How a 'Dumb' Plastic Object With No Electricity Can Talk to Wi-Fi

How a 'Dumb' Plastic Object With No Electricity Can Talk to Wi-Fi

The number of objects that could become "smart" just went through the roof.

Researchers at the University of Washington have made 3D printed plastic objects and sensors that can communicate with other Wi-fi devices, despite the fact that they're not even electrified.

“Our goal was to create something that just comes out of your 3D printer at home and can send useful information to other devices,” says Vikram Iyer, co-author of the paper showing the work, in a press statement. “But the big challenge is how do you communicate wirelessly with Wi-Fi using only plastic? That’s something that no one has been able to do before.”

The researchers took inspiration from a decidedly old-school source: mechanical watches. First developed in the 13th century, mechanical watches move without electricity, using intricate gears and springs to keep the hands in motion. Similarly, the UW team replaced some of the functions of electric parts with 3D-printed springs, gears, switches.

An antenna embedded within the 3D-printed object reflects radio signals sent out by a Wi-Fi router. The antenna then sends the signal to another Wi-Fi receiver in a phone, computer, or any other object. This setup, known as a backscatter system, is activated by physical motion, which triggers the gears and switches inside the 3D-printed object. These gears and switches will turn on and off the antenna's reflective properties, meaning that the object will send a signal only when the user wants.

3-D printed gears (in white) and a spring (blue spiral) control a switch (white box with grey surface) made of conductive plastic.

“As you pour detergent out of a Tide bottle, for instance, the speed at which the gears are turning tells you how much soap is flowing out. The interaction between the 3-D printed switch and antenna wirelessly transmits that data,” says paper author Shyam Gollakota, a UW professor. “Then the receiver can track how much detergent you have left and when it dips below a certain amount, it can automatically send a message to your Amazon app to order more.”

The team printed a variety of objects, from a version of the Utah teapot to buttons, knobs, and sliders that, when activated will send messages. The team was also able to encode static information in 3D printed objects, information that could range from bar codes to instructions for how a robot should handle it while moving.

“It looks like a regular 3D printed object but there’s invisible information inside that can be read with your smartphone,” said co-lead author Justin Chan.

The UW team has released their CAD models so builders can experiment with their work at home. If you're just getting started in 3D printing, or don't know where to start, we've got the guide to get you there.

Jerusalem status: Saudis condemn Trump's announcement

Jerusalem status: Saudis condemn Trump's announcement

Saudi Arabia has condemned the US decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital, amid growing international criticism of the move.

In a statement, the Gulf kingdom said President Donald Trump's announcement was "unjustified and irresponsible".

But Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu hailed it as "a historic day".

President Trump's move reversed decades of US policy. The fate of Jerusalem is one of the thorniest issues between Israel and the Palestinians.

Eight of the 15 nations who are currently members of the United Nations Security Council have called for the body to hold an urgent meeting on the US decision by the end of the week.

Why is this significant?

Mr Trump's Wednesday announcement puts the US at odds with the rest of the international community's view on Jerusalem's status.

Media captionWhy the city of Jerusalem matters

The Palestinians claim East Jerusalem as the capital of a future state, and according to the 1993 Israel-Palestinian peace accords, its final status is meant to be discussed in the latter stages of peace talks.

World reacts to Trump move on Jerusalem

The alternatives to a two-state solution

Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem has never been recognised internationally, and until now all countries have maintained their embassies in Tel Aviv.

Jerusalem contains sites sacred to the three major monotheistic faiths - Judaism, Islam and Christianity.

East Jerusalem, which includes the Old City, was annexed by Israel after the Six Day War of 1967, but is not internationally recognised as part of Israel.

What did Trump say?

The US president said he had "judged this course of action to be in the best interests of the United States of America, and the pursuit of peace between Israel and the Palestinians".

He said he was directing the US state department to begin preparations to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Despite warnings of regional unrest over any such move, the decision fulfils a campaign promise and appeals to Mr Trump's right-wing base.

"Today, I am delivering," the US leader said.

Recognising Jerusalem as Israel's capital was "nothing more or less than a recognition of reality", he added. "It is also the right thing to do."

The Republican Jewish Coalition have already thanked the president in a New York Times ad.

Mr Trump said the US still supported a two-state solution to the longstanding Israeli-Palestinian conflict, if approved by both sides, which would essentially see the creation of an independent Palestinian state living alongside Israel.

Why settlement issue is so difficult

How are capital cities chosen?

What do Israel and the Palestinians say?

In response, Mr Netanyahu said Israel was profoundly grateful to President Trump.

"Jerusalem has been the focus of our hopes, our dreams, our prayers for three millennia," he tweeted.

Meanwhile, the US has asked Israel to temper its response to Mr Trump's announcement because Washington expects a backlash, Reuters news agency reports citing a state department document.

Palestinian protesters burned pictures of Donald Trump in the West Bank

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said the city was the "eternal capital of the state of Palestine".

He called Mr Trump's announcement "deplorable", saying the US could no longer be a peace broker.

Media captionPalestinians and Israelis react to Trump's plan for Jerusalem

There were demonstrations in Gaza against the decision before it was announced in response to a call from the Islamist Hamas movement that runs the Gaza strip, local pro-Hamas media reported.

Hamas said that Mr Trump's decision would "open the doors of hell" on US interests in the region.

What does the rest of the world say?

The Arab and the wider Muslim world - including a number of US allies - condemned Mr Trump's announcement:

Demonstrations have already taken outside the US consulate in Istanbul, Turkey.

"The US move represents a significant decline in efforts to push a peace process and is a violation of the historically neutral American position on Jerusalem," the Saudi royal court said.

Malaysian PM Najib Razak called on Muslims everywhere to "make it clear that we strongly oppose" the US move.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said it was "a moment of great anxiety". He said "there is no alternative to the two-state solution".

In other reaction:

British PM Theresa May said she disagreed with the US decision, which was "unhelpful in terms of prospects for peace in the region"

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron both said their countries did not support the move

EU chief diplomat Federica Mogherini voiced "serious concern"

TIME honours women who spoke up against sexual harassment as ‘Person of the Year’

TIME honours women who spoke up against ,sexual harassment as ‘Person of the Year’

Washington: Time magazine has named the worldwide movement against sexual harassment and assault, epitomized by the #MeToo social media hashtag, as the most influential "person" in 2017, the publication announced on Wednesday.

"This is the fastest moving social change we've seen in decades, and it began with individual acts of courage by hundreds of women - and some men, too - who came forward to tell their own stories," Time editor-in-chief Edward Felsenthal told NBC's "Today" program, referring to them as "the silence breakers."

"The roots of TIME’s annual franchise—singling out the person or persons who most influenced the events of the year—lie in the so-called great man theory of history, a phrasing that sounds particularly anachronistic at this moment. But the idea that influential, inspirational individuals shape the world could not be more apt this year," Felsenthal wrote, on why The Silence Breakers are the Person Of The Year.

"For giving voice to open secrets, for moving whisper networks onto social networks, for pushing us all to stop accepting the unacceptable, the Silence Breakers are the 2017 Person of the Year," he added. 

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Donald Trump's Eldest Son Faces Questions In US Congress About Russia

Trump Jr., like his father, denies collusion with Russia. US intelligence agencies concluded that Russia attempted to influence the 2016 campaign to boost Donald Trump's chances

WASHINGTON:  President Donald Trump's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., returned to Congress on Wednesday to face questions from lawmakers about alleged Russian efforts to influence the 2016 U.S. election and possible collusion with Moscow by his father's presidential campaign.

Trump arrived shortly before 10 a.m. EST (1500 GMT) for what was expected to be several hours of questioning by members of the House of Representatives ,.Committee, one of three main congressional committees investigating the matter.

Department of Justice Special Counsel Robert Mueller is also conducting a broad investigation of the matter. He has announced the first indictments of Trump associates, and President Trump's former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, has pleaded guilty to lying to Federal Bureau of Investigation agents.

Trump Jr.'s appearance on Wednesday came amid mounting criticism of the Russia probes by some of his father's fellow Republicans in Congress, who accuse investigators of bias against Trump.

The committee meeting was conducted behind closed doors, and Trump Jr. was not seen by reporters waiting outside the meeting room, although congressional officials confirmed he had arrived.

The younger Trump testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee in September. The Senate Intelligence Committee has also said it wants to talk to him.

Lawmakers said they want to question him about a meeting with a Russian lawyer in June 2016 at Trump Tower in New York at which he had said he hoped to get information about the "fitness, character and qualifications" of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the Democrat his father defeated in last year's race for the White House.

Trump Jr., like his father, denies collusion with Russia. U.S. intelligence agencies concluded that Russia attempted to influence the 2016 campaign to boost Trump's chances of defeating Clinton. Moscow denies any such effort.

Some of Trump's fellow Republicans criticized Mueller, the FBI and the Department of Justice at a news conference on Wednesday, ahead of congressional testimony on Thursday by the director of the FBI, Christopher Wray.

The Republican House members accused Justice, the FBI and Mueller of being biased against President Trump and having been too easy on Clinton during the investigation of her use of a private email server while leading the State Department.

While the Republicans have complained about the FBI, Clinton has made no secret of her belief that then-FBI Director James Comey's announcement, shortly before the election, that the bureau was investigating potential new evidence in the lengthy email probe helped cost her the White House.

Republican Representative Matt Gaetz accused investigators of "unprecedented bias" against the president over the Russia matter, compared with their treatment of Clinton.

Republican Representative Jim Jordan told the news conference that investigators have "two standards of justice."

Trump and some of his closest Republican allies in Congress, have frequently criticized the Justice Department, arguing that it has focused too many resources on the Russia investigation while neglecting conservative concerns.

Separately on Wednesday, Representative Bob Goodlatte, the Republican chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, which oversees the Department of Justice, announced a hearing next week with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, citing "serious concerns" about reports on the political motives of staff on Mueller's team.

And Republican Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley said he was asking the FBI for documents relating to the activities of FBI agent Peter Strzok after reports the agent had shown political bias while handling matters in both the Clinton and Trump investigations.

Republicans control majorities in both the House and Senate.

Other lawmakers, Republicans as well as Democrats, say the goal of their investigation is to guarantee the integrity of U.S. elections, not to target Trump and his associates.

Countries not willing to discuss Kashmir issue because of India's influence: Former Pakistani diplomat

Washington: A former top Pakistani diplomat has said that because of India's influence and economic power, countries are unwilling to raise the issue of Kashmir at an international level, including at the UN.

Masood Khan, former Pakistani Ambassador to the UN, who is now president of Pak-Occupied Kashmir (PoK), rued that India has veto on the talks between the two South Asian neighbours.

Khan is currently in Washington, for what he described is part of his effort to appraise the international community about current situation in Kashmir.

"India has strategic alliances with certain countries. Because of the lucrative deals that it offers to powerful countries in the West, it has practically imposed a gag order on Kashmir," Khan said yesterday in response to a question at the Atlantic Council, a top American think-tank.

Khan said that because of increasing Indian influence, "people here (in Washington DC), in Brussels, in London or other world capitals don't talk about Kashmir, because this would have consequences… for these countries, like in terms of economic transactions, and strategic costs.”

Responding to questions at the thinly-attended Atlantic Council event, Khan alleged that the UN is not acting on its own resolution because of India.

"The United Nations is not acting because of real politics," he said.

"The Security Council, first because of cold war dynamics, and now because of number of other factors is not taking cognisance of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, which is regrettable because of mandate that is given to the Security Council by the UN charter under chapter six and chapter seven," he said.

Khan argued that UN should be acting. "It should be proactive. It's because of real politics. It is also because of two other factors," he said.

"One was that in the past 30 to 40 years, India and Pakistan have invested a lot of energy and time in bilateral talks. But these bilateral talks or dialogue have proved to be mirage for Kashmiris because it has produced no results," he said, adding that these talks have been non-productive.

Because of these talks, India has "acquired two vetoes" he said.

One on the agenda whereby they have in fact reduced the core issue of Jammu and Kashmir to a fraction of their whole agenda. It is one of 10 agenda items, he added.

Secondly, India has veto over the timetable. "They will start negotiations when it suites them and when they don't like it they will blame Pakistan for terrorism. And that has just got scuttled the dialogue process," he said.

Khan claimed that there are no terrorist camps in PoK. "None whatsoever," he said during the interaction.

"This is in fact a propaganda against the Kashmiris intended to demonise them," he said, and claimed that there is no terrorism right now in Kashmir. Neither there is any cross-border activities.

"This is not happening," he said.

"Right now, India has fenced the Line of Control. There are two layers of the fence. In between there are landmines. There are motion sensors. They also have electronic surveillance, thermal imaging. If any crossing takes place they would be detected," he added.

Reputation is in Tatters – Worst in History!' President Trump Attacks His Own FBI in Tweet Storm

WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump launched a fresh attack Sunday on the credibility of his own FBI, responding to revelations that an FBI agent was removed from special counsel Robert Mueller’s team investigating Russian election meddling because of anti-Trump text messages.

Trump, two days after his former national security adviser Michael Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI, again denied that he directed FBI Director James Comey to stop investigating Flynn.

The Republican president offered a running Twitter commentary Sunday amid renewed focus on Mueller’s probe and Flynn’s decision to cooperate with the investigation as part of his plea agreement. Democrats said the developments suggested growing evidence of coordination between Trump’s circle and Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.

Tainted (no, very dishonest?) FBI “agent’s role in Clinton probe under review.” Led Clinton Email probe. @foxandfriends Clinton money going to wife of another FBI agent in 

After years of Comey, with the phony and dishonest Clinton investigation (and more), running the FBI, its reputation is in Tatters - worst in History! But fear not, we will bring it back to greatnes 

“This president has been obsessed with this investigation, always saying there’s nothing there, but each week, another shoe drops, where we see more evidence of continuing outreach from Russians and some response from the Trump campaign and Trump individuals,” said Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee.