Now you can 3-D Print Objects made of Wood Fibers.,

Now you can 3-D Print Objects made of Wood Fibers.

Cellulose offers sustainable Alternative to Metal and Plastic.

A tiny 3D printed chair made of cellulose.

From prosthetic hands to an entire bridge, you can pretty much 3D print anything you can imagine. But the materials to make them are diversifying a bit more slowly. Now researchers from Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden have found a way to 3D print objects from cellulose, a naturally occurring string of molecules derived from wood. The resulting objects are an environmentally friendly and sustainable alternative to the metals and plastics that currently dominate 3D printing. The researchers presented their work this week at a conference titled “New Materials From Trees.”

We’re used to seeing objects and constructions made of wood, but it hasn’t been easy to put it in a form that can be 3D printed. Unlike the metal or plastic commonly used in 3D printing, cellulose doesn’t melt when heated, which means it’s much harder to mold into different objects. To work around this, the researchers mixed tiny fibers of cellulose in a liquid gel made of water. The researchers tested their mixture on a 3D bio-printer, which had been used previously to make scaffolds where cells grew before being implanted in a patient.

Once the object has been printed from the gel, it has to dry, which is critical for maintaining its final shape. The researchers figured out a way to freeze the object, then slowly remove some of the water so that the final product is in the desired shape.

The researchers were also able to insert carbon nano-tubes into the dry object so that it could conduct electricity. When they tested one conductive gel with the nano-tubes and one without, they were able to create a 3D electrical circuit.

Found in the cell walls of plants and algae or secreted by bacteria, cellulose is a very abundant polymer. 3D printed objects made of cellulose would biodegradable and could even capture carbon dioxide that would otherwise pollute the atmosphere.

Paul Gatenholm, a professor of bio-polymer technology at Chalmers and one of the study authors, envisions a huge range of applications for products printed with cellulose. "Potential applications range from sensors integrated with packaging, to textiles that convert body heat to electricity, and wound dressings that can communicate with healthcare workers," he says. In the future his team plans to experiment with other organic compounds derived from wood.

Can Windows 10 give Microsoft a second life?

Can Windows 10 give Microsoft a second life

The tech company looks to redeem itself from the failure of its last operating system Windows 8.

In the last week of July, Microsoft will launch Windows 10. Since 1995, when Windows won over geeks and took over the world of computers, every launch of this operating system (OS) has been a big deal. Windows still powers over 80 per cent of world's computers. But there is one more reason why the release of the new Windows is a significant moment for computers users and Microsoft. It is an operating system that is supposed to fix the wrongs that Microsoft committed with Windows 8 in 2012.

Windows 8 was a disaster. With Apple's iPad stealing the show, Microsoft tried to counter it by Windows 8, an operating system that was supposed to be as easy to run on a tablet as it was on desktop. But the result was dis-appointing. Microsoft tried to do too many things with Windows 8 and lost focus. In the end, Windows 8 turned out to be too complex to be used on tablets and too sloppy and haphazard to really benefit laptop and desktop users. Its user interface was so confusing that enterprise users aka companies that use Windows in their offices opted for Windows 7 over it. Individual users too decided to skip it and even those who somehow ended up with the Windows 8, mostly hated it, finding it cumbersome to use.

Microsoft tried to fix Windows 8 with the Windows 8.1 in 2013 but the damage was done.

With Windows 10, Microsoft is going to undo this damage and so far it seems that the company is on the right track.

With Windows 10, Microsoft is focussing its energy on the core users of the operating system. These core users are people who run Windows on their laptops or desktops and not on tablets. So the whole user interface has been simplified and is now much more closer to the excellent Windows 7. The tile-based interface that Microsoft introduced in Windows 8 is gone. The start menu, which was removed in Windows 8, is back. Similarly, the whole interface has been retooled so that it is easier to use Windows 10 with a keyboard and mouse. This is unlike the approach Microsoft took with the Windows 8 where the focus was on touchscreens.

Windows 10 feels like a logical evolution of Windows 7, which arguably is the best operating system Microsoft has made so far. It marks a clean break from the Windows 8. But that doesn't mean it lacks new features.

While in terms of user interface and focus, Microsoft is returning to the basics - and these are good basics - it is adding some cool features that would make the new Windows appear modern. The user interface is pleasingly flat, showing that Windows 10 is an operating system that belongs to 2015. It also has features like Cortana, the virtual assistant that would help users interact with the computer with voice commands. While it won't be anything like what we saw in the Hollywood film Her, the idea is similar. The new OS also comes with unique features like desktop spaces - sort of virtual compartments that will help users keep their personal and professional lives separate - and universal search.

While we will know the full capabilities and limitations of Windows 10 once it is out, it is clear the new operating system is shaping up to be a classic similar to Windows 7. If it is everything that Microsoft has promised, it may even help the company save the Windows brand, something that took a hit after the Windows 8.

THESE ARE WHAT THE GOOGLE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE’S DREAMS LOOK LIKE.

THESE ARE WHAT THE GOOGLE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE’S DREAMS LOOK LIKE.

Google's artificial neural network has some explaining to do.

Google's servers drive the much of the world's data, and apparently, they dream as well, according to a Google blog post by two Google software engineers and an intern.

Google's artificial neural network has some explaining to do.

Google’s artificial neural networks (ANNs) are stacked layers of artificial neurons (run on computers) used to process Google Images. To understand how computers dream, we first need to understand how they learn. In basic terms, Google's programmers teach an ANN what a fork is by showing it millions of pictures of forks, and designating that each one is what a fork looks like. Each of network's 10-30 layers extracts progressively more complex information from the picture, from edges to shapes to finally the idea of a fork. 

Eventually, the neural network understands a fork has a handle and two to four tines, and if there are any errors, the team corrects what the computer is misreading and tries again.

The Google team realized that the same process used to discern images could be used to generate images as well. The logic holds: if you know what a fork looks like, you can ostensibly draw a fork.

This is what Google's neural network thinks animals and objects look like.

This showed that even when shown millions of photos, the computer couldn’t come up with a perfect Plutonian form of an object. For instance, when asked to create a dumbbell, the computer depicted long, stringy arm-things stretching from the dumbbell shapes. Arms were often found in pictures of dumbbells, so the computer thought that sometimes dumbbells had arms.

This helped refine the company’s image processing capabilities, but the Google team took it further. Google used the ANN to amplify patterns it saw in pictures. Each artificial neural layer works on a different level of abstraction, meaning some picked up edges based on tiny levels of contrast, while others found shapes and colors. They ran this process to accentuate color and form, and then by told the network to go buck wild, and keep accentuating anything it recognizes. So if a cloud looks similar to a bird, the network would keep applying its idea of a bird in small iterations over and over again.

Arms were often found in pictures of dumbbells, so the computer thought that sometimes dumbbells had arms.

Oddly enough, the Google team found patterns. Stone and trees often became buildings. Leaves often became birds and insects.

Google's artificial neural network often found similar patterns in images of rocks or trees.

Researchers then set the picture the network produced as the new picture to process, creating an iterative process with a small zoom each time, and soon the network began to create a “endless stream of new impressions.” When started with white noise, the network would produce images purely of its own design. They call these images the neural network's "dreams," completely original representations of a computer's mind, derived from real world objects.

The produce of an artificial neural network being asked to amplify and pull patterns out of white noise.

The produce of an artificial neural network being asked to amplify and pull patterns out of white noise.

Google continues to use these techniques to find out what their artificial neural networks are learning, and even ponders if it could shed light on the “roots of the creative process in general.”

Ten Crazy Facts Girls Don’t Want Guys to Know.

Ten Crazy Facts Girls Don’t Want Guys to Know.

There is always something that girls aren’t telling the guys that they are with. Some are a bit strange, others are a bit sneaky, but others are downright crazy. Here are the top 10 crazy things or facts that your girl may be hiding from you.

1.Secretly, girls want all of your ex-girlfriends to be beautiful. This is the easiest way for girls to compare their beauty with others. If your girlfriend is searching through your Facebook list for ex-girlfriends, it is probably so that she can see how pretty they are.

2.Surprisingly, girls actually enjoy when you don’t call them back the next day, especially if you came on strong the day before. You will be constantly on their mind as they ponder everything that could have gone wrong.

 3.On a first date, most girls will refuse to shave their legs. This is the best way to stay out of your bed and leaves you wanting to see them again. Usually they will also wear unflattering underwear on a first date as well for the same reason.

4.At a party, girls will see the sexy women faster than they will see the sexy guys. They always want to know where their competition is and how they stack up against the other girls in the room.

 5.There are times when girls will fake it, just so you will let them go to sleep. At times, it may be difficult for them to realize when they are faking it and when they are not because the line of faking it and not is very thin.

6.Girls like sex to be a bit rough. Secretly they are looking for you to take charge and show a bit of aggression. They may never admit it, but they love to relinquish the control to you.

7.Girls will pretend that they need help in order to get you to do things for them. Not only does this make you feel better about yourself, but you are doing something that they do not want to do themselves.

8.Don’t think your sex details are safe secrets from your girlfriend’s friends. More than likely, your girl discusses every detail (good and bad) with her entire group of friends. Comparing notes is important!

 9.You may be great, but your girl will still think about her ex-boyfriends from time to time. More than likely, your girl is stalking her ex’s via social media and imagining what their lives would be like if they were with them rather than you.

10.Girls always want dessert. May tell you that they, they secretly want dessert. So, in the end, if you are unsure, order that thousand calorie cake and split it. She will be happy, trust me.

GOOGLE AND LEVI'S ARE WEAVING COMPUTERS INTO YOUR CLOTHES.

GOOGLE AND LEVI'S ARE WEAVING COMPUTERS INTO YOUR CLOTHES.

PROJECT JACQUARD' BRINGS SIMPLE, POWERFUL TECH TO TEXTILES.

-Michael Nuñez.

Project Jacquard

Google’s Advanced Technology and Projects (ATAP) group is one of the most exciting divisions of any major technology company: It’s where Project Ara, Google's modular phone experiment, and Project Tango, Google's 3D-mapping tool, were born and are continuing to be incubated. Now, Google is shooting for the moon with another big idea.

Project Jacquard is an effort to invisibly incorporate computers into objects, materials, and clothing. Everyday items such as sweaters, jackets, and furniture will be turned into interactive surfaces that can be used as trackpads, buttons and more. The objects will receive information directly from the surface of the material used to build them, eliminating the need for bulky plastic or metal parts. The objects will then transmit information to a nearby smartphone or computer using low-powered Wi-Fi.

In order to give everyday objects computing power, Project Jacquard engineers had to weave conductive yarns into common textiles. The yarn created for Project Jacquard combines ultra-thin metallic alloys and common synthetic yarn such as cotton, polyester or silk. The end result is a fabric that’s strong enough to be used in common pieces of clothing and home interior items. The yarn is meant to be indistinguishable from common household fabrics.

Creating a conductive textile material was only half of the equation. Project Jacquard engineers also created complimentary computers that are meant to power any textile-based wearable. The computer components created by the Jacquard team are no bigger than the size of a button, and they’re capable of capturing touch interactions and various gestures. The commands received by the SENSOR would be wirelessly transmitted to a mobile phone or other device within range.

This isn't the first time we've seen conductive material woven into fabrics. But Google wants to help make such products less of a novelty and more common. In order to do that, the company will be partnering with fashion brands to integrate useful wearable computing into fashionable clothing. Google announced that the first partner in Project Jacquard is Levis.

What Determines the Winners and Losers in Entrepreneurship?

What Determines the Winners and Losers in Entrepreneurship?

Winners and Losers in Entrepreneurship

For as long as humans have formed groups, there have been business opportunities and entrepreneurs taking advantage of them, which have rather tremendously evolved from early barter and trade into highly organized companies and other worldly technologies.

As the millennia have passed and we've evolved, competition has increased. This is particularly true in recent times where someone with limited experience or training in advanced technologies (programming) can build both highly successful and valuable tech businesses. As in any competitive environment, there are winners and there are losers -- no shock there -- but what is it that about the two opposing outcomes that separates them

HOW HAVING THREE PARENTS LEADS TO DISEASE-FREE KIDS.

HOW HAVING THREE PARENTS LEADS TO DISEASE-FREE KIDS.

HOW HAVING THREE PARENTS LEADS TO DISEASE-FREE KIDS.

This summer, government health officials in the United Kingdom made headlines by announcing that they will let scientists create babies with DNA from three different people. The procedure is a type of in vitro fertilization (IVF) that would allow women with mitochondrial diseases to have healthy babies. If approved by British Parliament, the method, known as mitochondrial replacement, would lead to a historic event: the first genetically modified humans who could pass down those genetic tweaks to their children.

Some bioethicists and media commentators have voiced concerns about the technique's safety because so far it's only been tested on human cells in the laboratory. More broadly, they fear it's a step toward designer babies and eugenics.

It's worth noting that IVF itself, which merges sperm and egg cells in a lab, also set off debate when it debuted 35 years ago. The procedure carries some small medical risks, such as a slightly increased chance of premature and low-weight babies, and creates many embryos that never get used. But let's not forget its enormous upside: It has allowed millions of couples to have children who couldn't otherwise. Mitochondrial replacement isn't any scarier—or any less impressive. Mitochondrial disease affects only about 1 in 5,000 people. The method will be performed at a few select clinics in the U.K. and will be carefully monitored. If it proves to be safe, then thousands of women will have the option to bear healthy biological children without giving them their disease. And if it's not safe, it will most likely be banned.

The method would lead to the first genetically modified humans who could pass down those tweaks to their children.The most counterintuitive thing about mitochondrial replacement is that the babies it produces won't look any different from babies with only two genetic parents. Here's why. The genome that you might already be familiar with is the one in the nucleus of each cell that gets half of its DNA from mom and half from dad. However, everyone also has another genome, the mitochondrial genome, and that's what the new reproductive technique involves. Mitochondria are tiny power plants inside each cell that help turn the food you eat into a usable source of energy. Each has its own DNA, with about 37 genes that help the mitochondrion function properly. Unlike nuclear genes, mitochondrial ones don't affect a person's appearance or personality traits or most of what we associate with heredity. They are also inherited entirely from mom.

If someone's mitochondrial DNA has a lot of mutations, that person could end up with a host of problems, including muscular dystrophy, heart disease, and seizures. The mutations can even be fatal. So the new IVF method simply replaces mom's unhealthy mitochondria with healthy ones. Scientists take an egg from a female donor and remove the nuclear DNA, leaving behind her mitochondria. They then add nuclear DNA from the parents: the mother (who has mitochondrial disease) and the father.

Yes, the resulting baby will be the product of three individuals' genes, but, more important, it won't have a devastating disease. Although all reproductive

technologies have the potential to create biological problems, they're far more likely to prevent them. Let's not let our fears get in the way of medical progress.