Nicholas Eftimiades

Some time ago I recommended the establishment of a US Commission on Planetary Defense. I think it is about time. I cannot take credit for the 'legalese". The lawyers did that. Here is the text for review.


UNITED STATES COMMISSION ON PLANETARY DEFENSE

ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION.

There is established in the legislative branch the (more…)

There are many new forms of batteries being developed. This is an interesting one. Researchers at Stanford University have developed a battery that takes advantage of the difference in salinity between freshwater and seawater to produce electricity, says Yi Cui, associate professor of materials science and engineering, who led the research team. The battery (more…)

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory in Idaho Falls are harnessing infrared radiation to produce a solar cell that will work even in the dark of night, UPI reports. (more…)

Capturing an object in three dimensions needn't require the budget of Avatar. A new cell phone app developed by Microsoft researchers can be sufficient. The software uses overlapping snapshots to build a photo-realistic 3-D model that can be spun around and viewed from any angle. (more…)

A brain-computer interface (BCI) developed by composer and computer-music specialist Eduardo Miranda of the University of Plymouth, UK, working with computer scientists at the University of Essex, allows paralyzed patients to play music just by thinking about it. (more…)

This essay argues that the exponential rate of technical progress will create within 40 years an Internet that is a trillion times faster than today’s, a global media, a global education system, a global language, and a globally homogenized culture, thus establishing the prerequisites for the creation of a global democratic state, “Globa,” (more…)

March 15, 2011 by Amara D. Angelica

With deterioration of the nuclear reactor situation in Japan and radiation heading for Tokyo — in one extreme Pentagon scenario, catastrophic meltdowns and megadeaths in Japan, according to a source — many scientists are ramping up the search for alternates to earthquake-vulnerable nuclear power.
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The introduction of human intelligence is a pivotal event in the history of the planet. Evolution's grandest creation -human intelligence- is providing the means for the next stage of evolution. This "next stage" was created by human intelligence itself, an example of the exponential engine of evolution using its innovations from one period (human (more…)

The idea of self aware machines has inspired many Hollywood movies, but don't expect to see a robot with the desire to be human any time soon. The human brain is just too complex. For artificial intelligence to become a reality, much will need to be learned in the areas of psychology, neuroscience, cognitive (more…)