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Archive for the ‘computing’ category: Page 817

Sep 15, 2015

Nanoscale Solar Cells Outperform Traditional Technology

Posted by in categories: computing, information science, materials, nanotechnology, solar power, sustainability

Scientists have designed a novel type of nanoscale solar cell. Initial studies and computer modelling predict these cells will outperform traditional solar panels, reach power conversion levels by over 40 percent.

Solar power cells work through the conversion of sunlight into electricity using photovoltaics. Here solar energy is converted into direct current. A photovoltaic system uses several solar panels; with each panel composed of a number of solar cells. This combines to create a system for the supply usable solar power.

To investigate what is possible in terms of solar power, the researchers have examined the Shockley-Queisser limit for different materials. This equation describes the maximum solar energy conversion efficiency achievable for a particular material, allowing different materials to be compared as candidates for power generation.

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Sep 15, 2015

Facebook wants to put virtual reality on your phone

Posted by in categories: computing, mobile phones, virtual reality

Facebook FB is working on a stand-alone app that would support 360-degree—or “spherical”—video, allowing users to alter their viewing perspective with the mere tilt of their phones.

The app is still in early development, and would be available for both Apple AAPL and Android operating systems if it proves to be a go, sources close to the project told The Wall Street Journal.

Typically compiled from multiple cameras, the video format allows users to change their viewing perspective by tilting their phones, the Journal reported.

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Sep 14, 2015

Scientists Hope To Resurrect A Dead Girl Who Wanted To Live Inside A Computer

Posted by in categories: computing, life extension, neuroscience

Kim Suozzi died at age 23 from glioblastoma — a deadly brain tumour.

When she died in 2013, she made sure her fight for survival, albeit an unusual one, would not be forgotten.

She wanted to live forever through a computer and chose to have her brain frozen in the hopes that it may one day be resurrected and transformed into digital code.

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Sep 13, 2015

I got a computer chip implanted into my hand. Here’s how it went.

Posted by in categories: computing, cyborgs

Cool story:


Believe it or not, it happened at a presidential campaign event.

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Sep 13, 2015

Why The Future Of Technology Is All Too Human

Posted by in categories: computing, information science, robotics/AI

The concept of artificial intelligence got it’s start at a conference at Dartmouth in 1956. Optimism ran high and it was believed that machines would be able to do the work of humans within 20 years. Alas, it was not to be. By the 1970’s, funding dried up and technology entered the period now known as the AI winter.

Slowly, however, progress was made. Computers became increasingly able to do human tasks, such as character recognition, making recommendations on Amazon and organizing itineraries on travel sites. We didn’t see the algorithms at work, but they were there, computing on our behalf.

So the answer to our technological dilemma is, in fact, all too human. While the past favored those who could retain and process information efficiently, the future belongs to those who can imagine a better world and work with others to make it happen.

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Sep 12, 2015

Humans Will Have Cloud-Connected Hybrid Brains

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, computing, engineering, nanotechnology, Ray Kurzweil, robotics/AI

So, you think you’ve seen it all? You haven’t seen anything yet. By the year 2030, advancements will excel anything we’ve seen before concerning human intelligence. In fact, predictions offer glimpses of something truly amazing – the development of a human hybrid, a mind that thinks in artificial intelligence.

Ray Kurzweil, director of engineering at Google, spoke openly about this idea at the Exponential Finance Conference in New York. He predicts that humans will have hybrid brains able to connect to the cloud, just as with computers. In this cloud, there will be thousands of computers which will update human intelligence. The larger the cloud, the more complicated the thinking. This will all be connected using DNA strands called Nanobots. Sounds like a Sci-Fi movie, doesn’t it?

Kurzweil says:

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Sep 12, 2015

Samsung Chip to Bring 6GB of RAM to Your Smartphone

Posted by in category: computing

Many of the top smartphones today have around 3GB of onboard memory.

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Sep 12, 2015

Introduction to Quantum Computers (2014, 1080p)

Posted by in categories: computing, quantum physics

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fb3gn5GsvRk

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Sep 12, 2015

Quantum Computing – Artificial Intelligence Is Here

Posted by in categories: computing, quantum physics, robotics/AI

Geordie Rose, Founder of D-Wave (recent clients are Google and NASA) believes that the power of quantum computing is that we can ‘exploit parallel universes’ to solve problems that we have no other means of confirming. Simply put, quantum computers can think exponentially faster and simultaneously such that as they mature they will out pace us. Listen to his talk now!

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Sep 11, 2015

The First Human Head Transplant Will Take Place in 2017

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, computing, genetics, neuroscience

Italian neurosurgeon Sergio Canavero grabbed the world’s attention this past winter when he announced his plans to perform the first human head transplant. Many doubted that such an outrageous procedure would ever see the light of day. Now, Canavero has a date on the books.

Thirty-year-old Russian computer scientist Valery Spiridonov is set to become the world’s first head transplant patient in December 2017. Spiridonov suffers from a rare genetic muscle-wasting condition known as Werdnig-Hoffmann disease. There’s currently no known treatment.

As you might not want to imagine, the procedure will be filled with challenges and uncertainties. There’s the hair-raising possibility that the head will reject the body or vice versa. The spinal cord might not fuse properly. Even if everything goes well, there’s no telling whether Spiridonov’s mental capacities or personality will remain the same. He’s embarking on totally uncharted medical territory.

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