This page provides links to articles from other services.

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Computer Scientists Lay Out Vision

for a 'Science of the Web'

KurzweilAI.net August 14, 2006

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Calling for the creation of an

interdisciplinary "science of the

Web," a group of Rensselaer

Polytechnic Institute computer

scientists, led by professor James

A. Hendler, plans a new "Tetherless

World Constellation" project for

increasing access to information at

any time and place without the need

for a "tether" to a specific

computer or device....

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Making Robots for the Home or a

Battlefield

New York Times August 12, 2006

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iRobot Corporation, maker of

Roomba, the robotic vacuum cleaner,

has sold more than 500 PackBot

robots for use in disposing

improvised explosive devices. And

its Fido robot has just been tested

in Iraq as a bomb-sniffing...

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Hutter Prize for Lossless

Compression of Human Knowledge

KurzweilAI.net August 14, 2006

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Marcus Hutter has announced the

50,000 Euro Hutter Prize for

Lossless Compression of Human

Knowledge by compressing the 100MB

file Wikipedia 'enwik8' file to less

than the current record of 18MB. The

intent of this prize is to encourage

development of intelligent

compressors/programs. "Being able to

compress well is closely related to...

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Lifeboat Foundation Nanoshield

Robert A. Freitas Jr.

Michael Vassar

08/06/2006

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Tomorrow's biggest danger may be

nanoweapons (grey goo and other)

created with molecular

manufacturing. The Lifeboat

Foundation proposes development of

detection methods, such as infrared

satellite surveillance for nanobot

signatures, along with a three-layer

defense system, with devices such as

an orbiting mirror to focus

concentrated sunlight on an

ecophagic outbreak.

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PALM technique points to protein

whereabouts

nanotechweb.org August 10, 2006

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Researchers have developed an

optical imaging technique that can

pinpoint proteins in cells with

nanometer resolution. The

photoactivated localization

microscopy (PALM) method attaches

fluorescent protein molecules to the

proteins of interest and

photoactivates and images just a few

of the fluorescent molecules at a...

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Pass the Virtual Scalpel, Nurse

Wired News August 9, 2006

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Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

researchers are developing a surgery

simulator similar to the flight

simulators used to train pilots. The

medical training system would allow

surgeons to manipulate virtual human

organs in real time, learning and

acquiring crucial skills without

using cadavers or risking human

life. They are pursuing a grand...

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Gartner Names Hot Technologies With

Greatest Potential Impact

InformationWeek Aug 9, 2006

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Researcher Gartner Inc. has

identified the technologies it

believes will have the greatest

impact on businesses over the next

10 years, naming such hot areas as

social-network analysis,

location-aware applications and

event-driven architectures, semantic

markup languages, and collective

intelligence (developing

intellectual content through...

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Single molecule makes electronic

switch

Chemistry World August 8, 2006

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A single organic molecule trapped

between two electrodes acts as a

switch and has a memory of the type

used in data storage, researchers

have found. A positive voltage pulse

between the electrodes was enough to

change the bipyridyl-dinitro

oligophenylene-ethynylene dithiol

(BPDN-BT) molecule so that it became

a better conductor of current,...

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Researchers watch brain in action

Biosingularity August 4, 2006

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For the first time, scientists have

been able to watch neurons within

the brain of a living animal change

in response to experience. The

researchers at MIT's Picower

Institute implanted transparent

cranial windows over the primary

visual cortex, allowing them to

monitor over time the expression of

proteins in the brains of live mice.

They used...

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Virtual bots teach each other using

wordplay

NewScientist.com news service August 2, 2006

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Robots that teach one another new

words through interaction with their

surroundings have been demonstrated

by Plymouth University researchers.

They say their novel method of

communication could someday help

real-life robots cooperate when

faced with a new challenge or help

linguists understand how human

languages...

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BYU scientists create tool for

'virtual surgery'

Deseret Morning News July 31, 2006

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Computer scientists at Brigham

Young University have created a

"virtual surgery" tool that lets

surgeons, diagnosticians and others

extract a 3-D computer image from

from MRI and CT scans or similar

data. The "Live Surface" software

also can be used to extract a single

actor's performance or inanimate

objects from video...

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The next computer interface: your

finger

ZDNet July 29, 2006

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The "Fingertip Digitizer," which

users wear on the tip of the index

finger, can transfer to the virtual

world the meaning and intent of

common hand gestures, such as

pointing, wagging the finger,

tapping in the air or other

movements that can be used to direct

the actions of an electronic device,

much like a mouse directs the

actions of a personal...

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Researchers Identify Very First

Neurons In The 'Thinking' Brain

KurzweilAI.net July 24, 2006

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Researchers at Yale School of

Medicine and the University of

Oxford have identified the very

first embryonic neurons in what

develops into the cerebral cortex.

They are in place 31 days after

fertilization. This is much earlier

than previously thought and well

before development of arms, legs or

eyes. The researchers found that the...

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Man-Machine Merger Arriving Sooner

Than You Think

NPR July 23, 2006

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Science-fiction writers Vernor

Vinge and Cory Doctorow look at the

various ways a technological

Singularity will develop in the near

future and conclude that a

cooperative model linking computers,

networks, and people makes the most

sense....

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The Quest for the $1,000 Human

Genome

New York Times July 18, 2006

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The goal now being pursued by the

NIH and by several manufacturers is

to drive the costs of decoding a

human genome down to as little as

$1,000. At that price, it could be

worth decoding people's genomes in

certain medical situations and, one

day, even routinely at...

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NaturallySpeaking Claims Voice Rec

Breakthrough

PC World July 18, 2006

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Nuance Communications says the

latest version of its

speech-recognition software can

achieve--with some speakers--99

percent accuracy out of the box,

without a "training" session to

familiarize the software with how a

particular person...

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AI Reaches the Golden Years

Wired News July 17, 2006

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If the rate of computational power

grows exponentially, the

possibilities of true artificial

intelligence, as seen in movies like

The Terminator and I, Robot, could

be possible very soon, said Ray

Kurzweil. He pictures a world where

humans and machines have merged,

enhancing our cognitive abilities

and keeping our bodies healthy from

the...

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Brainy Robots Start Stepping Into

Daily Life

New York Times July 18, 2006

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A half-century after the term

"artificial intelligence" was

coined, both scientists and

engineers say they are making rapid

progress in simulating the human

brain, and their work is finding its

way into a new wave of real-world...

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Killer tomatoes attack human

diseases

NewScientist.com news service June 29, 2006

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Genetically modified tomatoes

containing edible vaccine are to be

used to challenge two of the world's

most lethal viruses, HIV and the

hepatitis B virus, by manufacturing

proteins to prompt the body to

create antibodies against the...

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Weapon of Mass Diffraction

Wired July 2006

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Shoot a laser 56 miles into the

mesosphere and measure the

distortion. Then adjust the laser's

mirrors until the beam is back in

focus. Whatever optical tweaks

correct the beam will also focus a

telescope. And help build an

anti-satellite...

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Discovery of key protein may help

prevent hearing loss

NewScientist.com news service June 28, 2006

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A protein identified in the ear may

play a key role in converting sounds

into nerve signals, say researchers.

They speculate that regulating

levels of this protein might one day

help to protect against hearing loss

associated with...

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Reprogramming Biology

ScientificAmerican.com July 2006

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We are developing the tools to

reprogram the processes involved in

disease and aging, says Ray Kurzweil

in his article, "Reprogramming

Biology," in the July 2006

Scientific American and available

free in an extended Web version. Now

that biology is becoming an

information technology, it is

subject to the "law of accelerating

returns," he notes....

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Stem cells contain immortal DNA

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Scientists at the Pasteur Institute

have shown for the first time the

mechanism that adult muscle stem

cells use to protect their DNA from

mutations: they retain the original

DNA strands. Understanding this has

important implications for cancer

research, the study of gene

regulation, and ultimately growing

stem cells of therapeutic potential

in...

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Molecule-sized Switch Could Control

DNA Machines

Live Science June 18, 2006

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A molecule-sized switch just 50

nanometers wide may someday control

microscopic machines and also could

make DNA sequencing faster, less

expensive, and more precise.

Molecular switches, or

"mol-switches," also could control

larger devices and they could send

information about the nano-world to

remote, conventionally sized...

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Web accessibility soon mandatory in

Europe?

CNET news.com June 15, 2006

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The 25 European Commission member

states and nine accession countries

have all signed up for an "Internet

for all" action plan, designed to

ensure that the most

Web-disadvantaged groups can get

online. The EC has pledged to

increase broadband coverage across

the continent to 90 percent by 2010

and to halve exclusion rates in

skills and digital...

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Calorie restriction may prevent

Alzheimer's through promotion of

longevity program in the brain

KurzweilAI.net June 16, 2006

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A recent study directed by Mount

Sinai School of Medicine suggests

that experimental dietary regimens

might calm or even reverse symptoms

of Alzheimer's Disease (AD). The

study, which appears in the July

2006 issue of the Journal of

Biological Chemistry, is the first

to show that restricting caloric

intake, specifically carbohydrates,

may...

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Stem cell superpowers exposed

KurzweilAI.net June 16, 2006

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Biologists say they are close to

finding a cellular elixir of youth:

a cocktail of proteins that can

convert adult cells into embryonic

stem cells that are able to grow

replacement tissues, according to

two studies published in Nature June

14. If found, this recipe could

leapfrog the intense controversy

involved in extracting stem cells

from a...

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The (Needed) New Economics of

Abundance

Steve Burgess

05/09/2006

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Molecular manufacturing coupled

with AI could bring about a

"personal manufacturing" revolution

and a new era of abundance. But

abundance could be highly

disruptive, so we need to design a

new economics of abundance so

society is prepared for it.

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The Future Is Now

New York Times May 14, 2006

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The Tofflers' new book,

"Revolutionary Wealth," argues

convincingly that we are on the

verge of a post-scarcity world that

will slash poverty and "unlock

countless opportunities and new life

trajectories," at least if we avoid

the rapidly escalating risks to such...

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In Tokyo, the New Trend Is 'Media

Immersion Pods'

New York Times May 14, 2006

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In the world's most media-saturated

city, people take a break by

checking themselves into media

immersion pods: warrens cluttered

with computers, TV's, video games

and every other entertainment of the

electronic age. The Bagus Gran Cyber

Cafes are Tokyo's grand temples of

infomania, containing row after row

of anonymous cubicles. At first...

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The most realistic virtual reality

room in the world

KurzweilAI.net May 11, 2006

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More than $4 million in equipment

upgrades will shine 100 million

pixels on Iowa State University's

six-sided virtual reality room.

That's twice the number of pixels

lighting up any virtual reality room

in the world and 16 times the pixels

now projected on Iowa State's C6, a

10-foot by 10-foot virtual reality

room that surrounds users with...

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>From The Enlightenment to

N-Lightenment

Michael Buerger

05/08/2006

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The criminal potentials inherent in

molecular manufacturing include

powerful new illegal drugs, mass

murder via compromised assembly

codes, and a "killer virus" crossing

out of cyberspace into the physical

realm. A criminal-justice futurist

examines the possibilities.

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Safer Molecular Manufacturing

through Nanoblocks

Tom Craver

05/09/2006

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Lego-style "nanoblocks" could

prevent a molecular-assembly fabber

from building an atom-precise

nanofactory or devices that could

help in any attempt to "bootstrap"

production of an atom-precise

nanofactory, reducing the risk of

proliferation of atom-precise MM to

"rogue nations" or terrorists.

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Mapping a path for the 3D Web

CNet News May 8, 2006

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With the spread of online games,

virtual worlds and services like

Google Earth and MySpace.com, people

may soon be spending more time,

communicating more and shopping more

in complex 3D Web...

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