Five Predictions For The Future Of Energy
It seems like a new prediction pops up for how we will use renewable energy in the coming decades every day. Will we be using all solar in two years? In five? Prediction: Solar Energy Will Be More Economical Than Fossil Fuels In 10 Years So says the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE). Prediction: Solar Power Will Be As Cheap As Coal in Two Years No need to wait a decade--the researchers over at Bloomberg New Energy Finance think that solar power could reach grid parity (the point at which solar is as cheap for utilities as fossil fuels) in the next two years. Prediction: Natural Gas Will Kill Renewables Natural gas produced from shale will kill the economics of renewable energy in the coming years, according to a report from Reuters. Prediction: Renewable Energy Use Will Grow, But So Will Coal And Natural Gas Use The good news: The International Energy Association believes that renewable energy will grow from 8% of total energy use in 2009 to 13% in 2035.
How Speeding The "Most Important Algorithm Of Our Lifetime" Could Change This Modern World
Last week at the Association for Computing Machinery's Symposium on Discrete Algorithms (SODA) a new way of calculating Fast Fourier Transforms was presented by a group of MIT researchers. It's possible that under certain situations it may be up to ten times faster than the current way we do these. At this point you are probably wondering: What the hell is he talking about? Let me explain, because improving these three little letters--FFT--may change your life. Here's a quickie explainer: Fourier transforms are a mathematical trick to simplify how you represent a complicated signal--say the waves of sound made by speaking. How so? Now, you should remember that sound waves, and both picture and video signals, are all handled by processors in your TV, PC, and phone, and that the radio waves that whizz through the air to keep us all connected to the Internet need digital processing too. So calculating FFTs up to ten times faster is a big deal. [Image: Flickr user hazure]
Technology areas to watch in 2012 through 2016
1. Energy Revolution - Mass produced fission, fusion, and maybe cold fusion 2. Memristors and other significant computing and electronic improvements. 3. Robotics 4. Urbanization Broad Group skyscrapers, Tata flat packed buildings 5. The most controversial has the highest potential impact 1. There is the highly controversial possibility of Rossi-Focardi Energy catalyzer. Brillouin Energy is another cold fusion contender There is also work in this area by Brian Ahern and NASA and other agencies are investigating it. EMC2 Fusion, Lawrenceville Plasma Physics, General Fusion and/or Tri-alpha energy could develop a first full scale prototype commercial system by Dec, 2016. A desktop high frequency fusion system has been proposed for space propulsion and energy generation. In Chapman’s aneutronic fusion reactor scheme, a commercially available benchtop laser starts the reaction. High frequency lasers are an area that is rapidly progressing. 2. 3. It uses a smartphone or a tablet as its head. 4.
Fascinating Ways Hospitals Are Implementing iPads
Everyone’s heard one of the most recognizable Apple catch phrases: there’s an app for that. With the dawning of the iPad, this is especially true now for the realm of medicine. Having portable, lightweight access to wifi connection allows the iPad to function as a fantastic reference tool for medical professionals. We’re going to list off the most interesting, useful ways doctors and nurses are using iPads in a hospital setting. For Medical Professionals Doctors typically have to cart around patients’ charts in order to be prepared for each new person they’ll be assessing. The iPad, however, makes this whole process a breeze. Doctors and nurses alike are using iPads to view tests like X-rays, MRIs, and EKGs whenever they need them. But the iPad offers more than efficiency — it’s also a tool for easy knowledge reference and for training purposes. For Patients Conclusion The iPad is extremely lightweight and portable, which allows for easy transport for doctors and nurses in hospitals.
Agile Planning
Image courtesy The last IBM Global CEO Study ('The Enterprise Of The Future') interviewed 1,130 CEO's in 45 countries and 32 industries. It found that organisations felt bombarded by change, and that many are struggling to keep up. Eight out of ten CEOs saw significant change ahead, and yet the gap between the expected level of change and the ability to manage it had almost tripled since the previous study in 2006. We live in exponential times. In order to be successful, said the IBM report, the enterprise of the future will be hungry for change, innovative "beyond customer imagination", disruptive by nature. And yet, with the current economic malaise, there has never been more reason to become more adaptive or a better time for re-invention. Many industries, including advertising, have gotten lazy. "Our structures need to be more speedy. The fact is that small companies are naturally more adaptive and agile, simply because they have to be. Agile is already an overused word.
Singularity Scenarios: The Ultimate Innovation or an AI Apocalypse?
My talk last weekend at the New York Future Salon explored the likelihood and the implications of the transformative event known as the "Singularity." I tend to part ways with many Singularity enthusiasts over two small issues: what comes before a Singularity, and what comes after. In terms of what comes before, I'm generally in the camp that machine-substrate intelligence is very likely possible, but is probably a much more complex problem than some of the more enthusiastic Singularitarians would have us think. We currently have a single model of a mind emerging from a physical structure--the human brain--and (as noted by one of the 2009 Singularity Summit speakers, David Chalmers) we're not even sure how that happens. I've noted elsewhere that I suspect that "a stand-alone artificial mind will be more a tool of narrow utility than something especially apocalyptic." The upper-left scenario, "Out of Control," is the more-or-less conventional Singularity story. Images:
