“Today, we tell the world that America has achieved a tremendous scientific breakthrough,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm in a December press conference. “…This milestone moves us one significant step closer to the possibility of zero carbon abundant fusion energy powering our society. If we can advance fusion energy, we could use it to produce electricity, transportation fuels, power heavy industry, [and] so much more.”

The revolutionary leap forward took place on December 5th in the National Ignition Facility at California’s Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, where scientists have been trying to generate fusion since 2009.

“The pursuit of fusion ignition in the laboratory is one of the most significant scientific challenges ever tackled by humanity, and achieving it is a triumph of science, engineering, and most of all, people,” says LLNL Director Dr. Kim Budil. “Crossing this threshold is the vision that has driven 60 years of dedicated pursuit — a continual process of learning, building, expanding knowledge and capability, and then finding ways to overcome the new challenges that emerged. These are the problems that the U.S. national laboratories were created to solve.”

The experiment consisted of physicists pointing 192 of the world’s most powerful lasers at a pencil eraser-sized fuel pellet wrapped in a diamond. The pellet, made up of deuterium and tritium (both isotopes of hydrogen), was blasted with 2.05 megajoules of energy and heated up to 3 million degrees Celsius for a fraction of a second. The heat vaporized the hydrogen nub and released a wave of neutron particles that produced 3 megajoules of energy.

This is the first time that scientists have been able to breach the dividing line of “ignition,” the point at which the amount of energy created equals the amount of energy required to start the reaction.

“You see one diagnostic and you think maybe that’s not real and then you start to see more and more diagnostics rolling in, pointing to the same thing,” says Annie Kritcher, a physicist at Livermore who reviewed the data immediately after the experiment. “It’s a great feeling.”

By breaking the ignition barrier, scientists have proved that reproducing the same energy that creates stars is possible and could eventually lead to a sustainable form of energy that doesn’t require harmful carbon dioxide or other polluting byproducts.

Of course, it could still be years before clean energy on is available on a mass scale. “Probably decades,” said Dr. Budil during the press conference. “Not six decades, I don’t think. I think not five decades, which is what we used to say. I think it’s moving into the foreground and probably, with concerted effort and investment, a few decades of research on the underlying technologies could put us in a position to build a power plant.”

To make nuclear fusion viable as a global energy source, scientists will have to develop more efficient lasers and better containment options. Current power plant designs can’t handle the kind of heat and energy created by nuclear fusion.

The December 5th breakthrough in nuclear fusion gives us hope that truly clean energy is in our planet’s future. “This is a great day,” said Energy Secretary Granholm, one that “will go down in the history books.”

The post New Breakthrough in Nuclear Fusion Could Lead to Limitless Clean Energy first appeared on Dornob.

“Humanity’s excessive production of material waste poses a critical environmental threat, and the problem is only escalating, especially in the past few decades with the rapid development of powerful electronic tools and persistent consumer desire to upgrade to the newest available technology,” the team, led by Professor Soekheun Choi, wrote in a paper published in the ASC Applied Materials and Interfaces journal.

“The poor disposability of electronics,” the researchers continue, “is especially an issue for the newly arising field of single-use devices and sensors, which are often used to evaluate human health and monitor environmental conditions, and for other novel applications. Though impressive in terms of function and convenience, usage of conventional electronic components in these applications would inflict an immense surge in waste and result in higher costs.”

Traditional circuit boards are manufactured from resin, glass fibers, and metal wiring, making them somewhat bulky and harder to recycle. That means that millions of single-use circuits in things like personal wearable devices, point-of-care medical devices, and environmental monitors simply get tossed in the trash every day.

In response to this issue, the team — assembled from the University’s Bioelectrics and Microsystems Laboratory in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering — turned to an exercise in “papertronics.” They created a single-use, amplifier-type electronic circuit board made from renewable and biodegradable materials like paper and wax.

The started by printing out electronic channels using wax onto a single sheet of filter paper. The wax was heated to 266 degrees Fahrenheit for two minutes so it could soak completely through the paper. The next step was to fill in all the areas not covered in wax with both semi-conductive and conductive ink. The team then screen-printed conductive metal components onto the paper before bonding the layers together with Thru-hole technology. Lastly, they cast a gel-based electrolyte at 140 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 minutes onto the sheet.

The tiny, flexible circuit board proved effective when it came to resistor, capacitor, and transistor functions. If left unused, it could biodegrade over time with minimal permanent waste left behind — but the team also demonstrated that the board could be completely disintegrated within seconds with just the smallest of flames. And because of the limited amount of materials required, producing these paper circuit boards would likely be very inexpensive, and easily scalable for mass production.

Professor Choi and his team are excited by the potential their creation has to curb e-waste on a global scale. As they explain: “All electronic components are paper-based and integrated on paper-based printed circuit boards (PCBs), innovatively providing a realistic and practical solution for green electronic platforms.”

The post Research Team Creates Paper Circuit Board to Curb E-Waste first appeared on Dornob.

Bose Frames Tenor ($249)

Take out the earbuds with these combination speaker and sunglasses. Packaged in a sleek, black frame with polarized lenses, the Tenor’s state-of-the-art Bose Bluetooth speaker allows wearers to enjoy the natural sounds of their environment while discreetly listening to music in crystal clear quality.

Loftie Smart Alarm Clock ($149)

More than just an alarm clock, this smart device is also a white noise machine and includes a Bluetooth speaker that can play guided meditations, soothing evening playlists, and sound baths. It’s everything that special someone in your life needs to get the perfect night’s sleep.

Moleskine Smart Writing System ($279)

Digital technology makes note-taking and journaling so easy to store, but studies show that writing by hand increases brain activity over typing on a tablet or smartphone. The perfect compromise? The Moleskine Smart Writing System, comprised of a smart Ncoded paper and Smart Pen that instantly uploads digital copies of all your hand-written notes.

eTape16 Digital Electronic Tape Measure ($39.99)

For all your handy friends, this electronic tape provides a digital readout for all measurements and can even remember them, eliminating the need for a pen and paper to write it all down.

Anker Nebula Solar Portable Mini Projector ($399.99)

This compact mini projector lets your friends take their TV and movie-watching fun on the road. The1080p projector has a battery that can last for three hours on a single charge. It also doubles as a Bluetooth speaker to provide a full wireless entertainment experience in one machine.

Ekster Parliament Leather Smart Wallet ($69)

If your loved one isn’t ready to go all in on digital finance yet, this smart wallet provides identity theft protection with its RFID coating. With just the push of a button, their desired card is pushed up for easy access at the checkout line. The stylish wallet can also be connected and tracked via smartphone, Amazon Alexa, or Google Assistant so it never stays lost for long. It can hold up to seven cards and is handily powered by sunlight.

MUSE 2: The Brain Sensing Headband ($249.99)

Help your loved ones achieve greater focus and clarity this year with a Muse 2 Brain Sensing Headband. It monitors your brain activity, heart rate, breathing, and body movement in real time. When it’s connected to the accompanying smartphone app, the Muse 2 provides over 500 guided meditations for improved emotional and mental health.

Hydrate Spark 3 ($69.99)

Help your family stay properly hydrated with this smart, BPA-free plastic water bottle. The bottom glows when its times to take a sip again. Users can connect the Hidrate Spark to their phones to track how much water they drink each day and to track it if ever goes missing.

Solawave Advanced Skincare Wand ($149)

Give the gift of beauty with this skin care wand that uses red light therapy and microcurrent waves to roll back the clock on fine lines, dark circles, and acne scars.

Birdfy Smart Bird Feeder ($249.99)

For your aviary-loving friends, this bird feeder cam can identify over 6,000 types of winged creatures. With 1080p resolution, a macro lens, and built-in zoom, your loved one will be capture unmatched views of all their favorite birds. It also has a voice feature to keep any annoying squirrels from stealing the food.

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn commissions at no cost to you.

The post Top 10 Tech Gifts to Get Your Loved Ones This Holiday Season first appeared on Dornob.

The 13-foot, tear-shaped electric motor boat can accommodate up to five adults in its jacuzzi seating and comes with a gas-powered, ambience-enhancing fireplace. It’s self-cleaning, self-heating, and can cruise for up to five hours on heavily regulated bodies of water.

With its electric engine, the Spacruzzi is a more eco-friendly watercraft option. “Unlike most power boats on the water, our all-electric propulsion and our patent protected electric and propane heating system do not put pollutants into the air or water,” Kanwetz said in a statement.

While it’s not designed to go far, it is simple to operate, and users can always swap out extra batteries for longer fun. “The boat will not travel more than four or four and a half miles per hour,” notes Kanwetz. “It’s about getting to a space, getting comfortable, and just sitting there. If you’ve never driven a boat, you’re an expert after about 30 seconds.”

The company, which manufactures all its Spacruzzis in its Nevada and Montana facilities, uses a patent-pending UV and saltwater filtration system to circulate and clean water throughout the boat, and an onboard gas fireplace to keep the soaking temperature perfectly pleasant. A ladder connected to the back of the fiberglass hull makes it easy to take a dip in the lake when passengers are ready to cool off.

The floating hot tub’s popularity has been explosive ever since its release. Speaking to a Lake Tahoe news outlet in June, Kanwetz said: “We expected to build a hundred boats this year.” But after a 41-day soft-site opening, the company had completely sold out.

“Since we launched, we’ve seen immediate growth in both our rental and direct-to-consumer sales ,and this is continuing to grow,” Kanwetz said in a separate statement. “As you begin to see more rental operations popping up, we expect the awareness of the product to grow on the national level as more people see that this isn’t just a novelty item, but an experience that can’t be matched on the water.”

At just 1,200 pounds, the Spacruzzi is relatively easy to transport. “We have customers putting these boats on a trailer, along with a generator, and taking them to auto races, concerts, you name it,” Kanwetz adds. The vessel’s onboard heater even converts the local lake into a year-round leisure option. “You’re in the lake, it’s snowing. It’s gentile. It’s a mind-blowing experience. It’s really, really cool.”

Spacruzzis sell for about $50,000 and can be ordered on the company website. They’re available for both rental fleet and individual owner options. Buyers can customize the decking, paint, metal, and wood finishes. Further add-ons include shade towers, floating drink caddies, underwater lights, and trailers. Just be ready to wait a little while for yours, since the company says the construction-to-delivery process can take up to 120 days.

The post Floating “Spacruzzi” Hot Tub Takes Luxury to the Lake first appeared on Dornob.

His complaint? “Apple has mostly stopped advertising on Twitter,” Musk wrote. “Do they hate free speech in America?” Musk then alleged that Apple threatened to remove Twitter from its App Store and criticized the company for charging fees to developers who create apps for its products.

Musk’s Supposed Free Speech Crusade

Going so far as to claim that the “future of civilization” was at stake, Musk theorized that Apple might ban the Twitter app in response to his new content moderation policies. A self-described free speech absolutist, Musk first said he would set up a “content moderation council” with diverse viewpoints to manage decisions like whether or not to ban users who posted hate speech.

He then changed his mind, offering to reinstate formerly banned users like ex-President Donald Trump and neo-Nazi Andrew Anglin. He also reinstated Kanye West (now known simply as Ye) only to ban him again days later for posting a Star of David with a swastika inside of it.

Musk is receiving support from several conservative and alt-right figures for his decisions, especially since publicly aligning himself with the GOP. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis piped in with comments in support of Musk during a press conference, saying any attempt to remove Twitter from the Apple App Store would be a “huge mistake” that would “merit a response from the United States Congress.” Senator-elect J.D. Vance of Ohio also weighed in, tweeting that “no civilized country should allow” Apple to remove Twitter from its App Store.

Apple’s (Non) Response

Thus far, the conflict has been pretty one-sided. Apple hasn’t publicly responded to Musk’s accusations. Data from Pathmatics, a research firm that tracks digital marketing spending, found that although Apple had cut back on its Twitter ad spending since the summer, it was still paying the company about $1 million per month.

The Twitter app has remained available for all iOS devices, but both Apple and Google have stringent policies against misinformation, hate speech, and other misconduct, having previously booted apps like Parler for breaking them.

On November 30th, Musk tweeted that his war against Apple was over, at least for now. “Good conversation,” he wrote in reference to a meeting with Cook. “Among other things, we resolved the misunderstanding about Twitter potentially being removed from the App Store. Tim was clear that Apple never considered doing so.”

How Musk’s Behavior Could Affect Twitter in the Future

Musk’s choices about content moderation on Twitter have thus far complied with U.S. laws. However, the laws are a little different in the European Union, and last month a senior EU official warned Musk that Twitter would have to improve its efforts to combat hate speech and misinformation in order to avoid massive fines.

Thierry Breton, the EU’s Commissioner for Digital Policy, said that Musk agreed to comply with the rules during a video call, adding that: “Twitter will have to implement transparent user policies, significantly reinforce content moderation and protect freedom of speech, tackle disinformation with resolve, and limit targeted advertising.”

Musk’s tweets about Apple follow an erratic stream of conspiracy theories, threats, and complaints posted in the wake of his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter, finalized on October 27th. They include a since-deleted post containing baseless anti-LGBTQ theories about the attack on Paul Pelosi, and threats of a “thermonuclear name and shame” offensive against companies that have paused advertisements on the platform.

Meanwhile, the number of tweets containing hate speech and racial epithets has soared since Musk took over and fired much of Twitter’s staff, according to a report by the Center for Countering Digital Hate.

The post Elon Musk’s Beef with Apple is Just Making Him Look Worse first appeared on Dornob.

As it turns out, that solution may be closer than we think. Researchers at Northeastern University recently developed a new prototype device to address pain relief, no pharmaceuticals needed.

Soft, flexible, and completely dissolvable once implanted under a patient’s skin, the device essentially wraps itself around the nerves responsible for sending pain signals to the brain. Since it works somewhat like an absorbable stitch, there’s no need to surgically remove it after it’s done its job.

The device’s sophisticated construction allows patients to control it remotely, intensifying or reducing the pain-relieving “cooling” effect as needed. This effect is facilitated by small tubes embedded into the material that hold the cooling liquid, which in turn targets peripheral nerves (nerves that connect your brain and spinal cord to the rest of your body) in the effected area. Study co-author Matthew MacEwan of St Louis’ Washington University School of Medicine explains: “By delivering a cooling effect to just one or two targeted nerves, we can effectively modulate pain signals in one specific region of the body.”

While similar cooling technologies have been tested in the past, what sets this device apart is its potential to be controlled with pinpoint precision. Other cooling therapies, such as liquid injection with a needle, could potentially lead to problems like blocking the wrong nerve, which could negatively impair a patient’s motor function in the process. “The duration and temperature of the cooling must therefore be controlled precisely,” says the leader of the device’s development, John A. Rogers of Northwestern University’s McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science. “Excessive cooling can damage the nerve and the fragile tissue around it.”

While the implantable prototype is still in early stages of development, there is hope that it could one day be effective enough to replace the need for highly addictive opioids. For those experiencing chronic pain, the prospect of replacing drugs with an equally effective method of pain relief is a life-changing one. Rogers adds: “As engineers, we are motivated by the idea of treating pain without drugs — in ways that can be turned on and off instantly, with user control over the intensity of relief.” A lofty goal, but one that’s officially on the medical horizon, and all from a simple stretchy strip.

The post Is This Thin, Stretchy Device the Answer to the Opioid Crisis? first appeared on Dornob.

In her new book The Sounds of Life: How Digital Technology is Bringing Us Closer to the Worlds of Animals and Plants, University of British Columbia professor Karen Bakker outlines some of the most ground-breaking experiments in animal and plant communication.

“Digital technologies, so often associated with our alienation from nature, are offering us an opportunity to listen to nonhumans in powerful ways, reviving our connection to the natural world,” writes Bakker, a director at the UBC Institute for Resources, Environment, and Sustainability.

She points out that digital listening posts are now being used to continuously record the sounds of ecosystems around the planet, from rainforests to the bottom of the ocean. Developments in miniaturization have even enabled scientists to place microphones on tiny animals like honeybees.

“Combined, these digital devices function like a planetary-scale hearing aid: enabling humans to observe and study nature’s sounds beyond the limits of our sensory capabilities,” Bakker writes. The next step for many scientists is harnessing the power of artificial intelligence to sift through these sounds and enable robots to “speak animal languages and essentially breach the barrier of interspecies communication.”

She cites a team of researchers in Germany that have taught tiny robots how to do the honeybee waggle dance. Using these dancing machines, the scientists were able to command the honeybees to stop moving, and to communicate where to fly to collect a specific nectar. The researchers plan to experiment with implanting robots into the hives so that the honeybees accept them as members of their community.

Bakker also writes about bioacoustics scientist Katie Payne and her discoveries regarding elephant communication. Payne was the first to find that elephants make infrasound signals, sounds below the human hearing range. The vibrations of these signals allow elephants to send messages across long distances through soil and stones. Scientists have since found that elephants have different signals for “honeybee” and “human,” as well as distinguishable signals for “threatening human” versus “nonthreatening human.” If the power of AI could be harnessed to send messages to elephant herds, we might be able to help protect their dwindling populations without removing them from their natural habitats.

Coral reefs also get attention in Bakker’s book. “A healthy coral reef sounds a little bit like an underwater symphony,” she explains. “There are cracks and burbles and hisses and clicks from the reef and its inhabitants and even whales dozens of miles away. If you could hear in the ultrasonic, you might hear the coral itself.” With the use of AI, scientists might eventually be able to get coral to repopulate certain areas by broadcasting “healthy coral reef” sounds to coral larvae.

While the idea of someday having “a zoological version of Google Translate” sounds overwhelmingly positive, there is the fear is that unscrupulous humans might use the technology to control animal populations for their own gain. Bakker warns that the possibility of exploiting animals “raises a lot of alarm bells” and that our “newfound powers” should never be used “to assert our domination over animals and plants.”

The post New AI Tech Allows Humans to Talk to Animals first appeared on Dornob.

Semi-Solid State Batteries

The SuperBase V claims to be the first home energy storage system using semi-solid state batteries. Offering 228 Watt hours per kilogram (Wh/kg), they provide up to 42 percent more energy per pound than a traditional lithium-iron phosphate battery. Zendure says that customers who use their battery management software can expect the SuperBase V internal battery to last for at least 10 years.

“Semi-solid state batteries also pose less of a safety risk if damaged, which is critical for home energy management,” the company says. “The extra capacity is ideal for long-term outages.”

Stackable Power

The SuperBase V can be scaled for several different power needs. A single unit can provide up to 3,800 watts (W) of power, while two connected units can supply up to 7,600 W. That amount is enough to power a typical washer, dryer, heater, and refrigerator at one time. For maximum wattage, two SuperBase V units can be stacked with four Satellite Batteries each for a total capacity of 64 kilowatts (kWH).

Power Your Home for a Week

With the maximum battery configuration, the SuperBase V has enough juice to power a typical household for a week or more. This means you never need to fear a power outage, since the SuperBase V will automatically kick on in the event of a power grid failure. You can also use Zendure’s “Time of Use” app to monitor, manage, and customize your energy usage and save money on normal energy bills.

If a natural disaster ever strikes your area, you’ll still have enough power to get you through the worst of it. Alternatively, if you’re simply ready to go off-grid, you can hook up the SuperBase V to a solar panel system and figuratively cut the cord to your power company.

Untethered RV Life

The Zendure Satellite Battery also boasts an Anderson port to meet any RV and camper electrical needs. Through the XT90 port, the modules can also glean up to 600W of solar power. For those looking to truly get some peace and quiet in remote areas, the SuperBase V TT-30 port can provide up to 30 amps to 120V camper or RV appliances.

Charge EVs on the Go

With its 2 EV outlets and up to 12,000W of power distribution, the SuperBase V can charge two electric vehicles quickly and at the same time, so you’ll never have a dead car battery in the event of emergencies. In addition to powering up your cars at home, Zendure’s plug-and-play system can recharge your EV on the go and in between charging stations, extending your driving range indefinitely.

Smart Virtual Assistance Interface

For added ease of use, the SuperBase V can interface with smart home assistants like Alexa and Google, allowing customers to turn it on or perform other functions with voice commands.

Zendure’s Kickstarter campaign blew way past its initial goal of $10,000, attracting over a thousand backers and over $5.3 million in pledges. The basic SuperBase V model is currently going for $2,699 and is expected to start shipping in December 2022.

The post Kickstarter Campaign for First Plug-and-Play Home Energy Storage System Garners Over $5 Million first appeared on Dornob.

The robot’s self-led evolution is part of what makes it so fascinating. It isn’t improving its speed and dexterity thanks to new lines of code in its programming or some kind of robot bootcamp. It’s learning on its own by running through facilities full of obstacles that mimic conditions in the real world.

A lot of robot developers train their creations to navigate rough terrain by essentially running them at full capacity at all times, anticipating the most challenging obstacles like ice on a path. But that makes the robot inefficient, and keeps it from learning through experience. MIT puts the Mini Cheetah and other robots through physical agility courses, but they’ve also found a much faster way to get the results they want: through artificial intelligence.

The Mini Cheetah robot project is led by researchers from the Institute of AI and Fundamental Interactions (IAIFI) and MIT’s Improbable AI Lab, which is part of the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) directed by MIT Assistant Professor Pulkit Agrawal. MIT PhD student Gabriel Margolas and IAIFI postdoc Ge Yang explained the process in an interview with MIT.

“Programming how a robot should act in every possible situation is simply very hard,” Margolas and Yang explain. “The process is tedious, because if a robot were to fail on a particular terrain, a human engineer would need to identify the cause and failure and manually adapt the robot controller, and this process can require substantial human time. Learning by trial and error removes the need for a human to specify precisely how the robot should behave in every situation. This would work if (1) the robot can experience an extremely wide range of terrains; and (2) the robot can automatically improve its behavior with experience.”

“Thanks to modern simulation tools, our robot can accumulate 100 days worth of experience on diverse terrains in just three hours of actual time. We developed an approach by which the robot’s behavior improves from simulated experience, and our approach critically also enables the successful deployment of those learned behaviors in the real world.”

The Mini Cheetah features a mechanically robust design that lets it survive accidents and high-impact falls. It’s powered by high-torque actuators that allow for omnidirectional movement with different gaits depending on the terrain: trotting, pacing, bounding, and something called “pronking,” a behavior seen in animals like gazelles that involves springing into the air and lifting all four feet off the ground simultaneously.

This is what allows the Mini Cheetah to do a 360-degree backflip, which it was able to do before it could even walk. The cheetah has also learned how to turn at high speeds and run with a disabled leg. To understand just how agile the Mini Cheetah really is, you have to see it in action. Check out this video from MIT CSAIL showing the robot’s latest evolution.

The post MIT’s Frighteningly Fast Robot Cheetah Uses AI to Break Speed Records first appeared on Dornob.

“We’ve made huge strides with silicon computing, but they’re still rigid and inflexible,” says Brett Kagan, an author of the study published in Neuron and Chief Scientific Officer at Cortical Labs in Melbourne, Australia. “That’s something we don’t see with biology.”

“From worms to flies to humans, neurons are the starting block for generalized intelligence,” he adds. “So, the question was, can we interact with neurons in a way to harness that inherent intelligence?…We chose Pong due to its simplicity and familiarity, but [also because] it was one of the first games used in machine learning, so we wanted to recognize that.”

Kagan and his team of researchers from 10 other institutions decided to explore that query by seeing how brain cells would react when taught to play a video game.

To achieve their goal, the researchers took material from adult stem cells and grew a layer of 800,000 living neurons on a silicon chip at the bottom of a nutrient-filled petri dish. The chip was connected to a computer, with the ability to detect and send electrical signals to the neurons. The team then booted up a game of Pong, sending electrical impulses to the living sample to indicate the position of the bouncing ball. The computer monitored electrical activity from the cells to see what they did with the new information.

At first, they didn’t do much — until the researchers gave the brain cells some motivation to learn to play. Every time the brain cells sent electrical signals to move the paddle to where the ball would be, scientists gave the cells a gift in the form of a beautifully organized burst of electrical activity. If the cells incorrectly predicted the position, they would instead receive a stream of chaotic white noise.

“If they hit the ball, we gave them something predictable,” Kagan says. “When they missed it, they got something that was totally unpredictable.”

This reward and punishment strategy was based on the Free Energy Principle that says brain cells always want to be able to predict their environment, leading them to seek out organized electrical signals over chaotic ones.

Eventually the petri dish cells learned to formulate electrical patterns that moved the paddle in front of the ball, gradually resulting in longer rallies. While the cells never got very good at playing, they still predicted the correct position significantly more often than just random simulations, an exciting achievement considering that the petri dish contained fewer brain cells than a cockroach.

“If you could see a cockroach playing a game of Pong and it was able to hit the ball twice as often as it was missing it, you would be pretty impressed with that cockroach,” Kagan says. The research team hopes that this experiment will lead to breakthroughs in understanding how the brain works, with possible biocomputing implications.

Study co-author Karl Friston, a theoretical neuroscientist and professor at University College London, says: “We now have, in principle, the ultimate biomimetic ‘sandbox’ in which to test the effects of drugs and genetic variants — a sandbox constituted by exactly the same computing (neuronal) elements found in your brain and mine.”

The post These Lab-Grown Brain Cells Just Learned How to Play Pong first appeared on Dornob.

The only way to prevent package theft is to make sure your deliveries are secured from the moment they arrive. If you’re fed up with porch pirates and have some cash to spare, the new Aristos Home Smart Dropbox is well worth considering. Currently crowdfunding on Kickstarter, the device is about the size of a trash can, securely mounts to the ground or the wall, and comes with extra features that make it more secure than the average drop box.

Aristos’ creators explain that over 210 million packages were stolen between 2020 and 2021, and that 64% of Americans reported being victims of package theft during this time. The problem is that most residential package drop boxes and lockers only deter the most casual of thieves — they either rely on keeping deliveries out of sight as thieves are cruising by, or they use simple padlocks that are all too easy to cut. Like most drop boxes, the Aristos keeps packages dry and protected, and it offers an anti-theft delivery slot that stops hands from going in the unit. But it also goes a lot further than that.

Made of strong metal and weighing nearly 40 pounds, the Aristos has an internal capacity of 75 liters and offers four methods of unlocking: by key, by fixed numeric pass code, by a one-time-use passcode texted to the carrier, or by remote unlock. Most people would likely use the fixed passcode to retrieve their packages, with the key as a backup option in case the unit lost power for some reason. But the remote unlock and one-time-passcode features allow you to leave returns on your porch for pickup, or enable the delivery of packages that are slightly too big to fit in the delivery slot.

The Aristos Home Smart Dropbox records every “event” and notifies you via an app, so you know if packages have been delivered, if someone has accessed the contents, if the batteries are low, and if there are any attempts to tamper with the box. If the door isn’t properly closed after retrieval or the wrong password is input, the box sounds an alarm and notifies all family members using the app. Each device can share up to 50 accounts. The Aristos uses the Tuya Smart platform, which also connects to a variety of smart cameras, doorbells, and locks (sold separately by other manufacturers).

If you’re concerned about any viruses or bacteria your package may have come into contact with on its journey, the Aristos also has a solution for that. An atomizer at the top of the unit disinfects packages with hypochlorous acid water in tiny particles that won’t harm the packaging or contents. The unit itself is made of shock-resistant commercial quality cold-rolled steel and ABS plastic that’s one-millimeter thick to protect contents from extreme weather conditions, from -13 degrees to 130 degrees Fahrenheit. It fixes to the ground or wall with M8 screws.

With an MSRP of $478, the Aristos costs about the same as the Delivery Safe ($449), another popular lockable delivery box option with similar features that’s specially designed for food deliveries. It’s significantly less than the Box Sentinel, which is considered the gold standard drop box but costs a whopping $1,895 for a through-the-wall model and $2,995 for a standalone cabinet model.

Obviously, if you’re on a budget, none of these options are going to be particularly appealing unless you’re regularly ordering high-value packages and risking a lot of theft. For many people, the combination of a security camera and something like the Durabox Package Drop Box will have to do. But if you catch the Kickstarter, you can get the Aristos for up to 67 percent off at just $159 with an Early Bird pledge.

The post Aristos Home Smart Dropbox Protects Your Packages from Porch Pirates first appeared on Dornob.

The wires-out bot was able to walk around on the stage, wave, and even “raise the roof.” Although this was “literally the first time the robot [had] operated without a tether,” in theory, Optimus — also known as Tesla bot — will be able to lift enormous loads and traverse tricky terrain. It uses “essentially the same self-driving car computer” that controls Tesla’s electric cars and is outfitted with a host of video feeds to direct its movements.

During the presentation, Tesla engineers explained that proprietary actuators, which act as muscles for the humanoid bot, could allow it to lift objects many times its weight. The adaptive robotic hands will also be able to independently move their fingers and manipulate a wide range of objects.

While the robot didn’t show off many skills on stage, the presentation featured video of a tethered Optimus walking around Tesla HQ delivering boxes to desks and watering office plants.

After debuting the “Bumble C” prototype, as he called it, Musk explained that his team had already moved on to developing the next model, which he plans to put into production. Three Tesla engineers then brought the sleeker version to the stage, where it waved but could not walk.

Musk first introduced the concept of his Optimus robot at last year’s AI Day, but without a shred of physical work to show, he presented a dancer dressed in Tesla bot spandex instead. Since then, the company has been hard at work on the new prototype. The production model bot features customized Tesla actuators and is getting a special battery that can hopefully allow it to work for a full day on a single charge.

“There’s still a lot of work to be done to refine Optimus and prove it,” Musk said, adding, “I think Optimus is going to be incredible in five or 10 years, like mind blowing.”

“We are trying to follow the goal of fastest path to a useful robot that can be made at volume,” he added, estimating that the Tesla bot could be commercially available within three to five years. Musk also posited that when manufactured en masse, the cost should be much less than that of a car. “I would say probably less than $20,000 would be my guess.”

He envisions Optimus robots eventually creating an army of productivity. “This means a future of abundance, a future where there is no poverty, where people, you can have whatever you want, in terms of products and services. It really is a fundamental transformation of civilization as we know it,” he said with his characteristically dramatic flair.

Musk also believes that this type of cutting-edge AI should be for everyone, not just the private sector. “It’s very important that the corporate entity that makes this happen is something that the public can properly influence,” he said. “So I think the Tesla structure is ideal for that.”

And although the Optimus robot is a bit of a departure from Tesla’s long-standing mission to “accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy,” Musk defended his humanoid helper by saying: “I think the mission does somewhat broaden with the advent of Optimus to — you know, I don’t know: making the future awesome.”

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In July the H-E-B Grocery Company, which operates over 300 stores in Texas and 50 in Northern Mexico, installed “Fast Scan” technology checkout machines in its Schertz, Texas stores, prompting curious customers to post on Twitter and TikTok.

“All you have to do is run your basket through and the machine (is) going to scan everything inside the basket and pay the amount on the receipt,” explains H-E-B shopper Christoken Johnson.

The store confirmed its experimentation with automated checkout, explaining: “At H-E-B, we continue to evaluate and utilize innovative technologies in all parts of our business. This checkout option is part of a limited pilot program we’re currently testing internally with our partners.”

H-E-B is certainly not the first grocery store to foray into the world of cashier-less checkout, but it does represent just how widespread the technology has become, and how popular the “frictionless shopping” experience is these days.

Amazon was one of the first innovators of such technology, opening their “just walk out” Amazon Go grocery shops in 2021. Customers in any of the more than 50 locations can choose the automated checkout option when they walk in simply by scanning a QR code in the Amazon app and inserting a linked credit or debit card. As they shop, cameras and pressure sensors on shelves identify the customers’ selections. As they leave the store, the system automatically bills their card for their purchases, and a digital receipt is sent to their phone or email.

Similar modernizations are also happening in other parts of the world. Trigo, an Israeli tech company, has created a system very close to the Amazon Go model, with ceiling-mounted cameras that use proprietary algorithms to track shopper’s movements and product choices. The company’s tech is already operational in grocery stores in Great Britain, Germany, the Netherlands, the U.S., and Israel.

One standout feature of Trigo’s system is that it can be incorporated into existing grocery stores, where Amazon has to build stores from the ground up to compete. “Physical retail is the one space where traditional businesses can take on Amazon and win. The chains we’re working with have thousands of existing stores, Amazon has to build new stores,” says Michael Gabay, who co-founded Trigo with his brother Daniel in 2018.

Critics of these automated checkout rollouts worry that they’ll eliminate jobs by cutting out the need for cashiers. There are roughly 8,650,000 grocery cashiers in the U.S. today, most without college degrees and predominately coming from minority backgrounds. If their jobs disappear, an entire field of entry-level work would be eliminated.

Stores argue that the jobs will still exist, but in different forms. For instance, the digital checkout systems require that all products be physically placed in the exact right place for the cameras to capture and scan them. Inventories still need to be restocked manually as well.

What definitely can’t be replaced is the human interaction of having a cashier check out your cart. But in today’s post-COVID world, it’s hard to tell how many people would actually mourn that loss.

The post Texas Grocery Store Joins “Frictionless Shopping” Trend with Automated Checkout first appeared on Dornob.

In conventional batteries, there’s a positive electric terminal at one end and a negative terminal at the other, with either lead or lithium in between as the liquid, paste, or gel electrolyte substance that propels ions back and forth to generate electricity. Scientists and engineers at the University of Maryland found a way to replace that lead and lithium with chitosan, a polysaccharide sugar that gives the outer skeletons of shellfish their strength and flexibility. Even better, that chitosan can be sourced from materials that are usually thrown away as a byproduct of the food industry. The researchers published their discovery this month in the journal Matter.

“The most abundant source of chitosan is the exoskeletons of crustaceans, including crabs, shrimps, and lobsters, which can be easily obtained from seafood waste,” said lead author and Materials Science and Engineering Professor Liangbing Hu, director of UMD’s Center for Materials Innovation. “You can find it on your table.”

Chitosan can be synthesized into a firm gel membrane with the addition of acetic acid aqueous solution, combined with zinc, and then used as an electrolyte for a battery. Zinc is an abundant naturally occurring metal found in more than 50 countries around the world. It’s used to make batteries safer, and it’s recyclable. That means the major components of the batteries are cheap and readily available, a crucial consideration when so many so-called “sustainable” innovations require the mining of rare minerals.

“Zinc is more abundant in Earth’s crust than lithium,” notes Hu. “Generally speaking, well-developed zinc batteries are cheaper and safer.”

The UMD researchers found that their chitosan-based battery is 99.7-percent energy efficient even after 1,000 battery cycles (about 400 hours of use). That means they can be quickly charged and discharged without affecting their performance. They’re also not flammable, and two-thirds of their composition can break down in the soil within a mere five months, leaving the zinc behind to be recycled. The next step will involve testing the batteries on a larger scale and under commercial use conditions. If successful, these biodegradable batteries could be used in tandem with solar panels, wind farms, hydropower, and other green energy solutions.

“In the future, I hope all components in batteries are biodegradable,” said Hu. “Not only the material itself but also the fabrication process of biomaterials.”

The post Discarded Crab and Lobster Shells Fuel a New Biodegradable Battery first appeared on Dornob.

What is eSIM?

A SIM card (which stands for Subscriber Identity Module or Subscriber Identification Module) is the little polygon-shaped piece of plastic that you stick inside every new phone that carries your unique identification number, stores your data, and allows your phone to connect to your network carrier. eSIMs provide all that functionality electronically, without the need for a physical card. They have been around since 2016 but have only started getting widespread support over the past few years. The U.S. version of Apple’s iPhone 14, released in the middle of September, no longer has a slot for inserting a SIM card. Instead, the phones will run entirely off eSIMs.

eSIM Pros

Multiple Lines

While many phones already provide dual SIM trays to access more than one phone number or data line on a single phone, eSIM cards make this even easier. For iPhones, Apple supports up to two phone numbers simultaneously and up to eight data lines. This could be helpful if you don’t want to carry around both a work and a personal phone, or if you go through data quickly and want to have extra lines at the ready.

More Secure

With an eSIM, no one can remove your card to hijack your phone and intercept phone calls or text messages. If your phone gets stolen, it’s also easier to turn off the eSIM, or use it to help locate your phone.

Easier to Switch Carriers

You no longer have to go to a store to pick up a physical SIM card or wait for one in the mail. Theoretically, eSIMs make it faster to set up your new phone or switch to a different carrier. However, there is a school of thought that says carriers may erect their own barriers to make it harder to automatically switch, like charging an activation fee every time you add a line.

Easier, Cheaper Travel Coverage

Frequent travelers might benefit from having multiple eSIM numbers as one can be for their home coverage, and the other can be reserved for the places they visit. These second lines can be preloaded with data before you travel, saving you tons on in-country data charges.

More Space and Less Cost

Although a minor advantage, the lack of a SIM card slot frees up a tiny bit of extra room for Apple to pack other technology into the iPhone. And carriers will no longer need to spend $10 to $20 on the physical SIM cards, so those savings might get passed onto the customer, too.

eSIM Cons

Not Supported by All Carriers

Experts estimate that only about 60 percent of all major carriers worldwide support eSIM technology. However, this may not be super notable, as those that do offer eSIM coverage provide for 85 percent of all phone subscribers. Still, if you belong to one of the other networks, you won’t be able to buy the latest iPhone in the U.S. However, you could try shipping one from Canada, since their iPhone 14 version does include physical SIM cards.

Not as Easy to Switch Between Phones

If your phone breaks or needs to go in for repair with a traditional SIM card, you can simply take out the chip and insert it into any other phone so you never lose connection. However, if your phone malfunctions with eSIM, you cannot immediately plug it into another device, and you’ll likely have to wait until it gets fixed or you get a new one.

Harder to Operate Burner Phones

If you’re concerned about your movements being tracked via your smartphone, an eSIM might be a problem. It can’t be removed and therefore your phone can always be located.

Whether an eSIM-only phone turns out to be the way of the future or not will depend on how functional it is and if other major carriers get on board quickly. Be sure to check back with us for more updates soon.

The post Apple Looks to Ditch Physical SIM Cards with iPhone 14 first appeared on Dornob.

Currently, the experimental Red Rail train is just a half-mile test track on steel poles with a two-carriage train carrying passengers between elevated platforms. Once the tests are complete, the government plans to extend the trail to 4.7 miles and boost speeds up to 120 km/h (75 mph). The train will offer commuters an incredibly smooth and quiet ride from stop to stop, lifting them above the gridlock on the streets below and operating even during power outages that otherwise grind the province to a halt.

Maglev technology isn’t new. It was first conceptualized way back in 1904 by rocket scientist Robert Goddard, who was just a freshman college student at the time. In 1910, French engineer Emile Bachelet applied for a patent for a rail car running on alternating-current electromagnets, and in 1935, German engineer Hermann Klemper proved that levitation without a power source is possible. It took until 1972 for the first maglev train to be built (in Germany, as an experiment) while Japan tested its electrodynamic (repulsion) magnetic train system in the same decade. In 1984, the maglev system was finally available to the public for commercial use, but it never quite took off on a large scale.

Maglev technology is sustainable, and it works — so why isn’t it more common? It partially comes down to cost and material availability. Most maglev trains use electromagnets, which require a significant amount of electricity to levitate. Permanent magnets, on the other hand, create a constant repelling force to hold the train aloft, saving at least 31 percent of the energy usually required to suspend the trains using electromagnetic levitation technology.

The rare earth elements required to make permanent magnets aren’t exactly easy to come by, and about 40 percent of the world’s known reserves are located in China (with the second-highest concentration in Vietnam). Six state-run Chinese companies produced 85 percent of the world’s refined rare earth elements in 2020. That means this impressive breakthrough will likely remain in China only, at least for the foreseeable future. As of 2022, the United States has no maglev trains at all, mostly due to a lack of federal funding. Other countries, including Japan and Germany, are currently working on more conventional electromagnetic maglev networks, but remain hampered by the high cost of construction.

“The permanent magnet maglev train offers personalized and intelligent transport, which can complement subways and light rail,” Long told China’s state-run publication PLA Daily. “In the future, it will also help to create a new engine for the high-end equipment industry and give China a new advantage in leading the world on rail transit.”

The post China’s Incredible Sky Train Silently Soars on the Power of Magnets first appeared on Dornob.