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Category: policy – Page 41

Robots have a hard time improvising, and encountering an unusual surface or obstacle usually means an abrupt stop or hard fall. But researchers have created a new model for robotic locomotion that adapts in real time to any terrain it encounters, changing its gait on the fly to keep trucking when it hits sand, rocks, stairs and other sudden changes.

Although robotic movement can be versatile and exact, and robots can “learn” to climb steps, cross broken terrain and so on, these behaviors are more like individual trained skills that the robot switches between. Although robots like Spot famously can spring back from being pushed or kicked, the system is really just working to correct a physical anomaly while pursuing an unchanged policy of walking. There are some adaptive movement models, but some are very specific (for instance this one based on real insect movements) and others take long enough to work that the robot will certainly have fallen by the time they take effect.

The team, from Facebook AI, UC Berkeley and Carnegie Mellon University, call it Rapid Motor Adaptation. It came from the fact that humans and other animals are able to quickly, effectively and unconsciously change the way they walk to fit different circumstances.

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Portland, Oregon – June 21, 2021 – World-acclaimed space policy and law expert, who advises the U.S. House, Senate and White House, Paul Stimers, issued a stern warning regarding the U.S. space program on The Costa Report today. “Don’t try to do what China is doing. It’s a trap,” cautioned Stimers.

According to the Washington DC insider, as China’s state-sponsored space program accelerates and challenges U.S. leadership, the U.S. may be tempted to change course. Stimers reminds leaders this is a temptation which has historically produced dismal results. Instead, Stimers claims the best way to protect the U.S. lead in space is for the government to clear the path for “commercial space operations to scale.”

As an example, today the FAA treats every U.S. space flight as a one-off event, causing applications, clearances, etc., to be tedious, slow and costly. By making it possible to process ten, twenty, thirty of the same types of space flights at one time, commercial companies will be able to grow the industry much faster. Stimers urges U.S. leaders to streamline current regulations and procedures so space transportation becomes as routine as conventional airline travel. When leaders begin treating outer space as “a place, rather than a mission,” Stimers believes policies and regulations will fall in line with what U.S. commercial ventures need to stay in front.

Stimers also expressed concerns over China and Russia’s rejection of the Artemis Accords. NASA’s Artemis Accords spell out basic principles on how nations can peacefully operate in space — including fundamentals such as providing emergency mutual aid, sharing scientific knowledge, allowing access to newly discovered resources, etc. China and Russia’s refusal to join the agreement is one of many indications they intend to abide by a different set of rules in space – rules which include claiming ownership and exclusive use. Host of The Costa Report, Rebecca Costa, concurs, “He who establishes beachheads on the Moon, Mars and other celestial bodies first, makes the rules. We can’t afford to let China or Russia get there and carve everything into private property. What then? We go to war in space?”

The 1967 United Nations Outer Space Treaty was instrumental in setting the stage for peaceful collaboration between nations in space. The spirit of that treaty extended to the 1969 first landing on the Moon wherein the United States claimed victory for all humankind. And later, to the International Space Station (ISS) which has accommodated scientists and visitors from 19 countries. But recently, China has begun building its own space station – another indication they have nationalistic objectives. As the ISS reaches the end of its life cycle, there is growing concern that the U.S. and other nations may find themselves without a presence in low Earth orbit, posing grave security risks.

Continue reading “Stimers Issues Warning Regarding China and Russia Advances in Outer Space” | >

When you put these three factors together—the bounty of technological advances, the compressed restructuring timetable due to covid-19, and an economy finally running at full capacity—the ingredients are in place for a productivity boom. This will not only boost living standards directly, but also frees up resources for a more ambitious policy agenda.

AI and other digital technologies have been surprisingly slow to improve economic growth. But that could be about to change.

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WASHINGTON—The Biden administration launched an initiative Thursday aiming to make more government data available to artificial intelligence researchers, part of a broader push to keep the U.S. on the cutting edge of the crucial new technology.

The National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource Task Force, a group of 12 members from academia, government, and industry led by officials from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and the National Science Foundation, will draft a strategy for creating an AI research resource that could, in part, give researchers secure access to stores of anonymous data about Americans, from demographics to health and driving habits.

They would also look to make available computing power to analyze the data, with the goal of allowing access to researchers across the country.

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Microsoft has galvanised policy makers across seven Asia-Pacific markets, including Singapore and Indonesia, in a bid to facilitate the sharing of threat intelligence and resources amongst their respective public sector. The US software vendor says “collective” efforts across the region are critical in combating cybersecurity threats, which are inevitable in an increasingly interconnected world.

It noted that Asia-Pacific saw malware and ransomware attacks at higher frequencies, clocking 1.6 and 1.7 times higher, respectively. than the global average. Citing numbers from its 2019 threat report, Microsoft said developing markets such as Indonesia, India, and Sri Lanka were most vulnerable to such threats that year.

It added that cybercrime not only resulted in financial losses and brought down operations, but also posed risks to national security and eroded trust in digital economies.

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Senior director, milken institute center for the future of aging, milken institute; executive director, alliance to improve dementia care.

Nora Super is the Senior Director of the Milken Institute Center for the Future of Aging (CFA) (https://milkeninstitute.org/centers/center-for-the-future-of-aging) and the Executive Director of the Milken Institute Alliance to Improve Dementia Care (https://milkeninstitute.org/centers/center-for-the-future-of…tia-care).

Mr. Super provides strategic direction for the two primary focus areas of CFA: Financial Wellness and Healthy Longevity, and oversees data-driven research, meaningful policy initiatives, and impactful convenings around the world.

Launched in 2020, the Alliance to Improve Dementia Care seeks to transform and improve the complex health and long-term care systems that people at risk for and living with dementia must navigate.

Ms. Super studied political science at Tulane University and completed her master’s degree in public administration, with a concentration in health policy, at George Washington University, and is a respected thought leader, frequent speaker, and prolific writer on healthy longevity and the economic and social impact of global population aging. In 2019, she authored two major reports: “Reducing the Cost and Risk of Dementia: Recommendations to Improve Brain Health and Decrease Disparities” and “Age-Forward Cities for 2030.”

Continue reading “Nora Super — Milken Institute — Center for the Future of Aging — Alliance to Improve Dementia Care” | >

Engineering A Safer World For Humans With Self Driving Cars, Drones, and Robots — Dr. Missy Cummings PhD, Professor, Duke University, Director, Humans and Autonomy Laboratory, Duke Engineering.

Dr. Mary “Missy” Cummings, is a Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, at the Pratt School of Engineering, at Duke University, the Duke Institute of Brain Sciences, and is the Director of the Humans and Autonomy Laboratory and Duke Robotics.

Dr. Cummings received her B.S. in Mathematics from the US Naval Academy in 1988, her M.S. in Space Systems Engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School in 1994, and her Ph.D. in Systems Engineering from the University of Virginia in 2004.

Dr… Cummings was one of the Navy’s first female fighter pilots earning the rank of lieutenant and serving as naval officer and military pilot from 1988–1999.

Dr. Cummings research interests include human-unmanned vehicle interaction, human-autonomous system collaboration, human-systems engineering, public policy implications of unmanned vehicles, and the ethical and social impact of technology.

Continue reading “Dr. Missy Cummings, Ph.D — Professor, Duke University — Director, Humans and Autonomy Laboratory” | >

Pediatrician, Medical Innovator, Educator — Dr. Jamie Wells, MD, FAAP — Director, Research Science Institute (RSI), Center for Excellence in Education, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) — Professor, Drexel University School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems.

Dr. Jamie L. Wells, MD, FAAP, is an Adjunct Professor at Drexel University’s School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems, where she has been involved in helping to spearhead the nation’s first-degree program focused on pediatric engineering, innovation, and medical advancement.

Dr. Wells is an award-winning Board-certified pediatrician with many years of experience caring for patients. With her BA with Honors from Yale, and her MD from Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, PA, she has served as a Clinical Instructor/Attending at NYU Langone, Mt. Sinai-Beth Israel and St. Vincent’s Medical Centers in Manhattan.

Dr. Wells also serves as Director of the Research Science Institute (RSI), at Center for Excellence in Education (CEE), a non-profit, 501©(3) organization, collaboratively sponsored with MIT bring together top U.S. and international high school students for an intensive, six-week summer program that provides students with the opportunity to conduct original, cutting-edge research.

Dr. Wells is on the leadership council of the Wistar Institute (the USA’s first independent biomedical research facility and certified cancer center), Ambassador of the Healthcare Global Blockchain Business Council, was a grant reviewer for the Susan G. Komen Community Grants Program, judged both the local, district and world robotics championships for Dean Kamen’s F.I.R.S.T. (For Inspiration & Recognition of Science & Technology) nonprofit, as well as the Miss America’s Outstanding Teen scholarship competition (for which she is now a member of its Board of Directors), and is the Chair of the Yale Alumni Health Network (YAHN).

Continue reading “Dr Jamie L. Wells, MD — Director, Research Science Inst — Pediatrician, Medical Innovator, Educator” | >

Dr. Thomas Lovejoy, is an innovative conservation biologist, who is Founder and President of the non-profit Amazon Biodiversity Center, the renowned Biological Dynamics of Forest Fragments Project, and the person who coined the term “biological diversity”.

Dr. Lovejoy currently serves as Professor in the department of Environmental Science and Policy at George Mason University, and as a senior fellow at the United Nations Foundation based in Washington, DC.

Dr. Lovejoy has also served as the World Bank’s chief biodiversity advisor and the lead specialist for environment for Latin America and the Caribbean, the first Biodiversity Chair of the H. John Heinz III Center for Science, Economics and the Environment, President of the Heinz Center, and chair of the Scientific Technical Advisory Panel (STAP) for the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the multibillion-dollar funding mechanism for developing countries in support of their obligations under international environmental conventions.

Spanning the political spectrum, Dr. Lovejoy has served on science and environmental councils under the Reagan, Bush, and Clinton administrations. At the core of these many influential positions are seminal ideas, which have formed and strengthened the field of conservation biology.

In the 1980s, Dr. Lovejoy brought international attention to the world’s tropical rainforests, and in particular, the Brazilian Amazon, where he has worked since 1965.

With multiple co-edited books (including Biodiversity and Climate Change: Transforming the Biosphere; Drones for Conservation — Field Guide for Photographers, Researchers, Conservationists and Archaeologists; Costa Rican Ecosystems; Climate Change and Biodiversity; On the Edge: The State and Fate of the World’s Tropical Rainforests), Dr. Lovejoy is credited as a founder of the field of climate change biology. He also founded the series Nature, the popular long-term series on public television.

Continue reading “Dr. Thomas Lovejoy, Founder / President, Amazon Biodiversity Ctr — Snr. Fellow, United Nations Fnd” | >

Can We Immunize The World Against Future Pandemics? Dr Jonna Mazet, DVM, MPVM, PhD, UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine — Global Virome Project.

Dr. Jonna Mazet, DVM, MPVM, PhD, is a Professor of Epidemiology and Disease Ecology at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, Founding Executive Director of the UC Davis One Health Institute, and Vice Provost For Grand Challenges At UC Davis.

Additionally, Dr. Mazet in on the Steering Committee of the Global Virome Project, Principal Investigator of the PREDICT project, Chair, National Academies’ One Health Action Collaborative, and Co-Vice Chair, UC Global Health Institute Board of Directors.

Dr. Mazet’s work focuses on global health problem solving for emerging infectious diseases and conservation challenges. She is active in international One Health education, service, and research programs, most notably in relation to pathogen emergence; disease transmission among wildlife, domestic animals, and people; and the ecological drivers of novel disease dynamics.

Currently, Dr. Mazet is the Co-Director of the US Agency for International Development’s One Health Workforce – Next Generation, an $85 million educational strengthening project to empower professionals in Central/East Africa and Southeast Asia to address complex and emerging health threats, including antimicrobial resistance and zoonotic diseases.

Continue reading “Dr. Jonna Mazet, DVM, MPVM, PhD — One Health — Can We Immunize The World Against Future Pandemics?” | >