Gadgets  

Here's a rundown of some of the must-have devices and technologies that are about to change the future of our homes.

We live in an exciting time of advancements in how we do things on a day-to-day basis within our home. In the age of the busy micromanager, why not utilize some devices that will help you with your busy schedule? Don’t worry, it’s not all about work. Some of these devices also come equipped with ways to fill your time with fun and games. Explore, gain some insight and prepare yourself for what’s to come.

Google Glass  

Yes, the internet is all abuzz about Google Glass. The oddly shaped spectacles that few can afford and even less fully comprehend. Glass is in its early stages still, yet the folks who have been able to try them out have found these Android-powered devices able to GPS you directions, take photos and record video all with just your voice. Yet soon, developers have been gearing up to do more than just that. How about controlling the lights, TV and stereo using your voice? Soon you will even be able to control the security of your home on-the-go with an app built right into your Google Glass spectacles.

Soon you will even be able to control the security of your home on-the-go with an app built right into your Google Glass spectacles.

Related articles Amazon Reportedly Developing Smartphone With Glasses Free 3D Imaging  Sergey Brin talks about Google Glass at TED2013 ( 5 Futuristic Features Coming to Smartphones

Wireless Phone Charging  

No longer will we be bound by the cords our phones need to gather electricity to charge from the wall socket. Instead, Apple, Google, and LG have been working on creating nodes that would be placed within the home, workplace or anywhere in town that can “beam” a charge to your phone or electric car. Within the next few years we may never need to stop to charge our phones ever again.

Google Fiber  

Yes, Google once again. Innovators of modern and future technology, Google has begun beta programs this year for Google Fiber in a few select cities within the US. Soon, they plan on implementing this worldwide. What does this mean for you and your household? How about internet 100 times faster than standard broadband. With everyone in the house now using devices that tug at your wifi connection, Google Fiber’s plan is to make your home function seamlessly without lag spikes.

Eco Cleaner

Straight out of Star Trek comes a cleaning device using ultrasonic waves that ionize food particles on your dishes. The wow-factor of this awesome machine doesn’t stop there. How about turning those food remnants into compost that’s safe to use for your plants. Match this up with garden and you have a full cycle of food-to-dish and back technology that will help feed and clean.

With all of the new technologies coming soon to a home near you, it might be time for you to look more into what works well for you and your family. There are many different appliances, like those offered at Atlas Appliances, that provide different services and each year they are changing more and more. It’s only a matter of time before things like these become standard within our communities to help us keep things safe, moving and ultra-cool.

By Meghan Belnap

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 3D Printing  

In the original Star Trek TV series from the 1960s, they had their fictional replicator technology that materialized food, drink and other objects. As this infographic shows, 3D printing is turning fiction into fact.

On the original Star Trek TV series, they had their fictional replicator technology that materialized food, drink and non-edible objects. Now 3D printing is turning fiction into fact. There’s even a 3D printer by MakerBot Industries called the Replicator.

3D printing is in its infancy. In the near future, though, you could very well order something online and have it created in front of you from a home or office 3D printer.

While we are not quite at the Star Trek level yet, but the number of objects we can “print” is quickly growing, and the list includes useful things such as human organs, limbs and even synthetic food including pizza.

Chefs probably don’t have to worry about their jobs just yet, as some of this 3D-printed food so far is intended for consumption by astronauts in space — where 30 minutes or free for pizza obviously isn’t an option. As well, 3D printing is in its infancy. In the near future, though, you could very well order something online and have it created in front of you from a home or office 3D printer — not unlike the Star Trek replicator.

What Can You Make With 3D Printing?

The range of items already 3D-printed is quite lengthy. Some are toys, puzzles and trinkets, others are much more functional. They include:

• 3D puzzles and toys — including from characters in mobile apps for children.
• Bicycles, trikes and helmets.
• Clothing and accessories: gowns, capes, dresses, bikinis, gloves, hats, headdresses, handbags, shoes (heels, sneakers), shoe insoles, athlete shoe cleats, masks, costume fingernails, jewelry (chains, pendants and abstract 3D shapes), watch frames, eyeglass frames, leather. While some of these items offer questionable comfort in extended wearing, performance artist/model Dita Von Teese wore the first fully-articulated 3D-printed gown. It had 3,000 joints and was made specifically for her, to flow around the curves of her body.
• Fetus replicas, using ultrasound to form the baby’s 3D model equivalent.
• Geometric shapes: These are theoretical shapes that may not occur in nature.
• Musical instruments and related items:Â guitar, flute, drum set, violin, vinyl records, headphones, custom music boxes.
• Organs: ears, bones and skin, heart. Can already print liver tissue and embryonic stem cells using bioprinters and a “cell gel.”
• Prosthetic limbs, other non-organ body parts, and healthcare-related items: hands, arms, legs, arm and hand casts, partial skull replacement, jaw bones — including a synthetic leg for Dudley the duck, who apparently lost one leg in a fight with a chicken.
• Statuettes and figurines: Besides lifelike selfies and mini models of “sad” Keanu Reeves (actor), one team is using 1/25th scale models of two statues of Buddha, destroyed in Afghanistan by the Taliban. These models will be used to attempt to reconstruct the damaged originals — formerly two of the largest of their kind in the world.
• Synthetic food: chocolate, meat, cheese doodles, veggie patties, breads, and pizza. AÂ NASA-funded project for printed food to feed astronauts in space resulted in pizza.
• Trees: 3D-printed wood using bioprinting technology
• Vehicles: quadcopters (toys), toy cars, concept cars (Honda, Urbee 2), fighter jet parts, drones. The SULSA drone has a top speed of 90 mph and can stay aloft for 30 minutes. It takes 10 min to assemble from printed plastic parts, without screws and other fasteners.
• Weapons: Liberator gun
• X-rated items: dildos, vibrator sleeves.
• Prototypes — full-size or scale — in rubber or plastics, etc., before actual production in the final materials. For example, bicycle chain stay guards and handlebar grips.
• Miscellaneous: guns, hearing aids, rooms, house keys, wheelchair ramps, smartphone cases, crime scenes for use in court, 3d replicas of Hubble Space Telescope images, inflatable flowers and many more.
This is just a small list of objects and items 3D-printed so far, but quite possibly the most interesting at least to tech nerds is the ability for a 3D printer to print a 3D printer. Mind blow? One example is the RepRap 3D printer, which costs $500 – $600. As well, in the near future we could be printing any or all of the following, beyond prototypes.
• Entire houses instead of just parts: University of Southern California has large 3D printer that has the capability to build a 2500 sq ft home in 24 hours.
• Moon bases: The European Space Agency (ESA) is considering the possibilities.
• Windpipes and additional other functioning organs.
• Potentially anything that can be 3D-digitized.

Why Would Anyone Want to Print Meat and Leather?

Modern Meadow has managed to use bio-ink to 3D-print both synthetic meat and leather. Why? Here are some stats they provide which gives their motivation:
• Over 75 sq ft — amount of land needed to make one burger
• Droughts have shrunk cattle herds to a 60-year low
• 18% greenhouse gas emissions are created by livestock
• 70% of the wet weight of leather is from toxic solid wastes
• Up to 20% of leather is wasted during manufacturing
• 70% more meat needed by 2050 to feed the world
• 1/3 of available land is used for livestock production
• Over 270 lbs — amount of meat the average American eats per year
• 50 gallons of water to make one burger
• 7 iPads fully powered take less energy than what’s needed to make one burger
• Over 1000 miles — the distance livestock travels from farm to fridge
As well, if we’re serious about manned Mars missions in the future, being able to print meat, pizza and other foods might be a necessity.

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How Does 3D Printing Work?

There are multiple types of 3D printer and the materials used for the actual printing is a factor. However, material states range from powders to viscous fluids to spools of filament to bio-inks and more. While there are three types of 3D printing, all use layering to form objects. One method uses a pool of chemicals and light (UV laser). Another method uses molten “ink” that becomes solid as it is extruded from the print head. In a nutshell, the very generalized process is as follows:
• Use software or 3D scans to design and create a 3D model.
◦ Autodesk offers a series of free software tools for 3D modelling, including “123D” (some desktop, some for smart phones and tablets, some for web browsers) — see 123dapp.com
◦ Blender.org offers the popular free cross-platform 3D rendering package Blender.
◦ Adobe has added a 3D printing module to their image processing software, Photoshop.
◦ These are just a few options.
• Load the digital model’s file into the printer’s memory or some external computer that can control the printer.
• The model is then digitally sliced horizontally into very thin cross sections.
• The first cross section layer is printed onto a base or into supporting material in the “build box” and solidified with a laser, heat or other techniques. Not all 3D printers use the “laser sintering” process to solidify layers, but it is a common process.
• Each subsequent layer is printed on top of the previous layer. In some printers, the print bed (surface) moves around to aid in the layering process.

In the case of powdered materials, the process appears to be a block of loose powder, but upon completion, excess materials are brushed or vacuumed away to reveal the solid object.

What Materials Can You Use in 3D Printing?

The list of materials already in use in 3D printing might surprise you at the diversity. They include, but are not limited to, the following:
• brass
• carbon fiber
• ceramic
• cloth
• concrete
• edible materials such as cheese, chocolate, sugar, cocoa butter and other materials. The ChefJet 3D printer can produce a variety of edible products including ravioli. Other printers can produce pizza, chickpea nuggets, corn chips, sugar candies.
• glass
• metals and transition metals: steel, titanium, aluminum, gold.
• plastic – several types
• wax

The Market for 3D Printing

Chris Anderson, former longtime editor of Wired Magazine and author of several books on technology — including Makers: The New Industrial Revolution — quit journalism to become a 3D entrepreneur. His feeling is that personal 3D printers will be bigger than the Internet in terms of personal impact — allowing us to have our own factories at home, replacing the personal computer printers many households now have.
• 3D printing technology has been around for at least 25 years and been in long use by carmakers and aerospace companies.
• 3D printing has also made its way more recently into the medical field and others.
• Industrial strength printers can run from $5K to $1M, and use different multi-colored plastic and other materials.
• Consumer 3D printers are dropping steadily in price — some now sub-$1,000, with professional models running from $15K-59K.
• The 2011 market just for 3D printing (worldwide, including printers, materials, service, etc.) was around $1.7B.
• The 2012 market $2.2B — an increase of 29% from 2011.
• $3.7B is the estimated market size by 2015.
• $400 million is the price paid in June 2013 by Stratasys for Makerbot Industries — in which Amazon’s Jeff Bezos had a small stake.
• Dell Computers ordered at least 5,000 units from Zortrax in January 2014, for use in some of their own Asian offices.
• In addition, Dell has been reselling Makerbot printers as of February 2014.

Several key patents for 3D printing technology expired in January 2014, with more expiring later in 2014. What this means is that there is the immediate potential to bring much lower cost 3D printers to consumers. Want speedy delivery of select items? How about “now”?


SOURCE  BestComputerScienceSchools.net

By 33rd Square

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 Space Exploration  

NASA researchers have actually been testing actual faster-than-light warp drive practicality. By re-imagining of an Alcubierre Drive, it may eventually result in an engine that can transport a spacecraft to the nearest star in a matter of weeks — and all without violating Einstein's law of relativity.

Star Trek's warp drive may not be restricted to the world of science fiction after all.

Due a loophole in Einstein's general theory of relativity, a spaceship could travel galactic distances much faster than the speed of light.
To do this in practice the spaceship would not move; the space around it would warp.

Scientists at NASA are right now working on the first practical field test toward proving the possibility of warp drives and faster-than-light travel.

A few months ago, physicist Harold White shocked the aeronautics world when he announced that he and his team at NASA had begun work on the development of a warp drive. His proposed design, an ingenious re-imagining of an Alcubierre Drive, may eventually result in an engine that can transport a spacecraft to the nearest star in a matter of weeks — and all without violating Einstein's law of relativity.

Miguel Alcubierre

According to Einstein's theory, an object with mass cannot go as fast or faster than the speed of light. The original Star Trek series ignored this "universal speed limit" in favor of a ship that could zip around the galaxy in a matter of days instead of decades. The writers tried to explain the ship's faster-than-light capabilities by powering the warp engine with a "matter-antimatter" engine.

Antimatter was a popular field of study in the 1960s, when creator Gene Roddenberry was first writing the series. When matter and antimatter collide, their mass is converted to kinetic energy in keeping with Einstein's mass-energy equivalence formula, E=mc2.

In other words, matter-antimatter collision is a potentially powerful source of energy and fuel, but even that wouldn't be enough to propel a starship to faster-than-light speeds.

So, thanks to "Star Trek" that the word "warp" is now practically synonymous with faster-than-light travel. Alcubierre himself developed the model for warp drive after watching an episode of Star Trek.

Alcubierre used his knowledge of the Red Shift phenomenon to exploit a loophole in the "universal speed limit." In his theory, the ship never goes faster than the speed of light — instead, space in front of the ship is contracted while space behind it is expanded, allowing the ship to travel distances in less time than light would take. The ship itself remains in what Alcubierre termed a "warp bubble" and, within that bubble, never goes faster than the speed of light.

Since Alcubierre published his paper "The Warp Drive: Hyper-fast travel within general relativity" in 1994, many physicists and science fiction writers have played with his theory.

The Alcubierre warp drive is still theoretical for now. "The truth is that the best ideas sound crazy at first. And then there comes a time when we can't imagine a world without them." That's a statement from the 100 Year Starship organization, a think tank devoted to making Earth what "Star Trek" would call a "warp-capable civilization" within a century.

The first step toward a functional warp drive is to prove that a "warp bubble" is even possible, and that it can be artificially created.

That is what White and a team of researchers at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Texas are doing right now.

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According to Alcubierre's theory, one could create a warp bubble by applying negative energy, or energy created in a vacuum. This process relies on the Casimir effect, which states that a vacuum is not actually a void; instead, a vacuum is actually full of fluctuating electromagnetic waves. Distorting these waves creates negative energy, which possibly distorts space-time, creating a warp bubble.

To test if space-time distortion can occur by experiment, the researchers shine two highly targeted lasers: one through the site of the vacuum and one through regular space. White and his fellow researchers will then compare the two beams, and if the wavelength of the one going through the vacuum is lengthened, i.e. redshifted, in any way, they'll know that it passed through a warp bubble.

White and his team have been at work for a few months now, but they have yet to get a verifiable result. The problem is that the fields of negative energies are so minute, the laser so precise, that even the smallest seismic motion of the earth can throw off the results.

White, is now in the process of moving the test equipment to a building on the Johnson Space Center campus that was originally built for the Apollo space program. "The lab is seismically isolated, so the whole floor can be floated," White told TechNewsDaily. "But the system hadn't been [activated] for a while so part of the process was, we had the system inspected and tested."

White is now working on re-calibrating the laser for the new location. He wouldn't speculate on when his team could expect conclusive data, nor how long until fully actuated warp travel might be possible, but he remains convinced that it's only a matter of time.

Michio Kaku has dubbed Alcubierre's notion a "passport to the universe." Scientists speculate that such a drive could result in "speeds" that could take a spacecraft to Alpha Centauri in a mere two weeks — even though the system is 4.3 light-years away.  For now, this remains a theoretical idea, but the potential is truly  incredible.



SOURCES  IO9, Popular Science, NASA

By 33rd Square

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