The purpose of this blog is the creation of an open, international, independent and free forum, where every UFO-researcher can publish the results of his/her research. The languagues, used for this blog, are Dutch, English and French.You can find the articles of a collegue by selecting his category. Each author stays resposable for the continue of his articles. As blogmaster I have the right to refuse an addition or an article, when it attacks other collegues or UFO-groupes.
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Deze blog is opgedragen aan mijn overleden echtgenote Lucienne.
In 2012 verloor ze haar moedige strijd tegen kanker!
In 2011 startte ik deze blog, omdat ik niet mocht stoppen met mijn UFO-onderzoek.
BEDANKT!!!
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UFO'S of UAP'S, ASTRONOMIE, RUIMTEVAART, ARCHEOLOGIE, OUDHEIDKUNDE, SF-SNUFJES EN ANDERE ESOTERISCHE WETENSCHAPPEN - DE ALLERLAATSTE NIEUWTJES
UFO's of UAP'S in België en de rest van de wereld Ontdek de Fascinerende Wereld van UFO's en UAP's: Jouw Bron voor Onthullende Informatie!
Ben jij ook gefascineerd door het onbekende? Wil je meer weten over UFO's en UAP's, niet alleen in België, maar over de hele wereld? Dan ben je op de juiste plek!
België: Het Kloppend Hart van UFO-onderzoek
In België is BUFON (Belgisch UFO-Netwerk) dé autoriteit op het gebied van UFO-onderzoek. Voor betrouwbare en objectieve informatie over deze intrigerende fenomenen, bezoek je zeker onze Facebook-pagina en deze blog. Maar dat is nog niet alles! Ontdek ook het Belgisch UFO-meldpunt en Caelestia, twee organisaties die diepgaand onderzoek verrichten, al zijn ze soms kritisch of sceptisch.
Nederland: Een Schat aan Informatie
Voor onze Nederlandse buren is er de schitterende website www.ufowijzer.nl, beheerd door Paul Harmans. Deze site biedt een schat aan informatie en artikelen die je niet wilt missen!
Internationaal: MUFON - De Wereldwijde Autoriteit
Neem ook een kijkje bij MUFON (Mutual UFO Network Inc.), een gerenommeerde Amerikaanse UFO-vereniging met afdelingen in de VS en wereldwijd. MUFON is toegewijd aan de wetenschappelijke en analytische studie van het UFO-fenomeen, en hun maandelijkse tijdschrift, The MUFON UFO-Journal, is een must-read voor elke UFO-enthousiasteling. Bezoek hun website op www.mufon.com voor meer informatie.
Samenwerking en Toekomstvisie
Sinds 1 februari 2020 is Pieter niet alleen ex-president van BUFON, maar ook de voormalige nationale directeur van MUFON in Vlaanderen en Nederland. Dit creëert een sterke samenwerking met de Franse MUFON Reseau MUFON/EUROP, wat ons in staat stelt om nog meer waardevolle inzichten te delen.
Let op: Nepprofielen en Nieuwe Groeperingen
Pas op voor een nieuwe groepering die zich ook BUFON noemt, maar geen enkele connectie heeft met onze gevestigde organisatie. Hoewel zij de naam geregistreerd hebben, kunnen ze het rijke verleden en de expertise van onze groep niet evenaren. We wensen hen veel succes, maar we blijven de autoriteit in UFO-onderzoek!
Blijf Op De Hoogte!
Wil jij de laatste nieuwtjes over UFO's, ruimtevaart, archeologie, en meer? Volg ons dan en duik samen met ons in de fascinerende wereld van het onbekende! Sluit je aan bij de gemeenschap van nieuwsgierige geesten die net als jij verlangen naar antwoorden en avonturen in de sterren!
Heb je vragen of wil je meer weten? Aarzel dan niet om contact met ons op te nemen! Samen ontrafelen we het mysterie van de lucht en daarbuiten.
27-10-2017
The Rights of Synthetic Lifeforms is the Next Great Civil Rights Controversy
The Rights of Synthetic Lifeforms is the Next Great Civil Rights Controversy
With artificial intelligence technology advancing rapidly, the world must consider how the law should apply to synthetic beings. Experts from the fields of AI, ethics, and government weigh in on the best path forward as we enter the age of self-aware robots.
As these systems advance, so will the potential that they are involved in criminal activity, and right now, no regulations are in place that say how the law should treat super-intelligent synthetic entities. Who takes the blame if a robot causes an accident or is implicated in a crime? What happens if a robot is the victim of a crime? Do self-aware robots deserve rights that are comparable to those given to human beings?
Before we can begin discussing robot rights, we need to articulate exactly what (or who?) counts in this equation, said MIT Media Lab researcher and robot ethics expert Kate Darling in an email correspondence with Futurism. In other words, clearly defined terminology is a prerequisite for any productive conversation regarding robot rights.
“If we want to use legislation to regulate robotic technology, we’re going to need to establish better definitions than what we’re operating with today,” she said. “Even the word ‘robot’ doesn’t have a good universal definition right now.”
Eyes on Today
Now is the time to put these definitions in place because artificially intelligent robots are already in our midst.
Autonomous delivery robots are a common sight in the Estonian capital of Tallinn. As such, the country’s government is being proactive with regards to robot regulations and legal recourse for issues regarding ownership and culpability.
“It all started out from the self-driving car taskforce,” Marten Kaevats, the national digital advisor for the government office of Estonia, told Futurism. “We quite soon discovered that these liability, integrity, and accountability issues are not specific to self-driving cars; they’re general AI questions.”
Kaevats is aware that any discussion of robots and AI can quickly devolve into talk of the singularity and superintelligence, but that’s not the focus right now. “We are trying to work on things that are actually already here,” he explained.
Still, Estonia is looking to put legislation in place that has the flexibility to respond to advances in technology. Kaevats acknowledges that it’s not possible to create regulations that are completely future-proof, but he sees a pressing need for laws that offer certain rights alongside certain liabilities.
As Kaevats pointed out, right now, self-aware artificial intelligences are so far off that there’s no reason to rush into giving robots similar rights to humans. In addition to considering the ethical ramifications of putting machines on par with humans, we need to examine how such laws might be open to abuse before regulations are established.
Production Line Patsy
Estonia isn’t the only place where conversations on robot rights are happening.
The journal Artificial Intelligence and Law recently published an article by University of Bath reader Joanna J. Bryson and academic lawyers Mihailis E. Diamantis and Thomas D. Grant. In the paper, the authors state that proposals for synthetic personhood are already being discussed by the European Union and that the legal framework to do so is already in place. The authors stress the importance of giving artificially intelligent beings obligations as well as protections, so as to remove their potential as a “liability shield.”
But granting them full rights?
When Bryson spoke to Futurism, she warned against the establishment of robot rights, relating the situation to the way the legal personhood of corporations has been abused in the past.
“Corporations are legal persons, but it’s a legal fiction. It would be a similar legal fiction to make AI a legal person,” said Bryson. “What we need to do is roll back, if anything, the overextension of legal personhood — not roll it forward into machines. It doesn’t generate any benefits; it only encourages people to obfuscate their AI.”
Bryson offered up the example of a driverless taxi, which could potentially be made fully independent from its owner or manufacturer, serving as a legally recognized individual, fulfilling its own contracts. This situation could be manipulated to reduce the amount of taxes paid on the vehicle’s earnings by whoever receives the profits.
Kaevats said that this won’t be a problem in Estonia — the country’s digital tax system is proactive enough to track any malicious activity. However, the potential for abuse certainly exists in regions with less technologically advanced tax codes.
Corporations can already use the letter of the law to withhold as much wealth as possible. The use of a synthetic person as a “fall guy” for illicit activity isn’t outside the realm of possibility, and giving a robot rights could serve to emancipate them from conventional ownership. At that point, the entity is the ultimate independent contractor, with companies able to absolve themselves of wrongdoing even if they instructed the machine to behave in the illegal way.
Legislation could certainly be written up that avoids these pitfalls, though, so policy makers just need to be sure that any rights given to synthetic entities don’t include loopholes that can be abused.
Moral Dilemma
In the far more distant future, we’ll need to consider the issue of self-aware robots. How should we tackle synthetic personhood for those entities?
“If we discover that there are certain capacities that we want to create in artificial intelligence, and once you create those, you spontaneously get these cognitive features that warrant personhood, we’ll have to have this discussion about how similar they are to the human consciousness,” James Hughes, executive director of the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies, told Futurism.
Traditionally, under the law, you’re either a person or you are property.
The creation of this level of technology won’t be happening anytime soon, if it happens at all, but its potential raises some thorny issues about our obligation to synthetic beings and the evolving nature of personhood.
“Traditionally, under the law, you’re either a person or you are property — and the problem with being property is that you have no rights,” bioethicist and attorney-at-law Linda McDonald-Glenn told Futurism. “In the past, we’ve made some pretty awful mistakes.”
According to Hughes, this situation calls for a test that determines whether or not a synthetic person is self-aware. In the meantime, Estonia has found a fairly simple way to determine the rights of their robots. Instead of using technology as the defining factor, the nation will grant rights based on registration under the mythologically inspired Kratt law.
Estonian folklore states that the Kratt is an inanimate object brought to life, just as artificial intelligence can give a machine the cognitive abilities it needs to complete a particular task. The Kratt law will determine what level of sophistication a robot needs to possess in order to be considered its own legal entity.
“This is what we want our governments to do,” said Bryson, praising European efforts to put well-thought-out legislation in place. “This is what governments are for and what law is for.”
In many ways, AI technology is still very young, but there’s no better time than now to start thinking about the legal and ethical implications of its usage.
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How Do You Make a Conscious Robot?
How Do You Make a Conscious Robot?
By Space.com, staff
Credit: agsandrew/Shutterstock
You've likely heard of conscious thought and subconscious thought, but humans may in fact possess three levels of consciousness, a new review suggests — and this concept could help scientists develop truly conscious artificial intelligence (AI) someday.
Though AI technology has been advancing at a rapid clip, in many ways, computers still fall short of human performance.
"Human consciousness is not just about recognizing patterns and crunching numbers quickly," said review co-author Hakwan Lau, a neuroscientist at the University of California, Los Angeles. "Figuring out how to bridge the gap between human and artificial intelligence would be the holy grail." [Super-Intelligent Machines: 7 Robotic Futures]
To address the controversial question of whether computers may ever develop consciousness, the researchers first sought to explore how consciousness arises in the human brain. In doing so, they outlined three key levels of consciousness.
These three levels could serve as a road map for designing truly conscious AI. "If you want to make your robots conscious, this is what we suggest you think about," Lau told Live Science.
The first is level C0. This level of consciousness refers to the unconscious operations that take place in the human brain, such as face and speech recognition, according to the review. Most of the calculations done by the human brain take place at this level, the researchers said — in other words, people aren't aware of these calculations taking place.
Despite recent advances in AI technology, machines are still mostly functioning at this level of consciousness, the researchers said.
For example, AI systems known as "convolutional neural networks" can now carry out many human C0 computations, including facial recognition.
The next level of consciousness, C1, involves the ability to make decisions after drawing upon a vast repertoire of thoughts and considering multiple possibilities. The researchers suggested that this ability for a thought, or train of thoughts, to temporarily dominate the mind evolved to help guide a broad variety of behaviors.
C1 is seen in human infants as well as in animals. For instance, the scientists noted that thirsty elephants know how to locate and move straight toward the nearest water hole, even if it is 30 miles (50 kilometers) away. Such decision making requires a sophisticated architecture of neural circuits to pool together information from the environment and from memory, select the best choice from a set of available options, stick to this decision over time and coordinate a variety of operations, such as navigating over terrain to achieve that goal.
In humans and other primates, the prefrontal cortex of the brain serves as a central hub for information processing, where many of the actions described in C1 consciousness take place. By analyzing the neural circuits in this part of the brain, scientists could derive the computational principles underlying their operation "and code them into computers," Lau said.
The final level, C2, involves "metacognition," or the ability to monitor one's own thoughts and computations — in other words, the ability to be self-aware. Level C2 consciousness results in subjective feelings of certainty or error, which help people realize mistakes and correct them. Self-awareness also helps people figure out what they know and do not know, leading to curiosity, a mechanism that drives people to find more about what they know little or nothing about.
The scientists noted that some robots have achieved aspects of C2, in that they can monitor their progress at learning how to solve problems. The researchers noted that magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies of humans link metacognition to the prefrontal cortex.
All in all, the researchers suggested that human consciousness may arise from a set of specific computations. "Once we can spell out in computational terms what the differences may be in humans between conscious and unconsciousness, coding that into computers may not be that hard," Lau said.
The scientists detailed this research in the Oct. 27 issue of the journal Science.
AIR AND WATER BENDER This tiny, buglike machine is the lightest robot that can fly, swim and launch itself from water.
YUFENG CHEN, E. FARRELL HELBLING AND HONGQIANG WANG
A new insect-inspired tiny robot that can move between air and water is a lightweight.
Weighing the same as about six grains of rice, it is the lightest robot that can fly, swim and launch itself from water, an international team of researchers reports October 25 in Science Robotics. The bot is about 1,000 times lighter than other previously developed aerial-aquatic robots. In the future, this kind of aquatic flier could be used to perform search-and-rescue operations, sample water quality or simply explore by air or sea.
To hover, the bot flaps its translucent wings 220 to 300 times per second, somewhat faster than a housefly. Once submerged, the tiny robot surfaces by slowly flapping its wings at about nine beats per second to maintain stability underwater.
For the tricky water-to-air transition, the bot does some chemistry. After water has collected inside the machine’s central container, the bot uses a device to split water into hydrogen and oxygen gas. As the chamber fills with gas, the buoyancy lifts the vehicle high enough to hoist the wings out of the water. An onboard “sparker” then creates a miniature explosion that sends the bot rocketing about 37 centimeters — roughly the average length of a men’s shoe box — into the air. Microscopic holes at the top of the chamber release excess pressure, preventing a loss of robot limbs.
Still, the design needs work: The machine doesn’t land well, and it can only pierce the water’s surface with the help of soap, which lowers the surface tension. More importantly, the experiment points to the possibilities of incorporating different forms of locomotion into a single robot, says study coauthor Robert Wood, a bioengineer at Harvard University.
BUGGING OUT Not only can this insectlike robot fly and swim, but it also splits water into hydrogen and oxygen gas, which the bot ignites to propel itself from the water.
If you are afraid of getting stitches or staples, there is some good news for you. Scientists have developed a new type of highly elastic surgical glue that can seal wounds within a minute.
The glue is called MeTro (methacryloyl-substituted tropoelastin), and it’s tailored to be used on both internal and external wounds to seal them up and encourage healing.
Researchers behind this innovation say that this squirtable substance could prove to be a lifesaver in emergency situations and could eventually be used in surgeries.
Image courtesy: University of Sydney.
Science behind it:
Natural elastic proteins based on the human protein tropoelastin were intermixed with a light-sensitive sealant material to develop this elastic surgical glue. Once the glue is applied to a wound, ultraviolet light is required to set the material.
MeTro has worked well in sealing incisions in the arteries and lungs of rodents and pigs. However, it has yet to be tested on humans.
Study author Anthony Weiss, from the University of Sydney, said, “When you watch MeTro, you can see it act like a liquid, filling the gaps and conforming to the shape of the wound. It responds well biologically and interfaces closely with human tissue to promote healing. The gel is easily stored and can be squirted directly onto a wound or cavity.
“We have shown MeTro works in a range of different settings and solves problems other available sealants can’t,” he added. “We’re now ready to transfer our research into testing on people. I hope MeTro will soon be used in the clinic, saving human lives.”
Nidhi Goyal
Nidhi is a gold medalist Post Graduate in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences. You can also find Nidhi on Google+.
Drones have no doubt opened a world of possibilities for carrying out some amazing and useful tasks. These versatile, pilotless flying machines have proved their usefulness in areas such as aerial photography, surveillance, and law enforcement. And their potential for the future is nearly limitless. But the proliferation of the technology also poses a series of threats.
To cope with these threats, Lockheed Martin, in conjunction with the U.S. Army’s Space and Missile Defense Command, is developing a new laser weapon system. Footage of testing has revealed how ATHENA (Advanced Test High Energy Asset) can deliver an invisible killing blow to unmanned aerial vehicle threats.
Tests were conducted at the Army’s White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. In the video, a 30-kilowatt-class ATHENA system brought down five 10.8-ft.-wingspan Outlaw drones. The ATHENA system is powered by a Rolls-Royce turbogenerator and is still considered a prototype.
Lockheed Martin’s chief technology officer, Keoki Jackson, said, “The tests at [White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico] against aerial targets validated our lethality models and replicated the results we’ve seen against static targets at our own test range.” He added, “As we mature the technology behind laser weapon systems, we’re making the entire system more effective and moving closer to a laser weapon that will provide greater protection to our warfighters by taking on more sophisticated threats from a longer range.”
In the future, the ATHENA laser could prove to be very helpful in protecting soldiers from threats, such as swarms of drones or large numbers of rockets and mortars. In comparison to alternative weapons, the ATHENA laser offers greater speed, flexibility, precision, and lower cost per engagement.
Nidhi Goyal
Nidhi is a gold medalist Post Graduate in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences. You can also find Nidhi on Google+.
Renault and a group of students from the Central Saint Martins art and design college in London have teamed up to create the “Car of the Future.”
The French car manufacturer recently held a contest for designing a futuristic car that focused on the company’s points for its future fleet: electric power, autonomous driving, and connected technologies.
A design for a levitating bubble-shaped vehicle was announced as the winner of the competition. The winning designer was Yunchen Cai, who created a vehicle called “The Float.” The Float looks like a bubble in transit.
Cai developed the model, along with designers from Renault, during the two weeks of her internship at the company’s Technocentre.
The winning model was recently displayed at The London Design Festival’s designjunction2017. Here are some of the features of the futuristic-looking concept car:
Instead of using wheels, The Float employs Maglev tech (magnetic levitation).
The Float has transparent exterior glass and silver bucket seats.
The car can move in any direction without turning around.
The Float is made to seat either one or two persons. However, it is designed in a way that allows a greater number of people to travel together via a magnetic belt around the exterior that can be used to connect multiple pods.
The Float has sliding doors making it easy to get in and out.
The Float is designed to work with an app allowing it to function in the same way as car-sharing vehicles such as Uber.
Nidhi Goyal
Nidhi is a gold medalist Post Graduate in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences. You can also find Nidhi on Google+.
Researchers from the University of Newcastle in Australia have found a way to print solar tiles. This method is cheaper and faster than traditional methods and could potentially be a game changer in the renewable energy industry.
SOLAR’S THE WAY TO GO
Solar panels have become increasingly inexpensive in the past months. However, while a number of large-scale energy producers are shifting towards solar power, there is still a lack of homes that have adopted the technology. In Australia, a place bathed in seemingly constant direct sunlight, price is still a major stumbling block for homeowners considering switching to solar. Things may be about to change, however, thanks to a new variety of solar tile developed by researchers from the University of Newcastle (UON).
Image Credit: University of Newcastle
Instead of the photovoltaics (PVs) that traditional panels use, UON’s Paul Dastoor and his team are testing printable solar tiles. “It’s completely different from a traditional solar cell. They tend to be large, heavy, encased in glass — tens of millimeters thick,” Dastoor told Mashable. “We’re printing them on plastic film that’s less than 0.1 of a millimeter thick.”
Currently, UON is one of only three sites that are testing printed solar. “We’ve put in the first 100 square metres of printed solar cells up on roofs, and now we’re testing that durability in real weather conditions,” Dastoor said. As soon as the performance and durability of these tiles are confirmed, it could easily go into market production.
CHEAP AND FAST
Dastoor and his team are excited about the potential these printed tiles have in influencing the wide-scale adoption of PVs, especially for homes. “The low-cost and speed at which this technology can be deployed is exciting, particularly in the current Australian energy context where we need to find solutions, and quickly, to reduce demand on base-load power,” he explained in UON feature article.
Just for reference, Tesla’s solar tiles — which Elon Musk promised to be cheaper than regular roofs — are priced at around US $235 per tile. Meanwhile, Dastoor’s printed solars can be sold at less than US$ 7.42 per tile, which is comparatively very cheap, “[W]e expect in a short period of time the energy we generate will be cheaper than that generated via coal-based fire stations,” Dastoor explained.
Of course, whether tiles are printed or created with traditional PVs, solar energy is currently a major leading renewable energy source. And, solar power is not only incredibly environmentally friendly — producing energy without harmful byproducts that contribute to climate change — it can also generate more energythan fossil fuels.
Image captionA UK-commissioned report suggests AI could add £630bn to the economy within two decades
If my email inbox is anything to go by, a technology revolution is under way that is going to transform all of our lives very soon and it is called artificial intelligence.
A Welsh company is using AI to detect North Korean bio-weapons.
I could pop over to California to hear about "AI wearable solutions for aging population".
And Lloyd's of London has unveiled an artificial intelligence partnership with a firm that promises "in a decade a significant part of the insurance industry will be powered by AI".
These represent just three of the innumerable AI press releases aimed at me and other technology journalists over recent days.
Last week also saw the London premiere of AlphaGo, an excellent and surprisingly touching documentary about one of the great recent triumphs of artificial intelligence, Google DeepMind's victory over the champion Go player Lee Sedol.
Image copyrightMOXIE PICTURES Image captionGoogle DeepMind's defeat of a champion Go player has been made into a documentary
And then, over the weekend, as if to confirm this is a subject that should occupy politicians and policymakers as well as journalists, a major report on what the UK should be doing to nurture AI was published.
It was commissioned by the government and authored by two distinguished computer scientists, Prof Dame Wendy Hall and Dr Jerome Pesenti.
They say the UK is already well placed as a centre of artificial intelligence, and the government should act to cement its position.
Their recommendations include:
more investment in academic research
developing more skills throughout industry and the education sector
throwing open more datasets for AI scientists to work with
encouraging the uptake of AI techniques by all kinds of companies
All of these ideas seem eminently sensible and uncontroversial. But they are also predicated on a belief that this is urgent - that we are making very rapid progress, not just in developing artificial intelligence but in applying it in areas that will transform the economy.
It certainly appears to be the case that rapid advances in processing power, coupled with access to vast amounts of data and smart new algorithms are helping computers carry out all sorts of tasks once restricted to humans. But so far the impact on everything from jobs to the way industries such as healthcare and transport work appears minimal.
So, is there a danger that AI is being overhyped?
Let's dissect a few of the bold statements in that government AI report:
"We are at the threshold of an era when much of our productivity and prosperity will be derived from the systems and machines we create."
Well, it has always been the case that the machines we create - from the wheel, to the spinning jenny, to the dishwasher - drive increases in productivity and prosperity.
Are we clear that the AI revolution will deliver the kind of boost to living standards we saw in the 1950s and 1960s as mass production and the use of consumer goods took off?
"We are accustomed now to technology developing fast, but that pace will increase and AI will drive much of that acceleration."
First, you can question how fast technology has developed in recent years. Yes, we have computers that can differentiate between a cat and a dog and understand any language, but our physical infrastructure is not being rapidly transformed.
Indeed, when it comes to air travel or building new railways, you could argue that we are going backwards. Software is racing ahead, hardware not so much - just watch robots trying to play football if you are worried about them threatening to replace us.
So saying that the pace of change will increase, driven by AI, may be little more than a leap of faith.
"[Accenture] estimated that AI could add an additional $814bn (£630bn) to the UK economy by 2035, increasing the annual growth rate of GVA from 2.5 to 3.9%."
GVA - gross value added - is close to gross domestic product (GDP), the headline measure of a country's economic activity, including all the services and goods produced in a year.
Suggesting that its trend growth rate could rise to 3.9% - more than during boom decades the 1950s and 1960s - is, in the words of an economist of my acquaintance, "staggering". All the more so when you look at the UK's recent record, which has seen productivity growth flat-lining.
Now, big advances in technology can take time to show up in productivity growth - it took decades for factory owners to reorganise production around electric rather than steam power.
So, maybe we will see law firms become more efficient as AI lawyers assess contracts for risk, hospitals cut waiting lists as robot doctors examine scans, and cities cut congestion as autonomous cars and buses waft us from home to work.
Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES µImage captionCar manufacturers are investing deeply in self-drive AI systems
All of these advances are already technically possible - but you have to be quite an optimist to believe that the changes in our infrastructure, regulation and social attitudes needed to make them a reality will happen quickly.
Last week a House of Lords select committee on artificial intelligence heard evidence from three leading scientists, including Prof Hall.
They spoke of the UK's potential as a centre of AI excellence, and the urgent need for government to start thinking about both the benefits and the risks of the technology.
Then, the committee heard from three journalists - including me. And their lordships seemed rather startled to find that, by contrast with the scientists, we were pretty sceptical about the speed of this revolution.
We were not convinced that driverless cars would be on our roads very soon, but that meant we were also more optimistic that the threat to jobs from the robots had been exaggerated.
One of the peers mentioned that quote about futurology - that we tend to overestimate the effect of a technology in the short run and underestimate it in the long run.
The scientists will no doubt be proved right about AI one day, but the cynical old journalist in me thinks we can afford to relax for a while yet.
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- Gemiddelde waardering: 0/5 - (0 Stemmen) Categorie:SF-snufjes }, Robotics and A.I. Artificiel Intelligence ( E, F en NL )
19-10-2017
Google's Latest Self-Learning AI Is Like an "Alien Civilisation Inventing Its Own Mathematics"
Google's Latest Self-Learning AI Is Like an "Alien Civilisation Inventing Its Own Mathematics"
Okay, that's pretty awesome.
PETER DOCKRILL
An AI that vanquished humanity at perhaps the most complex traditional game on Earth was inconceivably smart. But not smart enough to survive its own replacement by an even more awesome, alien intelligence.
Google's DeepMind researchers have just announced the next evolution of their seemingly indomitable artificial intelligence – AlphaGo Zero – which has dispensed with what may have been the most inefficient resource in its ongoing quest for knowledge: humans.
Zero's predecessor, dubbed simply AlphaGo, was described as "Godlike" by one of the crestfallen human champions it bested at the ancient Chinese board game, Go, but the new evolution has refined its training arsenal by eradicating human teachings from its schooling entirely.
The AlphaGo versions that kicked our butts at Go in a series of contests this yearand last year first learned to play the game by analysing thousands of human amateur and professional games, but AlphaGo Zero is entirely self-taught, learning by 100 percent independent experimentation.
DeepMind
In a new study, the researchers report how that uncanny self-reliance sharpened Zero's intelligence to devastating effect: in 100 games against Zero, a previous AlphaGo incarnation – which cleaned the floor with us in 2016 – didn't pick up a single win. Not one.
Even more amazingly, that trumping came after just three days of self-play training by AlphaGo Zero, in which it distilled the equivalent of thousands of years of human knowledge of the game.
"It's like an alien civilisation inventing its own mathematics," computer scientist Nick Hynes MIT told Gizmodo.
"What we're seeing here is a model free from human bias and presuppositions. It can learn whatever it determines is optimal, which may indeed be more nuanced that our own conceptions of the same."
After 21 days of self-play, Zero had progressed to the standard of its most powerful predecessor, known as AlphaGo (Master), which is the version that beat world number one Ke Jie this year, and in subsequent weeks it eclipsed that level of performance.
Aside from the self-reliance, the team behind AlphaGo Zero ascribe its Go dominance to an improved, single neural network (former versions used two in concert), and more advanced training simulations.
But just because the AI is racing ahead at such an awesome – if disquieting – pace, it doesn't necessarily mean Zero is smarter or more capable than humans in other fields away from this complex but constrained board game.
"AI fails in tasks that are surprisingly easy for humans," computational neuroscientist Eleni Vasilaki from Sheffield University in the UK told The Guardian.
"Just look at the performance of a humanoid robot in everyday tasks such as walking, running, and kicking a ball."
That may be true, but allow us our moment of silenced awe as we witness the birth of this astonishingly powerful synthetic way of thinking.
It might not do what humans can do, but it can do so many things we can't, too.
According to DeepMind, those capabilities will one day soon help Zero - or its inevitable, evolving heirs - figure out things like how biological mechanisms operate, how energy consumption can be reduced, or how new kinds of materials fit together.
Welcome to a bright new future, which clearly isn't ours alone.
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The Venus Project Plans to Bring Humanity to the Next Stage of Social Evolution. Here’s How.
The Venus Project Plans to Bring Humanity to the Next Stage of Social Evolution. Here’s How.
Roxanne Meadows/The Venus Project
IN BRIEF
The Venus Project is the culmination of Jacque Fresco’s life’s work to present a sustainable redesign of our culture.
The project lays out a sustainable world civilization where technology and science are applied to redesigning our social system with the prime concern being to maximize quality of life rather than profit.
Since 1975, Roxanne Meadows has worked with renowned futurist Jacque Fresco to develop and promote The Venus Project. The function of this project is to find alternative solutions to the many problems that confront the world today. She participated in the exterior and interior design and construction of the buildings of The Venus Project’s 21-acre research and planning center.
Daniel Araya: Roxanne, could you tell me about your background and your vision for The Venus Project? How was the idea originally conceived?
Roxanne Meadows. Credit: The Venus Project
Roxanne Meadows: My background is in architectural and technical illustration, model making, and design. However, for the last 41 years, my most significant work has been with Jacque Fresco in developing models, books, blueprints, drawings, documentaries and lecturing worldwide. We are the co-founders of The Venus Project, based out of Venus, Florida where we have built a 21-acre experimental center. The Venus Project is the culmination of Jacque Fresco’s life’s work to present a sustainable redesign of our culture.
In our view, The Venus Project is unlike any political, economic or social system that’s gone before it. It lays out a sustainable world civilization where technology and the methods of science are applied to redesigning our social system with the prime concern being to maximize quality of life rather than profit. All aspects of society are scrutinized – from our values, education, and urban design to how we relate to nature and to one another.
The Venus Project concludes that our social and environmental problems will remain the same as long as the monetary system prevails and a few powerful nations and financial interests maintain control over and consume most of the world’s resources. In Jacque Fresco’s book The Best That Money Can’t Buy, he explains “If we really wish to put an end to our ongoing international and social problems, we must ultimately declare Earth and all of its resources as the common heritage of all of the world’s people. Anything less will result in the same catalogue of problems we have today.”
DA: One of the more interesting aspects of The Venus Project vision is itsfuturistic design. Have you been approached by companies or governments interested in using The Venus Project as a model? Doyou foresee experiments insmarturban design that mirrorJacque Fresco’sthinking?
RM: No company or government, as yet, has approached The Venus Project to initiate a model of our city design, but we feel the greatest need is in using our designs to usher in a holistic socio-economic alternative, not just our architectural approach itself. As Jacque very often mentions, “Technology is just so much junk, unless it’s used to elevate all people.”
We would like to build the first circular city devoted to developing up-to-date global resource management, and a holistic method for social operation toward global unification. The city would showcase this optimistic vision, allowing people to see firsthand what kind of future could be built if we were to mobilize science and technology for social betterment.
I have not seen what is called smart urban design mirror Jacque Fresco’s thinking. I see smart cities as mainly applying technology to existing and new but chaotically designed, energy- and resource-intensive cities without offering a comprehensive social direction or identifying the root causes of our current problems. Our technology is racing forward but our social designs are hundreds of years old. We can’t continue to design and maintain these resource- and energy-draining cities and ever consider being able to provide for the needs of all people to ensure that they have high-quality housing, food, medical care and education. Smart cities within a terribly dysfunctional social structure seem contradictory to me.
DA: My understanding is that technological automation forms the basis for The Venus Project. Given ongoing breakthroughs inartificial intelligenceand robotics, do you imagine that we are moving closer to this vision?
RM: Our technological capacity to initiate The Venus Project is available now, but how we use artificial intelligence today is very often for destructive purposes through weaponry, surveillance, and the competitive edge for industry, often resulting in technological unemployment. In the society we are proposing, nothing is to be gained from these behaviors because there is no vested interest. In our project, we advocate concentrating on solving problems that threaten all of us— climate change, pollution, disease, hunger, war, territorial disputes, and the like. What The Venus Project offers is a method of updating the design of our society so that everyone can benefit from all the amenities that a highly advanced technologically-developed society can provide.
DA: I know The Venus Project is envisioned as a post-capitalist and post-scarcity economy. Could you explain what you mean byresource-based economics?
RM: Money is an interference factor between what we want and what we are able to acquire. It limits our dreams and capabilities and our individual and societal possibilities. Today we don’t have enough money to house everyone on the planet, but we do still have enough resources to accomplish that and much more if we use our resources intelligently to conserve energy and reduce waste. This is why we advocate a Resource Based Economy. This socio-economic system provides an equitable distribution of resources in an efficient manner without the use of money, barter, credit or servitude of any kind. Goods and services are accessible to all, without charge. You could liken this to the public library where one might check out many books and then return them when they are finished. This can be done with anything that is not used on a daily basis. In a society where goods and services are made available to the entire population free of charge, ownership becomes a burden that is ultimately surpassed by a system of common property.
When we use our technology to produce abundance, goods become too cheap to monetize. There is only a price on things that are scarce. For instance, air is a necessity but we don’t monitor or charge for the amount of breaths we can take. Air is abundant. If apple trees grew everywhere and were abundant you couldn’t sell apples. If all the money disappeared, as long as we have the technical personnel, automated processes, topsoil, resources, factories and distribution we could still build and develop anything we need.
DA: I know that thescientific methodforms the basis for decision making and resource management within your project. Could you explain how this approach is applied to social behavior? For example, what is the role of politics in The Venus Project?
RM: Today, for the most part, politicians serve the interest of those in positions of wealth and power; they are not there to change things, but instead to keep things as they are. With regard to the management of human affairs, what do they really know? Our problems are mostly technical. When you examine the vocations of politicians and ask what backgrounds they have to solve the pressing problems of today, they fall far short. For instance, are they trained in finding solutions to eliminating war, preventing climate change, developing clean sources of energy, maintaining higher yields of nutritious, non-contaminating food per acre or anything pertaining to the wellbeing of people and the protection of the environment? This is not their area of expertise. Then what are they doing in those positions?
The role for politics within the scientific and technologically organized society that The Venus Project proposes would be surpassed by engineered systems. It is not ethical people in government that we need but equal access to the necessities of life and those working toward the elimination of scarcity. We would use scientific scales of performance for measurement and allocation of resources so that human biases are left out of the equation. Within The Venus Project’s safe, energy-efficient cities, there would be interdisciplinary teams of knowledgeable people in different fields accompanied by cybernated systems that use “sensors” to monitor all aspects of society in order to provide real-time information supporting decision-making for the wellbeing of all people and the protection of the environment.
DA: In your view, is abundance simply a function of technological innovation? I mean, assuming we get the technology right, do you believe that we could eventually eliminate poverty and crime altogether?
RM: Yes, if we apply our scientists and technical personnel to work towards those ends. We have never mobilized many scientific disciplines giving them the problem of creating a society to end war, produce safe, clean transportation, eliminate booms and busts, poverty, homelessness, hunger, crime and aberrant behavior. For instance, one does not need to make laws to try and eliminate stealing, when all goods and services are available without a price tag. But scientists have not been asked to design a total systems approach to city design, let alone to planetary planning. Scientist have not been given the problem to develop and apply a total holistic effort using the methods of science, technology and resource management to serve all people equitably in the development of a safe and sustainable global society. Unfortunately, only in times of war, do we see resources allocated and scientists mobilized in this way.
DA: I assume schooling and education are important to Jacque’s vision. How might schools and universities differ from the way they are designed today?
RM: The education and values we are given seem to always support the established system we are raised in. We are not born with bigotry, envy, or hatred – we do pick them up from our schools and culture. In fact, even our facial expressions, the words we use, notions of good and bad, right and wrong, are all culture bound. A healthy brain can, in fact, simply become a Nazi faster in a Nazi society. It has no way of knowing what is significant or not, that is all learned by experience and background. The manipulation is so subtle that we feel our values come from within. Most often we don’t know whom our values are really serving.
Yes, education will differ considerably from that of today. As Fresco explains in his book The Best That Money Can’t Buy “The subjects studied will be related to the direction and needs of this new evolving culture. Students will be made aware of the symbiotic relationship between people, technology, and the environment.”
DA: I can only assume that critics routinely dismiss The Venus Project as a kind of hopeful utopia. How do you respond to that criticism?
RM: Critics very often reject or dismiss new ideas. What is utopian thinking is to believe that the system we are living under today will enable us to achieve sustainability, equality or a high standard of living for all when it is our system which generates these very problems in the first place. If we continue as we are, it seems to me that we are destined for calamity. The Venus Project is not offering a fixed notion as to how society should be. There are no final frontiers. It does offer a way out of our dilemmas to help initiate a next step in our social evolution.
Many are working at going to other planets to escape the problems on this one, but we would be taking our detrimental value systems with us. We are saying that we have to tackle the problems we face here on the most habitable planet we know of. We will have to apply methodologies to enable us to live together in accordance with the carrying capacity of Earth’s resources, eliminate artificial boundaries, share resources and learn to relate to one another and the environment.
What we have to ask is, what kind of world do we want to live in?
DA: My last question is about the challenges ahead. Rather than taking the necessary steps to reverseclimate change, we seem to be accelerating our pollution of the Earth. Socially, we are witnessing a renewed focus on nativism and fear. How might thevaluesof The Venus Project manage against these negative tendencies in human beings?
RM: The notion of negative tendencies in human beings or that we possess a certain “human nature” is a scapegoat to keep things as they are. It’s implying that we are born with a fixed set of views regarding our action patterns. Human behavior is always changing, but there is no “human nature,” per se. Determining the conditions that generate certain behaviors is what needs to be understood.
As Jacque elaborates, “We are just as lawful as anything else in nature. What appears to be overlooked is the influence of culture upon our values, behavior, and our outlook. It is like studying plants apart from the fact that they consume radiant energy, nutrients, require water, carbon dioxide, gravity, nitrogen, etc. Plants do not grow of their own accord, neither do humans values and behavior.”
All social improvement, from the airplane to clean sources of energy undergoes change, but our social systems remain mostly static. The history of civilization is experimentation and modification. The Free Enterprise System was an important experiment and tremendous step along the way that generated innovation throughout our society. What we now advocate is to continue the process of social experimentation, as this system has long outlived its usefulness and simply cannot address the monumental problems it is facing today. We desperately need to update our social designs to correspond with our technological ability to create abundance for all. This could be the most exciting and fulfilling experiment we as a species could ever take on; working together cooperatively to deal with our most pressing problems which confront us all and finding solutions to them unencumbered with the artificial limitations we impose upon ourselves.
Daniel Araya is a researcher and advisor to government with a special interest in education, technological innovation and public policy. His newest books include: Augmented Intelligence (2016), Smart Cities as Democratic Ecologies (2015), and Rethinking US Education Policy (2014). He has a doctorate from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and is an alumnus of Singularity University’s graduate program in Silicon Valley. He can be found here:www.danielaraya.com and here: @danielarayaXY.
Today, people’s bodies are more perfectly melded with technology than we could have imagined mere decades ago. Superhuman strength, dexterity, and senses are no longer science-fiction — they’re already here.
Though cutting-edge technology offers us a glimpse into the capabilities of enhanced humans in the future, it’s most useful these days as support for people who have been affected by a disability. Cyborg technology can replace missing limbs, organs, and bodily senses. Sometimes, it can even enhance the body’s typical function.
Here are six of the most striking examples of this cyborg present. They show us how far we have already come, and how far we could go in the future.
Activist and artist Neil Harbisson was born without the ability to see color. In 2004, he decided to change that. He mounted an electronic antenna to the lower back of his skull that turns frequencies of light into vibrations his brain interprets as sound, allowing him to “hear color.” These frequencies are even able to go beyond the visual spectrum, allowing him to “hear” invisible frequencies such as infrared and ultraviolet.
“There is no difference between the software and my brain, or my antenna and any other body part. Being united to cybernetics makes me feel that I am technology,” he said in a National Geographic interview.
His body modification was not always well-accepted: the British government took issue when the antenna showed up in Harbisson’s passport photo. Harbisson fought the government to keep it in. He won, becoming the first “legally recognized” cyborg.
The LUKE Arm (named after Luke Sywalker) is a highly advanced prosthetic that lends the wearer a sense of touch. A specialized motor can provide feedback to mimic the resistance offered by various physical objects — users can feel that a pillow offers less resistance than a brick. With the help of funding from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the finished design received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval in 2014.
Electronic sensors receive signals from the wearer’s muscles that the device then translates into physical movement. The wearer can manipulate multiple joints at once through switches that can be controlled with his or her feet. The first commercially available LUKE arm became available to a small group of military amputees in late 2016. Amputees can now buy the prosthetic through their physicians, but the device is rumored to cost around $100,000.
In his 20s, Jens Naumann was involved in two separate accidents that shot metal shards into his eyes, causing him to lose his vision. In 2002, at the age of 37, Naumann participated in a clinical trial performed at the Lisbon-based Dobelle Institute in which a television camera was connected straight to his brain, bypassing his faulty eyes. Dots of light combined to form shapes and outlines of the world around him, giving him “this kind of dot matrix-type vision.” The system enabled him to see Christmas lights outlining his home in Canada that year.
Unfortunately, the system failed only after a couple of weeks. And when William Dobelle, the original inventor of the technology, passed away in 2004, he left behind almost no documentation, leaving technicians no instructions for how to repair Naumann’s system. In 2010, Naumann had the system surgically removed, rendering him completely blind once again.
The mindcontrolled bionic leg was first used in 2012 by Zac Vawter, a software engineer from Seattle whose leg was amputated above the knee in 2009. The technology that translates brain signals into physical movement, called Targeted Muscle Reinnvervation (TMR), was first created in 2003 for upper-limb prosthetics. But Vawter’s prosthetic was revolutionary because it was the first leg prosthetic use it.
In 2012, Zac Vawter climbed the 2,100 steps of the Willis Tower in Chicago, with the help of his prosthetic leg. It took him 53 minutes and nine seconds.
Prosthetics company bebionic has created some of the most sophisticated prosthetic hands to date. Individual motors move every joint along every digit independently. To help with everyday use, the bebionic has 14 pre-determined grip patterns. Highly sensitive motors vary the speed and force of the grip in real-time — it’s delicate enough for the user to hold an egg between his or her index finger and thumb, and robust enough to hold up to 45 kilograms (99 pounds).
The bebionic hand has been available commercially since 2010. Models released in the years since have improved its battery life, flexibility, and software.
The camera can record up to 30 minutes of footage before depleting the battery. Spence used footage captured by his eye prosthetic in a documentary called Deus Ex: The Eyeborg Documentary.
If tech experts are to be believed, artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to transform the world. But those same experts don’t agree on what kind of effect that transformation will have on the average person. Some believe that humans will be much better off in the hands of advanced AI systems, while others think it will lead to our inevitable downfall.
How could a single technology evoke such vastly different responses from people within the tech community?
Artificial intelligence is software built to learn or problem solve — processes typically performed in the human brain. Digital assistants like Amazon’s Alexa and Apple’s Siri , along with Tesla’s Autopilot, are all powered by AI. Some forms of AI can even create visual art or write songs.
There’s little question that AI has the potential to be revolutionary. Automation could transform the way we work by replacing humans with machines and software. Further developments in the area of self-driving cars are poised to make driving a thing of the past. Artificially intelligent shopping assistants could even change the way we shop. Humans have always controlled these aspects of our lives, so it makes sense to be a bit wary of letting an artificial system take over.
Image credit: Silver Blue/Flickr
The Lay Of The Land
AI is fast becoming a major economic force. According to a paper from the McKinsey Global Institute Study reported by Forbes, in 2016 alone, between $8 billion and $12 billion was invested in the development of AI worldwide. A report from analysts with Goldstein Research predicts that, by 2023, AI will be a $14 billion industry.
KR Sanjiv, chief technology officer at Wipro, believes that companies in fields as disparate as healthcare and finance are investing so much in AI so quickly because they fear being left behind. “So as with all things strange and new, the prevailing wisdom is that the risk of being left behind is far greater, and far grimmer, than the benefits of playing it safe,” he wrote in an op-ed published in Tech Crunch last year.
Games provide a useful window into the increasing sophistication of AI. Case in point, developers such as Google’s DeepMind and Elon Musk’s OpenAIhave been using games to teach AI systems how to learn. So far, these systems have bested the world’s greatest players of the ancient strategy game Go, and even more complex games like Super Smash Bros and DOTA 2.
On the surface, these victories may sound incremental and minor — AI that can play Go can’t navigate a self-driving car, after all. But on a deeper level, these developments are indicative of the more sophisticated AI systems of the future. Through these games, AI become capable of complex decision-making that could one day translate into real-world tasks. Software that can play infinitely complex games like Starcraft, could, with a lot more research and development, autonomously perform surgeriesor process multi-step voice commands.
When this happens, AI will become incredibly sophisticated. And this is where the worrying starts.
AI Anxiety
Wariness surrounding powerful technological advances is not novel. Various science fiction stories, from The Matrix to I, Robot, have exploited viewers’ anxiety around AI. Many such plots center around a concept called “the Singularity,” the moment in which AIs become more intelligent than their human creators. The scenarios differ, but they often end with the total eradication of the human race, or with machine overlords subjugating people.
Several world-renowned sciences and tech experts have been vocal about their fears of AI. Theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking famously worries that advanced AI will take over the world and end the human race. If robots become smarter than humans, his logic goes, the machines would be able to create unimaginable weapons and manipulate human leaders with ease. “It would take off on its own, and redesign itself at an ever-increasing rate,” he told the BBC in 2014. “Humans, who are limited by slow biological evolution, couldn’t compete, and would be superseded.”
Elon Musk, the futurist CEO of ventures such as Tesla and SpaceX, echoes those sentiments, calling AI “…a fundamental risk to the existence of human civilization,” at the 2017 National Governors Association Summer Meeting.
Neither Musk nor Hawking believe that developers should avoid the development of AI, but they agree that government regulation should ensure the tech does not go rogue. “Normally, the way regulations are set up is a whole bunch of bad things happen, there’s a public outcry, and after many years, a regulatory agency is set up to regulate that industry,” Musk said during the same NGA talk. “it takes forever. That, in the past, has been bad, but not something which represented a fundamental risk to the existence of civilization.”
Hawking believes that a global governing body needs to regulate the development of AI to prevent a particular nation from becoming superior. Russian President Vladimir Putin recently stoked this fear at a meeting with Russian students in early September, when he said, “The one who becomes the leader in this sphere will be the ruler of the world.” These comments further emboldened Musk’s position — he tweeted that the race for AI superiority is the “most likely cause of WW3.”
Musk has taken steps to combat this perceived threat. He, along with startup guru Sam Altman, co-foundedthe non-profit OpenAI in order to guide AI development towards innovations that benefit all of humanity. According to the company’s mission statement: “By being at the forefront of the field, we can influence the conditions under which AGI is created.”Musk also founded a company called Neuralink intended to create a brain-computer interface. Linking the brain to a computer would, in theory, augment the brain’s processing power to keep pace with AI systems.
Other predictions are less optimistic. Seth Shostak, the senior astronomer at SETI believes that AI will succeed humans as the most intelligent entities on the planet. “The first generation [of AI] is just going to do what you tell them; however, by the third generation, then they will have their own agenda,” Shostak said in an interview with Futurism.
However, Shostak doesn’t believe sophisticated AI will end up enslaving the human race — instead, he predicts, humans will simply become immaterial to these hyper-intelligent machines. Shostak thinks that these machines will exist on an intellectual plane so far above humans that, at worst, we will be nothing more than a tolerable nuisance.
Image source: Max Pixel
Fear Not
Not everyone believes the rise of AI will be detrimental to humans; some are convinced that the technology has the potential to make our lives better. “The so-called control problem that Elon is worried about isn’t something that people should feel is imminent. We shouldn’t panic about it,” Microsoft founder and philanthropist Bill Gates recently told the Wall Street Journal. Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg went even further during a Facebook Live broadcast back in July, sayingthat Musk’s comments were “pretty irresponsible.” Zuckerberg is optimistic about what AI will enable us to accomplish and thinks that these unsubstantiated doomsday scenarios are nothing more than fear-mongering.
Some experts predict that AI could enhance our humanity. In 2010, Swiss neuroscientist Pascal Kaufmann founded Starmind, a company that plans to use self-learning algorithms to create a “superorganism” made of thousands of experts’ brains. “A lot of AI alarmists do not actually work in AI. [Their] fear goes back to that incorrect correlation between how computers work and how the brain functions,” Kaufmann told Futurism.
Kaufmann believes that this basic lack of understanding leads to predictions that may make good movies, but do not say anything about our future reality. “When we start comparing how the brain works to how computers work, we immediately go off track in tackling the principles of the brain,” he said. “We must first understand the concepts of how the brain works and then we can apply that knowledge to AI development.” Better understanding of our own brains would not only lead to AI sophisticated enough to rival human intelligence, but also to better brain-computer interfaces to enable a dialogue between the two.
To Kaufmann, AI, like many technological advances that came before, isn’t without risk. “There are dangers which come with the creation of such powerful and omniscient technology, just as there are dangers with anything that is powerful. This does not mean we should assume the worst and make potentially detrimental decisions now based on that fear,” he said.
Experts expressed similar concerns about quantum computers, and about lasers and nuclear weapons—applications for that technology can be both harmful and helpful.
Definite Disrupter
Predicting the future is a delicate game. We can only rely on our predictions of what we already have, and yet it’s impossible to rule anything out.
We don’t yet know whether AI will usher in a golden age of human existence, or if it will all end in the destruction of everything humans cherish. What is clear, though, is that thanks to AI, the world of the future could bear little resemblance to the one we inhabit today.
When we get home after an exhausting day at the office, most of the time we don’t feel like cooking a proper meal. Instead of cooking something healthy, most of us just fall down on the couch and order a pizza. Or maybe we opt for the quicker and easier option of ready-made meals that are usually unhealthy and lacking in nutrition.
But that may change soon. Your dream of getting home-cooked food at the end of a long working day could become a reality.
Credit goes to Moley Robotics, a company headquartered in London. Moley will soon be launching the world’s first fully automated and integrated intelligent cooking robot. With this robot chef, making dinner will become as easy as sitting back and watching a pair of robotic arms do all the work.
Moley claims that this cooking robot will have access to the recipes and knowledge of renowned chefs. Furthermore, this wonder robot will not only be cooking for you, but it will clean up the mess afterward.
This robotic chef’s work space will be much like a standard kitchen. It will have an oven, a fridge, a dishwasher and a host of small appliances, but will offer one incredible new feature: It will also have two remarkably dexterous robotic arms installed atop a cooking area.
The robot chef is programmed to cook a variety of recipes exactly the way they were demonstrated by a human chef. The best part is that the kitchen can be operated by a touch screen or a remotely via a smartphone.
Nidhi Goyal
Nidhi is a gold medalist Post Graduate in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences. You can also find Nidhi on Google+.
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24-08-2017
This House Was 3D Printed in Less Than 24 Hours
This House Was 3D Printed in Less Than 24 Hours
By Kacey Deamer, Staff Writer
The first demonstration of the 3D printing technology is a cozy, 400-square-foot (37 square meters) home with an unusual, curved shape.
Credit: Apis Cor
A new house has been erected in a town outside Moscow, but this home was not built in the traditional sense — it was constructed with 3D printing.
The first 3D-printed residential home, engineered by the tech startup Apis Cor, took less than a day to construct and cost under $11,000 to complete. A mobile 3D printer created the building's concrete walls and partitions as a fully connected structure, rather than printing the building in panels at an off-site facility as is usually done, the company said. The portable machine was then removed from the building, and a group of contractors completed the home — adding the roof and windows, and finishing the interior.
"We want to help people around the world to improve their living conditions," Nikita Chen-yun-tai, Apis Cor's founder and inventor of the mobile printer, said on the company's website. "That's why the construction process needs to become fast, efficient and high-quality as well. For this to happen, we need to delegate all the hard work to smart machines."
The first example of this work is a cozy, 400-square-foot (37 square meters) home with an unusual, curved shape. The curved design of the home was chosen to demonstrate the 3D printer's ability to print the construction material in any shape, according to Apis Cor.
Inside, the 3D-printed home has all of the standard features of a traditionally built house. The studio-style dwelling has a hall, bathroom, living room and compact kitchen. Apis Cor partnered with Samsung on the demonstration house; the electronics giant provided the home's appliances, including a TV with the same curvature as the living-room wall.
Apis Cor estimated that the total cost of the demonstration house's construction was about $25 per square foot, or $275 per square meter. Of the total $10,134 it cost to build the home, the windows and doors were the most expensive components, the company said.
While the total construction savings of the demonstation house compared to a tranditional home are difficult to estimate, Apis Cor representatives said in a statement that savings from 3D printing the building walls are guaranteed.
The Ocumetics Bionic Lens essentially replaces a person's natural eye lens, given them the ability to see three times better than 20/20 vision. Though not yet available to the public, human trials are expected to begin on the lenses in July 2017.
A CLEAR PROBLEM
Most of us take our vision for granted. As a result, we take the ability to read, write, drive, and complete a multitude of other tasks for granted. However, unfortunately, sight is not so easy for everyone.
Cataracts account for about a third of these. The National Eye Institute reports that more than half of all Americans will have cataracts or will have had cataract surgery by the time they are 80, and in low- and middle-income countries, they’re the leading cause of blindness.
But now, people with vision problems may have new hope.
A WELCOME SIGHT
Soon, cataracts may be the thing of the past, and even better, it may be possible to see a staggering three times better than 20/20 vision. Oh, and you could do it all without wearing glasses or contacts.
So what exactly does having three times better vision mean? If you can currently read a text that is 10 feet away, you would be able to read the same text from 30 feet away. What’s more, people who currently can’t see properly might be able to see a lot better than the average person.
This development comes thanks to the Ocumetics Bionic Lens. This dynamic lens essentially replaces a person’s natural eye lens. It’s placed into the eye via a saline-filled syringe, after which it unravels itself in under 10 seconds.
It may sound painful, but Dr. Garth Webb, the optometrist who invented the Ocumetics Bionic Lens, says that the procedure is identical to cataract surgery and would take just about eight minutes. He adds that people who have the specialized lenses surgically inserted would never get cataracts and that the lenses feel natural and won’t cause headaches or eyestrain.
The Bionic Lens may sound like a fairy tale (or sci-fi dream), but it’s not. It is actually the end result of years and years of research and more than a little funding — so far, the lens has taken nearly a decade to develop and has cost US$3 million.
There is still some ways to go before you will be able to buy them, but if the timeline Webb offered in an interview with Eye Design Optometry holds up, human studies will begin in July 2017, and the bionic lenses will be available to the public in March 2018.
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18-08-2017
Infinite Solar Power Technology Could Completely Change Our Future
Infinite Solar Power Technology Could Completely Change Our Future
Land Art Generator Initiative
IN BRIEF
According to an energy expert, the proliferation of solar energy is going to allow for cheap and effectively infinite energy, with prices plummeting to as little as a penny per kW.
Solar energy is slowly being integrated into major infrastructure projects, which will only help speed it along the path to energy dominance.
THE SUN GOES UP, AND OIL GOES DOWN
Last 2016, solar power saw a resurgence — from cheaper solar panels to innovative roofing for houses and cars, to solar powered roads, and even to powering an entire island. It seems we have entered a new age in solar energy. Well, it doesn’t end there. In the years to come, we may see the rise of solar power, according to Thierry Lepercq, French energy company Engie SA’s head of research, technology, and innovation.
“The promise of quasi-infinite and free energy is here,” Lepercq declares, in an interview with Bloomberg. His arguments aren’t based on any environmental concern. Rather, he takes the perspective of price.
“Solar, battery storage, electrical and hydrogen vehicles, and connected devices are in a ‘J’ curve,” Lepercq said. “Hydrogen is the missing link in a 100 percent renewable-energy system, but technological bricks already exist.” Lepercq believes that the price of solar power will probably fall below $10 per megawatt-hour (roughly 1¢/kWh) in the world’s sunniest places.
As a consequence of the rise of renewables, oil prices are expected to plummet. “Even if oil demand continues to climb until 2025, its price could drop to $10 if markets anticipate a significant fall in demand,” he said.
“As carmakers offer more electrical vehicles with a range exceeding 500 kilometers, charging stations being progressively deployed and more cities banning gasoline and diesel cars, a shift will progressively take place,” Lepercq added.
Indeed, gone are the days when people viewed renewable energy sources as too expensive. Instead, we are moving away from conventional coal-based sources, which could even be more expensive in the future.
SOLAR POWER SHINES
Lepercq isn’t alone in seeing the price potential of renewables, particularly solar energy. The World Economic Forum (WEF) recently published a report showing how solar power now costs cheaper than fossil fuels.
[R]enewable energy technology, especially solar and wind, has made exponential gains in efficiency in recent years, enough to achieve economic competitiveness and, in an increasing number of cases, grid parity. For instance, the unsubsidized, levellized cost of electricity (LCOE) for utility scale solar photovoltaic, which was highly uncompetitive only five years ago, has declined at a 20% compounded annual rate, making it not only viable but also more attractive than coal in a wide range of countries.
This is all because, as mentioned above, we have seen an increased use of solar energy. Innovations thrived. Nations and private corporations were both in on it, too. We are seeing the construction of large-scale solar energy infrastructure.
As a fan of Back to the Future and Doc Brown’s DeLorean time machine as well as someone who still stops and stares longingly when a brushed stainless steel DeLorean DMC-12 drives by, this is the kind of news that makes one want to yell “Great Scott!”. The nephew of the famous car guru John DeLorean announced that the DeLorean Aerospcae DR-7 – a real flying car using the same kind of futuristic technology that went into the DMC-12 – is just months away from traveling the skies … and perhaps time? Where does the line start?
Paul DeLorean is the CEO and chief designer of DeLorean Aerospace, a company in Laguna Beach, California, with a mission John DeLorean and Doc Brown would both be proud of:
To bring the freedom and exhilaration of personal air transportation to the masses. With superior design and engineering, our advanced architecture provides a practical, elegant, and extremely safe alternative to conventional aircraft, with the convenience of airport-free access.
Credit: DeLorean Aerospace
DeLorean’s biggest asset is his DNA. His uncle John started at the Packard Motor Company but became famous at General Motors, where he designed the Pontiac GTO muscle car, the Pontiac Firebird, Pontiac Grand Prix and (proving he was human) the Chevrolet Vega subcompact. Then he became infamous by starting his own car company to make the gull-winged DMC-12. John’s father and Paul’s grandfather, Zachary DeLorean, emigrated to the United States from Romania and eventually worked at the Ford Motor Company factory in Highland Park, Michigan, where he was also a union organizer. Needless to say, transmission fluid is in Paul DeLorean’s blood.
DeLorean Aerospace was founded in 2012 to build a flying car or, in somewhat Doc Brown-ish technical terms, a two-seat vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) personal air transport vehicle. Accrdoing to the website, the DR-7 combines a “zero-emission modern electric power system with a lightweight yet highly stable platform” and will contain a wide variety of futuristic innovations. Not to mention good looks, or as Doc Brown might say, “The way I see it, if you’re gonna build a ‘flying’ machine into a car, why not do it with some style?”
The DR-7 has been designed with a number of unique technologies for improved safety and overall functionality. With an industry-first centerline twin vectoring propulsion system, stall-resistant canard wing, and multiple patent-pending features, our aircraft is intrinsically safer. With an incredibly low drag coefficient, the DR-7 maximizes range under fully electric power.
The DR-7 will be 20 feet (6 meters) long and 18.5 feet (5.5 meters) wide with wings that fold in so it can be parked in a large garage. A one-third scale model has already been built and DeLorean is now working on a full-sized, fully-functional prototype that he claims will have a range of 120 miles per charge and be ready within a year.
At DeLorean Aerospace, we are actualizing the dream of practical and accessible air mobility with our DR-7 aircraft.
As Marty McFly would say … “Whoa!” All that’s left to answer is when and how much. The prototype is expected to be flying sometime in 2018. And the price? For now, you’ll need Doc Brown’s DeLorean to find that out.
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- Gemiddelde waardering: 0/5 - (0 Stemmen) Categorie:SF-snufjes }, Robotics and A.I. Artificiel Intelligence ( E, F en NL )
14-08-2017
Computers Made of Genetic Material Will Revolutionize Our World
Computers Made of Genetic Material Will Revolutionize Our World
Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres
IN BRIEF
Researchers have been able to create tiny structures for conducting electricity by using DNA and gold plating.
This new nanostructure could be the foundation of future electronics as soon as improvements are made on this breakthrough development.
GOLD AND DNA
Nanostructures made using DNA origami are fascinating. The ability to use DNA as a construction material, capable of holding scaffolds of molecules and atoms was one huge step in developing modern nanostrutures. Most recent of these developments are gold-plated nanowires constructed by scientists from the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) and from Paderborn University, which independently assembled themselves from single DNA strands, as published in the journal Langmuir.
These nanowires, due to their gold-plating, were able to conduct electricity. “Our measurements have shown that an electrical current is conducted through these tiny wires,” explains Artur Erbe of the Institute of Ion Beam Physics and Materials Research. The nano-sized structures were connected by two electrical contacts.
Even more fascinating is how these were made using modified DNA strands — stable double strands combined through their base pairs, from long single strands of genetic material and DNA segments. These allowed for the structures to independently take on their desired forms, complex structures developed by molecules through a self-assembling processes.
FROM THE BOTTOM-UP
“With the help of this approach, which resembles the Japanese paper folding technique origami and is therefore referred to as DNA-origami, we can create tiny patterns. Extremely small circuits made of molecules and atoms are also conceivable here,” says Erbe.
Usually, developing nano circuits use what is known as the “top-down” method, where the base material is chiseled until the desired structure is formed. This will become increasingly difficult as electronics continue miniaturization. The new “bottom-up” method changes how these electronic components are usually made.
Credits: B. Teschome, A. Erbe, et al.
There is one problem, though. “Genetic matter doesn’t conduct a current particularly well,” Erbe points out, which explains why the nanowires were gold-plated. But even with this, there was still difficulty with conducting current at room temperatures. Better melding of conductive materials need to be further developed, plus the option of using cheaper, more standard wire coating than gold.
Still, the research is promising. This nanowire that’s made partially out of genetic material could be the future of electronics. Smaller wires allow for more compact designs, which together with smaller transistors, can be used to make more powerful computers.
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- Gemiddelde waardering: 0/5 - (0 Stemmen) Categorie:SF-snufjes }, Robotics and A.I. Artificiel Intelligence ( E, F en NL )
13-08-2017
Een printer waar levende wezens uitrollen: het begin is er...
Een printer waar levende wezens uitrollen: het begin is er...
Caroline Kraaijvanger
Een Amerikaanse onderzoeker heeft een apparaat ontwikkeld dat DNA, RNA, eiwitten en viruspartikels kan printen.
Het apparaat heeft de naam Digital-to-Biological Converter (kortweg DBC) gekregen en is ontwikkeld door de onderzoeksgroep van Craig Venter. Misschien gaat er bij het horen van die naam niet direct een belletje rinkelen. Maar binnen de synthetische biologie wordt de man gezien als een pionier. Hij verbaasde in 2000 vriend en vijand door met weinig mankracht in korte tijd het complete menselijke genoom in kaart te brengen. En in 2010 wist hij alle kranten te halen door – naar eigen zeggen – voor het eerst kunstmatig leven te creëren (zie kader). Een paar jaar later – in 2016 – presenteerde hij een uitgeklede versie van diezelfde synthetische levensvorm die enkel de genen herbergde die deze nodig had om te overleven (en dat waren er – verbazingwekkend genoeg – 437, veel meer dan vooraf werd gedacht).
SYNTHETISCH LEVEN
In 2010 creëerde Venter een volledig synthetisch genoom en plaatste dat vervolgens in een levende cel. Velen – waaronder Venter zelf – bestempelden het resulterende organisme als ’s werelds eerste synthetische levensvorm. Daar valt echter wel iets op af te dingen. Want dit organisme was niet vanuit het niets gecreëerd: Venter maakte immers alsnog gebruik van een bestaande, levende cel.
DBC En nu laat Venter dus weer van zich horen. En wel met de DBC. “Allerlei methoden die in het moleculair biologisch lab gebruikt worden, worden in dit apparaat geautomatiseerd,” vertelt professor Oscar Kuipers, als moleculair microbioloog verbonden aan de Universiteit van Groningen.
Van bits naar eiwitten Maar hoe werkt het apparaat dan precies? “Het begint allemaal met digitale informatie, dus bits: nullen en enen,” stelt Kuipers. Die bits beschrijven een DNA-sequentie, oftewel de volgorde van nucleotiden, waarvan adenine (A), Cytosine (C), Guanine (G) en Thymine (T) de meest voorkomende zijn. “Met twee bits kun je elke letter schrijven. A kan bijvoorbeeld 00 zijn. C kan 10 zijn, G kan 01 zijn en T kan 11 zijn.” Zo’n digitale DNA-sequentie kan het apparaat van Venter vervolgens omzetten in een echt DNA-molecuul, dat bestaat uit twee ketens van duizenden aan elkaar gekoppelde nucleotiden. “Deze DNA-syntheses (de kunstmatig gecreëerde DNA-moleculen, red.) bestaan bijvoorbeeld uit een paar duizend letters. Die kortere stukken DNA kunnen echter aan elkaar gekoppeld worden, zodat grotere stukken DNA ontstaan. En uiteindelijk kun je zo een compleet chromosoom maken.” Zo heeft Venter al aangetoond dat hij het chromosoom van een faag – een klein virus dat alleen een specifieke bacterie infecteert en uit een paar duizend basenparen bestaat – kan produceren. “Maar je kunt zeker ook grotere DNA-sequenties maken.” Het apparaat gaat echter vervolgens nog een stapje verder. “Als je zo’n stuk DNA hebt, kan het apparaat daar nog enzymen aan toevoegen die het DNA omzetten in RNA-moleculen en die coderen dan voor de eiwitten.” Door vervolgens nog wat andere stoffen – waaronder energiedragers, enzymen en ribosomen – toe te voegen, maakt het apparaat een eiwit. “En dat gebeurt dus allemaal in vitro, dus zonder tussenkomst van levende cellen.”
De Digital-to-Biological Converter. Afbeelding: Nature Biotechnology / doi:10.1038/nbt.3859.
Transformatie-unit Op dit moment kan het apparaat dus DNA-moleculen, RNA-moleculen en eiwitten maken. Daarnaast zit in het apparaat ook een transformatie-unit. Deze transformatie-unit kan het synthetische DNA in een levende cel plaatsen. Het betekent dat het apparaat in staat is om de ‘kunstmatige levensvorm’ die Venter in 2010 presenteerde, te ‘printen’.
Vaccins en medicijnen Het klinkt heel indrukwekkend. Maar wat kunnen we nu eigenlijk met dit apparaat? Venter ziet grote mogelijkheden. Hij ziet het apparaat al vaccins, medicijnen, voedsel en zelfs complexere levensvormen op misschien wel andere planeten printen. “Het apparaat kan onder meer RNA-moleculen maken en die worden weer gebruikt om vaccins van te maken,” vertelt Kuipers. Er liggen plannen om de DBC kleiner en mogelijk zelfs draagbaar te maken. Het zou kunnen betekenen dat vaccins straks op elke plek gemaakt kunnen worden. Hetzelfde geldt voor sommige medicijnen. “Stel je voor dat je in het regenwoud zit en je loopt een infectie op. Het apparaat kan dan de ziekteverwekker sequencen en daarmee identificeren. Dan kan een arts op afstand het apparaat opdracht geven om een geschikt antibioticum te printen.” Het klinkt misschien te mooi om waar te zijn. “Maar het is zeker niet onmogelijk, want een antibioticum kan een eiwitje of een complexe organische verbinding zijn en zolang je de juiste moleculaire bouwstenen en enzymen hebt, kun je die synthetiseren.”
WIE IS VENTER?
Sommige mensen noemen hem een genie. Anderen zien hem meer als een geslepen zakenman die erin slaagt om – onder meer bij bedrijven – honderden miljoenen dollars los te peuteren voor zijn onderzoek. Kuipers ontmoette Venter een aantal jaren geleden toen Venter de Leeuwenhoek Medaille in ontvangst mocht nemen. “Het is een charismatische man, een visionair, maar tegelijkertijd is hij ook heel zakelijk.” Of hij net als eerdere ontvangers van de Leeuwenhoek Medaille ooit de Nobelprijs in handen gedrukt gaat krijgen? Het zou Kuipers niet verbazen. “Hij heeft misschien geen concrete grote ontdekking gedaan, maar hij heeft wel enorm veel kennis verzameld en die kennis snel gebruikt om onderzoek en synthese te automatiseren. De moleculaire biologie is door hem absoluut in een versnelling geraakt.”
Biologische teleportatie naar Mars Maar Venter droomt groter. Hij ziet het ook wel voor zich dat dit apparaat in de toekomst naar Mars wordt gestuurd om daar micro-organismen te printen die de rode planeet terravormen. Of misschien kunnen we de planeet zelfs wel van een afstandje koloniseren door het genoom van complexere levensvormen – misschien zelfs mensen – naar zo’n apparaat op Mars te sturen. Venter noemt dat ‘biologische teleportatie’. “Het is een beetje Jules Verne-denken,” vindt Kuipers. Want er zitten vanzelfsprekend nogal wat haken en ogen aan dit wilde plan. “Eerst moet je het apparaat daar zien te krijgen en het moet ook daar – bij lage temperaturen en extreme omstandigheden – functioneren. Bovendien heeft Venter nog niet laten zien dat hij zonder tussenkomst van levende cellen een organisme kan printen. Dus dat betekent dat je cellen, al dan niet voorgeprepareerd, mee moet sturen om leven te kunnen ‘printen’.” Kuipers ziet zelf meer in die andere toepassing: snel medicijnen en vaccins printen op de plekken waar dat nu heel lastig is.
Echt nieuw leven printen Biologische teleportatie mag dan ver weg zijn: het maakt Kuipers niet minder enthousiast over de DBC. “Het is heel mooi dat er nu een machine is die van elke sequentie in principe een eiwit kan maken. Natuurlijk zijn er nog wel wat problemen.” Zo is niet elk eiwit dat Venter maakt, functioneel, omdat niet elk eiwit zich direct goed vouwt. “Daarvoor heb je hulp-eiwitten of andere stofjes nodig, maar die kunnen in de toekomst natuurlijk in het apparaat worden toegevoegd. In theorie is dan ook niets onmogelijk. De logische vervolgstap? Met dit apparaat een compleet genoom synthetiseren en in een bacterie plaatsen, zodat een heel nieuwe bacterie ontstaat.” Die nieuwe bacterie kan – in de toekomst wellicht samen met synthetische hogere organismen – ingezet worden om stoffen te produceren die wij mensen nodig hebben. “Denk aan medicijnen of voedsel.” En dat toekomstbeeld is de opmaat naar de heilige graal binnen de synthetische biologie: leven maken from scratch. “Dat is de uitdaging. Van levenloos materiaal – nucleotiden, aminozuren, suikers, vetten, metalen en vitamines – leven maken,” bevestigt Kuipers. “Maar dat is nog ver weg. Dat kan nog wel 20 jaar duren. Maar als het lukt, kunnen we ook dat proces waarbij uit moleculen cellen worden gemaakt, automatiseren.”
Venter mag dan zo langzamerhand uitgegroeid zijn tot het gezicht van de synthetische biologie: hij is bij lange na niet de enige die in dit onderzoeksveld actief is. Talloze onderzoeksgroepen wereldwijd proberen nieuwe moleculen en stofwisselingsprocessen in bacteriën te brengen of zelfs vanuit niets een micro-organisme te scheppen. En het lijkt een kwestie van tijd voor zij met semi-synthetische levensvormen op de proppen komen die de wereld gaan veranderen. “Ik denk dat de impact van dit onderzoeksveld enorm kan zijn. Het is een beetje vergelijkbaar met de impact die de smartphone en de personal computer op de wereld hebben gehad, denk ik.” Alleen zal de synthetische biologie toch het speelveld blijven van de specialisten. “Ik denk niet dat elke burger straks zijn eigen medicijnen print, maar de apotheek op de hoek wel.” Voor het zover is, zullen de ethische bezwaren die er altijd zijn als het gaat om het ‘knutselen met DNA’, nog regelmatig de kop opsteken. Maar ze zullen de opmars van Venter en collega’s hooguit vertragen en zeker niet stoppen. “Elke technologie kan natuurlijk ten goede of ten kwade gebruikt worden,” benadrukt Kuipers. “Maar ik kan veel gevaarlijkere technologieën bedenken dan deze.”
Bronmateriaal:
Interview met Oscar Kuipers De afbeelding van Craig Venter is afkomstig uit het blad PLoS ONE.
This new material is remarkably soft, and it could revolutionize robotics and prosthetics.
Researchers from the Monash University have discovered a new sponge-like material called graphene elastomer. This revolutionary material is expected to be used for robots designed to help take care of elderly people.
The graphene-based elastomer is exteremely sensitive to pressure and vibrations. Also called G-elastomer, the material has the ability to bounce back despite the pressure given to it. It is described to be very soft and elastic compared to other substances such as rubber or foam.
THE POTENTIAL OF G-ELASTOMER
Professor Dan Li and Dr. Ling Qiu from the Monash Center for Atomically Thin Materials (MCATN) were excited the discovery and potential of this material.
“This graphene elastomer is a flexible, ultra-light material which can detect pressures and vibrations across a broad bandwidth of frequencies. It far exceeds the response range of our skin, and it also has a very fast response time, much faster than conventional polymer elastomer.,” explained Dr. Qiu in the press release.
“Although we often take it for granted, the pressure sensors in our skin allow us to do things like hold a cup without dropping it, crushing it, or spilling the contents. The sensitivity and response time of G-elastomer could allow a prosthetic hand or a robot to be even more dexterous than a human, while the flexibility could allow us to create next generation flexible electronic devices,” he added.
Professor Li, the director at MCATN, admitted that they are still in the early stages of studying the full potential of the G-elastomer.
However, he is positive that “this research is an excellent breakthrough. What we do know is that graphene could have a huge impact on Australia’s economy, both from a resources and innovation perspective, and we’re aiming to be at the forefront of that research and development.”
The research can be found in the latest edition of the journal “Advanced Materials”. It is protected by a suite of patents.
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Over mijzelf
Ik ben Pieter, en gebruik soms ook wel de schuilnaam Peter2011.
Ik ben een man en woon in Linter (België) en mijn beroep is Ik ben op rust..
Ik ben geboren op 18/10/1950 en ben nu dus 74 jaar jong.
Mijn hobby's zijn: Ufologie en andere esoterische onderwerpen.
Op deze blog vind je onder artikels, werk van mezelf. Mijn dank gaat ook naar André, Ingrid, Oliver, Paul, Vincent, Georges Filer en MUFON voor de bijdragen voor de verschillende categorieën...
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