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Archive for the ‘food’ category: Page 270

Oct 10, 2016

Commission plans cybersecurity rules for internet-connected machines

Posted by in categories: cybercrime/malcode, food, internet, law, policy, transportation

The European Commission is getting ready to propose new legislation to protect machines from cybersecurity breaches, signalling the executive’s growing interest in encouraging traditional European manufacturers to build more devices that are connected to the internet.

A new plan to overhaul EU telecoms law, which digital policy chiefs Günther Oettinger and Andrus Ansip presented three weeks ago, aims to speed up internet connections to meet the needs of big industries like car manufacturing and agriculture as they gradually use more internet functions.

But that transition to more and faster internet connections has caused many companies to worry that new products and industrial tools that rely on the internet will be more vulnerable to attacks from hackers.

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Oct 8, 2016

“Genetically Edited Organisms”(GME): Monsanto and the CRISPR Genome Editing Technology. Who Would you Trust to “Play God”?

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, food, genetics

Last week the U.S. corporation Monsanto, which holds a leading position in the global market of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), reached a licensing agreement with the Broad Institute, Cambridge, USA, on the commercial use of the innovative genome-editing technology CRISPR/Cas9 for agriculture applications. This news has led some experts to believe that Monsanto will now completely switch from producing ‘traditional’ GMOs to ‘genetically edited’ organisms, which are supposedly ‘safer and practically identical’ to their natural alternatives.

Let’s have a closer look at this technology which makes GMO supporters feel so enthusiastic and has been positioned by them as the universal panacea solving all of mankind’s problems. We will also delve deeper into some of the darker aspects of CRISPR/Cas9; the points that biotechnology lobbyists prefer not to discuss.

crispr

Continue reading “‘Genetically Edited Organisms’(GME): Monsanto and the CRISPR Genome Editing Technology. Who Would you Trust to ‘Play God’?” »

Oct 6, 2016

Alien Implants Now Science Fact as DARPA Invades the Human Brain

Posted by in categories: food, neuroscience, science, sustainability

Imagine a cow being branded on a farm. Now imagine your family dog being micro-chipped so he can be returned to his owners if lost. The next logical step from these commonly accepted practices include the tagging and observation of you. The only question is who is doing the tagging?

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Oct 6, 2016

Project Originally Funded By DARPA Seeks To Replace Bees With Tiny, Winged Robots

Posted by in categories: drones, food, information science, internet, military, mobile phones, robotics/AI, transhumanism

Got a bee shortage? No problem, DARPA has you covered.


Following the news that the honeybee is now officially an endangered species as “colony collapse disorder” accelerates, it seems that a Harvard research team has the solution – robotic honeybees. Instead of attempting to save the bees by reducing the use of pesticides or revising safety standards for cell phone radiation, the focus has shifted to replacing the bees altogether. Harvard University researchers, led by engineering professor Robert Wood have been tweaking “RoboBees” since their initial introduction in 2009. The bee-sized robots made of titanium and plastic represent a breakthrough in the field of micro-aerial vehicles. The size of the components needed to create flying robots were previously too heavy to make a such a small structure lightweight enough to achieve flight. Current models weigh only 80 mg and have been fitted with sensors that detect light and wind velocity.

Researchers claim that the bees could artificially pollinate entire fields of crops and will soon be able to be programmed to live in an artificial hive, coordinate algorithms and communicate among themselves about methods of pollination and the locations of particular crops. In addition, RoboBees have been suggested for other uses including searching disaster sites for survivors, monitoring traffic, and “military and police applications.” These applications could include using RoboBees to “scout for insurgents” on battlefields abroad or allowing police and SWAT teams to use the micro-robots to gather footage inside buildings.

Continue reading “Project Originally Funded By DARPA Seeks To Replace Bees With Tiny, Winged Robots” »

Oct 5, 2016

Food production in a world without meat — By Mbali Kgame | Design Indaba

Posted by in categories: environmental, ethics, food, futurism

“Meat production is detrimental to the environment and at the high rate at which it is consumed, it can also increase the risk of colorectal cancer by 18 per cent. This is according to a review of 800 studies conducted by the World Health Organisation (WHO).”

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Oct 2, 2016

Dark Future Ahead 18 – News from the ‘Net of a Cyberpunk bent

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, food, mobile phones

Still keeping my optics working looking for news to apply to your cyberpunk games and writings.

A way to defend against counterfeit drugs and maybe food too, miniature edible barcodes. Inexpensive, practical and readable with a slight modification of a smart phone.

For some reason, the idea of edible food wrappers just seems very cyberpunk to me. Full of advertising and nutrition!

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Sep 29, 2016

Our Robot Overlords Are Now Delivering Pizza, And Cooking It On The Go

Posted by in categories: food, robotics/AI

A Silicon Valley start-up wants to use technology to solve the pizza paradox. It’s a food that’s meant to be delivered, but never tastes quite as good upon arrival.

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Sep 29, 2016

Fund Medical Research to End Age-Related Disease

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, food, health, life extension, transportation

Please sign this petition to the NIH to help get more funding for aging research.


Every year about two million Americans die of illnesses doctors cannot cure. Cancer afflicts 50% of men and 30% of women. Five hundred and ninety five thousand Americans will die of cancer this year. Millions get heart diseases, strokes, etc. Every year 1,612,552 Americans die of the top 8 illnesses that doctors are unable to cure. Over a 30-year period, 48,376,560 United States citizens will die of the top 8 illnesses. Let us not forget other disabling and potentially curable illnesses. How much is it worth to save them? We have the resources and opportunity to cure age-related disease.

History has shown that medical research actually saves money. We now spend three trillion two hundred billion dollars yearly for health care. The health care expenditures will increase as our population grows with more senior citizens.

Continue reading “Fund Medical Research to End Age-Related Disease” »

Sep 26, 2016

Plans for Belarusian-Russian laser technology R&D center

Posted by in categories: food, materials

The new Belarusian-Russian R&D center for laser technologies is supposed to open in Minsk. The center will take care of the most important and new practical applications of laser technologies, said Sergei Bagayev. The scope of research will vary from agricultural applications to using lasers for the advanced processing of oil products to get modern materials.

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Sep 24, 2016

Bioengineered bacteria could be used to 3D print food, medicine, and tools on Mars

Posted by in categories: 3D printing, bioengineering, biotech/medical, food, solar power, space travel, sustainability

Just like checking your bag on a commercial airline, space travel comes with some pretty big weight restrictions. How big? According to estimates, reaching space costs a whopping $10,000 per pound, which means that every ounce saved has a big impact on the bottom line.

That’s where a group of Danish researchers comes in. The team is working on a synthetic biology project called CosmoCrops, which hopes to use bacteria to make it possible to 3D print everything needed for a respectable space mission, using a cutting-edge co-culturing system. And it could even make life better for those of us back on Earth in the process.

“We are trying to make space exploration cheaper, because many inventions we use in our daily life were invented because of space exploration, like Velcro and solar energy,” Joachim Larsen, one of the students working on the project, told Digital Trends. “The way we want to achieve this is to [be] able to produce everything from food to medicine and bioplastic for 3D printers out in space — making the space rocket a lot lighter.”

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