Filed under: Architecture, Artificial Intelligence, Augmented Reality, Brave New World, Connections, Expert systems, Mars, Predictions, Science, Science Fiction, tech | Tags: AIA, architecture, augmented reality, Blaine Brownell, blogging, Communion of Dreams, Harvard, jim downey, Mars, microbots, predictions, robotics, science, Science Fiction, swarm, technology, writing, Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering
Another interesting item about developing the technology to create a useful swarm of small robots:
Harvard Researchers Create a Nature-Inspired Robotic Swarm
Some scientists believe that the way to solve the flocking enigma is to replicate it. Researchers at Harvard University’s Wyss Institute and School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) recently developed a micro-scaled robotic technology that enables a controlled, flash mob–like assembly. In August, the team led by Harvard computer-science professors Radhika Nagpal and Fred Kavli demonstrated the ability of 1,000 robots to self-organize into user-selected shapes, such as a five-pointed starfish and the letter K.
* * *
“Increasingly, we’re going to see large numbers of robots working together, whether it’s hundreds of robots cooperating to achieve environmental cleanup or a quick disaster response, or millions of self-driving cars on our highways,” Nagpal said in the press release. “Understanding how to design ‘good’ systems at that scale will be critical.”
One provocative concept is the possibility of building and infrastructure construction that is carried out by thousands of self-organizing modules. Although many technical hurdles remain, this notion is especially intriguing in the case of hazardous and other challenging settings. In the near term, we will likely witness simple, one-story pavilions built from a collection of mobile robotic bricks to create emergency relief shelters following natural disasters.
Hmm … seems I’ve heard about that idea before someplace. Oh, yeah, from Communion of Dreams:
They were, in essence, enclosing the entire planet in a greenhouse of glass fabric and golden plasteel. It was going to take generations to finish, even using mass microbots and fabricating the construction materials from the Martian sands. Tens of thousands of the specially programmed microbots, a few centimeters long and a couple wide, would swarm an area, a carpet of shifting, building insects. As each cell was finished, it was sealed, joined to the adjacent cells, and then the microbots would move on.
But it is pretty cool to see the work being done to bring that about.
Jim Downey
Filed under: Augmented Reality, BoingBoing, Brave New World, Connections, Cory Doctorow, George Orwell, Philip K. Dick, Predictions, Preparedness, Privacy, RFID, Science Fiction, Society, tech | Tags: A Scanner Darkly, augmented reality, blogging, Boing Boing, BoingBoing, Cory Doctorow, Dave Lewis, Forbes, George Orwell, jim downey, John Dodge, Philip K. Dick, predictions, privacy, RFID, Science Fiction, security, smartphone, St. Cybi's Well, technology, writing
When you see news like this in the mainstream press…
Rogue Cell Towers Could Be Intercepting Your Call
It seems rather far fetched at first glance. There is news that came out last week that rogue cell phone towers around the US are forcing mobile devices to disable their encryption making it possible that someone might be able to listen in to your call. “That could never happen to me,” you think out loud. But, apparently it could.
In 2010 at the DEF CON in Las Vegas, security researcher Chris Paget did the unthinkable. He built a cell tower of his own so that he could spoof legitimate towers and intercept calls.The device would mimic the type used by law enforcement agencies to intercept phone calls. In this case, he was able to build it for roughly $1500 US. Paget’s device would only capture 2G GSM phone calls. Carriers such as AT&TT -0.06% and T-Mobile would be vulnerable as they use GSM, unlike Verizon which relies on CDMA technology.
… it’s easy to feel a little paranoid. But is this a real threat? Has anyone actually seen things like this ‘in the wild’?
Yup:
Rogue ‘Cell Towers’ Can Intercept Your Data; At Least One Found In Chicago
So-called rogue cell phone towers, the type that can intercept your mobile calls and data, are cropping up all over the United States, including here in Chicago, according to a company that specializes in developing highly secure mobile phones.
* * *
CBS 2 security analyst Ross Rice, a former FBI agent, said it’s likely being used illegally.
“I doubt that they are installed by law enforcement as they require a warrant to intercept conversations or data and since the cell providers are ordered by the court to cooperate with the intercept, there really would be no need for this,” Rice said.
“Most likely, they are installed and operated by hackers, trying to steal personal identification and passwords.”
Great. Just great.
Well, what can you do? There are some smart phones out there which are designed to thwart this kind of security threat. And I’ve mentioned another option previously. And now there’s a company with a whole line of clothing based on similar RF-blocking technology:
Kickstarting a line of Orwell-inspired clothes with radio-shielding pockets
“The 1984 Collection” is a line of clothing for men and women with removable, snap-in pockets that act as radio-shields for slipping your devices and tokens (cards, phones, etc) into to stop them from being read when you’re not using them.
Hmm … let’s see, there’s a passage from Chapter One of St Cybi’s Well that comes to mind:
Darnell stepped close to her, said in a low voice, “Give me your hand-held.”
She looked at him, raised an eyebrow. “Why?”
“I don’t want to make it too easy for anyone to listen in.”
“Really, Dar, or is this some kind of joke?”
“Really.”
She looked him in the eye, pulled her phone out of her small purse, held it out to him. “Here.”
“Either turn it off or put it into offline mode.”
She fiddled with it a moment then handed it over. He took it and dropped it into the RF-blocking pocket in his satchel. “Thanks.”
“Couldn’t I just have turned it off?”
“Nope. They can still turn it on remotely and activate the mic. This pocket,” he patted the satchel where he had put the phone, “blocks the signal. It isn’t perfect, but it’s pretty good protection.”
I guess I need to get back into the habit of using my RF-shielding pocket.
Jim Downey
Filed under: Artificial Intelligence, Brave New World, Connections, DARPA, Expert systems, Google, Government, Guns, Predictions, Science, Science Fiction, tech, Violence | Tags: 30mm cannon, artificial intelligence, blogging, DARPA, drone, Dune, Frank Herbert, Google, Hunter-seeker, jim downey, Ma Deuce, Mil-Tech, Predator, predictions, science, Science Fiction, technology, The Atlantic
Yeah, it’s cool and all, but I can’t be the only one who looked at the news about Google X’s Drone Program …
A zipping comes across the sky.
A man named Neil Parfitt is standing in a field on a cattle ranch outside Warwick, Australia. A white vehicle appears above the trees, a tiny plane a bit bigger than a seagull. It glides towards Parfitt, pitches upwards to a vertical position, and hovers near him, a couple hundred feet in the air. From its belly, a package comes tumbling downward, connected by a thin line to the vehicle itself. Right before the delivery hits the ground, it slows, hitting the earth with a tap.
… and thinks “generation 1.0 Hunter-seeker“, right? I mean, this basically jumps from needing a large military drone to having a backpack assassination tool. Why worry about collateral damage with a missile when you can just drop a cigarette-pack lump of high explosive in someone’s lap, using a cell phone and facial-recognition software to make sure of your specific target?
Or how I look at the self-driving car and think “hmm, add a Ma Deuce and/or 30mm cannon, and you’ve a small autonomous tank”.
Yeah, OK, perhaps I’m just too cynical. But human nature being what it is, you’ve gotta think that there was a reason why DARPA has been behind the development of these technologies …
Jim Downey
Filed under: Art, Book Conservation, tech, University of Missouri | Tags: 1480, art, blogging, book conservation, bookbinding, incunabula, jim downey, Legacy Bookbindery, technology, Thomas Aquinas, University of Missouri
Been a little while since I did a book conservation post. So let’s have some fun.
Recently I had this item come in for some minor work: Summa contra gentiles by Thomas Aquinas, printed in Venice in 1480. That makes it an incunabula, one of the relatively rare books published before 1501 (in this case, just a quarter century or so after the Gutenberg Bible). Even more noteworthy, this book is still in its original binding. And that binding is in remarkably good condition.
Here’s a pic of the outside of the binding:
Lovely. And an excellent example of bindings of that period. That’s the front cover, a nice very deep red (almost a dark brown to the eye) in goatskin. What I love is the way the binder used fairly simple tools to create an elaborate cover design. Here’s a detail:
And the hardware is wonderful, too. Here’s a detail of the front clasp hardware:
That clasp was designed to receive a simple hook attached to a leather strap mounted on the back, here:
Also, take note of the delightful small brass strip mounted on the corners:
There’s a similar strip mounted to the bottom (called the “tail” in bookbinding) edge of the covers, near the spine of the book on both the front and rear. That protects the cover from excessive wear when the book would be resting in a lectern or something similar for reading (books in this time period were usually shelved on their side):
Cool, eh? But the real treasure of this binding was revealed when I removed the (probably) 19th century endpapers which had been added. Under that was the original structure of the book, showing both the original boards (probably quarter-sawn oak) as well as the way the supporting strips of alum-tawed goatskin of the sewing structure was laced into those boards. Here’s an overview:
And here’s a detail showing how the supporting strips were lain within a small channel carved into the wooden board covers, and then pinned in place using a softer wood or (in this case) other leather:
But equally cool is a detail shot showing the simplicity of how the leather cover comes around the corner of the board:
Lastly, here’s a little detail from one sheet inside:
It’s a little hard to tell what it is you’re seeing there, so let me explain. The darker strip is the outside edge of a piece of vellum which has been adhered to the spine of the text block. This was added *before* the supporting strips of alum-tawed goatskin were laced into the wooden covers, and just serves to help protect the exposed sewing thread.
So, there you have it: a perfect example of late 15th century binding. Just like all the history books (and book conservation training) says it should be, but exposed by me today for the first time in probably 200 years or so.
Fun stuff. Have I mentioned recently how cool my job is?
Jim Downey
Filed under: Connections, Emergency, General Musings, Health, NPR, Pandemic, Predictions, Preparedness, Psychic abilities, Science Fiction, tech, Writing stuff | Tags: bats, blogging, Ebola, health, jim downey, NPR, pandemic, predictions, science, Science Fiction, technology, White Nose Syndrome, writing
News item on NPR this afternoon:
Ebola In The Skies? How The Virus Made It To West Africa
The Ebola outbreak in West Africa is the most explosive in history. One reason the virus spread so fast is that West Africa was blindsided. Ebola had never erupted in people anywhere close to West Africa before.
The type of Ebola causing the outbreak — called Zaire — is the deadliest strain. Until this year, it had been seen only in Central Africa, about 2,500 miles away. That’s about the distance between Boston and San Francisco.
How did it get there?
Disease ecologist says scientists don’t know for sure. But they have a top theory: The virus spread through bats.
Many signs point to bats as the main source of Ebola. Scientists have found Ebola antibodies in bat species that are widespread throughout Africa. The virus infects and replicates inside bats, but it doesn’t kill the animals. So bats can easily spread Ebola.
And bats get around. Some can migrate hundreds, even thousands of miles.
Combine that with the item I posted about earlier … and my mind went in a very odd direction as I was doing some routine work in the bindery this afternoon: what if …
… what if a few years ago someone with some limited precognitive ability (either technological or psychic) was able to foresee an Ebola epidemic which made it to the US and then was spread by our native bat population?
And then what if they decided to do something to stop that epidemic before it ever happened … by decimating the bat population?
Yeah, sometimes the ideas I get kinda scare even me.
Jim Downey
Filed under: Artificial Intelligence, Brave New World, Connections, NPR, Predictions, Science, Science Fiction, tech | Tags: blogging, Communion of Dreams, jim downey, Joe Palca, John von Neumann, microbots, NPR, origami, predictions, robotics, science, Science Fiction, self-replicating machines, technology, video
nor even a simple ‘microbot‘ from Communion of Dreams, but still, this is pretty cool and could lead to either of those technologies:
Transformer Paper Turns Itself Into A Robot. Cool!
Every so often, a scientific paper just begs for a sexy headline.
Consider this study in the current issue of Science: “A Method for Building Self-Folding Machines.” A bit bland, you’ll no doubt agree. A Real-Life, Origami-Inspired Transformer is how the journal’s public affairs department referred to it. Now that’s more like it.
* * *
It’s now possible to print electronic circuits on a flat sheet of paper. So if you use some clever folding techniques (based on the ancient art of paper folding called origami), you can fold these sheets into useful structures — maybe a crab-shaped robot that could scuttle across the floor, or a swan-shaped robot that could really fly.
Kinda like the beastie up above there. The really clever bit was using a thermal-activated material called a shape memory polymer which would cause the paper (or whatever material) to fold as needed. So you basically create flat-pack robots which can be remotely activated into a useful machine as needed.
It’s fun living in the future.
Jim Downey
*Named after John von Neumann, who among many other impressive accomplishments was instrumental in developing the concept of self-replicating machines. The term has been commonly used this way in Science Fiction for decades.
Filed under: Art, Connections, Failure, Feedback, NASA, Promotion, Publishing, Science, Science Fiction, Space, tech, Writing stuff | Tags: art, blogging, Communion of Dreams, direct publishing, feedback, jim downey, NASA, promotion, rejection, science, Science Fiction, space, St. Cybi's Well, technology, writing
Good news! This morning the bidding opened on the auction I mentioned the other day, and I understand that there’s already something of a bidding war on some of the “become immortal” options I offered:
Be Famous! Have your name (or the name of a loved one, pet, etc) included in my next novel! Can be a character, a named place (manor/restaurant/pub), a book title/author, et cetera. Any sort of name you wish.
You have three choices:
-
Passing mention. Five available.
-
Name and some description. Three available.
-
Tertiary character, who will have some dialog & interaction with other characters. One available.
Yay! Thanks for the vote of confidence, and for helping out my friend!
* * *
I’ve seen several preliminary news items on this, and it’s … intriguing.
Nasa validates ‘impossible’ space drive
Nasa is a major player in space science, so when a team from the agency this week presents evidence that “impossible” microwave thrusters seem to work, something strange is definitely going on. Either the results are completely wrong, or Nasa has confirmed a major breakthrough in space propulsion.
Very intriguing. Basically, this is the third test conducted on a theoretical reactionless drive, with NASA (British publications consider it stylistically appropriate to just capitalize the first letter) doing the independent testing of previous claims. It’ll be interesting to see what comes out of this.
* * *
From three months back:
…but the other is far enough along that I’ll share: there’s a literary agent who is potentially interested in representing me, something which I have been thinking about for a while.
***
I’ll keep you posted as to any concrete developments.
Well, I just got a very nice note back from said agent, who complimented me in several ways but said that he wasn’t going to represent me after all.
Rejection is part of the game, and any writer or artist has to come to terms with that, or you might as well just give up. As I told a friend earlier:
He’s gotta do what he thinks makes business sense – when I ran the gallery, I had to turn down hundreds of artists who wanted us to represent them. And as I told them, just because I wasn’t going to rep them didn’t in any way mean that their work wasn’t quality. So I understand the equation from both sides of the = sign …
Still … I think I might take the rest of the afternoon off.
Do something nice for my friend. Go place a bid on something which interests you.
Jim Downey
Filed under: Astronomy, Brave New World, Connections, General Musings, NPR, Predictions, Science, Science Fiction, SETI, Space, tech, Titan | Tags: Arecibo, astronomy, blogging, Communion of Dreams, Duncan Lorimer, jim downey, Joe Palca, NPR, Parkes Observatory, predictions, radio astronomy, Robert Gish, Science Fiction, SETI, space, Titan
Interesting news item on NPR this morning:
Close Encounters Of The Radio Kind? Mystery Bursts Baffle Astronomers
Astronomers have a mystery on their hands. Two large radio telescopes, on opposite sides of the planet, have detected very brief, very powerful bursts of radio waves.
Right now, astronomers have no idea what’s causing these bursts or where they’re coming from. And nothing has been ruled out at the moment — not even the kind of outrageous claims you’d expect to see in tabloid headlines.
* * *
As you would imagine, there’s been lots of speculation about what’s behind these mysterious bursts. Some astronomers think they’re caused by blitzars, pulses of energy from a supermassive star collapsing into a black hole. Others think they may be caused by power solar flares coming from stars nearer by.
And Lorimer says he has to mention it: “There’s even been discussions in the literature about signatures from extraterrestrial civilizations.”
From Chapter 1 of Communion of Dreams when news of the discovery of an evidently alien artifact on Titan is being discussed:
The man sitting next to him got up, stepped up to the holo of the artifact still rotating there in the center. Robert Gish was a little unkempt, his beard untrimmed, his dark hair matted. He was out of shape, almost flabby in appearance. His scientific reputation was as unconventional as his looks. More so. He had been responsible for the radical change in long-range sensing which led to the development of the Advanced Survey Array. Nobel Prize stuff. A true genius, not just brilliant but able and willing to make leaps that took others years to understand. Which was why Bradsen had him here: Gish had been saying for decades that there was other intelligent life among the stars. Saying it so loud and so often that he was considered a crank, since he had no proof and couldn’t even really explain why he believed it to be so, at least in a way that others could accept.
Reaching out as though he was going to touch the object, he said quietly “We know what it is. It is a crack in our shell.”
Interesting news, indeed.
Jim Downey
Filed under: Astronomy, Brave New World, Emergency, Fireworks, General Musings, Humor, NASA, Predictions, Preparedness, SCA, Science, Science Fiction, Society, Space, Steampunk, Survival, tech | Tags: blogging, Daniel Baker, humor, jim downey, NASA, predictions, preppers, SCA, science, Science Fiction, solar storm, space, Steampunk, Sun, survival, technology
Just think — all the folks who are prepping to deal with some global emergency almost got a chance to see how well their theories work in practice. My friends who are into Steampunk and the SCA would have reigned supreme!
Earth survived near-miss from 2012 solar storm: NASA
Back in 2012, the Sun erupted with a powerful solar storm that just missed the Earth but was big enough to “knock modern civilization back to the 18th century,” NASA said.
The extreme space weather that tore through Earth’s orbit on July 23, 2012, was the most powerful in 150 years, according to a statement posted on the US space agency website Wednesday.
* * *
“If the eruption had occurred only one week earlier, Earth would have been in the line of fire,” said Daniel Baker, professor of atmospheric and space physics at the University of Colorado.
Ah well. Better luck next time!
Jim
Filed under: Alzheimer's, Amazon, Health, Kindle, Marketing, Promotion, Publishing, tech | Tags: Alzheimer's, Amazon, blogging, care-giving, dementia, direct publishing, free, health, Her Final Year, hospice, jim downey, John Bourke, Kindle, promotion, technology
Today’s the last day to snag a free copy of the Kindle edition of Her Final Year! Remember, you don’t need an actual Kindle to take advantage of this — Amazon has a free Kindle emulator/app for just about any phone, tablet, laptop, or computer out there, and it will sync up with your Amazon account so you can read the same book across many different platforms without any trouble whatsoever. You can find full information there on the page for Her Final Year.
So, get it. Read it. Share it.
Jim Downey
Communion Of Dreams 