Posts tagged futuristic

I believe as oil starts to run out theres going to be a rush for ever more hybrid cars, that have better fuel and mileage.

(Source: futurenow321)

A woman with an artificial arm has been given the sense of touch following a pioneering operation to reroute some of her nerves. Claudia Mitchell, 27, lost her left arm in a motorcycle accident three years ago, but can now feel her missing hand after having nerves from her lost limb rerouted to her chest.

Now, when she touches something with her artificial hand she can feel it through a device attached to her chest.

During a four-hour operation, surgeons moved nerves from her shoulder, which normally ferry signals from the hand to the brain, and redirected them to muscles in her chest area.

Four months after surgery, a patch of skin on her chest was able to feel touch, temperature and pain sensations as if they were coming from different parts of her hand and wrist.

(Source: futurenow321)

As the Kindle Fire 2 release date is set for later this week, one website is reporting on what specs and features might be included in Amazon’s new tablet. They are also reporting on the variations of the Kindle device which might be presented at Amazon’s press event, scheduled for September 6th.

The new Kindle Fire will also reportedly use a mapping service other than that of Google Maps. This will be done via Nokia Oyj, a different mapping service. In addition, Amazon is expected to possibly introduce a new Kindle Touch with illuminated display, similar to the Nook Simple Touch with GlowLight. All of this is rumored to be happening on Thursday, September 6th, which will really kick off a big month of tech announcements.

What people are waiting to see is whether Amazon’s new tablet can truly compete with the likes of Google Nexus 7, as well as the upcoming iPad Mini. To do so, Amazon may need to have a lower price point than they originally had on the first Kindle Fire. That could mean a price under $199, in the hopes that the company can sell digital content to loyal customers in order to make a profit.

(Source: futurenow321)

(Source: futurenow321)

Ants in a laboratory nest are individually marked with dabs of paint to help researchers at the University of Arizona track their activities.

(Source: futurenow321)

Swimming around in their tank, these autonomous robotic jellyfish move alone or in a swarm and communicate with their brethren to avoid underwater collisions. Developed by German industrial-automation company Festo as an attention-grabbing experiment in cooperative robotics, each AquaJelly uses eight bendable “tentacles” to propel itself forward. But the AquaJelly does more than swim around and look pretty. Each is coated with conductive metal paint that draws the robot to a nearby charging station. It also has LED illumination, integrated pressure, light and radio sensors, and 11 infrared light-emitting diodes used for jelly-to-jelly communication.

Above water, the robots use a short-range radio system to signal to one another that a charging station is occupied.
Markus Fischer, the head of corporate design at Festo, hopes the AquaJelly will lead to a robotic workforce that can adapt to complicated tasks. Whereas today’s robot assembly lines can produce only a single product, “there is a possibility that [someday] several autonomous robots will work together and produce personalized products.”

(Source: futurenow321)

The Shadow Robot Company has developed an unique robotic hand which can mimic human hand movements. Using 40 air muscles and integrated sensors the hand is sensitive enough to handle fragile objects and accurately perform tasks. The dimensions of the hand are that of an average human male. Shadow hand reportedly costs more than US$100,000. The Hand is commercially available and currently used by NASA, Bielefeld University and Carnegie Mellon University.

(Source: futurenow321)

There are some great kits out there - the Makerbot, the Ultimaker, the Prusa Mendel, and others - but none as small and simple as the Printrbot.  This all-in-one 3D printer kit can be assembled and printing in a couple of hours.  Other kits will not only take you many more hours to build, they will also have hundreds more parts, and they will cost more.This design also does away with the finicky calibration and adjustment from which most 3D printers suffer.   This is the printer a kid could put together. They assemble the electronics,assemble the hotend, and put the connectors on all the motors and components… no soldering required!

(Source: futurenow321)