Balena is an IoT framework for Linux devices. They have published a new project called balenaSense with instructions on how to build an air quality monitor using a Raspberry Pi and Docker.
Researchers in the U.S. have created the first organic robots which measure at less than 1mm long. The living programmable organisms are first simluated using evolutionary algorithms to create random designs using combinations of different stem cell types. Successful xenobot designs are then created in real life using frog stem cells.
The Verge posted an interesting article on the story of how, for a few years, Playstation 3 games consoles were used by researchers and the U.S. Airforce as supercomputers to work on black hole calculations, win cryptography contests and process images from surveillance drones.
Má tá tú i gcathair Corcaigh, tá deis leat do Ghaeilge a labhairt gach Máirt ag Sos Lóin i O'Sho. Tá agallamh go deas i Zín eagrán 05 le John O'Riordáin ó Sos Lóin. / If you are in Cork city, there is an opportunity for you to speak Irish every Tuesday at Sos Lóin in O'Sho. There is a great interview in Zín eagrán 05 with John O'Riordáin from Sos Lóin.
With the new year upon us, some may have felt the affects of blue Monday this week. Thankfully, Seth Godin comes to the rescue with some straight and to the point advice for the year ahead; own your priorities, your boat, your compass.
Atlantic Philathropies, the organisation setup by Chuck Feeney to give away his huge fortune, has published their final report titled Zero Is The Hero. The report gives an overview of the amounts invested around the world in different industries. The fascinating story of Chuck Feeney is told excellently in the book The Billionaire Who Wasn't (affiliate link) by Conor Clery.
Tom Whitwell has put together a cracking list of interesting facts he learnt in 2019. These include why British motorways are not built in straight lines, where the 10,000 steps thing came from, there were between 0 and 2 Nigels born in the UK in 2016, and that Ireland had it's own timezone until 1916 (see also Mean Time at Richmond Barracks).
