Lifeboat Foundation

Israel-based BrainQ is a new neurotech startup hoping to take on brain-computer interface (BCI) companies like Braintree founder Bryan Johnson’s Kernel and Silicon Valley billionaire Elon Musk’s Neuralink.

It’s not clear yet what Musk’s startup intends to do with the computer chips it plans to put in our heads, but Johnson’s startup says it is focused on developing “technologies to understand and treat neurological diseases in new and exciting ways.”

Whatever sector each company goes for, both plan to insert chips in our brains to connect us to computers — the consequences of which could have dramatic effects on human memory, intelligence, communication and many other areas that could rocket humanity forward, should they work out.

Continue reading “BrainQ aims to cure stroke and spinal cord injuries through mind-reader tech” »

However, the pattern seems clear, and is worth heeding by other nations: despite China’s reputation for authoritarian and hierarchical rule, in science the approach seems to be to ensure that top researchers are well supported with funding and resources, and then to leave them to get on with it.

Chinese investment is paying off with serious advances in biotech, computing and space. Are they edging ahead of the west?

By Philip Ball

Continue reading “China’s great leap forward in science” »

Rumors swirled earlier this week suggesting Nvidia was preparing to showcase its next generation of GeForce graphics cards during its GPU Technology Conference (GTC) at the end of the month (or perhaps even during the annual Game Developers Conference a week earlier).

Unfortunately, neither venue will host the big reveal according to a recent report from Tom’s Hardware. Multiple independent sources tell the site that apart from a possible announcement and a vague appetizer, nothing concrete regarding Nvidia’s next-gen gaming hardware is likely to be shared at the shows.

“Rumors that these venues would be the big reveal for Nvidia’s 2018 cards to succeed its current Pascal lineup should be put to rest,” the site advises.

Continue reading “Nvidia unlikely to unveil GTX 2080/70 GPUs this month” »

The quest for “quantum supremacy”—unambiguous proof that a quantum computer does something faster than an ordinary computer—has paradoxically led to a boom in quasi-quantum classical algorithms.

Summary: Treatability of cancer was raised to over 80% by a new intelligent system that sifts through massive genetic datasets to pinpoint targets for cancer treatment, say these scientists. [This article first appeared on LongevityFacts. Author: Brady Hartman. ]

Scientists in Singapore have discovered a significantly improved way to treat cancer by listening to many different computer programs rather than just one.

Their new computer program reaches a consensus on how to treat a specific tumor, and it is significantly more accurate than existing predictive methods. The system isolates the Achilles heel of each individual tumor, helping doctors to choose the best treatment.

Continue reading “Using big data analysis to significantly boost cancer treatment effectiveness” »

Cryptocurrencies have become a major topic of interest in the United States, in part due to the extreme volatility of the flagship cryptocurrency, Bitcoin. Bitcoin rose from a modest value (under $1,000) to more than $15,000 in the span of a year, and now hovers between $6,000 and $12,000, with wild fluctuations throughout the days and weeks. It’s a potentially lucrative investment, but also a risky one—especially considering how new the concept of cryptocurrencies really is.

In addition to buying and selling cryptocurrencies, consumers are more actively involving themselves in crypto mining, the process of creating new digital currency. But the culture surrounding crypto mining is changing, and it may never be the same again.

Before you can understand how crypto mining is changing, you have to understand how it started, and what it is today. To hold its value, cryptocurrency needs to exist in a finite amount, and just like printing money, it needs an initial distribution. The system also relies on a network of peers (i.e., hundreds to thousands of computers) to audit each transaction on the network; in other words, the community of computers has to agree that a transaction is legitimate before it’s finalized as a “block” and added to the blockchain.

Continue reading “The culture of crypto mining is changing: here’s how” »

A new technique has raised the success rate of quantum memory storage from 30 to 70 percent. This leap in quantum computing could propel us closer to a future that connects us through ultra-secure quantum networks.

Check out this week’s episode of Singularity Hub’s video series, Tech-x-planations, to learn more about what a quantum computer really is.

There may soon be more quantum programming languages than there are quantum computers.