Asteroid Mining ... In Real Life

Yesterday CCP launched The Escalation to Inferno, a pre-patch for this summer's Eve Online expansion.  The patch aims to promote mining by, among other things, removing alloys from rogue drones and replacing meta 0 items that can be manufactured by players in the drop tables with scrap metal.

But a new emphasis on mining asteroids was not confined to New Eden.  In Seattle, Planetary Resources Inc, a company backed by such figures as Google's Larry Page and Eric Schmidt, Perot Systems chairman Ross Perot Jr and former Microsoft chief software architect Charles Simonyi, announced it was going into the asteroid mining business in real life.  The founders of Planetary Resources, Eric C. Anderson and Peter H. Diamandis, already run a successful space tourism business and decided that the next step is to get into mining.  Can they do it?  Mr. Anderson told the New York Times that the group of investors in the project had a combined total net worth of over $50 billion.

Source: Planetary Resources, Inc.

I don't think the folks at Planetary Resources will mind if I paste their press release here since it does make for some interesting reading.

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Seattle, Wash. – April 24, 2012 — Planetary Resources, Inc. announced today its plan to mine Near-Earth Asteroids (NEAs) for raw materials, ranging from water to precious metals. Through the development of cost-effective exploration technologies, the company is poised to initiate prospecting missions targeting resource-rich asteroids that are easily accessible.

Resource extraction from asteroids will deliver multiple benefits to humanity and grow to be valued at tens of billions of dollars annually. The effort will tap into the high concentration of precious metals found on asteroids and provide a sustainable supply to the ever-growing population on Earth.
A single 500-meter platinum-rich asteroid contains the equivalent of all the Platinum Group Metals mined in history. “Many of the scarce metals and minerals on Earth are in near-infinite quantities in space. As access to these materials increases, not only will the cost of everything from microelectronics to energy storage be reduced, but new applications for these abundant elements will result in important and novel applications,” said Peter H. Diamandis, M.D., Co-Founder and Co-Chairman, Planetary Resources, Inc.

Additionally, water-rich NEAs will serve as “stepping stones” for deep space exploration, providing space-sourced fuel and water to orbiting depots. Accessing water resources in space will revolutionize exploration and make space travel dramatically more economical.

“Water is perhaps the most valuable resource in space. Accessing a water-rich asteroid will greatly enable the large-scale exploration of the solar system. In addition to supporting life, water will also be separated into oxygen and hydrogen for breathable air and rocket propellant,” said Eric Anderson, Co-Founder and Co-Chairman, Planetary Resources, Inc.

Of the approximately 9,000 known NEAs, there are more than 1,500 that are energetically as easy to reach as the Moon. The capability to characterize NEAs is on the critical path for Planetary Resources. To that end, the company has developed the first line in its family of deep-space prospecting spacecraft, the Arkyd-100 Series. The spacecraft will be used in low-Earth orbit and ultimately help prioritize the first several NEA targets for the company’s follow-on Arkyd-300 Series NEA swarm expeditions. Chris Lewicki, President and Chief Engineer, said “Our mission is not only to expand the world’s resource base, but we want to increase people’s access to, and understanding of, our planet and solar system by developing capable and cost-efficient systems.”

“The promise of Planetary Resources is to apply commercial innovation to space exploration. They are developing cost-effective, production-line spacecraft that will visit near-Earth asteroids in rapid succession, increasing our scientific knowledge of these bodies and enabling the economic development of the resources they contain,” said Tom Jones, Ph.D., veteran NASA astronaut, planetary scientist and Planetary Resources, Inc. advisor.

Planetary Resources, Inc. is financed by industry-launching visionaries, including Google CEO Larry Page and Ross Perot, Jr., Chairman of Hillwood and The Perot Group, who are committed to expanding the world’s resource base so that humanity can continue to grow and prosper:

• Eric E. Schmidt, Ph.D., Executive Chairman of Google, Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) and Planetary Resources, Inc. investor: “The pursuit of resources drove the discovery of America and opened the West. The same drivers still hold true for opening the space frontier. Expanding the resource base for humanity is important for our future.”
• K. Ram Shriram, Founder of Sherpalo, Google Board of Directors founding member and Planetary Resources, Inc. investor: “I see the same potential in Planetary Resources as I did in the early days of Google.”
• Charles Simonyi, Ph.D., Chairman of Intentional Software Corporation and Planetary Resources, Inc. investor: “The commercialization of space began with communications satellites and is developing for human spaceflight. The next logical step is to begin the innovative development of resources from space. I’m proud to be part of this effort.”

Some of the company’s advisors include film maker and explorer James Cameron; General T. Michael Moseley (Ret.); Sara Seager, Ph.D.; Mark Sykes, Ph.D.; and David Vaskevitch.
Founded in 2009 by Eric Anderson and Peter H. Diamandis, M.D., Planetary Resources, Inc. is establishing a new paradigm for resource utilization that will bring the solar system within humanity’s economic sphere of influence by enabling low-cost robotic exploration and eventual commercial development of asteroids. For more information, please visit www.PlanetaryResources.com.

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Of course, with that type of money invested in a mining operation, Planetary Resources really needs to invest in good security.  After all, you never know what kind of attention you'll attract.

Space pirates have noticed already

CCP's Next Upgrade for Tranquility?

CCP prides itself on having the most awesome hardware to run a game on.  The company even posts the specs for Tranquility, Eve Online's single shard, on the Evelopedia.  So you know that people's jaws hit the floor in Reykjavik when they heard the latest news from IBM:

"On Tues, Feb 28, the IBM team will present major advances in quantum computing device performance at the annual American Physical Society meeting. Using a variety of techniques in the IBM labs, scientists have established three new records for retaining the integrity of quantum mechanical properties in quantum bits, or qubits, and reducing errors in elementary computations.These breakthrough results are very close to the minimum requirements for a full-scale quantum computing system as determined by the world-wide research community."

While ComputerWorld has a piece on the breakthrough, I'm thinking about how the real world is moving closer to Eve's highly advanced computing power.  Well, and how soon CCP can manage to "field test" the new quantum servers.

(h/t Instapundit)

Developing Real Life Learning Implants

While CCP is developing a new set of implants that improve a pilot's intelligence and perception for delivery during the holiday season, researchers at Boston University and ATR Computational Neuroscience Laboratories in Kyoto are working to turn our game play into reality.

"For the first time, researchers have been able to hack into the process of learning in the brain, using induced brain patterns to create a learned behavior. It’s not quite as advanced as an instant kung-fu download, and it’s not as sleek as cognitive inception, but it’s still an important finding that could lead to new teaching and rehabilitation techniques.

"Future therapies could decode the brain activity patterns of an athlete or a musician, and use them as a benchmark for teaching another person a new activity, according to the researchers."

Unlike in the future universe of New Eden in which pilots' brains receive hardwired devices, today's researchers are looking into something called visual perceptual learning (VPL) in which repetitive training improves a person’s performance on a particular task.  The study used "decoded functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to induce brain activity patterns to match a previously known target state and thereby improve performance on visual tasks."  Or, in simpler terms, subjects were able to learn stuff without traditional study.  According to the press release:

"What's more, the approached worked even when test subjects were not aware of what they were learning.


"'The most surprising thing in this study is that mere inductions of neural activation patterns corresponding to a specific visual feature led to visual performance improvement on the visual feature, without presenting the feature or subjects' awareness of what was to be learned,' said [lead author and BU neuroscientist Takeo] Watanabe, who developed the idea for the research project along with Mitsuo Kawato, director of ATR lab and Yuka Sasaki, an assistant in neuroscience at Massachusetts General Hospital.

"'We found that subjects were not aware of what was to be learned while behavioral data obtained before and after the neurofeedback training showed that subjects' visual performance improved specifically for the target orientation, which was used in the neurofeedback training,' he said.

"The finding brings up an inevitable question. Is hypnosis or a type of automated learning a potential outcome of the research?


"'In theory, hypnosis or a type of automated learning is a potential outcome,' said Kawato. 'However, in this study we confirmed the validity of our method only in visual perceptual learning. So we have to test if the method works in other types of learning in the future. At the same time, we have to be careful so that this method is not used in an unethical way.'"

Unlike other advanced technologies in Eve Online like cloning, the hydrostatic capsule and interstellar travel, CCP does not have a story about the history of implants on its official game website.  In November I wrote about work done at the University of Pennsylvania on non-intrusive brain-computer interfaces.  Now we have successful experiments in advanced learning techniques.  Perhaps if we want to learn about implant technology all we have to do is read the newspapers (or at least the Internet).

Eve Online And Real Life Implant News

I know that a lot of people will be disappointed that CCP is not giving out snowball launchers (yet) this holiday season, but players in Eve Online will receive something almost as cool: implants:

CCP is pleased to announce that starting with the release of the Crucible expansion and throughout the holiday season, we will be giving away several gifts to players with active subscriptions to EVE Online.
Players logging in on November 29^th will discover a unique new implant waiting to be redeemed - The Genolution CA-1.  First of two in the ‘Core Augmentation' implant set, the CA-1 offers the following benefits to its lucky hosts:

·         Boosts perception by 3
·         Provides +1.5% powergrid bonus
·         Provides +1.5% capacitor amount bonus
·         Implant set bonus: 50%

The Genolution CA-1 will be distributed during the Crucible release to all active subscribers of EVE Online. Instructions for redeeming items can be found here.

Watch the EVE news and the Crucible Feature Site for more information on what's in store for your characters this winter!

Happy Holidays!

But the technology behind Eve Online's implants is not in a galaxy far, far away 200 centuries in the future.  On Sunday the University of Pennsylvania's School of Medicine published a press release on their latest work in the field:

"A team of researchers co-led by the University of Pennsylvania has developed and tested a new high-resolution, ultra-thin device capable of recording brain activity from the cortical surface without having to use penetrating electrodes. The device could make possible a whole new generation of brain-computer interfaces for treating neurological and psychiatric illness and research. The work was published in Nature Neuroscience.

'The new technology we have created can conform to the brain's unique geometry, and records and maps activity at resolutions that have not been possible before,' says Brian Litt, MD, the study's senior author and Associate Professor of Neurology at the Perelman School of Medicine and Bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania. 'Using this device, we can explore the brain networks underlying normal function and disease with much more precision, and its likely to change our understanding of memory, vision, hearing and many other normal functions and diseases.' For our patients, implantable brain devices could be inserted in less invasive operations and, by mapping circuits involved in epilepsy, paralysis, depression and other 'network brain disorders' in sufficient detail, this could allow us to intervene to make patients better, Litt said."

 FuturePundit had the quote of the week concerning this news:

"The scientists say it is for people with diseases. But of course the gamers will eventually be the biggest users. Of course, if virtual game playing is an addiction the scientists are right anyhow."

FuturePundit also had more on another study about video game addition which is a bit off-topic but still worth the read:

"What I wonder: have video games shifted people from drug addiction to game addiction? If so, video games might actually be reducing brain damage by giving people something less harmful to get addicted to. On the other hand, since video games are [sic] illegal and have less of a stigma about them more people can become addicted to them more easily."

I'm constantly amazed at how much I see the beginnings of the tech seen in Eve Online emerge into the real world.  I'm tempted to put FuturePundit on my blogroll just to remind me of the fact.

(h/t Instapundit)

An Idea For Drones In DUST 514?

While surfing the net yesterday I came across a story about a real life drone that can attack information networks.

Hacking on high: The SkyNet drone, built from a toy quadricopter and a small computer, can fly for up to 13 minutes, or land and then operate for nearly two hours.
Credit: Stevens Institute of Technology 

Attackers bent on espionage could use such drones to find a weak spot in corporate and home Internet connections, says Sven Dietrich, an assistant professor in computer science at the Stevens Institute of Technology who led the development of one of the drones.

"You can bring the targeted attack to the location," says Dietrich. "[Our] drone can land close to the target and sit there—and if it has solar power, it can recharge—and continue to attack all the networks around it."

The article goes on to describe how these drones could be used as command and control for botnets that would be more secure for the botnet operator.  All for under $600, or the price of 8 monocles.  What would I rather have, a SkyNet drone or a monacle?

Doesn't this sound like something the mercs in DUST 514 could use?  If someone places too much faith in technology to defend a base, something like these little beauties could shut down the defenses.  And it ties into the space game since we already have a skill called Hacking.

(h/t Instapundit)

Real Life Captain's Quarters

I saw a tidbit while surfing the net yesterday and couldn't resist posting about it.  Orbital Technologies Corporation, based in Madison, Wisconsin, has plans for a space hotel in Earth orbit. 

graphic: Orbital Technologies

Yes, we are getting closer to a corporation in space.  And a corporation moving to get its own Captain's Quarters into space.  The real life version might be a lot cheaper than the Eve Online variety, only costing $165,000 for a 5 night stay.

graphic: Orbital Technologies

And doesn't this look cosy?  Of course, it doesn't have a cool door like the Captain's Quarters does in Eve Online, but you can't have everything.

graphic: Orbital Technologies

With an estimated launch date of 2016, CCP will need to move a bit quicker with Incarna and Walking in Stations if they want to keep ahead of real life.  Of course, the price of a ticket on Icelandair to get to Fanfest is a lot cheaper than the $800,000 ticket to get to one of these luxury suites.

Luxury suite?  This isn't even as good as our Minmatar Captain's Quarters.  I wonder if anyone flying up there would be interested in a monocle?

(h/t: Instapundit)

Nanofibers: Not Just For Eve Online Anymore

I've spent a good portion of my time figuring out how to fit my cargo-carrying ships and Nanofiber Internal Structure II modules always seem to wind up in my fits.  I have a need for speed in wanting to get places fast.  Maybe that's just natural for all Minmatar pilots.  I don't know.  But as I surf the internet, I'm discovering that nanofibers are not just some futuristic material that someone at CCP concocted.

On Monday, Technology Review published an article on how nanofiber could help to repair tissue after a heart attack and aid transplants.

"Regenerating blood vessels is important for combating the aftereffects of a heart attack or peripheral arterial disease, and for ensuring that transplanted organs receive a sufficient supply of blood. Now researchers at Northwestern University have created a nanomaterial that could help the body to grow new blood vessels.

"Samuel Stupp and his colleagues developed a liquid that, when injected into patients, forms a matrix of loosely tangled nanofibers. Each of these fibers is covered in microscopic protuberances that mimic vascular endothelial growth factor, or VEGF—a protein that occurs naturally in the body and causes chemical reactions that result in the growth of new blood vessels. By mimicking VEGF, the nanofiber has the same biological effect."

This type of technology was the stuff of science-fiction when I was young.  Now we may find it in doctors' offices instead of video games.  To quote a blogger from Tennessee, "faster, please".  (h/t Instapundit)