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Latest by D. Furness

asteroid spacecraft madeinspace

NASA just gave $100K to a company that wants to steer asteroids toward Earth

NASA has awarded funding to California-based company Made in Space to develop technology that may see asteroids become self-propelled spacecraft
white house livestream ai subcommittee washington dc

Live: You can stream the White House’s AI for Social Good workshop right now

Today’s workshop is co-hosted by the Computing Community Consortium in Washington, DC and will discuss the use of AI for social good.
nestor ai paying attention artificial intelligence

Robot overlords: Google researchers unveil framework for an AI 'kill switch'

To mitigate against AI's existential threat, Google researchers suggest designing a “kill switch” to inhibit systems from misbehaving in the first place.
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UC Davis biologists are trying to grow transplantable human organs inside of living pigs

Researchers from the University of California, Davis have injected human stem cells into the embryos of pigs in order to develop human organs.
superflex exoskeleton exosuit

For soldiers and old folks, the Superflex exosuit may help carry the load

Superflex is a soft exoskeleton that fits snuggly over the wearer's body and carries much of the load from the legs, arms, and torso.
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Second-gen bionic leaf creates fuel from sunlight, makes Mother Nature seem inefficient

Harvard researchers may have just found a solution to the planet's most pressing issues with a device dubbed “bionic leaf 2.0."
chile solar energy here  s how many panels we d need to provide power for the entire planet

Chile is giving away its surplus solar energy for free

Chile has become a prime example of why solar energy can be a blessing and a curse; good for consumers but bad for many businesses in the energy industry.
elon musk tesla

Elon Musk thinks we should insert ‘neural laces’ into our brains so we can become cyborgs

In a conversation at Recode’s annual Code Conference, Musk shared a tentative idea of “neural laces,” which he imagines could help augment humans.
Elon Musk

Elon Musk thinks we’re basically living in the Matrix, and we should be glad about it

In a well-considered argument. Elon Musk concludes that we most likely exist in a computer-generated reality of some highly advanced civilization.
cat licki brush

You can thank Portland for this giant silicone tongue to ‘lick’ your cat with

A new Kickstarter campaign hopes to capitalize on human's devotion to their pets with the Licki, a device that let’s humans lick their cat.
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Here’s what yesterday’s swarm intelligence AMA predicted about the future of politics

A swarm intelligence set upon Reddit yesterday for an IAmA session, in which redditors were invited to ask any questions about politics.
godspot wifi church olympus digital camera

What would Jesus download? German clergy hopes free Wi-Fi initiative will coax people into church

Germans have a new reason to attend church – free Wi-Fi will soon be offered in 220 churches around Berlin and Brandenburg.
vr cinema berlin viktor richardsson digital trends 15 feat

Can I cry in this headset? The world’s first VR cinema is ironing out the kinks

One of the world's first virtual reality cinemas opened in Berlin last month in an attempt to combine a disruptive technology with an old industry.
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Will swarm intelligence predict America’s next president?

Today, a swarm intelligence session will be set up on Reddit to answer questions about the 2016 presidential election.
programmable rna vaccines syringe vaccine needle

Harvard Medical School research suggests that vaccines could help fight Alzheimer’s

Changes in brain chemistry have been linked to Alzheimer's, but scientists have yet to determine a cause, let alone a cure. But treatment may be in sight.
china heavy lift cargo ship

China’s new heavy-lift ship is one of the biggest ever built

The Guang Hua Kou falls into a class of vessels known as heavy lift semi-submersible ships and, at 98,000 tons, it’s one of the biggest in existence.
coma consciousness metabolism

Researchers say they can predict awareness and return to consciousness of comatose patients

By measuring how much sugar a brain consumes, scientists are able to predict a patient’s awareness and the chance that they will regain consciousness.
laboratory for cell gene medicine braincancer

By 3D printing tumors, scientists hope to kill brain cancer

There may be hope for brain cancer patients in the work of an interdisciplinary pair: a 3D-printing expert and tumor biologist.
jumproach robot bug

Spring-loaded robotic roach can leap over five feet high

The little robot called JumpRoach can scurry around, flip itself upright, and leap over five feet into the air.
SpaceX

SpaceX will attempt yet another high-velocity rocket landing tonight. Here’s where to watch

SpaceX hopes to safely bring another Falcon 9 rocket home tonight after launching a Thai telecommunications satellite into a high-elliptical orbit.
faception facial recognition

Are you a terrorist, an academic, or a poker player? This startup says it can tell from your face

An Israeli startup claims its software can identify terrorists, academics, professional poker players, and pedophiles by facial features alone.
adidas speedfactory robots

Your next pair of Adidas sneakers could be made by robots

Adidas is bringing some of its manufacturing back to the homeland with an ultra-modern, 15,000 square-foot facility in Ansbach, Germany.
navy swarm drones locustdrone

Watch the Navy’s LOCUST launcher fire reconaissance drones like they’re missiles

Not to be outdone by the military’s other branches, the Navy has developed a launcher and swarming drones at the Office of Naval Research (ONR).
harvard robobee perch roboticinsectphoto02

Harvard scientists just figured out how to make their robotic bee 'perch' on objects to save energy

Despite its small size, the Harvard-developed micro aerial vehicle is capable of flight and perching to conserve its valuable energy.
hangar 1 fog vodka sanfranfog

Some crazy California distillery is making vodka with San Francisco’s fog

In an effort to overcome California's biggest draught in history, Hangar 1 turned to San Fransisco's plentiful fog to help produce their vodka.
australian outback farmbot farm robot

Australian ranchers are turning to farm robots to manage livestock in the Outback

Australian engineers have developed a farmbot to herd and monitor livestock, while scanning the ground to determine the quality of the pasturelands.
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Google’s newly launched Magenta Project aims to create art with artificial intelligence

Inspired by the competitive success of AlphaGo and the cultural appeal of DeepDream, Google expands its AI into the humanities with the the Magenta project
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Lockheed Martin joins the space race to Mars

This week, Lockheed Martin revealed its Mars Base Camp concept, a space station that will orbit the Red Planet and help astronauts prepare for landing.
ai nobel experiment einboson

It took scientists 70 years to solve this physics problem, and an AI system did it in under an hour

Australian physicists developed a highly-specialized artificial intelligence that learned and recreated a Nobel-winning experiment.
wtf star kickstarter

WTF? Help astronomers solve this massive mystery: Where’s the flux?

A team of astronomers behind "the most mysterious star in our galaxy" have launched a Kickstarter campaign to find out what's orbiting it.
phsyicists discover new form light lightfibers

Physicists discover new form of light, validate decades-old quantum mechanics prediction

Researchers led by Trinity College Dublin have discovered a new form of light that disobeys predicted qualities of light.
white house microbiome staphylococcus aureaumagnification 20 000

The White House just launched a $500M initiative aimed at understanding gut microbes

With over $500 million in investments and contributions, the White House has launched an initiative to understand the influence of microscopic bacteria.
whiskey barrel infrared

Apparently, blasting bourbon barrels with infrared light makes for damn good whiskey

Buffalo Trace's 2016 Experimental Collection opens with a whiskey aged in barrels that partner Independent Stave toasted with infrared light.
parkinsons disease brain cells reprogrammed scan

Scientists have developed an algorithm that can detect seizures up to 20 minutes in advance

An algorithm designed by CEU Cardinal Herrera University researchers may help detect oncoming seizures up to 20 minutes in advance.