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3/30/2009 Link
  Plant gene mod can prevent global warming from causing mass human starvation  "Exposure of plants to high temperature results in the rapid elongation of stems and a dramatic upwards elevation of leaves," said Dr Kerry Franklin, from the University of Leicester Department of Biology led the study that has identified a single gene responsible for controlling plant growth responses to elevated temperature. "These responses are accompanied by a significant reduction in plant biomass, thereby severely reducing harvest yield. Our study has revealed that a single gene product regulates all these architectural adaptations." In short, should global warming occur, we could mod a planet gene and avoid mass human starvation.... READ Subscribe to the HUMODS' feed + Post To: Delicious + Digg + Facebook + Reddit + StumbleUpon - - - - - - - - -
3/27/2009 Link
Breakthrough invention lets you power your home and car off-grid
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3/18/2009 Link
Revolutionary nano-memristors fabbed into first 1 kilbit chip A University of Michigan electrical engineer has built the first chip composed of nanoscale memristors that can store up to 1 kilobit of information. The memristor is a computer component that offers both memory and logic functions in one simple package that has the potential to transform the semiconductor industry, enabling smaller, faster, cheaper chips and computers. Memristors could bring cheap enough computing to allow anything and everything to become a bot providing personal RES devices with ubiquitous locale data.... MORELabels: Alert, Bots, Nano, RES Subscribe to the HUMODS' feed + Post To: Delicious + Digg + Facebook + Reddit + StumbleUpon- - - - - - - - -
3/13/2009 Link
The amazing Big Dog bot hits the trail again  I just never tire of watching Big Dog take on some new terrain challenge. Here is Big Dog climbing up a muddy, steep, root covered, slippery trail.... watch And I won't say anything about this Big Dog clip, I don't want to spoil it for you.... watch The way Big Dog can keep on its feet, despite any obstacle, is truly amazing. Walking bots have always suffered from very finicky code. One tiny unexpected irregularity was always able to knock the bot off its feet. So when I saw that first Big Dog clip, where a researcher just walks up and really tries to kick the bot over and Big Dog staggers, but recovers its balance. I knew that after thirty years of research a real breakthrough had finally been achieve, and a practical all terrain walking bot had left its footprints on the planet for the first time.... more Subscribe to the HUMODS' feed + Post To: Delicious + Digg + Facebook + Reddit + StumbleUpon - - - - - - - - -
3/11/2009 Link
Researchers create a nano-sized photocatalyst for artificial photosynthesis  Plants employ photosynthesis to capture energy from sunlight and convert it into electrochemical energy. Now researchers at Berkeley Lab have taken the critical step towards developing an artificial version of photosynthesis that can be used to produce liquid fuels from carbon dioxide and water. As shown in the image, nano-sized crystals of cobalt oxide can effectively carry out the critical photosynthetic reaction of splitting water molecules to free up electrons and oxygen (O2) that then react with carbon dioxide (CO2) to produce a fuel, shown here as methanol.... more Subscribe to the HUMODS' feed + Post To: Delicious + Digg + Facebook + Reddit + StumbleUpon - - - - - - - - -
3/10/2009 Link
MUST WATCH TED DEMO of RES cloud interface from Pattie Maes' lab at MIT  It was the buzz of the 2009 TED conference. This true vision of a cloud interface is similar to but much better than the fictional interface seen in the movie Minority Report. This is getting very close to the long dreamt of RES -- Reality Enhancement System -- ultimate cloud interface that most humods are prepared to sign over their souls to MIT in order RES-up their life with this baby. And, [deep breath to calm down] the price of the components that went into the prototype [another deep breath] only $350. If you haven't watched this yet, watch it.... watch ....more Subscribe to the HUMODS' feed + Post To: Delicious + Digg + Facebook + Reddit + StumbleUpon - - - - - - - - -
3/07/2009 Link
Researchers find cure for mad cow disease & its human form CJD Prion diseases are neurodegenerative conditions that affect both animals (mad cow disease) and human beings (CJD). They develop when a natural brain protein called PrP comes into contact with the infectious prions. The prions then transform the PrP proteins into a form with a different shape which leads to a build-up of the protein in the brain, causing brain cells to die. Researchers at the UK's University of Liverpool have now discovered the atomic structure of the 'binding' between a brain protein and an antibody that provides a potential cure for mad cow and CJD (Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease) by 'sticking' to the PrP and blocking the disease's development ... more
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3/06/2009 Link
Mass fab of nano-scale protein-based molecular transistors  This vertical-type device was fabricated using conventional photolithography and self-assembly methods and was processed in parallel fashion. We used this transistor to investigate the transport properties of a single layer of bovine serum albumin protein. This 4-nm-channel device exhibits low operating voltages, ambipolar behavior, and high gate sensitivity ... more Subscribe to the HUMODS' feed + Post To: Delicious + Digg + Facebook + Reddit + StumbleUpon - - - - - - - - -
3/04/2009 Link
Metallic nanoparticles can manipulate light in controlled ways not possible with conventional optics In a recent example of this, Rice University researchers discovered that cup-shaped gold nanostructures can bend light in a controllable way. The cups act like three-dimensional nano-antennas ... more
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2/26/2009 Link
A second lab is now reporting finding flu's Achilles' heel Scripps Research Institute says they have discovered a supermantibody, an antibody known as CR6261, that can both give humans lifelong protection against a majority of influenza viruses and also allow the development of much improved methods to treat those who go unvaccinated and come down with the flu. "This is very exciting because it marks the first step toward the Holy Grail of influenza vaccinology - the development of a durable and cross-protective universal influenza virus vaccine," says the study's senior investigator, Ian Wilson ... more ... see prior report
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2/26/2009 Link
Backyard aquaponics can keep your family well fed in hard times  Most of us know about the numerous studies in recent years showing the disease prevention and lifespan extension effects of diets heavy in veggies and cold water fish. Frankly, there have been so many news reports about the beneficial health effects of such diets lately, that it seems to have driven store prices up. Fortunately, a powerful combination of small scale fish farming and hydroponics, called aquaponics, can let you produce plenty of these healthy foods for your family from a modest greenhouse in your own back yard or even in your basement using the new power-sipping LED grow lights. Aquaponics takes advantage of the natural symbiotic relationship between plants and aquatic animals in a recirculating water environment. If your system is well designed, an amazingly small amount of daily effort is necessary to produce a substantial amount of fish and veggies ... more Subscribe to the HUMODS' feed + Post To: Delicious + Digg + Facebook + Reddit + StumbleUpon - - - - - - - - -
2/25/2009 Link
Lab-made proteins can prevent the flu  Researchers at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Burnham Institute for Medical Research and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have reported the identification of human monoclonal antibodies (mAb) that neutralize an unprecedented range of influenza A viruses, including avian influenza A (H5N1) virus, previous pandemic influenza viruses, and some seasonal influenza viruses. These antibodies have the potential for use in combination with other treatments to prevent or treat certain types of avian and seasonal flu. ... watch ... more Subscribe to the HUMODS' feed + Post To: Delicious + Digg + Facebook + Reddit + StumbleUpon - - - - - - - - -
2/23/2009 Link
Using light to activate brain circuits with nanoparticles Traditionally, stimulating nerves or brain tissue involves cumbersome wiring and a sharp metal electrode. But a unique collaboration between chemists and neuroscientists at Case Western Reserve University has led to the discovery of a remarkable new way to use light to activate brain circuits with nanoparticles. By using semiconductor nanoparticles as tiny solar cells, the scientists can excite neurons in single cells or groups of cells with infrared light. This eliminates the need for the complex wiring by embedding the light-activated nanoparticles directly into the tissue. This method allows for a more controlled reaction and closely replicates the sophisticated focal patterns created by natural stimuli. Say hello to the ultimate mind/computer interface ... more
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2/23/2009 Link
Switching on a single gene suppresses cancers in humans, mice and flies In tiny fruit fly, mice and humans, the expression of the same gene suppresses cancer and switching off that gene -- called Ato in flies and ATOH1 in mammals -- leads to cancer. Their research also shows, scientist say, that there is a good chance that the ATOH1 gene can be switched on again in those human with a switched off ATOH1 gene, making them far less prone to cancer ... more
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2/23/2009 Link
Producing hydrogen from bio-waste without the expensive platinum catalyst Bruce Logan and his colleagues at Pennsylvania State University have used a stainless-steel cathode high-density bristle brush as the catalyst in the microbial electrolysis cell. With increased surface area, hydrogen production rates increased to values that matched or even exceeded those of an expensive platinum cathode. The new technique promises to cut the costs of converting bio-waste into hydrogen fuel with a microbial fuel cell by about 80% ... more
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2/22/2009 Link
Moore's Law can continue for decades thanks to nano breakthroughs New developments in nano technology will let computer power continue to double every 18 months or so for decades to come, as two US groups announce transistors almost 1000 times smaller than those in use today, and a version of flash memory that could store all the books in the US Library of Congress in a 4 inch (10 cm) square ... more
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2/22/2009 Link
Bots learning to use gestures so they can communicate better with humans  Because huumans constantly use gestures when communicating, bots must be able to learn to do so as well ... watch Subscribe to the HUMODS' feed + Post To: Delicious + Digg + Facebook + Reddit + StumbleUpon - - - - - - - - -
2/21/2009 Link
An autonomous A.I. science-bot that does its own research A scientist bot that can make informed guesses about how effective different chemical compounds will be at fighting different diseases could revolutionize the pharmaceutical industry by developing more effective treatments more cheaply and quickly than current methods. The bot, known as Eve, uses advanced artificial intelligence combined with innovative data mining and knowledge discovery techniques to analyse the results of pharmacological experiments it conducts itself. ... more
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2/21/2009 Link
Coordinated quantum dance discovery could revolutionize computing In addition to electrical charge, electrons possess rotational properties, which could be used to better store data. Now scientists have actually recorded swarms of electrons spinning in a synchronized quantum dance, a coordinated behavior involving a strange form of rotation. "This quantum weirdness -- a coordinated twist in the spin of electrons even though there is no magnetic field around -- is what we've been searching for by fine tuning our experiments over the last few years," said Zahid Hasan. "We believe this discovery is not only an advancement in the fundamental physics of quantum systems but also could lead to significant advances in electronics, computing and information science." ... more
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2/20/2009 Link
Humankind's ultimate quest begins  On Launch Pad 17-B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida sits a Delta 2 launch vehicle being prepared for launch. Its mission is the beginning of a solemn and difficult quest we are required to undertake to insuring the salvation of humankind. The cosmos, astronomers have learned, is a violent and dangerous place. A place that enforces a stark law of survival on every species spawned within it. The law is that a species must develop the intelligence, organization and will to move outward or face inevitable extinction. If humans are foolish and falter. If we allow dogmas, wars or intellectual laziness to prevent us from moving quickly enough outward to colonize other worlds around other stars. Our universe will punish this failure by exacting an unthinkably horrible price. It will deny millions of future generations of our offspring the chance to ever look up at the night's sky and contemplate its majesty. Ridding inside the belly of that Delta 2 on Pad 17-B at Canaveral is the Kepler spacecraft. Humanity's first effort to survey nearby stars for the purpose of discovering other worlds that might be suitable for human habitation. Worlds that we must discover and find a way to inhabit, if millions of generations of humanity's children unborn are ever to receive that single most precious of all gifts, existence ... more ... more Subscribe to the HUMODS' feed + Post To: Delicious + Digg + Facebook + Reddit + StumbleUpon - - - - - - - - -
2/20/2009 Link
Restore America's economic strength by becoming the world's electric utility  The main problem with solar power is that it won't work when the sun isn't shining. But this isn't a problem if you put the solar collector up in space and beamed the power down to Earth. The sun never stops shining in space. By creating a space-based solar industry, America could solve our own energy problem, eliminate the problem of global warming, restore our economy by becoming the world's electric utility, and insure that we will never again need to send our young men and women to die to maintain the flow of oil. For less than we have spent on the Iraq war, we could turn ourselves into the world's new OPEC and live rich and free by making energy instead of war ... watch ... more Subscribe to the HUMODS' feed + Post To: Delicious + Digg + Facebook + Reddit + StumbleUpon - - - - - - - - -
2/20/2009 Link
Breakthrough allows imaging of the position of atoms in a quantum dot A new imaging technique developed by researchers at the University of Illinois overcomes the limit of diffraction and can reveal the atomic structure of a single nanocrystal with a resolution of less than one angstrom ... more
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2/19/2009 Link
Powerful new technique for complex nano-device assembly discovered  By manipulating the magnetization of a liquid solution, Duke University researchers have for the first time coaxed magnetic and non-magnetic materials to form intricate nano-structures. The resulting structures can be fixed, meaning they can be permanently linked together. Changing the levels of magnetization of the fluid controls how the particles are attracted to or repelled by each other. By appropriately tuning these interactions, the magnetic and non-magnetic particles form around each other much like a snowflake forms around a microscopic dust particle. This technique has the potential to make possible efficient commercialization of complex nano-device assembly ... more Subscribe to the HUMODS' feed + Post To: Delicious + Digg + Facebook + Reddit + StumbleUpon - - - - - - - - -
2/19/2009 Link
Sun-powered device converts carbon dioxide directly into fuel Powered only by natural sunlight, an array of nanotubes is able to convert a mixture of carbon dioxide and water vapor into natural gas at unprecedented rates. Such devices offer a new way to take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and convert it directly into fuel or other chemicals cutting the effect of fossil fuel emissions on global climate, says Craig Grimes, from Pennsylvania State University, whose team designed and built the device ... more
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2/17/2009 Link
Stem cells used to reverse paralysis in animals A new study has found that transplantation of stem cells from the lining of the spinal cord, called ependymal stem cells, reverses paralysis associated with spinal cord injuries in laboratory tests. The results open a new window on spinal cord regenerative strategies ... more
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2/17/2009 Link
Lab creates circuits & logic gates made of living nerves Scientists have hooked brains to computers with metal electrodes to measure what goes on inside but metal electrodes aren't well accepted long term. Scientists at the Weizmann Institute of Science are seeking to create a better brain/computer interface based on nerve cells grown for that purpose. Towards this end, Prof. Elisha Moses and colleagues have now created circuits and logic gates made of live nerves grown in the lab ... more
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2/16/2009 Link
Rules and regulations are the weapons in our society's war on wisdom Rules supplant thinking, rules preclude innovation, dogmas are death. Barry Schwartz explains in this TED talk how too many rules are destroying our civilization by putting an end to wisdom ... watch ... see also Memes for the Humods Era
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2/05/2009 Link
Breakthrough brings quantum dot computing closer  Scientists at the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) have recently demonstrated the ability to control the spin population of the individual quantum shell states of self-assembled indium arsenide quantum dots (QDs). These results are significant in the understanding of QD behavior and scientists' ability to utilize QDs in active devices or for information processing. Semiconductor QDs are nanoscale circular disks of one semiconducting material, typically 3 nm high by 30 nm in diameter, embedded within layers of a second material. Subscribe to the HUMODS' feed + Post To: Delicious + Digg + Facebook + Reddit + StumbleUpon - - - - - - - - -
2/05/2009 Link
Powerful new technique to measure asteroids' sizes & shapes  The future of humankind lies in the asteroid belt. Because most of Earth's valuable minerals are inaccessible in our planet's core, more valuable minerals are recoverable in the asteroid belt than on Earth. It is a vast treasure of wealth waiting to power the human colonization of our Galaxy. Now in a step towards humanity's greatest adventure, a team of French and Italian astronomers have devised a new method for measuring the size and shape of asteroids that are too small or too far away for traditional techniques, increasing the number of asteroids that can be measured by a factor of several hundred. This method takes advantage of the unique capabilities of ESO's Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) ... more Subscribe to the HUMODS' feed + Post To: Delicious + Digg + Facebook + Reddit + StumbleUpon - - - - - - - - -
2/05/2009 Link
FOXO3A gene variation proven to extend lifespans  A variation in the FOXO3A gene has a positive effect on the life expectancy of humans, and is found much more often in people living to 100 and beyond -- moreover, this appears to be true worldwide. A research group in the Faculty of Medicine at the Christian-Albrechts-University in Kiel (CAU) has now confirmed this assumption by comparing DNA samples taken from 388 German centenarians with those from 731 younger people ... more Subscribe to the HUMODS' feed + Post To: Delicious + Digg + Facebook + Reddit + StumbleUpon - - - - - - - - -
2/03/2009 Link
Scientist discovery the key mechanism that lets your eyes see The actual chemical process that your eyes use to convert light into electrical signals that are sent to the brain has now been identified for the first time. At the center of the process is the signaling of rhodopsin to transducin. Rhodopsin is a pigment in the eye that helps detect light. Transducin is a protein (sometimes called GPCR) which ultimately signals the brain that light is present ... more
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2/03/2009 Link
Multiple sclerosis 'reversed' with stem cell therapy For the first time, some of the disability associated with the early stages of multiple sclerosis appears to have been reversed. The treatment works by resetting patients' immune systems using their own stem cells ... more
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2/02/2009 Link
Autonomous bots suddenly taking over all the warehouses  Squat little orange Kiva Systems bots suddenly seem to be taking over the world's warehouses, achieving breakthrough efficiencies. Able to autonomously find and take to individual box packers just the right racks at just the right time to allow them to fill orders in record time. These little bots that each look like a hefty orange Roomba are increasing the output of human warehouse employees by a stunning 200% to 300%. All the bots need to be told is where the goods are and which box packer needs them and they figure out the logistics of getting the job done themselves and manage to find time to charge themselves when things are a bit slack. "The basic technology will be the de facto way to run a warehouse," confidently predicts Pete Wurman, a computer science Ph.D. and one of the developers of the Kiva bot ... more Subscribe to the HUMODS' feed + Post To: Delicious + Digg + Facebook + Reddit + StumbleUpon - - - - - - - - -
1/30/2009 Link
Breakthrough LED fab technique promises to reduce your lighting bill by 75%  A new way of making LEDs could see household lighting bills reduced by up to 75% in five years time. LEDs use Gallium Nitride (GaN), a man-made semiconductor that emits a brilliant bright light but uses very little electricity. Until now high production costs have made GaN lighting too expensive for widespread use in homes and offices, but the Cambridge University Center for Gallium Nitride has developed a new way of making GaN, which can produce LEDs for 10% of current prices. The new technique grows GaN on silicon wafers instead of the much more expensive material currently used ... more Subscribe to the HUMODS' feed + Post To: Delicious + Digg + Facebook + Reddit + StumbleUpon - - - - - - - - -
1/29/2009 Link
Bot kicked apart, reassembles itself Watch as this modular shape-shifting bot developed by roboticists at the University of Pennsylvania gets kicked apart, and then its parts are able to find each other and reassemble ... watch ... more
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1/29/2009 Link
Understanding breakthrough DNA chip technology  If you haven't previously seen this 17 minute TED clip from a couple of years ago of biochemist Joe DeRisi talking about diagnosing viruses with DNA chips, then you should watch it now. It gives an excellent (and very funny) overview of the DNA chip, an extremely significant breakthrough technology ... watch Subscribe to the HUMODS' feed + Post To: Delicious + Digg + Facebook + Reddit + StumbleUpon - - - - - - - - -
1/27/2009 Link
Breakthrough nuclear fusion-fission device destroys nuclear waste  Physicists at The University of Texas at Austin have designed a new system that, when fully developed, would use fusion to eliminate most of the waste produced by nuclear power plants. The scientists propose destroying the waste using a fusion-fission hybrid reactor, the centerpiece of which is a high power Compact Fusion Neutron Source (CFNS) made possible by a crucial invention. The invention could help combat global warming by making nuclear power cleaner and thus a more viable replacement of carbon-heavy energy sources, such as coal. "We have created a way to use fusion to relatively inexpensively destroy the waste from nuclear fission," says Mike Kotschenreuther, senior research scientist with the Institute for Fusion Studies (IFS) and Department of Physics. "Our waste destruction system, we believe, will allow nuclear power - a low carbon source of energy - to take its place in helping us combat global warming." ... more Subscribe to the HUMODS' feed + Post To: Delicious + Digg + Facebook + Reddit + StumbleUpon - - - - - - - - -
1/25/2009 Link
Breakthrough paves the way for nano-lasers  This plasmonic microcavity consists of a silica interior that is coated with a thin layer of silver. It uses the same principal as a whispering gallery uses to focus sound to improves on the quality of current plasmonic microcavities by better than an order of magnitude and paves the way for plasmonic nanolasers ... more Subscribe to the HUMODS' feed + Post To: Delicious + Digg + Facebook + Reddit + StumbleUpon - - - - - - - - -
1/21/2009 Link
'Holy grail' breakthrough claimed for semiconducting nanotubes  After announcing last April a method for growing exceptionally long, straight, numerous and well-aligned carbon cylinders only a few atoms thick, a Duke University-led team of chemists has now modified that process to create exclusively semiconducting versions of these single-walled carbon nanotubes. The achievement "paves the way for manufacturing reliable electronic nanocircuits at the ultra-small billionths of a meter scale," said Jie Liu, Duke's Jerry G. and Patricia Crawford Hubbard Professor of Chemistry, who headed the effort. "I think it's the holy grail for the field. Every piece is now there, including the control of location, orientation and electronic properties all together. We are positioned to make large numbers of electronic devices such as high-current field-effect transistors and sensors." ... more Subscribe to the HUMODS' feed + Post To: Delicious + Digg + Facebook + Reddit + StumbleUpon - - - - - - - - -
1/21/2009 Link
Tuning double graphene sheets into forming semiconductor circuits  Researchers at Rensselaer have developed a new method for controlling the conductive nature of graphene. Pictured is a rendering of two sheets of graphene, each with the thickness of just a single carbon atom, resting on top of a silicon dioxide substrate. "Depending on the chemistry of the surface, we can control the nature of the graphene to be metallic or semiconductor," Nayak said. "Essentially, we are 'tuning' the electrical properties of material to suit our needs." ... more Subscribe to the HUMODS' feed + Post To: Delicious + Digg + Facebook + Reddit + StumbleUpon - - - - - - - - -
1/16/2009 Link
Major breakthrough in slowing brain aging A research team from the Universite de Montreal, Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has taken a giant step towards slowing brain aging and preventing neurodegenerative diseases by identifying a gene that controls the normal and pathological aging of neurons in the central nervous system: Bmi1. "Overall, we have now established that the Bmi1 gene is a direct regulator of cell aging in brain and retinal neurons of mammals through its action on the defense mechanisms against free radicals," says Dr. Gilbert Bernier ... more
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1/15/2009 Link
Clear graphene film breakthrough promises thin bendable displays  In a breakthrough for thin film displays, researchers from the Sungkyunkwan University and the Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology, in Suwon, Korea, have made centimeters-wide graphene films that are 80 percent transparent and can be bent and stretched without breaking or losing their electrical properties. ... more Subscribe to the HUMODS' feed + Post To: Delicious + Digg + Facebook + Reddit + StumbleUpon - - - - - - - - -
1/15/2009 Link
Far more powerful computers based on spintronics closer to reality Spintronics holds the promise of delivering computers than can run far faster than is possible with traditional electronic computers. But, in order to be able to manipulate the spins for information processing, it is necessary to inject the electrons singly with predefined spin into a semiconductor structure. Now, this has now been achieved by researchers of the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) in Braunschweig and the University of Latvia in Riga ... moreLabels: Alert Subscribe to the HUMODS' feed + Post To: Delicious + Digg + Facebook + Reddit + StumbleUpon- - - - - - - - -
1/12/2009 Link
Breakthrough in fabbing complex atomic structures An international team of scientists, including researchers from the Theoretical Condensed Matter Physics department at the Universidad Autonoma de Madrid, have developed a new method for the manipulation of atoms based on the Atomic Force Microscope (AFM), which makes it possible to build stable atomic structures at room temperature and drastically reduces the time necessary to realize complex atomic structures ... more
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1/12/2009 Link
You may soon be talking to a real Artificial Intelligence SmartAction claims to be commercializing a true Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) system that functions as a call center operator developed by their parent company A2i2.Our LiveAGI Brain takes it far beyond simple keyword recognition with the capability to ask open-ended natural language questions like what can we do for you today?, understand the caller's free-form answers, and respond with prompt, personalized, context-relevant, clear, accurate answers. Callers can also barge in at will, use their own words to describe their reason for calling, and even change the topic ... moreFrom the A2i2 web site: AGIs do not need to be programmed to do new tasks. Instead, they are simply instructed and taught by humans. Additionally, these systems can learn by themselves both implicitly 'on-the-job', and explicitly by reading and practicing. Furthermore, just like humans, they resiliently adapt to changing circumstances. Recent advances in computer technology combined with insights from fields as varied as psychology, philosophy, evolution, brain physiology, and information theory allow us to finally solve the previously intractable problems of creating real AI. The long-promised power of truly intelligent machines will soon be available to help us solve the many problems facing mankind ... moreSubscribe to the HUMODS' feed + Post To: Delicious + Digg + Facebook + Reddit + StumbleUpon - - - - - - - - -
1/08/2009 Link
Modded goat to be first commercial animal drug fab A just released Food and Drug Administration evaluation finding that the drug Atryn from GTC is effective and safe is likely to mean that the first genetically engineered animal to be turned into a walking, living, breathing drug fabrication lab is a goat that produces this anti-clotting drug in its milk ... more
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1/08/2009 Link
Bacteria turns coal into natural gas underground  Luca Technologies has discovered that on-going biogenic production of methane (natural gas) is taking place today in a number of large coal fields in the United States. This methane production is the result of indigenous populations of microorganisms that, in the absence of oxygen, metabolize the large hydrocarbon molecules present in coal and oil into smaller hydrocarbons, principally methane. Now Luca is working to culture and harness these organisms to convert coal to natural gas underground releasing only half the carbon of mining and burning that coal ... more Subscribe to the HUMODS' feed + Post To: Delicious + Digg + Facebook + Reddit + StumbleUpon - - - - - - - - -
7/31/2008 Link
Solar power breakthrough makes energy self-sufficiency a reality In a revolutionary leap that appears likely to transform solar power from a marginal, boutique alternative into a mainstream energy source, MIT researchers have overcome a major barrier to large-scale solar power: storing energy for use when the sun doesn't shine. MIT researchers have hit upon a simple, inexpensive, highly efficient process for storing solar energy that mimics photosynthesis. Homeowners will soon be powering their homes in the day with solar cells, while also producing hydrogen and oxygen to power their car and home at night. Electricity-by-wire from a central source could soon be a thing of the past ... more
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- - - - - - - - - Humods [homo novo] : intelligent beings able to modify their own source code and destiny Learn more about the Humods Cloud Crowd ! Breakthrough Alert + Bots + Cloud + Crowd + Memes + Mods + Nano + Neuro + Next + Pods + RES + Watts Send comments to: humods [at] gmail [dot] com |
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