Lifeboat Foundation

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” »

By Signe Brewster — GigOm

When NASA sends a 3D printer to the International Space Station, it will dramatically improve the crew’s ability to fix unforeseen problems like broken parts and supply shortages. It will also reduce how much mass needs to be carried into space; instead of having a spare copy of everything, astronauts can just print parts as they are needed.

NASA is considering taking that reduction in material one step further by putting a plastic recycler on the ISS. The Made in Space printer that will board the ISS later this year prints in ABS plastic, which is the same type used in Legos and other common items. A recycler would allow the ISS crew to turn broken parts and other unneeded items back into the raw material on which the printer relies.

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By Paul Vigna and Michael J. Casey — The Wall Street Journal

When payment processor Bitpay announced the biggest-ever funding round for a bitcoin company earlier Tuesday it was was Richard Branson’s presence in the investment group that drew the most attention.

But while the Virgin Group chairman’s remarks about Bitpay leading a “currency revolution” were lapped up by bitcoin enthuisasts, we thought the comments from some of the lesser known investors were as, if not more, illuminating. They helped frame what might be called the emerging venture-capitalist vision for bitcoin: That its promise lies in disrupting an antiquated, inefficient and expensive global payments system more than as a revolutionary challenger to traditional currencies.

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Since the first modern Olympic Games bowed in Athens in 1896, humanity has gradually integrated the developments of science and technology into the realm of competitive sport.

The various attempts to slow the utilization of advanced materials, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, and robotics is akin to keeping certain gender or ethnic groups out of the games. Not just discrimination, but impeding the flow of progress.

If the ultimate goal of world-level competition is advancement of human physical ability, then athletes, coaches, physicians, and biotech engineers should be able to choose the very best tactics and strategies to achieve that goal.

A Transhuman Olympics would be wildly entertaining, but would also spur the development of biotechnology at a pace that public and private science could never keep up with. While the ethics of such an event might be hotly contested, the benefits to humankind would be lasting and far reaching.

Continue reading “The Transhuman Olympics: Where Entertainment Meets Innovation” »

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

Anti-aging gene also enhances cognition http://www.kurzweilai.net/anti-aging-gene-also-enhances-cognition

Astronomers find Sun’s sibling star http://www.kurzweilai.net/astronomers-find-suns-sibling-star

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

Why Algorithms Are The Next Star Designers http://www.fastcodesign.com/3029756/why-algorithms-are-the-next-star-designers

Michio Kaku on Alien Brains http://www.sciencegymnasium.com/2014/04/michio-kaku-on-alien-brains.html

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