Show Notes 14 March 2025
Story 1: No Fiber Needed: New Chip Uses Light to Beam 10Gig Speeds Through the Air
Source: PC Magazine Story by Michael Kan
Link: https://www.pcmag.com/news/no-fiber-taara-chip-uses-light-to-beam-10gig-speeds-through-the-air
See also: https://www.wired.com/story/plaintext-google-taara-chip-internet-by-light/
Side note - for more about the Taara Project, see: https://x.company/projects/taara/
Story 2: Self-healing Asphalt Could Prevent Potholes and Save Costs on Vehicle Repairs
Source: ZME Science Story by Tibi Puiu
Link: https://www.zmescience.com/science/news-science/self-healing-asphalt-could-prevent-potholes-and-save-costs-on-vehicle-repairs/
Story 3: A protein from tiny tardigrades may help cancer patients tolerate radiation therapy
Source: MIT News Website Story by Anne Trafton
Link: https://news.mit.edu/2025/tiny-tardigrades-protein-may-help-cancer-patients-tolerate-radiation-therapy-0226
Story 4: New Implant May Help Patients Regenerate Their Own Heart Valves
Source: Georgia Tech News Announcement
Link: https://research.gatech.edu/feature/heart-valves
See video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fMI4VcPiLA
Honorable Mentions
Story: A private mission to Venus aims to look for signs of life - A probe would bring samples of the planet’s atmosphere to Earth
Source: ScienceNews.org Story by Lisa Grossman
Link: https://www.sciencenews.org/article/venus-life-signs-private-mission
Story: 11 Emerging Construction Technology Trends in 2025
Source: Construction News and Review Story by Alex Radchenko
Link: https://mycnr.com/guest-column/11-emerging-construction-technology-trends-in-2025/?form=MG0AV3
Story: Common Mushroom Fiber May Protect Against Flu, Study Finds
Source: ScienceAlert.com Story by David Nield
Link: https://www.sciencealert.com/common-mushroom-fiber-may-protect-against-flu-study-finds
Story: Physicists achieve fully optical readout of superconducting qubits
Source: Phys.org Story by Institute of Science and Technology Austria
Link: https://phys.org/news/2025-02-physicists-fully-optical-readout-superconducting.html

Show Notes

Story 1: US team creates ‘holey’ battery with 180-degree flexibility for wearables

Source: InterestingEngineering.com Story by Christopher McFadden

Link: https://interestingengineering.com/energy/holey-battery-for-wearables

Story 2: Stretchable, flexible, recyclable. This plastic is fantastic

Source: Princeton Engineering Story by John Sullivan

Link: https://engineering.princeton.edu/news/2024/12/12/stretchable-flexible-recyclable-plastic-fantastic

Story 3: NASA's 'SPHEREx' infrared space telescope is launching this week [note, launched on February 28]. Here's why it's a big deal

Source: Space.com Story by Sharmila Kuthunur

Link: https://www.space.com/space-exploration/missions/nasas-spherex-infrared-space-telescope-is-launching-this-week-heres-why-its-a-big-deal

Story 4: The US military wants to explore blood biohacks to boost warfighter performance in extreme conditions

Source: Business Insider Story by Kelsey Baker

Link: https://www.businessinsider.com/darpa-exploring-how-blood-biohacks-could-help-warfighters-2025-1

Computer America Stories 02/28/2025

The next chapter: Skype Ends

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/blog/2025/02/28/the-next-chapter-moving-from-skype-to-microsoft-teams/ 

Microsoft launches native Mac app for Copilot

https://www.engadget.com/ai/microsoft-launches-native-mac-app-for-copilot-235945829.html 

Amazon’s subscription-based Alexa+ looks highly capable—and questionable

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/02/amazons-subscription-based-alexa-looks-highly-capable-and-questionable/ 

Apple Launches the iPhone 16e

https://www.nbcnews.com/select/shopping/apple-iphone-16e-preorder-rcna193702  

Misc. Movie Time! The Best, Worst, and Everything Else Movies of 2024

https://www.popzara.com/podcast/movie-time-the-best-worst-and-everything-else-movies-of-2024/

Show Notes 28 February 2025
Story 1: This Chip Could Be the Massive Breakthrough We’ve Been Waiting for in Quantum Computing
Source: Popular Mechanics Story by Darren Orf
Link: https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a63872181/majorana-1-topological-qubit/
See Microsoft’s official announcement here: https://news.microsoft.com/source/features/innovation/microsofts-majorana-1-chip-carves-new-path-for-quantum-computing/
See Mircosoft’s video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSHmygPQukQ&t=18s
See also: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/quantum/2025/02/19/microsoft-unveils-majorana-1-the-worlds-first-quantum-processor-powered-by-topological-qubits/
See also: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/microsoft-s-majorana-1-what-a-new-state-of-matter-means-for-quantum-computing/ar-AA1znhjk
Story 2: Scientists Reveal "Artificial Leaf" That Turns Carbon into Sustainable Fuels
Source: Futurism.com Story by Noor Al-Sibai
Link: https://futurism.com/artificial-leaf-carbon-sustainable-fuel
See research paper here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41929-025-01292-y
*Story 3: AI-designed chips are so weird that humans cannot really understand them — but they perform better than anything we've created
Source: LiveScience.com Story by Tim Danton
Link: https://www.livescience.com/technology/computing/humans-cannot-really-understand-them-weird-ai-designed-chip-is-unlike-any-other-made-by-humans-and-performs-much-better
See research paper here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-54178-1#Fig1
Story 4: Biohybrid hand gestures with human muscles - Complex finger movements made possible with rolls of tendon like human muscle tissue
Source: University of Tokyo Press Release
Link: https://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/focus/en/press/z0508_00386.html
See video here: https://www.msn.com/en-xl/news/other/terminator-like-hand-that-uses-lab-grown-muscle-tissue-developed/vi-AA1zddSI

Story 1: Scientists develop a compact camera that can identify objects at the speed of light
Source: Digital Camera World Story by Leonie Helm
Link: https://www.digitalcameraworld.com/cameras/scientists-develop-a-compact-camera-that-can-identify-objects-at-the-speed-of-light
See the research paper here: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adp0391
See video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfgzAGpwHv4
Story 2: This Solar-Powered Reactor Sucks CO2 From the Air and Turns It into Fuel
Source: Gizmodo.com Story by Margherita Bassi
Link: https://gizmodo.com/this-solar-powered-reactor-sucks-co2-from-the-air-and-turns-it-into-fuel-2000563558
See the research paper here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41560-025-01714-y
Story 3: Engineers develop a soft robot that crawls, climbs, and shape-shifts to move in new directions
Source: TechXplore.com Story from Seoul National University
Link: https://techxplore.com/news/2025-02-soft-robot-climbs-shifts.html#google_vignette
See also the research paper here: https://www.cell.com/cell-reports-physical-science/fulltext/S2666-3864(25)00047-5
Story 4: New assistive device enhances grasping for people with spinal cord injuries
Source: UC Berkeley Engineering News Page Story by Marni Ellery
Link: https://engineering.berkeley.edu/news/2025/02/new-assistive-device-enhances-grasping-for-people-with-spinal-cord-injuries/
Honorable Mentions
Story: A spine-zapping implant helped 3 people with a muscle-wasting disease walk better
Source: AP News Service Story by Lauran Neergaard
Link: https://apnews.com/article/spinal-muscular-atrophy-stimulate-neurodegenerative-826a3ea658d4daa36b6b0671b162af3c
Story: Scientists Invent Device That Straps to Any Car's Tailpipe, Transforming Exhaust Into Electricity
Source: Futurism.com Story by Frank Landymore
Link: https://futurism.com/the-byte/device-tailpipe-exhaust-electricity
Story: Photon-powered quantum battery breakthrough could boost solar cell efficiency
Source: Interesting Engineering Story by Aman Tripathi
Link: https://interestingengineering.com/energy/photon-powered-quantum-battery
Story: New holistic Apple Health Study launches today [February 14] in the Research app
Source: Apple Newsroom
Link: https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2025/02/new-holistic-apple-health-study-launches-today-in-the-research-app

Show Notes 14 February 2025
Story 1: New fabric can heat up more than 50 degrees to keep people warm in ultracold weather

• Source: LiveScience.com Story by Victoria Atkinson
• Link: https://www.livescience.com/chemistry/new-fabric-can-heat-up-almost-50-degrees-to-keep-people-warm-in-ultracold-weather
• See the team’s research paper here: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s42114-024-00994-4

Story 2: MIT engineers develop breakthrough technology that could change the way we process \[recycled\] aluminum

• Source: Yahoo\!Tech "Today in Tech" Story by Jeremiah Budin
• Link: https://www.yahoo.com/tech/mit-engineers-develop-breakthrough-technology-110053323.html?guccounter=1
• See also: https://www.techexplorist.com/capturing-recycling-aluminum-manufacturing-waste/95378/
• See also: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acssuschemeng.4c07268

Story 3: Machine Learning Designs Materials as Strong as Steel and as Light as Foam

• Source: Technology Networks Story from University of Toronto
• Link: https://www.technologynetworks.com/applied-sciences/news/machine-learning-designs-materials-as-strong-as-steel-and-as-light-as-foam-395414
• See also: https://advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/adma.202410651

Story 4: New Smart Glasses Use Insect Vision Tech to Restore Full 3D Visual Experience - offering treatment of macular degeneration

• Source: WonderfulEngineering.com Story by Jannat Un Nisa
• Link: https://wonderfulengineering.com/new-smartglasses-use-insect-vision-tech-to-restore-full-3d-visual-experience/
• Check out the great video on the opening page of the company behind this technology, see: https://www.soliddd.com/

For more info, interviews, reviews, news, radio, podcasts, video, and more, check out ComputerAmerica.com!

Show Notes 7 February 2025

Story 1: More Sustainable Tires in Sight as Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and Bridgestone Team Up
Source: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Story by JoAnna Wendel
Link: https://www.pnnl.gov/news-media/more-sustainable-tires-sight-pnnl-and-bridgestone-team
Story 2: Scientists Develop Printable Droplet Laser Displays
Source: Photonics Spectra
Link: https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Scientists_Develop_Printable_Droplet_Laser/a70594
Story 3: US firm to bury nuclear reactors 1-mile underground to power data centers
Source: InterestingEngineering.com Story by Aman Tripathi
Link: https://interestingengineering.com/energy/bury-nuclear-reactor-1-mile-underground
See also: https://www.zmescience.com/science/news-science/why-this-startup-wants-to-bury-nuclear-reactors-a-mile-underground/
See also: https://deepfission.com/
Story 4: New biomaterial offers treatment for central nervous system injuries
Source: ScientistLive.com
Link: https://www.scientistlive.com/content/new-biomaterial-offers-treatment-central-nervous-system-injuries
See also: https://www.bath.ac.uk/announcements/piezoelectric-biomaterial-offers-new-treatment-potential-for-central-nervous-system-injuries/


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