Lifeboat Foundation

Most times when we think of deepfakes, we think of the myriad negative applications. From pornography to blackmail to politics, deepfakes are a product of machine learning. They create a lie that is so realistic that it is hard to believe it is not the real thing. In a society plagued by fake news, deepfakes have the potential to do a substantial amount of harm.

But a recent team of researchers found another use for deepfakes — to deepfake the mind. And using machine learning to simulate artificial neural data in this way may make a world of difference for those with disabilities.

For people with full body paralysis, the body can seemingly become a prison. Communicating and the simplest of tasks may appear to be an insurmountable challenge. But even if the body is frozen, the mind may be very active. Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) offer a way for these patients to interact with the world.

Continue reading “Benefits Of ‘Deepfaking’ The Mind In Creating Brain-Computer Interfaces” »

We continue our overview of the Longevity Forum’s Science Summit at Oxford’s Oriel College, part of Longevity Week and hosted by Professor Lynne Cox and Jim Mellon.

Longevity. Technology: Severe community-acquired infections (such as community-acquired pneumonia and COVID-19) are more common in older adults, and overall outcomes are worse. But why as we get older are we more susceptible and can we harness the immune system to improve clinical trajectories in older adults?

Professor Liz Sapey is the Chair of Acute Medicine and an academic acute and respiratory medicine physician at the University of Birmingham and University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust. Sapey presented on what is known about susceptibility to infection as we age.

As urgent as that question is, experts are warning they need a few weeks at the minimum to fully understand how well vaccines protect against Omicron.

The Indian edtech giant Byju’s keeps getting bigger, having raised more than $4.5 billion since it was founded 10 years ago. This month the company made clear its ambitious research agenda: to achieve the science-fiction dream of building next-generation teaching aids with artificial intelligence.

Specifically, the company announced a new research-and-development hub, with offices in Silicon Valley, London and Bangalore, that will work on applying the latest findings from artificial intelligence and machine learning to new edtech products. The new hub, called Byju’s Lab, will also work on “moonshots” of developing new forms of digital tutoring technology, said Dev Roy, chief innovation and learning officer for BYJU’s, in a recent interview with EdSurge.

“Edtech is one of the slowest adopters of AI so far, compared to some of the other industries out there,” Roy said. “Even in health care, what DeepMind has done with mapping the proteins of DNA—nobody’s doing that in the education sector.”

Forget losing your job to robots, Scientists have created robots that can reproduce. ‘Xenobots’ are capable of ‘self-replicating’ themselves. They are made up of stem cells taken from frogs. Astounded? Watch this report by Palki Sharma for the details.

#Gravitas #Robots #Xenobots.

Continue reading “Gravitas: These robots can produce babies | ‘Xenobots’ capable of ’self-replicating‘” »

Epicurus and epicurean philosophy may not be as popular as stoicism in today’s world, however, different philosophies might work for different people. The insights of epicurean ethics including God, death, pleasure, friends, love, and more can influence the way you might act. Although it may not be as popular today, it has still influenced many others throughout history such as Spinoza.
In this video, I explain the ‘four part cure for life’ as shown from The Epicurus Reader. This includes not fearing God or death and what pleasures one should strive for and avoid. I mainly quote from the letter to menoeceus, but the principal doctrines also provide good sayings.
I hope this video gives you some insight as to how you might act and hopefully you find something useful from it.

Song: FSM Team feat. escp — Lazy Afternoon.

Continue reading “The Four Part Cure For Life: Epicurus” »

Stethoscopes are among doctors’ most important instruments, yet there have not been any essential improvements to the device since the 1960s. Now, researchers at Aalto University have developed a device that analyzes a broad range of bodily functions and offers physicians a probable diagnosis as well as suggestions for appropriate further examinations. The researchers believe that the new device could eventually replace the stethoscope and enable quicker and more precise diagnoses.

A startup called Vital Signs is taking the device to the market. The researchers are currently testing the device in a clinical pilot trial. The intention is to launch the product to the most important European markets by the end of 2023.

“We have a well-functioning prototype, and the development path is clear,” says Alexis Kouros, the doctor leading the research team at Aalto.

Markets plunged on Friday, hope of taming the coronavirus dimmed and a new term entered the pandemic lexicon: Omicron.

The Covid-19 variant that emerged in South Africa was named after the 15th letter of the Greek alphabet.

The naming system, announced by the World Health Organization in May, makes public communication about variants easier and less confusing, the agency and experts said.

Pfizer is confident its COVID-19 antiviral pill, Paxlovid, will be effective against the new omicron variant, the drugmaker’s CEO told CNBC Nov. 29.

The omicron strain, first detected in South Africa, contains 32 mutations in the spike protein, and while preliminary evidence suggests the strain may increase the risk of reinfection, it’s still uncertain how the variant may affect illness severity or the effectiveness of vaccines and treatments.

Albert Bourla, PhD, Pfizer’s CEO, told CNBC the company’s antiviral was created with the spike protein in mind and expects it will work against omicron.