Plus: Rebuilding the First Computer, the Mind-Reading Exoskeleton and a Robotic Plow.

Rebuilding the First Modern Computer
Computer technology advanced at an unprecedented pace in the 20th century, but historians and electronics professionals are acknowledging the industry’s roots by honoring the grandfather of all computers.

British researchers from the Computer Conservation Society (CCS) are rebuilding the Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator (EDSAC), the world’s first recognizably modern, stored-program computer. Originally constructed at Cambridge University in 1949, the EDSAC was a room-sized behemoth of a machine, relying on 5 ft.-long tubes of mercury as memory, according to CNET’s gadget blog Crave.

“The EDSAC was a brilliant achievement that laid the foundations for general purpose computing and introduced programming methods adopted worldwide and still in use,” CCS Chairman David Hartley said in an announcement from the National Museum of Computing, which will be hosting the rebuilt device. “By recreating EDSAC where the public can watch the process, we aim to enthuse a new generation of computer science and engineering students with the genius of those post-war pioneers at Cambridge University.”

Image Credit: The National Museum of Computing

Programs were entered into EDSAC via punched tape. The computer was capable of processing 650 instructions per second and featured more than 3,000 vacuum tubes arranged on 12 racks, though few of the original parts remain. The three-year reconstruction project is expected to cost roughly $350,000.

“However, one part of the original EDSAC that is unlikely to be re-created is the 1.5m (5 ft.) long tubes of mercury used as a memory store. Modern health and safety regulations preclude the use of mercury,” Hartley said in a BBC News report. “He added that experiments were already being carried out to use different materials to act as a ‘delay line’ memory as in the original.”

The Thought-Controlled Exoskeleton
The relationship between robots and humans just got a lot cooler (and little bit scarier) with the recent advent of a powered robotic suit that moves in response to a user’s thoughts, a major step forward in the field of technologically assisted movement.

Showcased at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the robotic exoskeleton, which weighs roughly 22 pounds and is powered by a series of small motors that assist the user, is intended to help disabled and elderly people regain some of their mobility, according to IEEE Spectrum. It is also attracting interest from the U.S. military as a potential way to significantly augment soldiers’ strength.

Now for the slightly frightening part: The Japanese company developing the machine is known as Cyberdyne, the same name as the fictional company responsible for unleashing the Terminator robots on the world. As if that weren’t enough, Cyberdyne named their exoskeleton the Hybrid Assistive Limb, or HAL, system, evoking the murderous computer from the science fiction classic 2001: A Space Odyssey.

According to Cyberdyne, the HAL unit detects nerve signals sent from the brain to the muscles by reading biosignals that can be detected on the surface of the skin. The system interprets these signals to anticipate the user’s intentions in advance of the actual movement and then moves the exoskeletal limbs in synchronized pace with the user.

Although Cyberdyne and HAL have yet to reveal any sinister intentions, sci-fi fans around the world might already be getting nervous about the coming machine war.

Anti-Pirate Laser Cannons
The days of swashbucklers wielding cutlasses, muskets and black-powder cannons are long gone. Although the fight against seafaring pirates continues today, it looks a lot more high-tech that anyone could have predicted.

In response to the growing threat to commercial shipping posed by pirates, particularly off the coast of Somalia, British scientists have begun developing a specialized, non-lethal laser cannon to disorient and temporarily blind pirates from up to a mile away, according to BBC News. The system is intended to provide a safe and effective way to deal with pirate attacks, which numbered 430 worldwide in 2010, up from 406 in 2009.

U.K. defense company BAE Systems has spent two weeks testing a crystalline Neodymium Yttrium Aluminium Garnet laser that fires a green-colored energy beam from onboard a ship, essentially creating a powerful floodlight. At long distance, the laser would serve as a warning signal indicating that the pirates have been detected and should not approach, Wired.com’s Danger Room blog reports. At closer range, the beam can be intensified to “dazzle” pirates and prevent them from aiming their weapons.

“Laser distraction is part of a wider programme of anti-piracy technologies being developed by BAE Systems, including radar systems, which utilises expertise and knowledge from the military domain,” Bryan Hore, BAE Systems business development manager and the lead for the anti-piracy program, said. “The aim of the laser distraction project is now to develop a non-lethal deterrent to pirates, which has no lasting effects, which can work in a maritime environment, be operated by the crew at no risk and be cost effective.”

The laser deterrence system is being integrated with high-frequency surface radar technology to be able to automatically detect and target potential threats, as well as adjust its pattern to either warn pirates or fire upon multiple targets. A key feature is that it does not produce permanent retinal damage, as weapons designed to cause permanent blindness are banned by the United Nations.

Automated Snow Plowing
Anyone living in any of the 49 states that have been pummeled by snowstorms in recent weeks is probably tired of breaking their back shoveling snow from driveways, sidewalks and streets. Luckily, there is an easier (i.e., lazier) solution to the problem: the RoboPlow, an automated snow-clearing machine from the folks at IDEA Laboratories.

Check out the RoboPlow in action:

Have a great weekend, folks.