Archive for the 'Technology' Category
China: Social Credit System
April 27th, 2015Via: de Volkskrant: The Chinese government is currently implementing a nationwide electronic system, called the Social Credit System, attributing to each of its 1,3 billion citizens a score for his or her behavior. The system will be based on various criteria, ranging from financial credibility and criminal record to social media behavior. From 2020 onwards […]
Company Wants to Plant One Billion Trees a Year Using Drones
April 27th, 2015Terraforming… Our own planet. Via: Independent: A drone start-up is going to counter industrial scale deforestation using industrial scale reforestation. BioCarbon Engineering wants to use drones for good, using the technology to seed up to one billion trees a year, all without having to set foot on the ground. 26 billion trees are currently being […]
Toddlers Using Tablets Before They Can Talk
April 27th, 2015Related: Why Can’t We Read Anymore? Via: New Zealand Herald: More than a third of American babies are tapping on smartphones and tablets even before they’re walking or talking, according to a new study. And by their first birthday, one in seven infants is using devices for at least an hour a day. The results […]
Robotic Strawberry Harvesters
April 27th, 2015Via: Tampa Tribune: A company backed by strawberry growers in Florida and California is developing a high-tech robot that can pick and package berries in the field. Harvest CROO Robotics has already spent $1 million on a prototype automated picker. Research is continuing, and the company working on a more advanced model to harvest strawberries […]
Audi “E-Diesel”
April 27th, 2015It probably costs more per litre than I make in a month, but still interesting. By the way, aren’t we do for another trillion dollar oil war? Via: IB Times: German car manufacturer Audi says it has created the “fuel of the future” made solely from water, carbon dioxide and renewable sources. The synthetic “e-diesel” […]
Tiny Robots Climb Walls Carrying More Than 100 Times Their Weight
April 25th, 2015Via: New Scientist:
Mysterious X-37B Military Space Plane to Fly Again Next Month
April 25th, 2015There’s still no solid information about what it’s doing. Via: Space: The United States Air Force’s X-37B space plane will launch on its fourth mystery mission next month. The unmanned X-37B space plane, which looks like a miniature version of NASA’s now-retired space shuttle orbiter, is scheduled to blast off atop a United Launch Alliance […]
German Intelligence Helped NSA Spy on European Politicians and Defense Contractors
April 24th, 2015Via: Ars Technica: Germany’s intelligence service, the Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND), has been helping the NSA spy on European politicians and companies for years, according to the German news magazine Der Spiegel. The NSA has been sending lists of “selectors”—identifying telephone numbers, e-mail and IP addresses—to the BND, which then provides related information that it holds in […]
“Not Science Fiction”: Miami Police Implements Pre-Crime System
April 23rd, 2015Via: Miami Herald: Armed with high-tech software and years of crime data, Miami police believe they will soon be able to stop crimes by predicting when and where they will occur. It sounds a little like something out of a science fiction novel, but the department is in the process of adopting a system called […]
Head Transplant Doctor: Creating Immortality Is the Goal
April 23rd, 2015Via: Independent: The Italian doctor who has claimed that he could transplant a man’s head onto a donor’s body has said that he could do much of the procedure in less than an hour. The procedure — which Canavero has admitted is just a first step towards his ultimate aim of creating immortality — will […]
