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Mar 3, 2016

Dr. Sarif, Or How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Human Revolution

Posted by in categories: computing, existential risks, government

I am not in fact talking about the delightful Deus Ex game, but rather about the actual revolution in society and technology we are witnessing today. Pretty much every day I look at any news source, be it on cable news networks or facebook feeds or whathaveyou, I always see fear mongering. “Implantable chips will let the government track you!” or “Hackers will soon be able to steal your thoughts!” (Seriously, seen both of these and much more and much crazier.) …But I’m here to tell you two things. First, calm the hell down. Nearly every doomsday scenario painted by fear-mongering assholes is either impossible or so utterly unlikely as to be effectively impossible. And second… that you should psych the hell up because its actually extremely exciting and worth getting excited about. But for good reasons, not bad.

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Mar 3, 2016

What One Year of Space Travel Does to the Human Body — By Marina Koren | The Atlantic

Posted by in categories: space, space travel

Expedition 46 Flight Engineer Tim Kopra performs a spacewalk outside the International Space Station in this December 21, 2015 NASA handout photo. Kopra and Expedition 46 Commander Scott Kelly successfully moved the International Space Station's mobile transporter rail car ahead of the December 23, 2015 docking of a Russian cargo supply spacecraft.  REUTERS/NASA/Handout via Reuters THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. IT IS DISTRIBUTED, EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - RTX1ZSVJ

“The goal of the yearlong expedition is to better understand how the human body reacts to microgravity for long durations. Researchers say they hope the data acquired in this mission will help them figure out how to send humans on even longer missions, like one to Mars, which would take two-and-a-half years, roundtrip.”

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Mar 3, 2016

Spherical tire takes autonomous cars sideways into the future

Posted by in categories: robotics/AI, transportation

The Goodyear Eagle-360 concept tire.


Goodyear has taken the wraps off two concept tires designed for the autonomous cars of tomorrow – including a spherical tire that allow cars to drive sideways and one that can sense road conditions and adapt to them.

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Mar 3, 2016

The Goodyear Eagle-360 concept tire

Posted by in categories: robotics/AI, transportation

Spherical tire takes autonomous cars sideways into the future.

http://www.gizmag.com/goodyear-tires-autonomous-cars/42135/

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Mar 3, 2016

Mercedes-Benz BIOME Concept – could cars be grown in a lab?

Posted by in category: transportation

Mercedes-Benz has developed a car that would be grown in a lab rather built on a production line.

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Mar 3, 2016

US Military Set to Unveil Concepts Based on Skylon Space Plane Tech

Posted by in categories: military, space travel

Within the next year, the U.S. Air Force plans to unveil novel spacecraft concepts that would be powered by a potentially revolutionary reusable engine designed for a private space plane.

Since January 2014, the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) has been developing hypersonic vehicle concepts that use the Synergetic Air-Breathing Rocket Engine (SABRE), which was invented by England-based Reaction Engines Ltd. and would propel the company’s Skylon space plane.

In April 2015, Reaction Engines announced that an AFRL study had concluded that SABRE is feasible. And AFRL is bullish on the technology; the lab will reveal two-stage-to-orbit SABRE-based concepts either this September, at the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics’ (AIAA) SPACE 2016 conference in Long Beach, California, or in March 2017, at the 21st AIAA International Space Planes and Hypersonic Systems and Technologies Conference in China, said AFRL Aerospace Systems Directorate Aerospace Engineer Barry Hellman. [The Skylon Space Plane in Pictures].

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Mar 3, 2016

J.J. Abrams Producing Documentary Series About Google Lunar X Prize

Posted by in category: education

Moon Shot will focus on the people behind some of the teams competing for the $30 million prize.

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Mar 3, 2016

Quantum technology for a new generation of inertial sensors

Posted by in categories: particle physics, quantum physics, robotics/AI, transportation

Could this Quantum Technology inertial sensors be utilized to provide more reliable navigation to driverless autos? Quantum again proves to serve multiple usages.


Advances in laser cooling of atoms have produced a new generation of inertial sensors based on matter-wave interferometers, which are becoming an essential technology for accurate positioning or geodesy.

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Mar 3, 2016

Cheap, simple technique turns seawater into drinking water

Posted by in categories: economics, sustainability

Researchers from the University of Alexandria have developed a cheaper, simpler and potentially cleaner way to turn seawater into drinking water than conventional methods.

This could have a huge impact on rural areas of the Middle East and North Africa, where access to clean water is a pressing issue if social stability and economic development is to improve.

Right now, desalinating seawater is the only viable way to provide water to growing populations, and large desalination plants are now a fact of life in Egypt and other Middle Eastern countries.

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Mar 3, 2016

Shocking new way to get the salt out

Posted by in category: sustainability

MIT team invents efficient shockwave-based process for desalination of water.

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