Chapter 7

Other emerging
technologies
 Nanotechnology
 Nanotechnology is science,
engineering, and technology
conducted at the nanoscale, which is
about 1 to 100 nanometers.
 Nanoscience and nanotechnology are
the study and application of extremely
small things and can be used across
all the other science fields, such as
chemistry, biology, physics, materials
science, and engineering.
 Fundamental concepts in
nanoscience and nanotechnology
 It’s hard to imagine just how small nanotechnology is.
 One nanometer is a billionth of a meter or 10-9 of meters.
Here are a few illustrative examples:
 There are 25,400,000 nanometers in an inch
 A sheet of newspaper is about 100,000 nanometers thick
 On a comparative scale, if a marble were a nanometer,
then one meter would be the size of the Earth
 As small as a nanometer is, it's still large compared to the
atomic scale. An atom has a diameter of about 0.1 nm.
 An atom's nucleus is much smaller about 0.00001 nm.
 Atoms are the building blocks for all matter in our universe.
 Cont…
 The properties of materials can be
different at the nanoscale for two main
reasons:
First, nanomaterials have a relatively
larger surface area when compared to
the same mass of material produced in a
larger form. This can make materials
more chemically reactive (in some cases
materials that are inert in their larger
form are reactive when produced in their
nanoscale form), and affect their strength
 Cont’d
 Today's scientists and engineers are
finding a wide variety of ways to
deliberately make materials at the
nanoscale to take advantage of their
enhanced properties such as higher
strength, lighter weight, increased
control of light spectrum, and greater
chemical reactivity than their larger-
scale counterparts.
 Applications of nanotechnology
 Medicine: customized nanoparticles the size of molecules
that can deliver drugs directly to diseased cells in your
body. When it's perfected, this method should greatly
reduce the damage treatment such as chemotherapy does
to a patient's healthy cells.
 ➢ Electronics: it has some answers for how we might
increase the capabilities of electronics devices while we
reduce their weight and power consumption.
 ➢ Food: it has an impact on several aspects of food
science, from how food is grown to how it is packaged.
 ➢ Agriculture: nanotechnology can possibly change the
whole agriculture part and nourishment industry anchor
from generation to preservation, handling, bundling,
transportation, and even waste treatment.
 Vehicle manufacturers: Much like aviation, lighter and
stronger materials will be valuable for making vehicles
that are both quicker and more secure. Burning motors
will likewise profit from parts that are all the more
hardwearing and higher temperature safe.
 Biotechnology
 It is the broad area of biology involving living systems
and organisms to develop or make products, or "any
technological application that uses biological systems,
living organisms, or derivatives thereof, to make or
modify products or processes for specific use".
 At its simplest, biotechnology is technology based on
biology - biotechnology harnesses cellular and
biomolecular processes to develop technologies and
products that help improve our lives and the health of
our planet. We have used the biological processes of
microorganisms for more than 6,000 years to make
useful food products, such as bread and cheese, and
to preserve dairy products.
 Brewing and baking bread are examples of processes
that fall within the concept of biotechnology (use of
 Cont’d
 One example of modern biotechnology is
genetic engineering.
 Genetic engineering is the process of
transferring individual genes between
organisms or modifying the genes in an
organism to remove or add a desired trait or
characteristic.
 Today, biotechnology covers many different
disciplines (e.g. genetics, biochemistry,
molecular biology, etc.) e.g. Medicine
(development of new medicines and
therapies), agriculture (development of
genetically modified plants, biofuels, biological
 Application of biotechnology
 Agriculture (Green Biotechnology):
Biotechnology had contributed a lot to modify
the genes of the organism known as Genetically
Modified Organisms such as Crops, Animals,
Plants, Fungi, Bacteria, etc. Genetically modified
crops are formed by the manipulation of DNA to
introduce a new trait into the crops. These
manipulations are done to introduce traits such
as pest resistance, insect resistance, weed
resistance, etc.
 Medicine (Medicinal Biotechnology): This helps in
the formation of genetically modified insulin
known as humulin. This helps in the treatment of
a large number of diabetes patients. It has also
given rise to a technique known as gene therapy.
 cont’d
• Aquaculture Fisheries: It helps in improving the
quality and quantity of fishes. Through
biotechnology, fishes are induced to breed via
gonadotropin-releasing hormone.
 Environment (Environmental biotechnology): is
used in waste treatment and pollution prevention.
 Environmental biotechnology can more efficiently
clean up many wastes than conventional methods
and greatly reduce our dependence on methods for
land-based disposal.
 Every organism ingests nutrients to live and
produces by-products as a result. Different
organisms need different types of nutrients. Some
bacteria thrive on the chemical components of
waste products.
 Blockchain technology
 Originally blockchain is a growing list of
records, called blocks, that are linked using
cryptography. Each block contains a
cryptography hash of the previous block, a
timestamp, and transaction data
 A blockchain is, in the simplest of terms, a
time-stamped series of immutable records of
data that is managed by a cluster of computers
not owned by any single entity. Each of these
blocks of data (i.e. block) is secured and bound
to each other using cryptographic principles
(i.e. chain).
 cont’d
 “Blocks” on the blockchain are made up of digital pieces of
information. Specifically, they have three parts:
1. Blocks store information about transactions like the
date, time, and dollar amount of your most recent
purchase.
2. Blocks store information about who is participating in
transactions.
3. Blocks store information that distinguishes them from
other blocks. Much like you and I have names to
distinguish us from one another, each block stores a
unique code called a “hash” that allows us to tell it
apart from every other block.
 Cont…
• The blockchain network has no central
authority; it is the very definition of a
democratized system. Since it is a
shared and immutable ledger, the
information in it is open for anyone and
everyone to see. Hence, anything that is
built on the blockchain is by its very
nature transparent and everyone
involved is accountable for their actions.
 Blockchain Explained
• A blockchain carries no transaction cost. (An infrastructure
cost yes, but no transaction cost.)
• The blockchain is a simple yet ingenious way of passing
information from A to B in a fully automated and safe
manner.
• One party to a transaction initiates the process by creating
a block. This block is verified by thousands, perhaps millions
of computers distributed around the net.
• The verified block is added to a chain, which is stored across
the net, creating not just a unique record, but a unique
record with a unique history. Falsifying a single record would
mean falsifying the entire chain in millions of instances.
• That is virtually impossible. Bitcoin uses this model for
monetary transactions, but it can be deployed in many
other ways.
 The Three Pillars of Blockchain
Technology
The three main properties of Blockchain Technology
are:
1. Decentralization
➢ In a decentralized system (see Figure 7.2), the
information is not stored by one single entity. In fact,
everyone in the network owns the information.
➢ In a decentralized network (see Figure 7.2), if you
wanted to interact with your friend then you can do so
directly without going through a third party. That was
the main ideology behind Bitcoins. You and only you
alone are in charge of your money. You can send your
money to anyone you want without having to go
through a bank.
comparisons of a centralized and decentralized network
 2 Transparency
• One of the most interesting and misunderstood
concepts in blockchain technology is
“transparency.” Some people say that blockchain
gives you privacy while some say that it is
transparent. Why do you think that happens?
• ➢ A person’s identity is hidden via complex
cryptography and represented only by their public
address. So, if you were to look up a person’s
transaction history, you will not see “Bob sent 1
BTC” instead you will see
“1MF1bhsFLkBzzz9vpFYEmvwT2TbyCt7NZJ sent 1
BTC”.
• ➢ So, while the person’s real identity is secure, you
will still see all the transactions that were done by
their public address. This level of transparency has
never existed before within a financial system. It
3. Immutability

➢ Immutability, in the context of the blockchain, means

that once something has been entered into the
blockchain, it cannot be tampered with.
➢ The reason why the blockchain gets this property is
that of the cryptographic hash function.
➢ In simple terms, hashing means taking an input string
of any length and giving out an output of a fixed length.
In the context of cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, the
transactions are taken as input and run through a
hashing algorithm (Bitcoin uses SHA-256) which gives
an output of a fixed length.
➢ Let’s see how the hashing process works. We are
going to put in certain inputs. For this exercise, we are
going to use the SHA-256 (Secure Hashing Algorithm
256).
 Why do people use the peer-to-
peer network?
• One of the main uses of the peer-to-peer network
is file sharing, also called torrenting. If you are to
use a client-server model for downloading, then it
is usually extremely slow and entirely dependent
on the health of the server. However, in a peer-
to-peer system, there is no central authority, and
hence if even one of the peers in the network
goes out of the race, you still have more peers to
download from. Plus, it is not subject to the
idealistic standards of a central system.
• Comparison between Traditional Centralized
Downloading and Decentralized Peer-to-Peer
Downloading (see Figure 7.3)
Figure 7.3 central and peer-to-peer downloading
 Cont…
A. The sharing economy
• ➢ With companies like Uber and Airbnb
flourishing, the sharing economy is already a
proven success. Currently, however, users who
want to hail a ride-sharing service have to rely on
an intermediary like Uber. By enabling peer-to-
peer payments, the blockchain opens the door to
direct interaction between parties a truly
decentralized sharing economy results.
B. Crowdfunding
• ➢ Crowdfunding initiatives like Kickstarter and
GoFundMe are doing the advance work for the
emerging peer-to-peer economy. The popularity
of these sites suggests people want to have a
direct say in product development. Blockchains
take this interest to the next level, potentially
creating crowd-sourced venture capital funds.
C. Governance
• ➢ By making the results fully transparent and
publicly accessible, distributed database
technology could bring full transparency to
elections or any other kind of poll taking.
Ethereum-based smart contracts help to
automate the process.
D. Supply chain auditing
• ➢ Consumers increasingly want to know that the
ethical claims companies make about their
products are real. Distributed ledgers provide an
easy way to certify that the backstories of the
things we buy are genuine. Transparency comes
with blockchain-based timestamping of a date and
location — on ethical diamonds, for instance —
that corresponds to a product number.
E. File storage
• ➢ Decentralizing file storage on the internet brings clear
benefits. Distributing data throughout the network protects
files from getting hacked or lost.
• ➢ Interplanetary File System (IPFS) makes it easy to
conceptualize how a distributed web might operate. Similar
to the way a BitTorrent moves data around the internet,
IPFS gets rid of the need for centralized client-server
relationships (i.e., the current web). An internet made up of
completely decentralized websites has the potential to
speed up file transfer and streaming times. Such an
improvement is not only convenient. It’s a necessary
upgrade to the web’s currently overloaded content-delivery
systems.
 Cloud and quantum computing
Cloud computing
• Cloud computing is a means of networking
remote servers that are hosted on the
Internet. Rather than storing and processing
data on a local server, or a PC's hard drive,
one of the following three types of cloud
infrastructure is used.
• The first type is a public cloud. Here a third-
party provider manages the servers,
applications, and storage much like a public
utility. Anyone can subscribe to the provider’s
cloud service, which is usually operated
through their own data center.
 Advantages of cloud computing
• Well, much like with any utility -a business
benefits from economy of scale, which
means cheap computing power. Because a
cloud provider’s hardware and software
are shared, there’s no need for the initial
costly capital investment. And it goes
much further than that. Businesses save
on the electricity required 24/7 to power
and cool that computing infrastructure. In
effect, energy costs are shared.
 Quantum computing
• Quantum computers truly do represent the next
generation of computing. Unlike classic computers,
they derive their computing power by harnessing the
power of quantum physics. Because of the rather
nebulous science behind it, a practical, working
quantum computer still remains a flight of fancy.
• Give clients access to a quantum computer over the
internet, and you have quantum cloud computing.
Currently, the only organization which provides a
quantum computer in the cloud is IBM. They allow
free access to anyone who wishes to use their 5-qubit
machine. Earlier this year they installed a 17-qubit
machine. So far over 40,000 users have taken
advantage of their online service to run experiments.
 Advantages of quantum
computing
• Getting a quantum computer to function usefully is an
exciting prospect for scientists. Their gargantuan
computing power would allow them to crunch very long
numbers. They would be able to make complex
calculations that would only overwhelm classic
computers.
• Accessing a cloud-based quantum computer combines
the benefits of both technologies exponentially. Quantum
computing could help in the discovery of new drugs, by
unlocking the complex structure of chemical molecules.
Other uses include financial trading, risk management,
and supply chain optimization. With its ability to handle
more complex numbers, data could be transferred over
the internet with much safer encryption.
 Autonomic computing (AC)
• Autonomic computing (AC) is an approach to
address the complexity and evolution problems
in software systems. It is a self-managing
computing model named after, and patterned
on, the human body's autonomic nervous
system. An autonomic computing system would
control the functioning of computer
applications and systems without input from
the user, in the same way, that the autonomic
nervous system regulates body systems
without conscious input from the individual.
The goal of autonomic computing is to create
systems that run themselves, capable of high-
Characteristics of Autonomic Systems

• An autonomic system can self-configure at

runtime to meet changing operating
environments, self-tune to optimize its
performance, self-heal when it encounters
unexpected obstacles during its operation,
and of particular current interest. Protect
itself from malicious attacks. An
autonomic system can self-manage
anything including a single property or
multiple properties (see picture below).
Autonomic Characteristics
Autonomic systems/applications exhibit eight defining
characteristics:
➢ Self-Awareness: An autonomic application/system “knows itself” and is aware of its state
and its behaviors.
➢ Self-Configuring: An autonomic application/system should be able to configure and
reconfigure itself under varying and unpredictable conditions.
➢ Self-Optimizing: An autonomic application/system should be able to detect suboptimal
behaviors and optimize itself to improve its execution.
➢ Self-Healing: An autonomic application/system should be able to detect and recover
from potential problems and continue to function smoothly.
➢ Self-Protecting: An autonomic application/system should be capable of detecting and
protecting its resources from both internal and external attacks and maintaining overall
system security and integrity.
➢ Context-Aware: An autonomic application/system should be aware of its execution
environment and be able to react to changes in the environment.
➢ Open: An autonomic application/system must function in a heterogeneous world and
should be portable across multiple hardware and software architectures. Consequently, it
must be built on standard and open protocols and interfaces.
➢ Anticipatory: An autonomic application/system should be able to anticipate to the extent
possible, its needs and behaviors and those of its context, and be able to manage itself
proactively
 Computer vision History
• The origins of computer vision go back to an MIT undergraduate
summer project in 1966. It was believed at the time that computer
vision could be solved in one summer, but we now have a 50-year
old scientific field that is still far from being solved.
• Early experiments in computer vision took place in the 1950s, using
some of the first neural networks to detect the edges of an object
and to sort simple objects into categories like circles and squares. In
the 1970s, the first commercial use of computer vision interpreted
typed or handwritten text using optical character recognition. This
advancement was used to interpret written text for the blind. As the
internet matured in the 1990s, making large sets of images available
online for analysis, facial recognition programs flourished. These
growing data sets helped make it possible for machines to identify
specific people in photos and videos.
 Definition
• It is an interdisciplinary scientific field that deals
with how computers can be made to gain a high-
level understanding of digital images or videos.
From the perspective of engineering, it seeks to
automate tasks that the human visual system can
do.
• Computer vision tasks include methods for
acquiring, processing, analyzing and understanding
digital images, and extraction of high-dimensional
data from the real world in order to produce
numerical or symbolic information, e.g. in the
 How computer vision works
1. Acquiring an image: Images, even large
sets, can be acquired in real-time through
video, photos or 3D technology for analysis.
2. Processing the image: Deep learning
models automate much of this process, but
the models are often trained by first being
fed thousands of labeled or pre-identified
images.
3. Understanding the image: The final step
is the interpretative step, where an object
is identified or classified.
• There are many types of computer vision that are used in different
ways:
➢ Image segmentation partitions an image into multiple regions or pieces
to be examined separately.
➢ Object detection identifies a specific object in an image. Advanced
object detection recognizes many objects in a single image: a football
field, an offensive player, a defensive player, a ball and so on. These
models use an X, Y coordinate to create a bounding box and identify
everything inside the box.
➢ Facial recognition is an advanced type of object detection that not only
recognizes a human face in an image but identifies a specific individual.
➢ Edge detection is a technique used to identify the outside edge of an
object or landscape to better identify what is in the image.
➢ Pattern detection is a process of recognizing repeated shapes, colors
and other visual indicators in images.
➢ Image classification groups images into different categories.
➢ Feature matching is a type of pattern detection that matches
• Simple applications of computer vision may
only use one of these techniques, but more
advanced users, like computer vision for self-
driving cars, rely on multiple techniques to
accomplish their goal.
 Applications of computer vision
Computer vision is being used today in a wide variety of real-world
applications, which include:
➢ Optical character recognition (OCR): reading handwritten postal
codes on letters (Figure 7.5a) and automatic number plate
recognition (ANPR);
➢ Machine inspection: rapid parts inspection for quality assurance
using stereo vision with specialized illumination to measure
tolerances on aircraft wings or auto body parts (Figure 7.5b) or
looking for defects in steel castings using X-ray vision;
➢ Retail: object recognition for automated checkout lanes (Figure
7.5c);
➢ Medical imaging: registering pre-operative and intra-operative
imagery (Figure 7.5d) or performing long-term studies of people’s
brain morphology as they age;
➢ Automotive safety: detecting unexpected obstacles such as
pedestrians on the street, under conditions where active vision
techniques such as radar or lidar do not work well (Figure 7.5e).
➢ Surveillance: monitoring for intruders, analyzing highway traffic
 Embedded systems
• It is a controller with a dedicated function within a
larger mechanical or electrical system, often with
real-time computing constraints.
• It is embedded as part of a complete device often
including hardware and mechanical parts.
• Embedded systems control many devices in
common use today.
• Ninety-eight percent of all microprocessors
manufactured are used in embedded systems.
 Cont’d
• Modern embedded systems are often based on
microcontrollers (i.e. microprocessors with
integrated memory and peripheral interfaces), but
ordinary microprocessors (using external chips for
memory and peripheral interface circuits) are also
common, especially in more complex systems. In
either case, the processor(s) used may be types
ranging from general-purpose to those specialized
in a certain class of computations, or even custom
designed for the application at hand. A common
standard class of dedicated processors is the digital
signal processor (DSP).
 Advantages of Embedded
➢ Easily Customizable
➢ Low power consumption
➢ Low cost
➢ Enhanced performance
 Disadvantages of Embedded
systems

➢ High development effort

➢ Larger time to market
Basic Structure of an Embedded
System

Basic structure of an embedded system

• ➢ Sensor − It measures the physical quantity and
converts it to an electrical signal which can be
read by an observer or by any electronic
instrument like an A2D converter. A sensor stores
the measured quantity to the memory.
• ➢ A-D Converter − An analog-to-digital converter
converts the analog signal sent by the sensor into
a digital signal.
• ➢ Processor & ASICs − Processors process the data
to measure the output and store it to the memory.
• ➢ D-A Converter − A digital-to-analog converter
converts the digital data fed by the processor to
analog data.
• ➢ Actuator − An actuator compares the output
given by the D-A Converter to the actual
(expected) output stored in it and stores the
 Cybersecurity
• It is the protection of computer systems from the theft
of or damage to their hardware, software, or electronic
data, as well as from the disruption or misdirection of
the services they provide.
• The field is becoming more important due to increased
reliance on computer systems, the Internet and
wireless network standards such as Bluetooth and Wi-
Fi, and due to the growth of smart devices, including
smartphones, televisions, and the various devices that
constitute the Internet of Things. Due to its
complexity, both in terms of politics and technology,
cybersecurity is also one of the major challenges in
the contemporary world.
• The term cybercrime is used to describe an unlawful
activity in which computer or computing devices such
as smartphones, tablets, Personal Digital Assistants
 Cybersecurity measures
The following are some security measures to be
taken to prevent cybercrimes:
➢ Staff awareness training: - Human error is
the leading cause of data breaches, so you
need to equip staff with the knowledge to deal
with the threats they face. Training courses will
show staff how security threats affect them
and help them apply best-practice advice to
real-world situations.
➢ Application security: - Web application
vulnerabilities are a common point of intrusion
for cybercriminals. As applications play an
increasingly critical role in business, it is vital
to focus on web application security.
• Network security: - Network security is the process
of protecting the usability and integrity of your
network and data.
This is achieved by conducting a network
penetration test, which scans your network for
vulnerabilities and security issues.
➢ Leadership commitment: - Leadership commitment
is the key to cyber resilience. Without it, it is very
difficult to establish or enforce effective processes.
Top management must be prepared to invest in
appropriate cybersecurity resources, such as
awareness training.
➢ Password management: - Almost half of the UK
population uses ‘password’, ‘123456’ or ‘qwerty’ as
their password. You should implement a password
management policy that provides guidance to ensure
staff create strong passwords and keep them secure.
Types of cybersecurity threats
➢ Ransomware: - It is a type of malicious software. It
is designed to extort money by blocking access to
files or the computer system until the ransom is
paid. Paying the ransom does not guarantee that
the files will be recovered or the system restored.
➢ Malware:- itis a type of software designed to gain
unauthorized access or to cause damage to a
computer[64].
➢ Social engineering: - it is a tactic that adversaries
use to trick you into revealing sensitive information.
They can solicit a monetary payment or gain access
to your confidential data. Social engineering can be
combined with any of the threats listed above to
make you more likely to click on links, download
malware, or trust a malicious source.
➢ Phishing: - it is the practice of
sending fraudulent emails that
resemble emails from reputable
sources. The aim is to steal sensitive
data like credit card numbers and
login information. It’s the most
common type of cyber-attack. You
can help protect yourself through
education or a technology solution
that filters malicious emails.
 Benefits of cybersecurity
Benefits of utilizing cybersecurity include:
➢ Business protection against malware,
ransomware, phishing, and social engineering.
➢ Protection for data and networks.
➢ Prevention of unauthorized users.
➢ Improves recovery time after a breach.
➢ Protection for end-users.
➢ Improved confidence in the product for both
developers and customers.
 Cybersecurity vendors
• Vendors in cybersecurity fields will
typically use endpoint, network and
advanced threat protection security as
well as data loss prevention. Three
commonly known cybersecurity vendors
include Cisco, McAfee, and Trend Micro.
 Additive manufacturing (3D
Printing)
• Are “3D printing” and “additive manufacturing”
(AM) the same thing? In general, we know that
terms stretch over time to include more than
just their default meanings. Whatever the
name, new ways of fabricating directly from
bytes to stuff are radically changing the what,
where, how, and when of making objects. What
roles, then, do the two terms “additive
manufacturing” and “3D printing” play in
describing new ways of making?
• Let’s start by considering what the experts have
to say:
 3D Printing: It's All About the
Printer
• When MIT invented binder jet printing in the 1980s, they
wrote: “three-dimensional printing is a process under
development at MIT for the rapid and flexible production of
prototype parts, end-use parts, and tools directly from a CAD
model.”
• Today our concept of “3D printing” is much broader, but the
term is often associated with filament-based plastic printers,
which are the pride and joy of many a hobbyist and self-
described maker. But there are also binder jet printers, laser
metal 3D printers, as well as glass and clay 3D printers[66].
 Additive Manufacturing: A Bytes-
to-Parts Supply Chain
• “Additive manufacturing” (AM) is a big-picture term
more at home in the boardroom than the factory floor
or garage. Naturally, AM separates itself from older,
subtractive technologies like milling. Otherwise, the
term is less about the 3D printer itself, and more about
the manufacturing process transformed by 3D printing.
• What is that transformation? AM changes the way we
think about inventory and supply chain, taking parts
from the point of manufacture to the point of use?
• AM is flexible in the time it takes to load a file, from
anywhere in the world. It enables customized parts, in
volume, and involves stocking raw materials like
filament and printing spare parts on demand.
Thank you

Question

End