Today’s Science… Tomorrow’s Future

How cool is it that scientists can retrace our steps as evolving humans?

Watch the mongoose-robot duo

What do you think about this combination of lo and hi tech?

To learn more

Will this lead to cheaper and faster technology?

Read on…

How soon do you think we might see changes based on this technology?

            He (or is it she?)’s got rhythm!

PhD candidate from CMU is wowing folks with his new dancing robot in Denmark, Korea, Japan and now LA.

Watch the video.  What do you think?

From the Associated Press (July 16) –The airplane is the size of a jet fighter, powered by a turboprop engine, able to fly at 300 mph and reach 50,000 feet. It’s outfitted with infrared, laser and radar targeting, and with a ton and a half of guided bombs and missiles.

The Reaper is loaded, but there’s no one on board. Its pilot, as it bombs targets in Iraq, will sit at a video console 7,000 miles away in Nevada.

 The arrival of these outsized U.S. “hunter-killer” drones, in aviation history’s first robot attack squadron, will be a watershed moment even in an Iraq that has seen too many innovative ways to hunt and kill. That moment, one the Air Force will likely low-key, is expected “soon,” says the regional U.S. air commander. How soon?

Finish reading this Associated Press article by Charles Hanley and let us know your thoughts… what do you think of a robot-controlled jet fighter? 

           Climate report for right here in PA - it looks like we have a choice.

What will you choose?

We have the time and the ability to make a difference.

Carbon Footprint is a measure of the impact human activities have on the environment in terms of the amount of green house gases produced, measured in units of carbon dioxide.  The footprint analogy is used because it suggests something we leave behind for generations to come.  You can calculate your own Carbon Footprint by entering values into a special calculator.  These numbers include your electricity, gas, oil, and car usage over a year’s time. 

Find your carbon footprint!    Share with us your findings!

Many people question what climate change is and how it is affecting the earth. 

 Climate change  is often used to describe a significant change in the earth’s climate.  Global warming is often used to describe the same thing. Climate change represents a change in these long-term weather patterns. They can become warmer or colder. Annual amounts of rainfall or snowfall can increase or decrease.

 Climate change, in current terms, refers to the warming of our climate in a relatively short period of time.  The warming is due to natural processes – and human activities contribute to the acceleration of some and the increased dire consequences of others. 

 An example of a current climate change is the unprecedented changes in the Antarctic Peninsula.  The Antarctic Peninsula is now the fastest warming region on earth. Temperatures have risen by 5 degrees during the last 50 years. In 2002, a massive ice shelf collapsed in a matter of days, raising fears that other shelves could eventually crumble and hasten the flow of grounded ice into the ocean, thus raising sea levels and swamping coastal communities around the world.

What other global problems do you think climate change can cause?

Live Earth  is nearly here!  Live Earth is a 24-hour series of concerts taking place on July 7 that will bring together more than 100 musical acts in an effort acknowledge the climate crisis and begin to act on a global scale.   

   This global event will feature a concert on every continent, including an outdoor concert in Antarctica!  An estimated 2 billion people will tune in worldwide via the Web (liveearth.msn.com), on television, and on the radio.   Pittsburgh is hosting its own version of Live Earth – GreenFest Pittsburgh  on July 7th.  Local favorite Donnie Iris is headlining the event, along with Good Brother Earl and The Switch.   What do you think about the Live Earth event? 

Carnegie Mellon University named this year’s inductees to its Robot Hall of Fame – and for the first time, most of the honorees are working robots – actual machines.

* Lt. Cmdr. Data, who explored right to life and human/machine philosophies on TV’s “Star Trek: The Next Generation.”  

* Raibert Hopper, developed in the 1980s, that could move with agility, rather than the plodding gait of earlier walking robots. This one-legged device kept hopping, to stay upright.

* NavLab 5, a minivan enhanced with computers and video sensors at CMU that drove itself cross-country in 1995. The “No Hands Across America” experiment was the longest road trip to date by an autonomous vehicle.

* Lego Mindstorms, programmable building bricks with electric motors, sensors and structural parts, all in a building kit that is as much fun for grownups as for kids.

…Very good choices – do you agree?