First arrest via drone

Welcome to the future. Police make first arrest using an unmanned drone.

Police make first-ever arrest using unmanned drone | Mail Online.

Nissan's Leaf

Introducing Nissan’s all-electric “Leaf”. It has 5 seats, can go 90 mph, and has a range of 100 miles. It can recharge in 30 minutes and will cost less than $30,000. Scheduled to be be released by the end of 2010.

First Tata Nano Delivered

Earlier this year we followed the development of Tata Motors’ Nano.  If you remember this is the world’s cheapest car with a price tag of around $2,500.  The first Nano was sold to a Mumbai resident Ashok Vichare on July 17, 2009.  Tata says it has a waiting list of around a year. [Tata Motors]

Tata Nano – World’s Cheapest Car

Today Tata Motors launched the Tata Nano for pre-orders in India.  The MSRP will be under $2,000.  Which makes this car the cheapest in the world.

The base model has no airbags, air conditioning, radio, or power steering.  You will be able to add these features to more luxurious versions of the Nano.  The base model does get over 50 mpg.

Tata Motors plans to sell a larger European version in 2011 and North American market later on.  Look for the price to be slightly higher as it ships to other markets.

If this car is a hit, they will certainly have a tough time keeping up with the demand.

Tata Motors

Obama's Super "Blackberry"

Obama may get his wish to continue using his blackberry, at least partially. Here is a video on a secure PDA Blackberry-type device that he could use.

Mind Reading

This was a really interesting piece  that was just on 60 minutes concerning the latest in neuro-technology research. fMRI – functional MRI technology is starting to be able to identify thoughts.

Neuroscience has learned much about the brain’s activity and its link to certain thoughts. As Lesley Stahl reports, it may now be possible, on a basic level, to read a person’s mind.

Check it out…

Watch CBS Videos Online

Pretty cool, I have covered improvements in mind-computer interfaces on Tomorrow’s Trends for a while. Most recently, there was a post on additional mind-blowing neuro-tech concerning  “The Dream Machine”.

Vertical Farming

Here is a Discovery video on “vertical farming” a concept for farming food and raising livestock in skyscrapers.

The Dream Machine

This is a pretty impressive advancement in mind-computer interfaces. Their technology can actually read and interpret the visual cortex, reconstructing what you are seeing. This would apply to actual visual images coming thorough the eye, or things you “see” in a dream.

Dream Recorder: New Technology Could Display Your Dreams on Screen:

“In a nutshell, the device converts electrical signals sent to the visual cortex into images that can be viewed on a computer screen. In their experiment, they showed test subjects the six letters in the word neuron and succeeded in reconstructing the word on screen by measuring their brain activity.”

Gizmodo

UPDATE***************************

Here is a video I found of tests where images are shown taken from the brain an compared with the actual images.

Mini nuclear plants

Mini nuclear power plants are coming. As small as a shed, and buried locally underground where they are needed, these plants have no moving parts and simply produce energy for years.

[Image Source: Next Energy News]

Mini nuclear plants to power 20,000 homes | Environment | The Observer:

“Nuclear power plants smaller than a garden shed and able to power 20,000 homes will be on sale within five years, say scientists at Los Alamos, the US government laboratory which developed the first atomic bomb.”

Of course safety and disposal would be a concern…

“The miniature reactors will be factory-sealed, contain no weapons-grade material, have no moving parts and will be nearly impossible to steal because they will be encased in concrete and buried underground.”

But, they do appear to have real orders. I think that perhaps for countries that have electrical infrastructures that are not stable – this may be a compelling option.

“The reactors, only a few metres in diameter, will be delivered on the back of a lorry to be buried underground. They must be refuelled every 7 to 10 years. Because the reactor is based on a 50-year-old design that has proved safe for students to use, few countries are expected to object to plants on their territory. An application to build the plants will be submitted to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission next year.”

The company is named Hyperion, and below is some additional information on the reactor:

“The Hyperion nuclear battery is filled with an uranium hydride core and surrounded by a hydrogen atmosphere. The self sufficient nuclear generator is simply buried underground and hooked up to a steam turbine it generates enough electricity to power a 25,000-home community for at least five years.

The nuclear battery cannot overheat and has no mechanical function to maintain. The company is expecting to produce 4000 units in the next 3 years, which could provide 100GW of power, equal to about 20% of America’s total energy usage.

Each mini reactor can produce 27 megawatts worth of thermal energy and it is totally self-contained, involves no moving parts and, therefore, doesn’t require a human operator.

‚ÄòIn fact, we prefer to call it a ‚Äòdrive‚Äô or a ‚Äòbattery‚Äô or a ‚Äòmodule‚Äô in that it‚Äôs so safe,‚Äô Hyperion spokeswoman Deborah Blackwell says. ‚ÄòLike you don‚Äôt open a double-A battery, you just plug [the reactor] in and it does its chemical thing inside of it. You don‚Äôt ever open it or mess with it.‚Äô””

IOUSA – The most important movie this year?

UPDATE: A “Byte Sized” 30 minute version has been released if you want to see the key stuff in a half hour…

I saw IOUSA this past week here in an independent movie theater in Memphis. This is a great movie to see if you want to understand the future of the USA.

The movie is a documentary about the US debt (now surpassing $10 Trillion). Check out the trailer.

The overall movie was very informative in a non-dry way and was non-partisan. My only criticism was that sometimes presidential administrations get blamed or praised for congressional actions during times. The congress is the ultimate budget watchdog section of our government, so letting them off the hook or ignoring the good things they did and only looking at the presidential administration is too simple.

The movie is great and highlights the growing problems of all the promises the federal government is making. Medicare is a big financial burden, and social security is second. This is not new news. The federal government is highly overstretched and it is not shrinking its obligations.

I think that no, the federal government will never shrink its scope or obligations voluntarily. I certainly do not see any proof from citizens or top leaders in Washington that shrinking the government is an area of interest. In fact any effort to be more fiscally conservative and shrink entitlements are met with an entitlement mentality fostered by elected officials. So, the next question is, what will the world look like in that scenario? I think it will affect a lot of things long term.

IOUSA the Movie