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Archive for the ‘economics’ category: Page 150

Jul 22, 2017

Zoltan Istvan: the poster boy for immortality

Posted by in categories: cyborgs, economics, genetics, life extension, open access, robotics/AI, transhumanism

I’m really excited to announce a 5-page feature spread on my #transhumanism work and Libertarian Governor campaign in today’s Times of London Magazine, one of England’s oldest and largest papers. There’s a paywall for digital but I think you can get two articles free without registering. If you have access to the print, it’s in the magazine:


Zoltan Istvan is launching his campaign to become Libertarian governor of California with two signature policies. First, he’ll eliminate poverty with a universal basic income that will guarantee $5,000 (£3,800) per month for every Californian household for ever. (He’ll do this without raising taxes a dime, he promises.) The next item in his in-tray is eliminating death. He intends to divert trillions of dollars into life-extending technologies – robotic hearts, artificial exoskeletons, genetic editing, bionic limbs and so on – in the hope that each Californian man, woman and AI (artificial intelligence) will eventually be able to upload their consciousness to the Cloud and experience digital eternity.

“What we can experience as a human being is going to be dramatically different within two decades,” he…

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Jul 20, 2017

Dear Mum: A Letter from the future

Posted by in categories: economics, existential risks, food, futurism, government

Dear Mum,

We’ve missed you over the ten long years since you passed away. You wanted me to write to you to tell you what’s happened, so now in 2030 I am fulfilling that wish.

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Jul 19, 2017

A Brief History of Free Money — By Matthew Heimer | Fortune

Posted by in categories: economics, governance


“[T]he idea is hardly new: In fact, it has resurfaced repeatedly over the centuries at times of economic transformation, winning allies across the ideological spectrum.”

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Jul 15, 2017

Our economy is increasingly ruled by a few standout tech firms, and that’s not a good thing

Posted by in categories: business, economics

Our economy is increasingly ruled by a few dominant firms. We see them everywhere, from established giants Amazon, Facebook, Google, Apple, and Walmart to fast-growing newcomers like Airbnb, Tesla, and Uber. There have always been large companies and outright monopolies, but there’s something distinctive about this new generation of what some economists call superstar companies. They appear across a broad range of business sectors and have gained their power at least in part by adeptly anticipating and using digital technologies that foster conditions where a few winners essentially take all.


Superstar companies are dominating the economy by exploiting a growing gap in digital competencies.

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Jul 15, 2017

UK government investing over £100 million in the space industry to ensure the UK remains a world leader in space tech

Posted by in categories: economics, government, space

The UK government has revealed how investing in the space industry will form a key part of its strategy for boosting economic growth.

At the heart of the government’s strategy is a pledge to invest £99 million to create a National Satellite Testing Facility (NSTF) and another £4 million investment for a new National Space Propulsion Facility (NSPF).

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Jul 10, 2017

NASA announces winners for latest round of 3D Printed Habitat challenge, over $200k prize money awarded

Posted by in categories: 3D printing, economics, habitats, space

Phase 1, which was the Design part of the competition, was completed back in 2015. Phase 2 is the Structural Member Competition, and the most recent level challenged competitors to 3D print a beam for bend testing. Scores were calculated based on the final material composition of the 3D printed beam and the maximum load that could be held before it failed.

Seoul-based Moon X Construction were not eligible for prize money, but $67,465 was awarded to Form Forge of Oregon State University for the second place entry. Foster and Partners with Branch Technology of Chattanooga, Tennessee came in third, earning $63,783, after getting $85,930 for getting first place in the first round of Phase 2. Fairbanks University of Alaska and CTL Group Mars of Illinois came in fourth and fifth respectively, with Singaporean team ROBOCON finishing in sixth place.

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Jul 7, 2017

The future of work: will humans remain employed in an era of AI and robotics?

Posted by in categories: automation, business, economics, employment, robotics/AI

The vital question for governments around the world, whatever their country’s economic situation, needs to be: what is the future of work in an era of exponential technological development?

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Jul 7, 2017

Facebook Founder Mark Zuckerberg Again Calls for Basic Income

Posted by in categories: economics, government

Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg took a trip to Homer, Alaska, this weekend to do characteristically Alaskan things, like catching fish, cutting fish, watching other people catch fish, oh, and thinking hard about the concept of basic income.

Zuckerberg visited Homer as part of his personal challenge to visit every state in America in 2017. While there, he took some time out of fishing to write a blog post about Alaska’s Permanent Fund Dividend, a state-sponsored form of basic income that redistributes profits from the state’s natural resources to its residents once a year, usually handing them around $1,000 per person (some years as much as $2,000).

“This is a novel approach to basic income in a few ways. First, it’s funded by natural resources rather than raising taxes,” Zuckerberg wrote. “Second, it comes from conservative principles of smaller government, rather than progressive principles of a larger safety net. This shows basic income is a bipartisan idea.

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Jul 4, 2017

Inside the startup that wants to mine asteroids and transform space travel forever

Posted by in categories: economics, space

Among startups, the race to start mining asteroids is underway. Their pioneering work could transform our economy – and one day, our ability to explore the universe.

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Jun 27, 2017

Machine Over Mind In A New Economy

Posted by in categories: business, economics, robotics/AI

➡🖒⛧Well worth a listen!⛧🖒⬅.


Robots moving deeper into the American workplace—how much decision-making will we turn over to machines?

For all the change that has come with the digital revolution – in the ways we work and communicate and do business – the real impact still lies ahead. Computers – machines themselves – are become smarter all the time. That intelligence is being wired into real world action. That’s overturning giant companies. It’s moving in on what we thought only humans could do. Andrew McAfee and Eric Brynjolfsson are on it. It’s exciting. And terrifying. This hour On Point: intelligent machines move in. — Tom Ashbrook

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