Lifeboat Foundation

For the first time in human history, there are now 10,000 functioning satellites above our heads, whipping around the Earth at high speed. It’s a milestone that showcases decades of technical achievement but might also make it harder to sleep at night if you think about it for too long.

The count comes from the latest estimate by Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and leading watcher of most things orbital. McDowell estimates there are 10,036 active satellites in orbit as of July 18.

Remarkably, this figure has roughly quadrupled over just the past half-decade, thanks almost entirely to Elon Musk, SpaceX and their massive Starlink constellation of broadband routers in low-earth orbit.

Wireless internet supports the daily activities of countless people worldwide, ranging from their professional communications to internet browsing and the streaming of movies or TV series. This spiking demand for wireless internet access goes hand in hand with greater power consumption, which in turn contributes to carbon emissions worldwide.

Future wireless networks should be able to support the high computational demands of many modern applications and internet services, while limiting power consumption. Some researchers have thus been developing energy efficient techniques supporting communication between devices and the sharing of media or other information online.

One of these solutions is known as visible light communication (VLC). This is a method to realize efficient wireless communication using visible light to transmit data, relying on light-emitting diodes (LEDs) or other artificial light sources.

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Dear Subscribers, please see the latest Security & tech Insights newsletter covering emerging issues, trends and potential solutions in the world of cybersecurity. Thanks for reading and stay safe! Best, Chuck Brooks PS checkout my new book on Amazon: Inside Cyber: How AI, 5G, and Quantum Computing Will Transform Privacy and Our Security Amazon.com : Inside Cyber: How AI, 5G, and Quantum Computing Will Transform Privacy and Our Security: 9781394254941: Brooks, Chuck: Books.

Liftoff is scheduled for 7:21 a.m. EDT on Sunday (Aug. 11).

In the search for less energy-hungry artificial intelligence, some scientists are exploring living computers.

By Jordan Kinard

Artificial intelligence systems, even those as sophisticated as ChatGPT, depend on the same silicon-based hardware that has been the bedrock of computing since the 1950s. But what if computers could be molded from living biological matter? Some researchers in academia and the commercial sector, wary of AI’s ballooning demands for data storage and energy, are focusing on a growing field known as biocomputing. This approach uses synthetic biology, such as miniature clusters of lab-grown cells called organoids, to create computer architecture. Biocomputing pioneers include Swiss company FinalSpark, which earlier this year debuted its “Neuroplatform”—a computer platform powered by human-brain organoids—that scientists can rent over the Internet for $500 a month.

We are constantly surrounded by electromagnetic waves such as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth signals. What if we could turn the unused excess into usable energy? Researchers at Tohoku University, the National University of Singapore, and the University of Messina developed a novel technology to efficiently harvest ambient low-power radiofrequency (RF) signals into direct-current (DC) power. This ‘rectifier’ technology can be easily integrated into energy harvesting modules to power electronic devices and sensors, enabling battery-free operation.

The results were published in Nature Electronics (“Nanoscale spin rectifiers for harvesting ambient radiofrequency energy”).

Schematic illustration of a wireless network with energy-harvesting modules. RF signals that are unused by electronic gadgets and would otherwise go to waste are used to generate usable DC power to drive sensors and devices. (Image: Shunsuke Fukami & Hyunsoo Yang)

Even if we can dodge a disaster in orbit by responsibly de-orbiting derelict satellites, many scientists are concerned that the number of objects circling our planet could still do harm: When they deorbit, they could deposit a significant flux of metals that could alter the chemical makeup of Earth’s atmosphere.

“Effects on astronomy are just the tip of the iceberg,” said Barentine, who says we may be fast approaching a turning point where tragedy becomes imminent, either in space due to a collision or on the ground from falling debris. “Space policy-making moves far too slowly to effectively deal with all of this.”

“Right now, there’s not a lot to look forward to that is positive,” he added. “If the New Space Age goes badly in the end, history will not look favorably on it.”

The wearables market has been dominated, so far, by smartwatches and fitness trackers. The first Apple Watch was launched in April 2015, and wearable technology now includes jewelry that tracks your steps and notifies you of an incoming call, VR headsets for gamers, earbuds, smart glasses with Internet access, smart clothing integrated with electronic devices and a range of health monitors.

But the world’s first eyelid wearable device opens up a whole new world of opportunity.

Blink Energy’s device weighs just 0.4 grams (0.014 ounces) — less than half the weight of a paperclip – and is fitted to one eyelid. You barely notice it, says Bar-On. “After two minutes you forget it’s there.”

“To make the quantum internet a reality, we need to transmit entangled photons via fiber optic networks,” says Prof. Dr. Michael Kues, Head of the Institute of Photonics and Board Member of the PhoenixD Cluster of Excellence at Leibniz University Hannover.

“We also want to continue using optical fibers for conventional data transmission. Our research is an important step to combine the conventional internet with the quantum internet.”

In their experiment, the researchers demonstrated that the entanglement of photons is maintained even when they are sent together with a laser pulse. The research results were published in Science Advances.