Archive for the 'Technology' Category
Intel and Micron Announce New Memory Technology, 3D XPoint
July 30th, 2015Via: Intel: The technology is up to 1,000 times faster and has up to 1,000 times greater endurance than NAND, and is 10 times denser than conventional memory. … Following more than a decade of research and development, 3D XPoint technology was built from the ground up to address the need for non-volatile, high-performance, high-endurance […]
Kentucky Man Arrested for Shooting Down Drone
July 30th, 2015Via: WDRB: A Hillview man has been arrested after he shot down a drone flying over his property — but he’s not making any apologies for it. It happened Sunday night at a home on Earlywood Way, just south of the intersection between Smith Lane and Mud Lane in Bullitt County, according to an arrest […]
Japan Fires the World’s Most Powerful Laser (for a Trillionth of a Second)
July 29th, 2015Via: Popular Science: Researchers at Osaka University are claiming to have fired the most powerful laser in the world. The 2-petawatt (two quadrillion watt) pulse lasted just one picosecond (a trillionth of a second). For a rough comparison, in 2013, a 50 kilowatt (50,000 watt) laser shot down a drone two kilometers away. Osaka’s mega-powerful […]
Amazon Provides New Details on Plan for Drone Air Corridors
July 28th, 2015Via: The Verge: The company laid out its vision for a multi-tiered superhighway in the sky, one in which all drones flying above 200 feet would have the ability to communicate with — and ideally sense and avoid — other aircraft. It’s an attempt to put an end to the Wild West atmosphere that has […]
Deep Neural Nets Can Now Recognize Your Face in Thermal Images
July 28th, 2015Via: MIT Technology Review: One problem with infrared surveillance videos or infrared CCTV images is that it is hard to recognize the people in them. Faces look different in the infrared and matching these images to their normal appearance is a significant unsolved challenge. The problem is that the link between the way people look […]
Autonomous Weapons: An Open Letter from AI & Robotics Researchers
July 27th, 2015Via: Future of Life Institute: Autonomous weapons select and engage targets without human intervention. They might include, for example, armed quadcopters that can search for and eliminate people meeting certain pre-defined criteria, but do not include cruise missiles or remotely piloted drones for which humans make all targeting decisions. Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology has reached […]
Major Flaw In Android Phones Would Let Hackers In With Just A Text
July 27th, 2015For Samsung users: Since the payload is in video files, how about unchecking “Auto retrieve” in Multimedia messages in the Samsung Messages app settings? Am I right? Via: NPR: Android is the most popular mobile operating system on Earth: About 80 percent of smartphones run on it. And, according to mobile security experts at the […]
Chevy Spark EV Review
July 24th, 2015Disclosures: I sell solar power systems in NZ and I’m long Enphase Energy. — Via: LaserHacker:
Vulnerability Allows Attackers to Take Remote Control of Chrysler Vehicles Equipped with Uconnect
July 21st, 2015Update: Fiat Chrysler Recalls 1.4 Million Cars After Jeep Hack — Via: Wired: I was driving 70 mph on the edge of downtown St. Louis when the exploit began to take hold. Though I hadn’t touched the dashboard, the vents in the Jeep Cherokee started blasting cold air at the maximum setting, chilling the sweat […]
Boeing Patents Laser-Powered Fusion-Fission Jet Engine for Airplanes, Spacecraft
July 13th, 2015Via: Ars Technica: Assume the brace position. Boeing has received a patent for, I kid you not, a laser-powered fusion-fission jet propulsion system. Boeing envisions that this system could replace both rocket and turbofan engines, powering everything from spacecraft to missiles to airplanes. The patent, US 9,068,562, combines inertial confinement fusion, fission, and a turbine […]
