The quantum-logic clock, which detects the energy state of a single aluminum ion, keeps time to within a second every 3.7 billion years. The new timekeeper could one day improve GPS or detect the slowing of time predicted by Einstein’s theory of general relativity.

“It could it be a real contender for the next frequency standard, or next timekeeper,” said physicist Chin-wen (James) Chou of the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Boulder, lead author of a study to appear in a forthcoming Physical Review Letters.

Chou’s team is one of several racing to build an atomic clock that can replace the current international standard, the cesium fountain clock. The cesium clock loses one second every 100 million years. Chou’s is not the first quantum-logic clock, but his uses aluminum and magnesium ions, which makes it twice as precise as its predecessors that used aluminum and beryllium.

To keep time, quantum-logic clocks measure the vibration frequency of UV lasers. Unfortunately, the best lasers we can build veer off their normal frequency by about one tick every hour, Chou said. To keep the laser’s timekeeping precise, its vibration must be anchored to something much more stable.

That anchor is the vibration of an electrically charged aluminum atom, which vibrates at 1.1 Petahertz, or 1.1 quadrillion times a second.

The first step in measuring the ion’s vibration is to hit it with UV lasers, which are tuned to the charged atom’s rate of vibration. The aluminum ion can be in either a low- or high-quantum energy state.

Read More http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/02/quantum-logic-atomic-clock/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wired%2Findex+%28Wired%3A+Index+3+%28Top+Stories+2%29%29&utm_content=Netvibes#ixzz0et8n1a7u

This is an interesting overview of futurist ideas from the Arlington Institute. The rest can be found here.

more about “TAI Presents – John L. Petersen | The…“, posted with vodpod

NASA and General Motors are working together to accelerate development of the next generation of robots and related technologies for use in the automotive and aerospace industries.

Engineers and scientists from NASA and GM worked together through a Space Act Agreement at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston to build a new humanoid robot capable of working side by side with people. Using leading edge control, sensor and vision technologies, future robots could assist astronauts during hazardous space missions and help GM build safer cars and plants.

The two organizations, with the help of engineers from Oceaneering Space Systems of Houston, developed and built the next iteration of Robonaut. Robonaut 2, or R2, is a faster, more dexterous and more technologically advanced robot. This new generation robot can use its hands to do work beyond the scope of prior humanoid machines. R2 can work safely alongside people, a necessity both on Earth and in space.

“This cutting-edge robotics technology holds great promise, not only for NASA, but also for the nation,” said Doug Cooke, associate administrator for the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “I’m very excited about the new opportunities for human and robotic exploration these versatile robots provide across a wide range of applications.”

for more go to: Robonaut at NASA

This week at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, MIT professors discussed their efforts to better understand the human mind, the nature of intelligence and the ways in which human and artificial intelligence can be brought together.

for more go to : At Davos, MIT faculty discuss the nature of intelligence
Hat tip goes to @XiXiDu

Philip Rosedale, founder of Second Life, discusses the future of virtual worlds. Filmed at Singularity University’s Graduate Student Program 2009, NASA Ames Research Center, Silicon Valley.

The third installment of the University of Southern California’s Body Computing Conference was held at USC on October 9, 2009, hosted by Leslie Saxon, chief of the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of USC.

In his keynote address, physician-scientist Daniel Kraft discussed his revolutionary stem cell research at Stanford University, his exposure to next-gen biotech and his vision of the future of healthcare as the Internet, wearable computing and health informatics converge. To give a taste of where body computing might be in 10 years, he shared an innovative medical animation created by David Bolinsky that utilizes body computing devices in the DARPA soldier project.
iology

“There’s a flip side to everything,” the saying goes, and in 2 minutes, Derek Sivers shows this is true in a few ways you might not expect.

more about "Derek Sivers: Weird, or just different?", posted with vodpod

An open source, generative identity for the upcoming “Decode: Digital Design Sensations” exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum London.

more about "V&A Decode generative identity on Vimeo", posted with vodpod

The Victoria and Albert Museum has commissioned the artist Karsten Schmidt to design a truly malleable, digital identity for the Decode exhibition by providing it as open source code. We are giving you the opportunity to recode Karsten’s work and create your own original artwork. If we love your work it might even become the new Decode identity.
for more go to : decode-V&A Decode Project

Anthony Atala’s state-of-the-art lab grows human organs — from muscles to blood vessels to bladders, and more. At TEDMED, he shows footage of his bio-engineers working with some of its sci-fi gizmos, including an oven-like bioreactor (preheat to 98.6 F) and a machine that “prints” human tissue.

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Highly informative talk introducing Molecular manufacturing and nanotechnology.

Clay Shirky joined an intimate group at the Berkman Center for a deep dive discussion on one chapter of his new book, Here Comes Everybody, which deals with protest culture — ad hoc vs institutional, and what it means.

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visit the :The Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University

Host Harry Kreisler welcomes neurobiologist Christof Koch for a discussion of what biology can tell us about consciousness. He discusses the framework for defining the problem which he developed with Nobel Laureate Francis Crick. He reflects on the ongoing revolution in our understanding of the brain and how technology is impacting the transformation of our neuronal correlates of consciousness. He also discusses the implications of his research for our understanding of man’s place in the universe. Series: “Conversations with History” [7/2006] [Science] [Show ID: 11698]

How to Shoot Stuff into Space

John Hunter wants to shoot stuff into space with a 3,600-foot gun. And he’s dead serious—he’s done the math. Making deliveries to an orbital outpost on a rocket costs $5,000 per pound, but using a space gun would cost just $250 per pound.

Building colossal guns has been Hunter’s pet project since 1992, when, while a physicist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, he first fired a 425-foot gun he built to test-launch hypersonic engines. Its methane-driven piston compressed hydrogen gas, which then expanded up the barrel to shoot a projectile. Mechanical firing can fail, however, so when Hunter’s company, Quicklaunch, released its plans last fall, it swapped the piston for a combustor that burns natural gas. Heat the hydrogen in a confined space and it should build up enough pressure to send a half-ton payload into the sky at 13,000 mph.

STEP 1: HEAT IT
The gun combusts natural gas in a heat exchanger within a
chamber of hydrogen gas, heating the hydrogen to 2,600˚F and causing a 500 percent increase in pressure.

STEP 2: LET THE HYDROGEN LOOSE
Operators open the valve, and the hot, pressurized hydrogen quickly expands down the tube, pushing the payload forward.

STEP 3: TO INFINITY AND BEYOND
After speeding down the 3,300-foot-long barrel, the projectile shoots out of the gun at 13,000 mph. An iris at the end of the gun closes, capturing the hydrogen gas to use again.

Via: Popular Science and Next Big Future

John Hunter wants to shoot stuff into space with a 3,600-foot gun. And he’s dead serious—he’s done the math. Making deliveries to an orbital outpost on a rocket costs $5,000 per pound, but using a space gun would cost just $250 per pound.

Dr. Ralph Merkle, a leading expert in nanotechnology, gives a non-technical introduction to nanotechnology and the future of manufacturing at the atomic level. From the 2009 Executive Program at Singularity University. Ralph is also a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Molecular Manufacturing.

Via: Singularity University

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• The Wall Street Journal on Feynman, Drexler, History, and the Future (metamodern.com)

A most Magnificent talk by Robert Sapolsky, watch this and make the world better.

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Hat Tip goes to “Barking up the wrong tree“