Category: Sci/Tech

No word on the SETI@Home project yet, but participants in the Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search have discovered the largest prime number yet, which is so large that it would take about 1500 pages just to print it out. Participants in the program volunteered the use of “spare cycles” on their computers to search for numbers, and after several years Michael Shafer of Michigan State University finally found it. Of course, it’s really nothing that he did personally, but everyone who participated deserves some credit for helping out. Check out the full story at Salon (subscription required).

Apparently Washington’s all abuzz with the idea that Cheney and Bush are planning to announce a new initiative for NASA, probably with a new mission to the Moon.

But the timing of this move seems particularly suspicious. With the war in Afghanistan forgotton, and the war in Iraq going badly, this seems like an administration ploy to set up an easy victory: let’s invade the one place that has no defenders — the Moon!

Not only would the mission to the Moon cost billions of dollars, adding to our already record-level deficits, but it would draw valuable resources away from a variety of military and domestic initiatives. It would also reward a variety of industries that are heavy contributors to the Bush campaign, which is no doubt an unstated objective of the plan.

Going to the Moon is a fool’s errand. In peacetime the space program gives the nation direction and provides money for industrial and technological innovation that spurs achievements in a wide selection of sectors. In war time, and when the country is in deep financial trouble, proposing to go to the moon is an obvious ploy to turn attention away from our problems and turn them towards easier successes. It worked for Kennedy, but that was a different time. We were in a cold war, and funding the space race was a way to make ourselves look like a powerful but peaceful nation while channeling money into technology that would benefit both civilian space tech and military tech as well. But this isn’t the 60’s and Bush isn’t Kennedy. Not by a moon-shot.

The above is my opinion, and is not necessarily shared by StreetTech or its corporate sponsors (um, who are the sponsors again?). Agree? Disagree? Comment!

President Bush today signs the 21st Century Nanotechnology Research and Development Act, giving nanotech research $3.7 billion over the next four years. While many of the practical applications of nanotech have yet to be realized, the technology of machine miniturization could yield some very cool technologies in the future. Microscrubbing toothpaste ‘bots and self-replicating hair weaves are among the most ambitious of the things that nanotech has to offer, though that may be a long way off.

If you thought having an Aibo was the highest tech pet you could get, you’d be wrong. Check out the genmod guppie (okay, actually it’s a zebra fish) which has been enhanced with the genes of phosphorescent corral so that it is bright red in daylight and glows at night. Available, barring government intervention, sometime in January, these fishy little fishies will retail for about $5. Don’t think you can just get a couple and grow a whole tankfull — while the genes for glowing in the dark are carried on to offspring, like most genmods these guys are patented.

While I think the idea of genetically modified fish is pretty darn cool, I’m surprised that there is no governmental agency responsible for their oversight. Apparently if it’s not being eaten or used to produce medications there’s nothing that stands in the way of making any kind of wierdo pet you want and selling it on the open market, regardless of environmental impact.

That said, I’ll be the first to sign up when they offer this mod for humans — how cool would it be to glow in the dark!

Update: To answer the questions of those wondering about the EULA that comes with these, a company spokesperson has responded:

“– The fish are not sterile. When they reproduce their color is passed along to their offspring.

There is no provision over users breeding the fish, however, it is illegal for any entity other than Yorktown Technologies L.P. to sell them. – This is covered by a variety of patents and permissions secured by Yorktown.”

And here I was being all cynical about corporate America — silly me!

Fascinating press release from Arizona State University about a biologist’s studies in emergent behavior among social insects (ants, bees, termites) and humans. The reigning theory is that these complex social organizations (in insects and in humans) arise from evolutionary processes and natural section, but the incredible simplicity and individual stupidity of individual insects (er…and humans?) argues for some other mechanism. Jennifer Fewell, author of the study, believes that it is network dynamics that can create extremely complex social structures built upon very simple connections between individuals. The release states:

Though social networks are commonly thought of as evolutionary adaptations, Fewell turns this idea on its head by proposing that the network forms first, following the logic and pattern of group connections, then adaptation follows to strengthen the pattern. Social organization, seen in this light, is essentially an emergent property that comes from the network’s geometry – a natural pattern to which organisms adapt.

Incredible as it may sound, Dubai is planning an underwater hotel that will cost up to half a billion to build. With about 220 rooms, the Hydropolis Hotel will entertain guests with underwater views, a half-submerged concert hall, snorkeling and of course a plastic surgery clinic. Oh yeah, and they’re going to have some sort of marine biology lab too. Guests will get to the hotel by way of a train travelling through a 1/3-mile long plexiglass tube. Living with the fishes won’t come cheap: rooms will cost up to $5500 a night. Reserve now for the planned 2006 opening.

A consortium of 30 Japanese companies are planning on working together (yeah, like that ever happens) to produce a robot exoskeleton that can be worn by the infirm, elderly or handicapped people. A prototype of HAL-3 (Hybrid Assistive Legs) has been developed by Yoshiyuki Sankai, professor and engineer at Tsukuba University. Developers hope that by the time these devices come to market, they will be "thin enough to be worn like underwear and will allow users to run and move…freely."

Via Protein Feed

What do you get when you cross a bathtub rubber duckie, a Mrs. Butterworth’s bottle and the Honda Asimo? Apparently, you get the latest robot prototype, "wakamaru," Mitsubishi’s answer to Sony and Honda’s perennially-prototypical robots.

Dispensing with the whole walking thing, wakamaru motors around on wheels. The bot is basically an Internet node on wheels and will be able to read you your mail, let you shop online from the couch ("Wakamaru, go to Amazon and get me that awesome new robot book by Gareth Branwyn I’ve heard so much about. Whatya mean it sucks? What are you a critic, now?"), let you monitor your house from a Web browser while you’re away — the usual promised functions (for which you REALLY don’t need a luxury-car-priced robot!). The robot will also allegedly recognize 10,000 words (Japanese words, that is), recognize a dozen or so faces, and will be self-charging,

A fascinating twist on robot navigation, the wakamaru maps the ceilings of rooms (rather than the usual floors) to get its bearings (and then uses infrared and ultrasonic sensors for obstacle avoidance).

The name "wakamaru" comes from the famous Japanese samurai Minamoto Yoshitsune "whose childhood name was "Ushi-wakamaru" and who reminds us of "growth" and "development." Two sensors on the forehead represent the trademark eyebrows of this character." Hopefully, the name also doesn’t remind us of clean, effortless beheadings with one graceful swipe of a Katana blade.

If it’s not on your radar already, check out Cory Doctorow’s awesome coverage of O’Reilly’s Emerging Technology Conference on bOINGbOING.

While Dennis Tito may be able to buy his way into space for a cool $20 mil, what about the rest of us? It may be awhile before a burger-flipper from Des Moines gets to have a space vacation, but with the announcement of SpaceShipOne at least he’s a little closer. SpaceShipOne, designed by Voyager designer Burt Rutan’s company Scaled, looks to be a likely candidate for first 3-person private spaceship to make a suborbital run. That would make eligible for the X-Prize of $10 million. SpaceShipOne is a two stage spacecraft; the first stage (called White Knight, pictured left at top) uses traditional jet power and aerodynamic lift to get up to altitude, then releasing SpaceShipOne (pictured left hung below WhiteKnight), which then kicks in the rubber-nitrous hybrid rocket to thrust to 62 miles above the Earth. Once in space, SpaceShipOne then rotates its wings outwards in “whirley-gig” mode and returns to Earth. White Knight has been tested, but Rutan’s mum about when the first actual space flight will be. No word on price per flight either, but it’s sure to cost more than $5.25 per pound.