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Sep 20, 2018
There’s a planet exactly where Star Trek said Vulcan should be
Posted by Genevieve Klien in category: space
Astrophysicists just found a planet orbiting the star HD 26965, 16 light years away from Earth. Finding exoplanets is always fun, and the fact that this one is in the star’s habitable zone (where liquid water could exist on its surface) is a bonus. But that’s not why people are particularly psyched about the announcement.
See, HD 26965 also goes by 40 Eridani A—the star orbited by Spock’s homeworld in Star Trek. That means they found Vulcan. Ok, fine, they found a real-world analog to a completely fictional world, but you can’t blame Star Trek fans for being excited.
Sep 20, 2018
SpaceX plans to launch a giant spaceship around the moon. But how will it land back on Earth?
Posted by Genevieve Klien in categories: Elon Musk, space travel
The SpaceX Big Falcon Rocket, or BFR, is designed to land back on Earth in way Elon Musk calls “counterintuitive”.
Sep 20, 2018
SpaceX Will Livestream Moon Tourist Flight in HD Virtual Reality, Elon Musk Says
Posted by Genevieve Klien in categories: Elon Musk, space travel, virtual reality
Only a lucky handful of artists and a Japanese billionaire will take a trip on a rocketship to the moon with SpaceX. But the moonshot won’t just be televised; you’ll get to experience it from Earth in virtual reality.
That’s the message from SpaceX CEO Elon Musk on the upcoming private moon flight of entrepreneur Yusaku Maezawa, which Musk unveiled to the world Monday (Sept. 17). Maezawa will launch on a trip around the moon on SpaceX’s new Big Falcon Rocket (BFR), and he plans to take between six and eight artists along for the ride. The flight, called the Lunar BFR Mission, could launch as early as 2023, and we’ll all be able to watch it live and in VR, Musk said.
“Moon mission will be livestreamed in high def VR,” Musk announced on Twitter Tuesday (Sept. 18), “so it’ll feel like you’re there in real-time minus a few seconds for speed of light.” That speed-of-light reference is apparently a nod to the ever-so-slight time lag for a signal to cross the 238,000 miles (383,000 kilometers) between Earth and the moon. [How SpaceX’s Passenger Moon Flight Will Work].
Sep 20, 2018
World’s Oldest Animal Discovered, Looks Weird
Posted by Genevieve Klien in category: entertainment
The oldest known animal in history has been discovered thanks to some well-preserved animal fat that’s been sitting in northwest Russia for the past 558 million years. The find expands the confirmed existence of animals by three million years.
The ancient animal is a Dickinsonia, which looks more like a creature from a sci-fi movie than something you’d expect to run into on Earth. Dickinsonia were oval-shaped creatures spread flat like pancakes that could grow up to four and a half feet long. Previously, the oldest macroscopic animal in the geological record was the mollusc-like Kimberella from 555 million years ago.
Sep 20, 2018
Artificial Intelligence Advances Could Create Robots that Take Our Jobs, Fight Our Wars
Posted by Klaus Baldauf in categories: employment, robotics/AI
A rise in global nationalism combined with advances in technology signal trouble ahead, says the author of a new book. But there’s hope.
Sep 20, 2018
Healthy Aging Month: How we can all live better longer
Posted by Lilia Lens-Pechakova in categories: biotech/medical, life extension, neuroscience
Buck Institute on the elimination of aging diseases for this and further generations:
September is Healthy Aging Month, and here at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging, we are on a mission to end the threat of age-related disease for this and future generations. We believe it is possible for people to enjoy healthy lives at age 95 as much as they do at 25, and to achieve that, we’re seeking a more comprehensive understanding of the biology of aging itself.
Over the last century, average human lifespan has been increasing at a rate of approximately 2 years per decade, primarily due to advancements in antibiotics and other medical treatments, as well as improved public health efforts. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that by 2035, people over the age of 65 will outnumber people under 18 for the first time in U.S. history. This means that there is an increasing population of older adults who suffer in the later years of life from chronic diseases including diabetes, neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, and cancer. While basic scientific research has provided a lot of insight into the causes and potential treatments of individual diseases, the root cause of these and many other chronic diseases is the biological process of aging.
Continue reading “Healthy Aging Month: How we can all live better longer” »
Sep 20, 2018
The Evolution of Data (Linked Data) Needed For AI
Posted by Ankur Bargotra in categories: information science, internet, robotics/AI
This video is the second in a two-part series discussing big data. In this video, we’ll be discussing how we can utilize the vast quantities of data being generated as well as the implications of linked data on big data.
[0:33–4:43] — Starting off we’ll look at, what exactly big data is and delving deeper into the types of data, structured and unstructured and how they will be analyzed both by humans and machine learning (AI).
[4:43–11:37] — Following that we’ll discuss, how this data will be put to use and the next evolution of data, linked data, and how it will change the world and the web!
Continue reading “The Evolution of Data (Linked Data) Needed For AI” »
Sep 20, 2018
Alzheimer’s Drug Slows Symptoms, Reduces Plaques
Posted by Nicholi Avery in categories: biotech/medical, neuroscience
In a clinical trial, patients on the highest injected dose had 30 percent less cognitive decline over time than people on a placebo.
Sep 20, 2018
Not aliens after all? Mysterious solar observatory closure triggered by FBI child porn probe
Posted by Michael Lance in categories: alien life, internet
Despite much speculation and conspiracy theories, the reason for the mysterious closure of New Mexico’s Sunspot Solar Observatory by the FBI earlier this month was an ongoing child pornography investigation, court documents show.
The secret behind the 11-day closure of the facility was finally explained in newly unsealed FBI records and its application for a search warrant. According to the court documents, the federal agents were investigating a janitor suspected of using the observatory’s WiFi network to download child pornography.