Lifeboat Foundation

Glad to see others finding value in using Q-Dots with Graphene.

The development of photodetectors has been a matter of considerable interest in the past decades since their applications are essential to many different fields including cameras, medical devices, safety equipment, optical communication devices or even surveying instruments, among others.

Many efforts have been focused towards optoelectronic research in trying to create low cost photodetectors with high sensitivity, high quantum efficiency, high gain and fast photoresponse. This is of paramount importance especially in the short wave infrared which currently is addressed by very expensive III-V InGaAs photodetectors. The development of two main classes of photodetectors, photodiodes and phototransistors, have partially been able to accomplish these goals because even though they both have many outstanding properties, none seem to fulfill all of these requirements. While photodiodes are much faster than phototransistors, phototransistors have a higher gain and do not require low noise preamplifiers for their use.

To overcome these limitations, ICFO researchers Ivan Nikitskiy, Stijn Goossens, Dominik Kufer, Tania Lasanta, Gabriele Navickaite, led by ICREA professors at ICFO Frank Koppens and Gerasimos Konstantatos, have been able to develop a hybrid photodetector capable of attaining concomitantly better performance features in terms of speed, quantum efficiency and linear dynamic range, operating not only in the visible but also in the near infrared (NIR: 700-1400nm) and SWIR range (1400-3000nm). At the same time this technology is based upon materials that can be monolithically integrated with Si CMOS electronics as well as flexible electronic platforms. The results of this work have been recently published in Nature Communications.

Continue reading “A new form of hybrid photodetectors with quantum dots and graphene” »

Good luck with that one Russia. Just to deadly for me.

To teleport from one place to another has, and still remains, one of the most sought-after technologies since it was first conceived in the writings of our greatest science fiction authors.

Few won’t have gawped at Star Trek’s transporter and while we’ve managed to conquer many of the technologies first outlined in the series this one has evaded us so far.

Continue reading “Russia’s Planning To Develop A Teleportation Device By 2035” »

It may seem like something from science fiction, but researchers have found a group of microorganisms that can live off of pure electricity, reports. All life uses electricity, but scientists long thought it impossible for a cell to directly consume and expel electrons. That’s because fatty cell membranes act as insulators, preventing the flow of electricity. Scientists have now found evidence that some cells can discharge electrons through specialized proteins in their membranes, and others can ingest electrons from an electrode by using an enzyme that creates hydrogen atoms. Still others might be able to directly consume electrons, though that research has yet to be published. The findings could help researchers understand how life thrives under a variety of conditions, and how it could exist on places like Mars.

Researchers are building an electronic nose that can accurately detect and distinguish chemicals in your breath, which could lead to earlier diagnosis of diseases and eventually replace blood tests. Beta testing is targeted early in 2018.

Circuits can now be 3D-printed directly into electronic devices – meaning factories could spit out new gadgets almost as quickly as we can think them up.

If you think your mind is the only safe place left for all your secrets, think again, because scientists are making real steps towards reading your thoughts and putting them on a screen for everyone to see.

A team from the University of Oregon has built a system that can read people’s thoughts via brain scans, and reconstruct the faces they were visualising in their heads. As you’ll soon see, the results were pretty damn creepy.

“We can take someone’s memory — which is typically something internal and private — and we can pull it out from their brains,” one of the team, neuroscientist Brice Kuhl, told Brian Resnick at Vox.

Continue reading “Scientists have invented a mind-reading machine that visualises your thoughts” »

“People are increasingly living past 100. That means some big changes for the future of work”

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“Alternatively, you could just avoid this entire first batch of VR hardware altogether.”

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My new story for Vice Motherboard on the future of political campaining:

Lest we think future elections are all about the candidates, perhaps the largest possibility on the horizon could come from digital direct democracy—the concept where citizens participate in real time input in the government. I gently advocate for a fourth branch of government, in which the people can vote on issues that matter to them and their decrees could have real legal consequence on Congress, the Supreme Court, and the Presidency.

Of course, that’s only if government even exists anymore. It’s possible the coming age of artificial intelligence and robots may replace the need for politicians. At least human ones. Some experts think superintelligent AI might be here in 10 to 15 years, so why not have a robot president that is totally altruistic and not susceptible to lobbyists and personal desires? This machine leader would simply always calculate the greatest good for the greatest amount of people, and go with that. No more Republicans, Democrats, Libertarians, Greens, or whatever else we are.

Continue reading “Wild Transhumanist Campaign Tech We’ll See in Future Presidential Elections” »