Humans are living longer, but for many, longevity doesn’t equal quality of life. Increasingly, the final years are marked by a steady cognitive decline where memory and personality are swallowed in dementia. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is on the rise, and there is no treatment. Worse, researchers and drug companies wrestling with the disease seem to have hit a wall.

Most recently, Baxter announced its Alzheimer’s treatment, Gammagard, proved ineffective at its twin goals of reducing cognitive decline and preserving cognitive abilities in a 490-patient Phase III trial. Although the trial showed some positive results in participants genetically predisposed to the disease, Baxter will discontinue current immunoglobulin studies in Alzheimer’s.

Not long ago, the treatment was a ray of light, if inexplicably so. In early trials, researchers showed Gammagard—an already existing immunoglobulin treatment for immune disorders—halted cognitive decline in four patients with Alzheimer’s for three years. Leading up the study, Dr. Normal Relkin of Weill Cornell Medical College, called the results remarkable. AD patients normally deteriorate at least every 12 months.

The final stages of AD are marked by weight loss, seizures, and a near complete communication breakdown. Image Credit: NIH

But not everyone was sold on the treatment. Rachel S. Doody told the New York Times some patients don’t worsen after three years—or even six or eight. Another doctor told the Times the early result left him “optimistic to a minor degree, not really gushing.”

Gammagard is the latest in a number of high profile treatment failures.

Last summer, Eli Lilly’s solanezumab and Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, and Elan’s babineuzumab failed in Phase III trials. Both drugs targeted the beta amyloid plaques long thought a primary culprit behind Alzheimer’s.

There are drugs that treat Alzheimer’s symptoms. They may lessen anxiety, sleeplessness, or temporarily improve cognitive function. But according to the Alzheimer’s Association, these “drugs help mask the symptoms of Alzheimer’s, but do not treat the underlying disease.”

Although recent treatment failures highlight how mysterious the disease remains, researchers are making some progress in diagnostics. New techniques test for biomarkers (specific proteins or molecules closely related to the disease) in spinal fluid and blood or use PET scans to distinguish healthy brains from those suffering from AD.

Biomarker tests allow for much earlier diagnosis than symptom-based methods. Late last year, a team studying early-onset Alzheimer’s documented the earliest biomarker changes yet—some two decades before symptoms.

Folding@Home uses distributed computer networks to model protein folding.

Early diagnosis may improve the efficacy of Alzheimer’s drugs if it allows earlier treatment. By the time Alzheimer’s patients show behavioral symptoms as much as 20% of certain parts of the brain have died off. At such an advanced stage, nothing can reverse the damage, even if the disease is slowed.

Information technologies may also accelerate understanding and breakthroughs. Researchers are using supercomputing to model protein folding (beta amyloid is a misfolded protein) and even to model the entire human brain—a goal of the Human Brain Project is to gain a better understanding of neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s.

As life expectancy lengthens, the incidence of Alzheimer’s in the population is expected to grow apace. Hopefully the coming years yield more insights than the years just passed. What’s the point of living longer if we lose ourselves in the process?

Image Credit: Pacian/Wikimedia Commons

Artist’s impression based on actual space debris data. Debris size is exaggerated compared to the size of the Earth.

Our technology can get us to space, but once there, we still aren’t too flexible. Earth orbit is clogged with debris because we simply don’t have an easy way to clean it up.

According to the European Space Agency (ESA) there are 17,000 tracked objects in orbit (and a total of 29,000 objects greater than 10 cm) of which only 7% are working satellites. About ten objects a week pass within two kilometers of each other, and ESA initiates three collision avoidance maneuvers yearly.

The 6^th European Conference on Space Debris, recently held at ESA’s European Space Operations Centre, concluded space junk is already a problem, but it may soon morph into a full-blown crisis. The amount of debris in orbit has reached a critical point whereafter a so-called “collisional cascading effect” begins to dominate. Unchecked, space junk may well worsen exponentially in the coming years.

Why exponentially?

A solution to de-orbit old spacecraft by pelting them with ions from an ion-thrust engine.

In February 2009 an irridium satellite collided with a defunct cosmos satellite at a relative speed of 42,000 km/hr. Both satellites were pulverized, adding 2,000 new items of debris to the orbital scrap heap—that’s two objects to 2,000 in one collision. One such collision is enough to accelerate the rate at which junk is accumulating in orbit as well as up the rate and probability at which such collisions will occur in the future.

ESA says, absent countermeasures, the collision rate will eventually be 25 times worse than it is now, making spaceflight in low-Earth orbit nearly impossible.

Experts recommend immediate action. Necessary but not sufficient, all major space agencies should (and most already do) implement plans for disposal of spacecraft after missions end. And because a good portion of orbital debris results from explosion of residual fuel tanks, operators should passivate (yes, it’s a word) spacecraft, that is, switch off batteries, drain fuel, and vent pressure tanks.

Further, ESA recommends sending spacecraft into lower, less trafficked orbits (less than 600 km) where the odds of collision are lower and the orbit will decay naturally, sending the satellites into the atmosphere within 15 years. Another option, if enough fuel remains, is controlled reentry into the atmosphere immediately.

Capturing an object with a net and using a rocket to tow it into a safer orbit.

But active removal of existing space junk is also necessary to avoid collisional cascading. ESA estimates removal of five to ten pieces of debris a year should go a long way to mitigating the effect. But it’s going to take some doing. Most active removal methods are capital-intensive and still being researched.

These include towing debris to safer orbits or into the atmosphere by attaching rockets to objects (either directly or by way of a net), using a sail to increase the surface area and atmospheric drag of objects—even bombarding them with ions from an ion thrust engine.

Further, space debris is a global problem requiring a global solution, and that entails international cooperation and agreement, which can be hard to achieve.

Even if you don’t believe we need to spend billions to send humans to Mars or the Moon or build and launch the next Hubble, there are many Earthly technologies dependent on space-based infrastructure—television, GPS, global telecommunications, weather forecasts, environmental observation. Orbital space is a valuable resource worth preserving. For more, check out the ESA’s “Space Debris Story 2013″ here:

Image Credit: European Space Agency (ESA)

You may have heard Google wants to absorb your wallet into your smartphone. But these days, slimmer is better. So how about making the wallet disappear altogether? Paytouch wants to link credit cards to fingerprints (your index and middle fingerprints, to be exact). What’s the advantage of a fingerprint payment system? No more carrying around cards. No more losing cards. No more worrying about identity theft. Fingerprints are unique and therefore secure (maybe). The world is your oyster, and your oyster alone.

Sounds lovely. But a few (mostly worried) thoughts come instantly to mind. First, our fingerprints are unique whether or not they’re attached to our hand. That sounds like a dangerous incentive to chop off a few fingers, no?

Apparently, people worry about this one a lot. So much so, that Paytouch’s FAQ helpfully notes their scanners use a “very low electric shock…to detect pulse and finger ridges.” Fingers with no pulse will get you nowhere. (And no sales clerk is going to allow you to place a pair of disembodied fingers on the scanner.)

But here’s something else: Take a moment to google “how to fake fingerprints.” What do you know? Unsurprisingly, there are numerous “how-to’s” out there (YouTube, WikiHow, eHow, etc.). All you need is a good copy. And as any lover of detective stories knows, we tend to leave copies of our prints everywhere.

A prospective thief need not steal your card, or learn your social security number, or break into your house—he only has to follow you around for a day. Or maybe some enterprising thieves will go “phishing” for prints by selling folks items and yanking their print profile from the scanner.

Once our future-thief has a good print image, a fake fingerprint will soon follow. Sure, the scanner detects a heartbeat, but ultra-thin material should allow enough of a pulse to fool the machine. Or if the scanner doesn’t like the artificial fingerprint material because it doesn’t conduct electricity like human skin—soon enough, we’ll be 3D printing tissues and real fingerprints to order.

According to MythBusters, there’s no need to wait. The show reportedly fooled a scanner that detects prints, body temperature, pulse, and skin conductance with a 3D-imprinted latex strip, 3D-imprinted ballistics gel, and even a photocopy of a scanned print!

The final worry: You’re in trouble if/when your prints are stolen. We can easily replace a card…but a fingerprint? Once compromised, there’s no substituting it with a new copy.

Maybe the point isn’t perfect security, but good enough security. That is, security that slows down or demotivates theft. And in this case, two fingers are better than one. Likely, in the future it’ll be a continuous back-and-forth between security makers and security breakers. And the best last line of defense will be common sense and attention to your accounts, just as it is today.

Image Credit: William Clifford/Flickr (featured, banner), Stefano Mortellaro/Flickr (body)

[Source: Boeing]

The X-51A was lifted from Edwards Air Force Base in California by a B-52H Stratofortress and was released at about 50,000 feet (15,000 meters). A solid rocket booster then kicked in to bring the X-51A to Mach 4.8 in 26 seconds. The solid rocket booster then separated and the X-51A’s air-breathing supersonic combustion ramjet – or scramjet – engine pushed it up the rest of the way to Mach 5.1 and up to an altitude of 60,000 feet (18,300 meters). Four minutes later its fuel supply had been used up and it nosed down, finally crashing (as planned) into the Pacific Ocean. In just over six minutes it had traveled over 230 nautical miles, making it the longest air-breathing hypersonic flight ever.

Exceeding Mach 5, the X-51A cruised 230 nautical miles in just over six minutes. [Source: VideoFromSpace via YouTube]

What makes the X-51A special is its scramjet engine which has no moving parts. Scramjets of the past have used hydrogen fuel, which is injected into a combustion chamber where it is mixed with incoming air and ignited. The X-51A differs in that it uses a hydrocarbon fuel instead for “lighting a match in a hurricane.” The Air Force says that logistical advantages that come with using hydrocarbon make it a much better choice for a sustainable scramjet program.

A vehicle is defined as hypersonic if it travels past Mach 5.0. The current air speed record for manned flight is just under Mach 3. We’ve certainly come a long way since Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier in 1947. Just last year Yeager went supersonic again to commemorate the 65th anniversary of his landmark flight. People like Yeager have the need for speed too, and it’s only a matter of time before someone gets behind the stick of a X-51A type and becomes the first to go hypersonic.

Check out the amazing flight in the following video.

[Source: VideoFromSpace via YouTube]

[Source: GeoBeatNews via YouTube]

The culinary breakthrough is the creation of Mark Post, a Vascular Physiology professor at the University of Maastricht in the Netherlands. To make the burger, he and his team of researchers began with a kind of stem cell called a myosatellite cell that is taken from a cow’s neck. The myosatellite cells are placed in growth medium that the researchers have formulated to allow them to grow and divide. The cells are grown into 20,000 strips of muscle tissue which are finally assembled into a burger. In all, the in vitro burger is comprised of tens of billions of cells.

Burger lovers know that fat provides much of a burger’s juicy goodness. But Post, who has sampled his lab-grown recipe, says although it has zero fat, his burger “tastes reasonably good.” In the coming weeks Post plans on cooking his burger at an event in London where participants will try the in vitro meat – adding salt and pepper to taste.

The burger isn’t completely devoid of a reliance on cows. The muscle cells were grown in fetal calf serum. It’s hoped that in the future the burger can be produced without any material of animal origin.

Creating meat in the lab would be much more efficient way to provide beef to billions worldwide each day that crave it. [Source: Wikipedia]

While Post maintains faith that technological advances will bring costs down, it still remains to be seen whether or not producing burgers in the lab will be at least as safe as normal burgers and, if it’s going to be a sustainable enterprise, if it will taste as good. At least at this early stage, thick, juicy stakes is something people shouldn’t expect.

At least one person – aside from Post and the members of his lab – believes that the project will eventually serve up results. Who exactly, we can’t say, as the $325,000 burger was funded by an anonymous investor.

While cultured meat is better for the environment might seem obvious, a 2011 study summarized just how much better it is. Compared to conventional meat production in Europe, cultured meat required up to 45 percent less energy and up to 96 percent less water to produce, generated up to 96 percent less greenhouse gases and, without animal herds of flocks to tend to, requires 99 percent less land.

The world’s population continues to grow at a fierce rate and is expected to reach 9 billion by 2050. Countries with burgeoning economies like China are expected to increase their demand for meat to feed growing middle class populations. In vitro burgers have long been sought as a solution to minimize environmental costs of beef farms and as an alternative to slaughtering millions of cattle every year. If and when they make it to grocery market shelves, they’ll be a savory addition to our sustainable future.

It’s almost June and that means that the launch of the 2013 Graduate Studies Program at Singularity University is right around the corner. To provide tuition support to the 80 international students who’ve been selected to participate in this year’s program, a fundraising campaign has been set up at http://singularityu.org/give that will run over the next month. Participants limited by socioeconomic and/or geographic constraints were offered support to provide these brilliant innovators with an event-packed, 10-week education that is sure to be a life-changing experience.

Now the remaining funds need to be raised to ensure that this year’s program is the best yet.

Singularity University has put together a video to launch the campaign, which also profiles some of the success stories of previous GSP participants:

In its fifth year, the Graduate Studies Program continues to provide an indispensable catalyst to help students tackle the global challenges put forth by Singularity University: to positively change the lives of a billion people in the next 10 years. Hailing from 38 countries (86 percent are from outside the U.S. and Canada), this year’s diverse class of entrepreneurs are already making an impact in their own regions, and through the GSP, they’ll be enabled to take their passion to a global scale for good. You can learn more about participants in this year’s GSP here.

The fundraising campaign is set to run until the start of the GSP on June 15.

If you are interested in supporting Singularity University’s efforts to bring global change through innovation, you can help provide tuition support for this year’s incoming class. Just head over to http://singularityu.org/give/now/ and donate today!

[Source: Wikipedia]

The hypothalamus controls a number of hormones that influence development, growth, metabolism and reproduction. Previous research has also shown that an unhealthy hypothalamus can lead to disorders associated with aging such as glucose intolerance and hypertension. Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University then asked if the hypothalamus might have some greater control over aging in general.

To answer this question they focused on a protein produced by the hypothalamus called NF-kB that regulates a wide variety of physiological processes including cell growth and death, and inflammation and has been connected to diseases such as cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, and heart disease. The researchers hypothesized that preventing NF-kB from being produced in the hypothalamus would slow the process of aging.

The lifespan of untreated, normal mice ranged between 600 and 1000 days. The mice who had their NF-kB blocked lived up to 1100 days, a median lifespan increase of 20 percent. In an assessment at six months of age they showed more muscle and bone, thicker skin, and performed better on learning tests than the normal mice.

Another substance important for whole-body aging is gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH), which is important for our reproductive systems. Like NF-kB, GnRH is synthesized and released from the hypothalamus. It is also regulated by NF-kB – production of NF-kB leads to a decrease in GnRH. The authors therefore hypothesized that the anti-aging effects of NFkB may have been mediated through their effects on GnRH. If that’s true, then boosting the amount of GnRH should have similar anti-aging effects.

Decreasing the amount of NFkB produced by the hypothalamus could be the key to life extension. [Source: Wikipedia]

The study was published recently in the journal Nature.

“It’s clear from our study that many aspects of aging are controlled by the hypothalamus,” Dongsheng Cai, lead author of the study, said in a news release. “What’s exciting is that it’s possible – at least in mice – to alter signaling within the hypothalamus to slow down the aging process and increase longevity.”

In addition to increasing longevity, knocking down NF-kB levels might also one day be a strategy to combat neurodegenerative diseases associated with aging. Inflammation in the hypothalamus is associated with cognitive decline and age-related brain disorders. The team saw that inflammation was higher in old mice. But treating the mice with GnRH decreased the inflammation. So not only could life be extended through the new neurons produced when the amount of NF-kB is decreased, but through reduced inflammation as well.

We all know that, through the brain, we control our movements, sense our environment, and feel emotion. But it’s easy to forget that the brain also regulates the “behind the scenes” basics of our physiology. As it turns out, through controlling our body’s hormones the hypothalamus has control of systemic aging and our lifespans. Just the size of an almond, it’s a small area with enormous therapeutic potential.

Last summer, drones took to the skies over the Dominican Republic and Haiti. These flying bots weren’t on a military mission, nor were they conducting police surveillance. They belonged to audacious Singularity University Labs startup, Matternet. Matternet wants to leapfrog road infrastructure in developing countries by building a futuristic Pony Express—with drones.

Whereas the internet is an information transporter, the “matternet” will transport…well, matter. These robotic “drones for good” will fly food, medicine, and other essentials to villages seasonally stranded by stormy weather and low quality road infrastructure.

Singularity Hub recently spoke with Paola Santana, Matternet co-founder and Head of Regulatory Strategy. Santana told us the idea of the Matternet dates back to Singularity University’s 2011 graduate studies program.

A group of SU students looking at the causes of poverty concluded being locked in the cycle or breaking free is strongly influenced by access to basic goods and services in the marketplace—and access requires roads. Problem is, road infrastructure is expensive and inflexible. It could be decades before many rural areas get reliable roads.

Might there be a way to leapfrog road infrastructure in developing countries like mobile leapfrogged telecommunications infrastructure? Why not take to the sky? Drones are cheap, relatively easy to build, and can be autonomous. It seemed an elegant solution, but the group soon realized drones alone wouldn’t do the trick.

Andreas Raptopoulos, Matternet co-founder and CEO, says, “We wondered, how do we leapfrog roads if we can’t carry much stuff and only have a 10 km life for our battery? Let’s do a network.” Raptopoulos, Santana, and two other Singularity University graduates—Dimitar Pachov and Darlene Damm—decided to organize a startup. Matternet the idea gave birth to Matternet the firm.

Matternet’s drone network has three key components. First, the drones—custom-built autonomous electric quadcopters with GPS and sensors, capable of carrying a few kilos up to 10 kilometers (and more as the tech advances).

Next, the firm will set up a network of solar-powered charging stations where drones autonomously drop off dead batteries and pick up charged ones. A drone battery that can travel 10 km need not limit the drone itself to 10 km—rather, these drones can theoretically travel the whole network by swapping out batteries.

The final component will be an operating system to orchestrate the drone web, share information with aviation authorities, and fly missions 24/7/365.

It’s a lovely vision, but where is Matternet now? The firm has funding from Silicon Valley VC Andreessen Horowitz, and Raptopoulos will present at TED Global on June 11. Meanwhile, their first drone has flown autonomous point-to-point trials in the Dominican Republic, Haiti, the UK, and at NASA’s Moffett Field in the US.

Santana says they are hoping to do more trials in Dominican Republic and elsewhere this year and maybe even have their first operating network in place, but she can’t confirm just yet. Check out a Matternet drone delivering medicine to the clinic at the Pétionville camp in Port-au-Prince, Haiti here:

Of course, there may be a few technical hurdles. We asked, if the drone network is most useful when monsoons cut off the roads, then might the network’s solar power be limited during peak usage? Or might the stormy season’s wind and rain ground the quadcopters too often to be useful?

Perhaps, but these aren’t insoluble problems. Matternet could power their stations with hydro (although it can be finicky), wind power, or even strategic use of the grid in key locations. And the drones themselves will improve with a little innovative engineering and advancing tech—likely both.

The greatest challenge may be preparing the air politically. Why? “Because,” Santana says, “Nobody’s set up a drone network before.” It’s a simple truth all inventors must face—innovation may happen years before it can be realized politically.

Commercial drone use is currently illegal in the US. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is required to establish the ground rules and open the skies to commercial drones by 2015. The topic is now and will likely continue to be a touchy subject.

Santana thinks it’s important to tell folks, especially in the US where drones have a negative image, about the potential good robotic aircraft can do. “You can use drones for filming, for agriculture, for protecting animals from illegal hunting, for transportation.” But it’s also imperative to write good regulations, establishing what you can and can’t do with drones.

Outside the US, it’s a little easier and leaders are more open to the idea. Santana says in places like the Dominican Republic they are leading the conversation. “The people who most understand this technology are the people who most need it.”

Looking ahead, Matternet believes drone capability will follow the exponential curve—soon carrying more stuff longer distances. And whereas the firm may first find its feet in rural areas of developing countries, it may eventually be equally useful flying over congested roads in megacities.

Beyond that? Maybe Matternet and other commercial drone operators will prepare the skies for more traffic. That is, maybe we’ll arrive at those flying car dreams obliquely, starting with a few quadcopters delivering small packages—and scaling up from there.

Image Credit: Matternet

[Source: FDA}

I’ll give you a moment to dump all your triclosan-containing antibacterial liquid soaps and body washes that you’ve been using for years into the trash.

Triclosan, which kills both bacteria and fungus, is found in about 75 percent of antibacterial products. In addition to soaps, it’s found in deodorants and toothpaste and mouthwashes where it helps prevent gingivitis, and it’s infused in various household products such as garbage bags, kitchen utensils, furniture, clothing, toys, and some cosmetics.

Need another moment?

In short, triclosan is all around us. Which is why it’s a good thing that the FDA has decided to take a look at the compound to see first of all if it actually works, and secondly if it’s harmful. The move has been prompted by recent animal studies showing triclosan affects hormone regulation in animals. If the same holds for humans, it could increase risk of hormone-related problems such as infertility and early puberty.

“To me it looks like the risks outweigh any benefit associated with these products right now,” Allison Aiello, professor at the University of Michigan’s School of Public Health told the associated press. “At this point, it’s just looking like a superfluous chemical.”

And a possibly dangerous one.

But how could a chemical that has been in everyday household products since 1972 only now face scrutiny by the FDA? The truth is, many chemicals used in household products have never received an FDA stamp of approval because they were developed decades ago before laws required a scientific review of cleaning ingredients.

Triclosan, the antibacterial and antifungal agent in liquid soap and a great many other things may disrupt hormone regulation and contribute to antibiotics resistance in germs. [Source: Wikipedia]

The antibacterial did score a victory in 1997 with its approval for use in Colgate’s Total toothpaste after the Colgate-Palmolive Co. demonstrated it helped prevent gingivitis. For the rest of the products, however, the FDA had set a 2012 deadline for itself to complete its review.

At about the time that deadline had come and gone, animal studies emerged showing triclosan to alter hormone regulation and other studies with bacteria indicated that triclosan may increase antibiotics resistance. The hormone study corroborated the results of a 2009 study performed by the Environmental Protection Agency that showed the compound decreased testosterone levels and sperm production in rats and a 2010 study by the University of Florida showing that it interfered with movement of estrogen into fetuses in pregnant sheep. In response to public concern, the FDA issued a consumer update saying they’d finish the review by the end of the year.

They didn’t, but they’re still at it: “We are engaged in a comprehensive scientific and regulatory review of all the available safety and effectiveness data. This includes data relevant to the emerging safety issues of bacterial resistance and endocrine disruption due to triclosan in FDA-regulated products.”

Some aren’t waiting for the results. The data has prompted some hospitals and companies to stop using products with triclosan. In 2010, Kaiser Permanente replaced triclosan-containing soaps from 37 of its hospitals and replaced them with alcohol-based hand sanitizers. And beginning in 2015, Johnson & Johnson is planning to make all of its adult product triclosan-free.

The slow moving FDA certainly isn’t garnering confidence with their unexplained delays. Probably to head off further criticism they haven’t issued another timeframe for the review. When they finally do announce their decision, whatever it is will likely raise the ire of the companies that have to retool entire production lines or consumers won’t believe triclosan is safe no matter what the FDA says. It might get ugly, ugly enough to have to wash people’s mouths out with soap.

[Source: Fluid Interfaces via Vimeo]

To augment this reality, users point a smartphone at an object, like a radio. A Graphical User Interface (GUI) maps digital information onto the surface then an application recognizes the object and intuitively generates a graphical interface to control the object’s knobs and buttons or to be programmed from afar. What’s more, multiple Smarter Objects can be connected for a potentially limitless interface.

Unlike the radio sitting on your nightstand, a Smarter Object radio can play your own playlist of mp3s. Select the songs you like drag and drop them on the station knob. Witness Smarter Objects in the following video.

Smarter Objects from Fluid Interfaces on Vimeo.

[Source: Fluid Interfaces via Vimeo]

Smarter Objects attempts to combine the “muscle memory” operation of objects – such as changing stations on a radio – that, because they’re second nature, require very little visual attention, with digital interfaces that are more flexible but require more visual feedback. The developers actually conducted a study showing that augmenting a real image provides a more intuitive user control compared to virtually representing the object on a screen, by bringing together “tactile and visual awareness.”

Smarter Objects combines the intuitive ease of using real objects with the flexibility of virtual ones. [Source: Virtual Labs via Vimeo]

The usefulness of some possible combos might be questionable, but their coolness isn’t. The volume know of a radio can be connected to the speed button of a blender, for instance. But one could also link the coffee maker power button to an alarm clock.

And virtual objects can be added to the GUI space to give real objects functionality they never dreamed of. The clock connected to your coffeemaker could be virtual, and your Facebook page could be connected to your light switch to turn on every time there’s an update on your newsfeed – as if you weren’t about to check anyway.

For those of us having trouble figuring out how much easier Smarter Objects can make our lives, the developers describe several scenarios. It can lend a helping hand in the kitchen by programming the oven, food processor, and, if you’re like me, the microwave to operate at settings that the recipe needs or that worked the last time to give the Alfredo sauce just the right consistency. For smarter cars, Smarter Objects can also customize temperature and entertainment settings to each driver, and for those who like yard work, riding lawnmowers can be turned into Smarter Objects and their blade speed and mowing patterns can be preprogrammed and their gas levels monitored.

Google Glass augments objects with information, Smarter Objects augments them with functionality. It’s probably only a matter of time before the two are combined and we’re able to enhance the functionality of all objects we encounter, and the line between virtual and real worlds grows even more tenuous.

[Source: endgadget via YouTube]