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The Navy’s Rail Gun technology hides a secret, that the Navy’s projectile accuracy has been substantially increased by about 45x.
But first some history.

The US government brought Prof Eric Laithwaite to help them build a rocket launcher based on linear motor principles. Today we call this the Rail Gun. In terms of its original objectives it was not a success, because astronauts could not survive the accelerations required to launch from a rail gun and cargo required a much longer rail gun than feasible with the then technologies.

The Navy succeeded with ship based rail guns as a means to shoot projectiles. Bloomberg TV has a good video on the Navy’s Rail Gun. http://www.bloomberg.com/video/watch-navy-s-new-supergun-launch-shells-at-5600-mph-bfCXOGXZQziZgHnsbq9VzQ.html

Watching this video I realized that the secret to the Navy’s Rail Gun project was not the rail gun itself, but the substantially increased accuracy attained by the much higher muzzle velocity.

I present two important point. Using quick & dirty theoretical reasoning and real examples showing that the rail gun projectile has an increased accuracy of between 28x to 45x over conventional ship-based guns.

And the real possibility that the rail gun projectile traveling at Mach 7.4 has the ability to shoot down the X-51 traveling at Mach 5 at an altitude of 70,000ft.

PowerPoint is here http://www.iseti.us/pdf/NavyRailGun(2014-05-23).pdf
Enjoy.

The Lifeboat Foundation Worldwide Ambassador Mr. Andres Agostini’s own White Swan Update, Countermeassuring Every Unthinkable Black Swan, at https://lifeboat.com/blog/2014/04/white-swan

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It’s Robots You Don’t See That Will Dominate Our Future http://www.21stcentech.com/robots-dominate-future/

The Future of Quantum Computing Could Depend on This Tricky Qubit http://www.wired.com/2014/05/quantum-computing-topological-qubit/

Our Universe May Exist in a Multiverse, Cosmic Inflation Discovery Suggests http://www.space.com/25100-multiverse-cosmic-inflation-gravitational-waves.html

When You Buy Your Next Electric Vehicle It May Sport a Dual Carbon Battery http://www.21stcentech.com/buy-electric-vehicle-sport-dual-carbon-battery/

Dr. Henry Kissinger PhD. to journalist Charlie Rose, “…Out of 22 centuries, China has ruled during 20 centuries (2,000 years) …”

Scientists try 3-D printer to build human heart https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/scientists-try-3-d-printer-132621349.html

Lab-on-a-chip Detects Cancer Early and On the Cheap http://www.engineering.com/DesignerEdge/DesignerEdgeArticles/ArticleID/7621/Lab-on-a-chip-Detects-Cancer-Early-and-On-the-Cheap.aspx

Aerospace and engineering giant Lockheed Martin is on the cusp of closing a deal with the US government to create two new missile-warning satellites. http://www.engineering.com/3DPrinting/3DPrintingArticles/ArticleID/7622/Lockheed-Looks-to-Speed-Up-Satellite-Development-with-AM.aspx

IBM acquired the artificial intelligence company Cognea for its Watson system http://english.netmassimo.com/2014/05/22/ibm-acquired-the-artificial-intelligence-company-cognea-for-its-watson-system/

The End of the Swiss Bank Account as We Know It http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-05-20/the-end-of-the-swiss-bank-account-as-we-know-it

How Credit Suisse got a stiffer penalty than UBS http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/20/us-creditsuisse-tax-fine-insight-idUSBREA4J05J20140520

Big fine ‘won’t do much damage’: Credit Suisse CEO http://www.cnbc.com/id/101696645

US senators say more needs to be done after Credit Suisse conviction http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/may/20/credit-suisse-indictment-questioned-us-senators

DHS Reports that a U.S. Utility System was Hacked http://tdworld.com/smart-grid/dhs-reports-us-utility-system-was-hacked

George Soros sells all shares of Citigroup, Bank of America and JP Morgan. Is this a sign of trouble ahead for the banking and insurance industry? http://intellihub.com/george-soros-sells-shares-citigroup-bank-america-jp-morgan/

DHS Secretary Stresses Importance of Preparedness Grant Programs http://www.hstoday.us/single-article/dhs-secretary-stresses-importance-of-preparedness-grant-programs/47e6fa51102c545e10bcfca60b16175e.html#.U35KN4Zp_vo.linkedin

The Lifeboat Foundation Worldwide Ambassador Mr. Andres Agostini’s own White Swan Update, Countermeassuring Every Unthinkable Black Swan, at https://lifeboat.com/blog/2014/04/white-swan

The Huffington Post by Dominique Mosberge

Aliens almost definitely exist.

At least, that’s what two astronomers told Congress this week, as they appealed for continued funding to research life beyond Earth.

According to ABC News, Dan Werthimer, director of the SETI [search for extraterrestrial intelligence] Research Center at the University of California, Berkeley, told the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology Wednesday that the possibility of extraterrestrial microbial life is “close to 100 percent.”

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by Andy Greenberg

Someone out there likes anonymous money.

In only a month, the little-known bitcoin alternative known as Darkcoin has rocketed nearly tenfold in value — from around 75 cents a coin (44p) to almost seven dollars (£4). Its selling point: Darkcoin offers far greater anonymity than bitcoin, mixing up users’ transactions so that it’s incredibly difficult to trace a payment to a person. And though few have yet to accept that more-anonymous coin for actual goods and services, the promise of Darkcoin’s privacy features seems to have sparked a miniature boom. It’s one of the fastest growing among the wave of cryptocurrencies that’s followed bitcoin’s success, with the total value of its combined coins topping out at nearly $30 million (£18 million).

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Written By:
dna banner
It’s been a good month for miracles. And by miracles I mean our oldest miracle, that first miracle, the creation of life itself.

During these first weeks in May, two separate teams working at two separate institutions announced that when it comes to creating life from scratch, well, there are a couple of new gods in town.

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White Swan Update by Andres Agostini, Countermeassuring Every Unthinkable Black Swan, at https://lifeboat.com/blog/2014/04/white-swan

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Rice Isn’t The Only Staple At Risk from Rising Temperatures http://www.21stcentech.com/rice-staple-risk-rising-temperatures/

PERES Tells You if the Meat You are About to Eat is OK http://www.21stcentech.com/gizmos-gadgets-peres-tells-meat-eat/

Physicist suggests some types of wormholes may stay open long enough to send a photon through http://phys.org/news/2014-05-physicist-wormholes-photon.html

Scientists make deep-brain implants possible through wireless charging http://www.engadget.com/2014/05/19/wireless-implant-charging/

Professors’ super waterproof surfaces cause water to bounce like a ball http://news.byu.edu/archive14-may-superhydrophobic.aspx

What Can Smart Machines Still Learn From People http://www.33rdsquare.com/2014/05/what-can-smart-machines-still-learn.html

Neuroscience’s Grand Question http://neurosciencenews.com/theoretical-neural-model-regulation-1038/

Four Ways of Looking at Twitter http://blogs.hbr.org/2010/02/visualizing-twitter/

Text-mining offers clues to success http://www.nature.com/news/text-mining-offers-clues-to-success-1.15263

Predictive Analytics is Tailor-Made for M&A, says Deloitte FAS CEO David Williams http://www.themiddlemarket.com/news/financial_sponsors/5-myths-of-ma-data-analytics-249718-1.html?utm_content=buffer69c4f&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Preparing For The Singularity — Does The Future Have A Future? http://www.engineering.com/ElectronicsDesign/ElectronicsDesignArticles/ArticleID/7605/Preparing-For-The-Singularity–Does-The-Future-Have-A-Future.aspx

The 5 Works You Need to Stop Calling ‘Dystopian’ http://www.wired.com/2014/05/5-non-dystopian-works/

Facebook Will Soon Detect What You’re Watching and Listening To http://www.wired.com/2014/05/facebook-will-soon-detect-what-youre-watching-and-listening-to/

The 20 Deadliest U.S. Cities for Pedestrians http://www.wired.com/2014/05/most-dangerous-pedestrian-cities/

Why Google Must Now Also Rule the Physical World http://www.wired.com/2014/05/why-google-needs-to-master-the-physical-world-even-more-than-the-internet/

Darkcoin, the Shadowy Cousin of Bitcoin, Is Booming http://www.wired.com/2014/05/darkcoin-is-booming/

CIA: In Future, We Won’t Derail Major International Public Health Efforts. http://www.wired.com/2014/05/cia-polio-promise/

World’s smallest, fastest nanomotor http://www.kurzweilai.net/worlds-smallest-fastest-nanomotor

Bioethics Commission releases volume one response to the BRAIN Initiative http://www.kurzweilai.net/bioethics-commission-releases-volume-one-response-to-the-brain-initiative

The biomechanics behind amazing ant strength http://www.kurzweilai.net/the-biomechanics-behind-amazing-ant-strength

White Swan Update by Andres Agostini, Countermeassuring Every Unthinkable Black Swan, at https://lifeboat.com/blog/2014/04/white-swan

White Swan Update by Andres Agostini, Countermeassuring Every Unthinkable Black Swan, at https://lifeboat.com/blog/2014/04/white-swan

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A new way to beam power to medical chips deep inside the body http://www.kurzweilai.net/a-new-way-to-beam-power-to-medical-chips-deep-inside-the-body

Glasses-free 3D projector http://www.kurzweilai.net/glasses-free-3d-projector

Scientists discover how to turn light into matter after 80-year quest http://www.kurzweilai.net/scientists-discover-how-to-turn-light-into-matter-after-80-year-quest

The 5 most interesting wearables on Kickstarter right now http://venturebeat.com/2014/05/13/the-5-most-interesting-wearables-on-kickstarter-right-now/

Scientists discover how to turn light into matter after 80-year quest http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/newsandeventspggrp/imperialcollege/newssummary/news_16-5-2014-15-32-44

What Our Recent Obsession With Mindfulness Really Means http://www.fastcompany.com/3030601/the-future-of-work/what-our-recent-obsession-with-mindfulness-really-means

Data Point: The New Customer Service Pro: Your Gadget http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2014/05/06/data-point-the-new-customer-service-pro-your-gadget/

TransProse algorithm turns novels into music http://phys.org/news/2014-05-transprose-algorithm-novels-music.html

Report says Internet of Things will thrive by 2025
http://wraltechwire.com/good-and-bad-report-says-internet-of-things-will-thrive-by-2025/13655206/#rsJSMiZGKcBOptPY.99

Beyond Silicon – Nanowires and Next Generation Devices http://www.21stcentech.com/silicon-nanowires-generation-devices/

When it Comes to Agriculture it is Nighttime Temperatures That Have Farmers Worried http://www.21stcentech.com/agriculture-nighttime-temperatures-farmers-worried/

Martian Rover Didn’t Come Alone http://www.21stcentech.com/martian-rover/

Does brain structure determine your political views? http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-27437799

Gecko-Inspired Adhesive Sticks 700 Pounds to a Wall http://singularityhub.com/2014/05/20/gecko-inspired-adhesive-sticks-700-pounds-to-a-wall/

Your Tastebuds Could Provide Clues On How Long You’ll Live, Study Says http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/20/taste-buds-longevity-_n_5358227.html?ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000043&ir=Science

Vinod Khosla has 3 predictions for the future of health. We’ve got 1 more http://venturebeat.com/2014/05/20/vinod-khosla-has-3-predictions-for-the-future-of-health-weve-got-1-more/

Engineers invent a way to beam power to medical chips deep inside the body http://phys.org/news/2014-05-power-medical-chips-deep-body.html

Rejuvenation Biotechnology Conference 2014 http://sens.org/outreach/conferences/rejuvenation-biotechnology-conference-2014

New technique allows scientists to monitor the entire nervous system of a small worm. http://neurosciencenews.com/3d-imaging-neurons-neuroimaging-1036/

ESA’s XMM-Newton and NASA’s Chandra, were launched in the last century, and are still delivering world-class science. http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Technology/ESA_s_new_X-ray_optics_for_observing_the_hot_Universe

Wildfires worse due to global warming, studies say http://phys.org/news/2014-05-wildfires-worse-due-global.html

Harvard researchers find protein that could reverse the aging process http://www.gizmag.com/gdf11-protein-aging-mice-harvard/31929/

Chinese military officials charged with stealing US data as tensions escalate http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/may/19/us-chinese-military-officials-cyber-espionage?CMP=twt_gu

Elon Musk Says SpaceX Making ‘Progress’ Toward Mars Colony http://www.space.com/25934-elon-musk-mars-colony-spacex-rockets.html

Chinese Hackers Show Humans Are Weakest Security Link http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-05-20/chinese-hackers-show-humans-are-weakest-security-link.html

Renewable Energy Study Shows That Benefits Outweigh Costs In U.S. https://exploreb2b.com/articles/renewable-energy-study-shows-that-benefits-outweigh-costs-in-us

Singapore’s Rich Tapped by China Developers: Asean Credit http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-05-19/singapore-s-rich-tapped-by-china-developers-asean-credit.html

Cybercriminals are eyeing these 5 targets in 2014 http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/cybercriminals-are-eyeing-these-5-targets-in-2014-1.2475721

Hacker Trends 2014: A frightening report http://www.mweb.co.za/TechnoZone/ViewArticle/tabid/3432/Article/11391/Hacker-Trends-2014-A-frightening-report.aspx#.U3VosB-e4BA.twitter

Get the Cisco 2014 Annual Security Report http://www.cisco.com/web/offers/lp/2014-annual-security-report/index.html?POSITION=social+media+share&COUNTRY_SITE=us&CAMPAIGN=asr2014&CREATIVE=figure+2&REFERRING_SITE=twitter

CyberSecurity Trends for 2014 at http://www.cbh.com/cybersecurity-trends-for-2014/

How to create high-speed 3D movies of entire worm brains http://www.kurzweilai.net/how-to-create-high-speed-3d-movies-of-entire-worm-brains

An ultra-sensitive chip for early cancer detection http://www.kurzweilai.net/a-chip-for-early-cancer-detection

Nanowire-bridging transistors open way to next-generation electronics http://www.kurzweilai.net/nanowire-bridging-transistors-open-way-to-next-generation-electronics

Mice with MS-like condition walk again after neural stem-cell treatment http://www.kurzweilai.net/mice-with-ms-like-condition-walk-again-after-neural-stem-cell-treatment

Cars could drive themselves sooner than expected after European push http://news.yahoo.com/cars-could-drive-themselves-sooner-expected-european-push-113959388–finance.html

New ultra-sensitive nano-chip capable of early cancer detection http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/healthcare/biotech/healthcare/new-ultra-sensitive-nano-chip-capable-of-early-cancer-detection/articleshow/35334092.cms

GaitTrack App on Smartphone Assesses User’s Health http://www.21stcentech.com/gizmos-gadgets-gaittrack-app-smartphone-assesses-users-health/

Global warming will harm sovereign creditworthiness around the world this century — http://thedailybell.com/news-analysis/35310/Desperation-of-the-Elites-SP-Declares-Climate-Change-a-Mega-Trend/#sthash.Qe66KFbD.dpuf

Do We Know The Cost of Dealing or Not Dealing with Climate Change? http://www.21stcentech.com/cost-dealing-dealing-climate-change/

Five brain challenges we can overcome in the next decade http://theconversation.com/five-brain-challenges-we-can-overcome-in-the-next-decade-25975

Physics ― Matter will be created from light within a year, claim scientists http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/may/18/matter-light-photons-electrons-positrons?CMP=fb_gu

Foreign Affairs ― Strategic Intelligence Assessment for Ukraine – Setting the Stage https://www.redanalysis.org/2014/05/19/strategic-intelligence-assessment-for-ukraine-setting-the-stage/

Software Development Process and Software Engineering ― Bottom-Up Manufacturing of Nanowires on Silicon Expands Its Capabilities http://spectrum.ieee.org/nanoclast/semiconductors/materials/bottomup-manufacturing-of-nanowires-on-silicon-expands-its-capabilities

A.I., Automation and Robotics ― Will Google’s Self-driving Cars Be Limited by “Map Anxiety”? http://spectrum.ieee.org/cars-that-think/transportation/self-driving/will-consumers-interested-in-googles-selfdriving-cars-suffer-from-map-anxiety

Industrial Robots ― Need a hand (or an arm, or a leg)? Hi-tech app controlled and 3D printed prosthetics shown off http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2627412/Need-hand-arm-leg-Hi-tech-app-controlled-3D-printed-prosthetics-shown-off.html

Robotics ― Robot expert planning to turn Hong Kong into android city http://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/technology/article/1513567/robotics-guru-david-hanson-hopes-turn-city-hive-android

CyberSecurity ― More than 90 people nabbed in global hacker crackdown http://edition.cnn.com/2014/05/19/justice/us-global-hacker-crackdown/

White Swan Update by Andres Agostini, Countermeassuring Every Unthinkable Black Swan, at https://lifeboat.com/blog/2014/04/white-swan

- @ClubOfINFO — A recent massive leap forward in synthetic life, recently published in Nature, is the expansion of the alphabet of DNA to six letters rather than four, by synthetic biologists – the technicians to whom we entrust the great task of reprogramming life itself.

Breakthroughs such as the above are quite certain to alert more and more people to synthetic biology and its possible consequences. For as long as such breathtaking discoveries continue to be made in this area of research, it is inevitable that latent fears among society will come closer to the surface.
There is likely to be a profound distrust, whether inculcated by religion or by science fiction horror movies and literature, towards the concept of tampering with nature and especially the very building blocks that brought us into existence. While the people with this profoundly negative reaction are not sure what they are warning against, they are motivated by a vitalistic need to believe that the perversion of life is going to provoke hidden – almost divine – repercussions.
Is it really true that no-one should be meddling with something so fundamental to life, or is synthetic biology the science of our century, our civilization’s key to unlimited energy? Whatever the answer may be, the science enabling it already exists and is growing rapidly, and history seems to show that any technology once invented is impossible to contain.
The fact that synthetic base pairs now exist should confirm, for many, the beginning of humanity’s re-engineering of the structures of life itself. As it is unprecedented in our evolution, we are presented with an ethical question and all points of view should be considered, no matter how radical or conservative they are.
It is hard to find a strong display of enthusiasm for the use of synthetic biology as a solution to the world’s greatest problems, even among the transhumanists and techno-progressives. Most of the popular enthusiasm for technological change, particularly the radical improvement of life and the environment through technology, focuses on artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, and things like solar cells as the solution to energy crises. There is not much of a popular case being made for synthetic biology as one of the keys to civilization’s salvation and humanity’s long-term survival, but there should be. The first obstacles to such a case are most likely fear and prejudice.
Even among those theorists who offer the most compelling arguments about self-sustaining technologies and their potential to democratize and change the means of production, enthusiasm for synthetic biology is purposely withheld. Yannick Rumpala’s paper Additive manufacturing as global remanufacturing of politics has a title that speaks for itself. It sees in 3d printing the potential to exorcize some of the most oppressive structural inevitabilities of the current division of labor, transforming economics and politics to be more network-based and egalitarian. When I suggested to Yannick that synthetic organisms – the most obvious choices of technology that will be able to self-replicate and become universally available at every stratum of global society – he was reserved. This was half due to not having reflected on biotechnology’s democratic possibilities, and half due to a principled rejection of “artificial environments”.
Should synthetic biology make people nervous rather than excited, and should be it be rejected as controversial and potentially dangerous rather than embraced as a potentially world-changing and highly democratic technology? The second tendency that results in a rejection of synthetic biology by those who normally go about endorsing technology as the catalyst for social change is the tendency to point to a very specific threat – a humanity-threatening virus.
This second rejection of synthetic biology is easier to respond to than the first, because it is very specific. In fact, the threat is discussed in sufficient depth by synthetic biology’s own leading scientist himself, J. Craig Venter, in his 2013 book Life at the Speed of Light. In anticipation of a viral threat, “bio-terror” is considered the top danger by the US government, but “bio-error” is seen by Venter as an even bigger danger. There is a possibility of individual accidents using synthetic biology, analogous to medical accidents from overdoses. It could involve a virus introduced as a treatment for cancer becoming dangerous (like in the movie, I Am Legend). This is especially possible, if the technology becomes ubiquitous and “DIY”, with individuals customizing their own treatments by synthesizing viruses. However, many household materials and technologies already present the same level of threat to lone individuals, so there is no reason to focus on the popular use of synthetic biology as an extraordinary threat.
A larger scale disaster is far easier to prevent than the death or illness of a lone individual from his own synthetic biology accident. A bio-terror attack, Venter writes, would be extremely difficult using synthetic biology. Synthetic biology is going to give medical professionals the ability to quickly sequence genomes and transmit them on the airwaves to synthesize new vaccines. This would only make it easier to fight against bioterror or a potentially apocalyptic virus, as the threat could be found and sequenced by computers, with the cure being synthesized and introduced almost immediately. Despite this fact that synthetic biology provides the best defense against its own possible threats, it is still important to be balanced in our recognition of the benefits and threats of this technology.
More dangerous than a virus breaking loose from the lab, Venter recognizes the potential for the abuse of synthetic biology by hostile governments. Of most concern, custom viruses could be used as assassins against individuals, whether by governments or conspirators. A cold could be created to have no effect on most people, but be deadly to the President of the United States. All you would need to do is get access to a sample of the President’s genetic material, sequence it, and develop a corresponding virus that exploits a unique weakness in his/her DNA. This danger in particular seems to be more worthy of concern than an apocalyptic virus or devastating bioterrorist attack striking the whole of humanity.
The ethical burden on those who work with synthetic life, as Venter takes from a US government bioethics study, requires “a balance between the pessimistic view of these efforts as yet another example of hubris and the optimistic view of their being tantamount to “human progress” ”. Synthetic biologists must be “good stewards”, and must “move genomic research forward with caution, armed with insights from value traditions with respect to the proper purposes and uses of knowledge.”
However, there is also an undeniable reason to embrace synthetic biology as a solution to many of the world’s most urgent problems. J. Craig Venter’s own words confirm that synthetic life deserves to be included in Yannick Rumpala’s analysis, as a democratic technology that can transform global politics and economics and counter disparity in the world:

“Creating life at the speed of light is part of a new industrial revolution that will see manufacturing shift away from the centralized factories of the past to a distributed, domestic manufacturing future, thanks to 3-d printers.”

There may be a terrible threat from synthetic biology, but it will not necessarily be bio-error or bio-terror. The abuse could come from none other than a very familiar leviathan that has already violated the trust of its citizens before: the supposedly incorruptible United States government. Already, there is an interest in sequencing everyone’s genomes and placing them on a massive database, ostensibly for medical purposes. One cannot help but connect this with the US government’s fascination with tracking and monitoring its own citizens. If the ability to customize a virus to target an individual is true, the killer state will almost certainly maintain the military option of synthetic biology on the table – a possible way of carrying out “targeted killings” around the world in a more sophisticated and secretive manner than ever before.
The threats of synthetic biology are elusive and verge on being conspiracy theories or overused movie plots, but the magnificent potential of synthetic biology to eliminate inequality and suffering in the world is clear and present. In fact, the greatest bio-disaster in the history of the world may be humanity’s reluctance to remanufacture life in order to make more efficient use of the world’s declining natural resources. At the same time, the belief that ubiquitous synthetic biology will threaten life is secondary and distracting, as the true responsibility for unjustly threatening life is likely to always be with the state.

By Harry J. Bentham — More articles by Harry J. Bentham

 Originally published on 13 May 2014 at the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies (IEET)

Today’s emerging technologies will be tomorrow’s liberators. Subscribe for similar articles.

Karen Kaplan — LA TImes
Albert Einstein

In a study published online Sunday in the journal Nature Photonics, three physicists from Imperial College London and the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics in Heidelberg, Germany, propose a relatively straightforward method for witnessing the conversion of two photons into two particles. The trio came up with the idea and hammered out the key details in a single, coffee-fueled day, according to Imperial.

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By Randy Rieland — Smithsonian.com

These days, 3D printing seems to be at the core of most new new research ventures, whether it’s developing ways to print entire meals or recreating facial features to repair a patient’s face.

But Skylar Tibbits wants to up the ante: He’s hoping 4D printing will be the thing of the not-so-far future.

The name for his concept, Tibbits admits, was a bit lighthearted at first. At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Tibbits and researchers from the firms Stratasys and Autodesk Inc were trying to come up with a way of describing the objects they were creating on 3D printers—objects that not only could be printed, but thanks to geometric code, could also later change shape and transform on their own.

The name stuck, and now the process they developed—which turns code into “smart objects” that can self-assemble or change shape when confronted with a change in its environment—could very well pop up in a number of industries, from construction to athletic wear.

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