Important Innovations

Pizza Hut's Pie Maker on the Road with Zero Emissions Source:  Pizza Hut As Fresh as It Gets - Green Pizza Pizza Hut has a prototype robot that cooks pizza on the way to customers' homes.  It's a mobile pizza factory in a Toyota pickup truck.. The pizzas are as fresh as they can get. Zero Emissions Pizzas The pizza robot with 4 wheels includes a refrigerator, a pair of robotic arms and a portable conveyor oven.  The system runs on the truck's hydrogen fuel electric powertrain.  It was unveiled at the SEMA show on automotive specialty products in Las Vegas.  It's a green delivery system of green pizzas with zero emissions. "The Kitchen" The robotic pizza system is called "The Kitchen" and Pizza Hut thinks it has the potential to deliver fresher pizzas to wider delivery areas.  Futuristic means of food delivery are in vogue.   Uber reportedly is looking into delivering food by drones.  And Alphabet, Google's parent, is teamed w

Human and Machine Interactions Source:  DARPA Supersonic Jet DARPA and Sikorsky Autonomy Flights The US Defense Department's Advanced Research Projects Agency, DARPA, and Sikorsky are demonstrating ways for pilots to interact with autonomy.  The purpose is to help military pilots build trust and confidence in autonomous flight systems.  The progressive training is being performed in simulated military missions in Virginia. This will have eventual impact on commercial passenger flight too. Building Pilot Trust for Autonomous Systems This is part of DARPA's Aircrew Labor in-Crew Automation System (ALIAS) program.  DARPA believes that cockpit assistance builds pilots' trust in autonomy.  The October 2018 flights started introducing pilot inceptors as a way for them to interact with the autonomous system in addition to a tablet interface for interaction.  The pilot is in command and can choose to engage autonomy to help operate, plan, adjust or execute responsibilit

Musk New Track to United Arab Emirates Source:  Hyperloop to Dubai Innovators Journeys Elon Musk's startup Hyperloop Transportation Technologies has announced it has another destination to deliver hyperloops..  It's going to build a commercial Hyperloop track, an XO Square Innovation Center and Hyperloop Experience Center in Abu Dhabi, the capitol city of the United Arab Emirates.  It appears that long train track of innovation is starting at six miles from Dubai to Abu Dhabi.  The trip would take 12 minutes.  What a great journey of innovation and entrepreneurship! Competition from Virgin Musk Hyperloop and its competing startup Virgin Hyperloop One have each about $200 million in investment respectively.  They're in competition right now.  The Virgin Group is going to build a test track for its "Kitty Hawk" in Dubai.   All-aboard and stay tuned. Hyperloop Green Machine Hyperloop is a highly advanced green means of transportation.  It is composed

YuMi, the Robot Conductor, to Do Duty on Factory Floor Source:  ABB's YuMi conducting Lucca Philharmonic Orchestra in Italy ABB's New Shanghai  Robot Factory At the new ABB robot factory in China, the Swiss engineering group will use robots to make robots.  It's a $150 million, state of the art facility in Shanghai that the company just announced today.  ABB is building the factory to strategically secure and defend its place as China's largest maker of industrial robots.  YuMi, the highly acclaimed robot conductor, will be part of the workforce.  YuMi humanoid robots are designed to work side by side with people. China 2020 The new factory will open in 2020.  It's close to ABB's China robotics campus.  It will build robots for China and for export elsewhere in Asia.  China is ABB's #2 market after the US. Shanghai Global Technology Center In a statement announcing the project, ABB CEO Ulrich Spiesshofer said:  "Shanghai has become a vital

 Innovative Bird Brains Source:  Max Planck Institute Max-Planck Institute and Oxford University Discoveries Scientists at the renowned Max-Planck Institute of Science in Germany and Oxford University in the UK have researched and shown how New Caledonian crows combine single wood parts and build long distance stick tools. It's a remarkable discovery. Crows are able to combine individual parts to form a tool to work on what they want at a distance.  It proves a crow's brain is something significant and very special. Only humans and great apes have been able to do this. Scientific Significance - Brilliant Crows The tools that the crows create are compound tools and complex, designed solely by them to reach at long distances.  The birds are able to combine two or more otherwise non-functional elements to reach their goal.  Until now, that's a task only humans and great apes have been able to do. Crows Calling What the New Caledonian crows are able to do is an am

Cleveland Clinic Landmark Research Source:  Stock Photo Cardiorespiratory Fitness is Key Here's another great reason to even more enjoy your favorite exercise like running or biking.  It's now proven to lead to a longer life.  Researchers at the renowned Cleveland Clinic have found that cardiorespiratory fitness leads to a longer life.  And they say there are no limits to the benefits of aerobic fitness. Substantive, Long Term Research Results This is a very substantive study.  The research team retrospectively studied testing results on 122,007 patients who exercised on treadmills.  The time frame is from January 1, 1991 thru December 31, 2014... almost 2 decades.  The researchers measured all causes of mortality relating to fitness and exercise. Aerobic Fitness Extends Life The researchers say aerobic fitness is the key to a long life.  And there is no limit on how much exercise is too much.  According to the study's key author, cardiologist Wae

Breakthru for VR & AR - New Ultra Lite Gloves Source:  ETH Zurich Enables Touching Virtual Objects for Real It's the ultra-lite glove that's less than 8 grams per finger.  The gloves enable you to feel, grasp and manipulate virtual objects.  The system developed by Swiss scientists provides extremely realistic feedback and could run on a tiny battery. That allows unparalleled freedom of movements for VR and AR.  This is a big development in VR, AR tech. Global Quest for This Tech Globally for years, scientists, engineers, and software developers have been trying to achieve what the scientists at ETH Zurich and EPFL have just done.  It's the quest for tech that lets users grasp, touch and manipulate virtual objects while feeling they're touching something real. Swiss Scientific Achievement The gloves are called DextrES.  They've been successfully tested on volunteers and will be presented at  an upcoming international symposium.  The gloves are comp

Emory University's Dog Project Source:  Emory University - Eddie in an MRI Fido's Brain Scientists at Emory University have concluded that dogs have at the very minimum a basic neural representation of the meaning of words they've been taught.  They differentiate between words they know and those they've never heard before. Brain Imaging with Owners On Hand Giving Commands This is one of the first studies using brain imaging to study how dogs process words associated with objects.  We all know dogs learn to understand and obey verbal commands.  But there is no substantive scientific evidence on how they do it. Eddie and Friends 11 dogs joined Eddie, pictured above, in the Dog Project, along with their owners.  The dogs were trained to voluntarily enter an MRI and remain motionless without any sedation while scanning occured.  2 objects, a stuffed animal and rubber toy, were used to monitor how the dogs associated the objects with words.  The MRI's sho

Terrafugia's Transition Goes to Market  Source:  Terrafugia Flying & Driving in 2019 Terrafugia's Transition is the world's first FAA and NTSB approved flying car.  The company is taking orders for it.  The driving/flying vehicle is a smart looking 2-seater that will be delivered to customers in 2019.  The US is one of the first markets where it's available. MIT Engineering, Now Chinese Owned Terrafugia was founded in 2006 by a group of MIT engineers.  It's now a wholly owned subsidiary of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group of China, which also owns Volvo. Details on  Hybrid Electric Vehicle The Transition has foldable wings while on the ground and driving.  For driving, a hybrid electric powertrain provides propulsion.  It converts to a flying machine in less than a minute.   Flight is powered by a 4-cylinder petrol engine. Speed and Altitud e According to the company, the vehicle can fly at a cruising speed of 100 mph to an altitude of 10,000 fee

First Proof of What Quantum Computing Can Deliver Source:  IBM 4 Superconducting Quantum Bit Device Global Research Results Scientists from the Technical University of Munich, IBM and the University of Waterloo have demonstrated that quantum computing offers big advantages over conventional computers.  They've developed a quantum circuit that can solve an unsolvable problem using any equivalent classical circuit. It's being called the first proof of what quantum computing can deliver. This news is just in. Not Promises, Just Results Experts believe this is a landmark in the field of what quantum computing can deliver. Many governments, companies, research organizations and universities are investing in quantum technology.  What this team developed is a quantum circuit that solves a specific "difficult" algebraic problem.  It's making news and is quantum computing to be aware of.

Utah's Pando Forest at 80,000 Years Old is Dying Source:  Utah Pando Aspen Forest Scientific Warning Utah's Pando Aspen tree forest is ancient and considered to be the largest living thing in our world.  New scientific research says it's dying. Unique and Beautiful The Pando aspens are majestic.  They are an expanse of 40,000 trees dating back 80,000 years. The aspen trees are clones identical in composition.  They cover 106 acres in Utah's Fish Lake National Forest.  Scientists believe they have one root system and they are all dying. Causes Ecologists from Utah State University say the reasons are drought, fire, climate change, human development and animal encroachments.  The good news is the scientists believe  the decline is reversible if there is a will to do it. They believe reversal is realizable.

Humanoid Robot Brother of SpotMini,  the Dancing Robot Source:  Boston Dynamics https://youtu.be/LikxFZZO2sk   for Atlas Doing Parkour <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/LikxFZZO2sk" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe> Boston Dynamics Robotic Innovation Atlas is a humanoid robot developed by Boston Dynamics.  It's a "brother" robot of SpotMini, the dancing robot also known as Uptown Spot. Parkour, Software and Computer Vision Atlas does parkour military exercises with ease.   The robot's software uses the entire body including arms, legs and torso to jump over a log and leap up stairs without breaking stride.  It uses computer vision to position itself accurately as it runs and jumps to target destinations.   Thought you might enjoy seeing one of the world's most agile and dynamic robots in action.  The link is

Boston Dynamics "I've Got Talent" Robot SpotMini Dancing https://youtu.be/kHBcVlqpvZ8 https://youtu.be/kHBcVlqpvZ8 Source:  Boston Dynamics' Spot MIni Making Musician Bruno Mars Proud SpotMini the robot not only wows when it opens doors.  It wows dancing to Bruno Mars' 2014 hit song Uptown Funk.  SpotMini even does a moonwalk.  It's brilliant robotics and the stuff superstars are made of. Uptown Spot The video is called Uptown Spot. I've embedded it for you to see.   If you have a minute to see Spot dance, you'll be delighted and mesmerized.  Boston Dynamics hasn't disclosed how they achieved the robot's natural movements and tremendous agility. Spot Goes on Sale in 2019 SpotMini goes to market and up for sale to customers in 2019.  Boston Dynamics was recently purchased from Google by SoftBank.  This is the first time in Boston Dynamics' 26 year history that it's offered a robot for purchase. They say SpotMini is f