Tag: technology

Scientists Claim To Have Created A Tiny Wormhole In The Quantum Realm

For some who find the Fibonacci sequence used to entanglement qubits to be baffling, which is a crazy topic we published a video about here, you’d best grab onto something solid.

Recently, a group of scientists discovered that quantum systems may mimic wormholes, theoretical shortcuts in spacetime, in that they permit the instantaneous transfer of information between distant places.

Despite the fact that quantum particles are unaffected by gravity in the same manner that classical objects are, the study team believes their results may have ramifications for investigating quantum gravity. The study appeared this week in the journal Nature.

“The relationship between quantum entanglement, spacetime, and quantum gravity is one of the most important questions in fundamental physics and an active area of theoretical research,” California Institute of Technology physicist Maria Spiropulu, the paper’s primary author, claimed in a press release. “We are excited to take this small step toward testing these ideas on quantum hardware and will keep going.“

It’s time to take a breather. It should be made clear that the researchers did not really transmit quantum information via a spacetime rip, which in principle would unite previously disconnected parts of the universe.

Think of it as folding a sheet of paper in half and sticking a pencil in between the folds. Since the paper represents spacetime, you may use it as a gateway to connect two seemingly inaccessible locations.

Keep reading

San Francisco will allow police to deploy robots that kill

Supervisors in San Francisco voted Tuesday to give city police the ability to use potentially lethal, remote-controlled robots n emergency situations — following an emotionally charged debate that reflected divisions on the politically liberal board over support for law enforcement.

The vote was 8-3, with the majority agreeing to grant police the option despite strong objections from civil liberties and other police oversight groups. Opponents said the authority would lead to the further militarization of a police force already too aggressive with poor and minority communities.

Supervisor Connie Chan, a member of the committee that forwarded the proposal to the full board, said she understood concerns over use of force but that “according to state law, we are required to approve the use of these equipments. So here we are, and it’s definitely not a easy discussion.”

The San Francisco Police Department said it does not have pre-armed robots and has no plans to arm robots with guns. But the department could deploy robots equipped with explosive charges “to contact, incapacitate, or disorient violent, armed, or dangerous suspect” when lives are at stake, SFPD spokesperson Allison Maxie said in a statement.

“Robots equipped in this manner would only be used in extreme circumstances to save or prevent further loss of innocent lives,” she said.

Keep reading

MIT Engineers Invent Robot Capable of Building “Almost Anything” Including Replicating Itself

Engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) are developing a group of robots with built-in intelligence that are capable of building almost anything, including buildings, vehicles, and even replicating themselves into bigger robots.

This innovative research was published in the journal Nature Communications Engineering in a study authored by CBA doctoral student Amira Abdel-Rahman, Professor and CBA Director Neil Gershenfeld, and three others.

The researchers revealed they are working with the aviation industry, car companies, and NASA on the new technology.

“The new work, from MIT’s Center for Bits and Atoms (CBA), builds on years of research, including recent studies demonstrating that objects such as a deformable airplane wing and a functional racing car could be assembled from tiny identical lightweight pieces — and that robotic devices could be built to carry out some of this assembly work,” MIT announced on Tuesday, Nov. 22.

Keep reading

San Francisco police consider letting robots use ‘deadly force’

The San Francisco Police Department is proposing a new policy that would give robots the license to kill, as reported earlier by Mission Local (via Engadget). The draft policy, which outlines how the SFPD can use military-style weapons, states robots can be “used as a deadly force option when risk of loss of life to members of the public or officers is imminent and outweighs any other force option.”

As reported by Mission Local, members of the city’s Board of Supervisors Rules Committee have been reviewing the new equipment policy for several weeks. The original version of the draft didn’t include any language surrounding robots’ use of deadly force until Aaron Peskin, the Dean of the city’s Board of Supervisors, initially added that “robots shall not be used as a Use of Force against any person.”

However, the SFPD returned the draft with a red line crossing out Peskin’s addition, replacing it with the line that gives robots the authority to kill suspects. According to Mission Local, Peskin eventually decided to accept the change because “there could be scenarios where deployment of lethal force was the only option.” San Francisco’s rules committee unanimously approved a version of the draft last week, which will face the Board of Supervisors on November 29th.

Keep reading

Lab-grown adrenal glands could help treat hormone-related conditions

Tiny human adrenal glands similar to those found in 4-month-old fetuses have been grown from stem cells in the lab for the first time. The achievement may help to develop treatments for conditions in which these glands don’t function properly.

Adrenal glands are located in the kidneys and make molecules that are involved in our metabolism, our response to stress and the production of sex hormones.

Previous attempts to grow small versions of the glands from induced pluripotent stem (IPS) cells – adult cells that have been coaxed to revert to a form where they have the potential to develop into almost any cell type – have failed to create something similar to the glands found in the body.

Keep reading

Killing By Drone: Hunting Enemies In Urban Combat

A new drone from Israel’s Elbit Systems called Lanius combines a number of technologies that put it at the forefront of how drones are transforming war.

At the same time, reports about the drone may raise questions about how this technology may make war more controversial as “robots” play a larger role in it.

The more armies and defense companies invest in new technology that enables combat to take place remotely — without soldiers interacting with civilians, for instance — the more it seems like “robot wars.”

Elbit Systems has said that Lanius is “part of the Legion-X robotic and autonomous combat solution.” Elbit is one of Israel’s three largest defense companies and is at the forefront of defense technology.

Its website says the drone “is a highly maneuverable and versatile drone-based loitering munition designed for short-range operation in the urban environment.”

The drone can scout and map buildings, flying around small corridors and through doorways. This means it can help a user find “points of interest for possible threats, detecting, classifying and syncing to Elbit Systems’ Legion-X solutions. Lanius can carry lethal or non-lethal payloads, capable of performing a broad spectrum of mission profiles for special forces, military, law enforcement, and HLS.”

Keep reading

Mind-Controlled Wheelchairs: Study Shows Promising Possibilities For Paralyzed People

Promising work in the field of machine learning indicates that people with severe tetraplegia will have a new way to navigate the world with mind-controlled wheelchairs.

Researchers have found that tetraplegic users can navigate natural, and even cluttered, environments with a powered wheelchair using brain signals communicated to a brain-machine interface (BMI), SciTechDaily reported. The primary aim of the study was to demonstrate the reciprocal learning process between users and the BMI algorithm.

“We show that mutual learning of both the user and the brain-machine interface algorithm are both important for users to successfully operate such wheelchairs,” said José del R. Millán, the corresponding author of the study from the University of Texas at Austin. “Our research highlights a potential pathway for improved clinical translation of non-invasive brain-machine interface technology.”

Keep reading

Reminder: Microsoft Has a Patent for a ‘Cryptocurrency System Using Body Activity Data’ and It’s Just as Creepy as It Sounds

Here is an overview of Microsoft’s “Cryptocurrency System Using Body Activity Data” patent, which calls for using a person’s bodily functions—including everything from their heart beat to their brain activity—as a way to perform so-called “proof-of-work” for “mining” various cryptocurrencies. The patent, number WO2020060606, even outlines how real-time imagining of individuals’ brain activity could be used for the scheme.

In June of 2019 Microsoft—the tech company that makes laggy, buggy software and has a monster market cap of approximately $1.8 trillion—filed a patent for a “Cryptocurrency System Using Body Activity Data.” The patent, which was published in March of 2020, outlines how, in essence, a person’s bodily functions—including everything from their heart beat to their brain activity—could be used as a way to perform so-called “proof-of-work” for “mining” various cryptocurrencies; whether they be decentralized cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, or centralized ones, like central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).

The patent number for Microsoft’s creepy cryptocurrency system, as conspiracy theorists like to point out, is WO2020060606.

Keep reading

FDA Announces LAB GROWN MEAT That Was Served at COP27 Climate Conference Is ‘SAFE TO EAT’: ‘The World Is Experiencing A Food Revolution’

The US Food and Drug Administration has approved lab-grown meat, a product grown from animal cells, for human consumption for the first time.

The FDA announced Wednesday that laboratory-grown chicken developed by Upside Food, is “safe to eat,” clearing the way for the California-based company that creates cell-cultured chickens to begin selling its products.

To manufacture its meat, Upside Foods harvests cells from live animals, chicken tissue, and uses the cells to grow meat in stainless-steel tanks known as bioreactors.

The agency issued a statement Wednesday announcing it evaluated Upside Food’s production and cultured cell material and has “no further questions” about the safety of its cultivated chicken filet.

“The world is experiencing a food revolution,” stated FDA Commissioner Robert M. Califf. “Advancements in cell culture technology are enabling food developers to use animal cells obtained from livestock poultry, and seafood in the production of food with these products expected to be ready for the US market in the near future.”

“The FDA’s goal is to support innovation in food technologies while always maintaining as our first priority the safety of the foods available to US consumers,” he added.

Upside Foods founder and CEO Uma Valeti heralded the FDA’s approval.

“I’ve been looking forward to this day for a long time. UPSIDE has received our “No Question Letter” from the FDA. They’ve accepted our conclusion that cultivated chicken is safe to eat, meaning UPSIDE is one step closer to being on tables,” Valeti tweeted.

Keep reading

Raising the steaks: British scientists grow fillet steak in a LABORATORY that looks and smells just like real meat – and it could be coming soon to a plate near you

British scientists have successfully grown fillet steak in a laboratory – and it could be available to buy as early as next year.

3D Bio-Tissues (3DBT), a spinoff from Newcastle University, produced three small prototype fillets, each weighing just 5g each.

According to the team, when pan fried, the fillets seared easily and showed heavy caramelisation, with aromas ‘identical to those of barbecued meat’.

Che Connon, Chief Executive of 3DBT, said: ‘We are extremely pleased with the results of our first prototype which has exceeded our expectations in terms of integrity, aroma, texture and more.

‘We believe our prototypes to be some of the first fillets of cultivated meat in the world, representing a ground-breaking development for the industry.’

Keep reading