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Graphene is a single layer of graphite — also known as that soft material commonly found in pencil lead — with the atoms arranged in a honeycomb-like, hexagonal pattern. While that description is decidedly unexciting, graphene is actually emerging as one of science’s most versatile new materials. Just one atom thick (or thin, depending on how you think about it), graphene is among the strongest materials in the known universe, with 100 times the strength of steel, an astonishing amount of flexibility, and a whole lot of other talents lurking beneath the surface. Do you remember that classic scene from...

In case you haven’t noticed, Silicon Valley is obsessed with health, or at least the appearance of health. You can see evidence of it just about everywhere, including internet-connected juicers and new medical “breakthroughs,” but rarely is a new trend as obviously flawed as “raw water.” Raw water is untreated, unfiltered water pulled from Earth and bottled for consumption by people willing to pay absurd prices for it. The best part? It’s probably going to make them all sick anyway. Unlike other healthy eating trends, like consuming only raw fruits and vegetables or insisting upon antibiotic-free “clean” cuts of meat,...

The Roman historian Tacitus once famously quipped “the more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws”. Every year, roughly 2 percent of global GDP is lost to public sector corruption alone – at a hefty $2 trillion this equals to Italy’s GDP. The total cost of corruption stands even higher, at 4-5 percent of global GDP. Countries across all continents lose substantial parts of their budgets to corruption. Some African nations see up to a third of their budgets go down the corruption drain. After thousands of years of fighting against corruption, blockchain might just be the answer everyone...

Recently we reported that the Google founders chose their CEO by taking him to burning man, a ritualistic new age event of desolation. Burning Man released their plans for 2018, appropriately theming the Black Rock based event “I, Robot.” Here’s what they say about the event, originally posted on burningman.org: “This year’s art theme will focus on the many forms of artificial intelligence that permeate our lives; from the humble algorithm and its subroutines that sift us, sort us and surveil us, to automated forms of labor that supplant us. Are we entering a Golden Age that frees us all...

BALTIMORE — In September, Governor Larry Hogan announced a massive plan to ease congestion on the D.C. Beltway. Tuesday, it was Baltimore's turn. Hogan and his transportation team unveiled a multipronged approach that could cut commute times for millions of Marylanders. Maryland has the second longest commuting times in the nation. Six of the 15 most congested spots in our state are on the Baltimore Beltway. Hogan announced a $461 million traffic-relief plan for Interstates 695 and 95 north. The plan "will benefit the lives of millions of drivers throughout the Baltimore region," Hogan said. There are four components to...

IAMOND-HARD ARMOR The media tends to depict bullet-proof armor as something that’s thick and heavier than regular clothes. Despite being for bodily protection, the added bulk of that armor might restrict a person’s movements. But scientists at the City University of New York’s Advanced Science Research Center (ASRC) have found that diamond-hard armor doesn’t need to be thick. The key to less-bulky protection is graphene, a tightly-packed layer of bonded carbon atoms one million times thinner than a piece of paper. The researchers discovered that two layers of graphene stacked on top of one another can temporarily become as hard...

For many of us, the information we carry around on a smart phone is the Rosetta Stone to decipher our lives. Our appointments, personal and business contacts, notes, favorite tunes, photographs, and many more windows into the inner recesses of our lives and livelihoods can be found there. Besides the incredibly personal and valuable information inside our smart phones, our cell phone service providers have plenty of our valuable information, such as with whom we have spoken and even a record of our locations. And under present law, police and prosecutors don’t need a warrant issued after probable cause to...

I was on the John Batchelor Show last Thursday talking about Project Vanguard, GPS and my book GPS Declassified: From Smart Bombs to Smartphones. www.gpsdeclassified.com

Slaughterbots: a weapon of the future This fictional video was created as a warning about what may be real in the near future: tiny little drones with artificial intelligence, facial recognition, and enough explosive to destroy a person’s head. One drone can kill one specific person. A big group of drones can kill a large number of specific people, or an entire city for that matter.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CO6M2HsoIA

"Net neutrality has a nice ring to it. Who doesn’t want an even playing field? But the internet evolved rapidly in a deregulated environment. And most of its trappings—a lack of censorship, equal access, tremendous diversity of viewpoint, an alternative means of accessing media, and deep stores of information—evolved before net neutrality was a legal mandate. After numerous attempts at congressional action failed to result in new laws, the Federal Communications Commission in 2015 adopted net neutrality rules in under the leadership of Obama appointee Tom Wheeler. Now, under chairman Ajit Pai—a Trump appointee—net neutrality is at risk, as its...

Companies today are strategizing about future investments and technologies such as artificial intelligence, the internet of things, or growth around new business models. While many of these trends will make for solid investments for the next 5-10 years, fewer companies are considering the revolutionary convergence of disparate trends pulled from technology, behavioral and societal changes, and medical advances to understand how they will converge to transform society. This transformation will be messy, complex, and sometimes scary, but signals already point to a future of humanity that will blur our identities into “transhumanism.” A few of the trends that emerged from...

As college students and recent grads head home for the holidays, first on their minds are friends and family. But the end-of-year downtime is also a good opportunity for career reflection. And while salary should never be the only factor in a career decision, it often ranks high in our consideration set. Careers site Comparably released a list of six entry-level jobs that pay more than $90,000. Entry-level was defined as workers with up to three years’ experience. To create the ranking, Comparably analyzed more than 19,000 anonymous salary reports submitted between March 2016 and October 2017 by employees of...

New forensic DNA analysis that can create an eerily accurate image of an unknown individual helped cops in Texas solve a year-old murder mystery. Ryan Riggs, 21, is charged with capital murder for the killing of Chantay Blankinship, 25, in May 2016. The man gave confessions to his local church and the Brown County Sheriff’s Office on Wednesday after predictive DNA imaging released Nov. 8 breathed new life into law enforcement’s investigation.

For the last decade, the 3D printing sector has been dominated by closed systems, in which 3D printers could only be used with the manufacturer’s resin and software. The trouble with closed systems is that they limit innovation. One printer manufacturer alone cannot offer the variety of materials needed for the thousands of potential 3D printing applications. As a result, the development of new end-user applications and materials has stalled, and growth in 3D printing has plateaued. To break out, the industry must reinvent itself and become open. There has been progress in that direction. Players from adjacent industries have...

The Age of Sex Robots is upon us. Numerous science fiction authors, with a degree of jittery anticipation, have predicted this development for years. Yet it has not seemed feasible until recently. The New York Times just ran a substantial profile on the impending rise of virtual reality porn and sex robots, and stirrings of anxious excitement are palpable in other media outlets. A strange and terrible new world is dawning, but let’s not cue up “Also Sprach Zarathustra” quite yet. Far from being a boon dispensed from on high, the impending sex robot revolution threatens to destroy our entire...

A few weeks ago on “The Next Revolution” on Fox News Channel, we debated the impact of technology on children. My guest, Dr. Jean Twenge, shared shocking research from her latest book, which has a rather wonderful title: “iGen: Why Today’s Super-Connected Kids are Growing Up Less Rebellious, More Tolerant, Less Happy – and Completely Unprepared for Adulthood.” According to Twenge – and her research is backed up by numerous other studies – the use of smartphones is changing childhood in fundamental and deeply negative ways. I wanted to talk to her about this topic because it’s one that I’ve...

The Russian military announced on Oct. 30, 2017 that it will begin acquiring the Nerekhta — a ground-combat robot armed with a slew of remotely-operated weapons such as machine guns and rocket launchers. Col. Oleg Pomazuev, the head of the Russian Ministry of Defense’s Department of Innovation Research, said the Nerekhtas “managed to prove themselves well at the Alabino testing ground,” and that the robots exceeded manned combat vehicles “in a number of parameters.” The spartan-looking, mid-sized Nerekhta comes in three varieties — combat, transport and artillery reconnaissance – and can be equipped with a 12.7-millimeter or 7.62-millimeter machine...

If you're tired of the dysfunction in Washington -- the backbiting, the questioning of motives, the failure to agree on much of anything, the one-upmanship, the allegations about a "stolen" presidential election, Russian "collusion," the posturing and boorish behavior -- how about focusing on something that is working and benefits a growing number of people? Consider a company called Teladoc, which provides access to a doctor through a computer screen, telephone, or mobile app. The waiting time, a company official tells me, is between eight and ten minutes. That beats any doctor's office I have ever been in, even with...

Since Christ first promised His disciples He would return, Christians have wondered if their generation is the one that would witness the fulfillment of that promise. And probably every generation since has thought itself to be the last generation, basing their belief on the perceived or actual declining moral standards of society in their day. Yet for all the speculation and hearsay, only one generation can be the final generation, and all the evidence points to ours. For centuries, Christians have used anecdotal evidence, such as "things have never been so bad" or "look at all the evil in the...

Turning to the future, Brown said technological change and the development of artificial intelligence would transform the concept of the divine. "We will start to find our spiritual experiences through our interconnections with each other," he said, forecasting the emergence of "some form of global consciousness that we perceive and that becomes our divine". "Our need for that exterior god, that sits up there and judges us ... will diminish and eventually disappear."