Necessity is the mother of these inventions

[TOM4CWB]

STEER-BY-WIRE


Within the next year, Japanese car maker Nissan will introduce next generation steering technology into some of its cars that does away with the mechanical rack and pinion set up. In the new system, known as steer-by-wire, sensors detect when a driver turns the wheel, sending electrical signals to the tyres so they respond faster and with more accuracy. A camera mounted on the car's rear-view mirror will assess the road ahead and detect changes in the car's direction. In conventional steering system, the car turns via a mechanical connection between the steering wheel and the tyres.

Solar Paint

Imagine if every outdoor surface of your house or office building could generate electricity. That could soon be a reality thanks to a team at the University of Newcastle who have invented a solar paint. The water-based lacquer contains tiny plastic particles - smaller than the diameter of a human hair - that absorb sunlight to produce electricity. The project leader, Paul Dastoor, says the ultimate goal is a paint that can be applied directly to a roof or wall, but early versions will paint the material on plastic sheets, which contain electrical wires to transmit the electricity, that can be rolled out. The solar paint could generate electricity at half today's electricity prices.

MICROBIOGEN


A new strain of yeast and the inedible part of sugar cane could revolutionise global fuel production. A pair of Australian brothers have developed a powerful yeast that can convert waste biomass such as sugar cane byproducts into ethanol. More than 80 billion litres of ethanol is produced from edible crops such as corn each year. Next generation biofuels aim to reduce the reliance on food crops, but scientists have struggled to produce ethanol from the woody, inedible part of plants. Geoff and Phil Bell's high-quality yeast, which has received funding from the United States and Australian governments, has overcome this problem. The pair hope to turn the first sod at a Microbiogen plant in two to three years.

BRANDTABLE


Within a few months, lining up to order lunch in a crowded food court could soon be over. A Sydney entrepreneur has developed a smartphone application that allows users to order food directly from their phone. Brandtable takes advantage of near-field communication chips, found in all new smartphones (bar iPhones), which can exchange data with other nearby NFC chips. The technology is already used by credit card companies for contactless transactions. By swiping a smartphone over a Brandtable logo a user can place a food order directly with the restaurant.

LIQUIGLIDE


How many times have you bashed a tomato sauce bottle against a bench to force the last dollop onto your plate? Scientists at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the US have invented a solution, an ultra-thin material that coats the inside surface of a bottle and allows gluggy liquids like tomato sauce and shampoo to slide right out. The slippery material, called LiquiGlide, is plant based. The team, led by engineer Kripa Varanasi, hope the material, which can coat glass, plastic, metal and ceramic, will be on the market within three years.


Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/science/necessity-is-the-mother-of-these-inventions-20121027-28cba.html#ixzz2AW82sLJF

[ColevilleH2S]

Don't forget the grain cart with the built in cultivater
;-)

[TOM4CWB]

Dead Man walking!

If there's one surefire way to make sure your funeral is remembered, it's turning up at it alive.

That, at least, was the experience of Gilberto Araujo, a 41-year-old car-washer from Brazil, whose unexpected arrival at his own wake reportedly sparked terror and then delight among his family and friends.

Araujo's family, from the town of Alagoinhas, about 112km from Salvador, had mistakenly identified a body in the local morgue as his and were mourning his death on Sunday night when the man they believed was in the coffin beside them showed up at the front door.

"A friend told me there was a coffin and that I was inside it," he said. "I said, 'Guys, I'm alive - pinch me,"' Araujo was quoted by the O Globo news website.

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His appearance prompted some people to faint and others to flee in panic.

His mother, Maria Menezes, a shopkeeper, said: "It was a fright. I'm very happy because what mother has a son that they say is dead then turns up alive?"

The mix-up is reported to have stemmed from the fact that another car-washer in the town, who closely resembled Araujo, was murdered at the weekend, and police called Araujo's brother, Jose Marcos, to tell him they believed his brother was the dead man.

The brother then went to the morgue and wrongly identified the body. "Police called my husband and told him that his brother had been killed and his body was at the morgue," Jose Marcos Araujo's wife, Ana Paula, told the UOL website.

Police Inspector Roberto Lima said the confusion was "understandable", as Araujo and Genivaldo Santos Gama, the man later named as the real murder victim, looked so alike. "The two men closely resembled each other and both worked as car-washers," he said.

Araujo said he had learned of the mistake from an acquaintance, who had come up to him in the street to tell him his family was setting off for his funeral. He had tried to tell them he was still alive by telephoning, he said, but his call was dismissed as a cruel prank. There seemed nothing for it but to turn up in person.

"He went to his mother's home to let everyone know he was very much alive," said Lima.


Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/strangebuttrue/dead-man-turns-up-at-own-funeral-20121025-286tw.html#ixzz2AWBJIxnE

The mayor of a sleepy US town is feline fine.

The part-Manx cat clawed his way on to the political scene of Talkeetna, Alaska, through a write-in campaign shortly after he was born 15 years ago.

KTUU-TV reported on Friday that residents didn't like the mayoral candidates years ago, so they encouraged enough people to elect Stubbs as a write-in candidate.

The town has nearly 900 residents.

Although his position is honorary, Stubbs' popularity is real. His election earned him enough press to catapult the town at the base of Mount McKinley into a tourist destination.

Residents say they're happy that their stubby-tailed mayor is promoting
tourism.
The general store where Stubbs hangs out says it gets dozens of tourists a day asking for him.

AP


Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/strangebuttrue/feline-mayor-lords-it-over-alaskan-town-20120715-224j1.html#ixzz2AWFuFV7v

[cottonpicken]

These guys are going to make more money than all those companies combined.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAuam8iiH3Q&feature=fvwrel

[cottonpicken]

Jesus,that robot and those tech inventions got me wondering about
technology and exponential growth,apparently it could be true.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accelerating_change

[TOM4CWB]

CP, you mean this:

Kurzweil's The Law of Accelerating Returns

In his 1999 book The Age of Spiritual Machines Kurzweil proposed "The Law of Accelerating Returns", according to which the rate of change in a wide variety of evolutionary systems (including but not limited to the growth of technologies) tends to increase exponentially.[6] He gave further focus to this issue in a 2001 essay entitled "The Law of Accelerating Returns"[7] which argued for extending Moore's Law to describe exponential growth of diverse forms of technological progress. Whenever a technology approaches some kind of a barrier, according to Kurzweil, a new technology will be invented to allow us to cross that barrier. He cites numerous past examples of this to substantiate his assertions. He predicts that such paradigm shifts have and will continue to become increasingly common, leading to "technological change so rapid and profound it represents a rupture in the fabric of human history." He believes the Law of Accelerating Returns implies that a technological singularity will occur before the end of the 21st century, in 2045. The essay begins:


An analysis of the history of technology shows that technological change is exponential, contrary to the common-sense 'intuitive linear' view. So we won't experience 100 years of progress in the 21st century—it will be more like 20,000 years of progress (at today's rate). The 'returns,' such as chip speed and cost-effectiveness, also increase exponentially. There's even exponential growth in the rate of exponential growth. Within a few decades, machine intelligence will surpass human intelligence, leading to the Singularity—technological change so rapid and profound it represents a rupture in the fabric of human history. The implications include the merger of biological and nonbiological intelligence, immortal software-based humans, and ultra-high levels of intelligence that expand outward in the universe at the speed of light.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accelerating_change

[TOM4CWB]

God says in Genesis 11:6, "If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them." (NIV)
God created us in his image... when people are unified in one purpose they can accomplish impossible feats, both noble and also unfortunately...ignoble (Not honorable in character or purpose).

Hold on.... this is going to be a wild ride into the future!

Cheers!

[cottonpicken]

But an even bigger philosophical question is"what will
be the nationality of the most popular robot girlfriend
be".

[Daylate]

HA HA, i think its too early for saturday to start into these heavy topics yet. Lets give it til midnight and really get it going with a bottle of vodka.LOL

[TOM4CWB]

Daylate, Take a look at this puppy!

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/dn3YowRC2-Q" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

The 4-Place PAV is Carter’s current prototype. The configuration currently being tested has a 45’ diameter rotor and wingspan, with a 350 HP turbocharged Lycoming IO-540 engine. The design is for a 2500 lb empty weight capable of jump takeoffs up to 4000 lbs, and rolling takeoffs at a max gross weight of 5000 lbs. The Proof of Concept demonstrator (POC) is flying at a test weight of 3800 lbs. The design is predicted to be capable of 204 mph at full power at 7,500 ft, 214 mph at 12,500 ft or 245 mph at 25,000 ft. The POC has successfully demonstrated the vehicle’s jump takeoff capability, and is currently involved in flight testing to expand the high speed envelope.

The design is very versatile, with several variants around the same basic airframe, maintaining as many common parts as practical. A 200 HP diesel version will have an estimated empty weight of 1800 lbs, and a max gross weight of 3000 lbs. Larger versions will use the same 45-ft rotor and wingspan as being used on the current demonstrator. With a 1200 HP gas turbine engine, the aircraft will have an expected empty weight of 2500 lbs, and be capable jump takeoffs up to a maximum of 5000 lbs, with a 300 mph cruise speed. For all versions, the aircraft will be capable of both vertical take-offs and short rolling takeoffs, as appropriate based on the density altitude, gross weight, and available horsepower.

http://www.cartercopters.com/pav

[sumdumguy]

Wow, looks like fun, but those tiny wheels are
pretty scarey.

[Daylate]

Looks like fun. Still looks like it would fly like a rock
in an engine failure though. I wonder if they can
autorotate from a high alttitude to slow down
impact like a helicopter.

[TOM4CWB]

Daylate,

It does Autorotate and even if the engine stops on takeoff, there is enough kenetic energy in the rotor to land again safely.

[ColevilleH2S]

Looks like it is just a Gyro-copter. That technology has been around for decades. There was even a manufacturing plant in Kindersley for awhile, until a few people got killed flying them.

It will never fly ;-) I doubt they will ever get off the ground, Or. The concept will never take-off harhar. I've got a million of them folks! Next show is at eleven. Don't forget to tip your waitress.

[ASRG]

I like the idea of the solar paint thing. Sure would be nice not to have to pay ever increasing power bills every month.