Lifeboat Foundation

By Jason Dorrier — Singularity Hub

As a kid, I devoured Star Trek: The Next Generation, and though it now appears nearly as campy as the original series did back then, I still love it. But Star Trek led me astray. I thought exploration for the sake of exploration would get us to the stars. Now, I’m not so sure. Fifty years in, and we humans are still stuck in low-Earth orbit.

First comes a smattering of fiery idealists blazing trails and climbing peaks. The risks are high and the returns are individual fame, newly detailed maps, and a general sense of awe.

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Lifeboat Foundation — Futurism Update — Feb/24/2015

Researched By Andres Agostini at https://www.AMAZON.com/author/agostini

LINKEDIN: The State of the Future (February 23, 2015 Update!) https://lnkd.in/eaGRVES

Lifeboat Foundation — Futurism Update — Feb/23/2015 — https://lifeboat.com/blog/2015/02/future_up_feb_23_2015

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Lifeboat Foundation — Futurism Update — Feb/23/2015 — http://www.AMAZON.com/author/agostini

FORBES: Why Information Security Is Everybody’s Business Now http://www.forbes.com/sites/sungardas/2015/02/05/why-informa…iness-now/

SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN: Physics Week in Review (Valentine’s Edition): February 14, 2015 http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/cocktail-party-physics/2…A_Facebook

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By Peter Diamandis –Singularity Hub

Have you heard of the Hyperloop? It’s the concept described as “a cross between a Concorde, a railgun and a bullet train.” Think: Los Angeles to Vegas in 20 minutes or LA to San Francisco in 35 minutes.

A new company called Hyperloop Technologies, Inc. was announced on the cover of Forbes this week, and they are taking on a bold new mission. I’m proud to be a founding director of the company, and very excited about the supercredible team that has come together to make Hyperloop happen.

I sit on the Board of the company along with Shervin Pishevar (major early Investor in Uber, Sherpa Ventures), Joe Lonsdale (Founder Palantir & Formation 8), Jim Messina (Pres. Obama’s Reelection Campaign Manager), David Sacks (Paypal, Yammer), and Brogan BamBrogran (Former SpaceX Engineer, and acting CEO).

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The following is short notice, but we just found out this event is open to the public.

You’re invited!

To an announcement of the formation of a new coalition of organizations focused on space development — with special guests Rep. Dana Rohrabacher and Rep. Chaka Fattah.

Continue reading “Lifeboat Foundation — Washington, D.C. event” »

Matthew Herper — Forbes


TONY COLES COULD have had any job he wanted in the drug industry. In five years at the helm of cancer drug developer Onyx Pharmaceuticals he increased its market cap eightfold by purchasing an experimental blood cancer drug for $800 million, developing it into a big seller and flipping the whole company to Amgen AMGN +1.01% for $10.4 billion in October 2013. He personally made $60 million on the deal. Biotech watchers expected him to start another cancer company or even command a drug giant like Merck or Pfizer PFE −0.29%.

Instead, Coles, 54, is using his own money to build a Cambridge, Mass.-based startup called Yumanity that is using yeast, the microbes that help make bread and beer, to study how misfolded proteins in the brain cause Alzheimer’s, Lou Gehrig’s disease and Parkinson’s, and to create drugs based on that knowledge. There’s already interest from Big Pharma. Coles says he chose to attack brain diseases, not tumors, because the need is so dire and the science is so fresh.

“We’ve got 50 million people around the world who have these diseases, costing $650 billion a year, and lots of families like mine that have been affected,” says Coles. “I had a grandmother who died of the complications of Alzheimer’s disease. I think about my own health as well.”

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By Josh Dzieza — The Verge

Earlier this week, during a disappointing Tesla earnings call, Elon Musk mentioned in passing that he’d be producing a stationary battery for powering the home in the next few months. It sounded like a throwaway side project from someone who’s never seen a side project he doesn’t like. But it’s a very smart move, and one that’s more central to Musk’s ambitions than it might seem.

To understand why, it helps to look not at Tesla, but at SolarCity, a company chaired by Musk and run by his cousin Lyndon Rive. SolarCity installs panels on people’s roofs, leases them for less than they’d be paying in energy bills, and sells surplus energy back to the local utility. It’s proven a tremendously successful model. Founded in 2006, the company now has 168,000 customers and controls 39 percent of the rapidly expanding residential solar market.

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