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May 29, 2017
For The First Time Ever, CRISPR Gene Editing Was Used in Humans. So What’s Next?
Posted by Dan Kummer in categories: bioengineering, biotech/medical, genetics, space
- With Chinese scientists announcing that they have tested CRISPR on a human for the first time, the U.S. must decide soon whether it will be a leader or a follower in advancing the tech.
- While gene editing technology could be used in nefarious ways, it could also cure diseases and improve millions of lives, but we won’t know how effective it is until we begin human trials.
While the middle part of the 20th century saw the world’s superpowers racing to explore space, the first global competition of this century is being set in a much smaller arena: our DNA.
May 28, 2017
How to Realize Autonomous Vehicle Safety and Mobility Benefits
Posted by Dan Kummer in categories: robotics/AI, transportation
Self-driving vehicles could improve public safety. They could also improve mobility for older Americans, people with disabilities, and others. How can policymakers help ensure that these benefits are realized?
May 28, 2017
Russia thinks microorganisms may be living outside the space station
Posted by Dan Kummer in category: space
May 26 (UPI) — Officials with Russia’s space agency, Roscosmos, say their scientists have identified plankton and other microorganisms among dust samples collected from the outside of the International Space Station.
“The micrometeorites and comet dust that settle on the ISS surface may contain biogenic substance of extra-terrestrial origin in its natural form,” Roscosmos officials said in a news release. “The ISS surface is possibly a unique and easily available collector and keeper of comet substance and, possibly, of biomaterial of extra-terrestrial origin.”
NASA officials said they couldn’t confirm the story.
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May 28, 2017
The Solar Industry Is Creating Jobs 17 Times Faster Than the Rest of the U.S. Economy
Posted by Dan Kummer in categories: economics, employment, energy, sustainability
Jobs in the solar field in the United States grew at a rate 17 times faster than the overall economy. This was part of a larger trend towards jobs in renewable energy and away from more dangerous, less sustainable jobs in fossil fuels.
A new report released by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) reveals that solar jobs in the U.S. (and other nations) are expanding quickly. As of November 2016, the American solar industry employed 260,077 workers. This is an increase of 24.5% from 2015, with a growth rate that is 17 times faster than the United States economy as a whole.
May 28, 2017
An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power | August 24
Posted by Elmar Arunov in category: futurism
Make your voice heard. Share the new trailer for Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power. In theatres August 24th. #BeInconvenient
May 28, 2017
The meaning of life in a world without work
Posted by Alexandros El in categories: economics, employment, information science, robotics/AI
Most jobs that exist today might disappear within decades. As artificial intelligence outperforms humans in more and more tasks, it will replace humans in more and more jobs. Many new professions are likely to appear: virtual-world designers, for example. But such professions will probably require more creativity and flexibility, and it is unclear whether 40-year-old unemployed taxi drivers or insurance agents will be able to reinvent themselves as virtual-world designers (try to imagine a virtual world created by an insurance agent!). And even if the ex-insurance agent somehow makes the transition into a virtual-world designer, the pace of progress is such that within another decade he might have to reinvent himself yet again.
The crucial problem isn’t creating new jobs. The crucial problem is creating new jobs that humans perform better than algorithms. Consequently, by 2050 a new class of people might emerge – the useless class. People who are not just unemployed, but unemployable.
The same technology that renders humans useless might also make it feasible to feed and support the unemployable masses through some scheme of universal basic income. The real problem will then be to keep the masses occupied and content. People must engage in purposeful activities, or they go crazy. So what will the useless class do all day?
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May 28, 2017
Near-Term Interstellar Probes: Some Gentle Suggestions
Posted by Montie Adkins in categories: innovation, space
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
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May 27, 2017
Scientists Surprised to Find No Two Neurons Are Genetically Alike
Posted by Shailesh Prasad in categories: biotech/medical, genetics, neuroscience
The genetic makeup of any given brain cell differs from all others. That realization may provide clues to a range of psychiatric diseases.
- By Simon Makin on May 3, 2017
May 27, 2017
The Kardashev Scale — Type I, II, III, IV & V Civilization
Posted by Shailesh Prasad in category: alien life
We have reached a turning point in society. According to renowned theoretical physicist Michio Kaku, the next 100 years of science will determine whether we perish or thrive. Will we remain a Type 0 civilization, or will we advance and make our way into the stars?
Experts assert that, as a civilization grows larger and becomes more advanced, its energy demands will increase rapidly due to its population growth and the energy requirements of its various machines. With this in mind, the Kardashev scale was developed as a way of measuring a civilization’s technological advancement based upon how much usable energy it has at its disposal (this was originally just tied to energy available for communications, but has since been expanded).
The scale was originally designed in 1964 by the Russian astrophysicist Nikolai Kardashev (who was looking for signs of extraterrestrial life within cosmic signals). It has 3 base classes, each with an energy disposal level: Type I (10¹⁶W), Type II (10²⁶W), and Type III (10³⁶W). Other astronomers have extended the scale to Type IV (10⁴⁶W) and Type V (the energy available to this kind of civilization would equal that of all energy available in not just our universe, but in all universes and in all time-lines). These additions consider both energy access as well as the amount of knowledge the civilizations have access to.
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