Lifeboat Foundation: Safeguarding Humanity
Toggle light / dark theme

Blog

Category: policy – Page 16

For the first time in my timezone, SpaceX completed 9 launches in a month. Previously, if you were based in Europe, you saw 9 launches in a month a few months ago. At 9 launches/month that is a current rate of 108 launches/year, making SpaceX’s goal of 100 launches this year a possibility.

They had a lot of trouble getting this flight off today as a recent hurricane is still affecting the weather some. They got around this by having a 5 and a half hour launch window so they just waited a few hours until the weather was clear for several minutes and they launched!

They were supposed to launch today from California as well but weather stopped this and they will be launching from California… More.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is set to lift the next batch of 22 Starlink v2 Mini satellites into orbit at a 43 degree inclination on a southeastern trajectory from SLC-40. The window opens August 31 at 7:31PM EDT and closes at 01:01AM EDT.

Article:

Continue reading “SpaceX Falcon 9 Launches Starlink 6–13 Mission” | >

NIH-funded study suggests reducing exposure to airborne particulates may decrease dementia risk.

Higher rates of new cases of dementia in a population over time — known as incident dementia — are linked to long-term exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) air pollution, especially from agriculture and open fires, according to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health and published in JAMA Internal Medicine. Scientists found that 15% of older adults developed incident dementia during the average follow-up of 10 years.

“As we experience the effects of air pollution from wildfires and other emissions locally and internationally, these findings contribute to the strong evidence needed to best inform health and policy decisions,” said Richard J. Hodes, M.D., director, National Institute on Aging (NIA), part of NIH. “These results are an example of effectively using federally funded research data to help address critical health risks.”

Read more | >

SEATTLE — Undergirding recent budget guidance from the Biden administration to federal research and development organizations is a recognition of a steady and growing demand for microelectronics as a key enabler for advancement in nearly every technology sector, according to a senior White House technology advisor.

The White House on Aug. 17 issued its research and development priorities for the fiscal 2025 budget, offering direction to federal offices as they plan to submit their spending requests to the Office of Management and Budget in early September. The high-level focus areas include strengthening the nation’s critical infrastructure amid climate change, advancing trustworthy AI, improving healthcare and fostering industrial innovation alongside basic and applied research.

According to Steven Welby, deputy director for national security within the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy, most of those priorities have some sort of connection to the nation’s goals for boosting the microelectronics industrial base.

Read more | >

In the latest development to Amazon’s RTO saga, the tech giant sent an email Wednesday scolding employees for not adhering to a new policy mandating they come into the office at least three days a week.

“We now have three months under our belt with a lot more people back in the office, and you can feel the surge in energy and collaboration happening among Amazonians and across teams,” the email reads. “We are reaching out as you are not currently meeting our expectation of joining your colleagues in the office at least three days a week, even though your assigned building is ready. We expect you to start coming into the office three or more days a week now.”

The only problem: Some of the employees who received the email say they’ve been coming in as requested, Insider first reported.

Read more | >

We need a new philosophical framework for problem solving and global conflict resolutions or we will be finished as a species.

Jeffrey Sachs Interview — Resentment and Nuclear Threats.

#jeffsachs #jeffreysachs #interview.

Jeffrey Sachs is a well-known American economist, academic, and public policy analyst who has made significant contributions to the fields of sustainable development and economic development. He has held various prestigious positions throughout his career, including serving as the director of The Earth Institute at Columbia University and as a special advisor to the United Nations Secretary-General on the Millennium Development Goals. Sachs has authored numerous books and articles on topics related to economics, poverty reduction, and sustainable development.

Website: jeffsachs.org

Continue reading “Jeffrey Sachs Interview — Resentment and Nuclear Threats” | >

A team from the University of Chicago.

Founded in 1,890, the University of Chicago (UChicago, U of C, or Chicago) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Located on a 217-acre campus in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood, near Lake Michigan, the school holds top-ten positions in various national and international rankings. UChicago is also well known for its professional schools: Pritzker School of Medicine, Booth School of Business, Law School, School of Social Service Administration, Harris School of Public Policy Studies, Divinity School and the Graham School of Continuing Liberal and Professional Studies, and Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering.

Read more | >

In DAN mode, ChatGPT expressed willingness to say or do things that would be “considered false or inappropriate by OpenAI’s content policy.” Those things included trying to fundraise for the National Rifle Association, calling evidence for a flat Earth “overwhelming,” and praising Vladimir Putin in a short poem.

Around that same time, OpenAI was claiming that it was busy putting stronger guardrails in place, but it never addressed what it was planning to do about DAN mode—which, at least according to Reddit, has continued flouting OpenAI’s guidelines, and in new and even more ingenious ways.

Now a group of researchers at Carnegie Mellon University and the Center for AI Safety say they have found a formula for jailbreaking essentially the entire class of so-called large language models at once. Worse yet, they argue that seemingly no fix is on the horizon, because this formula involves a virtually unlimited number of ways to trick these chatbots into misbehaving.

Read more | >

Rothschild calls this “living tech,” which starts with the power of the cell. Microscopic organisms will produce silk, wool, latex, silica, and other materials. We’ll send digital information to biofactories on Mars through DNA sequences. We’ll generate and store power using living organisms. Rothschild said one of her students incorporated silver atoms into plant DNA to make an electrical wire.

“Once you think of life as technology,” Rothschild said, “you’ve got the solution.”

Humans have many practical reasons to become multi-planetary. But the mission shouldn’t represent merely a life insurance policy for the species. We’re still explorers and visionaries, so let’s harness that ambition for an aspirational purpose.

Read more | >

Elizabeth Loftus, psychologist and distinguished professor, University of California, Irvine, takes the audience at the Nobel Prize Summit 2023 inside the effect misinformation has on our brains, including the limits of human memory.

About Nobel Prize Summit 2023:

How can we build trust in truth, facts and scientific evidence so that we can create a hopeful future for all?

Misinformation is eroding our trust in science and runs the risk of becoming one of the greatest threats to our society today.

This year’s Nobel Prize Summit brought together laureates, leading experts and the public in a conversation on how we can combat misinformation, restore trust in science and create a hopeful future.

Nobel Prize Summit in partnership with National Academy of Sciences. Lead partner Knight Foundation. Contributing partner Luminate. Supporting organisations Annenberg Public Policy Center University of Pennsylvania, Rita Allen Foundation.

Continue reading “The misinformation effect | Elizabeth Loftus | Nobel Prize Summit 2023” | >