466 replies to this topic

[valkyrie_ice]

Actually a friend of mine wrote an article on them for H+ several months ago. It turned into a massive "discussion" with several misogynists proclaiming how wonderful life will be when sexbots exist and they will no longer have to put up with "spoiled western women" who will "rapidly learn their place" once they start "losing out" to "subservient willing 'female' sexbots"

Learn their place? Are we going back to the dark ages where women were nothing more but servants and entertainment? Wow, that's what people want from the future?

Guess I am weird cause I always imagined more equality in the future.

I don't know if you've noticed Hun, but there are a growing number of men who claim that the womans rights movement is all about "hating men" and that "real women" want to be subjugated, subservient, and dominated in all ways by men, and that they are "happiest" when they are "shielded" away from such "evils" as free choice, free will, and being anything but a baby making machine, aka a "sex doll"

Don't believe me? Read this: http://www.singulari...dry-bubble.html If you can read this drivel about "women WANT to be subjugated" and any woman who doesn't "hates men.", and anyone who points out the misogyny of the author's statement is either a "mangina" or "programmed by pavlovian reflex to see all men as women haters" He ends it with a call for men to "rise up and re-subjugate women" and restore the "rightful order" of male domination. Which is then follwoed by page after page of men going "Right on! show those women who's boss!!"

If you read the comments in the sexbots thread, you will see how frequently I had to deal with variations on this theme. The worst of which was the post I quoted my reply too, who claimed to "Love real women" but to "hate whores,sluts, gender role usurpers, emotionally abusive bitches, and gold diggers" I was forced to point out that refusing to allow women the full range of behaviors that he granted to men, and separating "woman who lived up to his concept of what a women should be (ie happy to be subservient to the man, uninterested in equality, and happy to be a 'traditional female')" from "women who do not live up to my concept of what a woman should be" he was revealing the classical "Madonna/whore" complex, and for all his sincerity, was just as mysogynist as the guy who claimed that all women should be shown their place with whips and chains, and should be killed if they get too uppity.

As I've said to quite a few people, "Putting me on a pedestal is still "putting me in my place" and an "Object of worship" is still an object. How about letting me be a human being for a change?"

Reno's right. There are differences between male behavior and female behavior, but freedom of morphological choice will allow people to be the sex they chose to be, and gradually, over a few decades, we will eventually approach the kind of truly neutral gender equality you are thinking of, Luna. Morphological freedom is probably going to be the single most massive adjustment that the human race is going to have to face in the next few decades. And its going to creep up on the majority of humanity and take them completely unaware.

[valkyrie_ice]

Because it's so much more convenient to spray your coin purse instead of just putting on pants. I could just imagine getting a patch of hair embedded in with it.

No, but it will be so much more convenient to walk into a store "dressing room" and come out in a custom fitted suit. So much more convenient to spray a form with this, then boron nitride, then another layer, then BN, ect to make an ultra lightweight but strong as diamond shell for an electric car. Did I say car? how about body armor, airplane parts, or even making an entire wall for a rapid fab building that can withstand hurricane force winds?


Just clothes? Not hardly. This is part and parcel of the "3d printing" revolution, and one that I think is going to become far more useful in the immediate future than "just clothes"

[Luna]

O_o some people seem to make it sounds as if we are the devil...

women I know (and myself) don't hate men.. but yeah I guess there are some women who manipulate quite a bit.. saying that all or most is just odd. Men manipulate no less.

Anyways, free morphology would sure help a lot because being a woman or a man would be just a shell then and nothing else.

By that time I doubt that it will affect anything but just how you look, I mean, won't be any difference in strength or whatever because we will be cyborgs anyways (I hope WE).

I wonder how odd it may be for a man to suddenly be at women standards or a woman be at man standards in terms of physical abilities and the way the body functions.. I know from my work that me and my boss need to ask the men's help quite a bit when moving things around work sorting stuff.. if a man suddenly became a woman it would be strange for him :P

This also proves there can't be "equality" because, well, I personally don't expect to be or even be able to be a firewoman (unless I give up everything to achieve this). Also considering the field requirements, I doubt if it will be a good thing for other people.

But on social level and non physical level, definitely should be equality.

Edited by Luna, 19 September 2010 - 08:18 PM.

[Reno]

Equality in terms of one sex being able to do everything the other can.. no. That's a physical impossibility the same as a blind man legally driving, or a deaf man professionally singing. A woman thinks in terms of how she feels, while a man thinks in terms of why he feels it. Men look at the world through a linear lens, while a woman sees things in a dynamic one. That's why men are from mars and women are from venus.

Here where i live men manipulate far far less. Most men here mind their own business. It's sort of an unspoken rule. Don't talk junk, and their won't be any junk. There are those that do gossip and manipulate, but they are few and far between.

I personally don't believe that we will turn ourselves all into some sort of cyborg monstrosity from Hollywood. I do believe that we will incorporate molecular nanotechnology into ourselves to perfect the form we have. I see a person in 50 years being more or less similar to a Greek god of the past. A person with all the human mental frailties, but with none of the physical. Sure, we'll increase our intelligence at some point, but we'll still be subject to the human condition. We'll get jealous, make war, love, and feel the coldness of rejection.

Edited by Reno, 19 September 2010 - 11:07 PM.

[valkyrie_ice]

Equality in terms of one sex being able to do everything the other can.. no. That's a physical impossibility the same as a blind man legally driving, or a deaf man professionally singing. A woman thinks in terms of how she feels, while a man thinks in terms of why he feels it. Men look at the world through a linear lens, while a woman sees things in a dynamic one. That's why men are from mars and women are from venus.

I personally don't believe that we will turn ourselves all into some sort of cyborg monstrosity from Hollywood. I do believe that we will incorporate molecular nanotechnology into ourselves to perfect the form we have. I see a person in 50 years being more or less similar to a Greek god of the past. A person with all the human mental frailties, but with none of the physical.

I do indeed see physical equality, Reno. Nanofiber muscle is going to grant the same strength to everyone, regardless of whether it's a "slimmer female" shape or a "bulky male" shape, the tensile strength and "power" of those muscles will be the same.


Mental equality is never going to be about men and women thinking in exactly the same terms, but means that both sexes recognize that the differences are individual, and that forcing anyone to fit a "stereotype" is wrong and that demanding that basing "social roles" on sex as opposed to aptitude is ridiculous.


I happen to like to cook, I also do most of the housekeeping, I do so because I chose to, not because "i'm the woman" since atm I'm still physically male. I may exhibit many "stereotypical feminine behaviors" but again, I should not be forced to behave in any particular role in order to "fit in"


The error you make with that "Cyborg monstrosity from hollywood" more or less is assuming that nanotech can't create biological bodies that incorporate all the technological enhancements that I've talked about. "Ghost in the Shell" is a poor vision of the possibilities.

[Reno]

a human being whose body has been taken over in whole or in part by electromechanical devices; "a cyborg is a cybernetic organism"

Hollywood has had a fun time over the years portraying this definition. Think the borg, or terminator. There are other examples, but I can't remember them atm. That's mostly what i'm referring to when I say "cyborg monstrosity." If I didn't believe in machines being incorporated into the internal workings of the human body I wouldn't have a metal heart valve and talk about molecular nanotechnology all the time.

Tensile fibers aren't here now, so men and women are not (yet) equal in that respect.

I like to cook my food, I like to clean my house, and I really don't like to get stuff off high shelves for people or have my height call attention to me in a crowd, but it's the way I am.

That being said, generally when a woman taste her food the first thought that comes to mind is probably, oh it tastes spicy. When a man tends to taste the same food he wonders what is in it to make it taste spicy. Women see the world first with their emotions, while men tend to see the world more linearly. That's not to say that men and women can't learn to do different. Most people just don't bother.

Saying the genders are equal when it's a cold hard fact that they aren't is a popular mistake. Now I'm not saying we shouldn't have the same rights under the law, but socially there are differences. Ignoring those differences can cost a person when interacting with others in social situations.

Edited by Reno, 19 September 2010 - 11:45 PM.

[valkyrie_ice]

Saying the genders are equal when it's a cold hard fact that they aren't is a popular mistake. Now I'm not saying we shouldn't have the same rights under the law, but socially there are differences. Ignoring those differences can cost a person when interacting with others in social situations.

Yeah, I know that females are physically much superior to males in most ways except for raw strength of muscle, but try telling that to a guy and he pouts.


Legal equality, and social equality aren't about denying that differences exist, but acknowledging that such differences do not define everyone equally. The exact mix of "traits" each individual has is not exclusively male or exclusively female, and forcing people to exhibit traits based on perceived "gender roles" is as ridiculous as saying I have to be a Nazi because I'm tall, blonde, blue eyed, built like a line backer, and would have made Hitler drool at my "Aryan-ness".


In my view, gender "equality" means accepting that EVERYONE has individual traits that define them as INDIVIDUALS, not traits that force them into some convenient "pigeonhole" classification which must be enforced regardless of whether that classification suits the rest of the individuals traits.

[Reno]

Ever watch the Brini Maxwell show val?

[valkyrie_ice]

Ever watch the Brini Maxwell show val?

Can't say that I have previously, no.

I can say a couple of things though.

Ben is doing a deliberately "over the top" exaggeration, and appears to be mixing Donna Reed, Harriet Nelson, and Martha Stewart, with a lot of Rue Paul thrown in for "innuendo" and "sexy posing". He's also following the stereotypical "Drag Queen" act of "LOOK AT ME I NEED TO BE THE CENTER OF ATTENTION." and the "I have fun making men feel weirded out by flirting with them" routine.

I've been exposed to all that before. I've bounced at both gay and lesbian bars, and I've had a few drag queen friends. One thing I can assure you of, I'm not a drag queen.

But I am curious as to the point you are trying to make. Ben isn't making any effort to "hide" the fact that he's a guy PRETENDING to be a woman. In fact, he's listed by his male name in the credits, which is fairly common for a lot of "female impersonators". They may dress like women, but they WANT to remain male. Most are homosexual, not trans-sexual, they have no interest in "changing the plumbing".

However, if the point you are trying to make is that men and women have different behavior patterns and different motivations for their behaviors, I've never once disputed that. What I have said is that following "stereotypical behaviors" should be a CHOICE, not a SENTENCE. Gender Equality is about letting people chose to express masculinity or femininity to whatever degree they chose, not be forced by society to behave in a certain manner because of "Gender Stereotypes".

I don't deny I have a lot of "stereotypical" feminine traits. I suck at math for example. But just because *I* exhibit a "stereotype" trait it doesn't mean that EVERY woman should be FORCED to have that same trait. Compared to me, Luna is a math wiz. My roomies Mom who just died was an ENGINEER. And the sad thing is that she "gave up" being one to be a "Mom" because SOCIETY expected her to abandon all that education to stay at home to watch the kid while her husband went gallivanting off to foreign countries doing the same job. She died a bitter lonely old woman because she never got to live her dream, and for no other reason than "Women are baby machines, not engineers" stereotyping.

[Luna]

Wait, that's a guy?

I only watched half a minute maybe and turned it off because it looked silly O_o

And me, a math wiz? haha! I might be if I had google calculator.. and google..! installed to my brain because I always ask those two for the answers

[valkyrie_ice]

Now for some News:


Next Big Future talking about Quadcopters


http://nextbigfuture...out-and-ar.html


Interesting that a 2x speed and extra 8 mins in flight time results in a 1000x increase in price.


Then there is this:


http://nextbigfuture...olid-state.html

Nanoletters - Highly Flexible and All-Solid-State Paperlike Polymer Supercapacitors with six times higher energy current.
Given its high capacitance and flexibility that surpass current commercial supercapacitors, the new supercapacitor should be attractive for use in wearable electronics. Combined with flexible large-scale integrated circuits, these new supercapacitors could enable a lightweight and flexible notebook computer.

In recent years, much effort have been dedicated to achieve thin, lightweight and even flexible energy-storage devices for wearable electronics. Here we demonstrate a novel kind of ultrathin all-solid-state supercapacitor configuration with an extremely simple process using two slightly separated polyaniline-based electrodes well solidified in the H2SO4-polyvinyl alcohol gel electrolyte. The thickness of the entire device is much comparable to that of a piece of commercial standard A4 print paper. Under its highly flexible (twisting) state, the integrate device shows a high specific capacitance of 350 F/g for the electrode materials, well cycle stability after 1000 cycles and a leakage current of as small as 17.2 μA. Furthermore, due to its polymer-based component structure, it has a specific capacitance of as high as 31.4 F/g for the entire device, which is more than 6 times that of current high-level commercial supercapacitor products. These highly flexible and all-solid-state paperlike polymer supercapacitors may bring new design opportunities of device configuration for energy-storage devices in the future wearable electronic area.

one step closer to electronic clothing.

[valkyrie_ice]

Wait, that's a guy?

I only watched half a minute maybe and turned it off because it looked silly O_o

And me, a math wiz? haha! I might be if I had google calculator.. and google..! installed to my brain because I always ask those two for the answers

*giggle* I did say compared to me, hun. I barely passed HS algebra.

[Reno]

Ever watch the Brini Maxwell show val?

But I am curious as to the point you are trying to make. Ben isn't making any effort to "hide" the fact that he's a guy PRETENDING to be a woman. In fact, he's listed by his male name in the credits, which is fairly common for a lot of "female impersonators". They may dress like women, but they WANT to remain male. Most are homosexual, not trans-sexual, they have no interest in "changing the plumbing".

However, if the point you are trying to make is that men and women have different behavior patterns and different motivations for their behaviors, I've never once disputed that. What I have said is that following "stereotypical behaviors" should be a CHOICE, not a SENTENCE. Gender Equality is about letting people chose to express masculinity or femininity to whatever degree they chose, not be forced by society to behave in a certain manner because of "Gender Stereotypes".

I don't deny I have a lot of "stereotypical" feminine traits. I suck at math for example. But just because *I* exhibit a "stereotype" trait it doesn't mean that EVERY woman should be FORCED to have that same trait. Compared to me, Luna is a math wiz. My roomies Mom who just died was an ENGINEER. And the sad thing is that she "gave up" being one to be a "Mom" because SOCIETY expected her to abandon all that education to stay at home to watch the kid while her husband went gallivanting off to foreign countries doing the same job. She died a bitter lonely old woman because she never got to live her dream, and for no other reason than "Women are baby machines, not engineers" stereotyping.

I wasn't trying to make a point. There's no point.

I enjoyed watching the Brini Maxwell show. Wondered if you had run across it. I don't think he's that over the top for the era he's portraying. People back then acted different on TV. I wouldn't be surprised if that was his TV show gimmick. That type of show definitely wouldn't fly nowadays, unless you had a gimmick such as a crossdresser as the host. I doubt he would be doing it if he didn't enjoy it. Especially, as it ran for two seasons on cable.

Wait, that's a guy?

I only watched half a minute maybe and turned it off because it looked silly O_o

And me, a math wiz? haha! I might be if I had google calculator.. and google..! installed to my brain because I always ask those two for the answers

You should watch the second video. It's an actual episode. The first video is just a youtube video of all the intros and funny moments. And yeah, I didn't know she was a he when I first saw it either. He pulls it off pretty good if you ask me.

Edited by Reno, 21 September 2010 - 07:02 PM.

[hotamali]

this isn't really nanotech but has any one seen this?

http://spectrum.ieee...y-i-can-stomach

apparently a french company has functional VR/AR glasses that will roll out within 2 years.

[valkyrie_ice]

this isn't really nanotech but has any one seen this?

http://spectrum.ieee...y-i-can-stomach

apparently a french company has functional VR/AR glasses that will roll out within 2 years.

It's never been about JUST nanotech, more a "technological developments" thread really, and since I spend a lot of time talking about VR, it's right on topic!


Nice prototype. By the time it hits the market I'd be willing to bet they will have ditched the projector, and will be using transparent OLED displays.

[valkyrie_ice]

I wasn't trying to make a point. There's no point.

I enjoyed watching the Brini Maxwell show. Wondered if you had run across it. I don't think he's that over the top for the era he's portraying. People back then acted different on TV. I wouldn't be surprised if that was his TV show gimmick. That type of show definitely wouldn't fly nowadays, unless you had a gimmick such as a crossdresser as the host. I doubt he would be doing it if he didn't enjoy it. Especially, as it ran for two seasons on cable.

Ah. Probably me being a little defensive then. I've had this argument a few too many times. I'm also used to Summerspeaker over at IEET trying to make every issue dealing with gender into a diatribe about his idea of what womens "rights" should be. (which is more or less Female Supremacy instead of male)

My apologies.


I'm also under a lot of stress ATM because we have less than 20 days to find a new home, and the apt we had thought we were moving too just decided to raise their minimum income level and disqualified us.

Edited by valkyrie_ice, 21 September 2010 - 08:42 PM.

[Elus]

Equality in terms of one sex being able to do everything the other can.. no. That's a physical impossibility the same as a blind man legally driving, or a deaf man professionally singing. A woman thinks in terms of how she feels, while a man thinks in terms of why he feels it. Men look at the world through a linear lens, while a woman sees things in a dynamic one. That's why men are from mars and women are from venus.

I personally don't believe that we will turn ourselves all into some sort of cyborg monstrosity from Hollywood. I do believe that we will incorporate molecular nanotechnology into ourselves to perfect the form we have. I see a person in 50 years being more or less similar to a Greek god of the past. A person with all the human mental frailties, but with none of the physical.

I do indeed see physical equality, Reno. Nanofiber muscle is going to grant the same strength to everyone, regardless of whether it's a "slimmer female" shape or a "bulky male" shape, the tensile strength and "power" of those muscles will be the same.

Mental equality is never going to be about men and women thinking in exactly the same terms, but means that both sexes recognize that the differences are individual, and that forcing anyone to fit a "stereotype" is wrong and that demanding that basing "social roles" on sex as opposed to aptitude is ridiculous.

I happen to like to cook, I also do most of the housekeeping, I do so because I chose to, not because "i'm the woman" since atm I'm still physically male. I may exhibit many "stereotypical feminine behaviors" but again, I should not be forced to behave in any particular role in order to "fit in"

The error you make with that "Cyborg monstrosity from hollywood" more or less is assuming that nanotech can't create biological bodies that incorporate all the technological enhancements that I've talked about. "Ghost in the Shell" is a poor vision of the possibilities.

I beg to differ on the bolded text, just as a matter of mathematical knit-picking. Assuming nanofiber density is equal per unit of volume in artificial muscle, if you increase the volume of the muscle (Make it more bulky), you will have a higher number of muscle fibres. Thus, the bulky version will be stronger than the compact version. If this doesn't make sense, imagine a circle with dots, representing a cross section of each fiber. You will be able to fit a maximum number of fibres within that circle, but if you expand that circle, you will increase the amount of fibers even more.

Edited by Elus, 21 September 2010 - 09:59 PM.

[Reno]

I beg to differ on the bolded text, just as a matter of mathematical knit-picking. Assuming nanofiber density is equal per unit of volume in artificial muscle, if you increase the volume of the muscle (Make it more bulky), you will have a higher number of muscle fibres. Thus, the bulky version will be stronger than the compact version. If this doesn't make sense, imagine a circle with dots, representing a cross section of each fiber. You will be able to fit a maximum number of fibres within that circle, but if you expand that circle, you will increase the amount of fibers even more.

Yeah, I think she is referring to the general idea of artificial strength. It won't really matter who's a little bit bigger when everyone has tons of kinetic strength bound up in their body.

Edited by Reno, 21 September 2010 - 11:09 PM.

[valkyrie_ice]

I beg to differ on the bolded text, just as a matter of mathematical knit-picking. Assuming nanofiber density is equal per unit of volume in artificial muscle, if you increase the volume of the muscle (Make it more bulky), you will have a higher number of muscle fibres. Thus, the bulky version will be stronger than the compact version. If this doesn't make sense, imagine a circle with dots, representing a cross section of each fiber. You will be able to fit a maximum number of fibres within that circle, but if you expand that circle, you will increase the amount of fibers even more.

Yeah, I think she is referring to the general idea of artificial strength. It won't really matter who's a little bit bigger when everyone has tons of kinetic strength bound up in their body.

Yes Reno. That's exactly what I meant.


Who's stronger? Hulk or She-Hulk? When they can BOTH hurl a skyscraper at each other DOES IT REALLY MATTER?????

[Reno]

If you want to read a book right up this alley, read Crossover by Joel Shepherd. The main character is an experimental military grade android who broke away from the government where she was raised to live life among the people of an enemy state. This is the first in a trilogy, and each book just gets better and better.

Edited by Reno, 22 September 2010 - 04:36 AM.

[valkyrie_ice]

And now in the News!: ME!

http://nextbigfuture...nal-remote.html

Valkyrie Ice wrote an interesting article on Quadcopters for eventual usage as personal remote telepresence over at hplusmagazine.

Advances being made in battery and fuel cell and solar power technology could enable a cell-powered drone to run for days. Advances with noise-canceling “stealth” technology should enable the elimination of the “buzz” from the fans on a drone. Inside of five years, a small, silent, RTU could be feasible. Properly constructed, it could be rugged, cheap, and safe enough to use in any human environment. Drones have already been enabled can with grippers, or other robotic limbs.

The University of Pennsylvania grasp lab is where some of the most impressive UAV quadcopter performance is being developed.

UPenn’s GRASP lab released a video of their quadrotor performing its own autonomous flight using onboard sensors and the PixHawk at ETH can also perform autonomous flight.

IEEE Spectrum covers quadcopters, hexacopter and octocopter UAVs.

According to a recent Robots Podcast interview with Joshua Portlock, manager of the CyberQuad project at Australia's Cyber Technology, what happened is a classical case of an enabling technology being driven by the consumer market. Fast, precise and affordable accelerometers are a key technology for Quadcopters. Their development was initially driven by their use for airbags in cars, and now increasingly by their use in consumer devices such as mobile phones. Accelerometers are key because unlike standard helicopters, which use complex mechanics to allow stable flight, Quadrotors use fast onboard motor control to take care of stability. This mechanical simplicity is also their main attraction: Quadrotors can navigate in three dimensions using only four moving parts. And the high reliability of brushless motors makes them a simpler, more reliable alternative to many traditional flying platforms. Hexacopters pack more rotors into a given size to provide more power.

Quad vs Hexa vs Octo -copter Advantages-Disadvantages


General rules (from Martin Seven) are that more engines means more power and more lift. That means more batteries. That means more time in the air. Brushless electrics like to run slow (lower RPMs), so bigger means more efficient. If efficiency is your goal, coaxial = evil (radial is more efficient).

The breakdown

Tricopters: cheap, easy to build, least stable, not as robust (tail servo and mechanics), low lifting power and flight time (because the motors have to run faster to hold it all in the air). No engine out capability. Quadcopters: mechanically simpler than tris. While they weigh almost the same they have about 1/3 more lift, they are usually more stable (no servo issues) and are capable of staying airborne for a little while longer (they can either lift larger batteries or fly more economically because the weight is spread across 4 motors and not just 3). Still no engine out capability. If it fails, it goes down. Hexacopters: All the good things that quads have, plus more power and more lifting capability. As a bonus they add limited engine out capability - a hexacopter can lose any single engine and still land (it will lose yaw control though), and if it loses one or both engines on the neutral torque bar it could even continue flying unaffected. Downside is that they are larger and a little pricier, especially if you're running high-grade motors like AXI. Octocopters and heavier: All the good things from hexacopters, plus true engine out ability. Loses any single one and still flies fine. This is what you fly if you need horsepower and reliability in one package. This is what you strap that $1300 Canon 7D under. Even more expensive though. Also heavy craft are really power hungry and unless you have some serious chargers at hand they require a lot of work on the ground before a flight can be made (charging say 5 packs for 25 minutes in the air).

Re more motors and velocity/maneuverability - that depends. It depends on the weight-to-lift ratio. If your machine weighs say 2 kg and each of your 4 motors gives out 625 g of thrust (4*.625 = 2.5 kg), then you have a ratio of 2.5/2 = 1.25, which is not really good. However, if your quad weighs 2 kg and each motor maxes out at 1 kg of thrust (4 kg total), then you're looking at a lift-to-weight ratio of 4:1, which means plenty of power and speed for acrobatics.

If you have more motors you have to consider the battery ratings: a 5000 mAh 20C battery has a max current of 5*20 = 100 A. If you have eight motors and each can draw up to 17 A (136 A total), then you either need to use a stronger battery (or more of them in parallel) or limit the engines in software using a current monitor.

Lithium Polymer batteries currently have up to 200 watt hours per kilogram. In future, Lithium-metal batteries approach the energy density of fuel cells without the plumbing needed for these devices; in theory, the maximum energy density is more than 5,000 watt-hours per kilogram, or more than 10 times that of today's lithium-ion batteries.

1000 watt hours per kilogram lithium batteries are expected in mid-2011

So 5-25 times better performance than lithium polymer is possible.

Long Term Affordable UAVs could run for years

Boeing landed a $89m DARPA contract to build the "Vulture", a huge unmanned solar-powered plane intended to cruise the stratosphere for five years without landing

Nearer term is to leverage beamed power (lasermotive) for remote recharging of a continuously flying UAV.

[valkyrie_ice]

And more evidence that "sexbots" or "Virtual Girlfriends" are coming:

http://singularityhu...on-a-real-date/

The resort town of Atami, Japan hit upon a remarkable way to help its ailing economy: cater to men with virtual girlfriends. The popular Nintendo DS gameLove Plus+ is a dating simulator that allows players to court and then maintain a relationship with a virtual high school girl. In the game, the player (who plays a high school boy) and the girl go to Atami for a romantic weekend. Now, Love Plus+ fans can travel to Atami and re-enact their virtual romance in the real world. Hotels in the area go along with the charade and provide dual habitation quarters, restaurants offer special Love Plus+ fare, and the city is decorated to welcome the young lovers. There’s even an iPhone App that allows you to take a photo and place your virtual girlfriend into the picture. The Love Plus+/Atami crossover event attracted more than 1500 single men in July. Watch the video below to meet some of them. These virtual girlfriends are rather simple characters, who knows how this trend may grow as they become more sophisticated.

[Elus]

Another major step toward the development of quantum computers.

http://www.scienceda...00927002308.htm

Physics Breakthrough: Fast-Moving Neutral Atom Isolated and Captured




In a major physics breakthrough, University of Otago scientists in New Zealand have developed a technique to consistently isolate and capture a fast-moving neutral atom -- and have also seen and photographed this atom for the first time.

Edited by Elus, 28 September 2010 - 11:38 PM.

[Elus]

Second Generation Exoskeleton - Raytheon XOS 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mO0xNI3xpmE&feature=player_embedded#!

Raytheon’s second-generation exoskeleton (XOS 2), essentially a wearable robotics suit, is lighter, stronger and faster than its predecessor, yet it uses 50 percent less power, and its new design makes it more resistant to the environment. When Raytheon's exoskeletons first become available to the military (planned for 2015), they will also likely be tethered by power cables, followed three to five years later by untethered versions. The ratio between actual and perceived weight lifted is much improved, going from 6:1 in the XOS-1 to a whopping 17:1 in the XOS-2. A 50-pound weight feels like only three pounds, and a 200-pound weight feels like only 12

[Reno]

Wow, I didn't expect a second generation this soon either. It would be neat if they could put a resonance wireless charger on the thing. I know they have wireless chargers for cell phones and the such. They could probably develop a charging vehicle that could follow a platoon around to keep them charged. It would be neat to see a charging vehicle treated like a DMZ refueling station.

Edited by Reno, 29 September 2010 - 03:28 AM.

[valkyrie_ice]

Based on the developments in ultracap batteries I expect that the "cables" will be skipped entirely for next gen UC batteries

[valkyrie_ice]

okay a bundle of interesting news today:

http://nextbigfuture...structures.html

A revolutionary new spherical nanostructure, fully derived from very simple organic elements, yet strong as steel, has been developed and characterized at the laboratories of Ehud Gazit of Tel Aviv University and Itay Rousso of the Weizmann Institute of Science. Lightweight and exceptionally strong, easy and inexpensive to produce, friendly to the environment and biologically compatible, these promising bio-inspired nano-spheres have innumerable potential uses - from durable composite materials to medical implants

Angewandte Chemie International Edition - Self-Assembled Organic Nanostructures with Metallic-Like Stiffness

AFM (atomic force microscope) experiments using a diamond-tip cantilever show that aromatic dipeptide nanospheres (see picture) have a remarkable metallic-like Young's modulus of up to 275 GPa. This exceptional value places these nanostructures as the stiffest organic materials reported to date, thus making them attractive building blocks for the design and assembly of ultrarigid composite biomaterials

Could be interesting, yes no?

http://nextbigfuture...generation.html

Tufts scientists have found a way to regenerate injured spinal cord and muscle by using small molecule drugs to trigger an influx of sodium ions into injured cells.

The approach breaks new ground in the field of biomedicine because it requires no gene therapy; can be administered after an injury has occurred and even after the wound has healed over; and is bioelectric, rather than chemically based.

In a paper appearing as the cover story of the September 29, 2010, issue of the Journal of Neuroscience, the Tufts team reported that a localized increase in sodium ions was necessary for young Xenopus laevis tadpoles to regenerate their tails – complex appendages containing spinal cord, muscle and other tissue.

and last but not least...


http://nextbigfuture...e-zone-has.html

A newfound planet, known as Gliese 581g, is estimated to be 3.1 to 4.3 times as massive as Earth, and makes a complete circuit around its sun in just under 37 days.

If the planet has a rocky composition like Earth's, it would be 1.2 to 1.4 times as wide as our own planet, qualifying it as a "super-Earth." Even more intriguingly, the brightness of the star (much dimmer than our own sun) and Gliese 581g's orbital distance (0.146 AU, less than half the distance between Mercury and our sun) suggest that the planet's average surface temperature is between 10 degrees and minus-24 degrees Fahrenheit (-12 to -31 degrees Celsius).

That means Gliese 581g is right in the middle of a planetary zone that is, in the words of the Goldilocks tale, "not too hot and not too cold, but just right" for water to exist in liquid form.

[valkyrie_ice]

WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


They've finally engineered MY TAIL!!!!!!

http://singularityhu...obot-arm-video/

From nature to robot, Festo's bionic approach to engineering is garnering awards.

Smart engineers copy ideas. Great engineers copy from nature. Festo’s Bionic Handling Assistant is a robot arm modeled on an elephant’s trunk, and it has all the supple flexibility of the original. Using hollow plastic chambers that change size with air pressure, the Bionic Handling Assistant can move through an incredible range of motion in three dimensions. It’s designed to provide gentle forces, and to give when pushed, making it safe for working with humans in a working environment. The Bionic Handling Assistant is up for the prestigious German Future Award (Deutscher Zukunftspreis) and in celebration Festo has released a new video to highlight its skills. Watch the elephant inspired robot arm flex its way to fame in the clip below. It’s amazing how life like it seems.

Okay okay so it's not "really" a tail now... But IT WILL BE!!!!

[Luna]

http://singularityhu...-biology-video/

Wow, kinda makes me want to work at festo and invent something cool as well as try see how to integrate it with Humans. Flying penguins are so cool Makes it look like fantasy place.

[Reno]

That bit about the artificial spinal cord has some truly wonderful applications. This is pretty much talking about an artificial nervous system. If this can create an artificial spinal cord then with a good deal more research it is possible to create an artificial body. This is what many of us have been talking about for a long long time. Engineered bodies stronger and better in every way than the real thing.

Edited by Reno, 30 September 2010 - 12:53 PM.