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From an animation shown at the 1991 Consumer Electronics Show in Chicago.

Smart Camera Uses Sensors, AI to Automatically Edit Video

For many amateur video shooters, the fast-forward button is a valuable friend. It could be, though, that sorting through long minutes of footage when not much is happening for the few seconds of gold is about to be a thing of the past.

The creators of a new high-definition camera called Graava say the pocket-sized device uses its GPS, accelerometer, gyroscope, microphones and image sensor to mark the most interesting moments in video as it is being recorded. It can also take heart-rate readings with an attachable third-party monitor to note exciting moments for the user. Then artificial intelligence pieces those moments together into highlight clips with only the good stuff, which is immediately available to share on social networks. Learn more and see a video below.

Keep reading

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Panasonic Lumix CM1

Today, we present to you another addition to the hybrid crowd: recently announced during the Photokina show in Germany, Lumix DMC-CM1 by Panasonic is an Android smartphone and a connected camera packed inside one versatile and futuristic-looking device that should soon find its way to mass production lines.

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This supercapacitor battery can be recharged 30,000 times

A thin, flexible supercapacitor boasts high energy and power densities. Credit: University of Central Florida

Everyone and anyone with a smartphone know it is not long before your phone holds a charge for less and less time as the battery begins to degrade. But new research by scientists at the NanoScience Technology Center at the University of Central Florida (UCF), USA, could change that. The team have developed a new method for producing flexible supercapacitors that can store greater amounts of energy and can be recharged over 30,000 times without degradation. This new method could transform technology such as electric vehicles and mobile phones in the future.

‘If you were to replace the batteries with these supercapacitors, you could charge your mobile phone in a few seconds and you wouldn’t need to charge it again for over a week,’ said University of Central Florida researcher Nitin Choudhary.

The UCF team has attempted to apply newly discovered 2D materials that measure just a few atoms thick to supercapacitors. Other scientists have also tried formulations with other 2D materials including graphene, but had only limited success. The new supercapacitors are composed of millions of nanometre-thick wires coated with shells of 2D materials. The core facilitates the super-fast charging and discharging that makes supercapacitors powerful, and the 2D coating delivers the energy storage ability.

‘We developed a simple chemical synthesis approach so we can very nicely integrate the existing materials with the two-dimensional materials,’ said Yeonwoong Eric Jung, assistant professor of the study. Jung is working with UCF’s Office of Technology Transfer to patent the new process. ‘It’s not ready for commercialisation,’ Jung said. ‘But this is a proof-of-concept demonstration, and our studies show there are very high impacts for many technologies.’

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Current phone background. (Screenshot. I like my phone minimalistic :-). Artwork by Leinil Francis Yu.)

Five NASA Technologies at the 2017 Consumer Electronics Show

This week, we’re attending the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES), where we’re joining industrial pioneers and business leaders from across the globe to showcase our space technology. Since 1967, CES has been the place to be for next-generation innovations to get their marketplace debut.

Our technologies are driving exploration and enabling the agency’s bold new missions to extend the human presence beyond the moon, to an asteroid, to Mars and beyond. Here’s a look at five technologies we’re showing off at #CES2017:

1. IDEAS

Our Integrated Display and Environmental Awareness System (IDEAS) is an interactive optical computer that works for smart glasses. The idea behind IDEAS is to enhance real-time operations by providing augmented reality data to field engineers here on Earth and in space. 

This device would allow users to see and modify critical information on a transparent, interactive display without taking their eyes or hands off the work in front of them. 

This wearable technology could dramatically improve the user’s situational awareness, thus improving safety and efficiency. 

For example, an astronaut could see health data, oxygen levels or even environmental emergencies like “invisible” ethanol fires right on their helmet view pane. 

And while the IDEAS prototype is an innovative solution to the challenges of in-space missions, it won’t just benefit astronauts—this technology can be applied to countless fields here on Earth.

2. VERVE

Engineers at our Ames Research Center are developing robots to work as teammates with humans. 

They created a user interface called the Visual Environment for Remote Virtual Exploration (VERVE) that allows researchers to see from a robot’s perspective. 

Using VERVE, astronauts on the International Space Station remotely operated the K10 rover—designed to act as a scout during NASA missions to survey terrain and collect science data to help human explorers. 

This week, Nissan announced that a version of our VERVE was modified for its Seamless Autonomous Mobility (SAM), a platform for the integration of autonomous vehicles into our society. For more on this partnership: https://www.nasa.gov/ames/nisv-podcast-Terry-Fong

3. OnSight

Did you know that we are leveraging technology from virtual and augmented reality apps to help scientists study Mars and to help astronauts in space? 

The Ops Lab at our Jet Propulsion Laboratory is at the forefront of deploying these groundbreaking applications to multiple missions. 

One project we’re demonstrating at CES, is how our OnSight tool—a mixed reality application developed for the Microsoft HoloLens—enables scientists to “work on Mars” together from their offices. 

Supported by the Mars 2020 and Curiosity missions, it is currently in use by a pilot group of scientists for rover operations. Another HoloLens project is being used aboard the International Space Station to empower the crew with assistance when and where they need it.

At CES, we’re also using the Oculus Rift virtual reality platform to provide a tour from the launchpad at our Kennedy Space Center of our Space Launch System (SLS). SLS will be the world’s most powerful rocket and will launch astronauts in the Orion Spacecraft on missions to an asteroid and eventually to Mars. Engineers continue to make progress aimed toward delivering the first SLS rocket to Kennedy in 2018.

4. PUFFER

The Pop-Up Flat Folding Explorer Robot, PUFFER, is an origami-inspired robotic technology prototype that folds into the size of a smartphone. 

It is a low-volume, low-cost enhancement whose compact design means that many little robots could be packed in to a larger “parent” spacecraft to be deployed on a planet’s surface to increase surface mobility. It’s like a Mars rover Mini-Me!

5. ROV-E

Our Remote Operated Vehicle for Education, or ROV-E, is a six-wheeled rover modeled after our Curiosity and the future Mars 2020 Rover. 

It uses off-the-shelf, easily programmable computers and 3D-printed parts. ROV-E has four modes, including user-controlled driving to sensor-based hazard-avoidance and “follow me” modes. ROV-E can answer questions about Mars and follow voice commands.

ROV-E was developed by a team of interns and young, up-and-coming professionals at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory who wanted to build a Mars rover from scratch to help introduce students and the public to Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics (STEM) careers, planetary science and our Journey to Mars.

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com

Promotional video for the House of Marley's new collection for the canadian market.

Plane crashes near Montgomery Field, pilot killed

A pilot was killed when a small plane crashed near Montgomery Field in Kearny Mesa, San Diego police said.

I just found out about this today. This was the Doctor who had performed my knee replacement and was treating me before and after the surgery. I am very upset at his death and I hope all of you join me in praying for his family. I will miss Dr. Serocki very much as will his friends, colleagues and patients I’m sure. He was a great doctor, very caring and conscientious. This is a tremendous loss for our community. Again, I ask that you join me in praying for his family. Thank you all.  Rick Young