Tag Archives: technology

Making Mars Home: Becoming an interplanetary species.

Posted on March 13, 2017 by | 4 comments

Imagine living on Mars. Experts have made many cases for why humans should become an interplanetary species. The video below discusses some of the reasons why we should go to Mars. From survival of our species to advancing science, the reasons are plenty. But is it possible to colonize Mars?

(Source: National Geographic, YouTube)

Unlike the moon, humans have never actually set foot on Mars. On this dry, desolate planet, the average surface temperature is -55⁰C. This is attributable to the planet’s thin atmosphere, which is too thin to retain heat, not to mention breathe. A good analogy for living on Mars is that it would be similar to living in Antarctica, but worse.

As arid, frozen and desolate as it may be, Mars is the only known planet besides Earth that could be considered remotely habitable for humans. Recent evidence has proven that there was once water on the planet and that at one point Mars’ climate was similar to that on Earth. Below is an image of Mars proving that there was once flowing water on the planet.

The dark, narrow streaks are inferred to be formed by seasonal flow of water and are roughly the length of a football field. (Source: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona)

Although it’s atmosphere is thin, it still offers protection against the Sun’s radiation and the day/night rhythm of Mars is very similar to that on Earth. A day on Mars measures 24 hours, 39 minutes and 35 seconds. In addition, gravity on Mars is 38% of that on Earth, which is believed to be sufficient for the human body to adapt to.

The presence of methane gas on Mars means we could create fuel. The planet’s oxidized soil means we could potentially grow food, and although it’s temperature is frigid, it’s ice means there would be a water source.

Even still, humans won’t be able to live on Mars without the help of technology. It would require complex life-supporting measures and living in artificial environments. NASA believes this is possible and has already selected companies to develop prototypes for deep space habitats. These would be airtight habitats that would allow colonizers to grow food and live in a breathable environment.

Artist’s concept of a planned colony on Mars (Source: Bryan Versteeg, Mars One)

It seems entirely possible that humans could sustain life on Mars. With NASA and SpaceX’s continued research and development of technology to send rockets filled with cargo and astronauts to space, it’s only a matter of time before a colony is established on Mars. NASA released a plan outlining the next steps in the journey to Mars.

Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX, has said that he wishes to colonize Mars in the next 40 to 100 years. As he has revealed, this won’t be an easy feat and many challenges lie ahead. Below is a video of Musk discussing what will be needed to successfully colonize Mars.

(Source: The Verge, YouTube)

I think the prospect of establishing a colony on Mars is exciting and the fact that we may see it our lifetime is astounding. I would be open to considering a life on Mars but for now, it’s just a possibility.

Would you live on Mars?

By: Ami Patel

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Cloud Computing: High Performance Computing on any Device?

Posted on March 13, 2017 by | 1 comment

Can you imagine a smart phone that plays the latest PC games? NVIDIA, a graphics cards company, recently made it possible using a platform called GRID. GRID uses cloud computing technology that allows its users to run accelerated desktops on their phones and laptops. By using these desktops, people can play games and run software with an enhanced speed, because the cloud handles the processing part.

cloud computing. source: ibm.com

For example, when users start GRID on their smart phones, the selected games or software will be operated on cloud servers; these cloud servers are far away from the users but high-performance. On the same time, the real-time display of the games/software will be transferred from the cloud servers to their phones via the Internet. The real-time inputs, such us keyboard and mouse inputs, will be transferred from the phones to the servers as well. This is not only how GRID works but also how cloud computing works.

cloud computing: gaming everywhere on any device. source: nvidia.co.uk

As a result, the users feel like the game/software is running on their phones， and the phones perform well. In fact, the mobile devices do not need to actually process since all the processing is done in the cloud. Similarly, users can use GRID to run any software on any device with an Internet access.

high-performance mobile devices are usually heavy and large.                               source: nextgengamingblog.com

In past decades, IT companies and scientists were trying to make mobile devices high-performance, especially when dealing with graphics. However, poor heat radiating and poor battery life are still big problems for mobile devices due to their small physical size. NVIDIA was facing the same problem, but they took a completely different approach to achieve the same goal. In terms of performance and convenience, they succeed.

cloud computing: work everywhere on any device. source: http://www.nvidia.com

NVIDIA GRID, and other similar services, gives small companies and low-income people an alternative way to use high-performance devices with an affordable price. For instance, a small company can save money on buying high-end PCs, and low-income people can play games on their low-priced laptops.

However, GRID still has the same lag problems as most online games have. In addition, users need to pay for this service by month or by year. Consequently, playing games and working with a desktop computer is still the best plan. However, if a person travels a lot, using GRID can be a good plan for him/her.

 

By Max Ma.

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Posted in Science Communication, Science in the News

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Waste Resourcing

Posted on February 3, 2017 by | 2 comments

What exactly do we consider “waste”? Could what we are flushing down the toilet be more important than we realize? We are constantly in search of supplies to burn for energy and grow to eat, but what leaves our body we tend to want to overlook. New technology is developing that may be able to take advantage of that we currently label as waste, which holds both nutrients and biomass. Recycling of these resources can help mediate the depletion of natural supplies from our energy and agriculture demands.

image by Olearys via Flickr

Nutrients which are necessary for plant growth–such as nitrogen phosphorous and potassium– are all excreted after we consume those plant foods. Humans use raw deposits of these minerals for fertilizers, which have been estimated to contribute to 30-50% of crop yield. Before this discovery humans were using guano (sea bird and bat excrement) in crops to promote growth. These nutrients are essential for our ever growing agricultural industries. Meanwhile, their natural deposits are quickly declining due to our own demand. The following video discusses the problem of diminishing phosphorous:

Similar problems are faced for other nutrients such as potassium; while having a longer projected depletion time of 330 years this estimate does not account for accelerated use for grain crops or depleted soils. Potassium as well as nitrogen prices are estimated to steadily incline over the next 10 years.

Another depletion that can be mediated though waste sourcing is fossil fuels, which we use as an energy source. Organic material (also known as biomass) in sewage can be converted into methane gas and used as a fuel source which can serve as a green source of energy for our growing demand. As fossil fuels also have a diminishing raw supply it is imperative that reliable alternate energy sources are found. Potentially using waste biomass as a carbon source would provide a sustainable and economical source of energy. Although sewage biomass will not be able to replace fossil fuels, it is still a completely green fuel source that can make a contribution to our demands.

Are these recoveries realistic? There are two leading processes for waste treatment: Lower Energy Mainline (LEM) and Partition-release-recover (PRR).

image by Montgomery County Planning Commission via Flickr

Both processes target nutrient preservation while recovering energy. LEM is by far more cost efficient and results in net energy recovery and full phosphorous recovery, but very low nitrogen recovery. However, due to it’s cost efficiency it is likely to be used in the near future. PRR on the other hand results in large enough concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorous for extraction of both, but it more energy intensive.

As our technology advances the field of waste treatment will become more and more efficient. Resource availability is a serious threat, but being able to take advantage of our waste can create a much more sustainable society. Slowly implementing these advancements can bring us closer to a circular economy; one that does not depend on sources being depleted from natural deposits.

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Programmed to kill! Autonomous vehicles and decision making.

Posted on January 23, 2017 by | 4 comments

Imagine letting your car make the decision to kill you. With the increasing popularity and improvement of autonomous vehicle (AV) technology, driverless cars will be publicly available before we know it. But how do they work and how comfortable can we be letting a vehicle make decisions for us?

There is a major misconception that AVs are pre-programmed with tons of intricate and conventional “if-else-then” guidelines for every situation a vehicle may encounter, as well as situations akin to the trolley problem. For example, if a child and a senior citizen are suddenly on the road, then the vehicle would hit the one with the lower chance of injury or perhaps the one with the most life left to live.

However, AV technology is not based on the ethics of driving. In fact, AV systems rely heavily on artificial intelligence and machine learning abilities to make informed decisions and discern its surroundings, just like a human driver.

The most common machine learning algorithms that are being used in AVs are based on “object tracking.” The purpose of these algorithms is to improve the accuracy of identifying and distinguishing between objects.

A core problem facing these algorithms is profiling of an object, i.e. whether it is another vehicle, a pedestrian, a bicycle, or an animal. The answer is a complex machine learning or pattern recognition algorithm that is given many images containing objects.

How a self-driving car might classify objects to make decisions. (Source: Iyad Rahwan, MIT)

Such an algorithm inspects the images and guesses the kind of object in each image. Logically, most of its initial guesses will be wrong and the algorithm modifies its internal parameters or parts of its structure based on the initial mistakes and tries again.

This process occurs continuously, discarding changes that reduce the algorithm’s accuracy and keeping changes that increase its accuracy until it correctly classifies all images. When the algorithm is shown new images, it will classify them with high accuracy. By this time the algorithm is said to have “learned.” The algorithm can then evaluate its surroundings and make a calculated choice about how to proceed.

Now back to the question at hand, how comfortable can we be letting a vehicle make decisions regarding death? I’m not sure how comfortable I would be letting a computer make a choice for me where the consequence could be death. On the other hand, I’m not sure how confident I would be in my own ability to make such a decision. The video below discusses the social dilemma of self-driving cars.

(Source: Science Magazine, YouTube)

When you strip away the bias, and purely focus on the logistics, i.e. the decision that will lead to the greatest good, perhaps an algorithm may be the best decision maker.

After all, evidence suggests that 90% of vehicle collisions are the result of human error. By removing the human element from driving, motor vehicle accidents would significantly decline thereby making roadways much safer.

We’re still a long way from allowing fully autonomous vehicles to take over roadways, but it is worth thinking about how the vehicle might make decisions where ethics and morality would normally play a huge part and how comfortable we might be letting an algorithm decide.

By: Ami Patel

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