The SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY News Thread

[Se7enSword]

Autism as a disorder of prediction: Researchers suggest autism stems from a reduced ability to make predictions, leading to anxiety

cientists have observed an exotic particle that behaves simultaneously like matter and antimatter, a feat of math and engineering that could yield powerful computers based on quantum mechanics.

Scientists have observed an exotic particle that behaves simultaneously like matter and antimatter, a feat of math and engineering that could yield powerful computers based on quantum mechanics.

Manipulating memory with light: Scientists erase specific memories in mice -- ScienceDaily

Edward Snowden’s Privacy Tips: “Get Rid Of Dropbox,” Avoid Facebook And Google

Robots really are coming for your job, and there's nothing you can do about it

Samsung electronics says it’s developed faster wi-fi technology

[Shyni]

Indianapolis airport debuts customer service robot

Although sounds like it needs somebody directly controlling it at all times, so I'm not sure how much that actually helps.

[AnimeFan188]

Lockheed says makes breakthrough on fusion energy project:

"Lockheed Martin Corp said on Wednesday it had made a technological
breakthrough in developing a power source based on nuclear fusion, and the first
reactors, small enough to fit on the back of a truck, could be ready for use in a
decade.

Tom McGuire, who heads the project, said he and a small team had been working on
fusion energy at Lockheed's secretive Skunk Works for about four years, but were
now going public to find potential partners in industry and government for their work.

Initial work demonstrated the feasibility of building a 100-megawatt reactor
measuring seven feet by 10 feet, which could fit on the back of a large truck, and is
about 10 times smaller than current reactors, McGuire told reporters."

See:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/...0I41EM20141015

&

http://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/gas...ion-1646903392

[Mr Hat and Clogs]

^^ That is quite huge.

[Ithekro]

Well it isn't 2015 yet. Mr. Fusion and hoverboards.....

[Mr Hat and Clogs]

True, they have until October next year. Better hop to it.

[ganbaru]

Originally Posted by AnimeFan188

Lockheed says makes breakthrough on fusion energy project:

"Lockheed Martin Corp said on Wednesday it had made a technological
breakthrough in developing a power source based on nuclear fusion, and the first
reactors, small enough to fit on the back of a truck, could be ready for use in a
decade.

Tom McGuire, who heads the project, said he and a small team had been working on
fusion energy at Lockheed's secretive Skunk Works for about four years, but were
now going public to find potential partners in industry and government for their work.

Initial work demonstrated the feasibility of building a 100-megawatt reactor
measuring seven feet by 10 feet, which could fit on the back of a large truck, and is
about 10 times smaller than current reactors, McGuire told reporters."

See:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/...0I41EM20141015

&

http://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/gas...ion-1646903392

Lockheed's Skunk Works working on a small reactor; given their know past work I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't intended as a power source for a High Altitude electric UAV.

[Renegade334]

Unless it's a prospective power source for warships, as the power requirements for newer and future vessels have been dramatically increasing (some of the latest US Navy ships are now designed and built with the assumption that, somewhere down the line, they'll be upgraded with railguns and direct energy weapons -- as in the case of the recently-launched USS Gerald R. Ford and USS Zumwalt) lately, and many navies are now leaning towards propulsion concepts such as IEP, which could require a high electric output from the get-go. A fusion reactor would nicely dovetail with that.

I guess some people at the Pentagon might be quite interested in this purported highly compact power generator (although, right now, it seems the scientific community is not really convinced/enthused by LM's announcement), as there are proposals to partially move away from the nuclear (most notably in the submarine warfare community, where analysts are starting to notice that the diesel/AIP-type hunter-killers have become particularly stealthy, perhaps even more so than their PWR-equipped cousins) and seek alternative power sources (Air Independent Propulsion or Diesel), which would be cheaper and less murderous, maintenance-wise.

[Shyni]

Australia aims to end extinction of native wildlife by 2020

Apparently things like feral cats have been quite a problem for Australian wildlife. Kinda makes the "everything in Australia is dangerous" joke look sarcastic.

[Mr Hat and Clogs]

The native wildlife they're talking about that is hunted by the cats are the small and fluffy things, that are about as dangerous as they are adorably cute.

And these wild cats aren't the regular sized house cats either, they get real big and mean.

The snakes, spiders and other deadly creatures (some of the sheep), are either horrifically poisonous, or have a lot of very sharp and big pointy teeth, sometimes both.

[AnimeFan188]

New destinations past Pluto for New Horizons:

"Any organization that pays to put something into space likes to
get as much as it can out of its hardware. NASA is no different.
So while New Horizons was built specifically to visit Pluto,
there was always the hope that we’d spot something beyond the
dwarf planet to send the hardware on to. But even as the
rendezvous with Pluto kept getting closer and final trajectory
corrections needed to be planned, ground-based searches were
coming up blank. (They actually located some objects, but none
that New Horizons could reach given its fuel supply.)

NASA then brought out one of the big guns: the Hubble. After a
preliminary test of its ability to spot small objects beyond
Pluto, the New Horizons team was given time for a full survey.
The results are in: we now have additional destinations."

See:

http://arstechnica.com/science/2014/...-new-horizons/

[AnimeFan188]

Physicists create reversible laser tractor beam:

"Physicists have built a tractor beam out of lasers that can both repel and attract
objects across distances 100 times farther than previously possible."

See:

http://www.cnet.com/news/physicists-...tag=YHF65cbda0

[AnimeFan188]

Rise of the machines! Musk warns of 'summoning the demon' with AI: Report:

"Elon Musk is stepping up his warnings about the potential scourge of artificial
intelligence, The Washington Post reported, telling a group of students that the
technology was akin to "summoning the demon."

During a speech at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on Friday, the founder
of Tesla told an audience that the tech sector should be "very careful" about
pioneering AI, The Post reported, calling it "our biggest existential threat." On
several occasions, Musk has called the technology a big risk that can't be controlled.

At MIT, Musk carried the metaphor a bit further than he has in the past. "With
artificial intelligence we are summoning the demon," Musk said, according to The
Post."

See:

http://www.cnbc.com/id/102121127?__s...doc=102121127#.

[SaintessHeart]

Researchers deter mine hat fluoride causes cancer, lowers IQ

[Skane]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

Researchers deter mine hat fluoride causes cancer, lowers IQ

Bear in mind that this is a site that promotes anti-vaccination.

Also, and in addition.

Cheers.

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by Skane

Bear in mind that this is a site that promotes anti-vaccination.

Also, and in addition.

Cheers.

And so I noticed. Cheers to you too.

[Se7enSword]

Laser imaging has revealed long-lost civilizations hidden beneath tropical forest canopies

Scientists grow ‘miniature stomachs’ from stem cells, which could patch up ulcers one day.

Scientists from Harvard Medical School have discovered a way of turning stem cells into killing machines to fight brain cancer.

DNA molecules can carry electric current, a team of researchers has demonstrated. This could lead to the development of DNA-based electronic circuits.

Innovative study utilizing video games shows sleep apnea may affect memory of everyday events

Flying car approaches liftoff as most advanced prototype yet is unveiled

Google’s New Computer With Human-Like Learning Abilities Will Program Itself

Brain decoder can eavesdrop on your inner voice

[AnimeFan188]

HUGE SHARK as big as a WWII SUBMARINE died out, allowing whales to exist:

"The Megalodon was basically the bad boy of the ocean. It had a length of more
than 50 feet - about the same size as the small X class diesel-electric submarines
used for special operations by the Royal Navy in World War II. On one occasion an
X-craft crippled an enormous German battleship, the Tirpitz, though this would be a
big ask for the comparatively poorly armed Megalodon.

Nonetheless the mega-shark was no lightweight. At 110 tonnes, it was about 30
times as heavy as a Great White and is thought to have had the most powerful bite
of any animal in the Earth's history.

It was such a ravenous predator, that its extinction may have allowed whales -
today's heftiest seagoing fatties - to grow to the sizes we see nowadays."

See:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/10...ld_war_ii_sub/

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by AnimeFan188

HUGE SHARK as big as a WWII SUBMARINE died out, allowing whales to exist:

"The Megalodon was basically the bad boy of the ocean. It had a length of more
than 50 feet - about the same size as the small X class diesel-electric submarines
used for special operations by the Royal Navy in World War II. On one occasion an
X-craft crippled an enormous German battleship, the Tirpitz, though this would be a
big ask for the comparatively poorly armed Megalodon.

Nonetheless the mega-shark was no lightweight. At 110 tonnes, it was about 30
times as heavy as a Great White and is thought to have had the most powerful bite
of any animal in the Earth's history.

It was such a ravenous predator, that its extinction may have allowed whales -
today's heftiest seagoing fatties - to grow to the sizes we see nowadays."

See:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/10...ld_war_ii_sub/

You know, the dyslexic in me read it as Megidoloan.

[Endless Soul]

HELP ME OBI WAN..

Pulse laser used to create 3D display in mid-air:

You've probably seen projectors that can create images that seem to float in mid-air by painting light onto fog or water, but Japanese firm Aerial Burton has created something much more impressive. The recently demoed Aerial Burton display can create moving 3D images in mid-air using laser plasma technology.

The Aerial Burton display isn't currently capable of creating detailed images like you’d see on a screen projector, but it’s still a big leap when you consider there’s nothing up there off which to bounce light. That’s really the basis of most projection technologies — the light reflects off something to your eyes. The aerial display shown here uses lasers to ionize molecules in the air, so the source of the light is actually floating in mid-air where you see it.

Full article here.

I'd say that's a pretty cool first step.

Endless "Only hope" Soul