Lifeboat Foundation

By Richard Webner — Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

During his childhood in Korea, Yong-Lae Park developed a love for robotics, using the nuts, bolts and metal bars from science kits to build mechanical versions of his favorite cartoon characters.

“Robotics is very interesting and attractive because you build it and it moves on its own,” Mr. Park said.

Today, Mr. Park, an associate professor at Carnegie Mellon University’s Robotics Institute, retains his childhood passion but directs it toward more mature creations. He’s part of a team that has designed a robotic device to restore movement for sufferers of neuromuscular disorders that affect the foot and ankle, such as cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis and drop foot.

Catherine Shu- TechCrunch

BTC China, the world’s largest bitcoin exchange, has started allowing users to purchase the digital currency with Chinese yuan again. This is significant because BTC China stopped accepting deposits in renminbi last month after the People’s Bank of China issued a memo warning national financial institutions not to trade in bitcoin. That decision triggered a quick and massive drop in its value. It also hurt Bitcoin’s public image, which has taken several shots in the past few months.

BTC China CEO Bobby Lee told the Wall Street Journal that the exchange started accepting renminbi again on Thursday after studying the PBOC memo and determining that it was legal to accept deposits and transfer money into customer accounts, even though the banks that manage those accounts can’t conduct business in bitcoin.

Read more

FEBRUARY 03/2014 UPDATES. By Mr.Andres Agostini at www.Future-Observatory.blogspot.com

Maps showing which parts of the world would be flooded if all the world’s ice melted
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2013/09/rising-seas/if-ice-melted-map

3-D printing takes shape
http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/manufacturing/3-d_printing_…k-oth-1401

40 more maps that explain the world
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2014/01/13…the-world/

The Future of Space-Age Management
http://lnkd.in/bYP2nDC

Continue reading “The Future Observatory” »

Pete Rizzo — CoinDesk

Readers who visit the Chicago Sun-Times today will notice something they aren’t likely to have seen before: a bitcoin paywall separating them from their content.

The Chicago Sun-Times is the ninth-largest newspaper in the United States, and the first major US publication to trial a bitcoin paywall.

Instead of paying for a subscription, as patrons of the The Wall Street Journal or the Financial Times do, Chicago Sun-Times readers who visit the site on 1st February will be asked to donate bitcoin payments to the Taproot Foundation, or tweet about the nonprofit, in order to read articles.

Read More

By Rhiannon Williams — The Telegraph

FEBRUARY 02/2014UPDATES. By Mr.Andres Agostini at www.Future-Observatory.blogspot.com

Mass unemployment fears over Google artificial intelligence plans
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/google/10603933/Mass-u…plans.html

Should We Re-Engineer Ourselves?
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/pearce20140201

A New Physics Theory of Life
https://www.simonsfoundation.org/quanta/20140122-a-new-physics-theory-of-life/

Dr. Rachel Armstrong — Earth’s Bright Future
http://www.londonreal.tv/episodes/dr-rachel-armstrong-earths-bright-future/

Continue reading “The Future Observatory” »

FEBRUARY 01/2014 UPDATES. By Mr. Andres Agostini at www.Future-Observatory.blogspot.com

A brain area unique to humans is linked to strategic planning/decision making/multitasking
http://www.kurzweilai.net/a-brain-area-unique-to-humans-is-l…ltitasking

Physicists create synthetic magnetic monopoles
http://www.kurzweilai.net/physicists-create-synthetic-magnetic-monopoles

Stress turns ordinary cells pluripotent
http://www.kurzweilai.net/stress-turns-ordinary-cells-pluripotent

Natural plant compound prevents Alzheimer’s disease in mice
http://www.kurzweilai.net/natural-plant-compound-prevents-al…se-in-mice

Continue reading “Future Observatory” »

By Miranda Prynne, — The Telegraph

The development of artificial intelligence — thrown into spotlight this week after Google spent hundreds of millions on new technology — could mean computers take over human jobs at a faster rate than new roles can be created, experts have warned Artificial intelligence could lead to mass unemployment if computers develop the capacity to take over human work, experts warned days after it emerged that Google had beat competitors to buy a firm specialising in this kind of technology.

Dr Stuart Armstrong, from the Future of Humanity Institute at the University of Oxford, gave the stark warning after it emerged that Google had paid £400m for the British artificial intelligence firm DeepMind.

Read more

JANUARY/31/2014 UPDATES:

Neanderthal Genes Linked to Human Health
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303743604579350653841134542

Attitudes about Aging: A Global Perspective.
In a Rapidly Graying World, Japanese Are Worried, Americans Aren’t
http://www.pewglobal.org/2014/01/30/attitudes-about-aging-a-global-perspective/

27 Dimensions! Physicists See Photons in New Light
http://news.yahoo.com/27-dimensions-physicists-see-photons-light-115226866.html

Scientists use fruit flies to detect cancer
http://www.gizmag.com/fruit-flies-detect-cancer/30665/

Continue reading “The Future Observatory” »