Lifeboat Foundation

By John O’Donnell — IEEE Spectrum

While the idea of an Amazon Prime Air drone dropping onto my doorstep and delivering my latest purchase might seem fun and cool, the reality is it simply may not be needed.

The only reason delivery trucks—such as the large brown trucks we see everywhere—only deliver to me around 4 p.m. each day is simply the time taken for one driver to take each parcel to an address. I call this one at a time parcel delivery. It’s the same story for the USPS service. Each day our excellent delivery guy comes to our neighborhood and then spends a long time going door to door.

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By Tim Sandle — Digital Journal

Scientists have developed nanoparticles that carry two different cancer-killing drugs into the body and deliver those drugs to separate parts of the cancer cell where they will be most effective.

By Emily Siner — VPR

Thanks to new research out of MIT, you might one day be able to subtly manipulate your picture to make it more memorable — meaning that people should be more likely to remember your face.

According to the research article: “One ubiquitous fact about people is that we cannot avoid evaluating the faces we see in daily life … In this flash judgment of a face, an underlying decision is happening in the brain — should I remember this face or not? Even after seeing a picture for only half a second we can often remember it.”

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Written By: Cameron Scott — Singularity Hub

After years running on the fumes of hype, hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles are beginning to hit the road.

Toyota made a big splash when it announced at the annual Consumer Electronics Show that it would market such a car beginning in the 2015 model year. Hyundai has also committed to roll out a fuel-cell vehicle next year. And Honda has already begun leasing its hydrogen-powered FCX Clarity to customers in California.

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Rob Wile — Business Insider

Last week we told you how Texas Rep. Steve Stockman (R-Texas) became the first sitting elected official in Washington to accept Bitcoin for his 2014 campaign against Sen. John Cornyn.

Dan Backer is going to make sure Stockman is not the last.

Written By: Cameron Scott — Singularity Hub

Even the most adamant techno-optimists among us must admit that new technologies can introduce hidden dangers: Fire, as the adage goes, can cook the dinner, but it can also burn the village down.

The most powerful example of unforeseen disadvantages stemming from technology is climate change. Should we attempt to fix a problem caused by technology, using more novel technology to hack the climate? The question has spurred heated debate.

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By Sam Maggs — GeekOSystem

We’ve all seen the clip from James Cameron’s 1986 film Aliens, where Sigourney Weaver (as eternal badass Ellen Ripley) puts the smack-down on an alien queen while wearing a strength-enhancing exoskeleton. Looks like the folks over at Panasonic have seen it too, because they’ve manufactured their own version – and are going to start mass-production.

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Dick Pelletier — IEET

What can we expect when machines surpass humans in intelligence; a point in time that futurists predict could become reality by 2045.

The concept for the Singularity goes something like this: researchers are convinced that technology will eventually supersede human intelligence creating an amazing world filled with ‘smart’ machines. These machines will not only defeat us in chess and games like Jeopardy, but will also drive cars, write books and replace humans in customer service, and one day, emulate consciousness.

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