Monthly Archives: October 2012

Bionic Body Parts

Bionic hands sound like something straight out of the terminator but they are becoming an available and more affordable option for amputees. Prosthetics have been existed since the middle ages and advancements in prosthetic technology were spurred forward by a research initiative following World War II. Simple grasping mechanisms exist, but for the most part amputees must live life without the use of one hand. Prosthetic hands do not allow the use of fine motor skills and are as much for appearance as function. Bionic hands have the opportunity to revolutionize the prosthetics industry and enable people who have lost a hand to regain control of an artificial extremity and return to some semblance of normalcy.

Multiple sensors in a bionic hand take information from the user’s nervous and muscle system and process it in order to determine the hand’s action. The objective is to create a bionic hand that will respond similarly to a regular hand. The user won’t have to consciously think about moving his fingers but will naturally be able to control its movement. The currently available bionic hand is a sophisticated model that costs between and $12,000 and $19,000 and is effectively half the price of other available electronic hands. This is a fairly small price to pay if it means that a person can function normally without being handicapped for the rest of his life. Perhaps one day soon, we will have the ability to create a hand identical to the human hand, which might be useful if it got chopped off by a light saber. Cyborgs would be pretty cool too. Just for fun, who is your favorite humanoid robot, bionic person, or cyborg?

Motomobile

Innovations in transportation technology are rapidly changing the way we think about travel. Since the invention of the automobile, independence has been at the forefront of American culture. Cars allow anyone to go anywhere at any time. Unlike many other developed nations, America has not invested heavily in maglev train infrastructure because people want to have the freedom of driving. Traffic congestion is a major problem in big cities and gas consumption is steadily increasing, polluting the air and contributing to global warming.

Lit Motors is attempting to address some of the problems in American transportation with a gyro-stabilized electric motorcycle. Motorcycles have been around for over a century and though they are increasing in popularity, as gas prices increase, cars have always dominated American roads. One of the major drawbacks of a motorcycle, and arguably the reason why cars are so much more popular, is that they are very unsafe. Nearly every motorcycle accident results in severe injury or even death and motorcycles easily flip on loose gravel, ice, and even pot-holes.

The C-1 vehicle, Lit Motor’s electric motorcycle, is enclosed and gyro-stabilized in an attempt to deal with motorcycle safety concerns. Though it has two wheels and looks like a motorcycles, it drives like a car. The enclosed motorcycle uses gyroscopes to prevent tipping. Even when the vehicle is hit from the side it slides upright rather than falling over. The roof provides protection from the elements and additional safety features include airbags, seat belts, and steel reinforced doors. The C-1 vehicle holds up to two people and has a steering wheel rather than a handlebar. Furthermore, the C-1 is electric and can drive roughly 200 miles on one charge that would cost the user one dollar. It is a hybrid car / motorcycle and its popularization could significantly change transportation.

Americans enjoy large cars, for safety and appearance reasons, but if people began to embrace vehicles like the C-1, driving would become less congested and potentially safer. Though this vehicle doesn’t stand a chance against a large SUV, if everyone began to drive lightweight vehicles it would provide a very safe alternative to a car. It also does not pollute the environment and would help prevent global warming. Typically, American drivers do not carry passengers, regardless of vehicle size. Even though it would take a significant culture shift in order for vehicles like the C-1 to become the preeminent mode of transportation, this technology could greatly improve American travel. Would you buy something like this? Would you feel foolish driving such a small vehicle or do you think it looks cool? What if any will its impact be on American transportation?

Quantum Tech

Quantum computers have been touted as the next big thing in computing for years. While quantum computers, which attempt to use quantum mechanics to solve complex problems, do exist, for the most part they can only perform basic tasks and are unable to to meet modern computing demands. However, a new development in quantum particle measurement could change technology forever.

The Nobel Prize in Physics for 2012 was awarded to David J. Wineland and Serge Haroche for the discovery of a new technique for measuring quantum particles without destroying them, which was previously thought to be impossible. In other words, the physicists have found a way of measuring, examining, controlling, and counting particles that exist in two places at once. Following the laws of quantum mechanics, if a quantum particle is equally likely to be in two places then it will be in both places. It is a difficult concept to grasp and it becomes even stranger whenever these particles are observed or measured because they cease to be in more than one place. This means that direct observation has the power to shape reality.

 This has particularly important implications in the field of computing. Now that it is possible to measure and count these particles without destroying them, quantum computing may revolutionize the computer industry. Classical computers use millions of transistors or switches to store information. Every computer process can be described in binary code and each switch represents one binary character where 0 is off and 1 is on. In order to solve problems, computers change the values of these switches rapidly in different combinations to store, transfer, and use information. Processor and memory speed are completely dependent on the speed at which this transfer of information takes place. In a quantum computer, in stark contrast to classical computers and even common sense, a switch can be simultaneously on and off. This means that quantum computers can solve incredibly complex problems in an extremely short amount of time because they can test every combination simultaneously.

One danger of quantum computing is that it would eliminate all current computer security. A quantum computer could test every password for an account instantly. However, it would also provide more computing power than will ever be achievable with classical computers. Would you be excited about fully functional quantum computers and do you think that they would stimulate other kinds of technological progress? Personally, I’m fairly skeptical. We’ve been promised quantum computing for so many years that I’ll believe it when I see it.

Grow Me a Brain

Stem cell research has been the source of a lot of controversy ever since it began in the 1960s. In 1996 scientists successfully cloned a sheep named Dolly, proving that developed cells carry the information necessary for creating every cell in the body. The controversy surrounding stem cell research arose as a result of research on embryonic stem cells. Embryonic stem cells can only be harvested from embryos, which is the primary ethical issue with stem cell research. In order to obtain stem cells, fertilized eggs or embryos, which otherwise could develop into a human baby, must be killed in order to harvest its stem cells. Consequently, stem cell research has been banned in some countries.

On October 8, 2012, scientists from Britain and Japan shared a Nobel Prize for the discovery that adult stem cells can be transformed back into embryo-like stem cells. This process could further stem cell research, effectively eliminating ethical issues, and could potentially be used for tissue regeneration in damaged brains, hearts, and other vital organs. Scientists, who once thought it was impossible to turn adult stem cells back into embryonic stem cells, are now excited at the prospect of using adult stem cells for tissue regeneration. While large parts of the brain and heart can’t be removed for study, by using adult stem cells reprogrammed as embryonic stem cells, heart and brain cells can be grown in a lab and studied. Another advantage of using adult stem cell, as opposed to embryonic stem cells, is that if the patient is treated with stem cells from his own tissue, his body will be less likely to reject the treatment. Specifically, stem cell research has applications in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s and adult stem cell research and treatment could potentially provide an ethical solution. What do you think about this discovery, does it change anything or is it no different than embryonic stem cell research? Do you think stem cell treatment will revolutionize the medical industry or bring about minor unnoticeable changes?

I game therefore I am

Virtual reality gaming has been around since the 1990s and while it has promised to revolutionize the gaming industry, it has never been at the forefront of mainstream gaming. The virtual boy for example, produced in 1995 by Nintendo, promised 3-dimensional graphics with a head-mounted display but delivered a terrible virtual reality experience in an annoying red. PC magazine stated that the Virtual Boy was one of Nintendo’s biggest failures, it was an extremely cumbersome device, and it had the potential to cause permanent damage to children’s eyes.

Technology has changed a lot since the 1990s and John Carmack, the lead programmer on games such as Quake and Doom, hopes to change the gaming industry forever. At an E3 conference in June, Carmack demonstrated a prototype of the rift which used Oakley ski goggles (the device was held together with duct tape). The project evidently needed funding in order to turn the Oculus Rift into a high end, low-cost virtual reality solution. In august, a Kickstarter for the Rift set a goal of $250,000 but received $2.5 million. The Rift is receiving support from Valve, Epic Games, id Software, and even Notch (the creator of Minecraft). It will be compatible with Doom 3 BFG and a first person shooter called Hawken.

So what makes the Oculus Rift so special and why is it any different from other virtual reality devices? First of all, the Rift will have a diagonal field of view of 110˚ compared to 40˚ for other virtual reality devices. This means that rather than looking at a screen, the user will be fully immersed in the world of the game. The Oculus Rift also boasts stereoscopic 3d rendering which simply means that a different image is sent to the right and left eye of the viewer and the difference in perspective creates the illusion of depth. Finally, the Rift eliminates latency problems common in virtual reality devices. Its low latency head-tracking technology allows the user to look around his environment and feel completely immersed in the game. What do you think? Would you buy it? Do you want the Oculus Rift to become the next big thing in gaming or would you rather use a good old fashioned TV?