Science – GeekWire

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USGS awards $10.4M for ShakeAlert quake warning system in the Pacific Northwest

by Alan Boyle on August 19, 2019August 19, 2019 at 1:14 pmComment

The U.S. Geological Survey is setting aside $10.4 million over the next two years to boost the ShakeAlert earthquake early-warning system in the Pacific Northwest. About $7.3 million of the… Read More

Battery startup Group14 Technologies raises $14M to make materials for electric cars

by James Thorne on August 13, 2019August 16, 2019 at 9:36 amComment

A 3-year-old Seattle-area startup is raising cash to develop materials that improve batteries in electric vehicles. A new SEC filing reveals that Group14 Technologies raised $14.3 million. The company confirmed the… Read More

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Inside the lab where Bill Gates’ TerraPower is inventing the future of nuclear energy

by Alan Boyle on August 11, 2019August 10, 2019 at 10:01 pm 42 Comments

BELLEVUE, Wash. – Just a stone’s throw away from Interstate 90’s crush of traffic, a decade-old startup founded by Bill Gates is running tests aimed at building the next generation… Read More

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Archaeological dig in Jerusalem unearths evidence of biblical Babylonian conquest

by Alan Boyle on August 10, 2019August 10, 2019 at 9:33 pm1 Comment

One month after offering up archaeological evidence to back up a contested claim about the First Crusade, researchers say they’ve found traces of the Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem in a… Read More

Paul Allen’s Petrel project wins spotlight in TV show about Pacific War shipwrecks

by Alan Boyle on August 9, 2019August 9, 2019 at 6:31 pmComment

The voyages of the R/V Petrel, funded by the late Seattle billionaire Paul Allen, are the focus of a National Geographic documentary premiering on Monday – and as a prelude… Read More

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Five big ideas from Nathan Myhrvold, the original ‘mad scientist’ from Microsoft

by Alan Boyle on August 8, 2019August 8, 2019 at 2:54 pmComment

Do a search on “Nathan Myhrvold” and “mad scientist,” and you’ll get nearly 2,000 hits, including profiles from the likes of The New Yorker, Esquire and Men’s Journal. Myhrvold, however,… Read More

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Amazon wins patent for spoilage-sniffing refrigerator … but don’t hold your breath

by Alan Boyle on August 7, 2019August 7, 2019 at 11:34 amComment

Years after making its application, Amazon has won a patent for a refrigerator that uses cameras and chemical sensors to sniff out spoiled food. But if you’re waiting to get… Read More

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Amazon lays out a technology to guide delivery agents with augmented reality

by Alan Boyle on August 6, 2019August 6, 2019 at 2:53 pmComment

Efficient package delivery is one of the keystones of Amazon’s retailing business, and a newly issued patent opens up a new frontier in efficiency: augmented reality. The patent, published today,… Read More

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Amazon seeks FCC’s go-ahead to test mobile broadband devices in Silicon Valley

by Alan Boyle on August 5, 2019August 6, 2019 at 8:32 amComment

Amazon is seeking the Federal Communications Commission’s approval for a six-month test of mobile radio devices and networking software – but not at its Seattle home base. The experiment with… Read More

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Backed by Bill Gates, Echodyne plays role in a pioneering flight of a drone on its own

by Alan Boyle on August 2, 2019August 2, 2019 at 11:06 amComment

A public-private consortium led by the University of Alaska has conducted the first-ever federally authorized test flight of a drone beyond the operator’s line of sight without on-the-ground observers keeping… Read More

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Aviation geeks will be seeing some new twists when the Blue Angels soar at Seafair

by Alan Boyle on August 1, 2019August 5, 2019 at 5:35 pmComment

The sights and sounds of the Blue Angels flying their aerobatic fighter jets through August skies are a Seattle tradition – but this weekend, there are a few new twists.… Read More

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In pursuit of air mobility, Voom’s Seattle office blazes a trail for working remotely

by Alan Boyle on July 30, 2019July 31, 2019 at 5:50 pmComment

Add the Airbus subsidiary Voom to the list of tech startups with engineering centers in the Seattle area — and to the list of pioneers in co-located and distributed workplaces.… Read More

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Neuroscientists fine-tune brain-to-speech translator – but there’s a long road ahead

by Alan Boyle on July 30, 2019July 30, 2019 at 12:10 pmComment

Neuroscientists have demonstrated a computerized system that can determine in real time what’s being said, based on brain activity rather than actual speech. The technology is being supported in part… Read More

Amid a rapid rise in AI resource needs, AI2 campaigns to make it easier to be green

by Alan Boyle on July 26, 2019July 26, 2019 at 12:53 pmComment

The development of ever more powerful models for artificial intelligence is revolutionizing the world, but it doesn’t come cheap. In a newly distributed position paper, researchers at Seattle’s Allen Institute… Read More

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Go swim with the sharks in this 10-hour YouTube video from Paul Allen’s Global FinPrint survey

by Kurt Schlosser on July 23, 2019July 23, 2019 at 1:08 pmComment

So this is what it would look like if you crammed Shark Week into one extended YouTube video. If swimming with the sharks sounds a little too scary for you,… Read More

FAA puts new drone management system in play and eases flight restrictions

by Alan Boyle on July 23, 2019July 23, 2019 at 9:47 amComment

Good news for law-abiding drone operators: The Federal Aviation Administration is expanding its automated online system for authorizing recreational flights in controlled airspace. Today the FAA announced the expansion of… Read More

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Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence hatches a new HQ for its startup incubator

by Alan Boyle on July 22, 2019July 22, 2019 at 10:16 pmComment

The startup incubator at Seattle’s Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence is getting so busy that it has to move into new digs across the street. Starting Aug. 12, the incubator… Read More

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German team registers the top speed (again) in Elon Musk’s Hyperloop pod race

by Alan Boyle on July 21, 2019July 22, 2019 at 12:05 amComment

The name may have changed, but the result is the same: For the fourth time in a row, a German team registered the top speed in SpaceX CEO Elon Musk’s… Read More

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Elon Musk takes the wraps off Neuralink brain probe and aims for human trials

by Alan Boyle on July 16, 2019July 17, 2019 at 9:26 amComment

Two years after word emerged that tech billionaire Elon Musk was backing a company called Neuralink, the secretive brain-link venture opened up about its progress, including tests of a robotic… Read More

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Exclusive: Archaeologists confirm contested tale of the Crusades, 920 years after battle

by Alan Boyle on July 15, 2019July 15, 2019 at 4:40 amComment

GeekWire aerospace and science editor Alan Boyle reports on a significant archaeological find during his Middle East science tour. JERUSALEM — Exactly 920 years after Jerusalem fell in the First… Read More

4.6 earthquake rattles Seattle region in the middle of the night

by Kurt Schlosser on July 12, 2019July 12, 2019 at 8:03 am1 Comment

Did you feel it? That was the popular question Friday morning as residents around Western Washington awoke to news that a 4.6-magnitude earthquake rattled near Puget Sound and Seattle just… Read More

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A study about studies suggests men will still prevail in computer science in 2100

by Alan Boyle on June 21, 2019June 21, 2019 at 10:15 am1 Comment

Today it’s mostly a man’s world in computer science — and a tally of the authors behind nearly 3 million research papers in the field suggests that could be the… Read More

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White House rewrites AI research strategy to prioritize public-private partnerships

by Alan Boyle on June 20, 2019June 20, 2019 at 5:17 pmComment

The Trump administration is updating the Obama administration’s strategy for artificial intelligence to put more emphasis on public-private partnerships like the one forged this year by Amazon and the National… Read More

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Amazon patents drone surveillance as a service, but don’t rush to sign up (or sue)

by Alan Boyle on June 20, 2019June 21, 2019 at 9:00 amComment

Amazon has patented a system for providing home security surveillance as a service, but the real innovation has to do with avoiding surveillance of the home next door. Just don’t… Read More

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Coast Guard says Seattle will be homeport for America’s next-generation icebreakers

by Alan Boyle on June 18, 2019June 18, 2019 at 9:16 pm1 Comment

When the Coast Guard starts rolling out a new generation of heavy icebreakers on the Gulf Coast, the ships will be heading for a familiar port in the Pacific Northwest.… Read More

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Eviation unveils electric airplane and plans flight tests in central Washington state

by Alan Boyle on June 18, 2019June 19, 2019 at 10:55 am 2 Comments

An Israeli startup called Eviation Aircraft unveiled its first prototype electric airplane today at the International Paris Air Show, with flight testing planned at Moses Lake in central Washington state.… Read More

Former Boeing exec is out as acting Pentagon chief after domestic dispute report from 2010 surfaces

by Alan Boyle on June 18, 2019June 18, 2019 at 4:09 pmComment

President Donald Trump announced in a tweet that former Boeing executive Patrick Shanahan is leaving his post as acting defense secretary, hours after reports about a 1990 domestic dispute involving… Read More

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Scientists track cryptocurrency discussions on Reddit to learn how disinformation spreads

by Alan Boyle on June 15, 2019June 17, 2019 at 7:48 am1 Comment

Computer scientists from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have mapped the ebb and flow of Reddit’s discussions about cryptocurrency — not only to see how online chatter can predict market… Read More

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OceanGate puts off plans to dive to Titanic shipwreck this year, due to topside tangle

by Alan Boyle on June 13, 2019June 13, 2019 at 4:52 pm1 Comment

Everett, Wash.-based OceanGate has had to postpone this summer’s deep-sea dives to the Titanic shipwreck, just as they were about to start, due to complications relating to the expedition’s intended… Read More

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Uber shows off its latest concept for air taxis; FAA chief hits hard on safety issue

by Alan Boyle on June 11, 2019June 11, 2019 at 4:06 pm 3 Comments

Uber says it’s on track to start flying its first all-electric air taxis on a demonstration basis next year, with commercial service due to begin in the Dallas-Fort Worth and… Read More

USGS awards $10.4M for ShakeAlert quake warning system in the Pacific Northwest

Battery startup Group14 Technologies raises $14M to make materials for electric cars

Inside the lab where Bill Gates’ TerraPower is inventing the future of nuclear energy

Archaeological dig in Jerusalem unearths evidence of biblical Babylonian conquest

Paul Allen’s Petrel project wins spotlight in TV show about Pacific War shipwrecks

Five big ideas from Nathan Myhrvold, the original ‘mad scientist’ from Microsoft

Amazon wins patent for spoilage-sniffing refrigerator … but don’t hold your breath

Amazon lays out a technology to guide delivery agents with augmented reality

Amazon seeks FCC’s go-ahead to test mobile broadband devices in Silicon Valley

Backed by Bill Gates, Echodyne plays role in a pioneering flight of a drone on its own

Aviation geeks will be seeing some new twists when the Blue Angels soar at Seafair

In pursuit of air mobility, Voom’s Seattle office blazes a trail for working remotely

Neuroscientists fine-tune brain-to-speech translator – but there’s a long road ahead

Amid a rapid rise in AI resource needs, AI2 campaigns to make it easier to be green

Go swim with the sharks in this 10-hour YouTube video from Paul Allen’s Global FinPrint survey

FAA puts new drone management system in play and eases flight restrictions

Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence hatches a new HQ for its startup incubator

German team registers the top speed (again) in Elon Musk’s Hyperloop pod race

Elon Musk takes the wraps off Neuralink brain probe and aims for human trials

Exclusive: Archaeologists confirm contested tale of the Crusades, 920 years after battle

4.6 earthquake rattles Seattle region in the middle of the night

A study about studies suggests men will still prevail in computer science in 2100

White House rewrites AI research strategy to prioritize public-private partnerships

Amazon patents drone surveillance as a service, but don’t rush to sign up (or sue)

Coast Guard says Seattle will be homeport for America’s next-generation icebreakers

Eviation unveils electric airplane and plans flight tests in central Washington state

Former Boeing exec is out as acting Pentagon chief after domestic dispute report from 2010 surfaces

Scientists track cryptocurrency discussions on Reddit to learn how disinformation spreads

OceanGate puts off plans to dive to Titanic shipwreck this year, due to topside tangle

Uber shows off its latest concept for air taxis; FAA chief hits hard on safety issue

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