Lifeboat Foundation

The 4th International Conference on Quantum Technologies held in Moscow last month was supposed to put the spotlight on Google, who were preparing to give a lecture on a 49-qubit quantum computer they have in the works.

A morning talk presented by Harvard University’s Mikhail Lukin, however, upstaged that evening’s event with a small announcement of his own – his team of American and Russian researchers had successfully tested a 51-qubit device, setting a landmark in the race for quantum supremacy.

Quantum computers are considered to be part of the next generation in revolutionary technology; devices that make use of the odd ‘in-between’ states of quantum particles to accelerate the processing power of digital machines.

Continue reading “We’re About to Cross The ‘Quantum Supremacy’ Limit in Computing” »

Climate change, they didn’t listen then, perhaps they’ll listen now.

Crippled water system, chemical plant blaze, vivid examples of Harvey’s cascading effects.

Authorities said at least 45 people were killed due to the storm, a number expected to increase.

Continue reading “Crippled water system, chemical plant blaze, vivid examples of Harvey’s cascading effects” »

Facebook has created a map showing where every single person on the planet lives, it has been revealed.

The internet giant hopes the map will help it to offer internet access to more people by creating an ‘internet in the sky’.

Continue reading “Facebook reveals map showing where EVERY human on the planet lives” »

Creators of artificial intelligence measure how well machines can imitate human qualities like empathy, listening, affirmation, and love. Don’t reciprocate, says Sherry Turkle. Turkle’s latest book is “Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in a Digital Age”

“I have very strong feelings about a future in which robots become the kind of conversational agent that pretend to have emotional lives. Shortly after I finished we can make reclaiming conversation I was interviewed for an article in the New York Times about Hello Barbie. So Hello Barbie comes out of the box and says, now I’m just paraphrasing, the jest hi I’m Hello Barbie. I have a sister. You have a sister. I kind of hate my sister. I’m jealous of your sister. Do you hate your sister? Let’s talk about how we feel about our sisters. In other words it just kind of knows stuff about you and is ready to talk about the arc of a human life and sibling rivalry as though it had a life, a mother, the feelings of jealousy about a sister and was ready to relate to you on that basis. And it doesn’t. It’s teaching pretend empathy. It’s asking you to relate to an object that has pretend empathy.”

Continue reading “Artificial Intelligence Can Pretend to Love Us, But is that Dangerous for Children?” »

Great news! The AgeMeter campaign (https://www.lifespan.io/agemeter) has been extended by 2 weeks; partly because the project lead Elliott Small has been called in by FEMA to help with Hurricane Harvey. We are also happy to announce 2 sources of matching funds to help carry this important project to victory)!

Please check the campaign updates or our post for all the details: http://www.leafscience.org/fighting-aging-and-hurricane-harvey/

Using the power of artificial intelligence and machine learning the project is developing a free to use application to help speed up research and reduce animal suffering.

For more info and to find out how you can help please visit:

https://www.lifespan.io/campaigns/mouseage-photographic-aging-clock-in-mice/

Hyder Jaffrey, head of strategic funding and fintech innovation at UBS, stated: “We have been in discussions with central banks and regulators and we will continue that over the next 12 months with the aim of a limited ‘go live’ at the back end of 2018.”

‘Utility settlement coin’ aims to launch next year for blockchain settlements.

Nanomachines which can drill into cancer cells, killing them in just 60 seconds, have been developed by scientists.

The tiny spinning molecules are driven by light, and spin so quickly that they can burrow their way through cell linings when activated.

In one test conducted at Durham University the nanomachines took between one and three minutes to break through the outer membrane of prostate cancer cell, killing it instantly.

Continue reading “Nanomachines that drill into cancer cells killing them in just 60 seconds developed by scientists” »

It could give you amazing capabilities, like being able to see your own cells.