Menu

Blog

Page 10548

Sep 23, 2016

How the government plans to make your self-driving car safer

Posted by in categories: government, robotics/AI, transportation

A self-driving car may someday have to decide between your life and the lives of others. But how should the car choose? If you don’t know how to make that decision, that’s okay — Washington doesn’t either.

That’s one big takeaway in a new, lengthy document from the Department of Transportation that lays out options to make autonomous vehicles safer–and represents the most public sign of the attention self-driving cars are getting from politicians despite their inability to vote.

Read more

Sep 23, 2016

The Science of Star Trek — Documentary 2016

Posted by in categories: education, physics, science, space travel

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrSCinkFUtA

Is building our own starship Enterprise possible? Will we ever travel between the stars as easily as they do in Star Trek? JJ Abrams’ new feature, Star Trek Into Darkness, hits the screen in a golden age of scientific discoveries. HISTORY is there, giving viewers a deep look behind the scenes, on the set, and into the science–amazing new exoplanets, the physics of Warp drive, and the ideas behind how we might one day live in a Star Trek Universe.

Read more

Sep 23, 2016

6 Charts Breaking Down The Nascent Quantum Computing Startup Ecosystem

Posted by in categories: computing, quantum physics

They forgot ORNL in the laboratory list.


Deals to three companies — D-Wave, Cambridge Quantum Computing, and Quantum Biosystems — dominate funding. But newer players are emerging.

Read more

Sep 23, 2016

Synthetic biology competition launched

Posted by in categories: bioengineering, biological

An annual competition has been launched to assist companies aiming to solve world issues with synthetic biology.

Bio-start offers the winner a combination of £100k cash as well as laboratory space, professional services and a 10 week accelerator programme with mentorship valued at approximately £100k.

Dr Stephen Chambers, CEO of SynbiCITE, one of the companies involved in the founding of the competition said: “This is a first in the UK for synthetic biology and our aim is to help as many companies and entrepreneurs as we can. Once applications have been assessed up to twenty-five businesses will go through our ten-week boot-camp and mentoring programme. Up to ten will go through to the final awards evening where they’ll have a chance to pitch their ideas to an expert panel in front of an audience of investors and industry leaders.”

Continue reading “Synthetic biology competition launched” »

Sep 23, 2016

MIT-Led Team Creates Freeze-Dried Cellular Components to Produce Biopharmaceuticals on Demand

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

A team of researchers at MIT and other institutions have developed miniature freeze-dried pellets that possess all of the molecular machinery required to convert DNA into proteins, which could form the basis for on-demand production of vaccines and drugs.

The pellets, which hold several enzymes and other molecules extracted from cells, can be stored for prolonged period of time at room temperature. When water and freeze-dried DNA are added, the pellets start to produce proteins encoded by the DNA.

It’s a modular system that can be programmed to make what you need, on the spot. You could have hundreds of different DNA pellets you can add in the field.

Read more

Sep 23, 2016

New Device Can Produce Electricity From Spinach Leaves

Posted by in category: engineering

“The combination of natural (leaves) and artificial (photovoltaic cell and electronic components), and the need to make these components communicate with each other, are complex engineering challenges that required us to join forces,” said Avner Rothschild, researcher at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, at Haifa, in Israel.

Read more

Sep 23, 2016

Facebook boss Zuckerberg and Stephen Hawking go hunting for aliens on earthlike planet

Posted by in category: alien life

The duo are joining forces with Russian technology tycoon Yuri Milner to launch the £76million project called Breakthrough Listen.

They will use the world’s most powerful radio telescopes to monitor a planet called Proxima b, which is believed to contain all the right conditions to support life.

The planet is 25 trillion miles from earth and orbits our nearest star, Proxima Centauri, which acts as its sun.

Continue reading “Facebook boss Zuckerberg and Stephen Hawking go hunting for aliens on earthlike planet” »

Sep 23, 2016

Russian radar can see $4.4 billion stealth destroyer Zumwalt

Posted by in category: military

The Russian media revealed that the newest stealth technology produced by the US is not as efficient as it is believed.

The newest U.S. Navy destroyer Zumwalt was not only one of the most expensive in history, but also the most inefficient. New faults were found in its design, reports USNI News. The lubrication system is not working, responsible for the maintenance of the propeller shaft of the ship. It has taken in water, when the destroyer went to sea at the naval base in Norfolk during the current stage of testing. Repairs are expected to take no less than two weeks.

Continue reading “Russian radar can see $4.4 billion stealth destroyer Zumwalt” »

Sep 23, 2016

Uber drivers in China are pretending to be zombies to scam cancellation fee

Posted by in category: futurism

‘Zombie’ drivers are scamming people out of cash with horrible profile pictures.

Read more

Sep 23, 2016

RFID in China 2015–2025: Forecasts, Players, Opportunities : Data and analysis of the technologies, markets and value chain

Posted by in categories: government, transportation

LONDON, Sept. 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ — This report provides quantitative analysis and unprecedented level of insight into China’s RFID industry, analyzing the market by application, region, frequency band and value chain. The report develops a ten-year segmented market forecast. It also provides detailed profiles of 28 listed companies in addition to a further summary of 110 other Chinese RFID players. By 2025 the total RFID market in China will reach US$4.3 billion. This report provides a complete view of the RFID suppliers, value chain, applications and trends in China. It looks not only at the RFID manufacturing base in China, but also the applications of RFID in China, providing ten year forecasts by 13 application categories. IDTechEx has studied the RFID market globally for 15 years and this research builds on that knowledge in addition to new research carried out in Chain by IDTechEx analyst Dr Xiaoxi He. Over 150 RFID companies have been identified.

China already has 85% of the world’s RFID manufacturing capacity, being a major exporter of tags. In addition, the second generation National Identification Card project in China is the largest RFID order by value and China is delivering it by using Chinese-only resources almost exclusively. Thanks to strong support by the government, China has used RFID widely on applications ranging from library assets to train tickets, and as China becomes a leader in manufacturing in most segments — from cars to planes — it will fuel increasing demand for RFID in manufacturing and many other industries.

As RFID is increasingly being deployed around the world (IDTechEx expect that over 8.5 billion tags will be sold globally in 2015 versus 7 billion in 2014), suppliers are in the process of shaving off fractions of a cent from each inlay, particularly for passive UHF. That means picking up and moving manufacturing base to China in some cases. There have also been other, relatively new entrants that by strong investment (including acquisition) have gained a relatively high market share from nothing in a few years, examples being Arizon RFID and Shangyang, to name a few.

Continue reading “RFID in China 2015-2025: Forecasts, Players, Opportunities : Data and analysis of the technologies, markets and value chain” »