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Mar 9, 2017

Why and How Investors Use ESG Information: Evidence from a Global Survey — By Amir Amel-Zadeh & George Serafeim

Posted by in categories: environmental, ethics, governance

“Using survey data from a sample of senior investment professionals from mainstream (i.e. not SRI funds) investment organizations we provide insights into why and how investors use reported environmental, social and governance (ESG) information.”

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Mar 9, 2017

Tesla Completes Hawaii Storage Project That Sells Solar at Night — By Mark Chediak | Bloomberg

Posted by in categories: Elon Musk, energy, solar power, sustainability, transportation

“Tesla Inc. has completed a solar project in Hawaii that incorporates batteries to sell power in the evening, part of a push by the electric car maker to provide more green power to the grid.”

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Mar 9, 2017

Massive commercial space push and a variety of new robotic capabilities could self supporting and rapidly growing space economy

Posted by in categories: economics, robotics/AI, satellites

Several companies will collectively be launching about 20,000 satellites over the next few years. SpaceX, OneWeb, Telesat, O3b Networks and Theia Holdings — all told the FCC they have plans to field constellations of V-band satellites in non-geosynchronous orbits to provide communications services in the United States and elsewhere. So far the V-band spectrum of interest, which sits directly above Ka-band from about 37 GHz to the low 50 GHz range, has not been heavily employed for commercial communications services.

* SpaceX, for example, proposes a “VLEO,” or V-band low-Earth orbit (LEO) constellation of 7,518 satellites to follow the operator’s initially proposed 4,425 satellites that would function in Ka- and Ku-band.

Continue reading “Massive commercial space push and a variety of new robotic capabilities could self supporting and rapidly growing space economy” »

Mar 8, 2017

It’s Official: Time Crystals Are a New State of Matter, and Now We Can Create Them

Posted by in categories: energy, physics

Earlier this year, physicists had put together a blueprint for how to make and measure time crystals — a bizarre state of matter with an atomic structure that repeats not just in space, but in time, allowing them to maintain constant oscillation without energy.

Two separate research teams managed to create what looked an awful lot like time crystals back in January, and now both experiments have successfully passed peer-review for the first time, putting the ‘impossible’ phenomenon squarely in the realm of reality.

“We’ve taken these theoretical ideas that we’ve been poking around for the last couple of years and actually built it in the laboratory,” says one of the researchers, Andrew Potter from Texas University at Austin.

Continue reading “It’s Official: Time Crystals Are a New State of Matter, and Now We Can Create Them” »

Mar 8, 2017

What Animal-Inspired Robot Will Festo Release in 2017?

Posted by in category: robotics/AI

It’s easy to see which creatures inspired these robots.

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Mar 8, 2017

Meet the automated triage nurse of the future

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, employment, robotics/AI

If you think that the march of automation isn’t going to affect jobs in the medical profession, then, uh, you better sit down. A Belgian company called BeWell is showing off WellPoint, a self-service kiosk that’s designed for patients entering hospitals or clinics. The WellPoint is a touchscreen-enabled booth that operates as a first port of call for visitors, quickly checking your basic vitals before you see a medical professional.

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Mar 8, 2017

Martian habitats: molehills or glass houses?

Posted by in categories: habitats, space travel

Article by Richard Heidmann, Association Planète Mars vice president – English translation by Etienne Martinache.

After having analyzed the targets assigned by SpaceX to its project of an Earth-Mars transportation system which is supposed to set up and serve a Martian settlement (see “l’étude MCT” on the site www.planete-mars.com), we decided to address the issue of an essential aspect of the feasibility of the project, the design of the living areas (pressurized enclosures).

This aspect was subject to many proposals, even though most of previous documented studies applied to upstream phases of human presence, those of exploration from a temporary base or from a permanent base with few residents and limited self-sufficiency. The consequences of the specific constraints related to a mass production of these enclosures, essentially from local resources, have seldom been considered.

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Mar 8, 2017

China Is Making Futuristic Space Rockets That Launch From Planes

Posted by in categories: futurism, space travel

China is working on a new way to launch its rockets.

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Mar 8, 2017

Goodyear’s Sphere Design for Self-Driving Car Tires Is Stupefying—And Totally Genius

Posted by in categories: robotics/AI, transportation

Sometimes, you hear about a futuristic concept that just makes you laugh—until you learn more about it and realize how utterly genius it is. Well, go ahead and laugh at Goodyear’s concept for autonomous-car tires: they’re spherical. Now keep reading, and get ready to have your mind blown.

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Mar 8, 2017

This never-before-seen extra from White Rabbit Project is from the afternoon I spent with actual cyborg Angel Giuffria

Posted by in categories: cyborgs, robotics/AI

As a robotics enthusiast, it was a special treat for me to see real future tech up close (and try it out myself). Angel also showed off some of her attachments, like one that allows her to shoot a bow and arrow.

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