News

Hey (Computer) Dude, Where Did You Park My Car?

by Socrates
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In America on average there are about 5 paved parking spaces for each car on the road. That is roughly about 1,000 square feet per car adding up to millions of square miles of black, asphalt-covered, sun-heat-absorbing, rain-water-drain-preventing, parking lots, which sit unused most of the time. The fact that overall on average cars get more allocated space than most big city dwellers raises a number of ethical and other concerns. Yet the problem is bigger than that. Just some of the other negative consequences are loss of productive farm-land, local climate warming and its consequent big-city heat-waves. (For example, if Los Angeles were to paint its flat-roofed buildings, parking lots and streets white, there would be an estimated decrease in temperature of about 5 °F (i.e. about 2.5 °C), which in turn will reduce heat-wave severity and related deaths, [...]

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Singulati: Our Singularity Weblog Forum is Live. Join Us Now!

by Socrates

One of the most requested features by readers of Singularity Weblog has been to make a forum. It has been some time that for a number of reasons I have been putting this off. Finally last month I committed to adding a forum to the blog and before anything else I want to highlight the people without whom it would not have happened: First, and foremost, I want to thank the many loyal readers who patiently kept asking for a forum. (It seems I prove it true that behind 10,000 “No’s” there sits a “Yes.”) Secondly, I want to thank Nikki Olson, who generously volunteered to moderate the forum, and thus removed one of my last excuses as to why I couldn’t have one. Thirdly, I want to thank David Alexander from Quixotic Media who not only bears with me [...]

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Tobii and Lenovo Unveil the First Eye-Controlled Laptop

by Socrates

The human-computer user interface has been one of the slowest to evolve and typewriter-style of keyboard and mouse controls are still the norm. The interface, however, is not going to be limited forever by the above combo, no matter how prevalent it may be today. We have already witnessed the introduction and growing success of touch-screen and voice-control devices becoming widely available to the public. Ultimately, the future of human-computer interface is one of direct brain-computer communication - you think of something and the computer starts doing it. Voice control and eye-control, however, are likely the intermediary stages on the way to direct brain-computer interface. We have already seen the wide introduction and consequent adoption of the former and it is about time we also start seeing the latter. Recently, my favorite laptop company - Lenovo, partnered with Swedish eye-control [...]

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Forget Flying Cars, Brain Driven Cars are the Next Big Thing

by Tara Miller

“Look Mom, no hands!” might not only be a phrase used for excited  young bicyclists but may also translate onto speedy and congested highways if a group of Artificial Intelligence German researchers perfect their latest project—brain-powered vehicles. The team of researchers, who work for AutoNOMOS innovation labs in Freie Universitat Berlin, are in the midst of compromising a technological system called the BrainDriver that will make all of those pesky tasks like using hands and feet to steer and brake obsolete. Drivers will also be able to spark the ignition, turn left and right, and accelerate or decelerate simply using their brain waves. Sounds like something ripped out the pages of a H.G. Wells novel right? Well if lead researcher Paul Rojas and his colleagues can work out all the kinks in their state-of-the-art technology, then the steering wheel might just [...]

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Under Armour E39: Enter the Smart T-shirt

by Socrates

The latest addition to the smart clothes coming down the pipe towards the end of 2012 is the Under Armour E39 compression shirt which uses sensors to track and transmit heart rate, breathing, g-force and horsepower. This smart t-shirt is based on Zephyr Technologies, who make similar gear for the US special forces, and has a removable “bug” sensor equipped with a triaxial accelerometer, processor, and 2GB of storage flanked by additional monitors that measure heart rate and breathing. In addition, the software provided by Zephyr can then record and transmit wirelessly all the relevant biometric data about the athlete’s movements to a number of devices such as laptops and cellphones and help identify performance issues. Hear the story of the world’s most innovative smart T-shirt directly from the Under Armour innovators responsible for making it. Under Armour E39 Commercial [...]

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Robots in Space: Robonaut 2 Blasts Off to the International Space Station

by Socrates

Yesterday afternoon at 4:53 pm EST space shuttle Discovery blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Safely packed in the cargo bay aboard mission STS-133 was a new kind of a crew member - the Robonaut 2. The Robonaut 2 is the second generation of a humanoid robot developed by NASA, GM and DARPA for space exploration. It is modular in nature, which allows for new parts and upgrades to be shipped and attached at a later point, and is intended to participate and assist in both manned and unmanned space missions, via telepresence and various levels of robotic autonomy for control. The robot is very dexterous and, while not all human range of motion and sensitivity has been duplicated, its hand has impressive 12 degrees of freedom of movement as well as 2 degrees of [...]

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3D Printing: Is Bio-Printing the Future of Organ Replacement?

by Socrates

I have written previously about the unfolding revolution in 3D printing which will eventually penetrate every facet of home-made manufacturing including the printing of food. Now, picture the following scenario: You get a full 3 dimensional scan of your complete body geometry. One day there is an accident and unfortunately you lose an ear or some other part of your body. Still, nothing that you really should worry about: Your doctor opens up your unique body geometry back up file, selects the exact specs on the missing body part and prints out a brand new ear which is virtually identical to the one you just lost. This may well be the future of organ and body-part replacement technologies produced by the latest breakthroughs in reconstructive medicine and bio-printing. Sounds far-fetched? Well, here are some videos in support of that claim. [...]

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The Technological Singularity Goes Mainstream (Again)

by Socrates
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The technological singularity goes mainstream again (and again). The last 12 months or so we have witnessed an unparalleled growth of mainstream coverage of transhumanism, the singularity, artificial intelligence and Ray Kurzweil. Some of the more notable mentions include: PBS on Ray Kurzweil and the Singularity; the NY Times’ Humans are so Yesterday; Ray Kurzweil on the Daily Show with John Stewart and New Zeland TV features Singularity University. (Yeah, it does seem that Michael Anissimov is right to say that Transhumanism Has Already Won.) Yesterday, Time Magazine’s cover story was about Ray Kurzweil and Barry Ptolemy‘s long anticipated feature documentary Transcendent Man. It is hard to get any more mainstream than that. I hope that people will go to watch the film en masse, listen to what Ray has to say and start thinking about the vital issues stemming [...]

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