Blog #20 - Bio-computing

Bio-Computing

               With the recent hype around quantum computing, many have missed out on another form of computing, bio-computing. However, this is to be expected due to the vastly different use of bio-computing. This type of computing uses organic molecules to represent transistors in a processors, much like how DNA and proteins work. In a way, it is similar to how brains conduct and send electrical impulses through neurons in order to represent information.

               The development of bio-computing offers a unique perspective on computing. Bio computers are made of specially engineered bio-material. Over time this material can grow and adapt to the data it processes and possibly even mimic the creative processes us humans have, possibly giving it a consciousness and allow it to do creative work. Normal computing lacks the ability to think creatively since it only knows how to calculate information. Essentially normal computing is the computer that when to an engineering-science school while bio-computing is the computer that decided to go to a liberal arts school. 

Blog #19 - Block Chains

Block Chain Revolution

               Since the Block Chain’s introduction during the release of Bitcoin, the block chain has garnered massive interest by technology giants such as IBM, Microsoft, Citi Group and JP Morgan Chase. This attention is well deserved as the block chain is an elegant solution for two major problems that have plagued the finance industry, tamper-proof recording of transaction data and transparency of information along with privacy of consumers.

               Block chains work by recording just the transaction amount of consumers on a publicly available document in “blocks”. These blocks can be as big or as small as the creator desires but each block is directly related to the last meaning if one person alters something in the chain, the information become out of sync and that block is removed since it was altered and the original information is left intact using the data from other computers.

               We will see this technology being applied in many industries over the next few years, from banking transactions to cloud computing, since the growth of block chain is being pushed so hard. In fact Microsoft has just announced it is hosting a Hackathon solely for block chain technology development, Consensus 2016.

Blog #18 - Self-Healing Concrete

Self-Healing Concrete

               When the winter comes around, salt trucks line the streets of New York in road salt in the hopes of preventing the streets from freezing over. Civilians do the same with the sidewalk, sprinkling it in salt. The effect of salt along with the expanding due to heat and contracting due to cold has for years forced New York streets and sidewalks to be repaved, causing a huge dent in the budget of New York’s tax money. However a recent technology may change that in a few years, self-healing concrete.

               Although the technology is in its early stages at the moment, only able to heal small cracks the technology will improve with time and possibly be applied to street tar, and other various materials. This self-healing concrete mixes biology with conventional civil engineering. The concrete works by imbuing traditional concrete with capsules full of dormant bacteria and capsules full of the bacteria’s food. When the concrete cracks, the capsules break, waking up the dormant bacteria with the food source and the bacteria, happens to produce limestone with their waste and will be able to fill in the cracks of concrete. This is an amazing technology that can revolutionize the Civil Engineering field and may one day become the norm in construction so concrete repairs will not have to be constantly be made on sidewalks or buildings.

Blog #17 - Carbon Nanotubes!

Carbon Nanotubes and Computing

               The limit of which silicon transistors dies can be separated in a processor

is fast approaching. As the distance between these dies become a mere 10nm next year, many have wonder how much smaller the silicon dies can be shrunk before the limit is reached and will that be the end of Moore’s law?

               Possibly not, carbon nanotubes, a one-sheet thin layer of carbon rolled into a tube has long been touted as a substitute. However, until recently they were very hard to fiddle with due to the manufacturing process needed to harvest these carbon nanotubes. IBM has successfully created transistors of carbon nanotubes recently, on a similar scale to modern processors at 9nm and they claim that overtime the nanotube dies may shrink to as small as 1.8nm. If IBM is able to successfully purify and manufacture in mass quantity the carbon nanotubes, the replacement of Silicon will be found and our computer and technology will become even quicker than it is now. 

Blog #16 - Goodbye Headphone Jack?

Goodbye Headphone Jack?

Since the pre-release of the iPhone6 rumors have circulated that apple has been planning to remove the 3.5mm headphone jack and use a proprietary lightning headphone jack headphone. However, recently USB 3.0 has come in as a competitor to the lightning port and the company LeEco, a Chinese branded smartphone has beat Apple to the punch with their LeEco Le2 which will only feature a single port, a USB 3.0 port which will have similar do-all functionalities that intel has.

               With a single port for all your connections, some may love the simplicity and elegant design

 but others may stay away from the phone just for that reason. How will you charge your phone while listening to music and what real benefits do users get for removing the 3.5mm headphone jack? These are the real problems the 1-port design has to overcome before it becomes accepted by the public. 

Blog #15 - The Hyperloop

The Hyperloop

               You know that awkward in-between when you’re traveling? When you’re not far enough to fly but sitting in a car or bus for 12 grueling hours sounds terrible as well? Well Elon-Musk’s proposition of a Hyperloop may be the answer you’re looking for.

               Proposed by Elon Musk, the Hyperloop is a form of transportation which utilizes a near vacuum and a metal capsule. The capsule travels through the tube exhausting the majority of the air in the back and a bit on the bottom while taking the air from the front. This causes an air pressure difference, pushing it forward. Because the system is not limited by wheels or other mechanical moving parts it does not need have the limiters of wheeled forms of transportation such as traction and heat.

               In today’s market there are two competitors to create the Hyperloop. One is run by Elon Musk himself and the other is Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, a company backed by many venture capitalists to compete with Elon in the Hyperloop creation. This competition is healthy, pushing both sides to develop their concept faster and better than the other, and hopefully it will turn the Hyperloop concept into a reality. 

Blog #14 - 5D Storage

5D Storage, the next step in storage technology

               From floppy disks, CD-ROMS, SDXC and countless others, storage technology has come a long way. I remember when I was young a 64gb Hard drive would be the normal, now the average hard drive contains over 20x the amount of storage in the same amount of space, not to mention the massive speed improvements. Other forms of media storage has been introduced as well such as the miniscule microSDXC cards, the speedy flash memory technology in SSDs and now it’s time for another.

               5D storage is a new recently tested concept which would allow the storage of data at massive capacities of 360TB in a miniscule form factor which is able to resist heat of up to 1000 degrees Celsius. 5D storage is created by using a fento-meter precision laser to alter a small quartz disk’s molecules such that some are represented as 1s and others as 0s. By altering the disk’s particle structure in this fashion a storage device is created and with a microscope and another laser, it can be read. However, this technology is relatively new and has issues such as it’s slow read and write speeds. Overtime though, improvements will surely be made like with hard drives and maybe one day it will come to the consumer market and take the pace of the now extremely popular, SSDs.

Blog #13 - Exoskeletons

Exoskeletons

               Under Iron Man’s technological masterpiece of an exoskeleton lies Tony Stark, who asides from being super smart is a human being. His exoskeleton gives him insane abilities such as making him super strong, giving him the ability to fly, etc.

               While the story of Iron Man may be fake the technology he uses to create his suit is slowly becoming a reality. Panasonic recently developed an exoskeleton which would allow Japanese workers to lift heavier loads while protecting their back. This is one of the first cases of using machine augmentations to assists in human actions. Panasonic is taking steps into uncharted territory, as this suit has both potential to change people’s lives. If exoskeletons become a normal thing, things such as lifting heavy objects with forklifts may not be needed. It could even help those suffering from body weakening diseases such as Cerebral Palsy with their illness, giving them the support they need.

               On a darker note however, the exoskeletons could also be used in war. Given enough time to develop us could one day see military forces armed with exoskeletons that turn them into super humans, giving them the ability to take bullet shots, run at extremely fast speeds etc.