Science, Space, & Robotics - Page 217

I can see a pizza-making robot in our very near future, but now Little Caesars has received a new patent for an "automated pizza assembly system". Yeah, a pizza-making robot.

Little Caesars' robot would, according to the patent, be a "robot including a stationary base and an articulating arm having a gripper attached to the end is operable to grip a pizza pan having pizza dough therein". After the robot rotates the pizza pan through "the cheese spreading station" and then the "pepperoni applying station". Automated pizza making, awesome.

You shouldn't expect to walk into Little Caesars anytime soon and watch a robot make your pizza, but for the future (think 10-15 years) we could expect more robotic and autonomous machines making not just our pizzas, but food in general. Robotic kitchen assistants will be a thing in the future.

This stuff seriously only comes out of Japan, but completely blows my mind every time that it does: in order to market their self-driving car and self-parking technology, Nissan has infused an inn in Hakone, Japan with a bunch of next-level stuff.

We're talking about self-parking slippers, that 'drive' themselves back into position, autonomous flood cushions, and even a self-parking TV remote.

It might be a marketing gimmick but this is totally awesome and makes me #wanttostay there just to see my slippers park themselves. I want to go to Japan (for the first time ever) during the 2020 Olympics, and this is now on my bucket list: I want to see my pillow and slippers park themselves.

Pornhub is on the offensive, with the site to delete something that I've never heard before - "deepfakes", which are AI-generated videos that "realistically edit new faces onto pornographic actors - under its rules against nonconsensual porn, following in the footsteps of platforms like Discord and Gfycat", reports The Verge.

The company recently spoke with Motherboard, where they said: "We do not tolerate any nonconsensual content on the site and we remove all said content as soon as we are made aware of it". They added that non-consensual content includes "revenge porn, deepfakes, or anything published without a person's consent or permission".

Think of deepfakes as porno photoshops, where the faces of porn actors and actresses can be replaced. These videos, as The Verge points out, can get close to copyright infringement or defamation, so this is where lawyers step in and go after big sites like Pornhub to stop deepfakes.

Tesla has been using my home state of South Australia as its testing grounds for the future of its solar and lithium ion battery technology, with the SA government working out a deal with Tesla that would see at least 50,000 homes have their Powerwall technology installed.

SA Premier Jay Weatherill is running for the March state election, teasing that Tesla's next-gen solar systems and batteries would be supplied, and installed free of charge. The entire project would be financed through the sale of electricity, given that the solar panels would be taking in the power generated by the sun, with Weatherill saying it would be the largest project of its kind.

The retailer involved would have the ability of using the household batteries that would be installed, and use that power to throw it back into the state power grid. There will be a trial scheme run using Housing Trust properties (government owned), something that has already started, with 100 homes receiving Tesla Powerwall systems by June 30, and another 1000 properties in the next 12 months.

Tesla is wanting to see its Powerwall technology go mainstream, with the company pushing their Powerwall battery packs and new solar panels at 800 Home Depot locations across the US.

Bloomberg is reporting the news, stating that Tesla's solar panels and Powerwalls will be at 800 Home Depot locations soon, with this marking the first time Tesla has inked a major US retain chain to sell their products. Tesla won't be giving Home Depot all the power, as they will just be putting their products on Home Depot's shelves.

Tesla will have their own designated "Tesla-branded selling spaces" in Home Depots, similar to Samsung and Apple with their own specified spots in retail locations.

CES 2018 - Samsung has just pushed all-in with the future of artificial intelligence, with the company announcing it has a new consumer product strategy for AI during its CES 2018 keynote speech in Vegas.

The news comes directly from Samsung Research boss H.S. Kim who said that every product Samsung makes in 2020 will have built-in AI and would connect to the Internet of Things cloud, making everything the South Korean giant sells a smart product that will learn from everything you do.

Kim said this plan from Samsung would happen in a 3-fold pillar that would simplify its product stack, pushing them into a single-cloud approach that would include connectivity, cloud, and intelligence.

CES 2018 - LG is entering into the smart fridge with a new look and style, mixed in with a bunch of new features, with their new InstaView ThinQ changing up the refrigerator game.

LG's new InstaView ThinQ smart refrigerator packs a 29-inch touchscreen that when tapped twice, becomes transparent so that you can see inside of your fridge. Super cool. LG has been in the touch-your-fridge game for a while now, where they had their Smart InstaView Door-in-Door that run a full version of Windows 10, some two years ago but in the end the company never shipped the fridge.

This new version lets you control your food management using LG's own webOS software with a mix of Amazon Alexa, something that lets owners tag food with virtual stickers and expiration dates, as well as pushing automatic reminders to you when things are running low or about to go off. Very cool.

SpaceX has already begun with what it does best, launching rockets and landing them back on the ground again. This time though, the space exploration company has not revealed what is on board the rocket or even the motive for the mission in the first place.

The first mission for 2018 has been launched into orbit from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The payload has been given the codename "Zuma" which is basically all that is known about the launch so far as the mission has come under a government initiative.

The 'Zuma' mission has been known about for quite some time and was originally meant to take place last year in November, but due to investigative testing the launch has to be postponed until now. Even though we do not know what was on board the Falcon 9 rocket it has been confirmed that the launch was a success, as the rocket has been landed safely and securely back on the ground.

CES 2018 - Samsung has just unveiled their new Family Hub 3.0 refrigerator that features Bixby voice control, but the company hasn't explained what exactly you can do with voice controls on your fridge.

Samsung has explained that the Bixby-powered smart fridges will be capable of personalized responses to individual voices, where you can ask your fridge about your personal calendar and news updates, just for you... and maybe a drink or snack for you, too.

The new Family Hub 3.0 fridge integrates Samsung's own SmartThings ecosystem, something that lets owners control the lights inside of the fridge, make adjustments to temperature, or even monitor a security camera. Why would you need a speaker with Alexa or Google Assistant, when you can have it all in your fridge? Hell, there are built-in AKG speakers inside the fridge, promising great bass and mid-range... from your... fridge.

CES 2018 - LG is pushing more and more into the world of robotics, something it seems to be doubling down with at CES 2018 with their new CLOi branded robotics line.

LG's exciting new CLOi line of products come in three models for commercial use: Serving Robot, Porter Robot, and Shopping Cart Robot. Starting with the Serving Robot, we should expect to see LG's first robot creation at hotels, airport lounges, and even restaurants. This robot will deliver drinks and meals to customers with its built-in sliding tray - but hopefully it won't need a tip.

The Porter Robot will be used in hotels for express check-in and check-out, with payments accepted by the robots that will reduce waiting times. LG's new Porter Robot will even carry your suitcase around, but I'm sure it'll be carry-on size only and not your huge suitcase, or two, or five.

In the East African country of Rwanda, drones are flying through the sky with medical supplies like blood, thanks to a partnership between the Rwandan health ministry, and drone startup Zipline.

Zipline has already used drones to deliver over 5500 units of blood to aid crews working through remote areas, where medical supplies are near-impossible to f ind. The service is working with 12 hospitals that are all being accessed by the drone network, with these hospitals now able to provide treatment and life-saving aid to over 5 million people.

Drone deliveries make sense when you think that hospitals need a constant flow of fresh supplies on a regular basis, but without the proper infrastructure available, taking to the skies is the next best - and even better, thing.

Japanese engineers have created two humanoid robots that are designed to study the mechanics of muscle control and how the brain interacts with the body, they are named Kengoro and Kenshiro.

Kengoro and Kenshiro can perform a number of different activities that us humans take completely for granted. The robots humanoid abilities range from doing push-ups, sit-ups and other exercises to playing badminton poorly. It is believed through the robots doing these actions that a better understanding of the "human body in movement" will be achieved.

"We believe that the proposed human mimetic humanoid can be used to provide new opportunities in science, the team's research states. "For instance, to quantitatively analyse the internal data of a human body in movement."

Jinan, a Chinese city with a population of around 7 million people have begun construction of the world first photovoltaic express-way.

The express-way will be 1.2 miles (2km) and will be able to withstand the weight of medium sized trucks. The photovoltaic express-way is constructed using three separate layers, the first being the transparent concrete which has a very similar feel to that of asphalt.

Next, is the solar panels which are located beneath the concrete layer and are safely protected from nature while also absorbing the rays from the sun.

Can you imagine a future where the uber-rich travel to the International Space Station to stay in a $40 million per-week hotel? Well, Russian space corporation Roscomos plans on building a luxury hotel on the ISS for just that reason.

It might cost $40 million per week (and an additional $20 million if you want to go on a spacewalk with a cosmonaut), but Popular Mechanics is reporting that Russian space contractor RKK Energia is working on the idea that will see the construction of the second module it's building that will cost somewhere between $279 million and $446 million.

RKK Energia is already hard at work on the first of two modules, something that will act as a science laboratory and a power supply station. The second module on the other hand, will be paid for by RKK Energia, as the Russian government is only paying for the first one.

Guillermo del Toro, the mega director behind Hellboy and Pacific Rim, talked with The Hollywood Reporter not long ago and said that he experienced one of the most strangest, and supernatural experiences of his life.

Not only did del Toro say he has had two experiences with ghosts, but he had a close encounter with a UFO when he was younger. During the interview, del Toro explained: "You sound like a complete lunatic, but I saw a UFO. I didn't want to see a UFO. It was horribly designed".

During his experience, del Toro said he sat alone with his friend in the dark, and saw a light on the horizon that was moving "super-fast". They honked at it, and then flashed their lights, where they said the UFO "went from 1,000 meters away [to much closer] in less than a second".

Elon Musk is doing a world-first by launching a red Tesla Roadster into space, loading up the vehicle onto the first Falcon Heavy rocket that will leave our atmosphere and deliver the car to aliens, I guess.

Musk said that he would launch the Tesla Roadster into space with most thinking he was joking around, but SpaceX has confirmed that it is indeed true.

Musk took to Twitter, where he tweeted: "A Red Car for the Red Planet Test flights of new rockets usually contain mass simulators in the form of concrete or steel blocks. That seemed extremely boring. Of course, anything boring is terrible, especially companies, so we decided to send something unusual, something that made us feel. The payload will be an original Tesla Roadster, playing Space Oddity, on a billion year elliptic Mars orbit".

Tesla has stepped up to the plate by saving the Loy Yang Power Station that recently experienced a 560 MW drop on December 14th, this drop in MW has caused a dip in the frequency from 50Mz to 49.80Hz.

The Tesla Powerpack is currently connected to Neoen's Hornsdale Wind Farm near Jamestown about three hours drive out of Adelaide, South Australia. The Powerpack has a massive capacity of 100MW and to save the coal-powered mining station the Powerpack supplied 7.3MW from to Loy Yang which is a massive distance of 620 miles away located near the border of Victoria (1000 kms).

The best bit about this is the fact that a Wind Farm which naturally generates energy not only just saved a coal-powered power plant from a frequency drop, but it also beat the back-up unit which is contracted to provide power within a very short 6 seconds of a frequency drop. Tesla didn't even give them a chance, by the time they went to back up the power plant the problem was already fixed.

Virgin Group invested into Hyperloop One earlier this year, which saw Virgin boss Richard Branson being placed onto the board, and adding Virgin's name to Hyperloop One.

Axios is now reporting that Branson is the new Hyperloop One chairman, replacing Shervin Pishevar who took a leave of absence after he was swept into sexual harassment allegations and an arrest for rape (that didn't result in a charge) just last month.

Now that Branson is the chairman of Virgin Hyperloop One, the company is reportedly receiving a bunch of new funding to the tune of $50 million from current investors Caspian Venture Capital and DP World. These two companies are based in Russia and Dubai, respectively, with Virgin Hyperloop One starting off on its capital and running out, with 300 employees at risk of losing their jobs if more funding wasn't secured.

In the wonderful world of science, today we are happy to report that scientists have worked out a new way of a possible way to fight cancer: using sperm.

A team of researchers at the Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Material Research Dresden have recently completed a study where they turned sperm into an effective drug delivery tool. If you were like me, you wouldn't know that sperm has many different benefits when it comes to delivering drugs.

First, sperm is mobile - the drugs can be encased so that it doesn't get diluted by body fluids or leak out, and they protect the drug from enzymes that could break them down. They also don't cause immune responses like other cell types, and they also don't duplicate and form unwanted colonies.

It would be quite an honor to step foot on the International Space Station as only a very small amount of people get the opportunity, with this achievement though is a sacrifice and that is all the entertainment luxuries earth has to offer. Luckily, Disney and NASA are not allowing the Astronauts aboard the International Space to miss out on one of the luxuries and that is of course Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

Spaceflight reporter Robin Seemangal took to Twitter and posted this news "I received confirmation from Disney and NASA sources that the crew aboard the International Space Station will be screening Star Wars: The Last Jedi".

Inverse then followed up this report by asking NASA if this news was true or not, a NASA spokesperson said that the movie would be shown to Astronauts aboard the International Space Station.