Some secret lab projects are supposed to make our world a better place. Others are looking to bring new high-tech products to market. Still others are completely incomprehensible at first glance. Here are ten secret laboratories that will show you what can sometimes happen behind the closed doors of protected facilities.
Google x
Created in 2010, Google X's R&D Center is housed in an unremarkable brick building near the company's main location. His job is to develop incredible projects that require huge capital expenditures. Self-driving cars and Google Glass are theirs. Eric Teller, director of Google X, says that "we will sign up to solve any major human problem if we find a way to fix it."
Two out of a hundred or so other Google X ideas currently focus on Internet-connected light bulbs and robots capable of basic tasks in the home and office. In principle, robots could walk to work while people are at home.
Google X is also experimenting with a network of high-altitude balloons to bring Internet access to all remote parts of the globe. A fleet of such balloons could provide Internet access and automatically raise a new balloon every half hour. During the tests, the balloons were able to stay in the air for up to 187 days. This experiment, known as Project Loon, successfully transferred data between balloons 100 kilometers into the stratosphere and provided a connection at speeds up to 10 megabits per second.
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Apple Lab
At Apple's secret lab in Berlin, about 20 workers with skills in engineering, programming, hardware and sales are working on their own version of a self-driving car. The final product can be assembled by auto parts manufacturer Magna, which also assembles BMW and Mercedes-Benz parts.
The team's efforts are from time to time supported by the expertise of automotive experts from Tesla, Ford and Mercedes-Benz. Apple's self-driving car will be released in 2019-2020.
Amazon Lab
Amazon's secret lab in Cambridge, England is working on 30-minute home delivery using drones. Using 3D printing technology to create parts of these very drones. Using GPS, Amazon Prime Air Service drones can climb to a height of 122 meters, locate markers there and deliver their cargo, deploying an object detection and avoidance system that allows them to avoid obstacles.
The drone will be monitored by a "security operator". If the drone encounters an unexpected object along its delivery route, it will cancel the delivery and try to avoid a possible collision. Cargoes up to 2 kilograms can be delivered over a distance of 24 kilometers.
Samsung laboratory
To showcase its innovative Creative Lab program, Samsung exhibited three inventions at CES 2016: a smart belt, a motion sensor, and a smart watch strap.
The WELT belt tracks the size of the wearer's waist and observes the wearer's eating habits, how many steps he takes and how long he sits. The wristband, a motion sensor wrapped around the arm, allows its wearer to experience "a more intuitive and subtle way to interact with virtual reality." The TipTalk watch allows the wearer to better hear the phone ringing in noisy places by touching the finger to the ear.
Telstra laboratory
Based in New South Wales, the Australian telecommunications company Telstra maintains a secret laboratory with shielded rooms to ensure there is no interference and an ideal testing environment can be obtained. This lab tests mobile devices and software updates to prevent costly errors.
The purpose of testing is quality control. “Our dedicated engineers conduct 3,450 unique tests for each device - covering protocol, performance, antenna or receiver sensitivity, audio quality and data rate user experience tests,” explains a Telstra spokesman. One of the more unusual devices that staff tested in the lab in 2016 was the Telstra Nighthawk M1, capable of delivering 1 gigabit download speeds and allowing users to connect to multiple Wi-Fi devices at the same time.
EBay Lab
EBay's secret lab in San Jose, California is trying to revolutionize shopping by marrying online opportunities with retail stores and other traditional businesses. Known as Bat Cave among 17 employees, the laboratory partnered with fashion designer Rebecca Minkoff to help her open boutiques in New York and San Francisco with technological enhancements such as smart locker rooms. Mirrors reflect instructions for choosing size and style; But the main feature of the boutiques is the 5.2-meter "wall" for $ 300,000, which instantly reacts to touch, like a giant smartphone.
The lab is also developing a "connected kiosk" at the Stanford Shoppong Center in Palo Alto, California, and is deploying touchscreen technology in stores to help users navigate the store and find things to order.
IKEA laboratory
Copenhagen's meat-cutting area may seem like an odd place for the company's laboratory, but that's where IKEA has housed Space 10, a center for research and demonstration. Space 10 brings artists, designers and technologists together to develop a variety of prototypes, which are then shown at exhibitions and seminars.
In addition to 3D-printed meatballs, the lab also serves up other unusual meatballs to showcase and impose new food trends, including meat in vitro and seaweed harvesting. 3D printers are used to create personalized food, consisting of algal proteins, beet leaves, or even insects.
Space 10's other projects include an automatic hydroponic farm and advanced tools (like laser cutters and 3D printers) for disposing of disposable materials.
Feces laboratory
The Russian government once worked on a secret laboratory for analyzing stool samples. Even under the regime of Joseph Stalin, the secret police collected the excretions of Mao Tse-Tung and others, analyzed them to create a "constructive psychological portrait." Igor Atamanenko, a former Soviet agent, uncovered the operation while researching the secret archives of the Russian intelligence services.
In those days, it was impossible to put a listening device in the room, so Russian experts decided to collect and analyze human excrement. The chair, according to the researchers, could provide insight into the psyche of people interesting for intelligence. For example, a high level of tryptophan would mean that the person is calm and available. On the other hand, a lack of potassium was seen as a sign of nervous anxiety and insomnia.
To collect Mao's samples, agents set up special toilets with secret boxes. When Mao's feces showed a bad time to come to terms with him, Stalin did not. Nikita Khrushchev, who replaced Stalin at the post, closed the project and the secret laboratory.
Thomas Jefferson Laboratory
According to the project manager overseeing the renovation of the rotunda at the University of Virginia, Matt Scheidt wanted to know how thick the walls of the rotunda were, so he crawled through a hole in one of them and found Thomas Jefferson's chemistry lab. The laboratory was built in the 1820s towards the end of the rotunda construction and was fenced off by walls in 1840 due to the advent of better teaching methods. Then the rotunda survived a fire in 1895 and a major renovation in the 1970s.
In October 2015, when Scheidt entered the rotunda, the lost laboratory was discovered. Now it is shown as an exhibition hall of one of the oldest "chemical centers" to the visitors of the rotunda.
Hedy Lamarr Laboratory
Hedy Lamarr was more than just the beautiful and successful star of Hollywood's golden age; she was also an amateur scientist who kept a "secret laboratory" in her bedroom. While living in Germany, she married an arms dealer from whom she learned about technology. After moving to the United States and facing World War II, she decided to do her part and help the military.
Realizing that torpedo signals are often jammed, she and composer George Antheil, inspired by piano music, created and patented a frequency that could be "changed and switched like a piano," making torpedoes resistant to stunning. Their frequency is still used in modern Wi-Fi, phones, and Bluetooth.
ILYA KHEL