Results tagged “robots” from Short Sharp Science

What better way to celebrate the London Science Museum's centenary than with a chorus of "Happy Birthday", here sung in a particularly eerie way by three robots.We've written before about these robots, from the Interdisciplinary Centre for Computer Music Research at the University of Plymouth, which can evolve their own musical language.Two put together start singing randomly at one another. But soon start to repeat only the sections of their own song that are similar to those produced by their partner. Given enough time the two robots begin to properly duet. Although probably not as tunefully as those serenading the Science Museum in the video in after continue reading link.

Six Net Neutrality Principles Proposed

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the U.S. voted last week to start a process to formulate rules that could force Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to uphold six principles that would preserve net neutrality, or what the FCC terms "open Internet".
FCC Chairman, Julius Genachowski, said rules on net neutrality are necessary to protect innovations on the Internet and to preserve the kind of openness that has allowed the Internet to flourish. He said there have been situations in which ISPs have degraded data streams or even blocked access to lawful applications, and fair rules are necessary to avoid the potentially damaging consequences of having the openness of the Internet diminished.

Opponents, on the other hand, say the Internet has grown so rapidly because of the lack of rules and regulations, and that rules are not needed. Some opponents have also suggested that introducing rules could set a precedent for other countries to introduce regulations covering Internet use.

The principles suggested are that ISPs should allow users to:

1. send and receive all lawful content
2. use all lawful services and applications
3. use all lawful devices that do not damage the network
4. access all network, service, content and application providers

The principles will also ensure ISPs:

5. do not discriminate against lawful content, services, applications, or devices
6. reveal any practices that could limit the previous five principles

The rules have been sought by many large Internet companies such as Google, Facebook and Amazon.com, many consumer advocacy groups such as Free Press and Public Knowledge, many members of the FCC, and Internet pioneers like David Reed and Vint Cerf. Supporters say that without rules ISPs will change their price structures to tiered systems with the highest level services out of the financial reach of many entrepreneurs wishing to start their own Internet businesses. Those in favor of rules are also worried that without them some applications, such as VoIP, could become unaffordable or could even be banned for many people, thus reducing their voice call options.

Opponents to proposed net neutrality rules include Internet providers such as Verizon and AT & T, who say the rules would prevent them charging more for premium services, and the higher charges provide the incentive for the investment in network upgrades to boost performance. The result could be either more expensive rates across the board, or paying for Internet traffic by the byte.

The proposed FCC rules would also have effects on businesses, especially those with a well-developed Internet presence. Higher flat rates would push up Internet access costs for business and customers alike, and could result in a decrease in demand for online services because of their increased expense. This could have especially serious effects on businesses such as websites selling high definition video downloads.

If the FCC's six principles are adopted the effects on home users could be higher monthly charges or higher costs for downloads, but they would still be able to make phone calls using Internet services such as Skype, which would not be blocked. If the rules are not adopted, ISPs are likely to limit bandwidth and VoIP (especially as some large ISPs are also voice carriers, which are threatened by online phone services).

Republican Senator John McCain (Ariz), is opposed to the rules, and has introduced a bill to block them, while President Barack Obama has placed net neutrality rules as among his top priorities. A vote on the proposed rules will take place in 2010.

High-Energy Batteries Coming to Market

Rechargeable zinc-air batteries can store three times the energy of a lithium-ion battery.


A Swiss company says it has developed rechargeable zinc-air batteries that can store three times the energy of lithium ion batteries, by volume, while costing only half as much. ReVolt, of Staefa, Switzerland, plans to sell small "button cell" batteries for hearing aids starting next year and to incorporate its technology into ever larger batteries, introducing cell-phone and electric bicycle batteries in the next few years. It is also starting to develop large-format batteries for electric vehicles.

The battery design is based on technology developed at SINTEF, a research institute in Trondheim, Norway. ReVolt was founded to bring it to market and so far has raised 24 million euros in investment. James McDougal, the company's CEO, says that the technology overcomes the main problem with zinc-air rechargeable batteries--that they typically stop working after relatively few charges. If the technology can be scaled up, zinc-air batteries could make electric vehicles more practical by lowering their costs and increasing their range.

Unlike conventional batteries, which contain all the reactants needed to generate electricity, zinc-air batteries rely on oxygen from the atmosphere to generate current. In the late 1980s they were considered one of the most promising battery technologies because of their high theoretical energy-storage capacity, says Gary Henriksen, manager of the electrochemical energy storage department at Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois. The battery chemistry is also relatively safe because it doesn't require volatile materials, so zinc-air batteries are not prone to catching fire like lithium-ion batteries.

Scubacraft explores surface and depths

-- The vehicle shown above may be both yellow and submersible, but please don't call it a submarine. It's a Scubacraft, the first self-contained submersible that's also a capable surface watercraft.

The brainchild of engineers and entrepreneurs from Wales, Scubacraft uses an internal-combustion engine to reach a dive site where it can descend to a maximum depth of about 100 feet. "The experience is simply exhilarating," Scubacraft sales and marketing director James Browne told Wired.com. "Nothing else can compare to traveling to a dive site at 50 mph and then powering effortlessly under the water."

It's not a pressurized submarine, which means that those on board must wear scuba gear before submersion. With no cranes needed to lower the craft below water and no boat needed to carry it out to sea, a Scubacraft is significantly more versatile and less expensive than similarly sized submarines. Scubacraft won't say how much the craft costs, but other sources put the figure at $164,000.

That's a lot of cash, but Browne says you might recoup pretty quickly. While the company isn't ignoring the lucrative Dr. No-wannabe market, Browne says that Scubacraft ownership "presents a range of commercial applications, as well as the opportunity [to] offer people underwater adventure tours and generate revenue."

Beyond underwater tourism, Browne says film producers are especially interested. A future Scubacraft concept even features a dedicated filming platform that hopefully will be used for IMAX nature films, not Waterworld 2.

"We are actively engaged with a number of film producers who have expressed interest in using it as a filming platform due to the unique opportunities it presents in being able to track subjects on the surface and then enter underwater," Browne said. "This ability has never before been available in the film and television industry."

The company will eventually offer two models: the SC3, currently in prototype form, and a larger SC6 that has yet to be built. Both will use internal-combustion engines on the surface; batteries will power electric thrusters underwater. As a precaution against the bends, computerized "automatic depth control" ensures that the Scubacraft won't descend or climb too quickly.

Browne says that in the week Scubacraft has been on sale, "the response has been simply overwhelming. We are working our way through these inquiries and actively engaging with prospective customers to specify their requirements."

Protecting the World's Fresh Water

If humanity can start the process of Earth restoration this year by agreeing to pursue aggressive pollution reduction targets for gaseous emissions like CO2 and Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC's) when the U.N. Delegates meet in Bali in December, then another challenge will be the conservation of fresh water throughout the world.

Some of the best global water management technology companies comes out of the Netherlands as their engineers have been managing the flow, distribution, and the protection of their water resources for over 2000 years. The Frisians who settled in the Netherlands built the first dykes, which were called terpens.

Prince Willem-Alexander of The Netherlands Royal Family is working in conjunction with the United Nations to tackle the improvement of the global fresh water issues that exist today. Over 2.6 billion people in the world lack sanitation control of their water resources, and this represents 40% of the global population. On November 21, the United Nations launched 2008 as the International Year of Sanitation, with one of the goals being to reduce by 50% within 15 years the number of people in the world who lack water management resources.

Today, the Dutch are working hard to consolidate and export their water technology management processes to other parts of the world. The water industry is a big business and a very important aspect towards the conservation of global ecosystems. Water treatment plants are in poor condition or nonexistent in some heavily populated areas and this affects drinking water, and the local plant and animal species, when untreated sewage is allowed to flow into lakes, rivers, seas and oceans.

Water treatment will become a growth industry for the Dutch and at the same time they will be helping humanity throughout the world. This is just one example of the new Environmental Economy that is becoming part of 21st century economics.

Welcome to the Future of Human Spaceflight

On April 28, 2001, Dennis Tito, a California-based multi-millionaire, became the first ever space tourist. Launched into space in a Russian Soyuz capsule, Tito proved that traveling beyond Earth's gravity was not just the province of a select few, but that anyone with drive, determination - and at this point in history, a lot of money - could become an astronaut.
Space tourism is a fledgling industry, born out of necessity, yet driven by the same curiosity and ambition that took humanity to the Moon; it appears to be here to stay. In Russia, Europe and the United States, private companies are already vying to become space tourism leaders. SPACE.com welcomes the next great Space Race.

Massive Gene Database Planned in California

The data will be compared against electronic health records and patients' personal information.

Plans for genetic analyses of 100,000 older Californians--the first time genetic data will be generated for such a large and diverse group--will accelerate research into environmental and genetic causes of disease, researchers say.

"This is a force multiplier with respect to genome-wide association studies," says Cathy Schaefer, a research scientist at Kaiser Permanente, a health-care provider based in Oakland, CA, whose patients will be involved. Researchers will be able to study the data and seek insights into the interplay between genes, the environment, and disease, thanks to access to detailed electronic health records, patient surveys, and even records of environmental conditions where the patients live and work.

"The importance of this project is that it will, almost overnight--well, in two years--produce a very large amount of genetic and phenotypic data that a large number of investigators and scientists can begin asking questions of, rather than having to gather data first," Schaefer says.

The effort will make use of existing saliva samples taken from California patients, whose average age is 65. Their DNA will be analyzed for 700,000 genetic variations called single-nucleotide polymorphisms, or SNPs, using array analysis technology from Affymetrix in Santa Clara, CA. Through the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the resulting information will be available to other researchers, along with a trove of patient data including patients' Kaiser Permanente electronic health records, information about the air and water quality in their neighborhoods, and surveys about their lifestyles.

The result will be the largest genetic health research platform of its kind, says Schaefer, who directs Kaiser Permanente's research program on genes, the environment, and health. The study is being undertaken together with the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), with a $25 million, two-year NIH grant that tapped federal stimulus funds allocated earlier this year.