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Gaming the Future: The Book!

Month: April 2010

Lessons from history for technology designers

Longtime Foresight friend Robert Grudin has a new book Design and Truth, just reviewed by the New York Times.  The review quotes Grudin on designers: “However grand their aspirations, they wait upon the will of people in power,” he writes. “And power, which can ratify the truth of good design, can, conversely, debase design into… Continue reading Lessons from history for technology designers

Matterhorn sculpture demos 3D patterning at 15 nm level (IBM video)

PhysOrg.com brings news and a video of a new 3D patterning technique from IBM that reaches down to 15 nm resolution which “could go even smaller”: IBM Research in Zurich has demonstrated a new nanoscale patterning technique that could replace electron beam lithography (EBL). The demonstration carved a 1:5 billion scale three-dimensional model of the… Continue reading Matterhorn sculpture demos 3D patterning at 15 nm level (IBM video)

'Anarchists' try to bomb Swiss IBM nano facility (but fail)

Brian Wang brings to our attention a Daily Mail article: A routine traffic-stop in Switzerland has allegedly thwarted eco-terrorists from blowing up the site of the £55million nano-technology HQ of IBM in Europe… The group describes itself as anarchist and is opposed to all forms of micro-technology as well as nuclear power and weapons… The… Continue reading 'Anarchists' try to bomb Swiss IBM nano facility (but fail)

The Singularity is Near: the Movie

David Cassel brings our attention to an h+ review of the long-awaited film The Singularity is Near, based on the book by Ray Kurzweil: In documentary style, we have Ray discussing his ideas about the Singularity, with commentators variously supporting or refuting or worrying about his ideas. With Bill McKibben in the role of the… Continue reading The Singularity is Near: the Movie

Videos and slides for Foresight Conference now posted

Videos for all talks and slides for some are now available for the Foresight Conference held in January. Here’s the list: https://legacy.foresight.org/conf2010/ Or if you prefer to watch them in chronological order: https://legacy.foresight.org/conf2010/schedule.html There are 17 videos, so in case you’d like some guidance in getting started, consider starting with the top three talks as… Continue reading Videos and slides for Foresight Conference now posted

MIT's Belcher uses engineered virus to split water

Angela Belcher and team at MIT have tweaked a bacterial virus to serve as a scaffolding to: attract and bind with molecules of a catalyst (the team used iridium oxide) and a biological pigment (zinc porphyrins). The viruses became wire-like devices that could very efficiently split the oxygen from water molecules. Belcher says that within… Continue reading MIT's Belcher uses engineered virus to split water

Industrial robot carves metal like butter (video)

From Singularity Hub, 5 Axis Robot Carves Metal Like Butter: Industrial robots are getting precise enough that they’re less like dumb machines and more like automated sculptors producing artwork. Case in point: Daishin’s Seki5-axis mill. The Japanese company celebrated its 50th anniversary last year by using this machine to carve out a full scale motorcycle helmet… Continue reading Industrial robot carves metal like butter (video)

Freitas awarded first mechanosynthesis patent

The winner of the 2009 Foresight Feynman Prize in Nanotechnology (Theory), Robert A. Freitas Jr., has now been granted the first diamond mechanosynthesis patent.  This is not just the first DMS patent but also, I believe, the first mechanosynthesis patent that has ever been issued.  Freitas is the sole inventor on this patent, which was… Continue reading Freitas awarded first mechanosynthesis patent

Forrest Bennett explains memristors

Longtime Foresight Senior Associate and senior research scientist at Genetic Programming, Inc. has done an interview on memristors over at blog FrogHeart for those of us trying to keep up on this challenging topic.  He concludes: So why are memristors useful? Sticking with our water analogy, I can make the pipe bigger or small depending… Continue reading Forrest Bennett explains memristors

Berkeley gets Willow Garage robot to fold towels: video

Finally, the first step has been made toward the longed-for goal of a robot which can do laundry: http://singularityhub.com/2010/03/31/berkeley-gets-willow-garage-robot-to-fold-towels-simply-stunning-video/ Of course, this also gives us some idea of other formerly human-only tasks that robots are likely to take over in the next decade or two. Thanks to SingularityHub.com for bringing this to our attention.  —Chris… Continue reading Berkeley gets Willow Garage robot to fold towels: video

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