Archive for May, 2015
IBM’s Watson Will Make Decisions About Cancer Care in 14 Hospitals in the U.S. and Canada
May 7th, 2015Via: BBC: IBM’s supercomputer Watson will be used to make decisions about cancer care in 14 hospitals in the US and Canada, it has been announced. Using computers to trawl through vast amounts of medical data speeds up the diagnosis process. The system will help assess individual tumours and suggest which drug should be used […]
Thoughts on Tesla’s Powerwall
May 6th, 2015Update: 11 May 2015: Tesla Q1 2015 Earnings Call More info was released on the recent Tesla earnings call. The Powerwall will be charged directly from the DC from the solar panels and the battery will output into an existing string inverter. At one point they say that the Powerwall looks like the solar array […]
Robots to Build New Google HQ
May 6th, 2015Via: Architects Journal: An army of robot-crane hybrids will be assembled to build Google’s new headquarters in California, according to the latest design papers posted by the IT giant Mock-ups of the so-called ‘crabots’ are featured in lengthy planning documents submitted to the City of Mountain View Council in Silicon Valley and seen by AJ […]
Surveillance Planes Spotted in Sky for Days After West Baltimore Rioting
May 6th, 2015Via: Washington Post: What Shayne’s online rumination helped unveil was a previously secret, multi-day campaign of overhead surveillance by city and federal authorities during a period of historic political protest and unrest. … A government official familiar with the operations, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss matters not approved for public release, said […]
MIT: Solar Has Best Potential for Meeting Humanity’s Energy Needs
May 6th, 2015Disclosure: I sell solar power systems in New Zealand. — Via: Computerworld: A massive study on solar power by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) came to two main conclusions: Solar energy holds the best potential for meeting the planet’s long-term energy needs while reducing greenhouse gasses and federal and state governments must […]
France: More Surveillance
May 6th, 2015Via: BBC: The French parliament has approved a controversial law strengthening the intelligence services, with the aim of preventing Islamist attacks. The law on intelligence-gathering, adopted by 438 votes to 86, was drafted after three days of attacks in Paris in January, in which 17 people died. The Socialist government says the law is needed […]
First Road-Legal Big Rig That Can Drive Itself
May 6th, 2015Via: The Verge: Last night, atop the Hoover Dam, Freightliner unveiled the Inspiration Truck — a partially autonomous big rig that could save lives, mitigate driver fatigue and stress, and reduce CO2 emissions up to 5 percent. Daimler, which owns Freightliner, says it has done more than 10,000 miles of testing on the truck. And […]
Fracking Chemicals Contaminated Drinking Water in Pennsylvania
May 6th, 2015Via: The Verge: Traces of a chemical compound used in hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, have been found in drinking water at three homes in Pennsylvania, according to a study published this week. The findings of the study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, add to growing concerns over the public health […]
Cops No Longer Need a Warrant When Seeking Cellphone Records from Wireless Carriers
May 6th, 2015Via: Vice: Cops no longer need a warrant when seeking cellphone records from wireless carriers in the US a federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday—reversing its own decision from last year. The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit ruled that citizens have no expectation of privacy when it comes to records held […]
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 […]
