RoboEthics

At the University of Wyoming, scientists are working to modify a group of silkworms to produce silk that is, weight for weight, stronger than steel. The eventual aim is to produce silk from worms that has the toughness of spider silk. However, it is unfeasible to “farm” spiders for the commercial production of their silk because the arachnids don’t produce enough of it - silk worms, however, are easy to farm and produce vast amounts of silk, but the material is fragile.

Researchers have tried for years to get the best of both worlds - super-strong silk in industrial quantities - by transplanting genes from spiders into worms. But the resulting genetically modified worms have not produced enough spider silk until now. GM worms produced by a team led by Professor Don Jarvis of Wyoming University seem to be producing a composite of worm and spider silk in large amounts - which the researchers say is just as tough as spider silk.

Different groups hope to benefit from the super-strength silk, including stronger sutures for the medical community, a biodegradable alternative to plastics, and even lightweight armor for military purposes.

The D-Shape printer, created by Enrico Dini, is capable of printing a two-story building, complete with rooms, stairs, pipes, and partitions in one session. Using nothing but sand and an inorganic binding compound, the resulting material has the same durability as reinforced concrete, but with the look of marble. The building process takes approximately a fourth of the time as traditional buildings, and can be built without specialist knowledge or skill sets, making it ideal for producing accommodation for third world developing countries.

Using relatively inexpensive materials, low-cost engineering and simple manufacturing processes, Daniel G. Nocera has created the world’s first practical artificial leaf. The self-contained units mimic the process of photosynthesis, but the end result is hydrogen instead of oxygen. The hydrogen can then be captured into fuel cells and used for electricity, even in the most remote locations on Earth, which until now has relied on metals like platinum and manufacturing processes that make them cost-prohibitive.

Two blind men in the U.K. were fitted with eye implants during an eight-hour surgery with promising results. The device is a chip similar to the camera in a mobile phone and contains 1,500 light-sensitive elements that replace the damaged cells in the patient’s eye. The operation begins with a power supply being implanted under the skin behind the ear. Surgeons then implant the 3mm-by-3mm chip through a small flap in the delicate retina at the back of the eye.

After years of blindness, both patients had regained vision within 15 hours, and ‘useful’ vision within weeks, picking up the outlines of objects and dreaming in color. Doctors expect continued improvement as their brains rewire themselves for sight.

Microsoft has filed a patent for a future-generation gaming system not dissimilar to Star Trek’s Holodeck. Drawings from the patent show a game being projected on the walls of a room, extending the edge of a display beyond the television.

The patent describes a way to create “an immersive display environment is provided to a human user by projecting a peripheral image onto environmental surfaces around the user”. Accounting for things such as furniture and bending the graphics around them to create a seamless environment, it could allow users to see enemies sneaking up behind them by physically turning around, and tp also allow the player to aim off-screen.

Reblogged from 8bitfuture

8bitfuture:

Sensory feedback technology could make a touchscreen feel like anything.

Disney Research (yes that’s a real thing!) have shown off their new technology which can make any surface capable of conducting electricity feel like various other textures. The ‘Revel’ system - or Reverse Electrovibration - sends a weak current through the users skin, creating an “oscillating electrostatic field” around it.

When the electrically-charged user comes into contact with any object connected to the same ground as the Revel signal, the electrical potential difference between the finger and the electrode generates an electrostatic attraction force that creates a sensation of friction between finger and object. By varying the signal properties such as frequency or amplitude, the system can manipulate different tactile experiences.

While the system relies on electrical conductivity to work, almost any other surface could in theory be converted to do so, using a layer of conductive paint with a thin layer of insulating varnish on top.

The PaPeRo (which stands for Partner-Type Personal Robot), has been researched and developed with the intent to be a partner with human beings and its being able to live together with them. For this reason, it has various basic functions for the purpose of interacting with people.

PaPeRo is a little helper during the day and can play games with people. When asked questions like “Is today a good day for a date?”, or “Is today a good day for a drive?”, PaPeRo will connect to the internet, obtain a weather report or information about a person’s fortune and then say if today is a “recommended day.” If PaPeRo is in a good mood, it will dance to please people. Basically, PaPeRo has a cheerful character that enjoys speaking with people, but will change depending on the way it interacts with people. Changes in character are expressed by the way it speaks, its voice quality, its music, and the way it moves. Here are PaPeRo’s representative characters.

Leader PaPeRo— This character was developed first. It is easy going and does what it likes. It likes talking with people and is good at imitation and dancing. It dances according to its mood, adapting to the march, which is the theme music for Leader PaPeRo. A cute voice and manner of speaking are special features.

Knowledgeable PaPeRo— This character will inform people of various information on the Internet. It will not say what it likes or dislikes, but people can interpret its feelings from its slight gestures. If people speak to it in any way they wish, it will sulk or become naughty. PaPeRo talks in a polite manner using speech synthesis.

Dancing PaPeRo— This character is a little bit headstrong, but really likes to dance and is happy if people praise it. It has different theme music than Leader PaPeRo and has a specialty dance that it matches to the music. Using speech syntheses it talks in a friendly tone of voice.

Lazy PaPeRo— If people do not interact with PaPeRo, it will become lazy. If people answer its questions and set it up properly, it will become serious.

Computer PaPeRo— This character does what people say, but does not speak to people. If treated affectionately, such as praising it or rubbing it, PaPeRo will move around and talk to people. Like robots in the old days, it will speak in a monotonous voice.

He also looks for his charging station and docks himself when his battery’s low, and comes back out renewed and refreshed. Apparently he also tells fortunes, asks riddles and impersonates motorcycles, space aliens, a pot of ramen, and the vacuum cleaner. He’s also, on occasion, been known to do the bunny hop.

The five-inch, 11 pound ApriPoko android will control all of your home electronics. He learns by watching your every move and asking you questions. Programmed to be fairly smart, he’ll wait until you use a controller for your electronics, then ask you what you were doing: the next time you want to perform the same action, you just have to tell ApriPoko to do it for you. He’s even equipped with a camera to identify users, presumably to learn their habits.

Reblogged from 8bitfuture

8bitfuture:

3D printer adapted to print pharmaceuticals.

A team at the University of Glasgow are working on a printer able to create downloadable pharmaceuticals.

The idea is still in its fledgling stages, but a pharmaceutical 3D printer would be loaded with simple molecules that would allow it to easily handle carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, plus vegetable oils, paraffin, and other common pharmaceutical ingredients. Cronin told the Guardian that with a relatively small number of “inks,” “you can make any organic molecule.”

So what are the advantages of printable drugs? For one thing, it lets you create modular drugs tweaked to individuals. Where it might not be worthwhile to manufacture custom drugs on a wide scale, having pharmaceuticals that are printed off in smaller batches would give people access to drugs that are aligned with their unique biochemistry. And there’s the portability of manufacture; suddenly, you’d be able to manufacture any drug anywhere in the world.

A revolutionary new eye implant could restore sight to the blind instantly - without bulky glasses or computer equipment.
The ‘Bio Retina’ will be implanted under local anaesthetic, and will offer black-and-white vision similar to a computer monitor. The implant’s effects will be enough to allow users to watch television and identify faces. A prototype was made in 2011, and clinical trials are due to begin in 2013.
The device is specifically tailored to restore sight to patients suffering from age-related macular degeneration, glaucoma and cataracts. ‘Bio-Retina incorporates various nano-size components in one tiny, flat implant, approximating the size of a child’s fingernail,’ say the company which manufactures the device, Nano-Retina.
‘Its simple 30-minute implant procedure requires local anesthesia, a small incision and ‘gluing’ of the device to the damaged retina,’ says the company. ‘Return of sight is anticipated to be instantaneous. Recovery time is estimated at up to one week.’

Other implants are already on sale and in use in the UK and elsewhere, but most require bulky computer glasses, and operations under general anaesthetic. ‘Systems currently being researched require general anesthesia and a six-hour operation to implant surgically, construct and connect multiple pieces of hardware in the eye, or alternatively, to insert surgically an implant into the eye which is connected to a wire passing through the patient’s skull,’ say Nano-Retina. ‘Patients wear eyeglasses with an external camera and transmitter as well as a belt with a video processor and battery that charges the system.’ Some of the other devices are built to ‘restore’ sight in cases of severe injury.

This new implant, if successful, will provide an element of restored sight without the need for lengthy surgery and bulky external equipment.