Want to read Slashdot from your mobile device? Point it at m.slashdot.org and keep reading!

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
×
Robotics

Submission + - SPAM: Towards a robotic society in 2020?

Submitted by
Roland Piquepaille
Roland Piquepaille writes: "Spanish researchers have published a study about the potential future impact of robots on society. They think that the potentially widening gap between the first and third worlds will cause a technological imbalance over the next 12 years. One of the researchers said that 'just as we depend upon mobile phones and cars in our daily lives today, the next 15 years will see mass hybridization between humans and robots.' So they predict that robots will be around — and inside — us. But read more for additional references and a picture showing how robots will be incorporated into our domestic tasks according to the researchers."
Graphics

Submission + - SPAM: Virtual characters express their emotions

Submitted by
Roland Piquepaille
Roland Piquepaille writes: "Spanish researchers have developed a computer model able to generate virtual faces which display emotions and moods according to personality traits. The team leader explains: 'The aim of this work has been to design a model that reveals a person's moods and displays them on a virtual face. In the same 3-D space we have integrated personality, emotions and moods, which had previously been dealt with separately.' This model could be applied in both educational environments (virtual tutors and presenters with personality traits) and in video game characters. But read more for additional references and pictures of a virtual character showing various universal emotions: anger, disgust, fear, joy, sadness and surprise."
Power

Submission + - SPAM: Nuclear fusion as future power source

Submitted by
Roland Piquepaille
Roland Piquepaille writes: "MIT researchers have used their Alcator C-Mod fusion reactor, in operation since 1993, to bring the promise of fusion as a future power source a bit closer to reality. As you probably know, fusion is the reaction that produces the sun's energy and it has an 'enormous potential for future power generation because fusion plant operation produces no emissions.' Their advances are closely scrutinized by scientists participating to the planned ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) now under construction in France. But read more for additional references, a picture of the control room of the MIT's fusion reactor and for one of the most obfuscated abstracts I have ever read."
Earth

Submission + - SPAM: Nuclear technology to beat world hunger?

Submitted by
Roland Piquepaille
Roland Piquepaille writes: "The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is known for its inspections of nuclear facilities around the world. But it's quite surprising to learn that the IAEA is collaborating with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to apply nuclear science to food security. 'IAEA scientists use radiation to produce improved high-yielding plants that adapt to harsh climate conditions such as drought or flood, or that are resistant to certain diseases and insect pests.' This mutation induction technique has been used for a number of years — even if I'm discovering this today. More than 3,000 crop varieties of some 170 different plant species have been released through the direct intervention of the IAEA, from rice to barley, and from bananas to grapefruits. But read more for additional references and a picture of mutant banana samples as an example of a crop modified by the IAEA researchers."
Robotics

Submission + - SPAM: Robots mimic razor clams

Submitted by
Roland Piquepaille
Roland Piquepaille writes: "MIT researchers have developed a robot inspired by the razor clam. According to the engineers, this RoboClam could lead to a 'smart' anchor that burrows through the ocean floor to reposition itself and could even reverse. These small robots, which have the size of a cigarette lighter, could be used as 'tethers for small robotic submarines that are routinely repositioned to monitor variables such as currents and temperature. [They also could] be directed to a specific location could also be useful as a detonator for buried underwater mines.' But read more for many additional references and a picture of the MIT's RoboClam close to a real razor clam."
Supercomputing

Submission + - SPAM: Supercomputers help design better golf balls

Submitted by
Roland Piquepaille
Roland Piquepaille writes: "Researchers are using supercomputers to create new balls that will improve the game of avid golfers by flying farther. They've used the supercomputers at Arizona State University to simulate the physics of golf balls and to model how air flows around a ball in flight and to study how this flow is influenced by the ball's dimples. Their goal is to make a better golf ball by optimizing the size and pattern of these dimples and lowering the drag golf balls encounter as they fly through the air. 'For a golf ball, drag reduction means that the ball flies farther,' says one of the engineers. A single simulation takes about 300 hours by using 500 processors — so these balls could be expensive to produce. And the scientists are the first to admit that new golf balls based on their research are years away. But read more for many additional references and pictures describing a direct numerical simulation of the flow around a dimpled golf ball."
Announcements

Submission + - SPAM: The fastest mandible strike in the world

Submitted by
Roland Piquepaille
Roland Piquepaille writes: "U.S. researchers report that the termite named Termes panamensis possesses the fastest mandible strike ever recorded. 'Footage of the soldier termite's jaws as they strike an invader at almost 70 meters per second was captured on a high speed video camera in the laboratory at 40,000 frames per second.' As said one of the researchers, 'many insects move much faster than a human eye can see so we knew that we needed high speed cameras to capture their behavior, but we weren't expecting anything this fast.' I guess this discovery will not change our world, except for a new page in the Guinness Book of World Records. Read more for many additional references and pictures of the soldier mandibles of Termes panamensis."
Medicine

Submission + - SPAM: Smart and interactive textile structures

Submitted by
Roland Piquepaille
Roland Piquepaille writes: "It's not the first time that I'm writing about smart textiles — check here or there for previous stories. But today, let's look at the work of Lena Berglin, a Swedish PhD student who is creating multifunctional textiles based on smart materials. She already has developed an intelligent glove, capable of transmitting communication, and several garments for health monitoring including a tanktop, a cardigan and a belt that measure ECG, muscular activity and breathing frequency. Here is a short quote from Lena Berglin: 'I wanted to do something that gave a positive health effect and made life easier.' Read more for many additional details and pictures of the researcher and of her smart glove."
Space

Submission + - SPAM: The world's most powerful virtual telescope

Submitted by
Roland Piquepaille
Roland Piquepaille writes: "Astronomers have successfully combined three telescopes located on Mauna Kea in Hawaii to create the largest virtual telescope for short wavelengths. The Extended SubMillimeter Array (eSMA) connects the signals from the SubMillimeter Array (SMA), consisting of eight dishes with 6-meter diameter, with those from the 15-meter James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) and the 10-meter Caltech Submillimeter Observatory (CSO) through fiber-optic cables. The signals from all ten dishes are electronically combined in a large special-purpose computer to create a virtual telescope with a diameter of 782 meters, allowing for an exceptionally sharp view. Preliminary results obtained with this virtual telescope are very promising. They might prefigure what we'll see when the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) becomes operational in Chile in 2013. Read more for many additional details a satellite view of the eSMA."
NASA

Submission + - SPAM: NASA and DoE team on dark energy research

Submitted by
Roland Piquepaille
Roland Piquepaille writes: "NASA and the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) have teamed up to operate the future Joint Dark Energy Mission (JDEM). As you probably know, recent astronomical measurements have showed that about 72% of the total energy in the universe is dark energy, even if scientists don't know much about it, but speculate that it is present almost since the beginning of our Universe more than 13 billion years ago. The JDEM 'mission will make precise measurements of the expansion rate of the universe to understand how this rate has changed with time. These measurements will yield vital clues about the nature of dark energy.' The launch of a spacecraft for the JDEM mission is not planned before 2015. Read more for additional details and pictures describing the timeline and the contents of the Universe."
Transportation

Submission + - SPAM: Facial recognition systems for border security

Submitted by
Roland Piquepaille
Roland Piquepaille writes: "Facial recognition systems are used around the world to check very quickly if an individual's photo appears in a database of known or suspected criminals. Unfortunately, the systems often acquire poor facial images in real-world environments such as airports. Now, researchers at the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have found that several simple steps can significantly improve the quality of facial images that are acquired at border entry points such as airports and seaports. The researchers add that their recommendations for improving facial images could be implemented relatively easily — and cheaply — with existing facial recognition technology. Read more for additional details and a picture showing how the NIST facial recognition system rates a number of face attributes."
Robotics

Submission + - SPAM: A fully customizable home robot

Submitted by
Roland Piquepaille
Roland Piquepaille writes: "Imagine a completely customizable robot with selectable software options. Buy one component, and it will take care of your lawn. Buy another one and it will clean your toilets. With a third one, it will pick up UPS or FedEx deliveries on your porch. If you are taking some vacation, another piece of software will transform this robot into a personal guard. Prototypes of such a revolutionary robot, dubbed AgBot, have been developed by Louisiana State University (LSU). 'It is solar-powered and can move as fast as six miles per hour for a minimum time span of four hours. With artificial intelligence, Bluetooth, and advanced GPS systems, the AgBot is a problem-solving robot.' According to the LSU team, you might see a commercial version of this robot in about five years. Read more for additional details and a picture of the AgBot prototype."
Software

Submission + - SPAM: How our brain sees natural scenes

Submitted by
Roland Piquepaille
Roland Piquepaille writes: "Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) researchers have developed a new computational model explaining how the brain processes images to interpret natural scenes. According to ACM TechNews, the team 'used an algorithm to analyze the patterns that compose natural scenes and determine which patterns are most likely associated with each other.' And the team leader said that they 'were astonished that the model reproduced so many of the properties of these cells just as a result of solving this computational problem.' He added that it's still a theory, so they need to test it further.' Read more for additional details and a picture showing how statistical patterns distinguish local regions of natural scenes."
Music

Submission + - SPAM: A computer composing and playing jazz

Submitted by
Roland Piquepaille
Roland Piquepaille writes: "The Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) has some unusual teaching programs. One PhD student, Øyvind Brandtsegg, is a graduate of the jazz program and this article describes how has developed a computer program and a musical instrument for improvisation. The PhD student is 36 years old and is at the same time a composer, a musician and computer programmer. His 'computer instrument' can take any recorded sound as input and split it into a number of very short sound particles that can last for between 1 and 10 milliseconds. 'These fragments may be infinitely reshuffled, making it possible to vary the music with no change in the fundamental theme.' But read more for additional details and a picture of Brandtsegg giving a public demonstration of his 'computer instrument.'"
Graphics

Submission + - SPAM: Watching the nanoworld in 4-D

Submitted by
Roland Piquepaille
Roland Piquepaille writes: "Caltech researchers have developed a new technique named 4-D electron microscopy to capture images of atoms in real time. They claim that their 4-D microscope will revolutionize the way we look at the nanoworld. Caltech adds that Ahmed Zewail, winner of the 1999 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, and his colleagues, have introduced the time dimension into high-resolution electron microscopy. The Caltech news release is so enthusiastic about 'this revolutionary development' that it's better to look at the technical papers published by the research team. my roundup covers additional details and includes pictures describing a 'nanodrumming' phenomenon and the 4-D microscope used for imaging it."

Slashdot Top Deals

"Engineering without management is art." -- Jeff Johnson

Close