10 technologies that exploded in 2014 Bashny.Net

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Some technologies like solar energy, familiar to us already not the first year, experienced powerful breakthroughs this year; others, of whom you have heard, quantum teleportation, for example — become better. Let's go over the list of most significant technologies of the year 2014.

Solar energy



Report of the Ministry of energy of the United States says the following: "2014 marks an important milestone in the history of American solar energy." Five new solar power plants (three in California, one in Nevada and one in Arizona) earned in 2014. Because from abroad comes to us all a little late, we can congratulate overseas colleagues and hope that we too clean energy will gradually come.

The world's largest solar power station has earned in the beginning of this year in the Mojave desert (California) and started to produce 392 megawatts of energy; enough to electrify 140 000 homes.

Solar energy — and it's also worth noting — have dropped significantly in price. Advances in the technologies that underlie the solar panels, increasing production plan in China — all this gradually leads to the fact that renewable energy is becoming increasingly competitive with natural gas, especially against the background of falling prices for fossil fuels. According to Forbes, a full cycle of unsubsidized solar power costs about 13 cents per kilowatt-hour, while the energy of advanced coal power plants — 12 cents per kilowatt-hour.

No surprise and the increase of the production of electricity with solar power. As of September 2014 the volume of production of solar energy in the U.S. was 15.9 gigawatts of installed capacity, enough to power 3.2 million homes, says Forbes. This is two times more than in 2013.

Efficiency is also growing. This year, scientists from the University of New South Wales set a record by creating solar panels that converts 46% of solar energy into electricity is the highest conversion to date.

This was a good year for solar energy, and it won't be the last. Solar energy will gradually fall in price and increase in production volumes. The day will come when we stop burning coal and gas for light in their homes.

3D printing



This year was also rich in news from the field of 3D printing, which is spreading around the world "mysyu on the tree". If you are not aware, 3D printers use plastic instead of viscous ink for printing. Working with a digital file, a 3D printer builds a three-dimensional object by printing it layer by layer. After the ink has dried, the object is solidified.

In the past year, technology was used to produce almost everything you can imagine: chairs, clothes, drones, cars, sex-toys, home, electronics, biological part of the type of prostheses and parts of the skull and even food.

Three-dimensional printing even went into space. Last summer, the first 3D printer designed to print in microgravity, was delivered to the International space station, and in November was the first printed object. In the future, printed components, or even food, which can then be printed in space, will facilitate the uploading of spacecraft — will be enough to printers 'ink'.

Augmented reality



Add graphics, sounds, the illusion of touch or even smell to your world — and you get augmented reality. Google Glass, which is applied on top of the graphics world through lenses — just one example. Since the advent of Google glasses in public, augmented reality is gaining popularity. Although, of course, its growth is experiencing a certain stagnation in certain moments: the world froze before jumping into the world of augmented and virtual reality.

Recently, Jaguar Land Rover has announced the use of the technology overlays graphics on the windshield, which will provide not only navigational information, but also information about pedestrians or other vehicles which the driver might not notice. Similar technology will also be showcased in retail stores, allowing customers to try on clothes virtually.

Motorcycle helmet created by Fusar Technologies, includes a display system, worn on the head, features video recording and voice control. You can even buy a mask for diving, which is equipped with a built-in display pointer dive time, depth, water temperature and more.

Brain-computer interfaces



What do you think? Scientists are getting better and better interpretiruya brain signals and translates them into computer commands. Not long ago, scientists have found a way by which a person can control the cursor on the screen by thought. Since then, science has gone far ahead.

In may, the team of the Institute of flight systems dynamics and the Berlin Institute of technology developed a technique that allowed the pilot to accurately fly a plane in a simulator without touching the stick and rudder.

A flight simulator is good and fun, but there are more noble ways of using brain-computer interfaces. More specifically, control of prosthesis connected to the human nervous system. The so-called neuroprosthesis are becoming more and more sophisticated, provide persons with disabilities to move artificial limbs as if they were natural.

In October, two groups of scientists — the Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland and the University of Chalmers in Sweden have reported success: they taught the two patients with prosthetic limbs to gently grasp objects and even "feel" the texture of these objects.

Brain-computer interface has also been developed and scientists at Ohio state to help a paralyzed man move his hand using his own thoughts. Scientists implanted a computer chip into the human brain and then used a neural bridge to reroute brain signals to the sleeve, which transmits the electrical signals to the forearm and the hand of man. After some practice, a person is able to control the hand by thought.

If that's not enough, a Japanese maker of exoskeleton Cyberdyne announced this year that it is working on an exoskeleton that will allow people to go, determining the electrical impulses on the human body, when the brain media will send a signal to the limbs to move.

But probably the biggest event in this area of the year occurred in Brazil at the opening ceremony of World Cup Games, when a person with paralysis of the lower limbs, using power driven thoughts exoskeleton made the first kick.

Exoskeletons



Since we're talking about the exoskeleton, let's continue. This year, the us military reported the TALOS suit. This suit protects the wearer from bullets, allows him to lift weights and comes with an Arsenal of technologies that monitor the environment. This costume is not only for the military.

Employees of the shipbuilding company Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering began to wear exoskeletons, which help them to lift heavy things. Similar manipulators have been developed by scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of technology: warehouse workers can lift heavy loads by yourself.

Also this year it was announced a new competition called the Cybathlon. The bottom line is that participating in it people with disabilities with the assistance of advanced technologies such as robotic limbs and exoskeletons. The competition is held with the support of ETH Zurich and the Swedish national centre of robotics research. The first event will take place in 2016.

The activity sensors



Wearable technology, namely activity trackers — like fitness bracelets — strengthened its position in the consumer market. If last year their selection was small, this year the choice is huge. Basic Peak, FitBit, Garmin, Jawbone, Microsoft, Fitbit, Flash the list goes on.

What is interesting in this all, so it's not a choice, but the data that these bracelets are collected. For the first time in history, scientists were able to get a ton of information about how people move throughout the day, from small to large. Gone are the surveys that scientists have made with pen and paper, separately measuring the parameters of each person now can collect accurate data with sensors. Have the opportunity to analyze how people move, sleep, stand, lie, etc.

It is curious that while not everyone knows what to do with this array of accurate data. Might help artificial intelligence and deep machine learning?

Quantum computation



Research in the field of quantum computing are still in its infancy. But in 2014, we heard some buzz, beeps and electronic sounds coming from the room with a quantum computer.

It all started with the data provided by Edward Snowden, which said that the NSA builds "cryptologically useful quantum computer." Such a computer would be much faster than any supercomputer known to mankind, and it would be impossible to crack, thanks to the laws of quantum mechanics.

We also learned this year that not only NSA is working hard to create such a computer. In September, Google hired physicist John Martinis and his team at the University of California for the development of quantum computing chips. In the past, Google has already funded a study of D-Wave Systems, a canadian company that has acquired a machine with quantum properties. And Microsoft has launched a new group of designers of quantum hardware this year, led by Burton Smith, a well-known designer of supercomputers.

But the most interesting news came from a team of scientists from the University of Geneva, the jet propulsion Laboratory of NASA and the National Institute of standards and technology. In December they announced that teleported the quantum state of a particle of light — that is, the direction in which it rotates is 25 kilometers via optical fiber, thus setting a new distance record of successful quantum teleportation.

Fusion



The energy of thermonuclear fusion for a long time is in research, which is always decades behind reality. But if she came at us, the planet would receive unlimited and clean energy.

Also this year was very interesting and very mysterious announcement from Lockheed Martin. Scientists well known company in the market of advanced technologies, announced that can create a reactor that is small enough to fit on the roof of the truck, but which will be able to produce 100 megawatts of electricity.

Scientists say that in a year they will build a working prototype, and ten years later — reactor can be placed on the truck.

Masking



Masking technologies go hand-in-hand with science, but are in fact fiction. We have evil Romulans from Star trek that could hide their spaceships; we have the invisibility cloak of Harry Potter, which makes the wearer invisible. In science, however, such masking technologies are still new.

Until this year, most scientists have already achieved some success at hiding objects from the light spectrum invisible to the human eye. They have found ways to hide three-dimensional objects from electromagnetic waves, sound, magnetic field, and even make the whole city impervious to the seismic waves of earthquakes.

However, this year we finally learned something totally new. Scientists from the University of Rochester have used relatively cheap components to hide the object in the visible spectrum. Instead of using expensive "metamaterials", which are pinning their hopes other scientists, John Howell, a physics Professor from the University of Rochester, was able to unite the four optical lenses to bend light and send it through the center. Not ideal, but solves the most complex problems in a simple way.

Floating buildings



Glaciers are melting, global warming is inevitable temperature increases that will save us? Floating houses. This year we saw floating farms that irrigate harvest melt ice; the swimming beaches in new York; floating nuclear plants to be resistant to tsunamis, and underwater cities.

Architectural firm based in the Netherlands, Waterstudio, is a leader in this area. The company came up with several different concepts, including a residential building, hotel complex for people with low income and even a nature reserve.

Well, 2014 is coming to an end, and we are slowly starting to prepare for discovery 2015.

Source: hi-news.ru