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Apr 12, 2016

Jeff Bezos wants to open the way for millions to live, work in space

Posted by in categories: asteroid/comet impacts, existential risks

COLORADO SPRINGS — Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.com, could not be more clear about what he believes is mankind’s future.

“I want millions of people living and working in space. I want us to be a space-faring civilization,” Bezos told a packed audience at the Space Symposium on Tuesday in Colorado Springs.

“My motivation is, I don’t want Plan B to be, ‘Good news, Earth got destroyed by a big comet but we live on Mars.’ I think we need to explore and utilize space in order to save the Earth,” he said, referring to the need to shift industrial manufacturing to space to limit the impact on Earth’s resources.

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Apr 12, 2016

TechInsurance Cites Microsoft’s Tay Glitch As Classic Technology E&O Risk

Posted by in categories: business, law, robotics/AI

Although this article is over 5 days old plus talks about the risks identified by TechInsurance company; it does highlight the potential new wave of lawsuits in the years to come that we could see flood the law offices and courts around AI. Also, it will be interested to see over the next 5 years how laws, reg. compliance, etc. will evolve with the deployment of AI.


Technology insurance provider reminds IT businesses that technical glitches and customer behavior are significant sources of risk.

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Apr 12, 2016

Can Silly Patents Help Fight Frivolous Lawsuits?

Posted by in category: futurism

Critics of the patent system say it’s too easy for people to save a slew of semi-realistic ideas, then sue when a firm separately tries to make something similar. A new website fights fire with fire.

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Apr 12, 2016

How the brain produces consciousness in ‘time slices’

Posted by in categories: biological, neuroscience

EPFL scientists propose a new way of understanding of how the brain processes unconscious information into our consciousness. According to the model, consciousness arises only in time intervals of up to 400 milliseconds, with gaps of unconsciousness in between.

The driver ahead suddenly stops, and you find yourself stomping on your breaks before you even realize what is going on. We would call this a reflex, but the underlying reality is much more complex, forming a debate that goes back centuries: Is consciousness a constant, uninterrupted stream or a series of discrete bits — like the 24 frames-per-second of a movie reel? Scientists from EPFL and the universities of Ulm and Zurich, now put forward a new model of how the brain processes unconscious information, suggesting that consciousness arises only in intervals up to 400 milliseconds, with no consciousness in between. The work is published in PLOS Biology.

Continuous or discrete?

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Apr 12, 2016

Scientists discover how the brain repurposes itself to learn scientific concepts

Posted by in categories: energy, neuroscience, physics

The human brain was initially used for basic survival tasks, such as staying safe and hunting and gathering. Yet, 200,000 years later, the same human brain is able to learn abstract concepts, like momentum, energy and gravity, which have only been formally defined in the last few centuries.

New research from Carnegie Mellon University has now uncovered how the brain is able to acquire brand new types of ideas. Published in Psychological Science, scientists Robert Mason and Marcel Just used neural-decoding techniques developed at CMU to identify specific physics concepts that advanced students recalled when prompted. The brain activation patterns while thinking about the physics concepts indicated that all of the students’ brains used the ancient brain systems the same way, and the patterns revealed how the new knowledge was formed — by repurposing existing neural systems.

The findings could be used to improve science instruction.

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Apr 12, 2016

Flow Induced Crystallization of Collagen: A Potentially Critical Mechanism in Early Tissue Formation

Posted by in category: life extension

Awesome; could be a new track for reverse aging.

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Apr 12, 2016

New hybrid inks permit printed, flexible electronics without sintering

Posted by in categories: computing, electronics

Research scientists at INM have combined the benefits of organic and inorganic electronic materials in a new type of hybrid inks. This allows electronic circuits to be applied to paper directly from a pen, for example.

The electronics of the future will be printed. Flexible circuits can be produced inexpensively on foil or paper using printing processes and permit futuristic designs with curved diodes or input elements. This requires printable electronic materials that can be printed and retain a high level of conductivity during usage in spite of their curved surfaces. Some tried and tested materials include organic, conductive polymers and nanoparticles made of conductive oxides (TCOs). Research scientists at INM – Leibniz-Institute for New Materials have now combined the benefits of organic and inorganic electronic materials in a new type of hybrid inks. This allows electronic circuits to be applied to paper directly from a pen, for example.

hybrid inks permit printed, flexible electronics without sintering

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Apr 12, 2016

Tech Cops Can Use to Test for Distracted Driving

Posted by in category: mobile phones

The Textalyzer would be able to determine if you were using your phone right before an accident occurred.

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Apr 12, 2016

That’s Awesome ( Credit: DIY Laser Guy )

Posted by in category: futurism

Join Us Fascinating Things

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Apr 12, 2016

AF releases criteria for basing new RPA units

Posted by in category: military

Airforce is looking for a few good men and women for their MQ-9 program.


WASHINGTON (AFNS) —
The Air Force released basing criteria April 12 that will be used to select candidate bases for a potential new MQ-9 Reaper wing with units at up to two locations.

The Air Force is pursuing additional locations to help diversify assignment opportunities for personnel within the MQ-9 enterprise, provide increased opportunities for leadership from within the community, and provide flexibility to enhance integration with other organizations and capabilities.

The desire for additional locations for an MQ-9 wing was identified during surveys of officers and enlisted Airmen in the MQ-9 and MQ-1 Predator enterprise as part of Air Combat Command’s Culture and Process Improvement Program.

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