The World Knowledge Dialogue – Prof.Pierre Lévy

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Mythological Friendship

 

So we are the aliens after all…

clipped from www.livescience.com New Flying Saucer Subrata Roy, an engineering professor at the University of Florida, is trying to patent his design of a circular, spinning aircraft he dubs WEAV, short for wingless electromagnetic air vehicle. Roy applied his experience doing U.S. Air Force-funded plasma research to develop the propulsion system devoid of typical aircraft parts such as propellers and engines. Here is how it works: Electrodes lining the vehicle’s surface ionize the surrounding air. This creates plasma on the vehicle’s exterior. An electrical current sent through this plasma generates a force that not only produces the necessary lift and momentum. It also stabilizes the vehicle in windy conditions. Looking like a flying bundt pan, the WEAV design is partially hollow and continuously curved. This larger surface area improves lift and control. USAF and NASA have expressed interest in the WEAV. Credit: Subrata Roy, University of Florida

 

The will to become transparent…

clipped from www.reuters.com Invisibility cloak one step closer, scientists say WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Scientists have created two new types of materials that can bend light the wrong way, creating the first step toward an invisibility cloaking device. One approach uses a type of fishnet of metal layers to reverse the direction of light, while another uses tiny silver wires, both at the nanoscale level. The two teams were working separately under the direction of Xiang Zhang of the Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center at the University of California, Berkeley with U.S. government funding. One team reported its findings in the journal Science and the other in the journal Nature. wrap whatever you wanted to cloak in the material. It would just send light around. By sending light around the object that is to be cloaked, you don’t see it Each new material works to reverse light in limited wavelengths, so no one will be using them to hide buildings from satellites, said Jason Valentine, who worked on one of the projects

 

Electro-Magnetic Skyscrapers

In this futuristic scenario controlled Electro Magnetic force (E.M.) will be a key element in the building industry. This controlled E.M. force will free humanity from the need to waste our planet resources by making the E.M. technology the ultimate sustainable method. E.M. Structures will be able to support each other simply by pure physical magnetism that can also direct electricity. By using magnetic fields as a construction material there can be Infinite vertical and horizontal expansions due to the final liberation from gravity. Tokyo was chosen to set the first example for the rest of the world in building a series of Electro-Magnetic Skyscrapers and these buildings will be able to migrate like birds. Self sufficient energy cubes will provide the basic needs to the community. By using built-in energy resources in every E.M. Cube (such as photovoltaic cells on the sides of the cube, Wind turbines, air shafts forcing wind into energy, water conservation tanks etc.)

clipped from www.geotectura.com Electro-Magnetic Skyscrapers clipped from www.geotectura.com

 

Israel Moves Toward a National Biometric Database

clipped from yro.slashdot.org “Israeli’s government has approved the creation of a biometric database which would contain fingerprints and facial photos of all Israeli citizens. If the bill becomes law — and it is at an early stage — the biometric information of each citizen would be embedded in their passport and national ID card. Israeli citizens would be required by law to submit to biometric testing upon request by government employees, soldiers, and policemen, so that their biometric info can be compared to the info embedded in their ID card / passport. The declared purpose of the bill is to combat forgery of passports and ID cards, and also to aid identification ‘in cases of a mass disaster.’ The bill was approved over objections from civil rights groups and the Israeli Bar. The article notes that no other democratic country has a comprehensive biometric database of all citizens.”

 

WatAir

clipped from www.geotectura.com WatAir clipped from www.geotectura.com In a call to the challenging competition held by Arup and WaterAid to improve the access to safe water for billion people we suggested the integration of existing ideas and technologies through sustainable guiding principles. The WatAir design will simply produce water from the air. WatAir should bring Change and Hope with its simple and efficient approach! We looked at the spider web and the water on leafs for inspiration. Our water web is a social design inspired by nature through its symbiotic relationship both with nature and rural dwellings and can be easily deployed within the eccentric environments as well as deployment on rooftops in dense cities. Minimal footprint of the device on the ground together with vertical and diagonal design will increase collecting area via gravitation and will save space on the ground for other activities such as: Shading for outdoors activities, playground for children etc. The shading canopy will prevent vaporization while protecting from rain and heat the people beneath. Parachuting capabilities to remote and isolated communities increase transportation efficiency and gives greater freedom, saves time and improves productivity. The compact lightweight packing can be installed easily via its flexibility in the spatial arrangement through different layouts and even folding option during day time. Optional PV elastic panels can produce clean & free energy along side the dew and rain collection in order to supply all the energy needed for the other basic necessities. In order to increase public’s awareness to the problem and to the possible solutions we used simplicity as our design process. Our design should be with in reach for all people around the world. Our architectural background helped us to see beyond the technological solution and to give more functions and deeper meanings to it all. The WatAir has humanitarian aspects, education potential and sheltering capabilities. In order to make safe water an accessible reality worldwide we had to take into consideration minimal cost for the manufacturing of the product, easy and quick deployment in remote places, practical solution that will also work as environmental regenerator and as educational icon. By printing logos and advertisements on the canvas sheets it will be easy to convince potential sponsors to pay for the manufacturing and the shipment cost of the products. Local art and literature will make it a culture event. The design has minimal special demands. It is low tec and low cost and in fact can be even produced with local means.

 

Sun Hopes

clipped from www.israel21c.org Israeli inventor puts his head in the clouds Joseph Cory’s helium balloons made from fabric coated with photovoltaic (PV) solar cells. These balloons are much cheaper to build and install than existing solar panels, and also take up far less room, which is significant in an urban environment. You can tell Joseph Cory is a dreamer. Turn to his company’s web site, Geotectura.com, and you see a host of ideas ranging from the wild – a one-meter square movable ‘house’ for the homeless, to the wacky, electro-magnetic skyscrapers that float above the ground. But out of this riotous imagination, Cory, a new breed of environmental architect, has developed a number of award-winning schemes that could help deal with some of the world’s most pressing problems – lack of renewable energy, and water scarcity. The Israeli scientist, who is shortly to complete his PhD at the Department of Aeronautical Engineering, Architecture and City Construction, at Haifa’s Technion Israel Institute of Technology

 

Google, Yahoo to Search Inside Flash Files

At long freaking last !!!!
get out on the streets & celebrate !!!

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official press release here

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clipped from www.pcworld.com Google, Yahoo to Search Inside Flash Files Adobe announced Tuesday that Google and Yahoo are adding search capabilities that will enable users to look inside the content of files encoded in Adobe’s Flash file format — SWF. The content inside SWF files has heretofore been ignored by the search engine giants, but Adobe has worked with both companies to make sure that their search engine technology can now look inside existing and future SWF content, including text, hyperlinks, audio and video content. “And content producers are now able to put Flash files online and know that they’re going to bring more users through organic search. The good thing is that they don’t have to do anything to enable this capability — it works on any SWF file,” Everett-Church told Macworld. Google is already beginning to offer search results including data inside Flash files, and Yahoo will follow suit with an update to its Yahoo Search engine, according to Adobe. ♦

 

Blaise Aguera y Arcas: Jaw-dropping Photosynth demo