Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh recently demonstrated a robot arm being controlled by a monkey using a neural interface. They were even kind enough to post recorded results to YouTube so we could all share in this moment of inter-species achievement.
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Robot Arm Controlled through Monkey Brain Interface
by Jason Patocka June 5, 2010
Android Augmented Reality Integrates GPS
by Jason Patocka May 24, 2010
Top Gear enthusiasts and Android fanboys alike will get a kick out of Wikitude’s slick new platform that integrates GPS and augmented reality. Its apps like this that drive home Android’s uncanny ability to suck on some serious Apple milkshake. One of the greatest Android criticisms was its scant supply of apps, and now by every metric I’ve seen to date, its gaining ground on the iPhone at record speed.
Safety concerns, carbon footprint, and local law enforcement withstanding – I kind of want to see a guitar hero / geocache overlay on that AR navtrack. That my friends, would take road trips to an entirely new level.
Documentary Tackles Human Gene Patenting
by Jason Patocka May 17, 2010
If you think you have legal ownership of your genes, you might want to take a moment to sit back, queue this documentary trailer, and hit play.
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Microsoft Envisions Future – Kind of.
by Jason Patocka May 13, 2010
I love it when marketing departments envision the future.
It’s just a shame that they don’t show someone throwing their fancy futurepaper across the room because they suddenly discover it won’t play Flash. This also omits the holographic pop up you get when you try to transfer some files to your table interface, only to discover you’ve ran out of license agreements.
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Nanoscale Fabrication Continues to Scale Into Realms of Awesome
by Jason Patocka May 3, 2010
IBM published impressive news of their ability to create complicated geographical replica of the Earth with features as small as 15 nanometers in last week’s issue of Advanced Materials. When you wrap your head around just how small fabrication methods are these days, its easy to see why there is much excitement in Nanotechnology. Yes, you could fit thousands of these maps on a grain of sand but these feasts of chemical engineering have potential far beyond building microchips.
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Big Strides for Quantum Empowered Data
by Jason Patocka April 26, 2010
Considering the press generated this past year by cyber attacks on both corporate and Department of Defense infrastructure, encryption methods are in dire need of an upgrade. The policy wonkisphere has been brooding over this subject for some time now, as evidenced by former White House Terrorism adviser Richard Clark’s new (and controversial) book Cyberwar released earlier this month. Between the alleged China backed theft of Google’s password source code, to the decimation of Georgia’s digital infrastructure by Russia during their brief skirmish during the Beijing Olympics, robust quantum networks are tech who’s time is long overdue.
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Scientists Create Molecular Paper
by Jason Patocka
Photo by Roy Kaltschmidt, Berkeley Lab Public Affairs
Next to grilled cheese sandwiches and classic Zelda, building blocks were quite possibly the best creation known to childhood. I remember spending countless days sifting through a giant tub filled with assorted blocks trying to find the ideal piece. These days, my RSS stream is filled with news of labs building systems that scale our concept of blocks down into the realm of atoms and molecules.
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Memristors to Replace Flash Memory in 2013
by Jason Patocka April 9, 2010
Imagine a world where you no longer have to wait to boot up your laptop. You simply hit the power button and you’re instantly back to where you were before you switched off.
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Meet Geminoid F
by Jason Patocka April 5, 2010
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dJOAf2Dt98&feature=player_embedde
Robo-media darling Hiroshi Ishiguro recently held a press conference in Osaka demonstrating his latest android, aptly named Geminoid F. As Japan’s population ages there is great concern over who is going to care for the elderly. One proposed approach that has garnered considerable public attention is to create robots that can provide companionship and care for seniors. To this end, Ishiguro has listed the price for the Geminoid F model at 10 million yen or $110,000 USD.
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