DAILY INNOVATION BRIEF by Edward Kane

DAILY INNOVATION BRIEF

By Journalists Edward Kane & Maryanne Kane

DARPA's WIRELESS INTERNET FOR ENERGY

Source: DARPA & Stock

DARPA, the US Defense Department's Advanced Research Projects Agency, and Raytheon are developing a wireless internet for energy delivery. It's being developed for US military energy needs but has significant potential to go into everyday use for consumers and business. Here's what we know:
Called POWER or the Persistent Optical Wireless Energy Relay
DARPA just awarded Raytheon $10 million to develop it
It's a wireless internet network for energy distribution initially for the US military
Purpose is to cut US military's dependence on fossil fuel delivery and storage
Big deal because of the potential civilian utilization such as having "the cloud" recharge your batteries
How it works:

Uses unmanned aerial vehicles with laser power that has receiving and transmitting capabilities
Starts by beaming energy from a ground source to a POWER drone
Drone relays the power to an intended destination like a facility or piece of military equipment
DARPA wants this energy web to service the military 24/7 in the air, on the land and sea

Bottom-line: the development of this network by DARPA could revolutionize the global distribution of energy
DARPA has a distinguished history of developing innovations for the military that go mainstream like the internet and GPS.

ARE YOU BETTER LOOKING IN THE EYES OF THE INTOXICATED?

Source: Stock

Scientists at the University of Portsmouth (UK) tested this popular theory. Here's what we know:
Beer Goggles have been called the phenomenon of seeing people more attractive than they really are after a few drinks
University of Portsmouth scientists questioned nearly 100 men and women in a pub to see how they rate looks after a few drinks
The findings:

Heavily intoxicated people were less capable of distinguishing naturally unsymmetrical from perfectly symmetrical faces than more sober people. (Existing research indicates that sober people value a symmetrical face as attractive in others.)
Alcohol use impairs detection of symmetry but does not impact facial attraction judgments
While intoxicated, participants rated natural-faced photos more attractive than unsymmetrical ones, with a strong female bias for natural.

Bottom-line: if you're not in a pub and want to impress, better wait outside the eye doctor's office and hope she dilated the eyes of some patients.

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2024!!!

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