Singularity Hub

Will Your ID Soon Be a Microchip Under Your Skin?

Written by Drew Halley on July 2, 2009 – 4:57 pm -   8 Comments

Yet another sci-fi milestone is upon us: microchips implanted under your skin and used to identify you.

The VeriChip implant. Photo: Business Week

The VeriChip is the first radio-frequency identification (RFID) microchip that’s been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use in humans. The chip is the size of a long grain of rice, and can be implanted pretty much anywhere in the body (most commonly along the tricep). Depending on how it’s used, the chip could do anything from telling doctors your medical background to buying you a round at the club.

Outside of human bodies, RFID is already used for a wide range of purposes. If you pay highway tolls electronically, that little box in your car has an RFID tag in it. Lots of folks implant their pets with RFID chips in case they get lost, as animal shelters increasingly scan pets for them. Wal-Mart tracks their shipments with RFID, which has apparently revolutionized supply chain management. Hell, there’s even one in your passport.

But why put one inside your body? As interesting as it might be to have your ID show up on an x-ray, most people would rather suffer a line at the DMV than a rice-injection. Sure, it might make for good conversation at a party. But is that worth the needle? What would it take to get one under your skin?

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Post Singularity World Envisioned In Upcoming Movie 9

Written by keith kleiner on July 2, 2009 – 2:10 pm -   4 Comments

Official Poster For 9

If you haven’t heard of the upcoming movie from Tim Burton, called 9, you gotta check it out (see trailers, pics at the end of this post).  I am still trying to fully grok the storyline, but it seems to take place in a future where technology and machines have gone haywire and pretty much wiped out human civilization.  The movie is fully animated and promises to be a feast for the imagination, full of interesting mechanical creations and futuristic thinking.  Not only does the movie itself look pretty neat, but the marketing presence that is building up to the launch of the movie is quite impressive and detailed, culminating in a theater release on none other than 9-9-09.

A character from the film, simply known as “The Scientist”, has taken on a fictitious existence on the internet to promote and explain the events that lead up to the beginning of the movie.  The Scientist has his own facebook page with a current and rapidly growing following of more than 3,600 followers.  In addition The Scientist has a pretty neat interactive flash simulation of his laboratory, full of his machine drawings, blueprints, and other notable belongings.  Oh, and of course the movie promotion wouldn’t be complete if it didn’t also boast a twitter account full of updates.

The Scientist

From what I can tell so far, the story goes like this:  After a ten year world war, the world is left scarred and battered.  The chancellor, who leads an unnamed country, declares that science and technology will be the path to a rebuilding and rebirth of the world after this long and terrible world war.  The Scientist is enlisted to create an artificial B.R.A.I.N, an autonomous machine capable of creating new machines in its own image.  At some point the government interferes with the Scientists work just as it is gaining steam, and the B.R.A.I.N apparently causes some sort of destruction of most/all of humanity.  Just before all hell breaks loose, the Scientist is able to create 9 artificial rag doll creatures, called the 9, to fight the machine insurrection.  It is up to the 9 to save the world from the insurrection and protect humanity if any still exists.  Check out more pics here:

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A Clock Powered by Flies? Microbial Fuel Cells Turn Poop into Power

Written by Andrew Kessel on July 2, 2009 – 12:11 pm -   1 Comment

Energy is a longstanding problem.  The energy crisis is not just the sinusoidal prices at the pumps and a reluctance to build wind farms in pristine natural environments; it affects every single person on this planet.  From the U.S. citizens who stuff old, liquefied fossils into their inefficient gas-guzzler to the poorest of villagers in Africa who struggle to find firewood in a rapidly deforesting continent, everybody is affected.  Energy has to come from somewhere and a team of researchers at the University of Bristol in the UK thinks they have a solution that might help alleviate some of the crisis.

A real functioning microbial fuel cell clock from Beihang University

The idea is called the Microbial Fuel Cell, and the principle behind it is quite simple.  A biological material is placed into a medium of microbes and is slowly digested.  The digestion process creates spare electrons that would normally just recombine with ions.  But in the fuel cell design, those electrons are sent through a circuit before being recombined and powering electronics in the process.

There are quite a few possible applications for such a design.  Really, anything that needs power can be run off of a microbe fuel cell, but there are a few novel ideas floating around the internet that apply the fuel cell technology without the need to stand around and constantly feed organics into the system.  Wastewater treatment has been targeted as an ideal way to scale up the system, using a feedstock that is high in unwanted organics, and creating energy while simultaneously purifying the water.

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Reportedly World’s Smallest LCD Screen Created: 0.27 Inches in Diameter

Written by Andrew Kessel on July 1, 2009 – 11:01 am -   1 Comment

Any insecure Hummer owner with a bad track record on the dating scene will tell you “it’s not the size that matters, it’s how you use it” and, for once, that might actually be true.  The Kopin Corporation, a self-described nanosemiconductor company, has created the minuscule range of LCD displays dubbed Cyberdisplay.  The newest member of the display range measures in at 0.27 inches along its diagonal with a resolution of 600 x 480.  Reported to be the smallest full-color VGA screen in the world, this powerful combination of diminutive screen size and monster resolution is an innovation that could have a serious impact on the miniature display market.

Currently, these tiny displays are used mostly in viewfinders for camcorders and digital cameras.  Kopin also makes known its interest in creating personalized eye-wear with small screens, allowing users to watch movies or play games in total immersion.  Regardless of the application, Kopin’s quest is to make as many pixels fit into as small a screen as possible.  The holy grail of their research is to create a 2048 x 2048 resolution display about the size of a postage stamp and, with this innovation, researchers believe that they are close to making that possible.

The new 0.27 inch display has color dots with dimensions of 2.9 x 8.7 microns, which is an improvement over the 3.75 x 11.25 micron dimensions of previous generation screens.  And while all these numbers might seem a bit like a scientist’s pissing contest, these new dimensions finally make it possible to achieve the fabled 2048 x 2048 resolution.  Kopin has now proven that it is capable of making pixels small enough, so all that needs to be done is to get enough of them together to make the display.

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Highlights From Day One At Singularity University

Written by keith kleiner on June 30, 2009 – 3:02 pm -   4 Comments

Yesterday was the first day of the Singularity University summer session.  I was at the NASA Ames campus throughout the day to witness and record the event on video for the Hub (see highlight video footage at the end of this post).  The energy at the University is absolutely thrilling.  Its hard even to convey in words.  Tons of smart, motivated people are gathered to discuss, debate, and learn about the intersection of genetics, solar energy, computer networking, and other accelerating technologies.  Undoubtedly one of the highlights of the day was when Ray Kurzweil sat before the students and staff for more than an hour, allowing anyone to ask him questions and share ideas and thoughts.  Such an opportunity to interact with the luminary is but a small sample of the rare and stimulating experiences that Singularity University will be able to offer its students this summer.

I hesitate even to call the 40 attendees of the University “students”, for this term brings to mind images of youths in high school or undergraduate studies that are still at the very beginning of their learning curves.  Nearly all of the 40 attendees of Singularity University are at the Ph.D level or beyond in their professional and academic careers.  Visiting scholar or simply professional might be a more appropriate term.

The University is a new entity, and as such it is creating traditions and customs as it goes along.  In a presentation to the students and staff, Peter Diamandis presented several ideas aimed at creating a sense of community and tradition within the University.  A class ring, inscribed with symbolism and geekiness (the year is written in binary) will be given to each of the students and staff.  A class t-shirt will be designed and also a class poster.  Will a school song emerge at the end of the summer?  How about a student created yearbook, online or otherwise?  It is up to the students and staff to decide on these traditions as they plot out the important first year of Singularity University.

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Super Babies Reveal the Key to Strength Gene

Written by Aaron Saenz on June 30, 2009 – 12:28 pm -   2 Comments

It’s known as myostatin, but it might as well be called kryptonite, because it’s what keeps each of us feeling like Clark Kent. This protein tells your muscles when to stop growing, and in the last few years we’ve seen two babies born with a mutant gene that prevents them from producing enough myostatin. The result? Super Babies. And like any amazing mutation, scientists are studying it to see if, and how, we could all become as muscle bound as these tots.

Can a baby unlock the gene for strength?

The first super baby was born in Germany in 2004. Though his name was never released, pictures demonstrated that his young physique contained almost twice as much muscle as other infants. Look ahead to fall 2005 in Michigan, Mr. and Mrs. Hoekstra adopt a young boy named Liam. Soon he is growing muscle at an astounding rate. Hanging on rings in an iron cross position by 5 months, pull-ups by 9 months, Liam is the second super baby. His condition, now known as myostatin-related muscle hypertrophy, makes him hungry, lean, and strong. Check out his pic after the break.

With Liam, scientists had further proof that a genetic mutation could exist that causes a human to naturally build muscle. Without even trying, Liam has little to no body fat, can lift seven pound weights arms extended (he only weighs 30 lbs himself) and has a six-pack. Now nearly four, Liam is taking gymnastic lessons, but this is more of an outlet for his energy than an explanation for his physique. No doubts, it’s the lack of myostatin that’s helping him get ripped.

The Protein to End All Proteins

The effects of blocking myostatin has been shown to have drastic effects in animals besides humans. Myostatin tests in labs have pumped up mice to Schwarzenegger proportions.

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The AbioCor Artificial Heart: Plastic and Metal Mimics Real Life Function

Written by Andrew Kessel on June 30, 2009 – 11:25 am -   2 Comments

Earlier on Singularity Hub, we took a detailed look into the magic of heart replacement surgery (and even growing hearts with stem cells).  It’s a great way to tack on a few extra years to patients who are suffering from heart failure, but what about the other people who are not eligible for a donor heart?  Patients who are in immediate danger of death and have end-stage heart failure on both sides of the organ cannot currently be implanted with donor hearts but they can be given the AbioCor artificial heart.  The AbioCor system uses hydraulic pressure to pump blood between two chambers, simulating the effect of the human heart.  Could the artificial heart put an end to long waiting lists for donor organs?

The Abiocor artificial heart

The artificial heart has come a long way since its first clinical use in the 1960’s.  Wireless technology and an internal microprocessor make the AbioCor better than its predecessors.  The entire system is implanted during a procedure where the diseased heart is cut out and the arteries are clamped onto the thoracic unit.  Wires are laid in the body down to the abdomen, where the controller and battery are implanted.  Wires then connect the controller to a receiver planted in the chest called the TET, or Transcutaneous Energy Transfer.  Wearing a similar device on the outside of the skin allows for an external battery to power the system without having wires breaking through the patients skin.

The internal battery allows the patient more mobility, as the external power source can disconnected for up to 45 minutes as the patient bathes or conducts other activities of that nature.  Being hooked up to the power isn’t that bad either, as a fanny-pack portable battery system can provide up to four hours of continuous juice before needing to be recharged.  Despite all these seemingly beneficial quality of life improvements, there are still some drawbacks.

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The Wireless Future of Energy Tranfer

Written by Drew Halley on June 30, 2009 – 9:32 am -   2 Comments

The electronic revolution of the past century has been a tangled affair. Remember when phones were always wired into the wall? When the internet required one more cord from the back of your computer? Wireless is the future, which is all well and good for information transfer. But what about energy itself?

Intel powers a lightbulb, wire-free.

New research is bringing energy transfer into the wireless world. Soon, a central hub could be charging your batteries, laptop, televisions, electric cars, you name it… right through the air. You might never untangle a wire again. Cool, right?

Wireless energy is built on the principle of resonant coupling. The devices use copper coils that, if tuned to the same frequency, can resonate with one another. One coil is plugged into the wall, and creates an electromagnetic field; another coil nearby resonates with the first field, picking up some energy in the process to fuel your electronics. The magnetic field lets energy flow regardless of obstacles in the way, so the current can travel through walls. Currently, the type of radiation involved can only resonate within a few meters.

Over the past few years, a number of companies have been racing to put wireless energy on the market. Last week, researchers at Intel showcased a wirelessly charged iPod speaker. In 2007, researchers at MIT revealed a similar project that powered a lightbulb remotely. The physicist and project leader Marin Soljacic (winner of a MacArthur “genius grant” Fellowship) went on to found the start-up WiTricity, which is leading the pack in developing a commercially viable product.

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