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3D printer drones will take to skies by 2040, claim BAE scientists
3D printers could be so advanced by 2040 they could create small unmanned aircraft, BAE Systems claim.
These unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) could then potentially be used as a group of wide-winged aircraft for protracted or enduring surveillance or as rotary-winged UAVs to rescue single civilians or soldiers from dangerous situations, the defence firm’s scientists and engineers suggest.
The researchers, who have been working on futuristic aircraft technologies, have been looking at the idea that they could be created by super hi-tech onboard 3D printers, an additive layer and robotic assembly.
BAE Systems are looking at the possibility of aircraft parts that can heal themselves in minutes, even during flight. Photograph: BAE Systems/PA
The UAVs that could render themselves useless with the installation of dissolving circuit boards if they fall into enemy territory, or they might be able to land in a recoverable position if they are needed for further use.
BAE believes this could create “the ultimate adaptable taskforce, with a lead aircraft able to enter any unknown scenario and quickly manufacture an effective tool set for any task”.
A small UAV carrying a person as 3D printers could be made so advanced that they could create small unmanned aircraft. Photograph: BAE Systems/PA
Nick Colosimo, a futurist and engineering manager at its research and development team in Warton, Lancashire, said: “Of course we don’t know exactly what sorts of aircraft technologies will be used in 2040 with any certainty, but it’s great to be able to show the public some concepts that might be possible through projecting where today’s technology could get to.
“BAE Systems has a rich heritage in research and development, and our team builds on literally decades of previous R&D work by thousands of scientists and engineers.”
The defence firm has unveiled the UAV as one of four futuristic technologies they believe could be incorporated in military and civil aircraft in 2040 or even earlier.
Other possibilities include aircraft parts that can heal themselves in minutes – called the Survivor – and a new type of long-range aircraft which divides into a number of smaller ones when it reaches its destination, dubbed the Transformer.
A futuristic aircraft fitted with a directed energy weapon that could engage missiles at the speed of light. Photograph: BAE Systems/PA
There is also the possibility of a weapon using directed energy systems (DES) that could engage missiles at the speed of light, destroy them and protect the people below.
All four technologies are still at the drawing-board stage but BAE, which has invested £117m across all of its research and development work in 2013, is confident about the prospects of them becoming a reality.
It describes the Transformer as “a flexible aircraft system that combines smaller jets for more efficient travel, before having them split apart to quickly adapt to any scenario”.
Divide and rule. BAE Systems' the Transformer. Photograph: BAE Systems/PA
Once they have reached their destination, the craft can then split off and used for a range of activities. These could include going on the offensive if threatened, being used for surveillance or dropping off supplies.
The Survivor is a lightweight adhesive fluid built inside the aircraft which allows jets to heal themselves from damage sustained in flight. This advanced use of materials would create a highly survivable jet capable of entering even the most dangerous of scenarios to complete vital missions, according to a BAE spokesman.
Modern-day battlefields feature DES, complete with concentrated energy beams, which can be used to protect ground troops from incoming missiles or mortars. In the future this capability could be taken in to the air as an attachment for aircraft, allowing fast-moving jets to accurately destroy targets mid-air, the experts claim.
Source: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/06/3d-printer-drones-2040-bae-futurist-aircraft
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Founded by Russian entrepreneur Dmitry Itskov in February 2011 with the participation of leading Russian specialists in the field of neural interfaces, robotics, artificial organs and systems.
The main goals of the 2045 Initiative: the creation and realization of a new strategy for the development of humanity which meets global civilization challenges; the creation of optimale conditions promoting the spiritual enlightenment of humanity; and the realization of a new futuristic reality based on 5 principles: high spirituality, high culture, high ethics, high science and high technologies.
The main science mega-project of the 2045 Initiative aims to create technologies enabling the transfer of a individual’s personality to a more advanced non-biological carrier, and extending life, including to the point of immortality. We devote particular attention to enabling the fullest possible dialogue between the world’s major spiritual traditions, science and society.
A large-scale transformation of humanity, comparable to some of the major spiritual and sci-tech revolutions in history, will require a new strategy. We believe this to be necessary to overcome existing crises, which threaten our planetary habitat and the continued existence of humanity as a species. With the 2045 Initiative, we hope to realize a new strategy for humanity's development, and in so doing, create a more productive, fulfilling, and satisfying future.
The "2045" team is working towards creating an international research center where leading scientists will be engaged in research and development in the fields of anthropomorphic robotics, living systems modeling and brain and consciousness modeling with the goal of transferring one’s individual consciousness to an artificial carrier and achieving cybernetic immortality.
An annual congress "The Global Future 2045" is organized by the Initiative to give platform for discussing mankind's evolutionary strategy based on technologies of cybernetic immortality as well as the possible impact of such technologies on global society, politics and economies of the future.
Future prospects of "2045" Initiative for society
2015-2020
The emergence and widespread use of affordable android "avatars" controlled by a "brain-computer" interface. Coupled with related technologies “avatars’ will give people a number of new features: ability to work in dangerous environments, perform rescue operations, travel in extreme situations etc.
Avatar components will be used in medicine for the rehabilitation of fully or partially disabled patients giving them prosthetic limbs or recover lost senses.
2020-2025
Creation of an autonomous life-support system for the human brain linked to a robot, ‘avatar’, will save people whose body is completely worn out or irreversibly damaged. Any patient with an intact brain will be able to return to a fully functioning bodily life. Such technologies will greatly enlarge the possibility of hybrid bio-electronic devices, thus creating a new IT revolution and will make all kinds of superimpositions of electronic and biological systems possible.
2030-2035
Creation of a computer model of the brain and human consciousness with the subsequent development of means to transfer individual consciousness onto an artificial carrier. This development will profoundly change the world, it will not only give everyone the possibility of cybernetic immortality but will also create a friendly artificial intelligence, expand human capabilities and provide opportunities for ordinary people to restore or modify their own brain multiple times. The final result at this stage can be a real revolution in the understanding of human nature that will completely change the human and technical prospects for humanity.
2045
This is the time when substance-independent minds will receive new bodies with capacities far exceeding those of ordinary humans. A new era for humanity will arrive! Changes will occur in all spheres of human activity – energy generation, transportation, politics, medicine, psychology, sciences, and so on.
Today it is hard to imagine a future when bodies consisting of nanorobots will become affordable and capable of taking any form. It is also hard to imagine body holograms featuring controlled matter. One thing is clear however: humanity, for the first time in its history, will make a fully managed evolutionary transition and eventually become a new species. Moreover, prerequisites for a large-scale expansion into outer space will be created as well.
Key elements of the project in the future
• International social movement
• social network immortal.me
• charitable foundation "Global Future 2045" (Foundation 2045)
• scientific research centre "Immortality"
• business incubator
• University of "Immortality"
• annual award for contribution to the realization of the project of "Immortality”.
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