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May 24, 2017
Trump budget would slash science programmes across government
Posted by Derick Lee in categories: government, health, science
Proposed cuts include 11% at the National Science Foundation, 18% at the National Institutes of Health and 30% at the Environmental Protection Agency.
May 23, 2017
NASA invites scientists to submit ideas for Europa lander
Posted by Brett Gallie II in category: space
May 23, 2017
I’m excited that popular site Consequence of Sound rated my #Moogfest talk one of the top 5 most unique experiences at the festival
Posted by Zoltan Istvan in category: transhumanism
The article with the other nominations is great reading of the event. https://consequenceofsound.net/2017/05/the-five-most-unique-…st-2017/4/ #transhumanism
While the space agency would see cuts across most of its programs, it has been spared the worst compared to the government’s other research agencies.
May 23, 2017
Google AI beats Chinese master in ancient game of Go
Posted by Dan Kummer in categories: entertainment, robotics/AI
BEIJING A Google artificial intelligence program defeated a Chinese grand master at the ancient board game Go on Tuesday, a major feather in the cap for the firm’s AI ambitions as it looks to woo Beijing to gain re-entry into the country.
In the first of three planned games in the eastern water town of Wuzhen, the AlphaGo program held off China’s world number one Ke Jie in front of Chinese officials and Google parent Alphabet’s (GOOGL.O) chief executive Eric Schmidt.
The victory over the world’s top player — which many thought would take decades to achieve — underlines the potential of artificial intelligence to take on humans at complex tasks.
Continue reading “Google AI beats Chinese master in ancient game of Go” »
May 23, 2017
Sex Equality: I’m With Her
Posted by Philip Raymond in categories: education, ethics, policy, rants, sex
Lifeboat Editorial
Lydia Begag is a high school junior at Advanced Math and Science Academy in Massachusetts. She got our attention when she published an editorial critical of the school’s uniform policy. With eloquence and articulation, she laid out a brilliant and persuasive argument that the policy was anything but uniform. It was ambiguous, arbitrary and discriminatory.
I’m with Her
Ideas Regarding Sex Equality
—Forget the Rest
Political and social turmoil are everywhere we turn, especially in the early months of 2017. Lunch conversations, small talk at work, and, of course, the media we consume have all become related to a singular topic: the United States government and its workings. Emotionally, I want to curl up in a ball and block out the political nonsense being spewed left and right until the day I die (pun very much intended)—but I feel intellectually obliged to confront the controversy.
May 23, 2017
Microsoft Plans to Create DNA Storage System Data Center within a Decade
Posted by Klaus Baldauf in category: computing
MIT Technology Review has reported that researchers working for the company are optimistic they will create an apparatus that replaces tape drives within this decade.
May 23, 2017
China’s belt and road infrastructure plan also includes science
Posted by Derick Lee in categories: economics, engineering, nanotechnology, quantum physics, robotics/AI, science, sustainability
China is also planning to use the initiative to flex its scientific and engineering muscles, officials made clear at a 2-day Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation that ended yesterday in Beijing. “Innovation is an important force powering development,” Xi said in a speech to the opening session of the forum. And so the initiative will include technical cooperation in fields including artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, quantum computing, and smart cities. He also mentioned the need to pursue economic growth that is in line with sustainable development goals, and that rests on environmentally friendly approaches.
Investment also planned in artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, and other fields.
May 23, 2017
Self-driving cars could cost America’s professional drivers up to 25,000 jobs a month, Goldman Sachs says
Posted by Dan Kummer in categories: economics, employment, robotics/AI, transportation
The full impact of self-driving cars on society is several decades away — but when it hits, the job losses will be substantial for American truck drivers, according to a new report from Goldman Sachs.
When autonomous vehicle saturation peaks, U.S. drivers could see job losses at a rate of 25,000 a month, or 300,000 a year, according to a report from Goldman Sachs Economics Research.
Truck drivers, more so than bus or taxi drivers, will see the bulk of that job loss, according to the report. That makes sense, given today’s employment: In 2014, there were 4 million driver jobs in the U.S., 3.1 million of which were truck drivers, Goldman said. That represents 2 percent of total employment.