Lifeboat Foundation

Brain-computer interfaces have become a practical (if limited) reality in the US. Synchron says it has become the first in the country to implant a BCI in a human patient. Doctors in New York’s Mount Sinai West implanted the company’s Stentrode in the motor cortex of a participant in Synchron’s COMMAND trial, which aims to gauge the usefulness and safety of BCIs for providing hands-free device control to people with severe paralysis. Ideally, technology like Stentrode will offer independence to people who want to email, text and otherwise handle digital tasks that others take for granted.

Surgeons installed the implant using an endovascular procedure that avoids the intrusiveness of open-brain surgery by going through the jugular vein. The operation went “extremely well” and let the patient return home 48 hours later, according to Synchron. An ongoing Australian trial has also proven successful so far, with four patients still safe a year after receiving their implants.

It may take a long time before doctors can offer Synchron’s BCIs to patients. The company received FDA approval for human trials in July 2021, and it’s still expanding the COMMAND trial as of this writing. Still, the US procedure represents a significant step toward greater autonomy for people with paralysis. It also represents a competitive victory — Elon Musk’s Neuralink has yet to receive FDA permission for its own implant.

An XPrize competition funded by Tesla CEO Elon Musk just awarded teams of students $5 million to develop their ideas for carbon removal systems — and it still has another $95 million to give away.

The challenge: Between our cars, factories, and everything else, humans are pumping about 43 billion tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere every year.

Continue reading “Students get $5 million from Elon Musk for carbon-removal ideas” »

Signs are positive after an explosion during tests this week, but SpaceX still ‘need to inspect all the engines’ of their Starship first-stage booster.

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Quite the inspirational week this one with the complete set of JWST First Images. Loads of Starship and Starbase news. Last week I mentioned that it was fire time for Starbase, and…WOW… I was not wrong there. SpaceX’s Starship Booster 7 has gone for repair after explosion. Falcon 9 launches for both Starlink and finally CRS-25. We also had the very first launch of Vega C. Rocket Lab firing off another Electron, and more. So enough of this intro. Let’s crack on with it!

Continue reading “SpaceX’s Starship Booster 7 gone for repair after explosion, JWST First Images, CRS-25, Vega C” »

The story of future video games starts when artificial intelligence takes over building the games for players — while they play them. And human brains are mapped by virtual reality headsets.

This sci fi documentary also covers A.I. npc characters, Metaverse scoreboards, brain to computer chips and gaming, Elon Musk and Neuralink, and the simulation hypothesis.

Continue reading “Timelapse of Future Gaming Worlds (2030 & Beyond)” »

Circa 2020

In 2016, Elon Musk’s younger brother, Kimbal Musk co-founded Brooklyn-NY-based vertical-farming operation Square Roots as part of a broader quest to grow fresh, local produce close to population centres and empower young people to participate in the sustainable urban farming trend. Over four years, Square Roots has grown more than 120 varieties of crop, including salad greens, vegetables and strawberries.

Continue reading “Elon Musk’s brother ramps up vertical farming venture” »