Fwd: Google translate

'Google Translate's real-time translation tool, first introduced in January, instantly transcribes a sign from a foreign language to your own when you point your phone camera at it—and now, the feature has expanded to cover 27 languages. Through the standalone Translate app, users can translate signs in tongues ranging from Catalan and Indonesian, to Slovak and Ukrainian.

The service previously offered translations between English and French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish. The app works both ways: Non-English speakers can also translate English signs into their native languages. For Hindi and Thai translations, however, Google Translate can only convert English to the two languages—not the other way around—due to the complexity of their characters.

The app also works in the absence of a data connection for a phone, which makes it optimal for travelers.

The instant translation feature is largely derived from the Word Lens app, which Google acquired last year when it purchased the company behind it, Quest Visual.'

http://www.fastcompany.com/3049192/fast-feed/google-translate-can-now-decipher-signs-in-27-languages

Fwd: Pinky

'An almost two-million-year-old finger bone - unearthed in East Africa - suggests modern humans evolved earlier than previously thought, scientists say.

The 1.85-million-year-old little finger bone, dubbed OH 86, was found at the Olduvai Gorge paleontological site in northern Tanzania and is believed by scientists to belong to an unidentified ancient hominin species, Daily Mail reported on Wednesday.

The discovery pushes back the origin of the modern-human-like hand-ideal for grasping tools, but inadequate for climbing trees - by around 400,000 years.

"This bone belongs to somebody who's not spending any time in the trees at all," said the study's lead author Manuel Dominguez-Rodrigo.'

 

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/entertainment/19-Aug-2015/oldest-ever-finger-bone-hints-modern-man-s-earlier-descent-from-trees

 

Fwd: Carbon sequestered to useful product

'A team of chemists have said that they've found a way by developing a method which can convert any atmospheric CO2 into carbon nanofibers which can be used for consumer and industrial purposes. These findings are going to be unveiled at the American Chemical Society's National Meeting & Exposition.

The way of finding these so called "diamonds in the sky" is going to let industrial manufacturers produce high-yields of carbon nanofibers which will make very strong carbon composites such as the ones used for the Boeing Dreamliner aircrafts and turbine blade, sports equipment as well as a number of other products…

It will cost around $ 1000 for each ton of carbon nanofiber in order to pay for the energy which is going to be hundred times less than the real value of the product.'

 

http://www.benchmarkreporter.com/can-this-new-method-of-converting-co2-into-something-usable-prevent-global-warming/8732/

 

Fwd: Japan Taxi

http://gizmodo.com/the-little-known-robot-taxi-that-could-outrun-google-an-1713972578?google_editors_picks=true

 

Fwd: Mars and Earth

Now, scientists have found that Earth's magnetic field could be up to 4.2 billion years old — about 750 million years older than had been previously thought…

http://www.livescience.com/51703-earth-magnetic-field-age.html

Fwd: Exoplanets

If Kepler-452b nevertheless has a similar composition to Earth, we run into another problem: gravity. Based on an Earth-like density, Kepler-452b would be five times more massive than our planet.

This would correspond to a stronger gravitational pull, capable of drawing in a thick atmosphere to create a potential runaway greenhouse effect, which means that the planet's temperature continues to climb.

Impossible EM Drive.

Although this definitely would be interesting, I find it highly questionable.  The wording of the article makes me think that they are trying way too hard to make their claims, as if the article was written by the proponents of this.  Although not technically perpetual motion, it has that kind of ring to it.

Over the last 4 decades there have been a number of people claiming to extract energy out of basically nothing.  Most of these have not panned out or have been shown to be an artifact of something else.  Although not the same thing, this EM Drive has the same kind of ring to it.

http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2015/04/evaluating-nasas-futuristic-em-drive/

http://www.entertainmentjourney.com

​In order for this to be true, our understanding of the laws of physics would have to change.  (That could be a good thing.)​  If their claims of manipulating Quantum Vacuum were true, then one would have to wonder if there is some unseen environmental impact?

Fwd: Interesting documentary film I'm watching right now.

Robert,

I am not sure you stand on this issue, but the skeptics have valid points.  What bothers me about the left is that they take the same position they take on every issue, which is that if you don't agree with them you are either stupid or evil.  Rarely do they argue the points being made.  Instead they engage in character assassination.   

The alternative is to attack those opponents on the extreme fringe.  This is sort of a straw man argument because it doesn't acknowledge that some people have legitimate arguments. For example, they say that all skeptics deny that global warming is taking place.  Maybe a few do, but the real issue is not whether it is taking place, which few dispute, but how much will we get and will it lead to disaster?

http://youtu.be/0gDErDwXqhc

When you have politically funded and motivated science, then it is not real science at all  Some of it could be, but I question the motivations of at least some of those involved.  This is science to push an agenda.

​

-- 

Best wishes,

John Coffey

http://www.entertainmentjourney.com

Flatness Problem

​https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Bang#Flatness_problem​

Graphene disipating heat

'Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology have developed a method for cooling electronics using graphene-based film.

 

The researchers have shown that the in-plane thermal conductivity of the graphene-based film, with 20 micrometre thickness, can reach a thermal conductivity value of 1600W/mK, which is four times that of copper.

"Increased thermal capacity could lead to several new applications for graphene," said Liu. "One example is the integration of graphene-based film into microelectronic devices and systems, such as highly efficient Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs), lasers and radio frequency components for cooling purposes. Graphene-based film could also pave the way for faster, smaller, more energy efficient, sustainable high power electronics."'

http://www.theengineer.co.uk/news/graphene-based-film-takes-the-heat-out-of-electronic-devices/1020661.article

 

How to Tell a Sociopath from a Psychopath

​I found this interesting.  I have been curious for a while about the difference between the two disorders, but most websites don't distinguish between the two.  

How to Tell a Sociopath from a Psychopath

Serial Killer Myth #1: They're Mentally Ill or Evil Geniuses

Fwd: Mars

'NASA has already begun trying to figure out where its first Mars astronauts should touch down, about two decades before the pioneers are scheduled to launch toward the Red Planet.

Trace looks at the top theories for how Mars could be terraformed. Just don't expect for there to be a nice new red planet to move to before the next Super Bowl.

The space agency will hold a workshop in Houston this October to kick off serious discussions about possible landing sites for NASA's first manned Mars mission, which the agency aims to launch by the mid- to late 2030s.

At the four-day meeting, researchers will propose roughly 62-mile-wide (100 kilometers) "exploration zones" that they believe would be scientifically interesting and possess enough resources, such as subsurface water ice, to support human explorers.'

http://news.discovery.com/space/nasa-ponders-where-to-land-astronauts-on-mars-150626.htm

Seems deeply inspirational.

The first 20 hours -- how to learn anything

My comment on Facebook about evolution.

I'm sorry that you feel that evolution is a religion. In my opinion, evolution says nothing about the existence or non-existence of God. There are two facts that are irrefutable: The earth is very old and simpler organisms came before more complex ones. If you want to say that God made things happen that way, I'm fine with that. That would be philosophy. Science only deals with what we can observe, predict and reproduce. Evolution is the best explanation for what we observe. It is also supported by evidence from several sciences.

Darwin did not invent evolution. Many people of scientific bent believed in and proposed evolution before Darwin. i.e. Lamark in 1800 and Darwin's grandfather. Darwin's great contribution to science was Natural Selection. He wasn't the first to come up with that either. So did the ancient Greeks.


Best wishes,

John Coffey

The printed organs coming to a body near you : Nature News & Comment

http://www.nature.com/news/the-printed-organs-coming-to-a-body-near-you-1.17320

Fwd: NRAM

'A new low-power, high-speed memory technology on the horizon could replace solid-state drives, hard drives and DRAM in PCs, and bring higher levels of storage capacity to mobile devices and wearables.

The new memory from Nantero, called NRAM (nonvolatile RAM), is based on carbon nanotubes. The memory is hundreds of times faster than flash storage used in mobile devices and SSDs, claimed Greg Schmergel, CEO of the company.

Carbon nanotubes are cylinders made out of carbon atoms, with a diameter of one to two nanometers. The nanotubes are known to be stronger than steel, and better conductors of electricity than other known materials used in chips, making the technology an excellent candidate for storage and memory.

Nantero's NRAM operates at the speed of DRAM and is nonvolatile, meaning it can store data. The small size of carbon nanotubes allows more data to be crammed into tighter spaces, and the storage chips will consume significantly less power than flash storage and DRAM. That could bring more storage and longer battery life to laptops and mobile devices…

Nantero, which was formed in 2001, has spent 14 years refining carbon nanotubes, which has been researched for decades by universities, the U.S. government and companies like IBM and Intel. Many top chip and device makers have shown interest in NRAM, which is now ready for manufacturing, Schmergel said…

Nantero won't make the NRAM, but license the technology to device makers and manufacturers. The first NRAM chips will appear as DRAM-compatible modules that can be plugged directly into memory slots on motherboards.

"We are designing chips that are DDR3 and DDR4 compatible, you just put in carbon-nanotube memory," Schmergel said.

Devices makers will be able to put carbon-nanotube storage on top of NAND flash circuitry so it fits in mobile devices and PCs. The technology will be compatible with storage, memory systems and protocols that exist today, Schmergel said.

The NRAM chips should arrive in the next few years, Schmergel said, adding that chip and device makers are designing the memory into new products. '

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2930152/nanteros-carbonnanotube-memory-could-replace-ssds-and-dram.html

VIDEO: Origami Drone Folds Itself, Self-Destructs

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2485084,00.asp

Question - Quora

What do the astronauts think about the movie Interstellar?
http://www.quora.com/What-do-the-astronauts-think-about-the-movie-Interstellar

Richard Dawkins: Why the universe seems so strange

http://youtu.be/1APOxsp1VFw

Gian Giudice: Why our universe might exist on a knife-edge

Gian Giudice: Why our universe might exist on a knife-edge