Are we going to be transformed in to robots?
The artificial muscles that could lead to smart clothes that adjust to the heat (and a new generation of superstrong robots)
- Researchers say their new yarn has a multitude of uses
- The muscles can lift more than 100,000 times their own weight and generate 85 times more power than the same size human muscle
They might not be able to make you into Superman but newly invented super-strong, artificial muscles could bring science fiction technology to life.
Super strong robots, clothes that get warmer when it’s cold and blinds that close themselves when it’s sunny are just some of the artificial muscles’ potential uses, say the technology’s creators.
Made from nanotech yarns and infused with paraffin wax, the muscles can lift more than 100,000 times their own weight and generate 85 times more power than the same size human muscle.
The artificial muscles are yarns constructed from carbon nanotubes – seamless, hollow cylinders made from the same type of graphite layers found in the core of ordinary pencils.
If they just have created the first `cloaking device`….. than what fuck is that 'invisibility cloak' for military vehicles that was created by BAE system?!
Harry Potter’s invisibility cloak gets a step closer: Researchers reveal first ‘perfect’ cloaking device
- Diamond shaped gadget can render a centimetre cylinder invisible to microwaves
- First to ‘perfectly’ cloak an object with no distortion at sides
It has long been the dream of both scientists and Harry Potter fans, but researchers at Duke University have revealed a new version of a real-life invisibility cloak.
The team, which first showed off a prototype in 2006, believe the latest version is the best ever made.
It allowed the team to ‘cloak’ an object perfectly for the first time, rendering a centimetre-scale cylinder invisible to microwaves.
Several teams around the world are working on technologies to make the technology made famous by Harry Potter a reality, but have struggles to not reflected some of the light, making the illusion incomplete.
A Nature Materials study has now shown how to pull off the trick flawlessly using a diamond shaped cloak.
However, the technique is not quite ready for a real-life Harry potter cloak – the illusion only works from one direction and the team admits it would be difficult to achieve with visible light.
The first functional ‘cloaking’ device was reported by Duke University electrical engineers in 2006 worked like a charm, but it wasn’t perfect.
Now a member of that laboratory has developed a new design that ties up one of the major problems with the original device.
The Duke team has extensive experience in creating ‘meta-materials,’ man-made objects that have properties often absent in natural ones.
Structures incorporating meta-materials can be designed to guide electromagnetic waves around an object, only to have them emerge on the other side as if they had passed through an empty volume of space, thereby cloaking the object.
Duke University researchers Nathan Landy with the new cloaking device, which is the first to perfectly cloak an object.‘In order to create the first cloaks, many approximations had to be made in order to fabricate the intricate meta-materials used in the device,’ said Nathan Landy, a graduate student working on the project.
BAE Systems’ Adaptiv infra-red ‘invisibility cloak’ for military vehicles
[Top]Are the life-nauts of Japan and DARPA's war robots getting their artificial skin that can feel and heal itself? Are these robots our future Martians?
The artificial skin that can feel and heal itself
- Material is the first be able to heal itself, and also sense subtle pressure
- After being cut with a scalpel, it heals close to 100% with 30 minutes
Scientists have invented the first artificial skin that can both sense subtle pressure and heal itself when torn or cut – and could one day be used for the screens on mobile phones.
A team from Stanford University are the first to create a synthetic skin that can not only repair damage to itself but is also able, crucially, to conduct electricity.
It is this crucial latter property that promises to make it useful in the field of consumer electronics.
One of the major bugbears smartphone users have had, particularly the iPhone, was propensity of the screen on the devices to smash when dropped.
A transparent, healable polymer that can sense pressure could be invaluable for making future generations of devices more resilient to breakages.
In the past decade, there have been major advances in synthetic skin, said Professor Zhenan Bao, the study’s principal investigator. But even the most effective self-healing materials had major drawbacks.
Some had to be exposed to high temperatures, making them impractical for day-to-day use. Others could heal at room temperature, but repairing a cut changed their mechanical or chemical structure, so they could only heal themselves once.
Most importantly, no self-healing material was a good bulk conductor of electricity, a crucial property.
‘To interface this kind of material with the digital world, ideally you want them to be conductive,’ said Benjamin Chee-Keong Tee, first author of the paper published yesterday in the journal Nature Nanotechnology.
Microsoft is planing a better world with their latest technique, a “voice translator”. Not scary?… Cobain this technique with the life-naut, the avatar and LRAD, now you have a perfect killer machine (soldier) which can not be distinguished from a human being.
They are not testing this to let the blind see with their eyes but it’s a test to refine the DARPA’s Avatars and the life-nauts from Japan!
[Top]Asteroid 'Nibiru' is it real or do we have to look at the comments of Dr. Werner Von Braun?
Asteroid ‘Nibiru’ On Collision Course With Earth, According To NASA Whistleblowers
CNN PRODUCER NOTE This iReport has not been confirmed by CNN. NASA scientists say that this is one of many false 2012 Doomsday scenarios. You can get more details on NASA’s website.
– davidw, CNN iReport producer
According to leaks by unnamed NASA employees and scientists, an asteroid dubbed ‘Nibiru’ is heading in a direct path towards earth, with up to 30% chance of collision.
Alien Attack Planned as described by the Disclosure Project
Understandably NASA is keeping quiet for the moment as to not incite panic, and to get all the facts before making an official press release. Though some unconfirmed rumours include the asteroid being the size of texas, and the estimated date of collision being some time during November-December 2012. NASA has neither confirmed or denied any of these claims.
"Humanals"…a new breed in our world? Why are you so shocked…this is what could be the result of the stem-cell crossing the Government likes so much! It's nothing more than an old science the ancient Egyptians already knew and practiced, the same freaky science you can find at Skull&Bones, Bohemian Grove etc
The unsettling animation showing humans crossed with birds, frogs, dogs and spiders
These unsettling images show how humans might look crossed with a range of other creatures.
The series of artworks, named Hominid, are photo composites based on paediatric and veterinary X-ray films by San Francisco-based artist Brian Andrews.
They form the basis for an even more unsettling animation which shows how they might interact together in the an imaginary wildlife setting.
Unsettling: This still from the Hominid animation shows a human-bird hybrid being chased by a hungry human-spider hybrid
Mr Andrews said: ‘The original photo-composites were developed with the intent of creating an artwork that would make the audience feel a personal and uncanny connection to the image in front of them.
‘Each photo needed to contain a sensation of humanity which someone could intimately relate to, yet also provoke something unsettling and alien.
‘Fusing human and animal anatomies is not a new idea – almost every mythology has hybrid creatures.
‘By using X-rays as source material I was able to make the images contemporary in their form, as well as directly challenge the viewer by taking them inside their own bodies.’
Mr Andrews told MailOnline how he approached hospitals in order to gather the X-rays from which he made the artworks. Most were unusable films rejected by doctors because of improper exposure or operator error, and so could not be put onto the patients’ records.
The original artworks were put together using Photoshop, with Mr Andrews explaining that he paid special attention to the densities of bones and using as much anatomical reference as possible.
‘Once the skeletons were in place, the skin and organs were combined, and a proper silhouette was painted in,’ he added.
Skin crawling: This grab from the Hominid animation shows the bizarre anatomy of the spider-human cross
The frog-human hybrid lets out a croak: The animation is based on a series of photo composites created from human and veterinary X-ray films in 2005
The video, which makes for uncomfortable viewing, shows a bird-man hybrid landing next to a pond, where frog hybrids sit on rocks by the water.
On the other side, concealed by a bushes, however, lurks an arachnid-human hybrid looking for its next meal.
The original arachnid hominid: Mr Andrews created the artwork by making composites based on paediatric and veterinary X-rays
Sensing danger, the frogs slip into the water, as the oblivious bird-man dips its head into the water to take a drink.
It’s only at the very last moment, as the spider pounces, that the bird realises the mortal danger it is in. Turning on its heels, it attempts to take to the air – as the spider gives chase.
The bird gains height, and for a moment it seems to have escaped. But, with a tremendous leap, the eight-legged monster closes the gap and uses an outstretched leg to dislocate the bird’s wing.
As the spider stands above its grounded prey, the desperate bird tries in vain to hold it off with an outstretched arm. But its attempts at self-preservation are futile. The arachnid sinks its jaws in to the bird man’s neck, dragging it from the ground and pumping its body with venom before slinking away to devour it.
It was the ‘visceral’ nature of the original artwork which led to the plot for the video, Mr Andrews said.
‘When translating the photo-composites into the animation, it was essential to use the unique view of the creatures’ anatomies to be the motivation of the story,’ he said.
‘That’s why the narrative is so physical and visceral – it needed to emerge directly from the bodies of the hominids themselves.’
[Top]Growing your own food is illegal! (video)
Organic Farms and Back Yard Gardens will become illegal
Ash disease…"The Happening" is happening!
Ash disease is found in SIX more counties: We can do nothing to stop it spreading, says expert
- Ash dieback has now spread to six more counties and been found in 115 locations
- Woodland Trust says crisis is a ‘sad reflection’ of low priority given to protecting the countryside
Outbreaks of the deadly disease threatening to devastate 80 million ash trees were yesterday confirmed in as many as ten counties.
A chief Government environmental adviser admitted nothing can be done to prevent its spread.
The number of woodland sites where ash dieback has been detected has doubled since Monday, up from 32 to 61.
It is now present at 115 sites across the country when nurseries and new planting sites are included. It is believed that thousands of ash are infected.
With the disease so widespread, it is becoming increasingly unlikely that infected mature trees will be felled and burned, with the Government instead likely to opt for a policy of ‘managed decline’.
Cases of ash dieback have been found in woodlands in six more counties since the weekend – Sussex, Berkshire, Lincolnshire, Yorkshire, Bedfordshire and Northumberland – in addition to Norfolk, Suffolk, Kent and Essex.
Environment Secretary Owen Paterson yesterday held a summit with scientists, conservation groups and tree growers, and is set to announce a series of measures following a meeting of the Cobra emergency committee tomorrow.
[Top]Be prepared for the biggest lie ever…Asteroids and Martians!
The giant UFO spotted over London as futuristic soldiers descend on the city (But don’t panic, it is just a stunt for the launch of Halo 4)
- 50 foot wide logo weighs 3.2 tonnes, and is biggest man made structure ever to be given permission to fly over a capital city
- Was flown underneath a helicopter
For many Londoners, it was a terrifying sight – a giant UFO appearing over the city’s landmarks, hovering almost silently while orange light pulsates across its surface.
The 50 foot diameter circular object travelled along the Thames, passing the capital’s biggest landmarks – while a collection of futuristic soldiers looked on.
However, it was actually one of the most ambitious stunts ever for the launch of the Xbox computer game Halo 4.
The UFO was actually a giant version of the Halo 4 Glyph logo.
Xbox, Microsoft’s game firm, said the symbol was one of the largest and brightest man-made structures to ever fly over a capital city and measures 50 feet in diameter and weighs over three tons.
Over 500 fans and spectators gathered to see the the UFO fly over the River Thames from Greenwich Peninsula to Tower Bridge, past some of the world’s most iconic landmarks.
The helicopter flew at a height of 600 feet with the Glyph suspended 350 feet above the River Thames.
[Top]How the media brainwashes you with text and colors
How fonts can affect your political opinions: Making information harder to read ‘leads readers to take more moderate views’
- The study is the first to use fonts as a way to disrupt confirmation bias
Presenting arguments in a difficult to read font can lead those with extreme political views to moderate their opinions, new research claims.
The study, reported in the Journal of Experimental Psychology, shows how subtle manipulations that affect the way people take in information can colour their response.
By asking participants to read an overtly political argument about capital punishment in a challenging font, researchers sought to disrupt participants’ usual attitudes to the subject.
Mind tricks: Presenting political arguments in a more difficult to read font can moderate the views of people reading them, new research from the University of Illinois has shown
The intervention worked. Left- and right-wingers who read the argument in an easy-to-read font were much more polarised on the subject than those who had to slog through the difficult version.
In a separate experiment, people were shown documents that praised or criticised the behavior of a defendant in a mock trial before they saw the (rather sketchy) evidence against him.
As expected, those who read an unflattering account of the defendant’s character were much more likely to convict him than those who read a more complimentary report.
The two sides were far apart on their assessment of the evidence.
[Top]