Micro sensors help underwater robots swim like fish

Dec. 12, 2012 ? NTU scientists have invented a 'sense-ational' device, similar to a string of 'feelers' found on the bodies of the Blind Cave Fish, which enables the fish to sense their surrounding and so navigate easily.

Using a combination of water pressure and computer vision technology, the sensory device is able to give users a 3-D image of nearby objects and map its surroundings. The possible applications of this fish-inspired sensor are enormous. The sensor can potentially replace the expensive 'eyes and ears' on Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs), submarines and boats that currently rely on cameras and sonars to gather information about the environment around them.

The revolutionary, low-powered sensor is unlike cameras which cannot see in dark or murky waters; or sonars whose sound waves pose harm to some marine animals.

These extremely small sensors (each sensor is 1.8mm x 1.8mm) are now being used in AUVs developed by researchers from Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART), a research centre funded by the National Research Foundation. The centre is developing a new generation of underwater 'stingray-like' robots and autonomous surface vessels.

The new sensors, made using Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS) technology, will make such robots smarter and prolong their operational time as battery power is conserved.

Associate Professor Miao Jianminfrom the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, and his team of four have spent the last five years in collaboration with SMART to develop micro-sensors that mimic the row of 'feelers' on both sides of the Blind cave fish's body.

Associate Prof Miao said the line of sensors present on the fish's body is the reason why it can sense objects around it and still travel at high speeds without colliding with any underwater obstacles.

"To mimic nature, our team created microscopic sensory pillars wrapped in hydrogel -- a material which is similar to the natural neuromasts of the blind cave fish -- into an array of two rows of five sensors," Prof Miao said.

"This array of micro-sensors will then allow AUVs to locate, identify, and classify obstacles and objects in water through water pressure and also to optimise its movement in water by sensing the water flow."

The new sensor array which costs below S$100 to make, is also more affordable than sonars, which can detect faraway objects but not nearby objects and cost thousands of dollars.

Partnering Prof Miao to develop the sensors and to adopt it for use on AUVs is Professor Michael Triantafyllou from SMART. Prof Triantafyllou, from SMART's Centre for Environmental Sensing and Modeling (CENSAM), is one of the world's foremost experts on creating underwater robots modelled after aquatic animals like fish.

Current problems with AUVs include poor navigation in murky or cloudy waters such as those off the coast of Singapore, as underwater cameras can only see a short distance, Prof Triantafyllou said.

"Other methods like underwater lights and cameras, acoustic navigation, and sonars also work, but they are very expensive and require very high levels of power that drain the batteries. The new sensors are much cheaper and only require small amounts of power. Also, sensors like sonar are loud and invasive and they may harm aquatic animals that also use sound waves to navigate," the Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor added.

The aim of the AUVs is for environmental sensing, to detect environmental pollution, contaminants and to monitor the overall water quality in Singapore's waters. The AUVs will have chemical sensors installed to detect the chemical condition of water (dissolved oxygen, nutrients, metals, oils, and pesticides), and biological sensors to monitor water conditions such as harmful bacteria and pathogens.

Other potential application of these MEMS sensors, which specialises in near-field detection include defence applications. These can detect nearby submarines without the use of sonar thatgives away one's location.

This collaborative research resulted in two breakthrough papers being accepted for presentation at a MEMS conference next January in Taiwan, organised by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

One paper is for the development of the piezoelectric sensor which does not require any energy as it generates an electric voltage when water flows past the 'feelers'. The second paper focuses on a low-powered biomimetic sensor which can detect underwater objects even when there is little water flowing past it.

To further improve the sensor, Prof Miao's team is now looking to develop a hybrid sensor which will combine both the zero-energy piezoelectric sensor's high accuracy with the low-powered static sensor's ability to detect objects in still water.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Nanyang Technological University.

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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_technology/~3/rHx5K7ZlfE8/121212092635.htm

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Insurance industry paying increasing attention to climate change

Dec. 13, 2012 ? The insurance industry, the world's largest business with $4.6 trillion in revenues, is making larger efforts to manage climate change-related risks, according to a new study published December 13 in the journal Science.

"Weather- and climate-related insurance losses today average $50 billion a year. These losses have more than doubled each decade since the 1980s, adjusted for inflation," says the study's author Evan Mills, a scientist in Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab)'s Environmental Energy Technologies Division. "Insurers have become quite adept at quantifying and managing the risks of climate change, and using their market presence to drive broader societal efforts at mitigation and adaptation."

Hurricane Sandy is only the most recent U.S. example of the kinds of increasing liabilities posed by severe weather events in a changing climate.

Managing a portfolio of $25 trillion in assets, similar in size to mutual funds or pensions globally, the insurance industry has become a significant voice in world policy forums addressing the issue, as well as a market force, investing at least $23 billion in emissions-reduction technologies, securities, and financing, plus $5 billion in funds with environmental screens, seeing risks to investments in polluting industries and opportunities in being part of the clean-tech revolution.

Risk and opportunity

"Where there are risks, there are opportunities," writes Mills. Responding to shareholder, regulatory, and market forces, three global initiatives [UN Environment Program Finance Initiative (1995), ClimateWise (2007), and the Kyoto Statement (2009)] have compelled 129 insurance firms from 29 countries to engage in activities including: supporting climate research; developing climate-responsive products and services; raising awareness; reducing in-house greenhouse gas emissions; quantifying and disclosing climate risks; incorporating climate change into investment decisions; and influencing public policy. The ultimate goal of these industry activities is reducing climate-related losses among their customers as well as reducing their own exposure to risk, which is rising in step with the magnitude and frequency of extreme weather-related events.

These insurers, together with reinsurance companies (the insurers of insurance companies), industry associations, brokers, catastrophe-loss modelers, and partners in the research community, have been using sophisticated analytical tools to quantify and diversify their exposure to climate change risk, more accurately price and communicate risk, and get adaptation and loss-prevention efforts up and running.

"Insurers from North America, Asia, and Europe worked with scientists through the three latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change assessments dating back to the mid 1990s to better understand their exposure to climate change risk," says Mills. "They expanded these collaborations into such projects as harmonizing economics-based insurer catastrophe models with climate models."

New insurance products and services

According to the study, 1,148 climate change adaptation and mitigation activities have emerged from 378 entities in 51 countries, representing $2 trillion (44 percent) of industry revenue. For example, insurers have brought at least 130 products and services to market encouraging the spread of more energy-efficient homes and commercial buildings by paying claims that encourage rebuilding to a higher level of energy efficiency after a loss. At least 65 other insurance industry products address the risks and opportunities of the renewable energy industry.

Pay-as-you-drive insurance policies, now numbering nearly 3 million, offer auto insurance based on number of miles driven rather than a fixed premium. GPS technologies verify driving distances, and policyholders benefit from a more accurate insurance premium. The price signal of lower premiums for miles actually driven could reduce U.S. driving by 8 percent, and oil use by 4 percent, reducing the cost of driving by $50 to $60 billion per year because of a lower chance of accidents and reduced traffic congestion.

Another innovative class of insurance products insures financial shortfalls if projects underperform at delivering energy savings or low-emissions power generation. Some insurance products manage the risks of carbon-trading transactions, such as wildfires releasing carbon sequestered in forests. By assuming these risks and engineering the insured programs to minimize their losses, insurance companies pursue a broader policy objective of verifiable, bankable, persistent emissions reductions -- all of which reduce the overall risks associated with climate change.

Leading by example is another type of climate change risk mitigation strategy being seen increasingly in the insurance industry. Many insurers have programs to reduce their own greenhouse gas emissions and purchase offsets, and 26 claim they have reached carbon-neutrality. A creative example is the mangrove restoration by Tokio Marine and Nichido Insurance Co. taking place in India and southeast Asian countries. Begun in 1999, this project is close to reaching its goal of restoring 8,200 hectares (more than 20,000 acres) of mangrove forests in coastal areas of seven countries. Mangrove reforestation reduces exposure of coasts to storm damage, and helps sequester carbon.

Developing world activities

"In the developing world, poor populations have little access to insurance," says Mills. Decades ago, government and non-profit entities began issuing microinsurance policies that offer modest coverage in health, property, and life insurance for small premiums. Commercial insurers have followed suit, making tens of millions of these policies possible by integrating actuarial and environmental sciences into insurance models. Some of these products incorporate remote sensing and climate-sensitive methods to analyze the risks to crops and livestock.

There remain numerous opportunities to expand the innovation in the insurance industry, Mills believes. Some assert that the industry hasn't done enough. The federal government is the insurer of last resort for floods and crops in the U.S., but these climate risk techniques have not been applied to federal insurance programs. There's also not much research in the field of loss modeling under future climates, or comparative risk assessments of climate change response options, which could help guide policymakers about how to adapt to changing climate.

Mills' study nonetheless demonstrates that market mechanisms are playing a large and growing role in the insurance industry's efforts to address the consequences of a changing climate.

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Journal Reference:

1. E. Mills. The Greening of Insurance. Science, 2012; 338 (6113): 1424 DOI: 10.1126/science.1229351

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_science/~3/aghd07HyOFA/121213142311.htm

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Google Play Magazines now live in the UK

We first saw magazines begin to appear in the UK Play Store just yesterday, leaving us sure that the additional content wasn't far away. Turns out that hunch was right, and this evening Google's selection of magazine content is available for purchase both on the web and Android applications. If you're not seeing the new section show up yet, you can always try the old trick of heading into Settings>Apps and then force closing, clearing data and re-starting the Play Store app. 

In addition, you'll need to grab a copy of the Magazines app from Google in order to read your content. Hit the download link at the top to grab a copy, but users with a Nexus 4, 7 or 10 may find an "enable" button in place of an install button on the app listing page. 

The good news for UK buyers is the UK-centric content available for purchase -- for the run down check out the list we posted yesterday. It's great to see more Google Play content arrive on British shores, and as it sits now we're only waiting for TV Shows before we have the full set. 

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/csWwNiytySs/story01.htm

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Video: RNC launches election post-mortem

>>> more republican soul searches under way in the wake of the november elections. the republican national committee launched official full scale review of what went wrong. the so-called growth and opportunity project will include a review of the gop's ground game, messaging, fund raising , demographics, primary process and interaction with outside groups. also, a look at what republicans can learn from the tactics used by democrats. here's former rnc chair haley barbour today on " morning joe ."

>> what are the lessons? negative campaigns still work and one of the first rules of politics still holds. any attack unanswered is an attack admitted.

>> governor barbour was talking there about negative ads against mitt romney that the romney campaign did not answer. joining me now republican strategist and contributor, danny vargas. it is interesting that they have assembled this group of five people. reflection is always wise. we have talked about the fact that the reflection has to be outreach to the latino community and not as a monolithic group of people but we know as a valuable voting bloc of the future of this country.

>> a valuable and growing voting bloc . looking to the future --

>> that's in the value of the growth there.

>> the interesting thing is and taking place at the national level, the state level, local level throughout this country. i think it's necessary and warranted and i think it's a good thing but i made the comment recently and said imagine 2050 with a republican president and chairman wong around the table thinking about white outreach. the nation is changing. changing demographic. i think the core principles of the party hold true and resonates and captures the imagination. what we have been doing wrong i think is talking about in it a way that's negative. i think it's politically people vote as much with their hearts as heads and it's a question of perspective. so if you combine core principles which i think are so strong --

>> for example, when's the core principle of the party on immigration? you have core principles and then policies and the way that we have been dealing with the politics of it. how we communicate with voters. i think if we look at policies and stop talking within the echo chamber and stop talking about hard-core republicans and listen to folk that is might disagree and provide us with a different opinion.

>> back to the issue of core principles, i mean, for example, same-sex marriage right now, talking about this article, the gop silent on the supreme court moving ahead to make a decision on two major cases. the issue of immigration. i brought that up. there's a laundry list of options being offered by this party . so if you -- what is it saying if you don't stay for something you 'll fall for anything.

>> that's true.

>> now you have this huge conversation about outreach for women and latinos and it comes off as insincere because of a loss and not a sin veer core value of the party . it's more of an idea of wanting to win and how do you win it in the most expedient fashion.

>> i don't disagree and saying to folks at the national and local level is it's not about outreach. it's about engagement.

>> authenticity.

>> and you've got to be sincere and honest about it and we lost amongst catholics, for example, tells me that we haven't had a sincere dialogue with the community about caring deeply about folks struggling, about poor folks, how our policies and principles better positioned to help people lift them up and we were at the best i think talking the people's hopes and dreams and aspirations like reagan did opposed to fears and desperation. we have to get away from scaring people and provide a perspective to care and love and respect folks and provide a hopeful more optimistic future.

>> how is that missing from a party that is a part of this? you think about what you're saying. that the party basically has to learn to care about people and be concerned about the poor. that is a tragedy if that's not a basic core of any human being , your neighbor, let alone someone who wants to represent you.

>> agreed. it is not that we don't care but done a really poor job of commune katding.

>> i love you but i don't tell you.

>> like with immigration. we can't tell hispanic voters, we don't like you, we don't want you, go away, vote for me. we have to talk about basics as a party . talking about personal responsibility and opportunity and liberties and limited but effective government and these types of thing it is a resonate with voters we have done a poor job of talking about the core principles for policies and communica communicate.

>> probably people wish you were one of the five co-chairs of the group. always a pleasure. thank you so much.

>> thank you.

Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/newsnation/50163834/

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A Minute With: Director Peter Jackson on shooting "The Hobbit"

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - After bringing J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy to life, filmmaker Peter Jackson is back in the world of Middle Earth with the author's prequel, "The Hobbit."

The three-film series is due to open in U.S. theaters on Friday with "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey."

The Oscar-winning director, 51, told Reuters about the 3D film, including the 48 frames per second (fps) format he used, which was widely debated by fans and critics.

Q: You originally intended "The Hobbit" to only be two parts. Why stretch it out to three?

A: "Back in July, we were near the end of our shoot and we started to talk about the things that we had to leave out of the movies. There's material at the end of ?The Return of the King' (the final part of 'The Lord of the Rings' trilogy) in the appendices that takes place around the time of ?The Hobbit.'

"We were thinking, this is our last chance because it's very unlikely we're ever going to come back to Middle Earth as filmmakers. So we talked to the studio and next year we're going to be doing another 10 to 12 weeks of shooting because we're now adapting more of Tolkien's material."

Q: At what point did you decide you would direct the film yourself after originally handing it to Guillermo del Toro?

A: "At the time (we wrote the script), I was worried about repeating myself and worried that I was competing with myself. I thought it would be interesting to have another director with a fresh eye coming in and telling the story. But after Guillermo left, having worked on script and the production for well over a year at that stage, I was very emotionally attached to it. I just thought, this is an opportunity I'm not going to say no to."

Q: You hired Gollum actor Andy Serkis to do second unit directing on the film, something he has never done before. What made you hand the task to a novice?

A: "I know how strongly Andy has been wanting to direct. One of the problems with second unit is that you tend to have conservative footage given to you by the director. They play it safe. I knew that I wouldn't get that from Andy because he's got such a ferocious energy. He goes for it and doesn't hold back. I knew that if Andy was the director I would be getting some interesting material, that it would have a life and energy to it."

Q: What inspired you to make a film in 48 fps?

A: "Four years ago I shot a six or seven minute King Kong ride for Universal Studios' tram ride in California. The reason we used the high frame rate was that we didn't want people to think it's a movie. You want that sense of reality, which you get from a high frame rate, of looking in to the real world. At the time, I thought it would be so cool to make a feature film with this process."

Q: Not everyone has embraced "The Hobbit" in 48 fps.

A: "For the last year and a half there's been speculation, largely negative, about it and I'm so relieved to have gotten to this point. I've been waiting for this moment when people can actually see it for themselves. Cinephiles and serious film critics who regard 24 fps as sacred are very negative and absolutely hate it. Anybody I've spoken to under the age of 20 thinks it's fantastic. I haven't heard a single negative thing from the young people, and these are the kids that are watching films on their iPads. These are the people I want to get back in the cinema."

Q: Why all the hoopla over a frame rate?

A: "Somehow as humans, we have a reaction to change that's partly fear driven. But there are so many ways to look at movies now and it's a choice that a filmmaker has. To me as a filmmaker, you've got to take the technology that's available in 2012, not the technology we've lived with since 1927, and say how can we enhance the experience in the cinema? How can we make it more immersive, more spectacular?"

Q: George Lucas sold Lucasfilm to Disney for $4 billion. Do you think you will sell your New Zealand facility Weta someday?

A: "I would if I want to retire at some stage and want to have a nice easy life, which will hopefully happen one day. But in the foreseeable future, the fact that I'm an owner of my own digital effects facility is a fantastic advantage for me."

Q: How so?

A: "When we asked the studio if we could shoot ?The Hobbit' at 48 fps, we promised the budget would be the same. But it actually does have a cost implication because you've got to render twice as many frames and the rendering takes more time. The fact that we owned Weta and could absorb that in-house was actually part of the reason we were able to do the 48 frames."

(Editing by Patricia Reaney)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/minute-director-peter-jackson-shooting-hobbit-100203326.html

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Kazakhstan Beats Alabama On Science Tests. Massachusetts Bests Japan. Global Comparisons Are Silly

One of America's worst performing education systems, Alabama schools, got beat on International science tests by the humble eastern European republic of Kazakhstan, and only narrowly outperformed Iran and Turkey. International math and science test results were thrust upon the news cycle today and opportunistic policymakers are decrying the inevitable doom America will face without a superior education system. Yet, levelheaded statisticians have attempted to argue why it's silly to compare the U.S. to the rest of the world. America is 300 million people strong; there's more variation between states than between competitor countries. For instance, in Massachusetts, home of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the average 8th Grader scores higher in science than their Japanese and Chinese counterparts.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/r8jyp1zvly8/

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Gift Guide: The Google Nexus 4

Google's latest (and LG's first) Nexus smartphone probably tops many a geek's holiday wishlist, and with good reason. The combination of some impressive hardware and Google's latest version of Android is a very compelling one, but know this before shelling out your hard-earned cash: it's not ideal for everyone.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/LNaOY1ngIIM/

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