Topic: Holy Crap! *New Tech/Gadget Thread*

[BlackNMild2k1]

It's not like the bullets are tagged with GPS markers or everyone is firing colored lasers based on their affiliation (was it a red laser or a blue laser, because blue lasers are the good guys), so I wouldn't expect it to tell the difference of who fired what gun.

Unless you expected it to tell you what kind of gun was fired based on sound, but even then that's not always gonna distinguish between enemy or friendly fire either.

[MaryJane]

I wasn't expecting it to do anything... I only found out about it yesterday.

This technology is effective, because in a fire fight you usually know where your friends are so when you get the info from this bullet radar, you can tell which are friendly and which are enemies. That is on top of being effective for locating snipers. I'm not hating on it at all. I'm just saying that it doesn't tell you where your enemy is, it tells you where a bullet has been fired from. Frodo's post left out that out, and I thought it should be mentioned.

[BlackNMild2k1]

Possible battery break thru

Rapid Recharge and Discharge
90% recharge in 2 minutes, minimal capacity loss
http://www.nature.com/nnano/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nnano.2011.38.html

I don't fully understand the article, so I don't know if this is to be used for small things like portable devices or large things like electric motors or maybe both.


I wonder if this is something that will be cheap enough for a 3DSi by Xmas next year.

[NWR_insanolord]

Considering Nintendo cheaped out on the battery in the 3DS even compared to battery tech we have now, I wouldn't bet on that.

[MaryJane]

A few cool things I've seen on Engadget recently:

Satellite tracks ballistic missile from launch to detonation: first (and probably most important) step for missile defense system.
http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/25/us-satellites-successfully-track-ballistic-missile-from-cradle-t/

Microsoft is building a 'smart city' in Portugal by having smart sensors installed in new buildings as they being built.
http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/25/microsoft-unites-with-former-exec-in-building-a-smart-city-in/

NASA's next spacecraft looks like the original orbital vehicles, but can carry a crew of four out into to the solar system.
http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/24/lockheed-martin-shows-off-orion-spacecraft-new-underground-lair/

[ThePerm]

haha, good job NASA you know..because the old designs actually worked.

[BlackNMild2k1]

UncleBob's often teased but never revealed 3DS battery saver tech is now obsolete
You will soon be able to recharge your 3DS using your own heartbeat
http://theweek.com/article/index/213691/charging-your-3DS-with-your-heartbeat

[ThePerm]

couldn't you combine that with watch winding technology?

[MegaByte]

Just FYI, their prototype runs 0.001mA at 3V. The 3DS charger runs 900mA at 4.6V (though running the 3DS itself would be a little less). i.e. 0.000003W vs. 4.1W, so there's a long way to go (or a very long time to charge).

[MaryJane]

http://www.engadget.com/2011/04/10/us-navys-solid-state-laser-sets-boat-ablaze-video/

[Stogi]

Yeah I saw that, and it's really not that impressive. A ballistic weapon would have sunk that **** in seconds.

[NWR_insanolord]

True, but it's a lot easier to defend against ballistic weapons than against one of those.

[MaryJane]

Yes, and this is still the early model, they don't even consider this weapon's grade yet.

[MaryJane]

This left me impressed and happy for progress:
http://www.engadget.com/2011/04/17/students-use-wii-balance-board-for-kids-physical-therapy-system/
qfta:

Nintendo's kid-tested, researcher-approved Wii Balance Board has struck at the heart of the medical supply industry yet again -- this time, the Bluetooth-connected scale is being used to help physically challenged children at Shriners Hospital in Houston. Seniors at Rice University hand-machined a set of force-sensitive parallel bars and programmed a monster-shooting game called Equilibrium to get kids excited about improving their walking gait, where they can play and score points with each proper step they take. The game automatically ratchets up the difficulty as patients improve, and handrails will play a part too, with a custom three-axis sensor box able to detect how much patients rely on the parallel bars (and dock points accordingly) in an effort to improve their posture.

Pretty cool/inspirational video at the link as well.




This left me speechless:
http://www.engadget.com/2011/04/17/portable-brain-tumor-treatment-system-kills-cancer-while-you-tak/

qfta:

A recent test of the system showed comparable results to chemotherapy, without the usual lineup of side effects, including nausea, anemia, fatigue, and infection. Given, patients using the system are expected to wear the thing continuously, but we'd say walking around with a cap full of electrodes is a small price to pay for giving cancer the boot.

Wow!

[Ceric]

That is cool.

[Stogi]

I wonder how long it'll take us before that device is in our bodies.

[MaryJane]

I wonder how long it'll take us before that device is in our bodies.

My thoughts exactly.

On an unrelated note:

http://www.engadget.com/2011/04/18/first-light-wave-quantum-teleportation-achieved-opens-door-to-u/

Mark this day, folks, because the brainiacs have finally made a breakthrough in quantum teleportation: a team of scientists from Australia and Japan have successfully transferred a complex set of quantum data in light form. You see, previously researchers had struggled with slow performance or loss of information, but with full transmission integrity achieved -- as in blocks of qubits being destroyed in one place but instantaneously resurrected in another, without affecting their superpositions -- we're now one huge step closer to secure, high-speed quantum communication. Needless to say, this will also be a big boost for the development of powerful quantum computing, and combine that with a more bedroom friendly version of the above teleporter, we'll eventually have ourselves the best LAN party ever.

The transfer of information as light! Now, I am of the belief that there is a part of living human being that cannot be transferred as information (or at least information as we know it today) but this could pave the way for the teleportation of goods. For the people who don't have 3D printers by the time this is commercially available, teleportation hubs could replace the post office, as a building for picking up packages.

[BlackNMild2k1]

Amazon is gonna become even more amazing with their Super Saver Instant Delivery option

[Stogi]

This isn't talking about teleportation in the conventional sense. This is talking about data transfer, specifically, data transfer using light. They were able to have particles basically "ride" light waves and then become reassembled again in their exact positions.

What you should be getting excited about is super, and I mean super, fast computers based on light. The fastest chip we have now will look like a piece of **** on a board compared to these. They will also be cheaper...much cheaper in the long run and much more efficient too.

[Ceric]

This isn't talking about teleportation in the conventional sense. This is talking about data transfer, specifically, data transfer using light. They were able to have particles basically "ride" light waves and then become reassembled again in their exact positions.

What you should be getting excited about is super, and I mean super, fast computers based on light. The fastest chip we have now will look like a piece of **** on a board compared to these. They will also be cheaper...much cheaper in the long run and much more efficient too.

But if anything the PC industry is very resistant to base changes.  The x86 architecture is a relic that should have been replaced.  Why do we even have PS2 anymore?

[Stogi]

Because it works.

[Ceric]

Because it works.

Yep even though there are architecture and like that are much faster.  I mean Intel wasn't going to take x86 to 64 their original roadmap had everyone moving to IA64 but AMD extended it and people liked it so they went along.

[MaryJane]

Everything can be represented as data though. If a computer monitor could have its particles broken down, transferred as light, and then reassembled at another location. It would take some doing, like nanobots at each location that interpret the data and disassemble/reassemble the product, but this is certainly the start of that.

[Ceric]

Everything can be represented as data though. If a computer monitor could have its particles broken down, transferred as light, and then reassembled at another location. It would take some doing, like nanobots at each location that interpret the data and disassemble/reassemble the product, but this is certainly the start of that.

Agree.  I'm personally thinking of a beam assembly tech.  There is a famous sci-fi short story that talks about this.  It is in the vain of a Cold Equation.  I had it in one of my collections somewhere.  Pretty much dinosaurs didn't actually go extinct.  They had developed teleportation  technology and moved to a different planet.  Now humans had access to the technology from a dino ran facility.  In the facility there was only 1 permanent human resident and that was the ambassador.  His job was to push the button after transfer had been verified.  The whole process was very painful but most people didn't know that because you where remade on the other side.  The button solved the redundancy problem.  The meat of the story you'll just have to read yourself.

[MaryJane]

Name please.