Clipmarks | wildcat's 'technology' clips

The "Idea Acceleration Chamber"- " Kage Roi"

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 09:25:58 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

You've heard lots about genomic this and nano-that, but deep down we've all really known what high-tech was meant to provide: great big room-filling voice controlled displays.

Technology company Kayac have developed a prototype "idea acceleration chamber" called "Kage Roi". Microphones monitor conversations and search the web for relevant images and pages, displaying them directly on the meeting table, and even controlling the ambient lighting to match the desired mood.

Not since nuclear power has a technology with such an awesome potential for use and abuse come about. Once the idea is liberated from the corporate world and makes its way into the home, it could be the most awesome setting for parties and alcoholically-influenced discussions you've ever seen

while many struggle to make faster this and bigger that, others realise that outside of specialists there isn't any need to make some things better, but to blend them better with their human users.

Tags: kayac, tech, displays

Hot tech to watch in the next four years

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 09:53:12 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: www.dailygalaxy.com

The lifespan of technology is such that it’s hard enough to buy a computer that will last you more than three years, let alone be state of the art after 6 months. So when Gartner Group – an information and technology research and advisory firm – releases their “Top 10 Technologies” list, it isn’t for “the next decade,” but rather “for the next four years.”

Such a list has just been released bm y the world’s leading technology research center, and appears below.

1. Multicore and hybrid processors

2. Virtualization and fabric computing

3. Social networks and social software

4. Cloud computing and cloud/Web platforms

5. Web mashups

6. User Interface

7. Ubiquitous computing

8. Contextual computing

9. Augmented reality

10. Semantics

Tags: technology, hot, computers, web

Is life a gift?

Thu, 15 May 2008 20:55:30 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: ieet.org

Mike LaTorra

Ethical Technology

Harvard’s Michael Sandel argues in his book The Case Against Perfection: Ethics in the Age of Genetic Engineering that life is a gift and that we should accept the unbidden nature of this gift, working toward acceptance and solidarity with others rather than seeking unbridled mastery over human biology. But is life properly viewed as a gift?

The claim that life is a gift automatically entails a responsibility on the part of the recipient of that gift to respond with gratitude and without taking issue with the precise attributes and characteristics of what has been given and received. One is supposed to live by the aphorism “Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth” (or you might see a lot of rotten teeth). So to accept Sandel’s premise that life is a gift is also to accept that one is obliged to respond in a certain way and without closely scrutinizing the actual conditions of what has been received.

But is life a gift at all?

Tags: ethics, technology

Spiritual Transcendence in Transhumanism

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 09:15:29 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: jetpress.org

The evolution of science and technology to the next several levels must include a harmonious symbiosis between science and religion. Human civilization has so far shown a stereotyped conflict between either. Both science and religion must be regarded as equally important methods for spiritual transcendence in transhumanism. This paper discusses how religion can complement the ideals of transhumanism if looked from a new perspective. The paper draws primarily on Eastern religious thought, particularly Hinduism, to explain why it is important for transhumanists and progressive futurists of science and technology to find common ground with religion in order to evolve. It is important for transhumanism to extract the transcendent messages from different religions. It also becomes important for religious thinkers to draw from the ideals of transhumanist philosophies in order to allow the survival of progressive religious thought into the undefined future.

Tags: transcendence, transhumanism, religion

Space Laser Created to Detect Earth-like Planets

Sun, 06 Apr 2008 09:04:27 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: www.dailygalaxy.com

A new laser system should make it possible to detect potentially habitable Earth-like planets for the first time by watching for their effects on the light produced by the stars they orbit.

Researchers at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics have adapted a relatively young laser technology to discern the once undetectably faint gravitational influence a rocky, Earth-like planet revolving around a Sun-like star exerts on their home stars' light output.

If the Harvard technique holds up in use on actual telescopes, it could be "a huge breakthrough" in the search for Earth-like planets, which will help scientists "understand how our own Earth came to be" and search for life beyond our planet, says Sara Seager, a professor of earth and planetary sciences at MIT in an interview with the MIT Technology Review.

To date, astronomers have discovered nearly 300 exoplanets, outside our own solar system.

Tags: space, laser, exoplanets, earth like planets

The Networked Pill

Mon, 24 Mar 2008 20:25:59 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: www.technologyreview.com

A new information system records what pills do to the body.

A system that monitors pill taking and its effects is being engineered by a Silicon Valley startup. The technology consists of pills that report when they've been taken, and sensors that monitor the body's responses.

The company behind the technology, Proteus Biomedical, of Redwood City, CA, calls its technology the Raisin system

George Savage, Proteus's cofounder and a former ER physician, says that the company was motivated by the fact that so many medical problems stem from drug compliance problems

According to Savage, 40 percent of hospital readmissions for heart failure happen because patients fail to take their medications properly.

Even when a regimen is followed, it may not be the best regimen

Imagine a situation where drug ingestion is tracked, and heart pressure before, immediately after, and later are known

That represents real, individualized, tailored drug therapy."

Tags: technology, pills, moniytoring

"The Ilulissat Manifesto" -Creating Artifical Life

Fri, 14 Mar 2008 18:41:14 GMT

clipped by: wildcat
clipper's remarks: "So is the new technology dangerous? Yes. Could this technology end up saving countless lives and clean up many of the environmental messes we’ve created? Yes. Is it worth the risk? Probably."

Clip Source: www.dailygalaxy.com

In a recent post, “Playing God” -Scientists in Final Stage of Creating Man-made Life, we covered some of the benefits and concerns associated with synthesizing life forms from raw genetic material.

The thought that man now has the capacity to create life is staggering. Its many implications are barely understood.

Yet seventeen leading scientists from a variety of fields met in Ilulissat, Greenland to announce their support of the new technology as revolutionary as the discovery of DNA and creation of the transistor.

The field, 'synthetic biology,' is the science of constructing or redesigning components of biological systems that do not naturally exist. By combining engineering applications, nanoscience and molecular biology, man is able to create a new life form.

They believe it carries enormous healing potential in terms of human life and the environment, and they’re not taking it lightly.

"As with any powerful technology, the promise comes with risk,"

Tags: artifical, life, synthetic, biology

Virtuality and reality 'to merge'

Sat, 23 Feb 2008 14:58:26 GMT

clipped by: wildcat
clipper's remarks: "In virtual worlds we do real romance, real learning, real business. Virtual reality is real reality."

He added: "Games are the cutting edge of what is happening - we are going to spend more of our time in virtual reality environments.

"Fully emergent games is really where we want to go. We will do most of our learning through these massively parallel interactions."

"Play is how we principally learn and principally create," he said.

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Computers the size of blood cells will create fully immersive virtual realities by 2033, leading inventor Ray Kurzweil has predicted.

Exponential growth in processing power and the shrinking of technology would see the development of microscopic computers, he said.

"We will see a billion-fold increase in the price-performance of computers in the next 25 years," he said.

"Virtual will compete with reality," he told the Game Developers Conference.

Pea-sized computer

Mr Kurzweil said it was possible to accurately predict the growth and change in computing power by looking at how it had developed over the last 50 years.

"There will be a 100,000-fold shrinking of computer technology over the next 25 years," he said.

"Today you can put a pea-sized computer inside your brain, if you have Parkinson's disease and want to replace the biological neurons that were destroyed by the disease."

the blood cell computers would be able to "produce full immersion virtual reality from inside the nervous system".

Tags: virtuality, reality, merging

Bacteria and nanofilters -- the future of clean water technology

Wed, 13 Feb 2008 12:10:05 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: physorg.com

Bacteria often get bad press, with those found in water often linked to illness and disease. But researchers at The University of Nottingham are using these tiny organisms alongside the very latest membrane filtration techniques to improve and refine water cleaning technology.

These one-celled organisms eat the contaminants present in water — whether it is being treated prior to industrial use or even for drinking — in a process called bioremediation.

The water is then filtered through porous membranes, which function like a sieve. However, the holes in these sieves are microscopic, and some are so small they can only be seen at the nanoscale. Pore size in these filters can range from ten microns — ten thousandths of a millimetre — to one nanometre — a millionth of a millimetre.

These technologies can be developed into processes which optimise the use of water — whether in an industrial system or to provide drinking water in areas where it is a scarce resource.

Tags: filtration, water, bacteria, nanotech

The Role of Intimacy in the Evolution of Technology

Fri, 01 Feb 2008 12:05:43 GMT

clipped by: wildcat
clipper's remarks: In order to establish a connection between intimacy and technology, we will need to revive the old theory of technology as organ-projection, but informed by the notion of intimacy

Clip Source: jetpress.org

Abstract

In this article, Georges Bataille’s notion of intimacy will be re-interpreted to show that it has a role to play in the evolution of technology. The specifically human form of intimacy can be experienced through the successful adoption of technological devices that have the qualities necessary to fit in and work out in our life context. If they manage to become part of our life, then we experience them as projections of our psychophysical personality, and, as such, they escape our positing, objectifying consciousness. Intimacy can be seen as the organizing principle that shapes the evolution of technology towards an ideal end that promises at least an approximation to the absolute intimacy that is unique to the gods.

Introduction

According to Bataille, technology embodies the first act of a consciousness that split the world into subjects and objects

Tags: georges bataille, intimacy, consciousness, technology

Palpable computing: a taste of things to come

Tue, 22 Jan 2008 09:53:36 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: physorg.com

Virtually everyone stands to benefit from the more pervasive use of computer technology. But while adding microchips to more everyday objects can make lives easier – and even save them – the approach creates some unique problems of its own. “Palpable” rather than “ubiquitous” computing promises a solution.

“Palpable computing”, a term coined by Morten Kyng, a researcher at the University of Aarhus in Denmark, refers to pervasive computer technology that is also tangible and comprehensible to its users.

Ubiquitous computing, in the traditional sense, is based on the vision of making the computers invisible, Kyng suggests. “The problem is that when the technology is invisible you can’t see what it is doing, how it functions or comprehend it.”

By making the technology visible when it needs to be and comprehensible all the time, palpable computing reduces the complications of using the technology, while opening the door to developers creating new applications more easily.

Tags: palpable, computing

E-noses Could Make Diseases Something to Sniff at

Mon, 14 Jan 2008 11:46:52 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: www.sciam.com

Ancient medical practitioners plied their trade by trusting their noses. They knew that diabetes could make a patient's breath smell sweet and that a wound emitting a foul odor was infected. These early doctors, lacking today's sophisticated technology, often relied on their sense of smell to diagnose illness.

Technology is now turning this ancient art into a modern science. Engineers are developing electronic versions of the human nose that will allow doctors, ever in search of less-invasive techniques, to tap into what the nose knows about the human body.

"The sense of smell has been used as a medical diagnostic tool for thousands of years," says Bill Hanson

"Both diseases and bacteria that cause diseases have individual and unique odors. You can walk into a patient's room and know immediately in some cases that the patient has such and such bacteria just because of the odor."

Tags: enoses

42 predictions

Sun, 13 Jan 2008 11:15:31 GMT

clipped by: wildcat
clipper's remarks: go play with the future

Clip Source: www.42predictions.com

In The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy the super computer Deep Thought predicts that the number "42" is the ultimate answer and key to the Universe.

Share your predictions and thoughts and see what the world is thinking about science and space exploration, climate change, the possibility of extraterrestrial life, presidential-primary politics, technology, war and peace, and today's major news events that are changing the course of history.

42 Predictions was created by the editorial team at The Daily Galaxy -News from Planet Earth & Beyond -an eclectic text and video presentation of fascinating news and original insights on science, space exploration, technology, and their reflections in film, books, and events.

Tags: predictions, future

Robot servants in British homes 'within ten years'

Sat, 12 Jan 2008 11:25:37 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: www.dailymail.co.uk

Robot servants that do the housework to be in British homes 'within ten years'

Robot servants for the home will become a reality within ten years, according to experts at Britain's biggest technology retailer.

Technology unveiled at the world's biggest gathering of industry leaders heralds the arrival of 'house-bots', according to group buying director at PC World, Simon Turner.

He pointed to the example of sophisticated new robots which have been developed essentially as toys as opening the door to wider acceptance of the technology.

Among the latest examples unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show(CES) in Las Vegas were the Spykee series developed by Meccano and Tribot and Rovio, from Wow wee.

However, even more sophisticated worker robots are in the pipeline, such as the iRobiQ, from Yujin Robots of South Korea.

The robots - like iRobiQ - which are linked into the home's own technology and broadband internet service, will effectively become the technology hubs of the home.

Tags: robotics

An 'attractive' man-machine interface

Wed, 09 Jan 2008 15:45:43 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: physorg.com

Researchers at Children’s Hospital Boston have developed a new “nanobiotechnology” that enables magnetic control of events at the cellular level. They describe the technology, which could lead to finely-tuned but noninvasive treatments for disease, in the January issue of Nature Nanotechnology (published online January 3).

The technology could lead to non-invasive ways of controlling drug release or physiologic processes such as heart rhythms and muscle contractions, says Ingber, the study’s senior investigator. More importantly, it represents the first time magnetism has been used to harness specific cellular signaling systems normally used by hormones or other natural molecules.

“This technology allows us to control the behavior of living cells through magnetic forces rather than chemicals or hormones,”

Tags: health, drug release, medicine