Lifeboat Foundation

By Erik Sofge — Popular Science

It happens quickly—more quickly than you, being human, can fully process.

A front tire blows, and your autonomous SUV swerves. But rather than veering left, into the opposing lane of traffic, the robotic vehicle steers right. Brakes engage, the system tries to correct itself, but there’s too much momentum. Like a cornball stunt in a bad action movie, you are over the cliff, in free fall.

Your robot, the one you paid good money for, has chosen to kill you. Better that, its collision-response algorithms decided, than a high-speed, head-on collision with a smaller, non-robotic compact. There were two people in that car, to your one. The math couldn’t be simpler.

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Andrea Chang — LA Times

Halsey Minor, founder of CNET and an early backer of Salesforce.com, is launching bitcoin platform Bitreserve.org.

The site aims to address the volatile nature of the cryptocurrency by providing real-time transparency, transaction traceability and proof of solvency.

“Bitcoin is a remarkable innovation, created and supported by lots of very smart people,” Minor said. “Bitreserve is built on top of the bitcoin network, allowing members to convert bitcoin into money they know, trust and understand.”

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The Huffington Post UK

A venture capital firm in Hong Kong has hired an artificially intelligent algorithm to its board of directors.

Read that again.

Deep Knowledge Ventures said that the AI would help make financial and business decisions, help lead its research into biotechnology and regenerative medicine, and would act as an “equal member of the board”.

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White Swan Update by Andres Agostini, Countermeassuring Every Unthinkable Black Swan, at https://lifeboat.com/blog/2014/04/white-swan

Transistors that wrap around tissues and morph with them http://www.kurzweilai.net/transistors-that-wrap-around-tissu…-with-them

Scientists discover protein that can slow brain tumor growth in mice http://www.kurzweilai.net/scientists-discover-protein-that-c…th-in-mice

Continue reading “White Swan Update by Andres Agostini, Countermeassuring Every Unthinkable Black Swan, at http://lifeboat.com/blog/2014/04/white-swan” »

White Swan Update by Andres Agostini, Countermeassuring Every Unthinkable Black Swan, at https://lifeboat.com/blog/2014/04/white-swan

Employee Sharing – The New Employee-Employer Relationship https://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20140512185957&#…lationship

MIT uses nanotech to hit cancer with one-two punch http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9248241

Continue reading “White Swan Update by Andres Agostini, Countermeassuring Every Unthinkable Black Swan, at http://lifeboat.com/blog/2014/04/white-swan” »

Kurzweil Accelerating Intelligence

Some SETI (search for extraterrestrial intelligence) scientists are considering “Active SETI” to detect possible extraterrestrial civilizations.

Psychologist Gabriel G. de la Torre, professor at the University of Cádiz (Spain) questions this idea, based on results* from a survey taken by students, which revealed a general level of ignorance about the cosmos and the influence of religion on these matters.

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Written By: Jason Dorrier — Singularity Hub

NASA may have decommissioned the Space Shuttle, but it’s not the end of space exploration for the iconic agency which wants to send humans back to the Moon and on to Mars within the next few decades. And they’ll need something to wear up there—something tailored for the next generation of space travel.

The agency first introduced its Z-series prototype spacesuits back in 2012.

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Shaunacy Ferro — Fast Company

Time line

The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, forever changed the course of world history. More than a decade later, the scope of their impact is still evolving. American troops are still stationed in Afghanistan. Ground Zero workers are still filing for compensation for 9/11-related illnesses.

How exactly to incorporate this unfolding aftermath of the event is one of the major challenges facing the National September 11 Memorial Museum, which opens to the public on May 21. Local Projects, the studio behind the museum’s exhibit design (and the designers of the Ground Zero memorial’s thoughtful naming scheme), approached the task algorithmically.

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Visit ClubOfINFO

- @ClubOfINFO — Rather than location, education or privilege, having something to offer seems to now be the only determining factor for a writer or activist to be published and gain a voice internationally.

Continue reading “Finding the crossroads of politics and technology — @HJBentham” »