New Technology

Hydrogen-Powered Trains to Run on German Rails in 2021. The trains will replace diesel vehicles on non-electrified tracks. Commuters in northern Germany will be able to travel on the world's first hydrogen-powered trains in four years' time. French engineering giant Alstom says it has signed an agreement to deliver 14 fuel-cell trains to LNVG, a rail company in Germany's Lower Saxony state. The trains will begin operating on routes between Cuxhaven, Bremerhaven, Bremervoerde and Buxtehude from December 2021. Alstom said Thursday that the Coradia iLint trains will have a range of up to 1,000 kilometres (621 miles) and a maximum speed of 140 kilometres per hour (87 mph). Hydrogen engines emit only water vapour and are considered one of the cleanest forms of transportation. The trains will replace diesel vehicles on non-electrified tracks. There are plans to produce the hydrogen using electricity from Lower Saxony's many wind turbines.

Bill Gates is Buying Land in Arizona to Build a "Smart City". The community will integrate technology and high-speed data into its infrastructure. An investment firm run by Bill Gates has put down $80 million to develop a planned community in Arizona. The 25,000 acres of land is about 45 minutes west of Phoenix, in an area called the West Valley. The community, which Gates wants to turn into a "smart city," will be named Belmont. "Belmont will create a forward-thinking community with a communication and infrastructure spine that embraces cutting-edge technology, designed around high-speed digital networks, data centers, new manufacturing technologies and distribution models, autonomous vehicles and autonomous logistics hubs," Belmont Partners, the Arizona real estate investment company involved in the deal, said in a news release. The proposed freeway I-11, which would connect the Belmont area to Las Vegas, makes the land an ideal spot...

IBM's New Quantum Computer Is the Most Powerful Yet IBM says its scientists have developed a landmark 50-qubit processor prototype. IBM has announced a milestone in its race against Google and other big tech firms to build a powerful quantum computer. Dario Gil, who leads IBM's quantum computing and artificial intelligence research division, said Friday that the company's scientists have successfully built and measured a processor prototype with 50 quantum bits, known as qubits. Gil says it's the first time any company has built a quantum computer at this scale. Quantum computing, a technology that's still in its early phases, uses the quirks of quantum physics to perform calculations at far higher speeds than current computers. Seth Lloyd, an MIT mechanical engineering professor not involved in IBM's research, says it's likely that IBM still has glitches to work out but the 50-qubit announcement is a sign of significant progre...

Satya Nadella talks about the future of Artificial Intelligence, Mixed Reality Satya Nadella spoke at India Today Conclave 2017 where he talked about the spread of digital technology in the Indian landscape. Nadella shared his experience of how India changed from being a service provider to a using its own IT prowess in the various sectors. During his session at the Conclave, Nadella shared a few instances where artificial intelligence and mixed reality have already started making major impacts in the fields of health and business development. Nadella spoke about the numerous opportunities that come with technological advancements. However, he believes that with tremendous opportunity comes tremendous responsibility. Nadella spoke about three timeless values associated with the responsibility of digital technology. To Empower people: How a particular technology will facilitate empowerment of people Inclusive design: To ensure that the technologies we introduce are in...

Swiss Researchers Built a Robot Fish That Other Fish Will Follow. In associate degree study to examine if animals can react to robotic tries to move with them, Swiss researchers have designed a robotic fish that may with success imitate and mingle with zebrafish."We created a sort of 'secret agent' that may infiltrate these faculties of little fish," says Frank Bonnet of Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL). EPFL researchers selected the tiny fish thanks to their abrupt bursts of movement. It's troublesome to make an automaton that may integrate into a species like a zebrafish, that have a deeply developed "lateral line network," a sensory network evolved to observe the pattern of water movement. This sense is what permits fish like zebrafish to suddenly modification directions as a gaggle. The scientists thought-about the physical characteristics of zebrafish, such shape, colour and stripe once choosing a species to review. T...

A robot with an uncannily human-like appearance recently advanced one step closer to human status, when it was granted citizenship to Saudi Arabia at the tech summit Future Investment Initiative (FII).    Named "Sophia," the robot, created by Hanson Robotics (HR), has a pale-skinned face with features that are capable of being highly mobile and expressive and displaying a range of emotions. The company's "latest and most advanced robot," according to a statement on the HR website took to the stage at FII on Oct. 25 to address hundreds of attendees in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and to announce her recently acquired citizenship — the first to be given to a robot, the BBC reported. "I am very honoured and proud for this unique distinction," Sophia said during her onstage appearance, which was shared on YouTube by Arab News. "This is historical to be the first robot in the world to be recognized with a citizenship," the robot said. [Machine Drea...

Tractor-trailers without a human at the wheel will soon barrel onto highways near you. What will this mean for the nation’s 1.7 million truck drivers? Roman Mugriyev was driving his long-haul 18-wheeler down a two-lane Texas highway when he saw an oncoming car drift into his lane just a few hundred feet ahead. There was a ditch to his right and more oncoming cars to his left, so there was little for him to do but hit his horn and brake. “I could hear the man who taught me to drive telling me what he always said was rule number one: ‘Don’t hurt anybody,’” Mugriyev recalls. But it wasn’t going to work out that way. The errant car collided with the front of Mugriyev’s truck. It shattered his front axle, and he struggled to keep his truck and the wrecked car now fused to it from hitting anyone else as it barreled down the road. After Mugriyev finally came to a stop, he learned that the woman driving the car had been killed in the collision. Could a computer have done bette...