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.
Druk op onderstaande knop om te reageren in mijn forum
Zoeken in blog
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.
30-06-2016
3Doodler' Pen Lets You Draw 3D-Printed Creations in Midair
3Doodler' Pen Lets You Draw 3D-Printed Creations in Midair
By Jaclyn Jansen, Live Science Contributor |
The 3Doodler is a standard 3D printer that has been transformed into a pen.
Credit: 3Doodler
It wasn't long ago that the idea of printing something in three dimensions sounded like science fiction. But over the past decade, 3D printers have become widespread and are now used to create everything from decorative baubles to robot parts to medical devices.
Still, using a 3D printer isn't always simple: The machine is frequently housed within a box the size of a microwave, and it requires technical software and, in some cases, a detailed knowledge of design. But now, a company called 3Doodler has transformed the standard 3D printer into a pen, allowing people to draw 3D creations freely in the air — without the need for a computer or any software.
In 2012, Maxwell Bogue and Peter Dilworth, co-founders of 3Doodler along with Daniel Cowen, were trying to come up with the next greatkids' toy. They said they frequently used 3D printers to craft prototypes of their designs, and one night, they spent 14 hours printing a dinosaur leg, only to find that the printer had missed a section, leaving a gap in the model. [Best Educational Toys & Games for Kids]
The two wished they "could just take the nozzle off the 3D printer and fill in the missing gap," Bogue, now CEO of the company, told Live Science. So, the inventors set out to design a product that could do just that.
Bogue and Dilworth took apart a 3D printer and added a computer chipto the nozzle so that they could control the device. When that rudimentary model worked as a proof of concept, the team set out to streamline the design to create a more user-friendly pen, they said.
The first prototypes came straight from a standard 3D printer. "We printed the shells and the casings and everything that's held together," Bogue said.
The inventors of the 3Doodler originally set out to make the next great kids' toy.
Credit: 3Doodler
When it was done, they pulled the hot nozzle off the printer and used it in their pen. Over about eight months, they refined the design, finally producing the first version of the product, Bogue said.
In a lot of ways, the 3Doodler works like a sophisticated hot-glue gun: A heating element melts plastic, and it is extruded out through a nozzle. But glue guns use a hand pump to push the plastic out of the tip, which can make it clump. The challenge with the 3Doodler was to find a way to make the plastic flow steadily and smoothly, so the inventors designed the pen with a motor to propel the plastic filament, they said.
The heater inside the 3Doodler runs about 355 degrees to 460 degrees Fahrenheit (180 to 240 degrees Celsius) to effectively melt the most common plastic filaments (known as PLA and ABS). But at that temperature, the plastic would take a long time to cool, making it impossible to draw in the air, Bogue said. As a result, Bogue and Dilworth added a cooling fan to the 3Doodler, which brings the temperature of the plastic down to about 280 degrees to 300 degrees F (140 to 150 degrees C) when it leaves the pen, and the plastic hardens within seconds, Bogue said. [The 10 Weirdest Things Created By 3D Printing]
The inventors ran a wildly successful Kickstarter campaign to raise money for the project, collecting more than $2.3 million from more than 26,000 backers. The pen is now in its third version, known as the 3Doodler Create, and it has been used for a variety of creations, including artwork, clothing and wallets.
But despite its early success, the initial iterations of the 3Doodler still didn't satisfy Bogue's original mission. "This would be an awesome kids' toy, but it's too hot," Bogue said.
The 3Doodler Create far exceeds the 127-degree F (53 degrees C) maximum temperature allowed for children's products, as set by the EU Toys Safety Directive. So the company teamed up with materials scientists to develop an entirely new type of plastic, and after three years, they created a biodegradable, food-safe plastic that melts at between 113 degrees and 122 degrees Fahrenheit (45 to 50 degrees C). This means that it is safe for kids and can even be used to draw directly on the skin without causing burns, according to the company.
The new pen, known as the 3Doodler Start, is designed for kids ages 8 and older. The rechargeable battery and 16 different colors of filaments make the pen ideal for not just recreational use but also classroom use, the inventors said. In particular, the company is hoping that the new pen will significantly enhance STEM education, Bogue added.
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21-06-2016
Star Trek Tricorder: Medical Device Can Scan DNA, Diagnose Illness
Star Trek Tricorder: Medical Device Can Scan DNA, Diagnose Illness
A newly developed handheld device can scan for disease, which is a feat previously featured only in science fiction.
After nearly a decade of development, a real life "Tricorder" has been developed to scan for sickness and disease.
(Photo : Getty Images)
The "Tricorder," a medical device used on the famed sci-fi space show "Star Trek," has become a real working device, with the ability to scan DNA and detect multiple diseases within the human body, according to Daily Mail.
Jonathan O'Halloran, a 39-year-old inventor who has been working on the device for eight years, believes that the device can conduct complex lab analysis quickly and easily, saving time and money. O'Halloran is the co-founder of QuantuMDx, a company that is working on bringing simple handheld solutions to doctors all over the world.
One of their headlining inventions, the QPOC, mirrors the abilities of the infamous Tricorder.The device can take samples of blood, check for specific diseases and deliver pinpointed analysis in about 10 to 15 minutes.
"Trying to explain a handheld DNA test in the background of everything that's out there at the moment is very tricky," said O'Halloran. "We're trying to get to a point where we can do in-field diagnosis."
Right now, the current models of the QPOC are being handmade in Singapore for around $88, according to The Kernel.
The company is at work to improve the device and make it more cost effective.
Arizona startup Local Motors has just unveiled its electric bus that's 3D printed, and it can talk to its passengers using IBM Watson Internet of Things (IoT) for Automotive.
ALREADY THERE
Self-driving vehicles are the Holy Grail of the transportation technology of the next age. It’s the stuff of science fiction, but it’s coming to life. Big companies like Google, Tesla, General Motors, and even the US Government are accelerating research into the field. But it seems like a small startup beat them to the punch.
The electric vehicle, which can carry up to 12 people, is equipped with IBM Watson Internet of Things (IoT) for Automotive, which is IBM’s car-focused cognitive learning platform.
IBM
The company, unlike others that mix traditional automotive making and self-driving tech, builds the vehicles from the ground up, and produces most components with 3D printers.
The company is able to print a vehicle in about 10 hours and assemble it in another hour. They are also looking at “micro-factories” that could opensource the building of future designs. In fact, the use of 3D printing allows designs based on what individual customers want, and lacks the large infrastructure costs of traditional automakers.
BRAINS OF THE OPERATION
Olli is the first vehicle to utilize the cloud-based cognitive computing capability of IBM Watson IoT to analyze and learn from high volumes of transportation data, which is produced by more than 30 sensors embedded throughout the vehicle.
In fact, IBM Watson will not only allow automated driving, but also interaction with passengers. Passengers will be able to interact conversationally with Olli while traveling from point A to point B, discussing topics about how the vehicle works, where they are going, and why Olli is making specific driving decisions.
“By having authentic conversations with riders about their journey the more they will be connected to technology itself, making them part of the experience rather than an observer. This user experience is the key to making self-driving vehicles a real part of our lives rather than a tech vision of the future”, says Harriet Green, General Manager of IBM Watson Internet of Things in a press release.
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16-06-2016
An Ex-NASA Chief is Making Chips That Use The Same Biological Principles As The Brain
An Ex-NASA Chief is Making Chips That Use The Same Biological Principles As The Brain
Above: KnuEdge founder and former NASA head Daniel Goldin.
Image Credit: KnuEdge
IN BRIEF
Ex-NASA Chief Dan Goldin has revealed his company KnuEdge, which develops neural chips that follow the principles of the human brain and produces voice recognition and authentication technology.
OUT OF THE SHADOWS
After almost 10 years of working incognito, former National Aeronautics and Space Administration head Daniel Goldin is finally ready to formally present KnuEdge to the world.
KnuEdge is a “neural technology innovation company,” an outfit that builds hardware and software based on neural technology, with a main focus on human-machine interaction. While newly revealed publicly, it has been in stealth mode for a decade now, and has already raised $100 million in funding to build its neural chips.
The company has revealed its two primary products: KnuVerse, which is a voice authentication technology, and KnuPath, its state-of-the-art neural chip. It has also unveiled Knurld.io, a software development kit with a cloud-based voice recognition and authentication service.
PRODUCTS
Foremost of these offerings is KnuPath. Its inspiration comes from the inner workings of the brain, much like several products of IBM. Specifically, the chip is built on the same biological principles that the brain uses to get a lot of computing work done with a small amount of power, something called “sparse matrix heterogeneous machine learning algorithms.”
Say that three times fast.
The KnuPath neural chip. Credit: KnuEdge
KnuPath has something called LambdaFabric computing. The chip, KnuEdge’s first model, has 256 cores. Each of the cores could be made to run a different algorithm and run them simultaneously, since the LambdaFabric makes it possible to instantly connect these cores to each other. The LambdaFabric is designed to connect up to 512,000 devices, which gives it an interaction delay of only 400 nanoseconds.
KnuVerse comes from military-grade voice recognition and authentication technology, and hopes to develop the potential of voice interfaces in next-generation computing. It primarily focuses on the biometrics side, the use of the human voice to authenticate computers, mobile/web apps and IoT (Internet-of-Things) devices. Its technology eliminates noise, allowing for use even in extremely loud environments.
Part of the development of voice technologies is Knurld.io, which allows businesses and other parties to tap into the technology of KnuVerse. It delivers speaker authentication interfaces for developers and businesses, so that the voice recognition and authentication service can be integrated into apps and other UI’s.
Above: KnuEdge’s KnuPath chip.
Image Credit: KnuEdge
And to think—the idea for the company and its cutting edge technology arose over a perceived need to supply faster and more efficient computing, able to crunch tens of millions of lines of computer code, for a potential Mars mission.
“It all started over a mission to Mars,” says Goldin, with immense and justifiable pride in the new endeavor.
Developments and improvements in the process and the materials in the field of 3D printing have taken up applications in different sectors. 3D printing industry applications range from aerospace design to health care. However, one application that will put a smile on your face is helping injured animals.
A team of doctors in Sao Paulo has come together because of their common love for science and animals. The team, known as ‘Animal Avengers,’ has successfully reconstructed artificial beaks for three toucans, a parrot, and a goose. They have designed the first ever titanium prosthetic pecker for a Macaw and built a brand new plastic-based replacement hull for a traumatized tortoise.
A tortoise whose shell was completely burnt in a bush fire was fighting for its life when Animal Avengers came to his rescue. The reptile named Freddy is the world’s first turtle with a 3D-printed prosthetic shell.
The team explained that this task was very difficult. Graphic designer Cicero Moraes explained the process: “It took about 40 photos [to build a model and reconstruct the shell]. We took a healthy animal, took the same 40 photos, reconstructed that animal in 3D and put it into the computer.”
To create the complete shell, the design was printed out with the help of a desktop printer in four individual pieces using a low-cost corn-derived material. These four pieces were later slotted together like a jigsaw puzzle. It took 50 hours to print a single piece.
Image courtesy sciencealert.com
Nidhi Goyal
Nidhi is a gold medalist Post Graduate in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences. You can also find Nidhi on Google+.
We may have a new combat exoskeleton prototype in 2018. It will have body armor that makes use of a liquid that solidifies in milliseconds, and a tiny, powerful engine for recharging the suit's systems.
We’ve all seen what Iron Man can do in the movies, and it’s rather impressive—what with all the flying and absorbing bullets.
Ultimately, all of his abilities come from the incredible technology behind his suit. And it’s to this inspiration that Special Operations Command (SOCOM) is turning for their future combat exoskeleton prototypes, which are to be ready in 2018.
An initial design of the TALOS exoskeleton. Credit: Army
LIQUID ARMOR
In 2013, SOCOM expanded their development of such a suit, which they call the Tactical Assault Light Operator Suit (TALOS). Navy SEALs or Special Forces would use these suits for special operations.
However, unlike the metallic, clunky suit of Iron Man, these military operators need to move with great mobility; therefore, the suits will be made with a “liquid body armor” that transforms into solid within milliseconds when a magnetic field or an electric current is applied through the material.
The technology is being developed by scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. A Polish company, Moratex, is working on a similar kind of liquid body armor, using a non-Newtonian liquid called Shear-Thickening Fluid (STF).
Essentially, what’s being designed is a suit of armor that remains soft and malleable during normal operations, but hardens instantaneously at the point of contact—deflecting and dispersing the immense destructive energy produced by a hit from an enemy round or shrapnel.
POWERED BY A SMALL ENGINE
TALOS is reportedly going to be a physiological subsystem that will use various sensors on the skin to monitor the wearer’s vital signs in great detail. More than that, it will provide vastly increased strength.
And all of this added capability needs a great deal of power.
General Atomics intends to provide the TALOS suits with a tiny combustion engine, that can nevertheless run at 10,000 RPM. This technology will rely on Liquid Piston’s ‘X’ engine, which employs the High Efficiency Hybrid Cycle. According to the company, this engine has a theoretical efficiency of 75%, and can be very quiet since it only consists of two moving parts: a shaft and a rotor.
The purpose of the engine in the exoskeletal suit would be to recharge batteries, which in turn supply energy to all of the power-thirsty components which will be integrated with the TALOS suit—including computer and sensor systems, as well as robotic strength augmentation.
It’s a fascinating glimpse into the future of warfighting technology—and it brings a whole new meaning to the Army’s old recruiting slogan “Be All You Can Be.”
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03-06-2016
Artificial Intelligence: What We Have to Look Forward to and What We Have to Fear
Artificial Intelligence: What We Have to Look Forward to and What We Have to Fear
Getty
IN BRIEF
"Everything we love about civilization is a product of intelligence, so amplifying our human intelligence with artificial intelligence has the potential of helping civilization flourish like never before – as long as we manage to keep the technology beneficial."
Max Tegmark
WHAT IS AI?
From SIRI to self-driving cars, artificial intelligence (AI) is progressing rapidly. While science fiction often portrays AI as robots with human-like characteristics, AI can encompass anything from Google’s search algorithms to IBM’s Watson to autonomous weapons.
Artificial intelligence today is properly known as narrow AI (or weak AI), in that it is designed to perform a narrow task (e.g. only facial recognition or only internet searches or only driving a car). However, the long-term goal of many researchers is to create general AI (AGI or strong AI).
While narrow AI may outperform humans at whatever its specific task is, like playing chess or solving equations, AGI would outperform humans at nearly every cognitive task.
WHY RESEARCH AI SAFETY?
In the near term, the goal of keeping AI’s impact on society beneficial motivates research in many areas, from economics and law to technical topics such as verification, validity, security and control. Whereas it may be little more than a minor nuisance if your laptop crashes or gets hacked, it becomes all the more important that an AI system does what you want it to do if it controls your car, your airplane, your pacemaker, your automated trading system or your power grid.
The creation of strong AI might be the biggest event in human history…it might also be the last.
In the long term, an important question is what will happen if the quest for strong AI succeeds and an AI system becomes better than humans at all cognitive tasks. As pointed out by I.J. Good in 1965, designing smarter AI systems is itself a cognitive task. Such a system could potentially undergo recursive self-improvement, triggering an intelligence explosion leaving human intellect far behind.
By inventing revolutionary new technologies, such a superintelligence might help us eradicate war, disease, and poverty, and so the creation of strong AI might be the biggest event in human history. Some experts have expressed concern, though, that it might also be the last, unless we learn to align the goals of the AI with ours before it becomes superintelligent.
There are some who question whether strong AI will ever be achieved, and others who insist that the creation of superintelligent AI is guaranteed to be beneficial. At FLI we recognize both of these possibilities, but also recognize the potential for an artificial intelligence system to intentionally or unintentionally cause great harm. We believe research today will help us better prepare for and prevent such potentially negative consequences in the future, thus enjoying the benefits of AI while avoiding pitfalls.
HOW CAN AI BE DANGEROUS?
Most researchers agree that a superintelligent AI is unlikely to exhibit human emotions like love or hate, and that there is no reason to expect AI to become intentionally benevolent or malevolent. Instead, when considering how AI might become a risk, experts think two scenarios most likely:
The AI is programmed to do something devastating:Autonomous weapons are artificial intelligence systems that are programmed to kill. In the hands of the wrong person, these weapons could easily cause mass casualties. Moreover, an AI arms race could inadvertently lead to an AI war that also results in mass casualties. To avoid being thwarted by the enemy, these weapons would be designed to be extremely difficult to simply “turn off,” so humans could plausibly lose control of such a situation. This risk is one that’s present even with narrow AI, but grows as levels of AI intelligence and autonomy increase.
The AI is programmed to do something beneficial, but it develops a destructive method for achieving its goal: This can happen whenever we fail to fully align the AI’s goals with ours, which is strikingly difficult. If you ask an obedient intelligent car to take you to the airport as fast as possible, it might get you there chased by helicopters and covered in vomit, doing not what you wanted but literally what you asked for. If a superintelligent system is tasked with a ambitious geoengineering project, it might wreak havoc with our ecosystem as a side effect, and view human attempts to stop it as a threat to be met.
As these examples illustrate, the concern about advanced AI isn’t malevolence but competence. A super-intelligent AI will be extremely good at accomplishing its goals, and if those goals aren’t aligned with ours, we have a problem.
You’re probably not an evil ant-hater who steps on ants out of malice, but if you’re in charge of a hydroelectric green energy project and there’s an anthill in the region to be flooded, too bad for the ants. A key goal of AI safety research is to never place humanity in the position of those ants.
WHY THE RECENT INTEREST IN AI SAFETY
Stephen Hawking, Elon Musk, Steve Wozniak, Bill Gates, and many other big names in science and technology have recently expressed concern in the media and via open letters about therisks posed by AI, joined by many leading AI researchers. Why is the subject suddenly in the headlines?
The idea that the quest for strong AI would ultimately succeed was long thought of as science fiction, centuries or more away. However, thanks to recent breakthroughs, many AI milestones, which experts viewed as decades away merely five years ago, have now been reached, making many experts take seriously the possibility of superintelligence in our lifetime.
Since it may take decades to complete the required safety research, it is prudent to start it now.
While some experts still guess that human-level AI is centuries away, most AI researchers at the 2015 Puerto Rico Conferenceguessed that it would happen before 2060. Since it may take decades to complete the required safety research, it is prudent to start it now.
Because AI has the potential to become more intelligent than any human, we have no surefire way of predicting how it will behave. We can’t use past technological developments as much of a basis because we’ve never created anything that has the ability to, wittingly or unwittingly, outsmart us. The best example of what we could face may be our own evolution. People now control the planet, not because we’re the strongest, fastest or biggest, but because we’re the smartest. If we’re no longer the smartest, are we assured to remain in control?
FLI’s position is that our civilization will flourish as long as we win the race between the growing power of technology and the wisdom with which we manage it. In the case of AI technology, FLI’s position is that the best way to win that race is not to impede the former, but to accelerate the latter, by supporting AI safety research.
If you love to spend your leisure time looking at the water or always dream about living in the water, Italian mini-yacht manufacturer Jet Capsule has a surprise for you to fulfill your dreams.
The company has come up with a creative concept for a saucer-shaped UFO, or ‘Unidentified Floating Object’, which offers a completely off-grid existence floating on the sea.
As per the company’s co-founders, Pierpaolo Lazzarini and Luca Solla, the floating UFO home is intended for “living in a floating house and moving slowly around the world.”
Image courtesy Jet Capsule
Here are some of its special features:
Energy is generated from 40 square meters (430 square feet) of solar panels, which are located in the closeable space at the top of the roof for protection during a storm. Moreover, wind and water turbines could also be added, which would generate enough power for household operations and the motor on cloudy days.
As per Jet Capsule, this UFO is “unsinkable.” Furthermore, “The main structure of the floating object can be aligned with a compass, keeping the position angle oriented on the desired cardinal direction, even in rough sea conditions.”
Drinking water is made available by solar-powered desalination and a system that purifies rainwater.
Food comes from the vegetable garden that encircles the structure and measures 12.5 m (41 ft) in diameter.
The lower level of the UFO is submerged in the water and has a viewing window to enjoy the underwater world.
If you are planning to buy this floating UFO home, then you have to wait as it is still a concept. At present, the company is seeking investors to build the first working prototype, at an estimated cost of $800,000 USD. However, the company is hopeful that the UFO’s price will eventually come down to $200,000 USD.
Image courtesy Jet Capsule
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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28-05-2016
Primeur: 's werelds eerste robot-baby geboren in Amsterdam!
Primeur: 's werelds eerste robot-baby geboren in Amsterdam!
Caroline Kraaijvanger
Beschuit met muisjes in een laboratorium in Amsterdam. Daar hebben zich voor het eerst twee robots voortgeplant en een heuse robot-baby op de wereld gezet.
Professor Guszti Eiben en zijn onderzoeksteam presenteren de robot-baby vanmiddag aan het grote publiek tijdens de Campus Party in de Jaarbeurs in Utrecht. Het is de start van een nieuw tijdperk: de industriële evolutie. Want robots die zich kunnen voortplanten, kunnen evolueren en zo hun ‘brein’, ‘lijf’ en gedrag naar behoefte aanpassen.
Hier zie je één van de robot-ouders. De robot heeft met een beetje fantasie de vorm van een gekko. In zijn ‘hoofd’ zitten de CPU, accu en lichtsensor.
De daad Voortplantende robots. Het klinkt als sciencefiction, maar dat is het dus niet langer. Maar wat moeten we ons daar nu precies bij voorstellen? “Het is niet zo spannend als de meesten denken,” vertelt Eiben in alle nuchterheid aan Scientias.nl. “Voor mensen seks hebben, vindt er overleg plaats, we noemen dat ‘dating’ of ‘elkaar het hof maken’. De robots doen dat ook. Ze moeten elkaar eerst tot een bepaalde afstand naderen en vervolgens gaan ze elkaar beoordelen. Is de beoordeling positief, dan wordt er gereproduceerd.” De robots sturen dan hun digitale DNA naar een 3D-printer. “Dat DNA is eigenlijk niets anders dan het bouwplan van de robot, de code die de robot – zowel de software als de hardware – beschrijft. De beide ouders sturen dat bouwplan naar de 3D-printer en de 3D-printer combineert die bouwplannen en print op basis daarvan een groot deel van de benodigde onderdelen. Dat gebeurt volledig willekeurig. Dus ook al zouden twee robots meerdere kinderen krijgen, dan ziet elk kind er anders uit.” En dat is dan dus robotische voortplanting: met wederzijdse toestemming, zonder aanraking en geholpen door een 3D-printer.
Hier zie je de andere robot-ouder van de eerste robot-baby. Deze heeft meer de vorm van een spin. De CPU, accu en lichtsensor zitten in het midden. Je ziet: deze ouder is heel anders van vorm dan de andere ouder. En dus is het altijd spannend hoe het nageslacht van deze twee robots eruit gaat zien.
De kraamdagen Uit die ‘geslachtsgemeenschap’ ontstaat een ‘pasgeboren’ robot die een tijdje in een soort ‘kraamkamer’ verblijft totdat deze ‘geslachtsrijp’ is. “Afhankelijk van de toepassing moeten we een aantal criteria bedenken waar deze aan moet voldoen alvorens deze volwassen wordt. Misschien moet de robot eerst een keer opgeladen zijn of bijvoorbeeld een minimale snelheid behalen.” Voldoet de robot niet aan alle criteria, dan is de ‘natuur’ keihard: de robot wordt gerecycled. Voldoet de robot wel aan alle criteria, dan mag deze de kraamkamer verlaten en de ‘arena’ in, waar deze andere robots ontmoet en een partner kan zoeken. Het verhaal begint dan feitelijk weer van voor af aan.
HOOP VOOR DE SINGLE ROBOT
Een date is geen garantie voor succes. Ook voor robots niet. Zo kan het best zijn dat een robot die prima presteert toch geen partner kan vinden die met hem wil ‘paren’. “Het invoeren van aseksuele voortplanting zou dan een optie kunnen zijn,” denkt Eiben. “Als een robot heel goed is en toch geen partner kan vinden, kunnen we toestaan dat deze alleen zijn eigen code naar de geboortekliniek (de 3D-printer, red.) stuurt.” Er ontstaat dan een kloon van de robot. “Dat is het mooie hiervan. We kunnen alles bouwen. We zijn alleen gebonden aan de wetten van de fysica. De wetten van de biologie maken we zelf.”
De date Het is de voortplanting van de robot in een notendop. Maar het begint dus – heel menselijk eigenlijk – met een ontmoeting. Een date. Net zoals wij mensen een mogelijke (seks)partner tijdens een date beoordelen, doen robots dat ook. Maar waar let een robot eigenlijk op? Dat is een beetje afhankelijk van de taakomschrijving, vertelt Eiben, en kan door mensen worden bepaald. Stel: je hebt te maken met robots die ertsen mijnen in zee. Dan wil je natuurlijk dat die robots zoveel mogelijk ertsen boven water halen. Je kunt de robots dan zo programmeren dat ze zich alleen voortplanten als ze goed presteren oftewel heel veel ertsen verzamelen. “Dan kan de ene robot de andere bijvoorbeeld vragen hoeveel kilo erts deze al boven water heeft gehaald.” En alleen als beide robots een indrukwekkende hoeveelheid ertsen hebben bovengehaald, vindt de voortplanting plaats, waaruit – hopelijk – weer een robot voortkomt die ook goed of zelfs nog beter presteert.
Natuurlijke selectie Dat is tenslotte het mooie aan robots die zich voortplanten: ze evolueren en worden gaandeweg steeds beter in de taak die ze is toegedicht. Want hoewel de 3D-printer DNA van vader en moeder geheel willekeurig combineert, vindt er toch een natuurlijke selectie plaats. “Die krijg je er gratis bij en kun je niet eens uitschakelen als je dat zou willen,” stelt Eiben. Want de robots die uit de 3D-printer komen zetten, moeten zien te overleven, een partner vinden en kinderen krijgen. Robots die om wat voor reden dan ook niet daartoe in staat zijn, verdwijnen – met hun DNA – van het toneel en alleen de betere robots en hun DNA gedijen.
En dit is ‘m dan. De allereerste robot-baby, voortgekomen uit het ‘DNA’ van de twee robots die je hierboven ziet.
Veiligheid Misschien krijg je er een beetje de kriebels van: robots die zich voortplanten en evolueren. Waar gaat dat heen? Moet je daar vannacht eigenlijk niet wakker van liggen? Eiben kan daar kort over zijn. “Nee. We hebben bewust gekozen voor een centrale faciliteit waar kinderen vandaan komen.” Zodra Eiben die faciliteit sluit, stopt ook de reproductie. De controle ligt dus bij de mens. “Robots die zelf kinderen in elkaar zetten, zwanger raken of eieren leggen: dat gaan we in mijn lab gewoon niet doen, want dan kunnen robots zich overal, ongecontroleerd vermenigvuldigen en ontwikkelen.” Dat klinkt al aardig geruststellend. Maar de robots van Eiben evolueren toch? Kan het niet zo zijn dat de robots door hun evolutie heen zo slim en behendig worden dat ze de faciliteit niet meer nodig hebben en we toch de controle verliezen? “Ik heb daar behoorlijk lang het hoofd over gebroken: kunnen de robots er omheen werken? Maar ik zie niet in hoe ze dat kunnen doen.”
“ROBOTS DIE ZELF KINDEREN IN ELKAAR ZETTEN, ZWANGER RAKEN OF EIEREN LEGGEN: DAT GAAN WE IN MIJN LAB GEWOON NIET DOEN”
Industriële evolutie Voor nu hoeven we van robots die zichzelf voortplanten en evolueren dus niet wakker te liggen. Maar het werk van Eiben is nog maar het begin. Een eerste stapje richting wat hij de ‘industriële evolutie’ noemt. “Nu is het allemaal nog best krakkemikkig,” stelt hij. “De 3D-printer heeft zo’n 20 uur nodig om de onderdelen te printen en vervolgens moeten we graaien in dozen met CPU’s en bedrading en de robots met de hand in elkaar zetten. Daar worden we wel steeds handiger in, maar dat kost toch ook nog 1 à 2 uur tijd.” Daarmee duurt zo’n robot-bevalling toch al bijna een dag. Maar dat gaat veranderen. Naar verwachting zijn de 3D-printers binnen 3 tot 5 jaar in staat om elektronica en bewegende onderdelen te printen. “Als dat gebeurt, komt het echt binnen handbereik,” voorspelt Eiben. “En dan kun je er gif op innemen dat dit op veel meer plekken gaat gebeuren.” En zijn ze op al die plekken zo voorzichtig als Eiben? Dat is maar zeer de vraag. “Deze technologie breidt de mogelijkheden van robots enorm uit, maar het is bijna niet te voorkomen dat er misbruik van wordt gemaakt,” denkt Eiben.
Zo zou een habitat waarin robots zich kunnen voortplanten eruit kunnen zien. Je ziet onder meer de geboortekliniek (Birth Clinic), kraamkamer (Nursery) en de Arena waar robots elkaar kunnen ontmoeten.
Toepassingen Maar laten we er even van uitgaan dat dat niet gebeurt en robots die zichzelf voortplanten straks op grote schaal voor legitieme doeleinden worden ingezet. Waar kunnen we ze dan tegenkomen? “Ik zie drie scenario’s voor me. Het eerste is heel ‘down to earth‘: de robots worden gebruikt als onderzoeksinstrument en geven meer inzicht in kunstmatige intelligentie en evolutie. Een tweede optie is dat we de robots inzetten op plaatsen op aarde of andere planeten die we nog niet zo goed kennen. Een voorbeeld: robots gaan aan de slag als boswachters en hebben één taak: monitoren. Hoe moeten die robots er dan uitzien? Hebben ze pootjes of zijn wieltjes handiger? Moeten ze groot zijn of juist klein? Om daarachter te komen, moeten we met de robots gaan fokken, net zoals boeren koeien fokken voor meer melk. Je maakt dan gebruik van natuurlijke selectie en menselijke selectie: een mens kiest de beste robots voor voortplanting.” Uiteindelijk rolt daar een geoptimaliseerde robot uit die gekloond kan worden en in het bos kan worden losgelaten. In het bos vindt geen voortplanting plaats, dat gebeurt alleen onder toezicht van mensen, op een ‘fokrobotbedrijf’. De derde optie die Eiben voor zich ziet, gaat nog een stap verder. “Een derde scenario is dat we de robots de geboortekliniek meegeven. Dat zou bijvoorbeeld kunnen wanneer robots ingezet worden om andere planeten bewoonbaar te maken.” De robots kunnen zich dan zelfstandig optimaliseren voor de toegewezen taak.
Het is allemaal toekomstmuziek die misschien wel hoort bij het hoogtepunt van de industriële evolutie. Zover zijn we nu nog niet. Met de geboorte van deze robot-baby is pas een eerste stap gezet. “Nee, ik barstte niet in tranen uit,” vertelt Eiben op de vraag wat die geboorte nu precies met hem doet. Maar lang niet iedereen is zo nuchter als Eiben. “Onlangs gaf ik intern een proefdemonstratie voor een hoogleraar kunstmatige intelligentie, een no-nonsense informaticus en een evolutionair bioloog. Ik liet ze de ouders zien, legde de robot-baby in hun handen en vertelde dat ze de eerste robot-baby ter wereld vasthielden. Later moesten ze bekennen dat ze kippenvel hadden gehad.”
Dubai has installed the world's first 3D-printed office space—a sleek, futuristic-looking building with energy-efficient features that took only 17 days to print and two days to install.
DUBAI’S NEWEST EXPERIMENT
The city of Dubai, the largest and most populous in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), has already proven itself to be in the vanguard of innovation.
It’s really an incubator of innovative technological and architectural ideas—an unrestricted canvas for the human imagination to have free play in designing the city of the future.
“We implement what we plan, and we pursue actions not theories. The rapidly changing world requires us to accelerate our pace of development, for history does not recognize our plans but our achievements,” said His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE, and hereditary Ruler of Dubai.
The comments, which strike a suitably optimistic note, were made at the opening of the “Office of the Future”—the world’s first 3D-printed office building. It’s Dubai’s newest offering, and it has the potential to reshape the way we think about the spaces in which we work and live (pun intended).
Dubai’s new 3D-printed office. Credit: Ahmed Jadallah/Reuters
THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE FUTURE
The new, 3D-printed structure is located on the grounds of the Emirates Towers, and will temporarily house the Dubai Future Foundation and Mostaqbal.
And it looks pretty futuristic, too—no harsh lines and blocky regularity, it’s all rounded edges and organic curves. Even the material is innovative, a special cement mixture made in the UAE and the United States.
It was printed using a giant 3D printer measuring 36.5 meters long, 12 meters wide, and 6 meters high (120 ft x 40 ft x 20 ft). The machine used a multi-axis robotic arm to print in 3 dimensions. It took only 17 days to print the structure, and two days to install it on-site.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Ruler of Dubai, stands before his city’s newest technological and architectural wonder. Credit: Ahmed Jadallah/Reuters
And the savings in labor costs were enormous—up to 50%. That’s because only one worker was required to supervise the printing process; during the actual installation, seven workers were needed to provide finishing touches and 10 electricians and mechanics were needed to manage specialized connections and equipment.
We’ll see where this new technology takes us; it has the potential to revolutionize housing, making it low-cost and affordable. But at the same time, it means big changes in the labor economy—and the possibility of ushering in widespread unemployment in the housing sector.
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25-05-2016
Light Rider Unveils The World’s First 3D Printed Electric Motorcycle
Light Rider Unveils The World’s First 3D Printed Electric Motorcycle
APWorks
IN BRIEF
APWORKS, a subsidiary of Airbus that focuses on cutting edge engineering, just announced their new product-- the Light Rider, a 3D metal printed motorcycle that claims to be the first of its kind.
LIGHTER RIDES
Additive layer manufacturing (ALM), more commonly known as 3D printing, is increasingly being used extensively in engineering today. Just a few months ago, we saw the world’s first 3D printed car roll out, and now, APWorks just unveiled the Light Rider, the world’s first 3D printed electric motorcycle.
The company is a full subsidiary of the aircraft manufacturer Airbus, and was established to put more focus on state-of-the-art technologies such as ALM, and creating advanced materials. The Light Rider is one of the larger testaments to their work having a complex design produced through metallic 3D printing.
APWorks claims that their vehicle is 30% lighter than other conventional e-motorcycles with a remarkable weight of 35 kg (77 lbs). Lightweight as it is, the vehicle is powered by a 6 kW electric motor, allowing it to go up to 80 kph (49.71 mph).
BIONIC DESIGN
In a press release, the APWorks emphasizes that 3D printing technology has given their design and manufacturing process a revolutionary turn beyond aesthetics. The company used an algorithm that makes use of natural patterns and structures to generate the highly optimized design of the Light Rider.
The result? A frame that looks more like an “organic exoskeleton.” But this was what they had aimed for anyway; the complex hollow structure makes way for a sturdy build, with a lot of spaced saved. Moreover, APWorks even put their own material into the product—Scalmalloy—an aluminum alloy as strong as titanium.
While the technology is beyond that of your conventional bike, the Light Rider’s look does not entirely depart from the common motorcycle. APWorks asserts that their ALM-based production will not just go into products like these, but beyond into robotics, and even aerospace applications.
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MIT Tech Make It Possible To 3D Print Ultra-fine Programmable Hair
MIT Tech Make It Possible To 3D Print Ultra-fine Programmable Hair
Dezeen/youtube
IN BRIEF
New technology lets us 3D print artificial programmable hair, called Cillia, at about 50 microns in width. MIT has already presented several applications for the hair such as jewelry, customized paint brushes, gearless motors, movable surfaces, and adhesive surfaces.
CILLLIA, JUST LIKE CILIA
At this year’s ACM CHI, a team of researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) presented, what is perhaps, one of the most peculiar (but groundbreaking) technologies developed in 3D printing thus far: Printing densely packed, artificial programmable hair.
And at just 50 microns in width (one micron is 1×10−6 of a metre), some of its more serious applications include functioning like cilia.
If you aren’t aware, cilia are extremely small hair-like organelles found on the surface of mammalian cells and organs. They’re responsible for certain functions in your body that you might not actually be aware of, but are rather necessary all the same (they do things like keep your lung airways clear and allow our eyes to function properly so we aren’t all blind).
And with this in mind, the team is calling this technology Cilllia.
PAVING THE WAY TO NEW APPLICATIONS
The team behind Cilllia is from MIT’s Tangible Media Group, and their project is a bitmap-generating program that creates these ultra-fine hair-like structures instead of modelling hair strands individually through other software. A bitmap is a type of memory organization, or image file format, that is used to store digital images.
Since the generated model is a bitmap, these files are 3D printer-ready, meaning you just run the software, set the precise characteristics of the hair, and then print.
Impressive as this already is, the resulting artificial hair has a host of other fascinating applications.
While there are a number of potential aesthetic purposes, customized paint brushes or strong adhesive surfaces might be at the top of people’s lists on what 3D printed hair could be used for.
Moreover, by applying vibration to the hair, it causes them to do interesting things like move objects in a certain pattern, like conveyor belts…without the belts (kind of how cilia function in some instances). And by controlling the characteristics of the hairs and matching them with specific vibrations, the researchers have developed gearless motors.
They even made figurines that can “dance” to music.
And just like sensory cilia, the artificial hair could also pave the way to new tactile sensors. Thanks to the sensitive nature of the hair’s structure, the researchers simply placed a patch over a microphone, and it can sense how you touch it.
There is no doubt about the fact that 3D printed buildings are the future of the construction world. This belief was further reinforced by the CEO of Alphabet, Eric Schmidt, who announced that the company has been investing in the research and development of additive manufacturing processes, which would result in revolutionizing the future of the construction industry. The use of 3D printing in construction that seemed like a dream a few years back is now turning into a reality.
The 3D printing construction technology involves the use of giant sized printers. There is a special kind of concrete that is being used in this type of construction process, which may be thicker than usual, allowing the structures to be self-supporting. The use of this technology will change the structure of the construction industry as it will increase affordability, providing people with housing facilities at lower costs.
Winsun, a Chinese construction company, claims to have built ten houses with the help of 3D printers, where the cost incurred per house was $5,000. 3D printed construction can, however, be made more affordable by customizing the designs of the buildings, so that minimum materials are used. The company took the challenge of taking this construction to the next level, where it moved from single storey houses to five storeys and then an 11,840 sq.ft villa. The printer that was used by the company fabricates huge parts of the buildings at the facility.
These pieces are then assembled by the company together with the help of steel reinforcements.
3dprint.com
Recently, there has been so much fuss being created about the infusion of 3D printed construction because the construction giants have realized the tremendous impact of this new technology on the overall growth of the sector.
There is a Tennessee-based company named Chattanooga that has announced that it will construct its first 3D printed home by July. The company, to further enforce this practice in the industry, introduced “Freeform Home Design Challenge,” where architects were invited to design a construction piece with the help of the Cellular Fabrication Technique being used in 3D printed construction.
However, while everyone is talking about the way 3D construction is going to transform the world, there are still some drawbacks and challenges associated with this new innovation that need to be addressed. The end product of 3D construction is cheap, but still, the cost of equipment is higher, which makes construction expensive. The cost of this construction technology does not seem to be decreasing anytime soon either.
Another barrier to the adoption of this technology is the desire to sit back and wait for it to be proven as a safe and reliable method of building things. Although the change that 3D printed construction will bring to the industry will be enormous, for now, it is slow. It can be anticipated by the growth of ongoing projects that the use of 3D printing technology is going to be “ONE BIG THING,” by the end of the decade.
Edge of Tomorrow is a colossally underrated film, one of the best sci-fi flicks I’ve seen in the past couple of years.
If you haven’t seen it, the film stars Tom Cruise attempting to save humanity from aliens in essentially the same type of transportation exoskeleton we see here from Hyundai.
I’m not sure how long Hyundai’s transportation exoskeleton has been in production, but the similarities between it and the Edge of Tomorrow are striking.
The suit will be part of the company’s ‘Next Mobility’ Group, which focuses on moving people from point A to point B.
A working transportation exoskeleton from Hyundai would find plenty of applications, from factory workers to soldiers carrying out military operations.
Of course, the “wearable robot” could also be used by regular citizens to stave off an attack on Earth from extraterrestrials, should stuff ever really hit the fan.
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New 3D Printer Uses Lasers to Print Metal Objects in Mid-Air
New 3D Printer Uses Lasers to Print Metal Objects in Mid-Air
WYSS Institute
IN BRIEF
A team led by researchers at Harvard's Wyss Institute have created a 3D metal printer that uses laser-assisted direct ink technology, allowing users to create metallic structures made out of silver mid-air.
OVERCOMING LIMITATIONS BY INNOVATION
From human bones to jet engine parts, products made through 3D printing technology have been increasingly transforming our world. The potential is limitless, and perhaps, at some point, it may no longer be a question of “what else can it print?” but “how else can we print?”
In a recent press release, scientists from Harvard’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering announce that they have just constructed a new 3D printer that could spew out conductive metallic ink at the microscale, possibly leading to more complex architectures and electronic devices.
It also has the ability to print objects in mid-air. By printing in mid-air, users can create freeform objects and patterns that were not possible using traditional 3D printers.
RE-ENGINEERING PRINTING
The team was led by Wyss Core Faculty member Jennifer Lewis, and she describes their technology as a “laser-assisted direct ink writing method,” in the report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The 3D metal printer has a nozzle that uses ink composed of silver nanoparticles, and as the ink is being sent out of the nozzle, it is also directly annealed through a precisely programmed laser.
The researchers indicate that this was devised with a heat transfer model to control the distance between the nozzle and the laser, allowing for the ‘on-the-fly’ printing. This level of control allows for the wires to be printed directly on plastic surfaces due to the localized laser heating.
Apart from that, the printer nozzle, which looks much like a pen, is capable of positioning along the x, y, and z axes. Combined with a rotary print stage, you could, in fact, create precise curvilinear shapes like butterfly wire frames.
The silver wires were noted to exhibit excellent electrical conductivity, which the researchers believe could lead to nearly limitless applications. Highly customized electronics, wearables, biomedical devices, and various architectures are just some of the imagined products that this printer could bring the world of technology.
Ultimately, the institute asserts that technology is a testament on how it’s still possible toinnovate current technologies, even ones as sophisticated as 3D printing.
An artist's illustration of DARPA's Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2 (HTV-2) travelling at 13,000 mph, or Mach 20, during its Aug. 11, 2011 test flight.
The US, Russia, and China are building ultra high-speed hypersonic missiles as part of a new strategic arms race focused on weapons that maneuver at speeds from 4,000 to 11,000 mph. Two basic designs include gliders and jet-powered vehicles. These new missiles move so fast that current US missile defense systems would be overwhelmed and rendered obsolete.
In January 2016, China conducted its first test of its new hypersonic missile vehicle, WU-14, that is part of its strategic nuclear and conventional missile program. All told, China has conducted six successful tests of its hypersonic glide vehicle. According to military experts, the WU-14 is designed to be launched from one of China’s intercontinental ballistic missiles. WU-14 is currently designed for a top speed of ten times the speed of sound or about 3,402 mph.
Russia also recently tested the YU-71, a hypersonic glider capable of delivering nuclear and conventional warheads that would penetrate US advanced missile defenses. The Russians are developing air and sea launched missiles capable of destroying naval ships, buildings, air defenses, satellites, and jets.
x51 Waverider Hypersonic Missile attached to a B52 (Image Courtesy www.politicalforum.com)
For its part, the US Army tested DARPA’s Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2 (HTV-2), traveling at 13,000 mph, or Mach 20, during its Aug. 11, 2011, test flight. In another test in 2014, the HTV blew up shortly after launch. Since then, the US has made hypersonic missile technology a major priority, awarding multimillion contracts to Raytheon and Lockheed Martin with new test launches planned as early as 2020.
While all three militaries work on hypersonic missile technology, they are also strengthening underground missile silos and facilities to withstand strikes by hypersonic missiles.
The following video discusses the new arms race between China, Russia, and the US.
David Russell Schilling
David enjoys research and writing about cutting edge technologies that hold the promise of improving conditions for all life on planet earth.
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12-05-2016
Scientists Grow Mini-Organs From Cells That Were Genetically Manipulated
Scientists Grow Mini-Organs From Cells That Were Genetically Manipulated
Intestinal organoid
WIKIMEDIA/MERITXELL HUCH
IN BRIEF
Scientists are currently developing methods to combine the best of both technologies, allowing them to grow organoid not only from naturally-occurring cells, but also from gene edited cells. In essence, the researchers are growing mini organs from cells that have been genetically-manipulated.
THE ERA OF GENE EDITING
The advances made in genetic engineering and gene editing in recent times have been many and amazing. Improvements to the CRISPR/Cas 9 gene editing method have allowed easy, accurate, and targeted modifications to human DNA.
Likewise, the development of a method to grow tissue-specific organoids (kinds of ‘mini-organs’) could help in modeling diseases, screening drugs, and possibly even replacing defective tissue.
What if we can combine these two?
Scientists are currently developing methods to bring together the best of both technologies, allowing them to grow organoid not only from naturally-occurring cells, but also from gene edited cells.
See the video below to learn more about how CRISPR works:
NEW EFFORTS
One such scientist working on these methods is Hans Clevers, of Utrecht University in the Netherlands. He is using adult gut stem cells, which are the only ones that get constantly renewed, in his technique. Ultimately, this allows him to directly grow organoids from patient tissue, without having to first convert the cells to induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPSC).
In his 2013 study regarding cystic fibrosis, a condition caused by a gene defect that leads to thick mucus buildup in the pulmonary and gastrointestinal tract, Clevers was able to show the combination of these two technologies.
Now, there’s been a new breakthrough.
A substance called forskolin has different effects to organoids grown from healthy tissue and those cultured from tissue infected with cystic fibrosis. The problem is that healthy tissue organoids swell when exposed to forskolin, while there is no effect of infected organoids. The researchers then edited the genetic defect away using CRISPR/Cas9 and homologous recombination, and then used these cells to grow organoids. When subjected to forskolin, the genetically-modified organoids swelled up like healthy tissue would.
Clever’s techniques are not limited to simple genetic diseases. In 2015, his team used CRISPR to manipulate genes linked to colon cancer, and then used the resulting cells to grow organoids. When transplanted into mice, these organoids grew the tumors characteristic of invasive carcinoma.
But Clever’s work is not the only ones in the field. Sara Howden of the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute in Australia is using CRISPR to develop kidney organoid models, while University of Washington’s Benjamin Freedman has developed a way to grow kidney organoids, which are used to study diseases like polycystic kidney disease (PKD).
It is truly a new age in fighting disease, and the future is looking remarkably bright.
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Malawi is Using HIV-Fighting Drones To Help Protect Infants
Malawi is Using HIV-Fighting Drones To Help Protect Infants
123rf
IN BRIEF
The African nation of Malawi is now using drones to try and speed up the delivery of HIV tests for infants. The initiative hopes to reduce the delays associated with land transport due to poor roads and also offset the high costs.
SPEEDING UP COMBAT
Drones have seen a massive boon in many areas. Their ability to go nearly anywhere at anytime makes them very important, especially in areas that are hard to access. Moreover, since they can travel rapidly, they could be vital for medicine delivery and disaster relief.
Now, drones can take part in actual medical diagnosis. The African nation of Malawi is now testing the use of drones in speeding up the delivery of HIV testing for infants. The initiative hopes to reduce the delays associated with land transport due to poor roads and high costs.
The Government of Malawi has partnered with UNICEF in conducting the tests, including the first official test. This test was a 10 kilometer run from a community health centre to the Kamuzu Central Hospital laboratory.
EPIDEMIC
HIV is a particularly huge problem in Malawi. It has a 10% prevalence rate in the country, has infected an estimated 1 million people in 2013, and has killed 48,000 in the same year. According to UNICEF, the year 2014 saw nearly 40,000 children in Malawi born to HIV positive mothers.
While 90% of women in the country know their HIV status, there still remains a problem with testing and diagnosis in children. The obstacles to testing in Malawi’s children are summarized by Judith Shermen, UNICEF Chief, in a report:
“There are many delays in the continuum of getting HIV positive children on treatment, they need to come in early for testing, ideally before 2 months, between 6 and 8 weeks. Their tests, the dry bloodspots, need to get from the health facilities to one of the 8 laboratories nationwide.”
The UAV being used was built by US company Matternet exclusively for transportation. The tests will eventually lead to a cost comparison with road transport, and favourable reports will lead to the second phase, which will test flights from remote areas of the country.
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Artificially Intelligent Lawyer “Ross” Has Been Hired By Its First Official Law Firm
Artificially Intelligent Lawyer “Ross” Has Been Hired By Its First Official Law Firm
cosmin4000/iStockphoto
IN BRIEF
Ross, the world's first artificially intelligent attorney, has its first official law firm. Baker & Hostetler announced that they will be employing Ross for its bankruptcy practice, currently comprised of almost 50 lawyers.
ROSS: A VERY SMART ARTIFICIAL CO-WORKER
Law firm Baker & Hostetler has announced that they are employing IBM’s AI Ross to handle their bankruptcy practice, which at the moment consists of nearly 50 lawyers. According to CEO and co-founder Andrew Arruda, other firms have also signed licenses with Ross, and they will also be making announcements shortly.
Ross, “the world’s first artificially intelligent attorney” built on IBM’s cognitive computer Watson, was designed to read and understand language, postulate hypotheses when asked questions, research, and then generate responses (along with references and citations) to back up its conclusions. Ross also learns from experience, gaining speed and knowledge the more you interact with it.
“You ask your questions in plain English, as you would a colleague, and ROSS then reads through the entire body of law and returns a cited answer and topical readings from legislation, case law and secondary sources to get you up-to-speed quickly,” the website says. “In addition, ROSS monitors the law around the clock to notify you of new court decisions that can affect your case.”
Ross also minimizes the time it takes by narrowing down results from a thousand to only the most highly relevant answers, and presents the answers in a more casual, understandable language. It also keeps up-to-date with developments in the legal system, specifically those that may affect your cases.
THE LEGAL INDUSTRY ENHANCED
Baker & Hostetler chief information officer Bob Craig explains the rationale behind this latest hire: “At BakerHostetler, we believe that emerging technologies like cognitive computing and other forms of machine learning can help enhance the services we deliver to our clients.”
“BakerHostetler has been using ROSS since the first days of its deployment, and we are proud to partner with a true leader in the industry as we continue to develop additional AI legal assistants,” he added.
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- Gemiddelde waardering: 0/5 - (0 Stemmen) Categorie:SF-snufjes }, Robotics and A.I. Artificiel Intelligence ( E, F en NL )
10-05-2016
Bionic Implant Improves Vision for Some Eye Patient
Bionic Implant Improves Vision for Some Eye Patients
By Christopher Wanjek-
An artist's concept of a bionic eye.
Credit: Andrey VP/Shutterstock.com
It may sound like something out of "Star Trek": Doctors have implanted a device in patients that has restored some central vision after advanced eye disease left those individuals with only limited peripheral vision. This is the first time that artificial and natural vision has ever been integrated in humans, the U.K.-based research team said.
The study was small and preliminary, involving only four patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD). The research team reported that the implant enabled the patients to recognize the outline of faces and some facial characteristics, such as whether the mouth was open or closed — ordinary details of life that had long been lost to these patients, as AMD slowly robbed them of their vision.
AMD, as the name implies, is a deterioration of the eye's macula, a small area in the back of the eye that allows you to see fine details clearly. AMD does not lead to complete blindness, but rather to the gradual loss of central vision that can interfere with everyday activities, such as the ability to see faces, read or do close work, such as cooking. The remaining peripheral vision doesn't provide the acuity for such activities.
AMD is the leading cause of vision loss in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than 2 million Americans have AMD — a number that's expected to more than double by 2050, according to government data. AMD is most common among people over age 65. The cause is unknown, but people's risk of being stricken by the condition is heavily influenced by smoking and genetics.
Doctors have been successful in slowing the advance of AMD through a dietary supplement regimen comprising vitamin C, beta-carotene and other nutrients. Injections of prescription drugs are also used to treat certain kinds of advanced AMD. However, no treatment can reverse the loss of vision.
To restore central vision in four patients with advanced AMD, doctors implanted into their eyes a device called the Argus II electronic epiretinal prosthesis. This is a new commercial product that, in earlier incarnations, has restored very limited sight to people who had only perception-of-light vision as a result of a rare, degenerative eye disease. The device is essentially a miniature camera attached to the back of the eye that captures images and sends electrical signals to the brain. [The 7 Biggest Mysteries of the Human Body]
None of the patients reported "confusion" about what they were seeing when the device was turned on. This was a concern for the researchers, because the brain was receiving a combination of natural electrical impulses from the peripheral areas of the eye as well as artificial impulses from the central implant, and they didn't know how the brain would interpret this.
Another element of success was that the implant didn't seem to cause problems in the patients' bodies; they tolerated them for up to six months, with no signs of infection.
The researchers wrote that, while previous implants have helped people with rare diseases, the latest research results may "indicate a new way of restoring central vision in one of the most common causes of severe loss of central vision in people over the age of 50, dry age-related macular degeneration … for which no other treatments are currently available."
The research team comprised doctors and engineers from the University of Manchester in England and the company that makes the implant, Second Sight Medical Products in Sylmar, California.
Follow Christopher Wanjek @wanjek for daily tweets on health and science with a humorous edge. Wanjek is the author of "Food at Work" and "Bad Medicine." His column, Bad Medicine, appears regularly on Live Science.
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