Posts tagged Daily
Read/Write Daily: What We Don’t Know
May 3rd
Today’s theme is what we don’t know. Scientists are staring out into the vastness of space and down at the tiniest particles, trying to figure out what the universe is made of.
Every time they think they’re right, they’re wrong.
Today’s physics say that dark matter basically has to exist, but we’re looking for it in obvious places, and we can’t find it.
We’re so mixed up about dark matter that Matthew Francis wonders whether cosmology is in shambles.
Whole new theories of space and time are coming out lately, but physicists wonder if “we’re just too dumb” to figure them out.
Meanwhile, CERN is discovering new particles, which could send us straight back to the drawing board.
On the other end of the scale, we’re looking for definitive images of supermassive black holes…
… and we’re getting some tantalizing glimpses.
Image via Shutterstock.
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Read/Write Daily: Life Forms
May 2nd
Today’s theme is life forms. We use technology to improve ourselves, but underneath all the gadgets and wires, we’re still the same hairy animals.
Is there something special about human beings?
Kevin Drum doesn’t think we’re special. He thinks human intelligence boils down to something pretty mundane.
In fact, some UCLA researchers have found that our gut instincts are smarter than our rational minds in some ways.
But it’s not that simple. It looks like humans are still evolving at a pretty good clip.
The mysteries of the genome still haven’t been unlocked, but we’re working on it.
DNA and RNA might not be necessary for life at all.
We shouldn’t jump to conclusions about whether humankind is special. It might be the case that life in the universe is just getting started.
Image via Shutterstock.
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Read/Write Daily: Creative Destruction
May 1st
Today’s theme is creative destruction. Unfortunately, many of the most important technological innovations start off as weapons of war. Peacetime applications may come later, but the military is always on the cutting edge.
These links are straight out of science fiction.
The U.S. and Russia have made a deal to repurpose Cold War communications technology for a 21st-century mission: cybersecurity.
More details have emerged about the secret design of the Stealth Black Hawk helicopter that went down during the raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound.
The U.S. has “relaxed” its rules concerning drone airstrikes, so don’t expect those to lighten up anytime soon.
Boeing is testing a hydrogen-powered drone called Phantom Eye.
Some crazy Russians have strapped a machine gun on a remote-controlled quadrotor.
Here’s video of DARPA’s Cheetah, the fastest robot on Earth.
Image via Shutterstock.
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Read/Write Daily: Beyond Moore’s Law
Apr 30th
Today’s theme is beyond Moore’s Law. For almost 50 years, tech has progressed under the dogma that computing power will double every two years. But Moore’s Law is approaching its physical limit.
What comes next?
Physicist and futurist Michio Kaku explains the physical limits of Moore’s Law.
Computing after Moore’s Law will exploit the weird properties of quantum mechanics. Check out this hand-drawn diagram of the photon double-slit experiment.
We’re still discovering bizarre quantum effects, such as the ability to alter results that were measured earlier in time.
Simulations have begun to show that these effects can be harnessed for information processing in powerful ways.
Scientists have engineered a tiny crystal that blows the previous quantum-computing experiments out of the water.
Engineers are getting better at working on nanoscale chips. Canadian scientists have made a working mobile medical lab on a finger-sized chip.
Image via Shutterstock.
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Read/Write Daily: The New Space Race
Apr 28th
Today’s theme is the new space race. Humankind is approaching a crossroads in space exploration. The U.S. government is pulling back, but other governments have stepped their game up.
And lately, the private tech industry has shown some ambition, as well.
There are more dramatic photos today of a space shuttle being ferried to its final resting place.
NASA is pulling back from other projects, too, including the European Space Agency’s solar orbiter program.
But private companies like SpaceX and Planetary Resources have made detailed, believable plans for space flight.
Yesterday, Wired interviewed SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk to discuss those plans.
There are so many mysteries left out there! Scientists have begun to wonder whether Jupiter has a solid core.
And the HiRISE spacecraft has photographed some beautiful, snail-shell shaped lava flows on Mars.
Image via Shutterstock.
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SWIMMING: Crescenta Valley stars shine bright in last race – Los Angeles Daily News
Apr 27th
 Glendale News Press |
SWIMMING: Crescenta Valley stars shine bright in last race
Los Angeles Daily News Wojciechowski, Thai and Seo cap strong meet with 400 free relay win to hold off rival Hart 86-84. By Erik Boal Staff Writer SANTA CLARITA — The depth of the Hart boys' swim team kept the Indians in contention to complete an unbeaten regular season … CV edges past nonleague rival |
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Read/Write Daily: Shifting Perspective
Apr 26th
Today’s theme is shifting perspective. We’re changing our outside world faster than ever, but inside we haven’t changed much in thousands of years.
Are we ready for the future we’re building?
For all our social networking and interest graphs, we still don’t have a clue about the basics of mating.
But maybe the humans of the future just haven’t grown up yet. Thirteen year-old Aidan Dwyer made a super-efficient solar-power array that mimics nature by himself.
Meanwhile, grown-ups are still arguing over visions of the future from a hundred years ago.
We still don’t have a good perspective on the whole planet. Have we forgotten the reasons we first left Earth?
Our advanced physics may have rendered philosophy and religion obsolete. But they don’t explain the human condition. How will we do that?
Image via Shutterstock
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Read/Write Daily: Human Evolution
Apr 24th
Today’s theme is human evolution. Nature is still the ultimate guide, but humankind is uniquely capable of putting technological pressure on our own evolution.
How’s that going for us?
Boston Dynamics is ready to announce a Cyborg Age. Check out its superhuman robot, PETMAN.
Multimedia artist Timo Arnall has made a video of what the world looks like to a robot.
The Marine Corps wants Terminator vision for its grunts on the ground.
D.B. Grady has a great éxpose on the Special Collection Service, the super-high-tech U.S. spy agency that doesn’t officially exist.
Are our minds ready for all this technological enhancement? Alan Watts doubted we can handle it.
But as the Washington Post points out, humans have evolved a psychological advantage that few other species have: middle age.
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Read/Write Daily: Reaching Orbit
Apr 23rd
Today’s theme is reaching orbit. Most human beings have gotten used to the idea of flying through the air by now. Some aspects of human flight feel downright old and outdated. But the cutting edge of flight still demonstrates the highest heights of human technology.
For most people, flying is still a dreadful slog. Here’s a great breakdown of everything wrong with airport security and how to fix it.
But even for hobbyists, flight still fires the imagination. Check out this footage from a remote-controlled plane.
The craziest-looking aircraft you’ve ever seen, a 16-rotor vertical take-off and landing contraption called the VC1, has taken the Lindbergh Prize for Innovation at an airshow in Germany.
Meanwhile, in the military, behold the lamest fighter jet propaganda video ever.
The Pentagon has released a detailed report on the March 20 in-flight failure of the Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2.
While the U.S. space program is in flux, other players are stepping up. Private space company SpaceX is getting close to launching a rocket that can deliver astronauts to orbit.
The European Space Agency has shared some spellbinding photos from the International Space Station.
Lead image via DARPA
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Read/Write Daily: Cosmic Puzzles
Apr 20th
Today’s theme is cosmic puzzles. The technology that fires our imaginations here at RWW wouldn’t be possible if we didn’t understand fundamental physical laws.
But how well do we really understand them?
Joselle at Mathematics Rising wonders whether all the matter and energy in the universe really just boils down to abstraction. Are we living in a mathematical object?
How could that be? It might help if Edward Witten, “the most intelligent human alive,” explained String Theory to you.
In order to make sense of space itself, scientists have searched high and low for the Higgs boson.
Need a super-simple primer on what the Higgs boson is? Here’s a blog-style slideshow.
On a slightly bigger scale, dark matter is another theoretical placeholder in our model of the universe. Why is there so little of it in our solar system?
Meanwhile, cosmic rays pass through us all the time, but we don’t know where they come from.
The many weird experimental results this week suggest to Sean Carroll that the “big news might be creeping up on us.” It might frustrate the humans, but “the universe loves puzzles.”
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