Future tech

It's nice to think each of us is entirely unique, a one-of-a-kind aggregate of life experiences colliding with genes that set us apart from everyone else. And while this is true to an extent, it's also true that certain telltale blueprints exist for us, all the way down to the way we move our faces if we are, say, depressed.

So researchers at the University of Southern California's Institute for Creative Technologies are developing a Kinect-driven avatar they call SimSensei to track and analyze in real time a person's facial movements, body posture, linguistic patterns, acoustics, and behaviors such as fidgeting which, taken together, signal psychological distress.… Read more

In the future, the U.S. Army could rely on low-cost ambidextrous autonomous robots, instead of bomb disposal technicians or remote control robots, to defuse improvised explosive devices. Better yet, activating and operating the smart robots may only require a nearby solider to say, "Go find and defuse the bomb."

As a precursor to that end goal, DARPA's Autonomous Robotic Manipulation program released a video that shows a robot changing a tire by itself. The robot, complete with a camera and an array of sensors, successfully uses two hands (one equipped with a drill) to remove a tire and put a new one in its place. A small screen shows the robot's virtual view of the tire, which reveals how software algorithms detect each the scene and its minute details in real time.… Read more

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Goldman CEO Blankfein: Equality is good business.

- Subscribe to Jill's podcast on iTunes and send your questions to askjill@jillonmoney.com.

- Follow Jill Schlesinger on Twitter.… Read more

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- In Jeff's words, April Fool's is a day for unfunny people to tell jokes. With that, I'm pretty sure this prank was posted two weeks early.

- The OPMOD/ThinkGeek Battle Mug: an elegant drink receptacle for a more civilized age.

- Boston police go undercover online to stop DIY punk shows.

- Latest Japanese schoolgirl trend: Fake Dragon Ball attacks.

- Walmart may get customers to deliver packages to online buyers.

- Sales of twin-size beds drop as Tweens demand bigger beds...for their tablets.… Read more

The 40 kWh battery option that was offered to Tesla Model S customers won't be put into production after all.

Tesla announced the news yesterday, saying that its decision was made after it witnessed a "lack of demand" for the 40 kWh (kilowatt-hours) battery. Just 4 percent of those who ordered the Tesla S asked for the smaller battery pack.

Tesla, an electric carmaker, said that customers who ordered the 40 kWh option will get a 60 kWh pack instead. However, to keep the price down to the same level as the 40 kWh option, the better … Read more

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Listen to the music of Bayside and check them out at one of their upcoming shows.

- Nick's clothing label is called Born and Bred, and 404 listeners can save 20 percent off all merchandise with code BB404.

- Follow Nick Ghanbarian and Born and Bred on Twitter

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Editor's note: This is the final installment of a four-part series. Read part 1, "Plotting the next Silicon Valley -- you'll never guess where;" part 2, "New Silicon Valley in the Andes: Promise and paradox;" and part 3, "Riding shotgun with the man behind an Andean Silicon Valley."

In the previous installments of this series on Ecuador's plan to build its own hub of research and innovation on par with the likes of Silicon Valley and South Korea's Incheon, I've focused on the big dream and the big possibilities.

It's time for a reality check to round things out.

First, let's review the plan for Yachay, the name chosen for the Ecuadorian government's planned "City of Knowledge" already under construction at a rural location in the country's northern Andean highlands. It all starts with a university that Rene Ramirez, Ecuadorian minister of higher education, science, technology, and innovation, hopes will one day be on par with the likes of Stanford University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, or the California Institute of Technology.

"We want Yachay to be part of that international network of knowledge development, putting Ecuador in a good position globally," Ramirez told me when I visited him in Quito. … Read more

Scientists cite as a major driver of climate change the large amount of carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere that's created by the burning of fossil fuels. They spend day after day trying to figure out a way to generate power for the world's populations, but at the same time leave a smaller carbon footprint.

Now, researchers at the University of Georgia say they've hit upon a way to take the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and turn it into useable industrial products. The impact of such a discovery is potentially huge.

The goal is to remove the CO2 directly from the air and turn it into biofuel -- not only helping power the world, but hopefully taking down global temperatures at the same time.

The researchers essentially have created a microorganism that acts like a plant that removes the carbon dioxide from the air and turns it into something we can use. During photosynthesis, plants utilize sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide from the air to create their food source. This would behave in a similar fashion. … Read more

- Robert's Web site, PowerSeductionandWar.

- A Reddit AMA with Robert Greene.

- Follow Robert Greene on Twitter.

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