Science, Space, & Robotics - Page 229

Researchers at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) are researching new ways to get things to stick in space, and have found inspiration from geckos.

Unlike tape, which loses its ability to adhere objects together after several uses, geckos have tiny hairs on the bottom of their feet so they are able to easily cling to objects over and over again. Researchers now hope a new material with thin synthetic hairs is able to make the material stick to desired surfaces - even in space.

The new technology has a great advantage over Velcro, a popular solution used in space, as it doesn't leave residue and there is no mating surface required on intended targets. The new gecko-inspired gripping technology is being tested during microgravity tests, including on a 20-pound cube and 250-pound person.

Don't worry, no asteroids will be slamming into the Earth in September, NASA has confirmed following a recent viral video caused a bit of a stir.

In the video, it was falsely reported that an asteroid would impact around Puerto Rico, with the incident expected to take place from September 15 to September 28 - but there is no immediate threat to Earthlings. The video made it sound like there would be a threat to the United States, Mexico, Central America and South America.

"There is no scientific basis - not one shred of evidence - that an asteroid or any other celestial object will impact Earth on those dates," said Paul Chodas, manager of the Near-Earth Object office for NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).

Will robots steal our jobs? There seems to be mounting fear that the human labor force will face pressure from robotic automation, though a new report from Deloitte indicates job creation among the creative, care, tech and business service sectors make up for jobs lost in agriculture and manufacturing.

"It's been very easy to identify where jobs have been destroyed," said Ian Stewart, chief economist at Deloitte, in a statement to CNBC. "Job losses generally are very conspicuous, whether it's a middle manager replaced by software, or checkout staff displaced by auto terminals, whereas job gains [are] harder to identify."

Machines help drive down production costs, and consumers are more willing to spend on new consumer goods and services. Researchers point to increasing sales for things like short holidays, morning cups of coffee at a local café, and other luxuries consumers may not be able to splurge on.

Imagine walking into a restaurant and seeing a team of robots making your meal for you... sure, some people don't like the idea of machines doing this type of work, but it is the future. Technology runs so much of our lives, from the smartphone in your hand to the cloud it connects to, right up into space to satellites and everything in between.

But now we're looking at a group of experts based in the UK who are working on the first "robotic kitchen" which can be installed into any home. The scientists behind the project have made a machine that is capable of emulating human chefs in the kitchen while packing access to an unlimited library of programmed recipes.

They plan to have the robotic kitchen ready by 2018, for just $75,000 with the costs coming down "substantially" if the unit sells well. But the sheer tease of this is exciting, as custom home builders could start including a robotic kitchen in their designs in the next decade. Imagine walking through a new home that you're planning to buy, and it featuring a robotic kitchen making world-class meals, without you having to lift a finger from food preparation, cooking, and cleaning.

Patients with heart problems can now have a custom microchip installed, able to give them advance notice of potential heart problems. Once inserted into the pulmonary artery, the CardioMEMS system is able to track heart function - and upload data to healthcare supervisors.

"You have more faith and trust. People are looking at, watching me and I feel safer," said Reg Youngman, one of the first people to have the microchip installed, in a statement published by Euronews. "Because in the past I never knew quite when something was going to hit me badly and when it did, it was usually, it had gone too far and hit me really badly."

The CardioMEMS HF System is the first implantable device supporting remote functionality, so health care professionals are able to remotely monitor the condition of their patients. Heart failure is one of the more common reasons people over the age 65 end up in the hospital, so closer evaluation of patients could help save lives.

Facebook has unveiled its Aquila solar-powered drone, designed to help provide Internet access - and connect - as many people across the world as possible.

The aircraft, which has a V-shaped, carbon fiber body, weighs up to 1,000 pounds - and has a wingspan equivalent to a Boeing 737. Once in the air, it can fly at altitudes between 60,000 to 90,000 feet, while staying airborne for up to three months at a time.

Once finalized, Facebook will work with Internet service carriers across the world, and will sell Internet access to residents located in remote areas.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has released Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo pilot Peter Siebold's frightening account of what happened as the test craft broke apart after suffering a "serious anomaly."

Aware that SpaceShipTwo disintegrated, Siebold blacked out as the cool air was extremely difficult to breathe. The next time he woke up, he desperately tried to active the equipped backup oxygen, and his next memory was when his parachute automatically deployed.

Scaled Composites failed to create a system that would have prevented the braking system from being prematurely unlocked, which caused the issue when the other pilot unlocked it, according to the NTSB.

Will "killer robots" end up causing harm to humans, especially with militaries interested in developing robots that would be able to engage human forces?

Telsa and SpaceX founder Elon Musk, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, physicist Stephen Hawking, and more than 1,000 scientists and engineers have signed an open letter to prevent a future open arms race focused on killer artificial intelligence. The idea of robot regulation was mentioned earlier in the year, and there appears to be growing momentum to make sure things are kept within human control.

"AI technology has reached a point where the deployment of [autonomous weapons] is - practically if not legally - feasible within years, not decades, and the stakes are high: autonomous weapons have been described as the third revolution in warfare, after gunpowder and nuclear arms," according to the letter.

Dr. Jack Horner consulted on all Jurassic movies, and believes it's just a matter of "fixing" birds so they look "a little more like a dinosaur."

Horner believes research is about 50 percent there in regards to creating a so-called "chickenosaurus." Researchers would need to give the chicken teeth, a long tail, and turn the chicken's wings into arms and hands. In addition, researchers have already successfully created a modified mouth for the chickenosaurus.

It seems like the biological project is "well on its way to becoming reality," and trying to create the tail remains the most difficult challenge. The project requires reverse evolution and a significant amount of trial and error - and researchers will continue trying out new things.

Lizbeth Uzcategui recently received the i-limb quantum from Touch Bionics, a programmable and more precise prosthetic hand. Uzcategui was born without a hand or arm below her right elbow, but the i-limb quantum will give her the ability to live a more normal life.

The i-limb quantum has greatly improved battery life, has more strength when a wearer needs it, and is faster and smarter than other bionic prosthetics. Uzcategui noted that other prosthetic hands she has used were unable to keep up with her daily tasks - a common complaint among patients with prosthetics.

"This is the latest and greatest in upper extremity prosthetic hands. It's quicker, it's faster, it's lighter and smaller," said Matthew Klein, from the Hanger Clinic, in a statement to CBS News Miami.

The idea that a professional cyclist in the peloton has a secret electric motor, likely hidden in his seat tube, isn't something new. However, it looks like something the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) is taking seriously, after checking bikes following four stages of the 2015 Tour de France.

During the most recent check, which took place after Stage 18, saw yellow jersey Chris Froome, mountains classification leader Joaquim Rodriguez, Peter Sagan, Nairo Quintana, Pierre Rolland, and Romain Bardet all have their bikes inspected.

It simply wouldn't be the Tour de France if the media and fans didn't have something new to complain about - and so-called "moto doping" is just the latest trend.

TSMC will be ramping up its 10nm volume production in 2016, something that will see the Taiwanese semiconductor manufacturer overtaking Intel when it comes to 10nm. Intel will not be shifting to 10nm until 2017, but that's just on the surface. Things are much more complicated when you begin to peel layers away.

Especially when it comes to 7nm, where TSMC will be using "10nm elements" in its 7nm note, which leads us to believe TSMC's implementation of 7nm will heavily borrow from 10nm. Intel on the other hand, should have a true 10nm node in 2017, and when it scales down to 7nm, we should expect it to not be borrowing much from its delayed 10nm process.

KitGuru reports that President and co-CEO of TSMC, C.C. Wei, said: "We ramp up 10nm in the Q4 2016 next year, but the real product shipment will be in Q1 2017". Mark Liu, President and co-CEO of TSMC added: "The recent progress of our 10 nanometer technology development is very encouraging and on track with our plan. Technology risk start qualification is targeted at the end of this year, followed by many customer's product qualifications. Our volume production is planned to start from the end of 2016".

Tesla has come along way from being an electric vehicle manufacturer, as it is now stepping out into the limelight of battery technology, and so much more. It wasn't too long ago that Tesla unveiled Powerwall, its Internet-connected home battery.

Now we have Tesla Motors' Chief Technology Officer, JB Straubel, taking to the stage of Intersolar's opening ceremony talk about energy density and other benefits of lithium-ion batteries for electronic cars. The Tesla CEO also said that the company is confident in renewable energy to make solar and wind available on-demand after sunset, or when the wind starts to slow down.

Straubel said that battery costs will tumble much quicker than expected, and that demand for energy storage equipment will expand rather quickly, with the same going for solar panels. This one-two punch will create a great path for cheaper electricity, especially when compared to what the world currently pays from fossil fuel-based power plants. Straubel added that "we are within grasping distance of that goal". He added: "I'm quite certain that it will happen in the next 10 years".

Toshiba is deploying its "scorpion" robot inside of the TEPCO Fukushima No. 1 plant's second reactor next month. The mission is focused on trying to analyze the pressure vessel's melted-down fuel supply, and a robot is needed because of such high levels of radiation inside the reactor. The Japanese electronics company worked with the International Research Institute for Nuclear Decommissioning (IRID) to design the unique scorpion-inspired robot.

A "snake" robot entered a reactor in April, and couldn't find any debris from melted fuel - the robot stalled and researchers had to go back to the drawing board. The 21-inch Toshiba device will enter a fuel rod passageway, and has a physical design that provides increased dexterity and range of motion. It has the ability to raise its tail in a similar fashion as a scorpion, which has LED lights and an equipped camera.

Researchers will likely have to spent decades trying to safely decommission the No. 1 plant, after it was devastated by a major earthquake and following tsunami in 2011.

Dr. Stuart Armstrong is a member of the Oxford University Future of Humanity Institute, and the Oxford academic believes humans are risking our own survival depending how artificial intelligence (AI) developments occur in the future.

"Humans steer the future not because we're the strongest or the fastest, but because we're the smartest," Dr. Armstrong recently said. "When machines become smarter than humans, we'll be handing them the steering wheel."

Even though the thought that robots are able to coordinate across the world without human oversight may sound irrational, the idea that humans are creating AI in itself would have seemed impossible not too long ago. If done properly, using artificial general intelligence (AGI) could greatly impact our lives for the good - but no one is really sure what will happen beyond that.

The SpaceX Falcon 9 exploded a couple minutes after takeoff over the weekend, possibly due to excessive pressure built up in the second stage's liquid oxygen tank. The incident marked the first time in 19 Falcon 9 launches there was a problem, and SpaceX will continue its work to try to get things sorted out.

"The launch failure by itself is not much of an issue," said Bill Ostrove, analyst at Forecast International Aerospace, in a statement to Forbes. "Most people in the industry understand that launching rockets into space is really difficult and occasional failures are just the price of conducting launches. Overall, SpaceX has a pretty strong record of success (about 95%) with the Falcon 9."

Unfortunately, SpaceX does have a few things it needs to work out - the company has suffered two commercial cargo failures in less than one year, and the most recent launch failure means there will be a delay for an investigation.

Elon Musk gets a lot of attention for his work as CEO of Tesla, but it would seem that SpaceX, his space company, holds true potential for human greatness. The company isn't designed to cater rich tourists into space, and Musk would rather launch satellites and ferry astronauts to the International Space Station.

NASA and other space programs hope to launch future missions to Mars, including a possible manned mission to the Red Planet. It seems that thought isn't necessarily lost on SpaceX, which continues to develop space rockets:

"I know for a fact that the guys within SpaceX already have a design for the engines and the rocket that would get to Mars," said Ashlee Vance, biographer of Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX and the Quest for a Fantastic Future, in a statement to National Geographic. "Knowing the caliber of talent there, I trust that that part is feasible if not profitable. The colonizing part? That's still an enormous question."

Researchers have a strong curiosity about the red planet of Mars, and a manned mission one day seems like a possibility. However, the spacesuits used by astronauts aboard the International Space Station would need to be replaced with newer generation spacesuits, and some type of flexible spacesuit would be ideal.

The suits designed for space today must take into consideration an astronaut's ability to complete work in microgravity. The lower half of the suit is extremely stiff and makes moving around more naturally difficult - but increased mobility would be required for future space missions.

Astronauts must be able to twist, bend, and move around easily, especially if they needed to take soil samples or collect items from a foreign planet. A number of different prototype spacesuits are currently in development - and some are being tested - so there is hope that changes will be coming.

Research teams from the University of Exeter and Cardiff University want to develop a video game that is able to actually help gamers by controlling our need for junk food.

To win the game, a player must press images of healthier food options instead of unhealthy snack foods. This game is said to help condition the players, so they will make similar food choices while raiding the refrigerator or rummaging through the food pantry.

"This research is still in its infancy and the effects are modest. Larger, registered trials with longer-term measures need to be conducted," said Dr. Natalia Lawrence, research team lead, in a public statement. "However, our findings suggest that this cognitive training approach is worth pursuing: it is free, easy to do and 88 percent of our participants said they would be happy to keep doing it and would recommend it to a friend. This opens up exciting possibilities for new behavior change interventions based on underlying psychological processes."

The US Army is helping fund a research project at the University of California, Berkeley, with a focus on developing intelligent robots that don't require extra sensors or software. The robot, which physically looks like a cockroach, is able to overcome obstacles on its own.

The ability to teach robots and AI to identify - and successfully navigate obstacles without human guidance - is a difficult task.

"The majority of robotics studies have been solving the problem of obstacles by avoiding them, which largely depends on using sensors to map out the environment and algorithms that plan a path to go around obstacles... however, when the terrain becomes densely cluttered, especially as gaps between obstacles become comparable or even smaller than robot size, this approach starts to run into problems as a clear path cannot be mapped," said Chen Li, lead author of the UC Berkeley research, in the Bioinspiration & Biomimetics journal.