Archive for the 'Technology' Category
New GPS Technology Identifies Locations within Centimeters
May 5th, 2015Via: Independent: New GPS technology that can identify locations accurate to within centimetres could open the way for huge advances in virtual reality and mobile mapping, scientists believe. Researchers at the Cockrell School of Engineering at The University of Texas said the centimetre-accurate GPS-based positioning system could allow unmanned aerial vehicles to deliver packages to […]
NSA Speech to Text Systems Makes Conversations Searchable
May 5th, 2015Via: FirstLook: Most people realize that emails and other digital communications they once considered private can now become part of their permanent record. But even as they increasingly use apps that understand what they say, most people don’t realize that the words they speak are not so private anymore, either. Top-secret documents from the archive […]
The Age of Drone Vandalism Begins
May 1st, 2015Via: Wired: In the early hours of Wednesday morning, the age of robotic graffiti was born. KATSU, a well-known graffiti artist and vandal, used a hacked Phantom drone to paint a giant red scribble across Kendall Jenner’s face on one of New York City’s largest and most viewed billboards. By all accounts, it is the […]
Whatever Tesla Announces Today… Wait
April 30th, 2015Disclosure: I sell solar power systems in NZ. — Tesla Powerwall Press Kit Leaks Before Presentation The Powerwall Home Battery increases the capacity for a household’s solar consumption, while also offering backup functionality during grid outages. The Powerwall is available in 10kWh, optimized for backup applications or 7kWh optimized for daily use applications. Both can […]
Scientists Achieve Critical Steps to Building First Practical Quantum Computer
April 29th, 2015Via: PhysOrg: IBM scientists today unveiled two critical advances towards the realization of a practical quantum computer. For the first time, they showed the ability to detect and measure both kinds of quantum errors simultaneously, as well as demonstrated a new, square quantum bit circuit design that is the only physical architecture that could successfully […]
Like Shale Oil, Solar Power Is Shaking Up Global Energy
April 27th, 2015Disclosure: I sell solar power systems in NZ. — Unlike shale oil, however, solar power isn’t an unmitigated environmental disaster. Via: Reuters: One by one, Japan is turning off the lights at the giant oil-fired power plants that propelled it to the ranks of the world’s top industrialized nations. With nuclear power in the doldrums […]
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 […]
