The hospital technology, typically used to identify human ailments, captured perhaps the world’s smallest magnetic resonance image. weiserfireman shares a report: Different microscopy techniques allow scientists to see the nucleotide-by-nucleotide genetic sequences in cells down to the resolution of a couple atoms as seen in an atomic force microscopy image. But scientists at the IBM Almaden Research Center in San Jose,…
Tag: Sensors
NASA Announces New Dragonfly Drone Mission To Explore Titan
NASA announced Thursday that it is sending a drone-style quadcopter to Titan, Saturn’s largest moon. Dragonfly, as the mission is called, will be capable of soaring across the skies of Titan and landing intermittently to take scientific measurements, studying the world’s mysterious atmosphere and topography while searching for hints of life (Warning: source may be paywalled; alternative source) on the only…
The Pentagon Has a Laser That Can Identify People From a Distance By Their Heartbeat
An anonymous reader quotes a report from MIT Technology Review: A new device, developed for the Pentagon after U.S. Special Forces requested it, can identify people without seeing their face: instead it detects their unique cardiac signature with an infrared laser. While it works at 200 meters (219 yards), longer distances could be possible with a better laser. “I don’t want…
Electronics projects for beginners: How to make a roaming robot
Using a BBC micro:bit, motors and some sensors, here’s how to make an autonomous robot that can roam around and avoid objects in its path Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24232363-500-electronics-projects-for-beginners-how-to-make-a-roaming-robot/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Smartphones and Fitness Trackers Are Being Used To Gauge Employee Performance
A new system to assess the performance of employees is claimed to be more objective and thus more accurate by utilizing smartphones and fitness trackers. New Atlas reports: The passive system incorporates an app known as PhoneAgent, which was developed by Prof. Andrew Campbell at New Hampshire’s Dartmouth College. Using the smartphone’s own sensors, that app continuously monitors factors such as…
Boeing Has So Many Grounded 737 Max Planes Waiting To Be Fixed They’re Parking Them in the Employee Parking Lot
An anonymous reader shares a report: You may recall that, thanks to an issue with faulty sensors in the Boeing 737 Max flight control systems, those planes have been grounded after multiple crashes were found to be related to the issue. Grounded planes are, by definition, not in the air, and as such need to be stored, on the ground, somewhere….
Perfect quantum portal emerges at exotic interface
Researchers at the University of Maryland have captured the most direct evidence to date of a quantum quirk that allows particles to tunnel through a barrier like it’s not even there. The result, featured on the cover of the June 20, 2019 issue of the journal Nature, may enable engineers to design more uniform components for future quantum computers, quantum sensors…
Upgrade Your Memory With A Surgically Implanted Brain Chip
Bloomberg reports on a five-year, $77 million project by America’s Department of Defense to create an implantable brain device that restores memory-generation capacity for people with traumatic brain injuries. A device has now been developed by Michael Kahana, a professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, and the medical technology company Medtronic Plc, and successfully tested with funding from America’s…
Why ‘Ambient Computing’ Is Just A Marketing Buzzword — For Now
An anonymous reader quotes Computerworld columnist Mike Elgan: Ambient computing is real. It’s the next megatrend in computing…. To interact in an “ambient computing” context means to not care and not even necessarily know where exactly the devices are that you’re interacting with. When IoT devices and sensors are all around us, and artificial intelligence can understand human contexts for what’s…
The mast is raised for NASA’s Mars 2020 rover
In this image, taken on June 5, 2019, engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, take a moment after attaching the remote sensing mast to the Mars 2020 rover in the Spacecraft Assembly Facility’s High Bay 1 clean room. Full integration of the mast—a process that includes installation of science instrument sensors, electrical wiring and checkout—continued into the following…