’re so close to the real thing as far as robotics go.
The OceanOne humanoid robot is outfitted with a multitude of cameras, enabling the operator to see what it sees, and also utilizes haptic feedback so that the operator can feel what the robot is feeling and also precisely control its arms.
Obviously, the dexterity, nimbleness, and compactness of the OceanOne humanoid robot is extremely unique, making it ideal for exploring delicate shipwrecks or coral reefs underwater.
Humanoid robots can do all the deep ocean exploring they want, though. I’m not mad… There’s way scarier stuff down there than the robots themselves.
A team at the University of Melbourne in Australia has successfully 3D printed a superconducting aluminum cavity, broadening the range of 3D printing for use in applications in particle physics.
For several decades, the 3D printing of metals has been adding to a myriad of industries. One thing missing from the technology, however, is ensuring their electrical properties match specific necessities, such as those that require superconductivity.
Superconducting cavities are used to store microwaves for use in particle accelerators, function as ultra-sensitive motion detectors for measuring the speed of light, and they have a host of other important applications in physics.
Now, at the University of Melbourne in Australia, Professor Daniel Creedon and his team havesuccessfully designed and built a superconducting aluminum microwave cavity through a 3D printer for the first time, bringing metal 3D printing to a higher level.
This new development would help make substantial advancements in particle physics (as well as related fields).
The composition of 3D printed superconducting aluminum, which starts out as aluminum powder, is a little different from standard industrial aluminum, and come out with rough surfaces. But the process is quick and cheap, and the team has found ways to refine the cavities with no significant impact on the resulting cavities’ superconductivity.
The 3-D printing of metal parts promises to revolutionize a wide range of industries. Aircraft carriers, for example, might no longer need to carry spare parts for the myriad aircraft, engines, and weapons systems they carry. Instead, each part could be printed as needed.
The big worry of course is that the mechanical properties of 3-D printed parts might not match those of parts made in other ways, particularly when they are used as critical components, in high-performance jet engines for example.
To that end, materials scientists have spent much time and effort characterizing the mechanical properties of these parts. And consequently, they are now used as customized medical implants, jet engine bearings and for rapid prototyping in the car industry.
But while the mechanical properties of 3-D printed parts have been well studied, less attention has been paid to their electrical properties.
Today that changes thanks to the work of Daniel Creedon at the University of Melbourne in Australia and a few pals who have designed, printed, and successfully tested a superconducting microwave cavity for the first time. They say their work paves the way for a new generation of superconducting components that can be designed and made relatively quickly and cheaply.
Superconducting cavities are the workhorses in an increasing number of experiments to study the properties of the universe. Their purpose is to store microwaves, allowing them to resonate while losing as little energy as possible.
The microwaves interact with the electrons in the surface material of the cavities. So the resistance of this material is an important factor in the performance. Hence the interest in superconducting cavities where the resistance is essentially zero.
Resonating microwaves are useful things—they accelerate charged particles inside particle accelerators, they are ultra-sensitive motion detectors, they can produce highly stable frequencies, help measure the speed of light, and so on.
But the cavities that hold them are high precision devices that are time-consuming and expensive to make. 3-D printing offers significant advantages in speed and cost, provided the process of printing doesn’t interfere with the cavities’ superconducting properties. That’s something nobody had attempted to measure, until now.
To study the effect of 3-D printing on these superconducting properties, Creedon and co simply printed two of cavities using a process which selectively melts aluminum powder so that it solidifies into the required shape. In this way, a complex 3-D cavity can be built up layer by layer.
This process is quick and cheap but has several potential limitations. The first is that 3-D printing produces shapes with rough surfaces.
The second is that aluminum powder has a different composition to standard industrial aluminum designated Al-6061. In particular, the powder contains some 12 percent silicon by weight, whereas the usual stuff has only 0.8 percent. It also contains small amounts of iron (0.118 percent) and copper (0.003 percent) compared to 0.7 percent iron, 0.15 percent copper, and 1.2 percent magnesium in the industrial stuff.
The impact of these kinds of differences could be important or insignificant but until it is measured, nobody knows which. That’s what Creedon and co set out to do. And to their surprise, they found that neither of these factors has a significant impact on the resulting cavities’ superconductivity.
Creedon and co report that the cavities become superconducting at the expected temperature of 1.2 Kelvin and that the electrical properties were similar to those of industrial Al-6061. “The results are comparable to cavities machined from common Al-6061 alloy, and are unaffected by the surface roughness of the cavity walls due to the 3-D printing process,” they say.
However, they were able to improve the performance of one cavity by polishing its inside surface to reduce the roughness. They then heated it to 770K for four hours and allowed it to cool slowly to room temperature. This has the effect of driving out silicon from the material. “Annealing at 770K for four hours to drive off residual silicon impurities was found to improve the Q-factor by approximately a factor of two,” they say.
That’s interesting work that has further potential. One future avenue would be to use purer aluminum powder. Creedon and co say this should produce higher quality cavities. Another is to start creating cavities that are impossible to manufacture using conventional machining techniques.
A first step on an exciting route to a new era of 3-D-printed superconductors.
Wearing black headsets with tentacle-like sensors stretched over their foreheads, the competitors stare at cubes floating on computer screens as their small white drones prepare for takeoff.
'Three, two, one ... GO!' the announcer hollers, and as the racers fix their thoughts on pushing the cubes, the drones suddenly whir, rise and buzz through the air.
Some struggle to move even a few feet, while others zip confidently across the finish line.
Competitors in the Florida race use specially programmed headbands to monitor their brainwaves - moving the drone when they will it to happen.
HOW IT WORKS
Each of the 16 racers wears an EEG headband.
The EEG headset is calibrated to identify the electrical activity associated with particular thoughts in each wearer's brain — recording, for example, where neurons fire when the wearer imagines pushing a chair across the floor.
Programmers write code to translate these 'imaginary motion' signals into commands that computers send to the drones.
The competition — billed as the world's first drone race involving a brain-controlled interface — involved 16 pilots using willpower to drive drones through a 10-yard dash over an indoor basketball court at the University of Florida this past weekend.
The Associated Press was there to record the event, which organizers hope to make an annual inter-collegiate spectacle, involving ever-more dynamic moves and challenges and a trophy that puts the brain on a pedestal.
'With events like this, we're popularizing the use of BCI instead of it being stuck in the research lab,' said Chris Crawford, a PhD student in human-centered computing.
'BCI was a technology that was geared specifically for medical purposes, and in order to expand this to the general public, we actually have to embrace these consumer brand devices and push them to the limit.'
Scientists have been able to detect brainwaves for more than a century, and mind-controlled technology already is helping paralyzed people move limbs or robotic prosthetics.
But now the technology is becoming widely accessible.
Emotiv and NeuroSky are among startups offering electroencephalogram headsets for purchase online for several hundred dollars.
The models Florida racers used cost about $500 each.
Here's how the technology delivers an abstract thought through the digital realm and into the real world: Each EEG headset is calibrated to identify the electrical activity associated with particular thoughts in each wearer's brain — recording, for example, where neurons fire when the wearer imagines pushing a chair across the floor.
Programmers write code to translate these 'imaginary motion' signals into commands that computers send to the drones.
Professor Juan Gilbert, whose computer science students organized the race, is inviting other universities to assemble brain-drone racing teams for 2017, pushing interest in a technology with a potential that seems limited only by the human imagination.
As our lives become increasingly reliant on Internet-enabled devices, a concept known as the Internet of things, Gilbert and his team want to know how mind-controlled devices can expand and change the way we play, work and live.
University of Florida sophomore Michael Lakin, 19, uses a brain-controlled interface headset to fly a drone during a mind-controlled drone race in Gainesville, Fla.
You might use your mind to unlock your car, or explore a virtual world, hands-free.
It could be applied for real-time monitoring of our moods and states of consciousness.
Researchers are studying whether they can use a big-rig driver's mind to trigger a device that will tell him when he's too tired to drive.
'One day you could wear a brain-controlled interface device like you wear a watch, to interact with things around you,' Gilbert said.
So far, BCI research has largely been about helping disabled people regain freedom of movement.
Recently, an Ohio man using only his thoughts was able to move his paralyzed hand thanks to a chip implanted in his brain.
In Miami, doctors using BCI are helping a 19-year-old man stand on his own after losing the use of his legs in a motorcycle accident.
Dr. Monica Perez talks to Richard Tursi, 19, who is undergoing therapy that uses a brain-controlled technology to help improve his motor functions at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine in Miami. Tursi was in a motorcycle accident when he was 16 which left him a quadriplegic. Now he has the limited use of his arms and legs. The therapies have improved his brain function, allowing him to stand and move his arms.
Dr. Mike Urbin views highlighted areas of the brain while working with patient Richard Joseph Tursi at the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine in Miami.
The idea of collegiate brain-drone races pleases Dr. Bin He, a biomedical engineer at the University of Minnesota who first demonstrated a mind-controlled drone in public in 2013.
'The progress of the BCI field has been faster than I had thought ten years ago,' He said.
'We are getting closer and closer to broad application.'
But as the technology moves toward wider adoption, ethical, legal and privacy questions remain unresolved.
The U.S. Defense Department — which uses drones to kill suspected terrorists in the Middle East from vast distances — is looking for military brain-control applications.
A 2014 Defense grant supports the Unmanned Systems Laboratory at the University of Texas, San Antonio, where researchers have developed a system enabling a single person with no prior training to fly multiple drones simultaneously through mind control.
Tursi, 19, undergoes therapy that uses a brain-controlled technology to help improve his motor functions at the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine in Miami.
University of Florida PhD student Islam Badreldin, 31, practices driving a brain-controlled vehicle that he modified to work wirelessly in Gainesville, Fla.
In this system, instead of the pilot thinking certain thoughts to move the drones, she looks at a screen with flickering signals, triggering brain activity that translates into specific movements.
'It can accommodate lots of commands, much more than imaginary motion can,' UT scientist Yufei Huang said.
But enthusiasts should think carefully before handing over their brainwaves for purposes that have yet to be conceived or contained, said Kit Walsh, a staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation with a degree in neuroscience from MIT.
'EEG readings are similar to fingerprints: once I know what the readings look like from your brain in a certain situation,' she said. 'I'll be able to recognize you by that pattern again later on.
Drone-racing just moved to a whole new level by combining with BCI technology, resulting in a drone race controlled solely by the mind.
A NEW KIND OF RACE
The University of Florida held a fully technology-based sport: The world’s first brain-controlled drone race. Using their brainwaves, 16 pilots flew drones through an indoor course ten yards long. Both drone-racing and brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) are not new, but this is the first combination of the two, and it’s an efficient method of introducing BCIs to the mainstream eye.
BCI is a system that translates brain signals into commands comprehensible to output devices. Most often, this technology is used to allow individuals who are paralyzed to have control of prosthetic limbs.
HOW IT WORKS
To make this possible, electroencephalogram headsets are calibrated to an individual’s brain. The calibration is pretty much like programming commands on your keyboard for a game, where you specify that certain letters move your character up, down, left, and right. Except in this case, each person’s neuron activity is used, translated, and recorded into these commands.
Human-centered computing Phd student Chris Crawford thinks making BCIs a familiar concept to the public is a good way to spread awareness of the existence and accessibility of the technology. “With events like this, we’re popularizing the use of BCI instead of it being stuck in the research lab,” he says. “BCI was a technology that was geared specifically for medical purposes, and in order to expand this to the general public, we actually have to embrace these consumer brand devices and push them to the limit.”
University of Florida sophomore Michael Lakin, 19, uses a brain-controlled interface headset to fly a drone during a mind-controlled drone race in Gainesville, Fla.
Some experts, however, fear legal, ethical, and privacy issues. For one thing, drones are also being used by the military to kill suspected terrorists in the Middle East, and they are on the lookout for similar BCI technologies.
Kit Walsh, a staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation with a degree in neuroscience from MIT thinks people should be careful of participating in such activities. “EEG readings are similar to fingerprints: once I know what the readings look like from your brain in a certain situation,” she said. “I’ll be able to recognize you by that pattern again later on.”
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22-04-2016
This Flying Saucer Zaps Fires with Sound
This Flying Saucer Zaps Fires with Sound
The Firesound is a firefighting flying saucer.The bright yellow, meter wide, autonomous disc is designed to patrol parks and forests, constantly looking for danger using smoke sensors and thermal cameras.
NASA/JPL-Caltech
IN BRIEF
Inventor Charles Bombardier has developed the Firesound drone, a multipurpose UAV that fights forest fires with sound, and can be used to detect the early stages of a fire and even seek out missing persons.
THE COMING OF THE SAUCERS
If, sometime in the near future, you hear stories of strange flying discs hovering around our national parks and forests, don’t be alarmed.
It’s not a Martian invasion, or an assault by cattle-mutilating Greys. It’s actually something far more benevolent—the Firesound, a futuristic firefighting drone concept developed by theorist and inventor Charles Bombardier.
“There’s a whole lot of ideas that are sitting on the shelves of scientists, that could be turned into a creative content like the Firesound,” Bombardier says, explaining how the idea was conceived. “It just need somebody to go find them, and expand on them.”
His inspiration came when he decided to combine this sonic firefighting technique with low-cost drone technology.
UFOS TO THE RESCUE
Concept art for the Firesound drone. Credit: Charles BombardierThus the Firesound was born. It’s an electric drone that uses a hydrogen fuel cell, and it stays aloft through the lifting action of four fans spaced along the disc’s edge. Rear and forward air intakes, as well as exhaust vents on the undercarriage, allow for directional changes.
It’s a very simple concept, one which Bombardier envisions using for a broad range of activities in national parks and forests. It can, for example, be used to monitor forests for signs of incipient fires, or seek out unattended campfires or other human misdeeds (which account for some 90% of forest fires).
The Firesound could detect fires in these early stages, using infrared sensors, and then swoop in and extinguish them using sound waves in the 30 to 60 Hz bass range. The beauty of sound waves is that the drone doesn’t have to carry heavy foams and other fire retardants, a consideration that greatly hampers current firefighting efforts.
Even better, the Firesound could be used to seek out missing persons or injured hikers, and even remain near them to provide them with limited WiFi coverage—so that they have a means of communication with the outside world.
For now, Charles Bombardier is content to simply moot the idea, and let others develop it into a functioning and useful technology.
So next time you enjoy a national park or forest, keep an eye on the sky—the truth is out there.
Researchers have developed a method of 3D printing cheese that could make it healthier, and it could also increase the options available to those with lactose intolerance.
DAIRY DEFICIENCY
Good news for anyone who suffers from dairy intolerance—avoiding and finding passable alternatives for it isn’t your only solution. Thanks to advancements in technology, you could possibly be printing the next cheese platter you serve at a dinner party.
But why bother when we already have alternatives available for those with an intolerance? Because unlike available options that we have now made of artificial cheese of dairy-free substitutes, 3D printed cheese will still be dairy-based—except it can be made minus all the bad stuff.
It basically uses a protein found in milk called sodium caseinate, which has a liquid feel but can easily solidify after it is released by the 3D printer. This means the consistency and flavor could be closer to the real thing.
CHEESE LOVERS
Take note that, like most cheese or any other dairy alternative, it only promises to be “close” to the real deal. Solidified sodium caseinate doesn’t necessarily translate to cheese, as it will require additional ingredients to ensure that the flavor and texture of the printed materials stays true to the original.
Because the entire process is still in its early stages, there is still very little information on what these additional ingredients might be. But since the goal of the 3D printed cheese is to become a healthier alternative, then it should be a low-fat, high-protein, lactose-free version that still tastes as amazing as real cheese.
The process also doesn’t completely take cows out of the equation, much to the disappointment of numerous environmentalists who are trying to draw focus on the world’s reliance on livestock. Milk still needs to be taken from cows to get the sodium caseinate—but this new process does present a lot of benefits by way of minimizing waste from spoilage.
Like many people, I have a love/hate relationship with dairy. I’m a big fan of chocolate and most ice creams, but when it comes to milk itself, I really dislike the flavor. With a few exceptions, I’m pretty anti-cheese, too, which baffles some of my cheese fanatic friends to the point of outrage. In another example of how life isn’t fair, I know several people who love all things dairy but had to stop consuming it all thanks to a lactose intolerance development. (Those are the people who hate me the most, because unlike them, I can have cheese, but I choose to throw away that gift.)
For all of us – those who dislike dairy, and those who are disliked by dairy – creative solutions must be found in order to maintain healthy levels of calcium and to have something to put on cereal. Thanks to a lactose intolerant family member, I’ve become well acquainted with the growing range of cowless milks – rice milk (or, as a young cousin calls it, “rice juice” – even more appetizing), almond milk, soy milk, coconut milk, etc. I can’t say I’m a big fan of those alternatives either, but never would I have thought of 3D printed milk as something that could…well, be a thing. Turns out it is, though – or will be, if some Dutch scientists succeed.
Researchers from Wageningen University in the Netherlands have partnered with dairy cooperativeFrieslandCampina to explore 3D printed dairy products. Why? Cheese addicts, rejoice: one day you may be able to feed your habit without guilt. Unlike cheese alternatives available now, 3D printed cheese would still be dairy-based, just with the bad stuff – i.e., the high cholesterol content – removed. The key is sodium caseinate, a protein found in milk. It’s a natural 3D printing material, as, according to Wageningen professor Maarten Schutyser, it has a “liquid feel” but quickly solidifies once extruded from a 3D printer.
Solidified sodium caseinate does not equal cheese, however, and that’s where things get nebulous. Additional ingredients would have to be added to the printer to get the final extruded product to match the flavor and texture of cheese or butter, and the project is still very much in the experimental stages in terms of what those ingredients might be or how they might be combined. Ideally, the final product would be high-protein, low-fat, great-tasting and lactose-free dairy with a lower environmental impact than traditionally manufactured cheese. But after all that tinkering, is it still “real” milk, or cheese, or butter? (When is a cheese not a cheese? Discuss.)
It’s easy to be skeptical about such an endeavor. As environmentalists raise concerns about our reliance on livestock, 3D printed dairy doesn’t take cows out of the equation. Cows’ milk is still required to obtain the sodium caseinate for the base of the product, but if sodium caseinate is the only thing still making it technically dairy, why not just stick with the already existing alternatives? (It’s also interesting to note that sodium caseinate is an ingredient in “non-dairy” creamers, so apparently the term “dairy” is up for debate.)
The environmental benefits would likely come from reduced waste from spoilage during the production process, but again, the question of whether 3D printing dairy products will be worth it is still very much up in the air. Right now, it’s an experiment, and whether or not it will actually come to fruition (milk-ition? I’m sorry. Really, I am sorry.) remains to be seen. The same can be said for most 3D printed food, actually, as researchers study ways to print new foods rather than just extruding chocolate pastes into fun shapes, which is essentially what 3D food printers currently do. The ultimate question is whether 3D printing can be used to create foods that are healthier, better-tasting, or that otherwise hold a big enough advantage over their traditional counterparts to make them more than just a novelty.
Then there’s the question of public reception. GMOs are the bogeyman of the moment, and raw or paleo diets are the current fad as nutritionists exhort us to stop eating processed foods. Will people trust milk products that have been so altered and, well, processed? Surveys have shown that the majority of people are still pretty queasy about the idea of 3D printed food. It’s all a question of whether scientists truly can develop 3D printed foods whose benefits clearly and significantly present themselves, and even then it’s going to take some serious marketing to get the public on board. But we’ll never know unless we try. What do you think about this? Talk about it in the 3D Printed Dairy forum over at 3DPB.com.
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De homo sapiens sterft uit... Maak kennis met de cyborg
De homo sapiens sterft uit... Maak kennis met de cyborg
Nathalie Pérez
Zeg jij nee tegen een chip in je brein waarmee je sneller kunt denken en werken? Wil jij geen sterkere ledematen als je eigen armen en benen versleten zijn? Zeg maar jawel, want ook jij wordt een cyborg!
Een cyborg is gedeeltelijk mens en gedeeltelijk machine. Al vanaf het begin van de Science Fiction films en series zien we regelmatig cyborgs op het witte doek. RoboCop is een cyborg, Iron Man is cyborg en Darth Vader uit Star Wars is ook een cyborg. In de toekomst lopen we cyborgs misschien wel gewoon tegen het ‘lijf’ op straat. En wie weet.. worden we er zelf een, zodat we nét wat beter kunnen denken, werken, ons voortbewegen en bouwen. Die toekomst is nabij, want cyborgs zijn al volop in de maak!
Nieuwe organen, pacemakers en gerepareerde zintuigen De wetenschap komt steeds met nieuwe dingen om ons lichaam sterker en beter te maken. In principe wordt het nu alleen nog voor medische doeleinden gebruikt, bijvoorbeeld als je hart niet goed meer werkt of als je invalide bent. Je krijgt dan een pacemaker of een prothese. Op dit moment wordt er ook gewerkt om nieuwe organen te maken voor mensen waarvan het eigen orgaan niet (meer) goed functioneert. Voor die kunstorganen worden synthetische stoffen gebruikt die vervolgens in het lichaam geïmplementeerd worden. Een stukje kunststof smelt samen met het lichaam en het lichaam kan er langer tegenaan. Verder is er voor slechthorenden en doven de Cochlear en zijn wetenschappers aan het werk om blinden elektroden in het netvlies te geven waardoor ze weer kunnen zien. Met de wetenschap kunnen we dus flink aan het lichaam en de zintuigen sleutelen. Alleen ben je dan niet meer alleen mens; je bent deels gefabriceerd en dus een cyborg.
Protheses besturen met je brein Zo leven er al duizenden mannen en vrouwen met een pacemaker bij hun hart. En krijgen mensen die bijvoorbeeld door een ongeluk een deel van hun been of arm kwijt zijn een prothese. Protheses zijn steeds minder goed van een echte armen en benen te onderscheiden. Sommige protheses smelten zelfs helemaal samen met het zenuwstelsel, waardoor de drager ze kan besturen met het brein. Gewoon alsof het een eigen arm of been is, met eigen bestuurbare vingers en tenen. Natuurlijk is bewegen nog niet zo gemakkelijk en soepel als bewegen met een echt menselijke ledemaat; het begin is gemaakt en dat betekent ook geen fantoompijn meer in de toekomst!
Jesse Sullivan leert zijn bionische prothese te besturen – DEKA Research and Development & The Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago
Voor de mensen die liever geen stalen arm aan hun lichaam laten monteren, is er een robot die je kunt besturen met je eigen gedachtes via een chip in je brein. De mogelijkheden door deze uitvinding zijn werkelijk eindeloos, want als we in de toekomst organen, weefsels, huiden etc. kunnen namaken, kunnen er levensechte robots gebouwd worden die je gewoon zelf kunt besturen via een ingebouwd chipje. Eigenlijk hoef je dan zelf niet eens meer de deur uit, als je daar geen zin in hebt.
Verlamde vrouw bestuurt robotarm met haar gedachtes – Nature Videos
Beter met meer vingers Natuurlijk willen we wél zelf blijven bewegen en de deur uit gaan (meestal dan). Kunnen we dan misschien béter bewegen met wat elektronische toevoegsels? Met een pacemaker, prothese of robotarm verleg je namelijk niet de grenzen van de mens. Een robotarm is dan wel sterker dan de arm van een mens, en een pacemaker kan in combinatie met een nieuw, synthetisch hart misschien wel honderden jaren meegaan; deze uitvindingen geven je geen éxtra functies. Als je toch een cyborg wordt, wil je natuurlijk ook iets extra’s kunnen of iets beter kunnen. Protheses (bionische protheses) geven wel die extra functionaliteit. Je kunt dan met prothese beter functioneren dan met een normaal lichaamsdeel. Zo kreeg drummer Jason Barnes, die zijn onderarm verloor door elektrocutie, een speciale robotarm om mee te drummen. Hij kan nu dingen, die een normale drummer echt niet kan…
New Scientist
Met robotonderdelen, en dus als een cyborg, kunnen we in van alles beter worden! Maar heel bewonderenswaardig is zoiets nou ook weer niet, vindt wetenschapper Kevin Warwick, beter bekend als captain cyborg. “Ik wil onze mogelijkheden niet uitbreiden en verbeteren. Ik wil ons nieuwe mogelijkheden geven.” Warwick is sinds 1998 al bezig om zichzelf om te toveren tot een mens met extra functies, een cyborg dus. Want je bent toch past écht cyborg als je dingen kan die je als gewoon mens nooit zou kunnen en waarvan je misschien nooit zou durven denken dat je ze ooit zou kunnen.
Gedachtecommunicatie Een droom van Warwick – waar hij zijn hele ziel en zaligheid in gooit – is om telepathisch te communiceren met zijn vrouw. “Met gedachtecommunicatie kunnen we onze hele manier van communiceren veranderen,” vertelt Warwick aan Scientias.nl. Onze communicatie via taal is eigenlijk heel traag. “Gedachtecommunicate zou een veel rijkere vorm van communicatie zijn. Het kan een hoop misverstanden uit de weg ruimen en het zou onze intelligentie ontzettend verbeteren.”
JEZELF UPLOADEN
In de film Transcendence maakt wetenschapper Will Caster een kloon van zichzelf die hij vervolgens uploadt met zijn eigen gedachten, ervaringen, herinneringen en zelfs gevoelens. Het is goed mogelijk dat we over niet al te lange tijd onszelf daadwerkelijk kunnen klonen en ons brein via een computer kunnen uploaden. Als dit lukt, kunnen we oneindig lang leven.
Warwick stopte in 1998 voor het eerst een chip in zijn lijf. De siliconenchip in zijn arm stond in verbinding met een computer, waardoor Warwick in de hallen en kamers van zijn universiteit alle deuren, lichten en computers kon bedienen door gewoon zijn vinger te bewegen. Nu vinden we dit in 2015 niet meer zo bijzonder, al kan zo’n chip in je brein je ook voorzien van allerlei informatie, je een immens geheugen geven en van je eigen brein een razendsnelle denkmachine maken. Met een chip in je brein kun je het brein een flinke uitbreiding geven. Maar Warwick wilde meer. Hij gaf zichzelf in 2002 een chip waarmee zijn zenuwstelsel verbinding maakte met een computer. Zijn vrouw kreeg er ook een. De informatie van het ene zenuwstelsel stuurde de computer door naar het andere zenuwstelsel. De vraag was of het brein deze informatie van een ander brein kon implementeren. “Dat kan,” vertelt Warwick. “We zijn nu zover dat onze zenuwstelsels met elkaar kunnen communiceren, als in een soort morse code. Heel apart en natuurlijk ook heel intiem. De volgende stap is de elektronen bij onze hersenen plaatsen, waardoor onze breinen met elkaar in verbinding staan. Hopelijk kunnen we dan communiceren in emoties, kleuren en gevoelens,” zegt Warwick.
Extra zintuigen De gekste proef die Warwick op zichzelf heeft uitgevoerd was met het Utah Array implantaat. “Het was erg grappig om uit te proberen om als een vleermuis ultrasonische zintuiglijke informatie op te nemen. Het lukte, en mijn brein kon de nieuwe soort informatie gebruiken. Met een blinddoek om kon ik dingen voelen. Mijn collega’s kwamen met een bord op me af en dat was wel eng. Ik voelde dat er iets snel op me af kwam, maar ik zag niets.”
Ons brein is dus daadwerkelijk in staat om allerlei andersoortige prikkels te gebruiken als (zintuiglijke) informatie. Ons brein kan zich daarop aanpassen. Hierbij eindigen onze mogelijkheden niet bij zien, horen en voelen. We kunnen ingewikkelde informatie ook direct ‘weten’. Gedachtes, emoties en gevoelens kunnen in een fractie van een seconde bij je binnenkomen. Misschien hoeven we hierdoor in de toekomst helemaal geen moeite meer te doen om onze gedachtes, meningen en gevoelens onder woorden te brengen. Je kunt elkaar als cyborg, met een chipje in je brein, gewoon van alles toezenden. Telefoons? Whatsapp? Dat is straks zo 2015…
Bronmateriaal:
Interview Kevin Warwick De foto bovenaan dit artikel is gemaakt door JD Hancock (cc viaFlickr.com).
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Nieuw apparaat vangt energie van klotsend oceaanwater op
Nieuw apparaat vangt energie van klotsend oceaanwater op
Tim Kraaijvanger
Ingenieurs werken aan een nieuw apparaat, dat gebruikt kan worden om de energie van oceaanwater op te vangen. Aangezien er meer dan één miljard kubieke kilometer aan oceaanwater beschikbaar is, kan dit heel interessant zijn.
Het apparaat Triton bestaat niet uit bewegende onderdelen, zeggen de onderzoekers van Oscilla Power. “Wanneer de golven tegen het apparaat beuken, verandert de magnetische polariteit in het metaal, dat we gebruiken om elektriciteit op te wekken”, zegt onderzoeker Meagan Parrish. Deze elektriciteit wordt opgevangen dankzij de flexibele kabels.
Op dit moment is de ontwikkeling van Triton nog in een vroege fase. Het is namelijk de vraag of het apparaat de gigantische krachten van een oceaan kan weerstaan. Het zou natuurlijk jammer zijn als Triton bij de eerste de beste storm al uit elkaar valt. Vandaar dat ingenieurs nu bezig zijn met proeven en het perfectioneren van het ontwerp.
Als alles volgens plan verloopt en Triton ooit echt geïntroduceerd wordt, dan kan één apparaat 2.000 huishoudens van stroom voorzien. Triton kan namelijk 600kW stroom produceren. De mensen van Oscilla Power spreken zelf over 500 huishoudens, maar dat is gebaseerd op het gemiddeld verbruik van een Amerikaans gezin en dat is ongeveer vier keer meer dan wat een Nederlands of Belgisch gezin verbruikt.
Wat vind jij van het idee? Deel je mening onder dit artikel!
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20-04-2016
Predicting the Future: Here’s What Our Homes May Be Like in 100 Years
Predicting the Future: Here’s What Our Homes May Be Like in 100 Years
Taylor Herring/Samsung
IN BRIEF
Samsung SmartThings has released its “Future Living Report,” a forecast of the next 100 years. Among its many predictions are “smart homes,” undersea cities, “synthetic telepathy,” and 3D-printed gourmet meals.
TIME AND AGAIN
Forecasting the future has been one of humankind’s favorite pastimes. We’re usually pretty bad at it, but there’s always been a Cassandra or a Delphic oracle, a Sibyl or a Nostradamus willing to make the attempt.
Images of a futuristic city from Metropolis(1927).
But in more recent times, the art of predicting the future has almost become a kind of mathematics—very disciplined and scientific.
In the early decades of the last century, a number of scientific prophecies were made about what the future—our present—would be like; some of these were naively optimistic, a few were dead-on accurate, others hopelessly wide of the mark.
It’s always been fun to see how these old dreamers envisioned their future. For example, in Fritz Lang’s 1927 silent masterpiece Metropolis, the future was an immense urban jumble of Art Deco architecture, complete with multi-tiered highways and giant machines run by an oppressed working class. The famous science fiction pioneer H. G. Wells, in his 1933 novel The Shape of Things to Come, imagined that we would be living under something called the “Air Dictatorship”—a kind of technocratic world state ruled by air power.
Others focused more on the technological aspects of the future, and the many scientific wonders and gadgets to come. The old comic strip Buck Rogers in the 25th Century had some interesting things to say about this—predicting, among other things, text messaging, cell phones, surveillance drones, and even the Hyperloop, the pneumatic transport system proposed by Elon Musk.
And it is along these lines—though with a more official and academic imprimatur—that Samsung has released its “SmartThings Future Living Report.” It’s a serious look at the topography of the future, at least in terms of its technological promise, and what that will mean for our lives and how we live them. It’s an extrapolation of current technological trends, as all such predictions inevitably are; but it’s less extravagant than most, more restrained and rooted in scientific realities, and it has a convincing ring of truth to it.
Which is exciting, because if the folks at Samsung are right, it means that over the next century or so we’re going to be in for a very interesting ride.
Some of the future predictions found in the Buck Rogers comic strip. Top: drones; bottom: transportation via pneumatic tube. Credit: rolandanderson.se/Hyperlooptech.com
SMART LIVING
According to the report, we can expect some pretty remarkable changes to our homes and our personal spaces, to say nothing of those ordinary, overlooked things that make up so much of our daily routine. As human populations soar, our cities and homes will have to adapt; interior living spaces will change as a cloud changes, easily reconfigured and rearranged to suit our fickle tastes, or accommodate different purposes.
Imagine walls and floors made of a malleable “skin,” and embedded with tiny sensors and actuators so that the shape and size of living spaces can quickly change, or even be divided into smaller rooms; imagine fully programmable “smart homes” that can be controlled remotely, and provide feedback to their owners—yes, there’ll even be an app for that.
Virtual decorations will alter with changing tastes, moods and whims; and the entire interior surface of the home will be implanted with LED technology—television screens and computer displays will form and unform in any room, as needed. Even our furniture will be adaptable, molding to custom fit our bodies, responding to changes in posture, or disappearing altogether when not needed.
A drone flying house. Image credit: Taylor Herring/Samsung
It will be the ultimate evolution of the “Internet of Things.” Misplaced something? Can’t find your keys? No problem. Just use an online search function to find it. Hate the color of that accent wall? Delete it. Need more storage space? Watch new shelves appear, as if by magic.
And the amenities are fantastic. Every home will come standard with a 3D printer; they’ll be able to churn out just about anything you could wish, using downloadable patterns, probably including even complex electronic devices. They may even print out your meals, designed and programmed by the world’s master chefs.
Walk-in “medical pods,” meanwhile, will contribute to the decentralization of healthcare—their imaging sensors will diagnose your ills and, for the more easily treatable maladies, dispense drugs, inject antibiotics, and recommend health regimens. It may even be possible to undergo remote, robot-mediated surgery, in the comfort of your own home.
This barely scratches the surface. Imagine homes whose very building material is salted with dormant limestone-producing bacteria, which awaken upon contact with moisture and repair any cracks or structural damage.
There will be “digestion tanks” full of anaerobic bacteria, to dispose of our waste; and our homes will produce, store, and reuse their own energy, using “microbial fuel cell stacks” and more efficient solar panels to generate electricity, and power-banks like the Tesla powerwall to store it against future use. Personal homes will be almost fully independent of a dangerously overtaxed energy grid.
One hundred years in the future, our houses will be, in almost all respects, semi-living, artificial organisms—closed systems with a metabolism, sensory apparatus, immune response, and an approximation to a nervous system.
We’ll be living in homes that are practically alive. An uncanny thought.
The UFO floating home concept from mini yacht-maker Jet Capsule offers a completely off-grid existence.View gallery (12 images)
While you can always head for the hills to wait out the apocalypse, a more stylish option could be a fully sustainable floating home from Italian mini yacht-maker Jet Capsule. The company has drawn up a concept for a saucer-shaped UFO, or Unidentified Floating Object, which offers a completely off-grid existence floating on the ocean.
According to the company's co-founders, Pierpaolo Lazzarini and Luca Solla, the UFO is intended for "living in a floating house and moving slowly around the world." "Slowly" in this case means a leisurely maximum speed of 3.5 knots (6.5 km/h, 4 mph), using a waterjet-propelled Torqeedo Deep Blue 1800 electric motor.
This motor is connected to a battery that draws energy generated from 40 sq. m (430 sq. ft.) of solar panels in a closable lid atop the structure. Additional energy sources can be provided through optional wind and water turbines located on the top and below the main disc of the UFO, respectively, creating enough power to operate the home and motor.
The company says an onboard water generator would be used for converting rain or seawater to fresh drinking water, as well as watering a vegetable garden located on a deck that encircles the structure and measures 12.5 m (41 ft) in diameter.
Two half-spherical shells of fiberglass make up the two stories of the interior housing, with flexible floor plans for various configurations. Generally, the orb-shaped home will consist of a transformable kitchen and dining/living area on a 20-sq. m (215-sq. ft.) top level, with stairs leading down to a 10-sq. m (107-sq. ft.) submerged lower level with bathroom and bedroom surrounded by a large window for viewing sea life.
To keep the craft stable, the UFO uses a special elastic anchor system. "The main structure of the floating object can be aligned with the compass, keeping the position angle oriented on the desired cardinal direction, even in rough sea conditions," say the designers.
The company is currently seeking investors to build the first working prototype, at an estimated cost of US$800,000, with homes produced after that estimated at $200,000, which is actually cheaper than the average price of an, albeit larger, houseboat.
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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...
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