Hasta La Gadget!

The freezing waters underneath Antarctic ice shelves and the underside of the ice itself are of great interest to scientists… but who wants to go down there? Leave it to the robots. They won’t complain! And indeed, a pair of autonomous subs have been nosing around the ice for a full year now, producing data unlike any other expedition ever has.

The mission began way back in 2017, with a grant from the late Paul Allen. With climate change affecting sea ice around the world, precise measurements and study of these frozen climes is more important than ever. And fortunately, robotic exploration technology had reached a point where long-term missions under and around ice shelves were possible.

The project would use a proven autonomous seagoing vehicle called the Seaglider, which has been around for some time but had been redesigned to perform long-term operations in these dark, sealed-over environments. ne of the craft’s co-creators, UW’s Chris Lee, said of the mission at the time: “This is a high-risk, proof-of-concept test of using robotic technology in a very risky marine environment.”

The risks seem to have paid off, as an update on the project shows. The modified craft have traveled hundreds of miles during a year straight of autonomous operation.

It’s not easy to stick around for a long time on the Antarctic coast for a lot of reasons. But leaving robots behind to work while you go relax elsewhere for a month or two is definitely doable.

“This is the first time we’ve been able to maintain a persistent presence over the span of an entire year,” Lee said in a UW news release today. “Gliders were able to navigate at will to survey the cavity interior… This is the first time any of the modern, long-endurance platforms have made sustained measurements under an ice shelf.”

You can see the paths of the robotic platforms below as they scout around near the edge of the ice and then dive under in trips of increasing length and complexity:

They navigate in the dark by monitoring their position with regard to a pair of underwater acoustic beacons fixed in place by cables. The blue dots are floats that go along with the natural currents to travel long distances on little or no power. Both are equipped with sensors to monitor the shape of the ice above, the temperature of the water, and other interesting data points.

It isn’t the first robotic expedition under the ice shelves by a long shot, but it’s definitely the longest term and potentially the most fruitful. The Seagliders are smaller, lighter, and better equipped for long-term missions. One went 87 miles in a single trip!

The mission continues, and two of the three initial Seagliders are still operational and ready to continue their work.

Long after it became painfully clear that Facebook was being manipulated as a tool to undermine democracy and cause harm, the social media company still struggles to keep its platform free of the kind of garbage specially engineered to effectively warp reality—even as recently as this month. And previous systems it’s…

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Who doesn’t want to be healthy and fit all the time? We all know that there is no running away from the twin responsibilities of healthy eating and a good amount of exercise in order to be fighting fit. While getting off your bum to sweat it out might be intimidating to some, making the right choices for your meals would be far easier, and Mixfit is here to help with the introduction of the first personalized nutritional supplement delivery appliance.

Specially designed to adapt to consumers’ daily food intake and activity levels, the kitchen countertop device will be powered by Mixfit’s proprietary technology, known as MINA (Mixfit Intelligent Nutrition Assistant). MINA is able to analyze a consumer’s health data daily (diet, exercise, lifestyle) so that it can work out and dispense a nutritious and delicious drink which will support their wellness goals and meets their needs, doing so in real time.

Mixfit has worked with nutritionists and data scientists, engineers and designers in order to make the MINA system happen. Remaining loyal to the one-size fits-all approach might be folly in the long run, as there is a need for a high degree of personalization when it comes to gulping down nutrition drinks. Mixfit has merged smart technology with nutrition science in order to provide consumers with a one-on-one approach to addressing nutritional gaps, enhancing their performance, and establishing healthy habits based on real-time data. There are three key parts to the Mixfit product, and they are the Mixfit Vue, the MINA and mobile app, as well as quality ingredients and personalized subscription.

The Mixfit Vue happens to be the smart countertop device which will mix and serve daily, nutritious drinks, while the MINA and mobile app will analyze the diet, activity levels and wellness goals of an individual which has been shared prior via the Mixfit mobile app so that it can determine the nutrients they will require on a daily basis. Last but not least, Mixfit ingredients will be sourced in partnership via DSM, a global leader in nutritional products & solutions and Givaudan, international experts on product flavors and scents, where this subscription-based model will fulfils supplement formulation orders on a monthly basis.

Expect the Mixfit Vue to retail for $399 when it becomes available, with monthly subscription for personalized insights and core ingredients going for $59 monthly.

Press Release
[ Mixfit personalized nutritional supplement delivery appliance copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

Are you a DOOM fan? Of course, you are. Do you own a Roomba? Of course, you do. Now you can combine two of your favorite things into one new cool thing. DOOMBA is a script written by programmer and designer Rich Whitehouse for his 3D model and animation conversion program Noesis that allows you to create playable Doom maps from the data collected by your Roomba. How cool is that?

Now your little robot vacuum cleaner is helping you in a whole new way.  Now we just need to be able to put our Roomba in the actual map that it generates so that it can play a fun game of DOOM while we watch.

I’m eagerly awaiting that Black Mirror episode. Mostly because I can’t wait to see a gun-toting Roomba going crazy on some demons. Actually, I’d like to see that turned into a product. A robot that cleans my floor and secures my home? Hell yeah! Now that’s a DOOMBA. It would be the best security guard ever.

You can read more about the process and download the program from Rich’s website HERE if you’re interested in trying DOOMBA out for yourself.

[ via Polygon via Geekologie]

Who doesn’t want to be healthy and fit all the time? We all know that there is no running away from the twin responsibilities of healthy eating and a good amount of exercise in order to be fighting fit. While getting off your bum to sweat it out might be intimidating to some, making the right choices for your meals would be far easier, and Mixfit is here to help with the introduction of the first personalized nutritional supplement delivery appliance.

Specially designed to adapt to consumers’ daily food intake and activity levels, the kitchen countertop device will be powered by Mixfit’s proprietary technology, known as MINA (Mixfit Intelligent Nutrition Assistant). MINA is able to analyze a consumer’s health data daily (diet, exercise, lifestyle) so that it can work out and dispense a nutritious and delicious drink which will support their wellness goals and meets their needs, doing so in real time.

Mixfit has worked with nutritionists and data scientists, engineers and designers in order to make the MINA system happen. Remaining loyal to the one-size fits-all approach might be folly in the long run, as there is a need for a high degree of personalization when it comes to gulping down nutrition drinks. Mixfit has merged smart technology with nutrition science in order to provide consumers with a one-on-one approach to addressing nutritional gaps, enhancing their performance, and establishing healthy habits based on real-time data. There are three key parts to the Mixfit product, and they are the Mixfit Vue, the MINA and mobile app, as well as quality ingredients and personalized subscription.

The Mixfit Vue happens to be the smart countertop device which will mix and serve daily, nutritious drinks, while the MINA and mobile app will analyze the diet, activity levels and wellness goals of an individual which has been shared prior via the Mixfit mobile app so that it can determine the nutrients they will require on a daily basis. Last but not least, Mixfit ingredients will be sourced in partnership via DSM, a global leader in nutritional products & solutions and Givaudan, international experts on product flavors and scents, where this subscription-based model will fulfils supplement formulation orders on a monthly basis.

Expect the Mixfit Vue to retail for $399 when it becomes available, with monthly subscription for personalized insights and core ingredients going for $59 monthly.

Press Release
[ Mixfit personalized nutritional supplement delivery appliance copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]