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Sep 3, 2017
First paralyzed human regains his upper body movement after being treated with stem cells
Posted by Sean Brazell in categories: biotech/medical, neuroscience
When Kristopher Boesen of Bakersfield regained consciousness after losing control of his car while driving in wet conditions, he was paralyzed from the neck down. The prognosis was grim: he was told that he might never regain control of his limbs again.
But he has. At least some of them. He has movement in his upper body and can use his arms and hands. He can feed himself, text friends and family and even hug them. To him, this means that he has his life back. How did this miracle come about?
Kris was offered the opportunity to participate in a human clinical trial at the University of Southern California and Asterias Biotherapeutics. He is one of five previously paralyzed patients who experienced increased mobility after the trial.
Sep 3, 2017
Ray Kurzweil — A Revolutionary Future
Posted by Alexander Rodionov in categories: biotech/medical, chemistry, life extension, nanotechnology, Ray Kurzweil, robotics/AI, singularity, transhumanism
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLgJZ-yNBBE&feature=share
Kurzweil is one of the world’s leading minds on artificial intelligence, technology and futurism. He is the author of five national best-selling books, including “The Singularity is Near” and “How to Create a Mind.”
Raymond “Ray” Kurzweil is an American author, computer scientist, inventor and futurist. Aside from futurology, he is involved in fields such as optical character recognition (OCR), text-to-speech synthesis, speech recognition technology, and electronic keyboard instruments. He has written books on health, artificial intelligence (AI), transhumanism, the technological singularity, and futurism. Kurzweil is a public advocate for the futurist and transhumanist movements, and gives public talks to share his optimistic outlook on life extension technologies and the future of nanotechnology, robotics, and biotechnology.
Sep 3, 2017
Artificial Intelligence and Smart Journalism
Posted by Müslüm Yildiz in categories: information science, robotics/AI
How is Artificial Intelligence actually thinking? Even their creators often don’t really fully understand. But if AI becomes more and more important you should at least have an idea of how algorithms get to results. And they think totally different to how human beings do, says Sara M. Watson, tech critic and writer at the Digital Asia Hub, Hong Kong. How can literature and journalism help to find a new perspective on AI?
“The biggest problem AI has is that even the engineers can’t really explain certain outcomes or certain decisions that go through an artificially intelligent system.”
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Sep 3, 2017
Transhumanism and Libertarianism Are Entirely Compatible
Posted by Zoltan Istvan in categories: bioengineering, biotech/medical, cyborgs, economics, government, robotics/AI, sex, transhumanism, virtual reality
Article out by Ron Bailey at Reason Magazine that discusses #transhumanism and #libertarianism:
Kai Weiss, a researcher at the Austrian Economics Center and Hayek Institute in Vienna, Austria, swiftly denounced the piece. “Transhumanism should be rejected by libertarians as an abomination of human evolution,” he wrote.
Clearly there is some disagreement.
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Sep 3, 2017
The Dangers of CRISPR, Designer Babies, and Artificial Genetic Mutation
Posted by Derick Lee in categories: bioengineering, biotech/medical, evolution, genetics
Announcement of CRISPR technology, which allows precise editing of the human genome, has been heralded as the future of individualized medicine, and a decried as a slippery slope to engineering individual human qualities. Of course, humans already know how to manipulate animal genomes through selective breeding, but there has been no appetite to try on humans what is the norm for dogs. That’s a good thing, says Dawkins. The results could well be dangerous. Does technology as a whole represent a threat to human welfare if it continues to evolve at its current rate? Not so fast, warns Dawkins. Comparing biological evolution to technological progress is an analogy at best. His newest book is Science in the Soul: Selected Writings of a Passionate Rationalist.
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Sep 3, 2017
Here’s how to get to Alpha Centauri: propel a tiny spacecraft on the tip of a powerful laser beam
Posted by Andreas M. Hein in categories: business, space travel
Our Andromeda interstellar probe article has been featured in MlT Technology Review :
Business Impact.
Femto-spacecraft could travel to alpha centauri.
Sep 2, 2017
In recognition of the many International members…Ocho Mil!!!!!
Posted by Mary Jain in category: futurism
Sep 2, 2017
Vladimir Putin: Country That Leads in AI Development “Will be the Ruler of the World”
Posted by Carse Peel in categories: innovation, robotics/AI
Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke on Friday at a meeting of students in Yaroslavl, Russia about the development of artificial intelligence (AI). In a rather ominous sounding warning, the leader stated that “the one who becomes the leader in this sphere will be the ruler of the world.”
Many of those working in the field see AI as a tool for making humanity better, while others foresee it as a harbinger of doom for the human species. Not many high profile people — especially the leader of the largest nation on Earth — have come forward to blatantly express the potential of AI to be a tool of immense power for a nation to wield.
President Putin went on to say that “it would be strongly undesirable if someone wins a monopolist position,” implying that Russia’s breakthroughs would ideally be shared with other nations.
Sep 2, 2017
Online game challenges players to design on/off switch for CRISPR
Posted by Carse Peel in categories: biotech/medical, computing, entertainment, genetics
A Stanford team has launched a new challenge on the Eterna computer game. Players will design a CRISPR-controlling molecule, and with it open the possibility of new research and therapies.
A team of researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine has launched a new challenge for the online computer game Eterna in which players are being asked to design an RNA molecule capable of acting as an on/off switch for the gene-editing tool CRISPR/Cas9.
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