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Technology

How Much Power Does The Human Brain Require To Operate?

By Jeremy Hsu Posted on 11.6.2009 21 Comments
According to Kwabena Boahen, a computer scientist at Stanford University, a robot with a processor as smart as the human brain would require at least 10 megawatts to operate. That's the amount of energy produced by a small hydroelectric plant. But a small group of computer scientists may have hit on a new neural supercomputer that could someday emulate the human brain's low energy requirements of just 20 watts--barely enough to run a dim light bulb.

11.12.2009 at 02:02pm - Comment by timias

@Azorus and Advancer I think your talking about a Ohmmeter (not a voltmeter) which actually uses a precise amount of voltage and then measures the current received, or conversely could use precise current and then measure voltage. A voltmeter is completely passive, as it is a larger resistor that has some circuit which measures the voltage across the resistor. Ohmmeters can blow out semi-conductors if applied to the wrong set of pins, whereas a voltmeter cannot. A ammeter (non-inductive) looks like a short to the circuit so although you need to be careful using it on energized circuits it is harmless to the body, except for the whole blood, infection thing. I suppose the size and rating of a ohm meter could be a factor in how much power the leads generate for the measurement. Dry unbroken skin resistance is in Mega Ohms, whereas inside the skin is much lower, (a couple of Kilo Ohms only) 5mA across the heart is enough to fibrillate the heart, which will kill you.
Science

Baguette Dropped From Bird's Beak Shuts Down The Large Hadron Collider (Really)

By Stuart Fox Posted on 11.5.2009 86 Comments
The Large Hadron Collider, the world's most powerful particle accelerator, just cannot catch a break. First, a coolant leak destroyed some of the magnets that guide the energy beam. Then LHC officials postponed the restart of the machine to add additional safety features.

11.5.2009 at 02:09pm - Comment by timias

I propose we start calling all defects in Colliders Baguettes
Science

Shell's New Ships Will Dwarf Everything on the High Seas

By Jeremy Hsu Posted on 10.9.2009 11 Comments
Gigantic megaships that rival anything afloat could help energy giant Shell drink the proverbial milkshake by tapping undersea gas fields worldwide. They can also safely ignore nature's wrath and weather typhoons while continuing gas sucking operations.

10.15.2009 at 12:32pm - Comment by timias

But can a boatload of Somalia pirates take one over?
Science

This Month's Innovations For a Greener Future: Megakites, Solar Flowers, and More

By Posted on 10.14.2009 13 Comments
A kite flown in a strong breeze will quickly unspool string as it climbs higher. KiteGen Research in Italy aims to turn that action into electricity. The company developed a prototype that flies 200-square-foot kites to altitudes of 2,600 feet, where wind streams are four times as strong as they are near ground-based wind turbines. As the kite’s tether unspools, it spins an alternator that generates up to 40 kilowatts. Once the kite reaches its peak altitude, it collapses, and motors quickly reel it back in to restart the cycle. This spring, KiteGen started building a machine to fly a 1,500-square-foot kite, which it plans to finish by 2011, that could generate up to three megawatts—enough to power 9,000 homes.

10.14.2009 at 09:44am - Comment by timias

Here is the free million dollar idea for the kite power generation plant. Forget winding the kite back up with an electric motor. Use a second kite. As the first kite reaches the end of the line, collapse it and send a second kite out which would pull the first kite in, while generating more power.
Gadgets

Scientists Find Fundamental Maximum Limit for Processor Speeds

By Adrian Covert Posted on 10.23.2009 21 Comments
Silicon wafers. Quantum computing. Light-based processors. Any way you slice it, scientists say that processor speeds will absolutely max out at a certain point, regardless of how hardware or software are implemented. Lev Levitin and Tommaso Toffoli, two researchers at Boston University, devised an equation which sets a fundamental limit for quantum computing speeds. According to their studies, a perfect quantum computer can generate 10 quadrillion more operations per second than fastest current processors. They estimate that the maximum speed will be reached in 75 years.

10.12.2009 at 04:47pm - Comment by timias

Haven't they been predicting the end of Moore's law for 15 years now, not to mention the end of fossil fuels, and the end of mankind due to global warming, or global cooling, or flying cars, or world peace, or world war III, or death by LHC induced black hole. The press sure loves these predictions. I predict in 75 years we will learn new things about quantum physics that disprove the ramblings of the really smart guy who was probably misquoted in the above article. Just remember, this time they really, really mean it.
Science

MRI Brain Scans Can Solve Eternal Social Problem of Freeloading

By Stuart Fox Posted on 9.11.2009 7 Comments
The problem of people who take more than their fair share of public services is as old as public services themselves. On a small scale, the problem merely blends into all the other inefficiencies in the system. But if freeloading becomes too pervasive, it can imperil the entire society. This may seem like an abstract economics or social sciences problem, but the tendency of people to request social services without demanding that they pay a fair amount for those services led directly to California bankrupting itself.

9.11.2009 at 09:23am - Comment by timias

How much will you pay for this $5 lunch? Here lets take a $5300 brain scan to find out. The reason California went bankrupt is they actually fund this kind of worthless research. So if they develop a cheap "loser test" then what? The only way to make a difference financially is to kick all the freeloaders out. The ACLU would be all over that.
Science

How It Works: Protecting New Orleans With The World's Largest Flood Pump

By Susannah F. Locke Posted on 8.21.2009 19 Comments
New Orleans sits smack dab between the Gulf of Mexico and Lake Pontchartrain, and when a hurricane comes rolling in, those bodies of water tend to spill into the streets. This summer, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers started construction on a barrier that can block a 16-foot swell blown in from the Gulf and a massive pumping station that will blast floodwaters back to sea.

8.21.2009 at 12:39pm - Comment by timias

I love impossible to verify claims. "Easy against the type of fierce storm the city sees once in 100 years" --and --"And unlike the city’s notorious levees, the WCC won’t break when residents need it most. " Should be read, "we hope it won't fail, but if it does we will be dead and won't care if you blame us." A)How exactly can they prove it works. because the grate would need to be submerged with flood water to test it out? B) It is extremely likely that some politician is going to not want to shut it down in the next 100 years, to divert funds to a casino project, because it should be pretty damn easy to find some "expert" to go on record saying it wouldn't work anyways. Hell for $200 an hour I would do it.
Technology

Military To Mount High-Powered Non-Lethal Ray Gun On Aircraft

By Stuart Fox Posted on 7.23.2009 13 Comments
Here at Popular Science, we work under the assumption that ray guns are cool. But you know what's even cooler? A flying ray gun. And thanks to an $8 million dollar funding bump from the Air Force, a flying ray gun is closer to production than ever. The defense company Raytheon unveiled the beam weapon in 2001; back then they mounted the device on a Humvee. Now, the military's Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Directorate has requested an upgrade to the weapon that would allow the JNLWD to attach it to helicopters and other aircraft.

7.24.2009 at 12:36pm - Comment by timias

@Pheonix Actually the military is interested in destroying the enemies capability and will to fight. Killing the enemy is one means to that objective, but actually not always the most effective way. Enemy surrendering or refusing to fight, also achieves this objective, (which I guess this ray gun can do if it works) FYI Wounding an combatant is another way especially if two of his buddies need to stop fighting to get him medical attention, which is the reason a lot of anti-personnel mines only blow off a limb, and don't vaporize the unlucky person who steps on it. Cost is another factor but that is beside the point.
Gadgets

"Smart" Power Grids May Be Rife With Dumb Security Bugs

By Dan Smith Posted on 6.15.2009 8 Comments
New “smart” electricity meters, beginning to be rolled out across the country, may be rife with bugs that could pose security risks. The new meters create a smart communication network between the user and the local power plant. The software that powers some of the smart meters, however, is coming under fire from security experts for its lack of adequate protections against malicious hacks.

6.15.2009 at 02:03pm - Comment by timias

The whole premise of this article assumes that smart meters can do more than monitor the electric grid, certainly that is possible on some grids, but the majority of grids provide no control capabilities through the smart meters. The best you could hope for is a remote disconnect, and you need special hardware between your meter socket and meter to do that. A regular electric meter cannot shut-off anything. This is simply a case of a security firm claiming they can make a worm to prove it can disrupt the network(when have we all seen this before). Ok, make the worm and prove it and stop trying to get free press with your scare tactics. BTW as far as solar flares go, they have potential to temporarily disrupt smart meter communication, but really nothing else.
Science

Dean Kamen Won't Be Satisfied Until He Reinvents Us All

By Posted on 6.10.2009 20 Comments
"Let's run it through from the top. This is going downhill." Dean Kamen is standing on a six-inch riser in an almost empty room in the basement of Westwind, his 32,000-square-foot house in Bedford, New Hampshire, trying to get this thing right. It's crunch time for FIRST, the high-school robotics competition Kamen founded two decades ago in an effort to get kids jazzed about engineering, to make science as sexy as sports. (FIRST = For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology.) In less than a month, 42,000 students on 1,700 teams will gather at 43 regional championships to showcase the ball-throwing 'bots that each team has spent six weeks assembling in novel ways from nearly identical boxes of parts. At stake -- besides glory -- is $9 million in scholarships.

6.10.2009 at 03:20pm - Comment by timias

I was a mentor for a First team for 3 years. To me the biggest difference between First and any other competition is that the all of the competitors work together. I helped a rookie rival team, from a rural school from North Dakota set-up next to us in a regional competition, write the software they needed so they could compete. The team had no access to anyone with programming skills and was hoping someone could help them. The kids from MY team heard their about their dilemma and asked if I could help. The regional competition has announcers in the pit who make general requests if say one team's robot is broken and they need parts. Four teams will show up 5 minutes later parts in hand, because no one wants to see another team sitting out from a match. It is so hard to explain how different it is compared to any "competition" in our culture. Honestly the most prestigious award, The Chairman's Award" has nothing to do with how well your robot performs, and all to do with the difference your team has mad in the community. It really is a great thing to be a part of if you can.