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From: FeedBlitz <feedblitz@mail.feedblitz.com>
Date: Fri, May 25, 2012 at 3:13 PM
Subject: Next Big Future - 18 new articles
From: FeedBlitz <feedblitz@mail.feedblitz.com>
Date: Fri, May 25, 2012 at 3:13 PM
Subject: Next Big Future - 18 new articles
 Here are the latest updates for
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Experimental realization of an array of broadband 20% invisibility cloaks that operates in the visible frequency
A group of American researchers has created 25 000 individual "invisibility" cloaks. They are just 30 micrometres in diameter and are laid out together on a 25 millimetre gold sheet.
Wider implications. Building and studying the arrays of invisibility cloaks offers more refined experimental tools to test cloak performance. Compared to the characterization of individual cloaks, the angular performance of cloak arrays appears to be more sensitive to cloak imperfections. These findings may be useful in such related areas as acoustic and surface-wave cloaking, as well as in the potential practical applications listed above. They could be used to slow down, or even stop, light, creating what is known as a "trapped rainbow". Read more »                   Nine Ways to Bias Open-Source AGI Toward Friendliness
Ben Goertzel and Joel Pitt of Novamente LLC have written Nine Ways to Bias Open-Source AGI Toward Friendliness
1. Engineer the capability to acquire integrated ethical knowledge. 2. Provide rich ethical interaction and instruction, respecting developmental stages. 3. Develop stable, hierarchical goal systems. 4. Ensure that the early stages of recursive self-improvement occur relatively slowly and with rich human involvement. 5. Tightly link AGI with the Global Brain. 6. Foster deep, consensus-building interactions between divergent viewpoints. 7. Create a mutually supportive community of AGIs. 8. Encourage measured co-advancement of AGI software and AGI ethics theory. 9. Develop advanced AGI sooner not later. Read more »        Stem-cell-growing surface enables bone repair
Eurekalert - University of Michigan researchers have proven that a special surface, free of biological contaminants, allows adult-derived stem cells to thrive and transform into multiple cell types. Their success brings stem cell therapies another step closer.
To prove the cells' regenerative powers, bone cells grown on this surface were then transplanted into holes in the skulls of mice, producing four times as much new bone growth as in the mice without the extra bone cells.Read more »        Researchers find a way to delay aging of stem cells
Salk scientists say their findings may lead to strategies to treat age-related diseases and improve regenerative medicine.
Stem cells are essential building blocks for all organisms, from plants to humans. They can divide and renew themselves throughout life, differentiating into the specialized tissues needed during development, as well as cells necessary to repair adult tissue.  These fluorescent microscope images of testes from young (left) and old(right) fruit flies show the effect of aging on the stem cell niche (top center). The hub cells (red) that function as part of the stem cells' supporting niche express more of a microRNA known as let-7 (green) in aged flies, which changes the signaling properties of hub cells, leading to fewer stem cells surrounding the hub that are available for tissue maintenance. Image: Courtesy of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies Nature - The let-7–Imp axis regulates ageing of the Drosophila testis stem-cell niche Read more »        Bioengineers Make DNA Into a Living Computer Memory
Spectrum IEEE - Bioengineers looking to turn microbes into manufacturers have longed for a kit of components as regular and predictable as those used by electrical engineers. But biology is a lot messier. Now a group of engineers at Stanford University say they've managed to make one such component—the genetic equivalent of a reliable memory device.
DNA memory already exists but has been limited to write-once versions that can record only as many cellular events (such as cellular divisions) as there are bits. But the reversible storage system the Stanford researchers have ginned up is capable of being expanded to record a potentially huge number of events—2n events, where n is the number of bits.  Diagram: Drew Endy Rewritable DNA Memory: When patches of DNA whose endpoints are the attachment sites attB and attP encounter the integrase protein [Int, in the red box], they're flipped upside down, changing the DNA memory's state from the equivalent of a "0" to a "1". When they subsequently encounter integrase plus another type of protein called excisionase [Xis, white box], the DNA patches reset to "0". PNAS - Rewritable digital data storage in live cells via engineered control of recombination directionality Read more »        Blueseed seastead has applications from 800 entrepreneurs for offshore incubator
In 2013, Blueseed, will be the first-ever sea-based tech incubator.
After struggling with visa issues to come to Silicon Valley and start his own company, Dascalescu said he was inspired by the notion of creating ocean communities in international waters, so that entrepreneurs wouldn't need a visa to essentially startup 12 miles off the California coast.  Read more »        Africa's Positive Economic Growth Scenario to 2060
A recent report by the African Development Bank projected that, by 2030, much of Africa will attain lower-middle- and middle-class majorities, and that consumer spending will explode from $680 billion in 2008 to $2.2 trillion.
Bank estimates suggest that Africa's GDP could increase to over US$15.7 trillion in 2060, from a base of US$1.7 trillion in 2010. Consequently, income per capita expressed in current US dollar terms should grow from US$1,667 in 2010 to over US$5,600 by 2060. While this would represent a major leap forward in standard of living, it is still less than the current South Korean per capita GDP of US$17,000. However, a less optimistic scenario sees real GDP growth accelerating up to 2020, before decelerating to around 5% per annum. The total GDP would then be $12.2 trillion in 2060 and per capita GDP about US$4600. Africa is projecting to be about where China is now on a per capita GDP basis in 50 years. Seven of the world's 10 fastest-growing economies are African. The continent is famously resource rich, which has surely helped, but some recent studies suggest that the biggest drivers are far less customary for Africa, and far more encouraging for its future: wholesale and retail commerce, transportation, telecommunications, and manufacturing.  Read more »        China plans to boost Private Investment in Energy and other Infrastructure
China signaled on Wednesday it wanted to ramp up private investment in its energy sector, in line with recently unveiled government plans to fast-track infrastructure investment to help combat a protracted economic slowdown.
That followed the announced plan to allow private investment into the vast railway sector, which is struggling with mounting debts and a corruption scandal while attempting to resolve infrastructure bottlenecks. The moves seem to be designed to avoid stimulus that would increase imbalanced investment and attempt to make more efficient investments. Read more »        Engineered materials: Custom-made metamaterial magnets
A novel approach to designing artificial materials could enable magnetic devices with a wider range of properties than those now available.
Luk'yanchuk and the team mathematically modelled a two-dimensional array of metamolecules comprising a silicon sphere next to a partially incomplete copper ring. They studied the influence of both the sphere and the split ring on the magnetic component of an incident electromagnetic wave — a property known as magnetization.  An array of metamolecules comprising silicon spheres and copper split-rings can be used to control magnetization waves. © 2012 American Chemical Society Read more »        Intensive Training and Other Methods to Boost IQ
NY Times -
PNAS - Improving fluid intelligence with training on working memory In the Jaeggi (2008) study, the researchers began by having participants complete a test of reasoning to measure their "fluid" intelligence — the ability to draw connections between things, solve novel problems and adapt to new situations. Then some of the participants received up to eight hours of training in a difficult cognitive task that required paying careful attention to two streams of information (a version of this task is now marketed by Lumosity); others were assigned to a control group and received no such training. Then all of the participants took a different version of the reasoning test. A University of North Carolina study known as the Abecedarian Early Intervention Project, children received an intensive educational intervention from infancy to age 5 designed to increase intelligence. In follow-up tests, these children showed an advantage of six I.Q. points over a control group (and as adults, they were four times more likely to graduate from college). By contrast, the increase implied by the findings of the Jaeggi study was six I.Q. points after only six hours of training — an I.Q. point an hour. Read more »        Controlled NOT gate could be scaled for photonic quantum computing
Arxiv - Controlled-NOT gate operating with single photons (10 pages) Technology Review - Cambridge physicists have built a quantum logic gate that combines a quantum dot that fires photons with a photonic circuit that processes them.
The initial proposal for scalable optical quantum computing required single photon sources, linear optical elements such as beamsplitters and phaseshifters, and photon detection. Here we demonstrate a two qubit gate using indistinguishable photons from a quantum dot in a pillar microcavity. As the emitter, the optical circuitry, and the detectors are all semiconductor, this is a promising approach towards creating a fully integrated device for scalable quantum computing.  Read more »        Nuclear Famine Fears based on Faulty Assumptions
There is a 19 page study that predicts a nuclear famine if a previous study of a nuclear autumn is correct. The nuclear autumn article is not correct.
1. I will repeat my case on why nuclear winter does not happen 2. They then try to build upon a slight drop in temperature (that will not happen) in order to say their will be a 10% drop in agricultural production 3. The agricultural production drop is assumed to hit everyone who gets marginal food by 10% so that they all drop into starvation and die. Looking at the unique conditions in Hiroshima I have examined the case for climate effects of an exchange of nuclear weapons in detail. A nuclear winter is predicated on current cities all reacting to nuclear weapons the Hiroshima did and having a firestorm in order to put a lot of soot into the stratosphere. I will summarize the case I made then in the next section. there is significant additions based on my further research and email exchanges that I had with Prof Alan Robock and Brian Toon who wrote the nuclear winter research. The Steps needed to prove nuclear winter: 1. Prove that enough cities will have firestorms or big enough fires (the claim here is that does not happen) 2. Prove that when enough cities in a sufficient area have big fire that enough smoke and soot gets into the stratosphere (trouble with this claim because of the Kuwait fires) 3. Prove that condition persists and effects climate as per models (others have questioned that but this issue is not addressed here The nuclear winter case is predictated on getting 150 million tons (150 teragram case) of soot, smoke into the stratosphere and having it stay there. The assumption seemed to be that the cities will be targeted and the cities will burn in massive firestorms. Alan Robock indicated that they only included a fire based on the radius of ignition from the atmospheric blasts. However, in the scientific american article and in their 2007 paper the stated assumptions are: assuming each fire would burn the same area that actually did burn in Hiroshima and assuming an amount of burnable material per person based on various studies. The implicit assumption is that all buildings react the way the buildings in Hiroshima reacted on that day. Therefore, the results of Hiroshima are assumed in the Nuclear Winter models. * 27 days without rain * with breakfast burners that overturned in the blast and set fires * mostly wood and paper buildings * Hiroshima had a firestorm and burned five times more than Nagasaki. Nagasaki was not the best fire resistant city. Nagasaki had the same wood and paper buildings and high population density. Read more »        Path to 14-nm with directed self-assembly
Researchers sponsored by Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC), the world's leading university-research consortium for semiconductors and related technologies, today announced that they have successfully created contact hole patterns for a wide variety of practical logic and memory devices using a next-generation directed self-assembly (DSA) process. Applying a relatively simple combination of chemical and thermal processes to create their DSA method for making circuits at 22 nanometers (nm), the research team at Stanford University projects that the nanofabrication technique will enable pattern etching for next-generation chips down to 14nm.
In contrast to the current state-of-art lithography methods that rely on increasingly less-accurate steps to shrink transistor and circuit sizes, the achievement at Stanford provides both a more affordable and more environmentally friendly path to fabricating smaller semiconductor devices. The advancement can be utilized for enhancements not only to the electronics industry, but possibly for other nanoscale devices as well. "This is the first time that the critical contact holes have been placed with DSA for standard cell libraries of VLSI chips. The result is a composed pattern of real circuits, not just test structures," said H.-S. Philip Wong, lead researcher at Stanford for the SRC-guided research. "This irregular solution for DSA also allows you to heal imperfections in the pattern and maintain higher resolution and finer features on the wafer than by any other viable alternative."  EETimes - By solving one of the outstanding lithographic problems facing further scaling—the tiny contact holes that connect semiconductors to their substrate—researchers at Stanford University have demonstrated working circuits at 22-nanometer and a clear path to 14-nanometers, as well as a bee-line on the chemistry developments needed to scale to single digit sizes. Advanced Materials - Flexible Control of Block Copolymer Directed Self-Assembly using Small, Topographical Templates: Potential Lithography Solution for Integrated Circuit Contact Hole Patterning Read more »        NASA's Marshall Center Concludes Wind Tunnel Testing to Aid in SpaceX Reusable Launch System Design
NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., completed wind tunnel testing for Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) of Hawthorn, Calif., to provide Falcon 9 first stage re-entry data for the company's advanced reusable launch vehicle system.
If Spacex gets a reusable (with insignificant maintenance) first stage they could lower the costs of their launches by about half. If they get all stages reusable with very low maintenance costs they could lower costs by one hundred times. Tests were conducted at several orientations and speeds ranging from Mach numbers 0.3, or 228 miles per hour at sea level, to Mach 5, or 3,811 miles per hour at sea level, to gage how the first stage reacts during the descent phase of flight.  Read more »        Spacex clears last tests and ready to dock with International Space Station on Friday
NASA - SpaceX completed a final height adjustment burn of the Dragon capsule at 8:09 a.m. EDT to depart the vicinity of the International Space Station. Dragon now begins its "racetrack" trajectory to re-approach the station for grapple and berthing attempts on Friday
WSJ - The Spacex Dragon capsule appeared to flawlessly complete a series of maneuvers around the international space station Thursday, clearing the last major hurdle before a historic docking attempt planned for Friday. The tests demonstrated that sensors, navigation equipment, communications links and computer-controlled propulsion systems aboard the Dragon capsule were all working properly. Video of SpaceX Dragon Closing in on Space Station Dragon as seen by the space station Read more »        DARPA Living Foundries plans to make Synthetic Biology ten times faster and cheaper
Wired Danger Room - DARPAs Living Foundries project was first announced by the agency last year. Darpa has handed out seven research awards worth $15.5 million to six different companies and institutions including the University of Texas at Austin and the California Institute of Technology. Two contracts were also issued to the J. Craig Venter Institute. Dr. Venter was among the first scientists to sequence a human genome, and his institute was, in 2010, the first to create a cell with entirely synthetic genome.
"Living Foundries" aspires to turn the slow, messy process of genetic engineering into a streamlined and standardized one. Of course, the field is already a burgeoning one: Scientists have tweaked cells in order to develop renewable petroleum and spider silk that's tough as steel. And a host of companies are investigating the pharmaceutical and agricultural promise lurking — with some tinkering, of course — inside living cells. Read more »        Google wins, Android smartphones and tablets aresafe from Oracle lawsuit
Google wins Oracle Java lawsuit. A jury determined that Google did not violate Oracle patents. The damage phase of the trial was canceled. Instead of Google having to owe Oracle billions and have the Android software threatened, Google will owe about $150,000.
Read more »        HULC Exoskeleton a Revolution in Rapid Deployment Forces and Mobile Mechanized Infantry
Lockheed appears to be on track for deploying combat versions of the HULC exoskeleton into Afghanistan in early 2013 or even late in 2012.
The Deployment of exoskeletons in commercial sectors will probably remain quite limited for another decade or so, due to their high cost (more than $25,000 per suit). There should be about 11,000 exoskeletons by 2020.  The HULC can assist speed marching at up to 7 mph reduces this somewhat; a battery-draining "burst" at 10mph is the maximum speed A soldier with a pack would normally go at 3 mph maximum and cover 10-12 miles in a day. Exoskeleton Soldiers could also carry lightweight foldable electric scooters on their exoskeleton that would enable 60-100 mph on roads. If the bike had motocross like capabilities it could still go about 30-60 mph on rougher terrain. * Lockheed Martin's (LM) Squad Mission Support System (SMSS) has passed a final round of tests at Fort Riley, Kansas, before scheduled deployment to Afghanistan in 2011. The system, which turns a six-wheeled amphibious ATV into a robotic packhorse and charging station, has been subjected to a variety of simulated warzone environments in both remote controlled and fully autonomous modes"  The SMSS can carry a squad's food supplies, water, batteries, heavy weapons, ammunition, survival gear and can even accommodate casualties. Besides transporting up to 600lbs (272 kg) of gear, the SMSS also provides two to four kilowatts of power, and is capable of charging 146 batteries within ten hours. The HULC exoskeletoned soldiers can carry foldable dirtbikes to enable speeds of 80mph. They would be better served with squad mission systems that could operate up to 80 mph and with several times the cargo capacity. The exoskeleton soldiers could swap out different mission modules for their 200 pound capacity from a faster and larger exo-squad SMSS. Read more »        More Recent Articles
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