Humaniod Robot developed by Japan

Japan has introduced its latest robot technology, called the Humanoid Robot HRP-4C, which is powered by gynoid battery and it is designed as a real human having height of 5-Feet, weigh 95 pounds, black color hair, and look like a Japanese woman around age of 19-29, and it is said to have 30 motors on her body. Robot can’t move elegantly like the real models that are here today as said by Shuji Kajita, director of humanoid robot engineering at AIST and also said that it’ll take another 20 to 30 years of research to make that happen. This robot is designed by scientists from the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology of Japan.

This girlbot (girl robot) is meant to serve in amusement parks or as an exercise instructor in repetitive unskilled jobs rather than as a domestic or office assistant which will require a wider range of physical alertness. The Humaniod Robot HRP-4C costs $200,000.

Related Articles:

Robots get Emotional

ROBOT TEACHERS -- Coming soon, to a classroom near you!!!

Next-Generation Robotic Surgeons

Compass Phone that points you to the person you wish to be near

If you miss someone but you’re not sure where he/ she is in an big city, the Compass Phone will be able to help find it. The Compass Phone will lead you to the person that you wish to be near, by using a built-in compass and its GPS (Global Positioning System) function.

Open up the Compass Phone and it will reveal you a compass pointing you to the direction of the person, along with the name and it also displays the amount of time that it’ll take the other person to meet. The time displayed is real time which is shown either in time or transport unit but unfortunately, such a helpful device is just a concept gadget or futuristic gadget. So we all have to wait till this interesting device is developed and releasesd.

Are electronic vehicles environment friendly?

Electronic vehicles (EVs) produce no exhaust gases in operation; they are seen as the environemnt friendly alternative to traditional gas-fueled cars. While zero-local emissions is definitely a positive point, other factors contributing to the overall environmental effect of EVs are often overlooked such as the manufacture, usage and disposal of the batteries used to store the electrical energy and the power sources used to charge them. For the first time, a team of scientists from the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research (EMPA) have made a detailed life cycle assessment to see if they really are as environmentally friendly as their manufacturers would make us believe.

The investigation shows that, if the power used to charge the battery is not derived from purely hydroelectric sources, then EVs have an environmental impact same as conventionally fueled vehicles. In other words, the environmental effect depends on the sources of power used to charge the EV. The Li-ion battery itself was actually found to have a limited effect on environment.

The study by EMPA shows that the electric car’s Li-ion battery drive is in fact only a moderate environmental burden and at most only 15 percent of the total burden can be credited to the battery that includes its manufacture, maintenance and disposal. Half of this figure, that is about 7.5 percent of the total environmental burden, occurs during the refining and production of the battery’s raw materials, copper and aluminum. The production of the lithium, on the other hand, is accountable for only 2.3 per cent of the total.

The EMPA team concluded that a petrol-engined car must consume between three and four liters per 100km in order to be as environmentally friendly as the electric car studied which is powered with Li-ion batteries and charged with usual European electricity mix.

Related Articles:
The World's Smallest Solar Car
2010 HARTGE BMW Z4
Toyota to launch electric version of RAV4

Two Huge Meteors, Not One, Killed All The Dinosaurs

Dinosaurs were not killed by a single meteor. Scientists are suggesting that two different meteors may have wiped out dinosaurs approximately 65 million years ago. Amusingly, they struck Earth thousands of years apart.

The discovery of the second impact crater, located in Ukrain, was actually reported in 2002 but scientists were not sure of how the timing related to the original impact crater, located in the Gulf. In their current study, scientists are examining fossil plants that have filled the crater and specifically ferns, ferns have an amazing ability to bounce back after catastrophe. Layers full of fern spores  are considered to be a good "markers" of past impact events.

However, there was an unexpected discovery in store for the scientists, they located a second "fern spike" in a layer one meter above the first, suggesting another later impact event. Professor Simon Kelley of the Open University said that they interpreted this second layer as the aftermath of the Chicxulub impact.

This shows that the Boltysh and Chicxulub impacts did not happen at exactly the same time, they struck several thousand years apart, the length of time between the two "fern spikes".

So scientists are beginning to think that Earth possibly endured a meteor shower that spanned thousands of years and it's fully possible that they'll discover more evidence of impact events in the future

ROBOTS GET EMOTIONAL

FEELIX GROWING (Feel, Interact, eXpress: a Global approach to development with Interdisciplinary Grounding) project’s aim was of developing robots that are capable of identifying different emotions based on facial expressions, in 2008. Now, that same project has announced the completion of its first prototype robots that are not only capable of developing their own emotions as they interact with the human, but they can also express those emotions.

Surprised

Happiness

Sorrow

The robots possess artificial neural networks and a sophisticated array of cameras and sensors which could allow a robot to monitor the emotional status of its human companions, and tailor its behavior accordingly. Depending on what responses it has received from different people, it could also take unique approaches to individuals, in an effort to minimize fear or discomfort. As well as being better suited to tasks where monitoring the well-being of humans is critical (for example, babysitting or nursing), the emotion-sensable robots could also be more easily accepted by people in general.

Related Articles:
ROBOT TEACHERS -- Coming soon, to a classroom near you!!!
Bina48: First Human Like Robot That Can Chat

Mind Reading Computer By Intel-- Brings a Huge Change in The World of Technology

Reading human thoughts is always an interesting and mysterious field. Special Forces especially army and other intelligence agencies look for such devices which can read the human thinking. Such devices may be very helpful in detection and stopping terrorism. These agencies are supporting and conducting huge research on this project.

The engineers at Intel are making efforts to build a computer that will be able to look at a person's brain activity and determine actual words that they're thinking. The basic idea behind this device is that the activity generated in the average person by individual words can be mapped and stored in a database, to be matched against that of someone using the though control interface.

The results achieved till now are very encouraging. The basic machine has been made by Intel which can by the help of magnetic resonance scanner differentiate the daily usage words like screwdriver, house, and barn. The advent of machine which can search your brain like a search engine is possible but it may take several more years.

Top NASA Photos of All Time

Let us all admire the great work of NASA and let me reveal some amazing NASA pictures

The whole Earth from space, as photographed by the Apollo 17 crew in 1972

GEMINI 4 SPACEWALK, 1965

PRESIDENTIAL PANORAMA” ON MARS, 1997

CHALLENGER (STS 51-L) EXHAUST TRAIL, 1986

First photo on Mars, 1976

Jupiter’s Great Red Spot, 1979 

World's Largest Clock

People around the world especially Muslims are anxiously waiting for the time when the world's largest clock begins ticking in Islam's holiest city Makkah in Saudia Arabia. A test of three month will start in the month of Ramadan (Muslim’s calendar month), which begins today.


Each face will be emblazoned with "God is greatest" in Arabic language and fitted with thousands of colored lights and will be visible from more than 25 kilometers.

Saudi Arabia's state news agency says that the clock tower will be more than 600 meters high which is roughly six times the height of London's famous Big Ben. The tower is designed by German and Swiss engineers. The entire project costs will be $800 million.

The clock tower is part of the Abraj al-Bait hotel complex (situated in Makkah) and visitors will be able to stand on a terrace beneath the clock to have a view of the city.

New Liquid Pencils

Today, some people don’t like writing instead prefer use typing on a computer, which they find rather easy but for those who do like writing there is a good news. Now you don’t have to sharp your pencils and not even you have to load a lead in your clutch or mechanical pencils as Sharpie has come out with an interesting new pencil that mimics pens by being liquid.


These Sharpie pencils will allow for you to erase your work up to a certain point that is after it’s been sitting for over 3 days you won’t be able to erase it, similar to pens that can’t be erased. That will free your space of not caring an extra sharpener or extra leads, and no doubts it will look stylish if you use it. So say good bye to the old wooden and mechanical pencils and try these liquid pencils.

LiveRider turns your iPhone or iPod touch into a wireless bike computer

The popularity of Apple’s iPhone and iPod touch hasn’t just resulted in an explosion of applications but has also spawned a stack of hardware accessories designed to extend the capabilities of said devices. Most common are devices that increase the devices’ battery life but New Potato Technologies has decided for something a bit different with its LiveRider that is a bike mounting system that turns your iPhone or iPod touch into a wireless cycling computer.


The LiveRider mount cradle attaches to a bike’s handlebars to put your iPhone front and center while pedaling and it incorporates a 2.4GHz RF wireless receiving unit that connects to the iDevices’ 30-pin connector, this unit receives information sent wirelessly from a permanently-sealed, dual-mode sensor mounted on the bike’s frame near the rear wheel that measures both bike speed and pedal tempo.

Using the LiveRider application, the device is then able to leverage the capabilities of the iPhone or iPod touch to provide users with a touch screen interface, GPS features providing location and tracking, and accelerometer features to record inclination and the application also includes a file system to save detailed data from each ride, which can be reviewed graphically on the bike, or exported via email and imported into a spreadsheet or database. It also includes a real-time Chase Rider function that lets riders compete against their personal best or pace to a training goal, pretty amazing.

The shock-absorbing handlebar mount cradle helps protect against vibration and debris and allows the iPhone or iPod touch and receiving dongle to be quickly removed, the dongle is powered by the attached iPhone or iPod touch, while the permanently-sealed wireless sensor unit is powered by a permanent Life-Time battery.

MSI launches MSI GX660 performance gaming laptop

MSI has launched its latest performance gaming laptop, the MSI GX660 and is designed with high performance and ease of use in mind. It features MSI’s TDE, Turbo Drive Engine, technology and Dynaudio sound and also comes with dual 500GB SATA hard drives, ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5870 discrete graphics card and has three DDR3 RAM slots which allows up to 12GB of RAM and has built two USB 3.0 and two USB 2.0 ports into the machine as well as an eSATA port. MSI’s TDE Technology allows you to increase the processor performance with the touch of the turbo button located above the keyboard and when it’s pressed, the system speed is increased by 83 percent for when you’re using resource hungry applications but battery life will take a hit. It also features MSI’s Cooler Boost Technology, which allows you to boost the systems cooling by the press of a button.


Audio is done by Dynaudio and MSI says it has obtained obstruction free sound transmission. ATI’s Mobility Radeon 5870 graphics card has 1GB DDR5 VRAM, with a memory clock speed of 1.0GHz and memory data rate of 4.0Gbps and also supports DirectX 11 and its three DDR3 RAM slots allow for up to 12GB of RAM.

World’s Largest Digital Photograph: 70 Billion Pixels Budapest

When we thought that Dubai's 45-gigapixel panoramic view is unbreakable, we were wrong because Budapest's massive 70-gigapixel panoramic shot broke the previous record. The panorama takes two days each of shooting and post-processing while utilizing two 25-megapixel Sony A900s and 400mm Minolta lenses to complete and the "70 Billion Pixels Budapest" is created by 360 World together with Epson, Sony and Microsoft. You can see it by clicking here.

Unbreakable Screens For LCD TV

Most of people in the world are worried about screens of their LCD TV’s.Pepole are always worried about breaking of the LCD screens so Corning Inc has developed a glass called “Gorilla Glass” which seems to be an indestructible, scratch proof glass. The company has now made it available for LCD screens on TV’s.

Just recently some TV companies have decided to add unbreakable gorilla glass to their LCD TV’s and make them for sale to the public. No deals have been made as of yet but Corning Inc said they will probably have a deal locked in by this fall 2010. Gorilla glass has good durability, strength, and is scratch resistant. Who wouldn’t want a scratch proof TV screen? This will help protect your investment. Of course, this will cost you a few extra dollars but is it not worth it!

I-TEC Maverick Flying Car

We’ve certainly seen some high-tech wonders but sometimes it’s the relatively low-tech aircraft that are the most inspiring and that’s certainly the case with the Maverick, a flying car from Florida’s I-TEC (abbreviation for Indigenous People's Technology and Education Center). While I-TEC initially plans on raising funds by selling Mavericks to recreational users and they also hope to put the vehicles to use in impoverished African nations where missionary pilots can use them to deliver medical drugs and supplies.
As a car alone, the vehicle’s performance is pretty impressive as its 140 hp, fuel-injected, 16-valve Subaru EJ22 engine sends it from 0 to 60mph in 3.9 seconds and it has a top speed of 90 mph (145 km/h), and the whole rig weighs less than 1,000 pounds (454 kg).
When it’s time to fly, the Maverick’s central telescopic mast raises and acts as a wing spar for its chute, properly known as a ram-air wing and the flip of a switch diverts engine power from the rear wheels to the rear-mounted five-blade propeller, which propels the car across the ground, up to its take-off speed of 40mph (64km/h) and the Maverick can take flight in only 300 feet (91 meters).
Once in the air, the vehicle’s electronic fly-by-wire system allows the pilot to steer it with the steering wheel, just like they would on the ground and according to I-TEC, existing sport pilots can learn to fly the Maverick in just 12 hours. Its dash-mounted Garmin GPS allows for both aerial and ground-based navigation.

Using Underwater Kites To Generate Electricity

Swedish automaker Minesto is developing what it calls it's "Deep Green" technology that are underwater kites tethered to the ocean floor that could produce continuous energy from tidal flows in which a single Deep Green turbine could produce up to 500 kilowatts of electricity. As the tides are much more regular than winds so the energy produced would be less erratic and variable.
The kites have a 12m (almost 40 ft) wingspan and these kites would remain at least 20m (66 feet) below the surface, to prevent conflicts with ocean navigation and minimize visual impact. Tidal flow as low as 1.6 meters/second can be used to create the lift necessary to move the underwater kite.
Since the underwater kite is anchored to the ocean floor, it is able to move at much faster speeds, that makes the turbine more effective, as it traverses back and forth in order to generate electricity, although wind-based deepwater offshore power systems are much difficult to install and operate, Deep Green tidal kites would be well suited for installation in deep waters. Furthermore, the underwater “Deep Green” kites are much lighter and easier to install than the equipment needed for other deepwater generation systems. Deepwater generating systems have the additional expense and technical hurdles of transmitting the power over a greater distance but the higher efficiency and more consistent generation offered by these tidal kites could offset those drawbacks.

How To Make Your Electronics Batteries Last Longer

The financial rewards of long lasting batteries are obvious as you won't be forced to render a perfectly good gadget obsolete before its time or have to shell out money for a replacement battery.
It's also better for our planet Earth since disposing of electronic waste is a growing problem.
Experts say there are plenty of easy things you can do to prolong the life of electronics batteries, here is general advice from Dell, Nokia, and Apple that can also be applied to other brands:
· Avoid extreme heat
· Take precautions in cold weather (Bring your battery up to room temperature before turning it on if it's been exposed to very cold temperatures)
· You don't need to totally discharge your battery periodically to make it last longer
· Unplug your cell phone from the charger when the battery is fully charged (This saves energy and protects the battery, don’t forget to unplug the charger from the wall)
· Leave your battery in your laptop

ROBOT TEACHERS -- Coming soon, to a classroom near you!!!

Robot teachers are coming and they'll be here by September, programmed with a mission to save our failing schools.
Funded by the Frankenstein Foundation, with the main purpose of creating this mechanical life to teach English. We need this invasion of English-teaching robots because, according to researchers at the University of California, San Diego, an unprecedented number of children in the US start public school with major deficits in basic academic skills that also includes vocabulary skills. So computer scientists at UCSD's Machine Perception Laboratory designed RUBI, a "sociable robot" who successfully taught a group of toddlers ten vocabulary words in only twelve days and RUBI improved the children's word-mastery by a full 25% compared to a control set of words not taught by the mechanical wonder.
Learning languages with machines has been particularly attractive to those looking to spend less while at the same time reducing interaction with humans.

Almost Invisible Mirrored Tree House Built in Sweden

When almost invisible house to be built in Sweden by Tham and Videgard was wrote for the first time, 899 commenters thought it was computer-generated dream, and impossible to build..
But the architects built it, one of six units in a “Tree Hotel”, which recently opened 40 miles south of the Arctic Circle in Sweden, the four-meter glass cube looks as spectacular in reality as it did in the rendering. Kent Lindvall, co-owner of the TreeHotel, has been quoted as saying: “Everything will reflect in this -- the trees, the birds, the clouds, the sun, everything. So it should be invisible nearly in the forest”.
The units are constructed from sustainably harvested wood and have electric radiant floor heating and "a state-of-the-art, eco-friendly, incineration toilet but other than that minor quibble, this appears to be a truly "eco" resort.

New 3D poster technology coming soon

The Fraunhofer institute, University of Kiel and RealEyes is showing a new technology that enables 3D posters for large outdoors advertisements (up to 5 meters) and these do not require any glasses.The researchers say that the display are similar to the lenticular images we've seen on postcards but instead of the grooved sheet with the image attached, the new posters use a lens array - 250,000 lenses and each 2 millimeters in diameter. The 3D image of the poster can be viewed from the other side of the street, and the image appearance changes with each step and adjusts to the visual angle.They have already built a DIN-A0 (1 sq meter) poster prototype, and they say that commercialization of larger posters (3 to 5 sq meters) is possible in coming 2011

Next-Generation Robotic Surgeons

Researchers have demonstrated that a robot guided by 3-D ultrasound and artificial intelligence can locate lesions in simulated breast and prostate tissue and take biopsies without the assiatance of human beings. At Duke University, North Carolina, A team of bioengineers 'souped up' an existing robot arm with a purpose-built ultrasound system which acts as the robot's 'eyes' by collecting data from its scan and locating its target. An artificial intelligence program processes the real-time 3D information from the ultrasound and gives the robot specific commands to perform using a mechanical 'hand' that can manipulate the same biopsy plunger device used by the human doctors.
The most recent research that is reported in the current issue of Ultrasonic imaging journal demonstrated that the robot was able to guide the plunger to eight different locations in 93 percent of its attempts. The robot's ability to take multiple samples is important function as multiple samples can help determine the extent of lesions.The researchers say an important challenge to be overcome is the speed of data acquisition and processing, though they are confident this can be overcome with faster processors and better algorithms but to be clinically and medically useful, all of the robot’s actions would need to be in real time.