Humanity is so screwed

Half-robots?

Imagine: You're shambling down the avenue. Bluetooth stuck to your ear, thumbs-a-Twitter. Your GPS-enabled phone is piloting you to a meet-up with your soccer buddies, but the lecturer's IM interrupts with a snarl about your assignment so now you're pondering a new spin on "the dog ate my homework."

Meanwhile your calendar is pleading about overdued rentals. And at this moment, that girl from your high-school pings: She's friend-ing you on Facebook.

And with so much tech people are lugging around these days, should we consider ourselves robots? or maybe cyborgs?

What's the diff?

When most people think "cyborg", they're referring to a "humanoid robot", as in Chii from the anime Chobits.

Real cyborgs (as opposed to fictional) are more frequently people (or animals) who use cybernetic technology to repair or overcome the physical and mental constraints of their bodies. While cyborgs are commonly thought of as mammals, they can be any kind of organism.

Yes, even a person using a working, movable prosthetic limbs are considered as cyborg.

Robot sex?

That's an issue that will arise when we start developing very life-like humanoid robots. Something for the future generations to ponder on.

When people think of robot-human sexual relationship, instantly they think of social suicide. "Oh my goodness! We're all going to vanish!" We will have billions of people on Earth, more than we have ever had prior to this century! And through all of history before, we've had lower populations.

No one worried that we'd vanish from the Earth! And besides, if it looked as though we were going to vanish from the Earth, all that has to happen is the word goes out: have babies. And you'd be surprised how fast we can make it up. *winks*

What about technology for reproducing robots? It is still in its infancy. Self-replicating robots is by-product from the study on creating self-repairing robots.

Watch this. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyzVtTiax80

Note: read my previous post on Mecha-musume.

Half-humans?

First, you need to know that there's a different between a humanoid robot and a humanoid cyborg. The former is a robot that looks like human. While the latter is a human that is enhanced with technology.

Cyborgs already exist in the real world. The fact that I can't live without my laptop or cellphone, has already made me a "honourary" cyborg.

Lets say if a person was born without limbs, but had his body supported by robotic arms and legs. Would it make that person any less human? Because of the fact he has robotic limbs or because he was born without limbs?

For millennia, great men have debated on what it actually means to be human, and the answer still inconclusive. We, however, can't judge a person's humanity based on physical values or appearances.

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Still in drafts

Currently faced with a backlog of 'drafted' posts.

Why is it so you ask? Well, I tend to post stuff which are rather 'factual'. So some articles may have to be proofread and re-edited. Then there's the occasional need to cross-refer with previous articles or outside sources.

It's not my style to post a bunch of pictures with little written content. I'll leave that to the more 'trendy' people. After all, posting without in-depth knowledge of the subject matter just goes to show a writer's ignorance.

Anyways, the ideas for some of the articles may have stem from my earlier ideas and writings. Searching through random scribbles, weird diagrams, and sketches found in hidden recesses of my room is like discovering messages left behind by a lost civilization. I taken upon the difficult task to decipher what I may have left behind more than a decade ago.

If I do find anything usable, only minimal editing shall be made as to preserve the original intent of the earlier writings. Hence, you may notice the similar but subtle difference in wordings and ideas, back then and now, especially those dealing with philosophy.

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Distance of Lighting Strike

A thunderstorm is approaching, and suddenly you hear an absolutely deafening clap of thunder. At times it becomes frightening! But how close is the lightning, really?

It is difficult to determine the distance of a lightning bolt just by looking at it, and the volume of the thunder isn’t a good way to tell either. Here's a potentially life-saving method you can use to approximate how far away lightning is.

Approximation

If we consider the atmosphere on a standard day at sea level, the speed of sound is about 330~340 m/s. Light travels in vacuum and space at approximately 299 792 458 m/s. We can use this knowledge to approximately determine how far away a lightning strike has occurred.

• Watch the sky for a flash of lightning.
• Count the number of seconds until you hear thunder.
• Divide the number of seconds by 3 (distance in kilometers).

We see the flash immediately as it happens. The speed of sound is more or less 1km per 3 seconds. If the thunder can be heard after T seconds, we can approximate the lightning strike was D ≈ T/3

Dependence on weather conditions

The speed of sound is variable and depends on the properties of the substance through of which the wave is traveling.

Sound travels through air at slightly different speeds depending on air temperature, relative humidity, altitude, pressure, wind conditions, etc. However, the difference is fairly small and won’t substantially affect your calculations.

Points to note:

• The speed of sound in dry air at 0 degrees C is about 330 m/s
• Water vapor in the air increases this speed slightly.
• Sound travels faster through warm air than through cold air.

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Your very own mecha musume?

Ever want your own android?
Well, someone already started making one of his own.



Inventor Le Trung, 33, created Aiko, said to be "in her 20s" with a stunning 82, 57, 84 figure, shiny hair and delicate features. 'She' even remembers his favourite drink and does simple cleaning and household tasks.

Aiko is the first android to react to physical stimuli and mimic pain. This technology could be applied to people born with or who have undergone amputations. Aiko is the first step towards a life-like mechanical limb that has the ability to feel physical sensations.

I started to build Aiko on August 15, 2007. About a month and a half later, Aiko version1 was completed. Aiko made her first public appearance at the Hobby Show on November 2007 at the Toronto International Center and then at the Ontario Science Center a week later. Aiko is currently bilingual and can speak English and Japanese. Additional languages are a future possibility...

Demos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5itAZybggVM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yomx7bXMf2U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJLMeS2Y8LY


The Project was officially started in 2007 in order to pursue robotic automation. Le is responsible for the robot's core AI logic, internal software, hardware innovations derived from years of building robots as a hobby. He designed and developed the key B.R.A.I.N.S software that gives the android its capability to interact with humans.

Aiko - AI Female Android:

• Speech, Reading, Color, Face, Object recognition
• Ability to tell Weather
• Ability to have a conversation
• Can understand 13,000+ sentences
• has the ability to learn
• Ability to solve math
• Ability to distinguish simple drinks and foods
• Mimic human physical touch

Construction:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCR2PFrLkwA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPMXPMeh7KY


Can our local techies achieve this level of l33tness?!
We could, but we have been slugging away too long.
The future is sure gonna be a epic.

More updates at the Project Aiko blog.

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The Zeroth Law of Robotics

If you have read Isaac Asimov's novels, then you're familiar with the Three Laws of Robotics. The reason the Laws are conceive is to curb the potential for robots to harm people.

Asimov once added a "Zeroth Law", stating that a robot must not merely act in the interests of individual humans, but of all humanity. Unknown to many, unless you are a great fan of his novels :)

The original Laws of Robotics (1940)
by Isaac Asimov, 20

First Law:
A robot may not injure a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

Second Law:
A robot must obey orders given it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.

Third Law:
A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

For those of you who didn't know, I.Robot the Movie is not from the original Asimov's novels. The I.Robot novel is actually a compilation of short stories. The only thing similar were title and the Three Laws.

In the movie, the robots were controlled by a huge super-computer that could violate the 1st Law. The computer's A.I. had come to a conclusion that to protect all humans, a few humans have to be sacrifice for the greater good. This is because the A.I. has allowed the Zeroth Law of Robotics.

Here are some excerpts from the novels:

Robots and Empire

In the final scenes, R. Giskard Reventlov is the first robot to act according to the Zeroth Law, although it proves destructive to his positronic brain, as he is not certain as to whether his choice will turn out to be for the ultimate good of humanity or not.

Giskard is telepathic, and he comes to his understanding of the Zeroth Law through his understanding of a more subtle concept of "harm" than most robots can grasp. Giskard grasps the philosophical concept of the Zeroth Law, allowing him to harm individual human beings if he can do so in service to the abstract concept of humanity.

The Zeroth Law is never programmed into Giskard's brain, but instead is a rule he attempts to rationalize through pure metacognition; though he fails, he gives his successor, R. Daneel Olivaw, his telepathic abilities. Over the course of many thousand years, Daneel adapts himself to be able to fully obey the Zeroth Law.

Foundation and Earth and Prelude to Foundation

As Daneel formulates it, the Zeroth Law reads: "A robot may not harm humanity, or, by inaction, allow humanity to come to harm." A condition stating that the Zeroth Law must not be broken was added to the original Laws.

The Caves of Steel

Near the climax, Elijah Baley makes a bitter comment to himself, thinking that the First Law forbids a robot from harming a human being, unless the robot is clever enough to rationalize that its actions are for the human's long-term good (here meaning the specific human that must be harmed).

This reads, "A robot may not harm a human being, unless he finds a way to prove that in the final analysis, the harm done would benefit humanity in general."

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Project MOTOKO

Most of you are probably familiar with MOTOKO 1.0, my personal chatbot on MSN messenger. MOTOKO 1.0 has a simple A.I. dealing mostly with 'If-Then' functions. With a personality too spunky for my taste.



On the other hand, HIKARI 1.0 (MOTOKO's predecessor) was an impressive patchwork of open-source programming. 'She' was the resident A.I. of my Windows XP desktop and had been programmed with a personality that hinted of grace and elegance. Fully equipped with a voice-synthesizer, speech-recognition, and voice-command system. My pride and joy till a PC crash rendered the entire system unworkable.

I recall spending too much time on HIKARI at the programming phase. This would probably explains the drop in my exam results back in my secondary school days. (-_-;)

Project MOTOKO needs to be restarted. Recently, I've been messing around with an A.I. that utilizes adaptive neural networks. It's somewhat akin to teaching stuff to a newborn child. This will be the upcoming MOTOKO 2.0. Gotta bear with a few months of trial and frustration, teaching a young kid on language, logic, and surroundings right from the beginning ain't easy.

I've been intrigued with A.I. (Artificial Intelligence) technology since my primary school days. No, not of the maze-solving or factory assembly-line variety. My real focus is on "Human-Robot Interaction", an area of research that deals with the psychology and relationship between humans and seemingly-human robots.

For the past few years, much R&D have been going on, especially in the field of humanoid robotics. I've devoted a good part my attention to its latest developments ever since. And this is one of the few reasons I'm pursuing a degree in Mechanical engineering.

In my opinion, too much investments have been allocated for the research of artificial neural networks (or a robot's brain). But there is less being done to create a body (or framework) that can actually produce fluid human-like movements, this is where the knowledge of Mechanical engineering comes in.

Nope. I'm not going to build an actual body for either MOTOKO or HIKARI yet. Lacking in funds. Plus, I still haven't got a good grasp in electronics. That will be my next task.

Long term prospects - looking good :)

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Leaping into the Endless Pit

Scientifically speaking it would be impossible to dig a tunnel through to the other side of the world, but what if we could, in theory?



If you attempted to dig a hole to the other side of the Earth, you would be digging through:

• More than 12 000 kilometres of solid rock and molten magma
• Rock reaching temperatures up to 6000 ºC and
• Extreme pressures up to 300 million times greater than the pressures we experience on the surface of the Earth!

Also, the Earth is not a perfect sphere. It is slightly flattened at the poles, and bulges a little at the equator due to the Earth’s spin. So technically, if you dig a tunnel through to the other side of the globe from New York, you would not find yourself in China.

If you did somehow manage to dig a hole to the other side of the Earth, would you fall through?

Again, theoretically no! The Earth continues to spin as you fall, gravity changes as you fall to the Earth’s centre, and friction would slow you down.

If you ignored all of these factors, how long would it take to fall through the tunnel?



A tunnel along Earth's diameter through it's centre. When an object with mass is release from one end of the tunnel, it would oscillate from one end to another , just like a yo-yo.

Note: In this case, we use centripedal acceleration α, instead of linear acceleration a, because it bounces back and forth. Much like how a sine waveform could be seen as a circular motion.

Acceleration of the object mass:
Gravitation force, F = -(GM'm)/r²
Mass of Earth, M' = (4/3)(πr³ρ)

mα = F
mα = -(GM'm)/r²

α = -[GM']/r²
α = -[G(4/3)(πr³ρ)]/r²

α = -[(4πGρ)/3]r
α = -ω²r

Note: Similar to a swinging pendulum or a weight on a spring

The object would move in simple harmonic motion:
Gravitational acceleration, g = -α
Period for one cycle, T = (2π)/ω

g = ω²L,
ω = (g/L)½

T = 2π[L/g]½
T = 2π[3/(4πGρ)]½

T = 2π[1/4π½][3/(Gρ)]½
T = [3π/(Gρ)]½

Calculations:
Universal gravitational constant, G = 6.67x10­­­­̄¹¹ Nm²/kg²
Average density of Earth, ρ = 5.48x10³ kg/m³

T = 5080 seconds
T = 84.7 minutes

Hence, it will take about 42 minutes 21 seconds to fall through the tunnel. However, you'll never come out to the other end.

Due to the pull of gravity, you'll swing back and forth from one end to the other till it slows down at the middle. A theorectically endless pit.

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The world in a grain of sand

Here's something I found in among my pile of literary notes. An interesting piece that makes you wonder.



What I think the poet meant to convey is that one can find vast truths in the smallest of things. Seeing the microcosmic as a representative of the universal. So, knowledge of the whole can be gained even from examining its smallest part.

Auguries of Innocence
by William Blake

To see a world in a grain of sand,
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
And eternity in an hour.

A robin redbreast in a cage
Puts all heaven in a rage.

A dove-house fill'd with doves and pigeons
Shudders hell thro' all its regions.
A dog starv'd at his master's gate
Predicts the ruin of the state.

A horse misused upon the road
Calls to heaven for human blood.
Each outcry of the hunted hare
A fibre from the brain does tear.

A skylark wounded in the wing,
A cherubim does cease to sing.
The game-cock clipt and arm'd for fight
Does the rising sun affright.

Every wolf's and lion's howl
Raises from hell a human soul.

The wild deer, wand'ring here and there,
Keeps the human soul from care.
The lamb misus'd breeds public strife,
And yet forgives the butcher's knife.

The bat that flits at close of eve
Has left the brain that won't believe.
The owl that calls upon the night
Speaks the unbeliever's fright.

He who shall hurt the little wren
Shall never be belov'd by men.
He who the ox to wrath has mov'd
Shall never be by woman lov'd.

The wanton boy that kills the fly
Shall feel the spider's enmity.
He who torments the chafer's sprite
Weaves a bower in endless night.

The caterpillar on the leaf
Repeats to thee thy mother's grief.
Kill not the moth nor butterfly,
For the last judgement draweth nigh.

He who shall train the horse to war
Shall never pass the polar bar.
The beggar's dog and widow's cat,
Feed them and thou wilt grow fat.

The gnat that sings his summer's song
Poison gets from slander's tongue.
The poison of the snake and newt
Is the sweat of envy's foot.

The poison of the honey bee
Is the artist's jealousy.

The prince's robes and beggar's rags
Are toadstools on the miser's bags.
A truth that's told with bad intent
Beats all the lies you can invent.

It is right it should be so;
Man was made for joy and woe;
And when this we rightly know,
Thro' the world we safely go.

Joy and woe are woven fine,
A clothing for the soul divine.
Under every grief and pine
Runs a joy with silken twine.

The babe is more than swaddling bands;
Every farmer understands.
Every tear from every eye
Becomes a babe in eternity;

This is caught by females bright,
And return'd to its own delight.
The bleat, the bark, bellow, and roar,
Are waves that beat on heaven's shore.

The babe that weeps the rod beneath
Writes revenge in realms of death.
The beggar's rags, fluttering in air,
Does to rags the heavens tear.

The soldier, arm'd with sword and gun,
Palsied strikes the summer's sun.
The poor man's farthing is worth more
Than all the gold on Afric's shore.

One mite wrung from the lab'rer's hands
Shall buy and sell the miser's lands;
Or, if protected from on high,
Does that whole nation sell and buy.

He who mocks the infant's faith
Shall be mock'd in age and death.
He who shall teach the child to doubt
The rotting grave shall ne'er get out.

He who respects the infant's faith
Triumphs over hell and death.
The child's toys and the old man's reasons
Are the fruits of the two seasons.

The questioner, who sits so sly,
Shall never know how to reply.
He who replies to words of doubt
Doth put the light of knowledge out.

The strongest poison ever known
Came from Caesar's laurel crown.
Nought can deform the human race
Like to the armour's iron brace.

When gold and gems adorn the plow,
To peaceful arts shall envy bow.
A riddle, or the cricket's cry,
Is to doubt a fit reply.

The emmet's inch and eagle's mile
Make lame philosophy to smile.
He who doubts from what he sees
Will ne'er believe, do what you please.

If the sun and moon should doubt,
They'd immediately go out.
To be in a passion you good may do,
But no good if a passion is in you.

The whore and gambler, by the state
Licensed, build that nation's fate.
The harlot's cry from street to street
Shall weave old England's winding-sheet.

The winner's shout, the loser's curse,
Dance before dead England's hearse.

Every night and every morn
Some to misery are born,
Every morn and every night
Some are born to sweet delight.

Some are born to sweet delight,
Some are born to endless night.

We are led to believe a lie
When we see not thro' the eye,
Which was born in a night to perish in a night,
When the soul slept in beams of light.

God appears, and God is light,
To those poor souls who dwell in night;
But does a human form display
To those who dwell in realms of day

From what I understand of today's mathematics and physics, Blake is indeed more literally right than he probably knew. The tiniest part of something does apparently indeed represent the entire construct, and the smallest thing can indeed have a huge effect on its surroundings.

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Mental Calendar

Have you seen savants perform ridiculously amazing feats of memory on television? Ever wonder if you too could possess such a prodigious memory? You may not have the potential to be in the World Memory Championships, but there a few simple tricks to go around it.

A trick I have used as a kid to impress adults. Great for livening-up parties. Tell me any date of any year, and I'll tell you the corresponding day.

Just follows these steps:

Formula.
Day(Remainder) = (Year + (Year/4) + Date + M)/7

Substitute M with the value according to the month.
Jan = 0, Feb = 3, Mar = 3, Apr = 6, May = 1, Jun = 4
Jul = 6, Aug = 2, Sept = 5, Oct = 0, Nov = 3, Dec = 5

After dividing by 7, use the Remainder to locate the Day.
Sun = 0, Mon = 1, Tue = 2, Wed = 3, Thur = 4, Fri = 5, Sat =6

Note:

• The year is written as '87 not 1987.
• For (Year/4), ignore the decimal value. There's no need to round it up, cause it's to indicate leap years.
• The values for M are proven to work for dates before year 2000.
• For leap years, minus 1 point from M, regardless before or after 2000.
• For dates that fall on 2000 and after, either (a) minus 1 point from M, or (b) minus 1 point from Remainder
  

Examples:

28th December 1963

Day = (63 + (63/4) + 28 + M)/7
Day = (63 + (15) + 28 + 5)/7
Day = (111)/7

Remainder = 6
Answer is Saturday

14th May 2009

Day = (9 + (9/4) + 14 + M)/7
Day = (9 + (2) + 14 + 1)/7
Day = (26)/7

Remainder = 5

After year 2000,
Remainder - 1 = 4

Answer is Thursday

You have to practice a few times before you can get it right in your head. Just memorize the M values. The above formula is still in the works. If there's any problem with it, please let me know.

Have fun!

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A Mysterious Poem

This is a kind of puzzle poem. It seems to date from the 16th or 17th Century. Think about for a while, and it sounds like a prediction from the past. The images that it create in your mind are visionary.

Here's the closest rendition to the original:

I saw a peacock with a fiery tail
I saw a blazing comet drop down hail
I saw a cloud with ivy circled round
I saw a sturdy oak creep on the ground
I saw a pismire swallow up a whale
I saw a raging sea brim full of ale
I saw a Venice glass sixteen foot deep
I saw a well full of men's tears that weep
I saw their eyes all in a flame of fire
I saw a house as big as the moon and higher
I saw the sun even in the midst of night
I saw the man that saw this wondrous sight.

- Anonymous (before 1665)

It may sound weird when you read it, but if you punctuate it with a period or a comma in the middle of each line, it makes perfect sense. Example:

• I saw a peacock(,) with a fiery tail
• I saw a blazing comet(,) drop down hail

Note: "Pismire" is an archaic term for ant.

In some versions of the poems, the highlighted parts differ slightly.

• I saw a cloud wrapped with ivy round
• I saw an oak creep upon the ground
• I saw the sea brimful of ale
• I saw a Venice glass full fifteen feet deep
• I saw red eyes all of a flaming fire
• I saw a house bigger than the moon and higher
• I saw the sun at twelve o'clock at night

PS: The picture is unrelated. I just picked something suitable.

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Your pet dog's age

Most people would think a year for us humans is to about 7 years of a dog's age (approximately). This may not always hold true, since factors such as it's breed, daily exercise, weight, and diet comes into play.

So, for all of you dog owners out there, it's time to consider a new & improved formula to estimate your pet's age. This new equation takes in account the various aging factors of most breeds, and is possibly more accurate.

Simplified version:
First 2 human years = 10 dog years

Thereafter,
1 human year = 4 dog years (average for most/breeds lesser than 9 kg)
1 human year = minimum ~ 10 dog years (large breeds)

In the above context, a human year is taken as the chronology year in our calenders.
Also, you may have noticed that the formula seems to indicate that small-sized adult dogs tend to have longer lifespans. This is because they consume less energy to sustain their smaller bodies as compared to larger dogs.

We'll discuss this intriguing metabolic process in my later posts. By the way, no animals were harmed in the formulation of the above said equation.



Warning: Do not starve/force-feed your dog in order to modify it's lifespan. Seriously.

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Blogging Frequency vs. Stress Levels

It has been 2 months since I "officially" started blogging. I had procrastinated for 3 years. It's more of a psychology issue, but that will be a story for another day. Anyway, it seems like nowadays I'm firing out posts at increasingly rapid speeds.



I wonder if there is a correlation between my blog-posting rates and my fluctuating stress levels. I hope this trend doesn't go way out of hand 'cos I'm already hooked to coffee. Sometimes it's bad enough that I'm experience occasional withdrawal symptoms. Sure, I could use some of those New Age relaxation techniques. But it's too much of a bother, so maybe I'll just stick to blogging.

Surviving a barrage of assignments, labs reports and presentations is one thing, staying sane is a whole other level. Now with the final exams around the corner, it's a wonder I'm still not foaming at my mouth.

Need to get my dose of fantasy/detective novels. Reading those should be a great stress-reliever.

Ja, mata

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Zen & Physics

Eastern Philosophy



Zen Buddhism was developed in early China, from the interaction between Mahayana Buddhism and Taoism. Through meditation, Zen practitioners seek new perspectives and insights on existence, which ultimately lead to enlightenment. To truly understand others is to truly understand oneself, and vice-versa.

Buddhas don't save Buddhas. If you use your mind to look for a Buddha, you won't see the Buddha. As long as you look for a Buddha somewhere else, you'll never see that your own mind is the Buddha. Don't use a Buddha to worship a Buddha. And don't use the mind to invoke a Buddha. Buddhas don't recite sutras. Buddhas don't keep precepts. And Buddhas don't break precepts. Buddhas don't keep or break anything. Buddhas don't do good or evil.

To find a Buddha, you have to see your nature.

So, what is Zen?

The only true answer to that question, is the one that you find out for yourself.

A Hindu story tells of a fish who asked of another fish: "I have always heard about the sea, but what is it? Where is it?"

The other fish replied: "You live, move and have your being the sea. The sea is within you and without you, and you are made of sea, and you will end in sea. The sea surrounds you as your own being."

Let us try to further understand this concept. Many of the ideas in ancient Eastern philosophies, in one way or another, are very similiar to those in quantum physics. We'll see how they are related.

Bose-Einstein Condensate

Matter can exist in various states; solid, liquid or gas. Atoms at high temperature always form gases. If you cool the gas, it becomes a liquid. If you cool a liquid, it becomes a solid. But under certain circumstances, if you cool atoms far enough to extremely low temperatures, they undergo a very strange transformation. An identity crisis!

Imagine that atoms are like tiny dots. When you go to low temperatures, the quantum mechanics of the atoms become important. In fact, each of these atoms will start to display wave-like properties. They begin to stretch out like small wavy strings, moving around. Once you go into near absolute zero temperatures, the size of these wavy strings get longer and longer. Particles begin to slow down.



If you get them cold enough, they to start overlapping each other and merge. We can this the Bose-Einstein condensate. This unique state of matter was first proposed by Satyendra Nath Bose and Albert Einstein back in the 1920's.

The whole system does not behave like individual particles, because each have loss their identity and think they are everywhere at once. You can't tell whether they are here or there, or which one for that matter. Now, they are all just simply at rest. We don't consider individual particles anymore because they all form one big quantum system, all doing the same thing.

Easy science concept:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdzHnApHM9A
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Foresight

Humanoid robots, teleportation, anti-matter, hyper-space, worm holess, artificial intelligence, parallel universes, higher dimensions, animal hybrids, cyborgs, immortality, ESP, time travel.

Sound like badly written science fiction? Fret not! This is modern science. Things like these are constantly being investigated, discovered, researched at laboratories and institutions worldwide.



Decades ago, talking about stuff such as parallel universes and time travel, guarantees you instant career suicide. But with increasing global recognition, scientists now have the freedom to testing the boundaries of our imagination, and their papers are subjected to serious peer reviews.

Things like worm-holes and cyborgs now belong to the realm of scientific facts. What we have achieve is only on the tip of the iceberg. Science as we know it, is only in its infancy. And there are better things to come, but not all in our lifetime. So, don't start your bets yet.

I usually spend my time scouring through reports from scientific community for any exciting news. Much of my blog will be dedicated to these latest on-goings. Breaking-down complex ideas into digestible bits for you readers (if I'm free, though).

That's all for now.
Zooming out~!

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Ending the Age of Silicon

Just bought the most advanced laptop? Got a couple of terabytes in your hard-drives?
Well, you have seen nothing yet!



You should realize that in about 20 years time, Moore's Law is gonna collapse. We are looking at the End of the Silicon Age, and perhaps the beginning of a new generation of computers called quantum computers, which are now exciting the imagination of scientists around the world.

Note: To get a better understanding of this article, please read my previous post on Data Storage.

News-flash

Back in 2001, there was a scientific breakthrough that made the headlines, even the CIA took note of this. A quantum computer built with 7 atoms(qubits), proved that 3 times 5 equals 15. Surely, any kid knows that. But physicist were able to compute on just 7 atoms!

In recent years, physicist have been able to create a prototype 16-qubit quantum computer that touts immense computational power. Works are on the way to built a faster 1,000-qubit version which should be available anytime soon.

Now, think about this. Once we begin to compute on a few million atoms, we'll be able to break any code that the CIA or NSA can manufacture. This means that we'll could break any code currently in existence, on a quantum computer. Again, within 20-30 years. So don't hold your breath.

Wait a sec!

The physical laws operating on the quantum scale are different. Things such as Uncertainty comes into play. Isn't it difficult to produce something that is stable. Well, that's precisely why we'll see the End of the Silicon Age, perhaps in 20 years. Here's an example:

A Pentium chip's thinnest layer is about 20 atoms across. In 15-20 years, the thinnest layer in the Pentium chip will be about 5 atoms across. At that point, you don't really know where the electrons is anymore. the electrons could be outside or inside the wire. You have the Uncertainty Principle. In other words, you get a short circuit.

Therefore, silicon(Si) is unstable at the quantum level. You can't sustain Moore's Law continually forever. And yet quantum computers operates at that level, what is it doing that's different?

Quantum computers consist totally of atoms, that are arranged in a sequence and each spins like a top. If you shoot laser beams or radio waves at them, you get the reflection. By analyzing these reflections, you have done a quantum calculation, faster than any known digital computer.



So, what's in it for us?

Once we start to mass produce quantum computers, we'll be able to utilized super-strong encryption designed with hacker-proof security for communications. Quantum encryption will represent the first major commercial implementation for this new technology.

As for the software we use, no changes will be necessary. You just need a software emulator, such as those that allow Windows software on the Macintosh computer. An emulator for quantum computers could quite easily run any programs today at speeds will that put today’s fastest processors to shame.

It may also change the way we do computing. Users would only need to be connected to share a large, centralized quantum computer – one that has the capacity to handle quadrillions of transactions. Personal data – a whole lifetimes worth – could be stored on a quantum USB-type memory the size of a credit card. This would effective eliminate the need to have millions of PCs that require upgrading every few years.


Press info:
http://domino.research.ibm.com/comm/pr.nsf/pages/news.20011219_quantum.html
http://thefutureofthings.com/pod/165/first-quantum-computer-demonstrated.html
http://www.gizmowatch.com/entry/worlds-first-quantum-computer-announced-officially

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Giant Kabuto Mushi Mecha

Bow down to the greatest creation of all otaku-kind! A workable giant beetle robot modeled after the rhinoceros beetle. It's the stuff of every boy's fantasy. Better still, you could ride and control it from the cockpit. Imagine if this comes crashing down the highway.

Designed and built by an Ibaraki man in his garage over the course of eleven years, the “Kabutom MX-03″ looks like a prop from a Power Rangers spin-off but is an actual working vehicle. Why build it? Because owning an eleven meter long, fifteen ton robot beetle makes you a mack daddy — in Japan or anywhere else.

And who knows, maybe somewhere around the world, someone is building a 30-feet Gundam in their backyard. Looking forward to it :)



More info:
http://altjapan.typepad.com/my_weblog/2009/04/mushi-mecha.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kf7Sytl2-EE

PS: Mechanical engineering rules!

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Revolution of Data Storage

What will be the future of DVDs?

We are already adopting Blu-Ray and HD-DVD formats. Storage space for hard-drives has reached the terabyte (TB) mark. So what else is new? There's a limit to how much data you can store on a disk. I doubt that the magnetic and optical data storage that we use today would continue to exist in the future.

Well, what about flash-drives? They are solid-state, silicone-based storage but there's also a limit to this technology. Every year, your flash-drives (pen/thumb-drives) can store almost twice as much as they were the previous year. This can't go on forever, because Moore's Law isn't sustainable as believed.

Holographics: The next step

Envision the day where all data will be stored in crystals/crystalline materials. In the future, we will need to store data of times past for times ahead, lots of it. CD's and DVD's will rot, data formats will become unreadable, new technologies are needed.

Holographic crystals can store up to 200 DVD's worth of information for up to 1000 years as digits or as microscopic images. Data could be etched into these small crystals using a highly-tuned precision laser.



How it works?

Magnetic and optical data storage works by having individual bits being stored as distinct changes on the (2D) surface of the recording medium. This only records information a bit at a time in a linear fashion.

Holographic data storage records information throughout the (3D) volume of the medium. This enables it to record multiple images in the same area utilizing light at different angles. Holographic storage is capable of reading and writing millions of bits in parallel, giving faster data transfer rates.



See also:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-NllWcgrFg

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SPM History Textbook Controversies

Unintended/Biased?

Our Malaysian Form 4 History textbook had it's syllabus changed, with 50% of the subject devoted to Islamic history as compared to only 16.6% in the previous textbook from the past decade.

In the previous textbook, “Sejarah Peradaban Dunia – Tingkatan 4”, Islamic history was one of the six chapters in the book:

1. Tamadun Awal Manusia
2. Islam Mengubah Tamadun Manusia
3. Perubahan Masyarakat Eropah dan Kesannya
4. Revolusi: Fasa Baru Kehidupan Manusia
5. Zaman Imperialisme Barat dan Reaksi Masyarakat Setempat
6. Ke Arah Kerjasama Masyarakat Antarabangsa

In the revised history textbook, “SEJARAH – Tingkatan 4”, Islamic history occupies five of the ten chapters:

1. Kemunculan Tamadun Awal Manusia
2. Peningkatan Tamadun
3. Tamadun Awal Asia Tenggara
4. Kemunculan Tamadun Islam dan Perkembangan di Makkah
5. Kerajaan Islam di Madinah
6. Pembentukan Kerajaan Islam dan Sumbangannya
7. Islam di Asia Tenggara
8. Pembaharuan dan Pengaruh Islam di Malaysia sebelum Kedatangan Barat
9. Perkembangan Eropah
10. Dasar British dan Kesannya terhadap Ekonomi Negara

While Islamic history has expanded from 16.6% to 50%, Asian history and civilizations like Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism have been further marginalize and given lesser space. Don't even get me started on modern history.

What were they thinking?!

The people over at DBP (Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka) seriously need to look into this matter. Didn't they reviewed it first before publishing? Did they run out of ideas for the textbook?

I don't mind learning on Arabic culture, but spending most the time memorizing religious history is just plain ridiculous! What happened to American, African, Asian and European history? We should learn more about the world than focus on a particular group.

Related info:
http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Saturday/National/2534586/Article/index_html
http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Saturday/National/2534601/Article/index_html

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Form 4 History Textbook Fail

Errors & typos?

Back in secondary school, I compiled a list of errors and factual disparities in our beloved Buku Teks Sejarah Tingkatan 4. Did reported to the history teachers but being a student doesn't give me much say over these matters.

I'm not sure if the latest editions of the textbook had corrected those errors yet. Hopefully some of you reading this post would have better connections to the Education Ministry than I did.

So, here's the list. Check for yourselves.

1. Pengasas Adat Temenggung - Datuk Ketemenggungan [from Form 1 textbook] or Datuk Tumanggungan [page 199]. The usage is according to context. In Malaysia, Datuk Ketemenggungan is more proper. Datuk perpatih Tumanggungan is from a Minangkabau reference.
2. Zaman Graeco-Rom or Zaman Graeco-Roman? [both found on page 51] This is a mistake due to direct translation. Graeco-Rom is in Bahasa Melayu, while Graeco-Roman is in English.
3. Emperor Shih Huang Ti [page 41] or Shi Huang Ti [page 45]? The former is more accurate in terms of pronounciation and is widely used in many references.
4. Bilal bin Rabah or Bilal bin Rabbah [both are on page 110]? Just keep your fingers cross and hope that the examiners aren't picky.
5. On the Sudut Maklumat column [page 254], the term Sin Kheh or "newcomers" in Hokkien, should be redefined as pendatang baru dari China, not imigran miskin dari China.
6. The Roman Emperor Augustus, reigned from 27 S.M.- 14 M. not 27 -14 S.M. [page 44]. FYI, Sebelum Masihi = B.C. and Masihi = A.D.
7. On the Sudut Maklumat column [page 257], the explaination of the term Komprador isn't accurate. It should be: Ejen tempatan yang diupah untuk mewakili suatu syarikat asing sebagai orang tengah dalam urus niaga perdagangan tempatan dengan syarikat asing.
8. Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha) started his search for enlightenment at the age of 29 years, not 39 years [page 65].
9. The explaination for Rancangan Stevenson was repeated twice [page 250, 261].
   
10. Confusing sentence structure: Antara sumber falsafah China termasuklah Kung-Fu Tze atau Confucius dengan ajarannya, iaitu Confucianisme, Lao Tze, Taoisme dan Mo Tzu. To convey the intended meaning, I suggest the correction: Antara sumber falsafah China yang berkembang pada zaman itu (770-221 SM) adalah ajaran Confucianisme, Taoisme, Mohisme dan "Legalisme". Ideologi-ideologi ini asaskan berdasarkan ajaran-ajaran ahli falsafah yang berpengaruh seperti Kung-Fu Tze, Lao Tze dan Mo Tzu.
11. More English-to-BM translation mistakes: Theology is in English, teologi is in Bahasa Melayu [page 61].
12. And minor typos: pentabdiran should be pentadbiran [page 46]; parilineal should be patrilineal [page 199].

Lesson learned

These are all I manage to find, could be more. Maybe I shouldn't make such a fuss over "unnoticable" mistakes in the textbook. But hey, it's a textbook, it's used as the main reference material in exams questions. Someone should at least take this seriously.

Another good reason not to blindly accept "knowledge", just because it's written down and entrusted to you. Historical facts are easily manipulated. History in education is about uncovering the truth. And truth, as we all know, is subject to interpretation

So, do your own research and learn to ask the right questions.

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The Book that should have rewrote History

Achimedes's Missing Manuscript: "The Method"



This is a book that could have changed the history of the world. It containts the revolutionary ideas of a genius who was centuries ahead of his time: Archimedes.

The book was lost to the world for about 2000 years, passing throught the hands of scribes, monks, forgers, and shady scholars. Yet no one seem to know the book's true value until it surfaced at auction in 1998.

Archimedes pioneered the use of infinitesimals, showing how by cutting (or dividing) a figure in an infinite number of infinitely small parts could be used to determine its area or volume. The ancient theorems found in the manuscript is probably the oldest and most authentic copy of Archimedes' major works to survive, and contains transcriptions of his writing on geometry and physics.

The manuscript also contains the text of his works “On The Measurement of the Circle”, “On the Sphere and the Cylinder”, “On Spiral Lines”, “On Floating Bodies”, and “On the Equilibrium of Planes”.

The Age of Ignorance

As writing material was expensive, it was usual practice to washed off the original text so that the parchment could be reused. Archimedes's original text was likely erased in the 12th or early 13th century when the parchment was reused to make a Church prayerbook.



Religious text were written over important mathematical theorems. It was because of this act, the greatest knowledge of Greek mathematics was hidden from the world for centuries. The book's re-discovery at the 1998 Christie's auction was merely a small portion of Archimedes's original work. Sadly, the rest of the manuscript was already lost.

Personal thoughts



Archimedes was working on the basis of Calculus, more than a 1000 years before Sir Isaac Newton had developed it in the 17th century. Archimedes's work on a "early Calculus" system was recorded in the missing manuscript.

Almost all of the world's knowledge in engineering, technology and science requires mathematics, especially calculus such as Integrals and Differentials. Imagine if the Achimedes's manuscript was not lost over a 1000 years ago, the world would have a very different place today. Everthing from satellites, computers, gravity to navigation, construction, etc. would have been invented much earlier.

More info:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/archimedes/palimpsest.html
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,490219,00.html
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QR Code

Have you seen something like this before?



If it looks familiar, you have probably seen it on a product packaging.

This is a QR Code. A sort of matrix code or 2D bar code created by Japanese corporation Denso-Wave in 1994. It is named "QR" short for "Quick Response", as it was created to be decoded at high speed.

Another quirky invention of the Japanese?

Why not stick with using bar codes?

As we all know, bar codes are widely popular because of their reading speed, accuracy, and superior functionality. As bar codes became popular and their convenience universally recognized, the market began to look for new ways of storing more information, and could be printed in a smaller space. As a result, the QR code was born!

It then became an instant hit with the Japanese popular culture. Most current Japanese mobile phones can read this code with their camera. QR Codes are now used in a much broader applications, including commercial tracking and convenience-oriented servives aimed at mobile phone users.

QR Codes can store addresses, URLs, emails, phone numbers, SMS text message, and many other functions. These codes are usually printed in magazines, on signs, buses, business cards or on any products that users might need information about. Users with a camera phone equipped with the correct software can scan the image of the QR Code.

Here's a tool to create your own custom QR code: QR-Code Generator
Download and install this QR-Code Reader onto your mobile phone.

PS: Try decoding the above image with your own camera phone. Yes, it even works on LCD screens! Special thanks to Dominic for the reader links.

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Top Air-filtering House Plants

Feeling lethargic lately? Is the air to stuffy in your room? Want to save money on air-conditioning bills? Well then, just get yourselves some potted plants for your home's interior.



The people over at NASA has found that living indoor plants are so efficient at absorbing contaminants in the air, that some of them will be launched into space as part of the life support system aboard future space stations.

Common indoor plants may provide a valuable resource in the fight against rising levels of air pollution. Those plants in your office or home are not only decorative, but NASA scientists are finding them to be surprisingly useful in absorbing potentially harmful gases and cleaning the air inside modern buildings.

Research into the use of biological means of solving environmental problems, both on Earth and in space habitats, has been carried out for many years by researchers at NASA. Plants take substances out of the air through the tiny openings in their leaves, but research also shows that plant leaves, roots and soil bacteria are all important in removing trace levels of toxic vapors.

NASA research has consistently shown that living, green and flowering plants can remove several toxic chemicals from the air in building interiors. You can use plants in your home or office to improve the quality of the air to make it a more pleasant place to live and work.

A list of air filtering plants was compiled by NASA as part of the NASA Clean Air Study, which researched ways to clean air in space stations. As well as absorbing carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen, as all plants do, these plants also eliminate significant amounts of benzene, formaldehyde, and trichloroethylene.

TOP plants - Most effective in removing air pollutants:

1. Chinese evergreen (Aglaonema modestum)
2. Peace lily (Spathiphyllum 'Mauna Loa')
3. Janet Craig dracaena (Dracaena deremensis 'Janet Craig')
4. Warneck dracaena (Dracaena deremensis 'Warneckii')
5. Bamboo palm/Reed palm (Chamaedorea sefritzii)
6. Pot Mum/Florist's Chrysanthemum (Chrysantheium morifolium)
7. Spider plant (Chlorophytum comosum)
8. Cornstalk dracaena (Dracaena fragans 'Massangeana')
9. Red-edged dracaena (Dracaena marginata)
10. Weeping Fig (Ficus benjamina)
11. Rubber Plant (Ficus elastica)
12. Gerbera Daisy/Barberton daisy (Gerbera jamesonii)
13. English Ivy (Hedera helix)
14. Selloum philodendron (Philodendron bipinnatifidum, syn. Philodendron selloum)
15. Elephant ear philodendron (Philodendron domesticum)
16. Heartleaf philodendron (Philodendron oxycardium, syn. Philodendron cordatum)
17. Snake plant/Mother-in-law's tongue (Sansevieria trifasciata 'Laurentii')
18. Golden pothos/Devil's ivy (Scindapsus aures/Epipremnum aureum)

These are plants that you can find anywhere, at the florist or even at the roadside. Using living plants is an environmental-friendly way to reduce air pollution. So please do Earth a favour, put some plants at home to keep the air fresh, and plant a tree while you're at it.

Visit: www.treehugger.com
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Origami, Kirigami and Papercrafts

Origami: The art of paper folding

In Japanese, the word "oru" means "to fold", and "kami" means "paper". Hence "origami" means “to fold paper”. But there’s more to origami than its name.

The goal of this art is to create a representation of an object using geometric folds and crease patterns. Origami is made preferably without gluing or cutting the paper, and is best using only one piece of paper. Origami only uses a small number of different folds, but they can be combined in a variety of ways to make intricate designs. So intricate, that this art form is qualified to have its own field of mathematical study.

There's also branch of origami known as Technical origami. It is s a field of origami that has developed almost hand-in-hand with the field of mathematical origami. In the olden days, creating new designs was largely a mix of trial-and-error, and luck. With advances in origami mathematics however, the basic structure of any new origami model can be theoretically plotted out on paper before doing any actual folding. This method of designing origami allows for the creation of extremely complex models such as many-legged centipedes, human figures and creatures with details of fingers, claws, etc.






Kririgami: The art of paper cutting

In Japanese, "kiru" means "to cut", and "kami" means "paper". Kirigami is similar to origami in that it is a form of paper art. The major difference is that in origami, you fold paper whereas in kirigami, you fold and cut paper.

It is a variation of origami where the you are allowed to make small cuts in the paper. This enhances the visual presentation of the artwork, at the expense of simplicity.






Papercrafts: 3D paper modelling

Papercrafts, also called paper models or card models, are constructed mainly from sheets of heavy paper or card stock as a hobby. It is a form of crafting in which paper is used to create 3D objects such as models or sculptures. Unlike origami, papercraft involves cutting up paper or cardboard and gluing it back together, although some folding and bending may be involved.

Paper sculptures can get quite elaborate, from replicas of large objects to miniture models of things like trains, boats, and planes. Papercraft objects can sometimes be made with moving parts, which requires a good concentration and a lot of patience.

The structure of the three dimensional object may be supported with stiff paper, cardboard, or even wood, to ensure that it will not collapse, and it may be painted, dyed, or textured with applied materials as well. To prevent warping, some papercraft is covered in a protective coating which will make it even sturdier.





Free stuff:
Canon Creative Park
Papercraft Central
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Real Teleportation

Teleportation has long since been the stuff of science fiction.



The ability to transfer properties of one particle to another without using any physical link has been achieved with laser light. When physicists talk about "teleportation", they are describing the transfer of "quantum states" between separate atoms. Being able to do the same with massive particles like atoms could lead to new superfast computers.

Achievements



So far, physicists have been successful in teleporting particles of light (photons), individual atoms of Caesium (Cs) and Beryllium (Be) up to 100 miles. The next phase is to teleport an atom through the vacuum of space. In a few decades, we may be able to send a molecule, DNA, a virus, or even a living cell. This development is a long way from the transporters seen in Star Trek. We need to wait a few more centuries.

Note: An average human adult body is made up of 50~100 trillion cells.

Our assumption

The classical idea of teleportation is the one method that we are used to. An object disassembles into particles, excites those particles and transfers them at high speeds, then reach the location and each individual particle reassembles back to form a complete object. Which is almost impossible, seeing that the process would required exponentially huge amount of energy, and it's time consuming.

The real thing

What physicists are applying is something known as Quantum teleportation. Each particles in an object has it's own counterparts that have the same properties but also exist in a different space. This is called the Entanglement phenomenon, one of the weirdest scientific mysteries. So in theory, we actually transfer the information of a particle such as temperature, mass, colour, etc.

Quantum entanglement is a quantum mechanical phenomenon in which the quantum states of two or more objects are linked together so that one object can no longer be adequately described without full mention of its counterpart — even though the individual objects may be spatially separated.

Try to imagine

Two electrons exist in different locations but exist in the same frequency, hence they are essentially identical. Like two balls attached to a vibrating string, except one ball that you are holding is "Real" and the ball at the other end is "Imaginary". When you destroy the "Real" ball, the information from the "Real" ball is tranferred to the "Imaginary" ball via the vibrating string. Thus the "Imaginary" ball is now an exact copy of the "Real" ball.

At first, it may sound a photo-copying. But the original does not exist anymore.
The "Imaginary" ball before is now becomes the "Real" ball.



Teleporting an apple with near-impossible even with the Quantum entanglement stuff.
The best with could do is to teleport small amount of data via photons. Let's assume we have achieved Quantum teleportation for human beings. You can teleport from home to office.

Now here's the catch

Ask yourself, are you still you? After you teleport, you're not in your original body anymore, because the original copy is destroyed. You may feel and think the same but your atomic make-up is different. Are you still human when your body is not the original? Can consciousness be teleported? More food for thought.

Personal thoughts

I would like to see the day when I could go to different places in a blink of an eye, but that would not happen in our lifetime. Though I may not be able to experience teleportation, I'm proud to belong to the generation that invented it. Ok, beam me up. Scottie!

Short videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nq6y9P1_yM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5poD3nXdJ8

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Who built the First Robot?

The ancient Greeks may have built a mechanism of what is believed to be the earliest known programmable robot.

Their people had a fascination with autonomous mechanisms. One can find descriptions of robotic creatures in their mythology and philosophy. Greek engineers are also well known for having constructed a number of automata propelled by either wind or steam.

In about 60 AD, a Greek engineer called Hero constructed a three-wheeled cart that could carry a group of automata to the front of a stage where they would perform for an audience. Power came from a falling weight that pulled on string wrapped round the cart's drive axle, and this string-based control mechanism is equivalent to a modern programming language.

The working replica:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyQIo9iS_z0

Some of you may think this automaton doesn't really qualify as a real robot because it can't interact with its environment. Considering that it was designed and built almost 2,000 years ago, it is an impressive feat.

Not to be outdone, the ancient Chinese also may have claims to have built the earliest known humanoid automaton. The account of it is a bit vague, no further records yet to be found. This is said to have occured in the court of King Mu (Zhou Dynasty, 900 BC).

In the 3rd century BC text of the Lie Zi, there is a curious account on automata involving a much earlier encounter between King Mu of Zhou and a mechanical engineer known as Yan Shi (Chinese: 偃師), an 'artificer'. The latter proudly presented the king with a life-size, human-shaped figure of his mechanical 'handiwork'.

If you doubt the ingenuity of the ancient Chinese, then here's a story on a modern-day Chinese farmer with no engineering background. His claim to fame? Yes, builiding robots!

With a university education, he would probably be running the Chinese space program by now.

Farming robots:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4LIThTB8Ww

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World's Earliest Computer, After 2000 Years

This was a hot topic for engineers and historians a few months back. The device mentioned is officially known as the Antikythera mechanism.



Its discovery has puzzled many historians of science and technology. Prompting a number of experts worldwide to undertake a systematic investigation of the mechanism. The investigators suggest that the device may be of Syracusan design, and may have a connection to the works of Archimedes.



The abacus may still hold claim as the earliest computer. However, the abacus is only simple calculating tool when compare to the complexity of Antikythera mechanism.

The Antikythera mechanism is an ancient mechanical calculator (also the first known mechanical computer) designed to calculate astronomical positions or movements of the planets. It was a precision engineered device, that could be programmed by the user. The device appears to be constructed using theories of astronomy and mathematics developed by Greek astronomers.

Here's the modern recontruction of the world's first analog computer. (IT guys take note!)



See the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrfMFhrgOFc

Ponder on all these for a while; you will come to realize that the people of ancient civilizations are much smarter than we credited them with. The only reasons they aren't as successful as us, is because they live in the time of civil and religious wars, superstition, and rampant diseases.

Also visit:
Antikythera Mechanism Research Project
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Looking for Other Intelligent Life?

You guys have probably heard of the SETI programme, seen countless UFO stuff, Hollywood movies, government conspiracy theories, and experienced general paranoia. Instead of readily believing these so-called facts. Let us analyze the science behind the search for aliens in outer space.



Note: Too better understand this article, please read my previous post on Civilizations.

Why not getting any response?

The mathematics of Drake Equation shows that there should be millions of alien civilizations already in outer space. But why can't we find any evidence of these Type I, II, and III civilizations? Perhaps, they didn't make it to Type I. Maybe they are similar to us; waging war and destroying themselves.

If extraterrestrial civilizations do survive their Transition from Type 0 to Type I, where the heck are they? We have been scanning the skies for decades. Why are they not replying to our message signals?

First argument: Let's assume that Type I, II, and III civilizations have the mastery of hyperspatial travel. This implies that their level of science is millions (or thousands) of years more advance than ours. In human terms, it's not like comparing 21th century to 14th century; it's more like comparing 30th century to ape-men (approx 1.4 million years ago).

Second argument: These advance beings wouldn't even bother with us primitive humans. To them, we are just idiotic beings still fighting over silly things like petroleum and religion. We are too proud to think that an advance civilization would just stop they daily business, drop by and send us a greeting.

Let's put this into perspective: Would you tell an ant? "I brought you gifts of Wi-Fi, laser beams, and computer technology. Now, bring me to your leader". No, you'll instead feel like squishing them. More so, if you build a highway beside an ant-hill, would the ants realize that you are building a highway? Do the ants even know what a highway is?

Third argument: Never underestimate the technology of others. The people at SETI are misguided. Why would an advance civilization contact us with just using infra-red, or microwave signals? And why are SETI people listening on electromagnetic frequencies base on the hydrogen atom? There are supernovas, asteroid belts, and black holes that could distort all these signals.

When you send an email, the message would be encrypted, chopped-up, relayed through a series of servers, and combined back to one piece when it's reaches the recipient. And to make sure your friend gets the message, you could send an SMS, IM, or even snail-mail to him/her.

Now, a smart civilization would also relay messages using similar methods. To make sure their messages reach the destination, they would encrypt it and send it thru an array of frequencies. If you only scan and translate a part of it, you'll get only gibberish.

Personal thoughts



Whether or not other intelligent life exist? That is still up for debate. I believe that they do exist, regardless of what the critics says. Otherwise, wouldn't it be sad to think that we are all alone in this infinitely vast universe?

But don't put too much hope into meeting ET's anytime soon in your lifetime. If intelligent life do exist in the far reaches of space, it will be in a couple millions years before we get our first contact. That's when humanity finally rids itself of senseless conflicts.

More info: http://www.mkaku.org/

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Civilizations of the Stars

The Background



When scientists search the skies for signs of alien life, they don't look for 'Little Green Men' or UFOs. What they are looking for is evidence of Type I, Type II, and Type III civilizations according to the Kardashev Scale (ie: level of technological advancement).

So basically it's like this:

1. Type I is a planetary civilization. They fully utilize the energy resources from their home planet (eg: Buck Rogers).
2. Type II is at stellar level. After depleting their planetary resources, they will get energy directly from their mother star (eg: Star Trek and Federation of Planets).
3. Type III is galactic. Once they used up the energy of their sun, they will harness their energy from billions of stars within their home galaxy (eg: Empire of Star Wars).

Where do we currently stand?

What are we on this Scale? We are Type 0. We don't even rate on the scale. Humans don't have the technology to harness energy from stars and galaxies. We get our energy from dead animals and plants; fossil fuels. But we can estimate when we will achieve Type I status. Probably in about a hundred years.

I personally feel privilege to be alive in the most important era in the history of the human race. To witness the transition from Type 0 to Type I.

Each time when you read the news, you'll see the evidence of this Transition:
European Union is a beginning of a Type I economy. United Nations is a beginning of a Type I administration system. The Internet is a beginning of a Type I communication system. The Type I language will probably be English, since it's used in every country. There will also be a Type I culture. Hollywood movies, rap music, jeans, etc which you can find anywhere around the world.

We are the Hope

It is said that going from Type 0 to Type I is the most difficult transition of all time. It's not even clear if we will survive the Transition. It's a delicate balance. On one side, we have forces of multiculturalism, globalization and unity. On the other hand, we have WMDs, religious strife, racism, global warming, and terrorism.

It's not even clear if we will survive the Transition. It's a planetary level of sink or swim. The fate of humankind's future rest on our collection decision. This is no joke. This truly a dangerous race against Time.

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Life Elsewhere in the Universe

Exobiology

Also known as astrobiology, is the study of life in space, combining aspects of astronomy, biology and geology. It is focused primarily on the study of the origin, distribution and evolution of life.

Some major astrobiological research topics include:

• What is life?
• How did life arise on Earth?
• What kind of environments can life tolerate?
• How can we determine if life exists on other planets?
• How often can we expect to find complex life?
• What will life consist of on other planets?
• Will it be DNA/Carbon based or based on something else?
• What will it look like?

Is there alien life?



First allow us make a few assumptions:

• That there is an infinite amount of stars in the universe, only a few billions could be seen through our powerful telescopes.
  
• Our universe is currently in the "child" stage, the Stelliferous Era. Even today, new galaxies are still being born.
• Time is relative, not constant. The flow of time is different for everyone, and for every place.
• Since the universe is vast, there should be at least some simple form of life; plants and animals.
• Among these primitive life forms, some should have evolved to be intelligent, in aspects of communication, logic, culture, etc.
  

Given the statistics, it's very probable that we could find alien life. However, we are searching for intelligent alien life, which is a whole new level. It's possible we may not succeed in our lifetime. Something for future generations.

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Regrouping

The blog's kinda empty. Need to fill-in a few posts. So I'm gathering some of my articles that I've posted at random forums. This could take a while.

Recycling my old articles certainly lacks in creativity but it gets the job done. Plus I don't get mush readership anyway. Might as well dump some of the stuff here, where there's a slight chance that it may be appreciated.

Need to rummage through some of my ideas for gadgets and hacks though. Schematics should be somewhere in the depths of my pc. I plan to add stuff on experiments and home maintenance. Maybe should throw in a few sketches too.



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I was told that I needed this.



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[Updated: 7 May 2009]

I have deliberately backdated this post so that it is not visible on the main page of my blog. Needless to say, this applies to all of my posts, regardless of when they are published.

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Konnichi wa!

This is Victor to my ever-growing circle of family and friends.
You may also have known me as Artemus in most online interest groups.

This is my first time starting a personal blog. I've been designing websites and blogs for others, but never had the motivation get a blog of my own. My friends have been bugging me to start one for quite awhile now.

Seldom reveal much about myself, so here goes:

I'm the type of person people would refer as a polymath. A jack of many trades. Mainly because I'm just well read. My personal interests includes stuff like etymology, physics, gardening, artificial intelligence to paleontology, history, paper-crafting and zoology. As you can see, it's difficult for my to stick to a particular hobby. That's 'coz I'm often side-track. Easily intrigued by way things work. (>_<)

Dreams of winning the Nobel Prize one day, though far-fetched. Knowledge is my salvation from cruel world. Being practical, simple, and elegant is my philosophy.

Current exploits include upgrading my programming skills, modifying Linux OS, and tinkering with my home projects during the weekends. If I'm feeling generous enough, I may try out some cool bio-chem experiments just for fun. Nowadays, due to the lack of working materials, I devoted much of my time to either hanging out at the forums, or reading up on the latest on science journals.

Well, that pretty much summarize what I've been up to till now. I'll be posting about many weird and cool stuff. So, be sure to keep an update.

Happy reading (^-^)
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