Category Archives: Technology

Homebuilding: World’s Biggest “3D Printed” Building Completed

World's Biggest 3D Printed Buiding in Dubai Dezeen video December 20 2019Robotic construction company Apis Cor has used its technology to build the world’s largest 3D-printed building, a two-storey administrative office in Dubai. 

Measuring 9.5 metres high with a floor area of 640 square metres, Apis Cor built the record-breaking structure for the Dubai Municipality. Apis Cor developed a gypsum-based material to run through the printer and sourced a local producer. The printing took place out in the open, to prove that the technology could handle a harsh environment without humidity and temperature control.

Science & Technology: Reviewing Caltech’s “Decade Of Discovery”

From a Caltech online article:

Caltech LogoDuring this decade, as in previous decades, Caltech scientists and engineers reinvented the landscape of scientific endeavor: from the first detection of gravitational waves and the discovery of evidence for a ninth planet in the solar system; to bold missions to explore and understand the solar system; to the development of new methods to see inside the body and the brain and understand the universe around us; to the invention of devices to improve human health, some taking inspiration from nature; to the initiation of a transformative new effort to support research into the most pressing challenges in environmental sustainability.

Caltech's Decade of Discovery Understanding the Brain December 19 2019Though the brain orchestrates how we experience the world, many questions remain about its complex workings. During the past 10 years, Caltech scientists have discovered how the brain recognizes faces and drives and quenches thirst, and learned about the pathways that govern sleep. A major focus has been on understanding the experience of non-neurotypical individuals, such as those who have autism or those who are missing a brain hemisphere. New realms of neuroscience research were made possible in 2016, when philanthropists Tianqiao and Chrissy Chen announced a gift to establish the Tianqiao and Chrissy Chen Institute for Neuroscience at Caltech.

 

Caltech's Decade of Discovery Advancing Medicin December 19 2019As modern technology advances, so do the possibilities for treating medical conditions that were previously considered untreatable. Caltech researchers used an electrode array to help a paralyzed patient stand and move his legs voluntarily and developed a novel method for preventing the spread of diseases, contact lenses for preventing blindness in diabetic patients, an app that monitors heart health, gene therapy for repairing nerves in the brain, and a robotic arm controlled by a paralyzed patient’s intent to move. The decade also saw the establishment of the Merkin Institute for Translational Research, which aims to advance medical technologies, and a continued commitment to the Donna and Benjamin M. Rosen Bioengineering Center.

To read more: https://www.caltech.edu/about/news/decade-of-discovery

 

Travel: Innovations Inside Carnival’s “Mardi Gras” (2020), The Largest Cruise Ship Ever (WSJ Video)

Cruise ships are getting larger and the activities on board more extreme. WSJ’s Scott McCartney visits a shipyard in Finland to see how the cruise operator Carnival is able to pack so much on a ship — including a rollercoaster — and still have it float.

Future Of Flight: Rolls-Royce Unveils “Accel Aeroplane”, World’s Fastest Electric Plane

Rolls-Royce is leading a highly specialised challenge to build the world’s fastest all-electric aircraft

This zero-emissions plane is expected to make a run for the record books with a target speed of 300+ MPH (480+ KMH).

ACCEL Aeroplane

Rolls-Royce has rolled out to the public for the first time its Accel aeroplane which it hopes will earn the blue-chip engineer a place in history by smashing the current speed record for an electrically-powered aircraft. The battery-powered Accel is targeting a top speed in excess of 300mph over four 3,000-metre runs during a single flight when goes for the record off the Welsh coast in the summer.

To read more about Rolls-Royce’s electric plane: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/…

Space Exploration: NASA Goddard “Modernizing For The Future” (Video)

“We are modernizing Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) and its six sites for the future. A comprehensive Facilities Master Plan is an essential element in developing a blueprint for the future of our Center. Goddard recognizes the importance of fostering a work environment that is enjoyable, rewarding and aligned with meeting the challenges of tomorrow. The Master Plan will develop the infrastructure to support our business goals and missions, inform future investment decisions and respond to the growth and diversity of our mission and customer requirements. Its content will be informed by site visits, stakeholder interviews and workshops at all campuses, starting at the Greenbelt campus. This will be followed by similar efforts at the Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility in Texas, White Sands Complex in New Mexico, Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York, and Katherine Johnson Independent Verification & Validation Facility in West Virginia.Goddard’s master plan process is scheduled to continue through 2021.

Website: https://www.nasa.gov/goddard

Technology Lectures: “Civilizing The Internet Of Things” (Harvard Video)

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a deeply interconnected ecosystem of billions of devices and systems that are transforming commerce, science, and society. As part of the 2019–2020 Fellows’ Presentation Series at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Francine Berman RI ’20 explores the larger social and environmental ecosystem needed to develop an IoT that maximizes benefits, minimizes risk, and promotes individual protections, the public good, and planetary responsibility.

Berman is the Edward P. Hamilton Distinguished Professor in Computer Science at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI). She is the 2019–2020 Katherine Hampson Bessell Fellow at the Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University.

For more: https://www.radcliffe.harvard.edu/peo…

Technology: Ikea Is “Picking Winners, Setting Trends” In Smart Home Market (The Verge Video)

For seven years, Ikea has treated the smart home as a hobby. That’s changing now that Björn Block’s Home Smart division has been promoted to the same importance as Living Room, Bedroom, and all the other Ikea businesses that have come to define the company.

Ikea faces the challenge of teaming up with Google, Amazon, Apple, and other tech giants while also battling them for primacy in the home.

Read the full feature here: http://bit.ly/38VyVH9

Top Timelapse Videos: “Observatories – ESO” In Chile By Martin Heck

Filmed, Edited and Directed by: Martin Heck

Music: “Chasing Time” by David A. Molina

Observatories European Southern Observatory ESO in Chile timelapse video by Martin Heck 2019

Part two of a series of journeys to the big astronomical observatories of this planet. In this video: The Paranal Observatory and the Atacama Large Millimeter Array – ALMA. With some of the biggest ground-based telescopes on earth, the observatories of the European Southern Observatory in Chile are at the bleeding edge of astronomical research. These incredibly complex machines, operating synchronized and precisely in the very remote and hostile environments of the Atacama Desert and Andes, enable deep views into the universe.

All the sequences were shot in only 4 nights in total, but on two trips in 2017 and 2019.

Website: https://timestormfilms.net/

Movie Insider: “Every Starfighter In Star Wars Explained By Lucasfilm” (WIRED Video)

Wired Magzine logoLucasfilms’ Doug Chiang and Amy Beth Christenson explain each and every type of starfighter from the Star Wars movie franchise. These small, combat-focused spacecrafts have become a canvas for some of the most iconic designs in all of cinema.

Tie Fighter The Galactic Empire Star Wars A New Hope

Ever wondered why the “snout” of the X-Wing is so pronounced, or why the Y-Wing’s paneling is so bare? Amy Beth and Doug offer all these insights and much more!