Lifeboat Foundation: Safeguarding Humanity
Toggle light / dark theme

Blog

Category: neuroscience – Page 1,060

Ray Kurzweil is a celebrity technologist, well known both for his work as an inventor and for his relatively accurate predictions of technological change. Among his predictions is that of an imminent biotech revolution, which may enable people to restore and maintain healthy life for much longer periods of time than those humans have enjoyed historically. In the meantime, Ray says he takes 250 dietary supplements each day, in addition to receiving half a dozen intravenous therapies each week.

“Although my program may seem extreme, it is actually conservative – and optimal (based on my current knowledge). [My doctor] and I have extensively researched each of the several hundred therapies that I use for safety and efficacy. I stay away from ideas that are unproven or appear to be risky (the use of human-growth hormone, for example).” – Ray Kurzweil in The Singularity Is Near (pages 211–212)

Some of Ray’s dietary supplements are nootropics, intended to maintain and improve brain health. He lists them in his book, Transcend (pages 15 and 22). I’ve compared the nootropics he recommends to reviews on Examine.com, an independent and unbiased encyclopedia on supplementation and nutrition that is not affiliated in any way with any supplement company. Below is a table that summarizes what I found, followed by some observations.

Read more

(NaturalNews) Earlier this month, Juno Therapeutics, a pioneer in the field of treating cancer using genetically engineered cells, had to halt the development of its lead treatment after the death of three leukemia patients enrolled in the study.

The Seattle-based biotech company reported that the deaths of all three patients, who were in their 20s, were linked to swelling in the brain. The swelling occurred after the company added a second chemotherapy drug to the treatment procedure.

The news of the patient deaths is a big blow for the biotech startup that is developing a new experimental therapy known as chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (or CART) immunotherapy. The setback will likely delay the company’s aim of introducing it to the market by 2017, Juno executives said in a conference.

Read more

More update on controlling drones with BMI.

Using wireless interface, operators control multiple drones by thinking of various tasks.

A researcher at Arizona State University has discovered how to control multiple robotic drones using the human brain.

A controller wears a skull cap outfitted with 128 electrodes wired to a computer. The device records electrical brain activity. If the controller moves a hand or thinks of something, certain areas light up.

Read more

Nice read by Microsoft on their BMI efforts.

I have been reading a lot about brain interfaces and that the Tesla S can be summoned with the brain and that people have started having competitions with drones controlled by brain waves. I have recently acquired an Emotiv Insight® as shown in Figure 1 and have been doing some testing with it.

image

Figure 1, brain interface Emotiv Insight® Microsoft Azure

It really does work pretty good. I was able to get it up and running in less than an hour and accessing the online tool (cpanel.emotivinsight.com/BTLE) allowed me to fit the device on my head making sure all the sensors were connected to my brain, as shown in Figure 2.

Read more

Good work by Microsoft.

Autism is a spectrum disorder, meaning not all people that meet the classification have identical behaviors. Some of these folks are very functional, while others may struggle more to socialize, or not be able to hold jobs.

According to Microsoft, 85 percent of those with Autism do not hold full-time employment. This is unfortunate, as some of those with the classification are likely falling through the cracks — capable of work, but not equipped. Luckily, the Windows-maker, in association with CASPA and Dennis Publishing, is aiming to change this with some unlikely tools — the BBC Micro Bit and HTC Vive virtual reality solution.

“The participants — aged between seven and 19 — were taught to code using the BBC micro: bit — a programmable mini-computer that features an LED display, accelerometer, compass, micro USB plug and external battery pack. They learned to light up the LEDs, and change that display by moving and turning the micro: bit”, says Microsoft.

Read more

I will say that many great innovators and inventors had some sort of spiritualism that they drew from to provide another angle on how to see/ perfect an idea or innovation. Jobs, Tesla, Edison, Bell, da Vinci, Carver, etc.

The Properties of Space.

Science works best when in harmony with nature. If we put these two together, we can discover great technologies that can only come about when the consciousness of the planet is ready to embrace them. One example is “free energy,” also known as “zero-point energy,” which utilizes the substance that exists all around us and converts it into usable energy. This would give us a limitless source of energy, and would practically wipe out all poverty on the planet. (more on this later in the article)

The properties of space have been postulated by many, from ancient Vedic philosophy, Eastern Mystics, various ancient civilizations throughout human history all the way to Descartes, Einstein, Newton and more. Humans are curious beings, and our quest to discover “what is” will never end.

Read more

There is a lot of truth to this article especially as you look at how the mind responds/ reacts to situations, ideas, etc. has also other factors involved such as how a person overall immune system is responding, chemical balance of a person’s system, etc. So, this reconfirms that thinking and being human goes far beyond a replica of a brain in a system.

Where is your mind? Where does your thinking occur? Where are your beliefs? René Descartes thought that the mind was an immaterial soul, housed in the pineal gland near the centre of the brain. Nowadays, by contrast, we tend to identify the mind with the brain. We know that mental processes depend on brain processes, and that different brain regions are responsible for different functions. However, we still agree with Descartes on one thing: we still think of the mind as (in a phrase coined by the philosopher of mind Andy Clark) brainbound, locked away in the head, communicating with the body and wider world but separate from them. And this might be quite wrong. I’m not suggesting that the mind is non-physical or doubting that the brain is central to it; but it could be that (as Clark and others argue) the mind extends beyond the brain.

To begin with, there is a strong case for thinking that many mental processes are essentially embodied. The brainbound view pictures the brain as a powerful executive, planning every aspect of behaviour and sending detailed instructions to the muscles. But, as work in robotics has illustrated, there are more efficient ways of doing things, which nature almost certainly employs. The more biologically realistic robots perform basic patterns of movement naturally, in virtue of their passive dynamics, without the use of motors and controllers. Intelligent, powered control is then achieved by continuously monitoring and tweaking these bodily processes, sharing the control task between brain and body.

Read more