This robot can lay bricks 4x’s faster than a human.
Category: futurism
Afonso Silva from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke gave a great talk at #NeuroFutures16 on multimodal neuroimaging of brain anatomy and function
Posted in futurism, neuroscience | Leave a Comment on Afonso Silva from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke gave a great talk at #NeuroFutures16 on multimodal neuroimaging of brain anatomy and function
(Phys.org)—By carefully arranging many nanoblocks to form pixels on a metasurface, researchers have demonstrated that they can manipulate incoming visible light in just the right way to create a color “meta-hologram.” The new method of creating holograms has an order of magnitude higher reconstruction efficiency than similar color meta-holograms, and has applications for various types of 3D color holographic displays and achromatic planar lenses.
The researchers, Bo Wang et al., from Peking University and the National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, both in China, have published a paper on the new type of hologram in a recent issue of Nano Letters.
The pixels on the new metasurface consist of three types of silicon nanoblocks whose precise dimensions correspond to the wavelengths of three different colors: red, green, and blue. To enhance the efficiency for the blue light, two identical nanoblocks corresponding to the blue light are arranged in each pixel, along with one nanoblock for red light and one for green light.
The next time your have a drink at your favorite restaurant or bar; it could be in a levitating glass.
Diehard cocktail aficionados swear by serving specific drinks in the correct glass. I wonder what they’ll make of the Levitating CUP, a cocktail glass designed to float above a portable base, in seeming defiance of gravity.
It’s the brainchild of Joe Paglione, CEO of a Chicago-based startup company called Levitating Cup. They’ve launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise the necessary capital to bring the products to market. There are cocktail glasses, dessert cups, beer cups, plates, and even pillows for optimal presentation-just in case you want to throw a full dinner party without the usual coasters and place mats.
How does it work? The metallic base holds an electromagnet, with a corresponding magnet in the cup itself so it can appear to float weightlessly in mid-air. Per the Website: