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I received a speeding ticket tonight coming up hwy 7 from Ole Miss to Memphis. Since I haven’t had one in ten years or so, I found a few tings interesting: 1. The police were in the opposite lane and must have locked on without sitting on the side of the road with a radar gun. I imagine they have some new stuff that uses their speed against an oncoming car’s speed. Not hard to solve, but I’ve never run into it before. 2. Since it was at night, after I pulled over, I put on the overhead lights, rolled...

A startup focused on “invisible computing” Thursday unveiled a smart contact lens which delivers an augmented reality display in a user’s field of vision. The Mojo Vision contact lens offers a display with information and notifications, and allows the user to interact by focusing on certain points.

The coating flouts the typical trend of hotter objects radiating more lightHotter objects typically glow brighter than cooler ones, making them stand out in infrared images. But a newly designed coating bucks the rule that hotter equals brighter. For certain wavelengths of infrared light, the material’s brightness doesn’t change as it warms, researchers report December 17 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Made of samarium nickel oxide, the thin coating “hides temperature information of surfaces from infrared cameras,” and could therefore be used as a privacy shield, says applied physicist Mikhail Kats of the University of Wisconsin–Madison....

The startup, Mojo Vision, showed off a very early prototype in meetings at CES last week and is now ready to start talking about the product’s development. Mojo Vision hopes to first create a smart contact lens that can assist people with low vision by displaying enhanced overlays of the world, sharpening details or zooming in to help them see. But that reality seems to be a ways away. The prototype shown at CES included a green, monochromatic display that was wired to a large battery, and the company still needs to get approval from the Food and Drug Administration...

Lumi by Pampers is a smart sensor that attaches to your infant's diaper and sends you a notification when the baby needs to be changed. The Lumi system uses an HD night vision camera capable of monitoring temperature and humidity, the baby sensor and an app to compile the data for parents.

~Ever since Donald Trump became president, he has become a dynamic and powerful global leader. Thus, his presence (or absence) on the world stage has the potential to really disrupt global geopolitics. In this sense, I will largely use his absence as the bellwether for near-future scenarios. United States Economics ~First off, as the US continues to dig itself deeper into national debt (presently $22T), look for political leaders and “experts” to call for an alternative to the US Dollar. Technological advancements are now to the point that a loud and growing chorus will be singing the tune for a...

Like take an ax to your computer.Given my computer situation – new one’s on the blink and old one’s a dinosaur that’s nearly as unstable as the one I’m having fixed  – I will be pre-posting threads for today through Monday. I won’t be around much so you know the drill: have fun, behave (not mutually exclusive) and don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.Should you by some chance reach the end of the internet and have nothing else to talk about might I suggest you go back and replumb the Megxit story. Such royal virtue signaling is so full of...

Mission operators at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, have lost contact with the ASTERIA satellite, a briefcase-sized spacecraft designed to study planets outside our solar system. The last successful communication with ASTERIA, short for Arcsecond Space Telescope Enabling Research in Astrophysics, was on Dec. 5; attempts to contact it are expected to continue into March 2020. ASTERIA belongs to a category of satellites called CubeSats, which vary in size but are typically smaller than a suitcase. Deployed into Earth orbit from the space station on Nov. 20, 2017, the technology demonstration mission showed that many technologies necessary for...

Apple made some waves at CES 2019 by placing a billboard outside the Las Vegas Convention Center that needled its competitors over user privacy. This year, the company will have an official presence, with Jane Horvath, its senior director of global privacy, set to appear January 9 on a panel called the Chief Privacy Officer Roundtable. The company will be showing off its HomeKit smart home platform during CES. There, Horvath will likely argue for increased privacy protections. The roundtable is also expected to be attended by executives from Facebook and Procter & Gamble, as well as a Federal Trade...

On a hillside above Stanford University, the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory operates a scientific instrument nearly 2 miles long. In this giant accelerator, a stream of electrons flows through a vacuum pipe, as bursts of microwave radiation nudge the particles ever-faster forward until their velocity approaches the speed of light, creating a powerful beam that scientists from around the world use to probe the atomic and molecular structures of inorganic and biological materials. Stanford and SLAC have created a silicon chip that can accelerate electrons—albeit at a fraction of the velocity of that massive instrument—using an infrared laser to deliver,...

Another decade is over. With the 2020s upon us, now is the perfect time to reflect on the immense technological advancements that humanity has made since the dawn of the new millennium. This article explores, in no particular order, 20 of the most significant technological advancements we have made in the last 20 years. Smartphones: Mobile phones existed before the 21st century. However, in the past 20 years, their capabilities have improved enormously. In June 2007, Apple released the iPhone, the first touchscreen smartphone with mass-market appeal. Many other companies took inspiration from the iPhone. As a consequence, smartphones...

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and other federal agencies have failed to prevent China from openly recruiting American scientific experts in exchange for payment and perks. This, according to Judicial Watch. The Judicial Watch story relies on a report published by the Senate Homeland Security Committee. According to Judicial Watch, “This report exposes how American taxpayer funded research has contributed to China’s global rise over the last 20 years.” The U.S. Senate report says the U.S. taxpayers spend over $150 billion a year on scientific research. Most of the federal agencies conducting this research have been impacted by the...

Time and again throughout our history, the armed forces of the United States have proven to be the greatest force for good in the history of the world. Every day, millions of heroes get up to stand their post and defend the American people from harm — whether by land, sea, or air. Under the leadership of President Donald Trump, the strongest military in the world has grown stronger still. The president has signed into law the largest increase in the national defense since the days of Ronald Reagan, including the largest pay raise for our troops in more than...

The increased connectivity of computers and the growth of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) in most organizations is making the distribution of malicious software (malware) easier. Unlike other types of malicious programs that may usually go undetected for a longer period, a ransomware attack is usually experienced immediately, and its impact on information technology infrastructure is often irreversible. As part of Microsoft’s Detection and Response Team (DART) Incident Response engagements, we regularly get asked by customers about “paying the ransom” following a ransomware attack. Unfortunately, this situation often leaves most customers with limited options, depending on the business continuity and...

IBM research has announced a breakthrough in battery technology that it says could make lithium-ion batteries a thing of the past. The new technology can charge incredibly quickly, has low flammability, and contains no heavy metals, making it far more environmentally friendly than current battery technology. Battery performance complaints are nothing new: Lithium-ion batteries have long been one of the most frustrating parts of modern technology. They go bad, charge slowly, are prone to exploding, and are horrible for the environment. IBM's new battery reportedly eliminates those exact headaches. That faster charging time IBM mentioned is one of the standouts...

Recent research on longevity is making the idea of an elixir of life sound increasingly plausible. But a startup that’s started selling a $1 million anti-aging treatment is most likely jumping the gun. Libella Gene Therapeutics says it will administer volunteers with a gene therapy that it claims can reverse aging by up to 20 years, according to OneZero. Despite the fact that this is the first human trial of the treatment, the company is charging volunteers $1m to take part. In an effort to side-step the FDA, the trial will take place in Colombia. The therapy will attempt to...

But the technology wasn’t quite ready for Robert E. Lee’s air cavalry It’s the third day of the Battle of Gettysburg in July 1863 and Union forces on Cemetery Ridge await the final Confederate assault. But instead of witnessing serried ranks of rebels marching across a mile of open ground into the maws of Yankee cannons, the bluecoat regiments are shocked to hear the thud of rotor blades. It is the the sound of Confederate general George Pickett’s 13,000-strong division landing behind Union lines. Is this a neo-Confederate dream? The Red Badge of Courage meets Apocalypse Now? No, it turns...

New analysis of projected provincial gas tax revenues in Ontario has revealed that that source of provincial funding will fall much more dramatically than predicted just five years ago due to increased use of electric vehicles and other factors. And so, concludes Trent University professor emeritus Harry Kitchen in a new report titled Ontario’s Downward Trend for Fuel Revenue: Will Road Pricing Fill the Gap?, the provincial government must look for other sources of revenues to build transportation infrastructure. Kitchen recommends road pricing, such as tolls and HOT lanes, with funds raised earmarked for future transportation improvements, and dynamic parking...

Phishing attempts and suspicious activity were detected on the city's network around 5 a.m., New Orleans chief information officer Kim LaGrue said during a press conference. By 11 a.m., technician investigators detected "a cybersecurity incident" and the city's information technology department began powering down servers and city computers as a precaution, the New Orleans Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness said in a series of tweets. While ransomware was detected, no ransom has been demanded in the cyberattack, Cantrell said.

December 7 is a solemn day for the U.S. Navy and in our nation’s history. This year marked the 78th anniversary of the attacks on Pearl Harbor, when our nation entered a World War with a devastated naval fleet. After Pearl Harbor, and facing a grave threat, our country came together to rebuild the fleet, which ultimately helped win the war. And just as it has throughout history, the Navy continues to defy the odds and innovate in order to remain the most powerful force on the world’s seas. More than ever, we need to build for the future and...