This is a very nice video about Hubble and amazing images taken by this tellescope.
Daftar Harga Molto 2016 Terbaru
Acum 9 ani
luni, 12 octombrie 2009
joi, 8 octombrie 2009
Communicating person to person through the power of thought alone
New research from the University of Southampton has demonstrated that it is possible for communication from person to person through the power of thought alone.
Brain-Computer Interfacing (BCI) can be used for capturing brain signals and translating them into commands that allow humans to control (just by thinking) devices such as computers, robots, rehabilitation technology and virtual reality environments.
This experiment goes a step further and was conducted by Dr Christopher James from the University’s Institute of Sound and Vibration Research. The aim was to expand the current limits of this technology and show that brain-to-brain (B2B) communication is possible.
Dr James comments: “Whilst BCI is no longer a new thing and person to person communication via the nervous system was shown previously in work by Professor Kevin Warwick from the University of Reading, here we show, for the first time, true brain to brain interfacing. We have yet to grasp the full implications of this but there are various scenarios where B2B could be of benefit such as helping people with severe debilitating muscle wasting diseases, or with the so-called ‘locked-in’ syndrome, to communicate and it also has applications for gaming.”
His experiment had one person using BCI to transmit thoughts, translated as a series of binary digits, over the internet to another person whose computer receives the digits and transmits them to the second user’s brain through flashing an LED lamp.
While attached to an EEG amplifier, the first person would generate and transmit a series of binary digits, imagining moving their left arm for zero and their right arm for one. The second person was also attached to an EEG amplifier and their PC would pick up the stream of binary digits and flash an LED lamp at two different frequencies, one for zero and the other one for one. The pattern of the flashing LEDS is too subtle to be picked by the second person, but it is picked up by electrodes measuring the visual cortex of the recipient.
The encoded information is then extracted from the brain activity of the second user and the PC can decipher whether a zero or a one was transmitted. This shows true brain-to-brain activity.
You can watch Dr James’ BCI experiment at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93p7oDkA5WA&feature=email
Dr James is part of the University of Southampton’s Brain-Computer Interfacing Research Programme, which brings together biomedical engineering and the clinical sciences and provides a cohesive scientific basis for rehabilitation research and management. Projects are driven by clinical problems, using cutting-edge signal processing research to produce an investigative tool for advancing knowledge of neurophysiological mechanisms, as well as providing a practical therapeutic system to be used outside a specialised BCI laboratory.
Dr James also appeared on BBC2’s ‘James May’s Big Ideas’ last year, talking about thought controlled wheelchairs and introducing the field of BCI. You can view the segment here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uyrd0uOuyms&feature=related
luni, 5 octombrie 2009
Nanotech could make humans immortal by 2040, futurist says
Computerworld - In 30 or 40 years, we'll have microscopic machines traveling through our bodies, repairing damaged cells and organs, effectively wiping out diseases. The nanotechnology will also be used to back up our memories and personalities.
In an interview with Computerworld, author and futurist Ray Kurzweil said that anyone alive come 2040 or 2050 could be close to immortal. The quickening advance of nanotechnology means that the human condition will shift into more of a collaboration of man and machine, as nanobots flow through human blood streams and eventually even replace biological blood, he added.
That may sound like something out of a sci-fi movie, but Kurzweil, a member of the Inventor's Hall of Fame and a recipient of the National Medal of Technology, says that research well underway today is leading to a time when a combination of nanotechnology and biotechnology will wipe out cancer, Alzheimer's disease, obesity and diabetes.
It'll also be a time when humans will augment their natural cognitive powers and add years to their lives, Kurzweil said.
"It's radical life extension," Kurzweil said. "The full realization of nanobots will basically eliminate biological disease and aging. I think we'll see widespread use in 20 years of [nanotech] devices that perform certain functions for us. In 30 or 40 years, we will overcome disease and aging. The nanobots will scout out organs and cells that need repairs and simply fix them. It will lead to profound extensions of our health and longevity."
Of course, people will still be struck by lightning or hit by a bus, but much more trauma will be repairable. If nanobots swim in, or even replace, biological blood, then wounds could be healed almost instantly. Limbs could be regrown. Backed up memories and personalities could be accessed after a head trauma.
Today, researchers at MIT already are using nanoparticles to deliver killer genes that battle late-stage cancer. The university reported just last month the nano-based treatment killed ovarian cancer, which is considered to be one of the most deadly cancers, in mice.
And earlier this year, scientists at the University of London reported using nanotechnology to blast cancer cells in mice with "tumor busting" genes, giving new hope to patients with inoperable tumors. So far, tests have shown that the new technique leaves healthy cells undamaged.
With this kind of work going on now, Kurzweil says that by 2024 we'll be adding a year to our life expectancy with every year that passes. "The sense of time will be running in and not running out," he added. "Within 15 years, we will reverse this loss of remaining life expectancy. We will be adding more time than is going by."
And in 35 to 40 years, we basically will be immortal, according to the man who wrote The Age of Spiritual Machines and The Singularity is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology.
Kurzweil also maintains that adding microscopic machines to our bodies won't make us any less human than we are today or were 500 years ago.
"The definition of human is that we are the species that goes beyond our limitations and changes who we are," he said. "If that wasn't the case, you and I wouldn't be around because at one point life expectancy was 23. We've extended ourselves in many ways. This is an extension of who we are. Ever since we picked up a stick to reach a higher branch, we've extended who we are through tools. It's the nature of human beings to change who we are."
But that doesn't mean there aren't parts of this future that don't worry him. With nanotechnology so advanced that it can travel through our bodies and affect great change on them, come dangers as well as benefits.
The nanobots, he explained, will be self-replicating and engineers will have to harness and contain that replication.
"You could have some self-replicating nanobot that could create copies of itself... and ultimately, within 90 replications, it could devour the body it's in or all humans if it becomes a non-biological plague," said Kurzweil. "Technology is not a utopia. It's a double-edged sword and always has been since we first had fire."
In an interview with Computerworld, author and futurist Ray Kurzweil said that anyone alive come 2040 or 2050 could be close to immortal. The quickening advance of nanotechnology means that the human condition will shift into more of a collaboration of man and machine, as nanobots flow through human blood streams and eventually even replace biological blood, he added.
That may sound like something out of a sci-fi movie, but Kurzweil, a member of the Inventor's Hall of Fame and a recipient of the National Medal of Technology, says that research well underway today is leading to a time when a combination of nanotechnology and biotechnology will wipe out cancer, Alzheimer's disease, obesity and diabetes.
It'll also be a time when humans will augment their natural cognitive powers and add years to their lives, Kurzweil said.
"It's radical life extension," Kurzweil said. "The full realization of nanobots will basically eliminate biological disease and aging. I think we'll see widespread use in 20 years of [nanotech] devices that perform certain functions for us. In 30 or 40 years, we will overcome disease and aging. The nanobots will scout out organs and cells that need repairs and simply fix them. It will lead to profound extensions of our health and longevity."
Of course, people will still be struck by lightning or hit by a bus, but much more trauma will be repairable. If nanobots swim in, or even replace, biological blood, then wounds could be healed almost instantly. Limbs could be regrown. Backed up memories and personalities could be accessed after a head trauma.
Today, researchers at MIT already are using nanoparticles to deliver killer genes that battle late-stage cancer. The university reported just last month the nano-based treatment killed ovarian cancer, which is considered to be one of the most deadly cancers, in mice.
And earlier this year, scientists at the University of London reported using nanotechnology to blast cancer cells in mice with "tumor busting" genes, giving new hope to patients with inoperable tumors. So far, tests have shown that the new technique leaves healthy cells undamaged.
With this kind of work going on now, Kurzweil says that by 2024 we'll be adding a year to our life expectancy with every year that passes. "The sense of time will be running in and not running out," he added. "Within 15 years, we will reverse this loss of remaining life expectancy. We will be adding more time than is going by."
And in 35 to 40 years, we basically will be immortal, according to the man who wrote The Age of Spiritual Machines and The Singularity is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology.
Kurzweil also maintains that adding microscopic machines to our bodies won't make us any less human than we are today or were 500 years ago.
"The definition of human is that we are the species that goes beyond our limitations and changes who we are," he said. "If that wasn't the case, you and I wouldn't be around because at one point life expectancy was 23. We've extended ourselves in many ways. This is an extension of who we are. Ever since we picked up a stick to reach a higher branch, we've extended who we are through tools. It's the nature of human beings to change who we are."
But that doesn't mean there aren't parts of this future that don't worry him. With nanotechnology so advanced that it can travel through our bodies and affect great change on them, come dangers as well as benefits.
The nanobots, he explained, will be self-replicating and engineers will have to harness and contain that replication.
"You could have some self-replicating nanobot that could create copies of itself... and ultimately, within 90 replications, it could devour the body it's in or all humans if it becomes a non-biological plague," said Kurzweil. "Technology is not a utopia. It's a double-edged sword and always has been since we first had fire."
sâmbătă, 3 octombrie 2009
Room’s Ambience Fingerprinted By Phone
DURHAM, N.C. -- Your smart phone may soon be able to know not only that you're at the mall, but whether you're in the jewelry store or the shoe store.
Duke University computer engineers have made use of standard cell phone features – accelerometers, cameras and microphones – to turn the unique properties of a particular space into a distinct fingerprint. While standard global positioning systems (GPS) are only accurate to 10 meters (32 feet) and do not work indoors, the new application is designed to work indoors and can be as precise as telling if a user is on one side of an interior wall or another.
http://news.duke.edu/2009/09/surrsense.html
Duke University computer engineers have made use of standard cell phone features – accelerometers, cameras and microphones – to turn the unique properties of a particular space into a distinct fingerprint. While standard global positioning systems (GPS) are only accurate to 10 meters (32 feet) and do not work indoors, the new application is designed to work indoors and can be as precise as telling if a user is on one side of an interior wall or another.
http://news.duke.edu/2009/09/surrsense.html
Google Earth Application Maps Carbon's Course
Tracking carbon dioxide using Google Earth . Very nice indeed, isn't it ?
http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/co2_google.html
Robots in education
EE Times: Latest News
Robots in education
Robotics engineering promises to extend humanity's physical and intellectual reach to remote areas of our universe, enabling exploration and excavation of far-removed places. Such capabilities are the focus of a number of current educational projects in robotics.
Consider the Google Lunar X Prize, a $30 million privately funded competition among design teams hoping to send a robot to the moon, where the winning bot will travel 500 meters and transmit video, images and data back to Earth. To get the next generation interested in both robotics and space, the X Prize Foundation has teamed with Google, Lego Systems and National Instruments on MoonBots, a competition inspired by the Google Lunar X Prize. Under the program, small teams of children and adults will use Lego Mindstorms kits to design, program and construct robots that perform simulated lunar missions similar to those targeted by the Google Lunar X competition.
http://www.eetimes.com/news/latest/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=219700642
Robots in education
Robotics engineering promises to extend humanity's physical and intellectual reach to remote areas of our universe, enabling exploration and excavation of far-removed places. Such capabilities are the focus of a number of current educational projects in robotics.
Consider the Google Lunar X Prize, a $30 million privately funded competition among design teams hoping to send a robot to the moon, where the winning bot will travel 500 meters and transmit video, images and data back to Earth. To get the next generation interested in both robotics and space, the X Prize Foundation has teamed with Google, Lego Systems and National Instruments on MoonBots, a competition inspired by the Google Lunar X Prize. Under the program, small teams of children and adults will use Lego Mindstorms kits to design, program and construct robots that perform simulated lunar missions similar to those targeted by the Google Lunar X competition.
http://www.eetimes.com/news/latest/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=219700642
By 2040 you will be able to upload your brain
..or at least that's what Ray Kurzweil thinks. He has spent his life inventing machines that help people, from the blind to dyslexics. Now, he believes we're on the brink of a new age – the 'singularity' – when mind-boggling technology will allow us to email each other toast, run as fast as Usain Bolt (for 15 minutes) – and even live forever. Is there sense to his science – or is the man who reasons that one day he'll bring his dad back from the grave just a mad professor peddling a nightmare vision of the future?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8280864.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8280864.stm
Google Wave
Google Wave, which combines e-mail, instant messaging and wiki-style editing will go on public trial today.
The search giant hopes the tool, described as "how e-mail would look if it were invented today", will transform how people communicate online.
It will be open to 100,000 invitees from 1600BST, each of whom can nominate five further people to "join the Wave".
The tool is also open source, meaning third party developers can use the code to build new applications.
The developer behind Wave described it as "a communication and collaboration tool".
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8280864.stm
The search giant hopes the tool, described as "how e-mail would look if it were invented today", will transform how people communicate online.
It will be open to 100,000 invitees from 1600BST, each of whom can nominate five further people to "join the Wave".
The tool is also open source, meaning third party developers can use the code to build new applications.
The developer behind Wave described it as "a communication and collaboration tool".
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8280864.stm
vineri, 2 octombrie 2009
Saving the Bucharest from construction Mafia
Together with my friends from "Save Bucharest" ONG (non-guvernamental organisation) from construction Mafia. Protesting in front of Bucharest Mair done the scope of this organisation, from abuses(corruption) of public administation :)
So, for now Victory!
http://www.hotnews.ro/stiri-esential-6224193-video-ziua-marilor-proiecte-imobiliare-consiliul-general-capitalei-bataie-doi-peremisti-54-puz-uri-lasate-aer-iar-costica-costanda-incasa-30-milioane-euro-primarie.htm
So, for now Victory!
http://www.hotnews.ro/stiri-esential-6224193-video-ziua-marilor-proiecte-imobiliare-consiliul-general-capitalei-bataie-doi-peremisti-54-puz-uri-lasate-aer-iar-costica-costanda-incasa-30-milioane-euro-primarie.htm
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