Gizmorama - January 28, 2015

Good Morning,

Teleportation may be in our future, thanks to scientists at the Hasso Plattner Institute in Potsdam, Germany. This could be a huge technological advancement that alters commercial travel and transportation for generations to come. Or people are going to start turning into flies! Think about it.

Learn about this and more interesting stories from the scientific community in today's issue.

Until Next Time,
Erin

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*-- Scientists invent 3-D printer 'teleporter' --*
POTSDAM, Germany (UPI) - Scientists at the Hasso Plattner Institute in Potsdam, Germany, say they've invented the world's first teleporter. Naturally, it's named "Scotty" after Star Trek's enterprising engineer Mr. Scott.

"We present a simple self-contained appliance that allows relocating inanimate physical objects across distance," the researchers wrote in the paper submitted to the Tangible, Embedded and Embodied Interaction conference, held this week at Stanford University. "Users place an object into the sender unit, enter the address of a receiver unit, and press the relocate button."

That sounds like a transporter, but it's not so much a teleportation device as it is a next-level scanner and 3-D printer separated by time and space.

On one end, the machine destructively scans an inanimate object, layer by layer. The detailed information on that object is then sent via a closed communication system to a 3-D printer located elsewhere. There, the object is recreated in full.

There is one other caveat. The teleporter can only recreate plastic objects made out of a single material. Try to teleport a book, and the person on the receiving end is simply going to a get a plastic cuboid.

But, the researchers add: "Scotty can help preserve the uniqueness and thus the emotional value of physical objects shared between friends."

Right now, there aren't a lot of practical applications for Scotty -- aside from earning clicks from curious social media users. But eventually, scientists say, the device could be useful for companies looking to sell their goods to 3-D printer owners.

"Scotty can address some of the licensing issues involved in fast electronic delivery of physical goods. We explore the former in an exploratory user study with three pairs of participants," researchers wrote.


*-- Researchers test helicopter drone that could be used on Mars --*
PASADENA, Calif. (UPI) - NASA engineers are designing a helicopter-like drone that could serve as a flying scout on Mars. The space agency released a video Friday to show the concept in action.

The ultimate goal for NASA remains the same -- put a human on Mars. But before that can happen, there's a lot of work to be done. Part of that work includes getting a better look at the Red Planet. So far, rovers have done a superb job of exploring the planet's varied terrain.

But there are limits to the perspective of land rovers and the probes that orbit above. To improve surveillance and navigation abilities on Mars, scientists at NASA have proposed a Mars Helicopter. They have a proof-of-concept prototype, and they recently put it to the test in a 25-foot vacuum chamber that replicates the atmosphere on Mars.

"The helicopter would fly ahead of the rover almost every day, checking out various possible points of interest and helping engineers back on Earth plan the best driving route," NASA officials wrote in a press release.

The main body of the scout is about the size of a small tissue box, weighing just 2.2 pounds. It's outfitted with rotor blades that stretch 3.6 feet across.

NASA is sending their next rover to Mars in 2020. It's possible a mini drone could come along for the ride. Engineers will continue to test and tweak the prototype at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

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