Profound Basis

Germany meets half its energy demand from solar, briefly

via kurzweilai

Solar power plants in Germany peaked at 22 gigawatts of output for a few hours on Friday and Saturday (25/26.05.2012), yielding almost half the country’s energy needs from the renewable resource and setting a new record in the process, IEEE Spectrum Energywise reports.

In the wake of the decision to shutter all of its nuclear plants, solar power will need to play an even bigger role in the future.

[read more @IEEE]

futurescope:

Mind-controlled videogames become reality

via kurzweilai

NeuroSky Inc. and Emotiv Systems Inc. are among the companies vying to emerge in the brain-wave market using electroencephalograph, or EEG, technology.

Uses include concentrating and relaxing, improving mental health, and games:

London-based MyndPlay Ltd. is using NeuroSky chips inside its own headset to enable viewers to control the outcome of movie scenes by concentrating and relaxing. Two prisons in England show inmates a gangster-themed film from MyndPlay that teaches them to stay calm during threatening situations.

Some doctors believe mind-controlled games can provide more than fun and relaxation, by improving mental health. SuperBetterLabs Inc. is attempting to introduce cognitive therapy into games optimized for NeuroSky and Emotive headsets.

Another Use Case from Japan:

NecoMiMi headset, a fashion accessory that has taken fans of Japanese animé by storm, is a set of catlike ears that perk up when the wearer’s concentration intensifies, and flatten out when relaxed.

[read more @Wall Street Journal] [NeuroSky Inc.] [Emotiv Systems Inc.] [Necomimi | Video]

futurescope:

Scientists Create the Smallest Possible Five-Ringed Molecule, Photograph It, and Call It Olympicene

A collaboration between the Royal Society of Chemistry, the University of Warwick and IBM has allowed scientists to bring a single 5-ringed molecule to life in a picture, using a combination of clever synthetic chemistry and state-of-the-art imaging techniques.

Once just a doodle on a piece of paper by an RSC scientist, the molecule has been imaged for the first time at an unprecedented resolution using a complex technique known as non-contact atomic force microscopy.

Known as olympicene it is related to single-layer graphite, also known as graphene, and is one of a number of related compounds which potentially have interesting electronic and optical properties, potentially for the next generation of solar cells and high-tech lighting sources such as LEDs.

[via popsci] [IBM press release] [more images]

futurescope:

Chip integrates chemical, logic functions

via kurzweilai

An integrated chemical chip that could control and regulate the signal paths of cells in the human body has been developed by Klas Tybrandt, a doctoral student in Organic Electronics at Linköping University, Sweden.

It creates the basis for an entirely new circuit technology based on ions and molecules instead of electrons and holes.

[read more @kurzweilai @gizmag] [Linköping University]

futurescope:

Japan robot lab readies second prototype for work at crippled nuclear reactor

via kurzweilai

The Future Robotics Technology Center in Japan has developed a new emergency response prototype that will soon be put to work at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

“Rosemary” is about the size of a lawn mower and has four extended treaded feet that swivel up and down to help it climb over obstacles.

It can ascend at angles over 60 degrees and can carry instruments and other payload weighing up to 60 kilograms (132 pounds).

[Future Robotics Technology Center]

futurescope:

Where speech recognition is going

via kurzweilai

Voice-recognition software company Nuance is extending its speech-interface technology to television devices, the automobile, and wearable devices.

Dragon TV can scan TV channel listings to select relevant shows; a version is already in some televisions sold by Samsung.

Apple is rumored to be developing its own television, using Siri as its controller. […]

[read more @kurzweilai @technology review] [Dragon TV]

New malware is 20 times the size of Stuxnet | Washington Post

smarterplanet:

Skywiper, as CrySys calls the virus, may have been active for as long as five to eight years. It uses five encryption methods, three compression techniques and at least five file formats. Its means of gathering intelligence include logging keyboard strokes, activating microphones to record conversations and taking screen shots, CrySys reported.

I wanna make a virus now…>.>

futurescope:

Nanotechnology breakthrough could dramatically improve medical tests

via kurzweilai:

A laboratory test used to detect disease and perform biological research could be made more than 3 million times more sensitive, according to Princeton researchers.

The increased performance could greatly improve the early detection of cancer, Alzheimer’s disease and other disorders by allowing doctors to detect far lower concentrations of telltale markers than was previously practical. […]

[read more @kurzweil] [paper] [image credit: Stephen Chou/Analytical Chemistry]

futurescope:

How to make low-cost computer memories, using bacteria

via kurzweilai:

University of Leeds researchers have devised a low-cost method of growing computer memory chips using genetically engineered bacteria instead of buildng expensive fabs (chip factories), priced at around $10 billion, accordng to Intel CEO Paul Otellini.

The researchers are using naturally occurring proteins and bacteria to make arrays of nanomagnets, similar to those employed to store information in disk drives.

The researchers took their inspiration from Magnetospirillum magneticum, a bacterium that is sensitive to the Earth’s magnetic field thanks to the presence within its cells of flecks of magnetite, a form of iron oxide. […]

[read more @kurzweilai @the economist] [paper] [image credit: Johanna M. Galloway et al./Small]