Watch the moment India’s space program made a massive breakthrough.
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Category: innovation – Page 192
Individuals who mine Bitcoins needn’t be miners. We call them ‘miners’ because they are awarded BTC as they solve mathematical computations. The competition to unearth these reserve coins also serves a vital purpose. They validate the transactions of Bitcoin users all over the world: buyers, loans & debt settlement, exchange transactions, inter-bank transfers, etc. They are not really miners. They are more accurately engaged in transaction validation or ‘bookkeeping’.
There are numerous proposals for how to incentivize miners once all 21 million coins have been mined/awarded in May 2140. Depending upon the network load and the value of each coin, we may need to agree on an alternate incentive earlier than 2140. At the opening of the 2015 MIT Bitcoin Expo, Andreas Antonopolous proposed some validator incentive alternatives. One very novel suggestion was based on game theory and involved competition and status rather than cash payments.
I envision an alternative approach—one that also addresses the problem of miners and users having different goals. In an ideal world the locus of users should intersect more fully with the overseers…
To achieve this, I have proposed that every wallet be capable of also mining, even if the wallet is simply a smartphone app or part of a cloud account at an exchange service. To get uses participating in validating the transactions of peers, any transaction fee could be waived for anyone who completes 1 validation for each n transactions. (Say one validation for every five or ten transactions). In this manner, everyone pitches in a small amount of resources to maintain a robust network.
A small transaction fee would accrue to anyone who does not participate in ‘mining’ at all. That cost will float with supply and demand. Users can duck the fee by simply participating in the validation process, which continues to be based on either proof-of-work, proof-of-stake — or one of the more exotic proof theories that are being proposed now.
Philip Raymond co-chairs Cryptocurrency Standards Association. He produces
The Bitcoin Event, edits A Wild Duck and is a frequent contributor to Quora
A bit of every speculative propulsion system.
When Greg Matloff’s “Solar Sail Starships: Clipper Ships of the Galaxy” appeared in JBIS in 1981, the science fictional treatments of interstellar sails I had been reading suddenly took on scientific plausibility. Later, I would read Robert Forward’s work, and realize that an interstellar community was growing in space agencies, universities and the pages of journals. Since those days, Matloff’s contributions to the field have kept coming at a prodigious rate, with valuable papers and books exploring not only how we might reach the stars but what we can do in our own Solar System to ensure a bright future for humanity. In today’s essay, Greg looks at interstellar propulsion candidates and ponders the context provided by Breakthrough Starshot, which envisions small sailcraft moving at 20 percent of the speed of light, bound for Proxima Centauri. What can we learn from the effort, and what alternatives should we consider as we ponder the conundrum of interstellar propulsion?
by Dr. Greg Matloff
- Mark Zuckerberg spoke at Harvard’s commencement, saying that basic income is an “idea worth exploring.”
- With his endorsement of UBI, Zuckerberg joins a growing list of experts and innovators who believe supporting basic human needs must precede innovation.
This week Mark Zuckerberg spoke to the latest class of Harvard graduates, offering advice about the future and inspiration to grow on. Among his ideas was the notion that universal basic income (UBI), a standard base “salary” for each member of society that can help meet our basic needs regardless of the work we do, is worth exploring.
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A major new breakthrough in jet propulsion technology could revolutionize the aerospace industry, paving the way for plasma jet engines that could carry a craft to the edge of space using only air and electricity.
Berkant Göksel, the lead researcher in a new study by the Technical University of Berlin, says his team have successfully completed tests on plasma engines that could take future aircrafts to altitudes of 30 miles (50km) and beyond.
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By Helen Thomson
People in a minimally conscious state have been “woken” for a whole week after a brief period of brain stimulation. The breakthrough suggests we may be on the verge of creating a device that can be used at home to help people with disorders of consciousness communicate with friends and family.
People with severe brain trauma can fall into a coma. If they begin to show signs of arousal but not awareness, they are said to be in a vegetative state. If they then show fluctuating signs of awareness but cannot communicate, they are described as being minimally consciousness.
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The Solution to Oil Spills
Posted in innovation
The power of somebody believing in you and your ideas is unbelievable. It gives me exceptional strength. I will wake up 6am and crash 1am, working relentlessly in between. Just recently, the mere fact of somebody becoming a PumpkinDB sponsor gave me a lot of confidence in our success and continuing inspiration to dedicate big chunks of my spare time to this work.
In the grand scheme of things, the amount of money the project receives so far is rather insignificant, it just covers some of our associated expenses. So why is it that important?
Well, words are cheap. Many people said they like what we are working on, but the shelf life of the inspiration coming from this kind of feedback is rather short. Having somebody continuously use your work is the best type of validation.
But in the absence of something immediately useful (as it is often the case with any new, non-trivial project), there are two things that rock: contributions (as in “sweat” or “pull requests”) and money. Both time and money are painful to part with, so when somebody parts with either, you know you’re onto something.
About a month ago I read Nadia Eghbal’s post where she was offering a few $5,000 grants, with no strings attached. Since then, I was obsessed with this idea. The basic idea is beautiful in its simplicity (simplified & paraphrased):
You have a project that you really care about, but funding isn’t readily available for it. If I really like your project, I will give you US$5,000 to pursue it. No strings attached.
The moment I finished reading her post, I knew I wanted to do something very, very similar. I know I can invest $5,000 into my own project, but the idea of being able to give the power of scarcely available validation to somebody else is overwhelmingly more exciting. Thank you, Nadia.
So, here it is: I am offering a $5,000 grant to one project of my choice. No strings attached.
You can apply here. Please note that applications are due by June 1, 2017 12am PST and I am expecting to make a decision on which project to fund during the month of June (2–4 weeks) and be ready to send the first installment some time around July 1, 2017
Questions & Answers
What kind of project am I going to fund?
While I am obviously very inclined to fund an open source software project (that’s where my expertise and passion is, after all), I am explicitly using this offer as an opportunity to learn more about other areas, and if there’s something that will really excite me, I will fund it.
It is important for me to learn why you’re doing this project and why do you think it’s important, so please take your time to answer this question in the application form.
Projects should have a rough scope and a reasonable timeline. Given the amount of money I am providing, it should rather be short (few months or to a year).
If nothing particularly interesting, or something I can relate to, will come my way (though I hope this will not happen!), I reserve a right to choose no project and fund nothing.
Can anybody apply?
As long as I can transfer the money to you in a reasonable and legal way (PayPal, bank transfer, Bitcoin, etc.), there are no restrictions. You can be a citizen of any country, or stateless. Any gender. Any age. Any way you’re wired. Any profession. Any system of beliefs. Anybody.
Can multiple projects be submitted?
Yes, please submit them as separate applications. That said, the less projects you have, the more I will be inclined to believe in your dedication to those.
What does “no strings attached” mean?
You don’t need to pay the money back. I will send you 50% of the amount in the beginning of the project. The rest will come roughly half way through the project, at which point I will check in with you to see how things are going. Upon completion, I’d like to learn how did the project go overall. You can contact me during or after the project if you feel like sharing any updates, thoughts (or questions) with me.
Other questions
Leave a comment here and I’ll do my best to address it. If you want to contact me privately, please email me at [email protected]
- Of the estimated 100,000 mushroom species on Earth, only about 80 glow. Scientists uncovered the explanation behind two of these glowing mushrooms.
- Studying the mushrooms allowed researchers to make chemicals that glow various colors that may help us make more scientific breakthroughs.
Mushrooms are our favorite fungi. From savory dishes to surprising video game power-ups — we can’t seem to get enough of the little things. What’s more interesting, however, is the fact that mushrooms can be far more relevant to our own progress as a society than we imagined. The Neonothopanus gardneri and Neonothopanus nambi are two distinct species of glow-in-the-dark mushroom found in Brazil and Vietnam respectively, that have reshaped our perspective on bioluminescence permanently.
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The A’ Design Award & Competition is a magnet for creativity, and every year the contest attracts thinkers and inventors from all over the globe. The winners of the 2016–2017 period have just been announced, and they’re so innovative they could change the world as we know it – or at least make it a little more functional.
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The awards were doled out to over 1200 projects spanning a wide spectrum of categories, including but not limited to furniture, packaging, graphics, and architecture. The designs share common themes of practicality, modernity, and efficient use of space and materials. A’ Design is a unique concept in the competitive world, offering winners the prize of mass publicity rather than cash, and giving the designers an arsenal of tools to forge success on their own terms.
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