Archive for the 'Rise of the Machines' Category
SMU and DARPA: Fiber Optic Interface to Link Robotic Limbs, Human Brain
September 19th, 2010Via: SMU: Lightning-fast connections between robotic limbs and the human brain may be within reach for injured soldiers and other amputees with the establishment of a multimillion-dollar research center led by SMU engineers. Funded by a Department of Defense initiative dedicated to audacious challenges and intense time schedules, the Neurophotonics Research Center will develop two-way […]
Boeing Gets $89 Million to Build Unmanned Aircraft that Can Stay Aloft for 5 Years
September 18th, 2010Here’s another one for your “Unblinking Eye” file folder. Via: Network World: One of the more unique unmanned aircraft took a giant step toward reality this week when the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) inked an agreement with Boeing to build the SolarEagle, a plane capable of remaining at heights over 60,000ft for over […]
Implanted Fuel Cell Powered by Rat’s Body Fluids
September 17th, 2010Via: National Geographic: A new fuel cell is putting a twist on alternative energy from biofuels: The implanted device draws power from chemicals in living animals. Dubbed a glucose biofuel cell, the implant gets its juice from glucose—aka blood sugar—and oxygen, both of which are naturally present in the fluids between a body’s cells. In […]
Robot Snake Now Climbs Trees
September 7th, 2010I’ll sleep well as long as that thing requires an extension cord. Via: PhysOrg: Uncle Sam, Carnegie Mellon’s latest robotic snake, has been taught to climb trees. The snake is the newest version of “modsnake” created by the Biorobotics Laboratory at the Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. The snake’s movements are biomimetic, mimicking movements of […]
Augmented City 3D
September 6th, 2010My guess is that it’s going to look a lot more like this: …but maybe a bit of both. Via: Vimeo / Keiichi Matsuda: Augmented City 3D from Keiichi Matsuda on Vimeo. The architecture of the contemporary city is no longer simply about the physical space of buildings and landscape, more and more it is […]
In Japan, Men Take Virtual Girlfriends on Real Vacations
September 3rd, 2010Also: Building the Perfect Kill House with Video Games Via: The Atlantic: Loneliness exists in every society, but only in Japan has emotional isolation become a market for video game manufacturers and tourist resorts. The Wall Street Journal’s Daisuke Wakabayashi reports on a popular game called “LovePlus+,” played on mobile consoles, that simulates the (non-sexual) […]
Predator Drones to Patrol Entire U.S.-Mexico Border from September 1
August 31st, 2010Via: Reuters: The U.S. government will have unmanned surveillance aircraft monitoring the whole southwest border with Mexico from September 1, as it ramps up border security in this election year, a top official said on Monday. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said U.S. Customs and Border Protection would begin flying a Predator B drone out […]
Enslaved
August 31st, 2010Mmm hmm. Research Credit: DW
Do the Evolution
August 31st, 2010Via: Pearl Jam – Do the Evolution / YouTube: Research Credit: MC
Navy Drone Violated Washington Airspace
August 26th, 2010Via: New York Times: The skies over the nation’s capital are crowded with presidential aircraft, military flyovers and the Delta shuttle, but this month a strange new bird was briefly among them: a United States Navy drone that wandered into the restricted airspace around Washington before operators could stop it. Navy spokesmen could not say […]
