Lifeboat Foundation

The two academic authors from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who became the pin-up boys of the Davos crowd for their previous book on The Second Machine Age (2014), do a neat job of scanning the technological horizon and highlighting significant landmarks. This is a clear and crisply written account of machine intelligence, big data and the sharing economy. But McAfee and Brynjolfsson also wisely acknowledge the limitations of their futurology and avoid over-simplification. No one can really have much idea how the business world is going to evolve or predict the precise interplay between all these fast-changing forces.

A new book by the authors of ‘The Second Machine Age’ suggests that digital disruption is coming to the corner office.

We are incredibly excited to announce that Firmamentum, a division of Tethers Unlimited, Inc. (TUI), has signed a contract with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop a system that will use in-space manufacturing and robotic assembly technologies to construct on orbit a small satellite able to provide high-bandwidth satellite communications (SATCOM) services to mobile receivers on the ground.

Under the OrbWeaver Direct-to-Phase-II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) effort, Firmamentum aims to combine its technologies for in-space recycling, in-space manufacturing, and robotic assembly to create a system that could launch as a secondary payload on an Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV). This system would recycle a structural element of that rocket, known as an EELV Secondary Payload Adapter (ESPA) ring, by converting the ring’s aluminum material into a very large, high-precision antenna reflector. The OrbWeaver™ payload would then attach this large antenna to an array of TUI’s SWIFT® software defined radios launched with the OrbWeaver payload to create a small satellite capable of delivering up to 12 gigabits per second of data to K-band very small aperture terminals (VSAT) on the ground.

Nice jibe at Boston Dynamics, they are only uhh the best legged robot lab in the world. Google didnt have a clue what they were doing when they bought Boston Dynamics, and thankfully getting sold now before they did anymore damage to it.

I Have a brilliant idea, lets force them to work on wheeled robots LOL 😛.

Alphabet’s sale of a robotics business to Japan’s Softbank shows that CFO Ruth Porat is taking aim even at the company’s most advanced technologies.

Continue reading “In the Ruth Porat era at Alphabet, even robot video stars have to find some paying customers” »

Lifeboat Foundation readers are aware that the world has become progressively more chaotic. Part of the danger comes from centralized points of failure. While large institutions can bear great stress, they also cause more harm when they fail. Because there are so few pillars, if one collapses, the whole system is destroyed.

For instance, prior to the federal reserve system, bank runs we extremely common. However, since the financial system consisted of small, competing institutions, failure was confined to deficient banks. So while failure was frequent, it was less impactful and systemic. In contrast, after the establishment of the federal reserve, banks became fewer and larger. Failures, while more infrequent, were large scale catastrophes when they occurred. They affected the whole economy and had longer impact.

This is even more important in political systems, which are the foundation of how a society operates. In order to have a more robust, antifragile social order, systems must be decentralized. Rather than a monopolistic, static political order, there must be a series of decentralized experiments. While failures are inevitable, it can be localized to these small experiments rather than the whole structure.

Continue reading “Startup Societies Summit: A Decentralized Governance Trade Show” »

What is the ultimate goal of Artificial General Intelligence?

In this video series, the Galactic Public Archives takes bite-sized looks at a variety of terms, technologies, and ideas that are likely to be prominent in the future. Terms are regularly changing and being redefined with the passing of time. With constant breakthroughs and the development of new technology and other resources, we seek to define what these things are and how they will impact our future.

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The International Economic Forum, which just wrapped up in St. Petersburg, reportedly resulted in more than €30 bln of investments. The final and the most important result, however, is measured not in numbers, but in the mood and attitude of those who attended the Forum and who was keeping an eye on the events and meetings held in the North “capital” of Russia.

The cryptocurrency community is for sure left stunned by the recent meeting between Russian President Putin and the founder of Ethereum Vitalik Buterin.

As commented by Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov, during the meeting, Putin and Buterin discussed the application of technologies in the country. Reportedly, the president supported the idea of establishing new business relationships following the road paved by Blockchain technology.

Continue reading “Suddenly Vladimir Putin Meets Vitalik Buterin, Endorses Ethereum” »

One of the missions of Lifeboat Foundation has always been to contemplate the protection of our fragile Spaceship-Earth and to contemplate a day when we may need to migrate from this tiny stage. Yesterday, that day may have been moved a lot closer. But I am getting ahead of myself.

Yesterday, I had a fantasy. One that I passionately hoped would become reality. Minutes before Trump announced the withdrawal of the United States from the Paris Climate Accord, I began to daydream…

• I dreamt that Trump might listen to his top science advisors and his daughter
• I dreamt that he might not gamble our existence on his minority opinion that humans cannot help rescue the environment.
• I dreamt that he would recognize that clean energy jobs trump legacy coal mining
• I dreamt that he would avoid export tariffs for failing to respect international norms
• I dreamt that he would stop pandering to Yahoos and stand for something worthy and undeniable

No such luck! The USA has lost its Mojo—at least while it is led by a man with no grasp of science, history, morals or a global perspective. As Trump begun to speak, I was sucked into a cruel nightmare. But this nightmare is reality. It’s the reality of a buffoon representing you and me in our nation’s highest office.

Question: Time for a thought experiment. Can you guess the answer?…

Continue reading “Reaction: Trump Decision to Withdraw from Paris Accord” »

Implants, transhumanism, & the US Navy in this new article: http://akashictimes.co.uk/brits-line-up-to-be-microchipped/ #transhumanism #implants

Is this the mark of the beast?

A growing number of people in the UK are getting microchipped, according to new findings.

Continue reading “Brits line up to be microchipped” »

National Geographic is bringing together the brightest minds in science, technology and science fiction for a glimpse into what awaits humanity in the years to come. The predictions are showcased in a new six-part series “Year Million.” Executive producer David O’Connor and CBS News science contributor Dr. Michio Kaku join “CBS This Morning: Saturday” to discuss some of the series’ jaw-dropping projections.

Watch “CBS This Morning” HERE: http://bit.ly/1T88yAR
Watch the latest installment of “Note to Self,” only on “CBS This Morning,” HERE: http://cbsn.ws/1Sh8XlB
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Continue reading “New series ‘Year Million’ aims to predict the future of humanity” »