We could have robots as our help mates... but they may end up as giant killing machines in the Price System.

Posted August 21st 2008 6:57AM

skip sievert

Enjoy this Robot mock up... and future prediction of our society on the present trend of the Price System. The alternative is a post scarcity society based on energy accounting. The Technocracy Technate design.

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Floating Solar Island

Posted August 20th 2008 4:38PM

Richard

Swiss inventor Thomas Hinderling has designed a revolutionary solar island capable of floating out in the sea like a giant lily pad harnessing the suns rays for electrical gains. A 5km wide, 20m high island prototype is currently being built in the UAE and is expected to generate hundreds of kilowatts of electricity at a price nearly five times cheaper than current electricity rates. Full production of these islands could begin as soon as 2011.

Source - Alternative Energy News

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Large Hadron Rap

Posted August 9th 2008 11:40AM

Richard

This rap video has been produced to help communicate the finer details of CERN's Large Hadron Collider. Because the LHC could possible destroy the entire universe I suppose its earned gangsta status.

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Professor George Lakoff Explains Why Framing Matters

Posted July 24th 2008 11:27AM

Richard

With the 2008 US Presidential election just around the corner it's a good time to do a little brushing up on political ideologies. Here in the US there are currently only two major political parties and regardless of how you feel towards them it is important to understand not only what those parties believe, but also why they believe it.

In this video George Lakoff, professor of cognitive linguistics at UC Berkeley, explains the sort of mental framing that allows liberals and conservatives to rationalize there often seemingly contradictory political beliefs.

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Freeman Dyson: Let's Look For Life In The Outer Solar System

Posted July 19th 2008 10:16AM

Richard

Physicist Freeman Dyson suggests that we start looking for life on the moons of Jupiter and out past Neptune, in the Kuiper belt and the Oort cloud. He talks about what such life would be like -- and how we might find it.

He also raises some interesting points about bio-engineering new life forms and the possibility that even if there is no other life in our solar system we might be able to design something capable of surviving out there ourselves.

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Clay Shirky: Institutions vs. Collaboration

Posted July 14th 2008 1:31PM

Richard

In this TED Talks Presentation Clay Shirky shows how building systems that facilitate open collaboration generate tremendous productivity, often times for free. He explains how the Internet is changing the way people work together and how this trend may impact the way business is run, value is assessed, and our rights are interpreted. The presentation seems very light but the information within it and the topics it addresses are very deep and extremely important.

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Molecular Manufacturing

Posted July 10th 2008 6:36PM

Richard

This video reviews the latest theories and applications of nanotechnology, including Molecular Assembly and Molecular Fabrication with Nanotechnology.

The molecular machines in our cells within our bodies are atomically precise - two copies of the same protein are the same - atom-for-atom - because they are built by a series of controlled chemical reactions.

Similarly, in a nanomachine conducting molecular manufacturing - the process of building a part will consist of a sequence of chemical reactions that produce an atomically precise product. Robot arms will be used to put molecules together in such a way that only the desired reaction can happen. This precision will result in a machine part that is - just like the cells within our bodies - atom-for-atom.

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ROBOT 250

Posted July 5th 2008 5:04PM

MDude

If you're anywhere near Pittsburgh and you have an interest in robots, you should definitely consider going to Robot 250. This event, part of the celebration of Pittsburgh's 250th anniversary, is Carnegie Mellon University's attempt at promoting robotics among the general public. Events include giant robots, exhibits, and robot-building activities.

Source: Robots.net

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Popular Science - Green Megalopolis

Posted July 1st 2008 11:41AM

Richard

Popular Science magazine has done an interesting article on the cities of the future. In it they present ten visionary ideas that could change the way cities are built, our lives are lived, and the impact humanity has on the environment around us.

Source - Popsci

- Podcast

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Asimo serves first FCX Clarity customers

Posted June 27th 2008 4:21PM

Layton

Watch multiple ASIMOs serving the very first FCX Clarity customers at Honda's Head Office in Aoyama, Tokyo.

American Honda Motor Co., Inc., recently announced five of the first customers for its advanced new FCX Clarity hydrogen fuel cell-powered vehicle and also provided details of the world's first fuel cell vehicle dealership network in the United States. The announcements were made during a ceremony for the start of FCX Clarity production at the world's first dedicated fuel cell vehicle manufacturing facility in Japan on June 16, 2008.

Film producer Ron Yerxa will take delivery of the first FCX Clarity in July. The remaining four early adopters for Honda's next-generation fuel cell vehicle are author and actress Jamie Lee Curtis and her filmmaker husband Christopher Guest; business owner and car enthusiast Jim Salomon; actress Laura Harris; and Jon Spallino, already the world's first retail fuel cell vehicle customer, who has been leasing the current generation FCX since 2005. Yerxa, Harris and Spallino attended the event in Japan.

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