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Archive for the ‘lifeboat’ category: Page 6

Feb 25, 2016

Photonic propulsion cuts Mars travel time

Posted by in categories: astronomy, energy, lifeboat, physics, space travel, transportation

Recent advances in lasers suggest that we may see rockets propelled by light earlier than we had imagined. NASA scientist Philip Lubin and his team are working on a system that would use Earth-based lasers to allow space travel to far-away places in just a fraction of the time needed with current technology.

photonic_propulsion

Using earth based lasers to push along a spacecraft instead of on board hydrocarbon-based fuel could dramatically reduce travel time to Mars, within our lifetime. Currently, it takes five months for a space craft to reach Mars. But, with photonic propulsion, it is likely that small crafts filled with experiments will reach Mars in just 3 days. Large spaceships with astronauts and life support systems will take only one month, which is about 20% of the duration of a current trip.

What’s next? Lubin believes that we may be able to send small crafts with scientific experiments to exoplanets as fast as 5% light speed in, perhaps, 30 years. Eventually, he claims that the technology will carry humans at speeds up to 20% light speed.

Read about it here.

Feb 24, 2016

What has changed since “Pale Blue Dot”?

Posted by in categories: astronomy, cosmology, environmental, ethics, habitats, lifeboat, science, space, space travel, sustainability

I am not an astronomer or astrophysicist. I have never worked for NASA or JPL. But, during my graduate year at Cornell University, I was short on cross-discipline credits, and so I signed up for Carl Sagan’s popular introductory course, Astronomy 101. I was also an amateur photographer, occasionally freelancing for local media—and so the photos shown here, are my own.

Sagan-1


Carl Sagan is aware of my camera as he talks to a student in the front row of Uris Hall

By the end of the 70’s, Sagan’s star was high and continuing to rise. He was a staple on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, producer and host of the PBS TV series, Cosmos, and he had just written Dragons of Eden, which won him a Pulitzer Prize. He also wrote Contact, which became a blockbuster movie, starring Jodie Foster.

Sagan died in 1996, after three bone marrow transplants to compensate for an inability to produce blood cells. Two years earlier, Sagan wrote a book and narrated a film based on a photo taken from space.PaleBlueDot-1

Continue reading “What has changed since ‘Pale Blue Dot’?” »

Feb 1, 2016

The 9 Lives of the Dreamer & Maker: Phillipe Bojorquez

Posted by in categories: bioengineering, lifeboat, robotics/AI

I gave an interview for a queer people of interest blog and plugged the lifeboat foundation. Thought I would share the information here.


Phillipe Bojorquez is an engineer, activist, and artist: He has been described as “a futurist with a community minded bent.” He is a engineer, with experience at First Dibs, Samsung, Boxee, and Canary. He is a board member of The Lifeboat Foundation, an independent research group dedicated to helping humanity survive the risks posed by new technologies. His research areas include artificial intelligence, robotics, engineering, and philosophy. Bojorquez is a past board member of CRUX, NYC’s LGBT rock climbing organization, and an early contributor and organizer of Vegans in Vegas, a yearly gathering of activists and entrepreneurs at the forefront of nutrition and sustainability.

Read more

Jan 11, 2016

We got as high as #1! Currently are #2. Get our Visions of the Future at http://amzn.to/1mlfcaw

Posted by in categories: futurism, lifeboat

ranking

Other Lifeboat Foundation books include The Human Race to the Future: What Could Happen — and What to Do and Prospects for Human Survival.

Get Visions of the Future!

Sep 10, 2015

Blockchain & Artificial Intelligence

Posted by in categories: bitcoin, electronics, entertainment, existential risks, internet, lifeboat, robotics/AI, security

A piece I wrote recently about blockchain & AI, and how I see the Lifeboat Foundation as a crucial component in a bright future.


Blockchain technology could lead to an AI truly reminiscent of the human brain, with less of its frailties, and more of its strengths. Just as a brain is not inherently dictated by a single neuron, neither is the technology behind bitcoin. The advantage (and opportunity) in this sense, is the advent of an amalgamation of many nodes bridged together to form an overall, singular function. This very much resembles the human brain (just as billions of neurons and synapses work in unison). If we set our sights on the grander vision of things, humans could accomplish great things if we utilize this technology to create a truly life-like Artificial Intelligence. At the same time, we need to keep in mind the dangers of such an intelligence being built upon a faultless system that has no single point of failure.

Just as any technology has upsides and corresponding downsides, this is no exception. The advantages of this technology are seemingly endless. In the relevant sense, it has the ability to create internet services without the same downfalls exploited in the TV show ‘Mr. Robot,’ where a hacker group named “fsociety” breached numerous data centers and effectively destroyed every piece of data the company held, causing worldwide ramifications across all of society. Because blockchain technology ensures no centralized data storage (by using all network users as nodes to spread information), it can essentially be rendered impossible to take down. Without a single targeted weak point, this means a service that, in the right hands, doesn’t go offline from heavy loads, which speeds up as more people use it, has inherent privacy/security safeguards, and unique features that couldn’t be achieved with conventional technology. In the wrong hands, however, this could be outright devastation. Going forward, we must tread lightly and not forget to keep tabs on this technology, as it could run rampant and destroy society as we know it.

Continue reading “Blockchain & Artificial Intelligence” »

May 28, 2015

Designed for the Future: 80 Practical Ideas for a Sustainable World

Posted by in categories: architecture, environmental, futurism, human trajectories, lifeboat

9781616893002

“In Designed for the Future, author Jared Green asks eighty of today’s most innovative architects, urban planners, landscape architects, journalists, artists, and environmental leaders the same question: what gives you the hope that a sustainable future is possible?”

Princeton Architectural Press

Trimtab Vol. 16 No. 5

Jan 22, 2015

First Robotics- Who Are the Celebrities of the Future?

Posted by in categories: lifeboat, science

At the most basic level The FIRST Robotics Competition, founded by inventor Dean Kamen, looks to the future by developing the next generation of the world’s engineers. Many of the students at FIRST go on to work at very influential titans of technology, or at future oriented organizations such as NASA. This documentary on FIRST Robotics is our eighth main piece in our Galactic Public Archives series in which we explore compelling visions of our future from influential individuals. So far, we’ve covered an interesting collection of viewpoints and topics regarding our possible future, ranging from the future of longevity, to the future of search and even the future of democracy. FIRST seemed like a natural opportunity to explore another ‘puzzle-piece’ of what the future might look like. And of course, the competition features Robots, which are an integral piece of any self-respecting utopian or dystopian future. What we did not realize as we started our exploration of the program was that FIRST is not attempting to be a humble building block towards the future. Although only time will tell to what degree it succeeds, it aspires to be a catalyst for much more far-reaching change.

In a society that praises the utmost competitive spirit in all the wrong ways, Inventor Dean Kamen noticed less and less youth using this spirit towards opportunities in math and science, instead aspiring to become celebrities, or sports superstars. In turn, he provided an answer to make kids excited about changing the world through technology. Kamen’s endeavor, FIRST Robotics offers teens a chance, in competition form, to use their skills and teamwork to problem solve a piece of machinery to life.

FIRST was modeled off the allure of professional sports leagues but without – hopefully — the dog eat dog spirit. David Lavery, FIRST Robotics Mentor and NASA Engineer, grew up during the Cold War when competition through technology meant joining in on the race to the moon. An interesting aspect of FIRST’s philosophy, is that as much as it embraces competition, students are also forced to realize that your greatest competitor could – in the future — work as one of your greatest collaborators. This generation may be bombarded with news about Kardashians as opposed to scientists, astronauts and cosmonauts — but what FIRST aims to cultivate, is a hunger to make a difference – made possible now more than ever due to widespread access to information.

Directly and tangentially, the experiment of FIRST both tackles and raises an entire swarth of deeper questions about our future. What values will our culture celebrate in the future? What will the repercussions be of the values that we celebrate today? How much time do we have to solve some of the great challenges looming on the horizon? Will there be enough individuals with the skills required to tackle those problems? To what degree will the ‘fixes’ be technological vs. cultural? How will the longstanding ideological struggle of competition vs. cooperation evolve as the next generations take over? What is the future of education? What is the proper role of a teacher? A mentor? Where does cultural change come from? Where should it come from? It’s an impressive list of questions to be raised by a competition involving robots shooting frisbees. We hope you find it as compelling as we did.

Jan 15, 2015

Who is FM2030?

Posted by in categories: lifeboat, science, transhumanism

FM 2030 was at various points in his life, an Iranian Olympic basketball player, a diplomat, a university teacher, and a corporate consultant. He developed his views on transhumanism in the 1960s and evolved them over the next thirty-something years. He was placed in cryonic suspension July 8th, 2000.

Jan 4, 2015

QUESTION: Give Me Egotistical Prima Donnas, Stupid? By Mr. Andres Agostini — Amazon — LinkedIn — Lifeboat Foundation

Posted by in categories: economics, education, engineering, finance, information science, innovation, lifeboat, science, strategy

QUESTION: Give Me Egotistical Prima Donnas, Stupid?

000000000000000000 WALKER

ANSWER: Yes, give me them all. This is forceful and dramatic world in huge need of those loaded and driven with flooded stamina.

And flooded stamina is immeasurable pent-up kinetic energy that well-channelized brings about scientific discoveries and technological breakthrough and thus outright business miracles.

HENCE:

Continue reading “QUESTION: Give Me Egotistical Prima Donnas, Stupid? By Mr. Andres Agostini — Amazon — LinkedIn — Lifeboat Foundation” »

Jan 3, 2015

QUESTION: Reality Is A Consensual, Consensual, Conditionalized, And Assimilated Hallucination? By Lifeboat Foundation’s Andres Agostini — Amazon — LinkedIn

Posted by in categories: disruptive technology, economics, education, futurism, lifeboat, philosophy, physics, science

QUESTION: Reality Is A Consensual, Consensual, Conditionalized, And Assimilated Hallucination?

0000000 FEISNTEIN

THIS IS NO DOGMA, BUT AN EXTREMELY IMPORTANT P.O.V.

As I have mentioned elsewhere, beyond everything else, I am also an evidence-based researcher and to that end I must study tons and tons of literature.

In the United States, there is a nice thing. When someone is remarkable, his or her I.Q. is measured and made public.

Continue reading “QUESTION: Reality Is A Consensual, Consensual, Conditionalized, And Assimilated Hallucination? By Lifeboat Foundation's Andres Agostini — Amazon — LinkedIn” »

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