Page 10608
Dec 21, 2016
Fiber Optics For Quantum Technology Research
Posted by Karen Hurst in categories: particle physics, quantum physics, space
Back in September 2015, Gooch & Housego reported on our work with cold atom technology on the FreezeRay project. Now, just over a year later, we’re happy to say that Gooch & Housego has successfully won funding for involvement in two further programs, CASPA and REVEAL, in a competition for the commercialization of quantum technologies. The contest is supported by Innovate UK and the UK National Quantum Technologies Programme.
CASPA (Cold Atom Space Payload) has the aim of developing a payload compatible with CubeSat and capable of producing cold atoms in space. As with all such projects, we are breaking new ground here and an effective demonstration of the prototype system – in this instance space will be the crucial first step towards commercializing instrumentation systems capable of recording minuscule changes in the earth’s gravitational strength. Such changes when mapped across the earth’s surface have the potential to be used in resource exploration or to geo-monitoring of polar ice mass, ocean currents and sea level changes.
CASPA will also evaluate the viability of using the technology in the provision of higher precision timing sources for next generation global positioning system (GPS) and also for deep space navigation. The program partners are e2v technologies Ltd, ClydeSpace, XCAM, Covesion, the University of Birmingham and the University of Southampton.
Continue reading “Fiber Optics For Quantum Technology Research” »
Dec 21, 2016
Presidential candidate suggests microchips for Syrian refugees
Posted by Zoltan Istvan in categories: computing, cyborgs, geopolitics, terrorism, transhumanism
In light of the recent attacks in Europe, the search for terrorists, and the ongoing refugee/immigration issues, I still support considering this idea of implants. In fact, so long as the Middle East is in strife, and large amounts of refugees are created, and fundamental religiosity thrives, I’m certain some type of tracking technology implementation in the developed world is inevitable over the next 2–15 years for refugees and some immigrants. Such technology broadly remains the humanitarian thing to do (read the article!), while still protecting the public and national interests.
https://www.cnet.com/news/presidential-candidate-suggests-mi…-refugees/ #transhumanism #Germany #terrorism #immigration
The question of allowing Syrian refugees in to the United States has created a political firestorm in the wake of the terrorist attacks in Paris and one Presidential candidate proposes a novel, high-tech solution, but it’s also likely to make plenty of Americans uncomfortable.
Continue reading “Presidential candidate suggests microchips for Syrian refugees” »
Dec 21, 2016
AI could boost productivity but increase wealth inequality, White House says
Posted by Bryan Gatton in categories: business, economics, employment, robotics/AI, transportation
Artificial intelligence (AI) technology has the potential to boost productivity but increase wealth inequality and wipe out millions of jobs, a research report by the White House claimed on Tuesday. With an increasing number of industries set to be affected by automation technology in the coming years, jobs could be displaced — a fear that has been voiced by academics and business leaders. Auto companies are developing driverless cars, and factories are seeing an increased use of robotics.
Because AI is not a single technology, but rather a collection of technologies that are applied to specific tasks, the effects of AI will be felt unevenly through the economy. Some tasks will be more easily automated than others, and some jobs will be affected more than others — both negatively and positively.
Researchers around the world have given varying estimates about the size of potential job losses. One recent estimate by Forrester suggests 6 percent of jobs in the next five years could be wiped out thanks to AI. The White House report cites a 2013 study from Oxford University suggesting that 47 percent of U.S. jobs are at risk because of AI. The report suggests that lower-skilled and less-educated workers could feel the heat the most. Overall, the White House report advocates a three-pronged approach to preparing for a future remade by AI that includes investing in AI for its benefits, training Americans for the jobs of the future and helping workers make the transition to new positions.
Continue reading “AI could boost productivity but increase wealth inequality, White House says” »
Dec 21, 2016
China Trumps NASA With Working “StarTrek” EM Propulsion Drive –“Testing Now Aboard the Tiangong-2 Space Laboratory”
Posted by Andreas Matt in categories: energy, government, satellites
Scientists with the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST) claim NASA’s results ‘re-confirm’ what they’d already achieved, and have plans to implement it in satellites ‘as quickly as possible.’ China claims they’ve created a working prototype of the ‘impossible’ reactionless engine – and they say they’re already testing it in orbit aboard the Tiangong-2 space laboratory. The radical, fuel-free EmDrive recently stirred up controversy after a paper published by a team of NASA researchers appeared to show they’d successfully built the technology.
The implications for this could be huge. For instance, current satellites could be half the size they are today without the need to carry fuel.
Dec 21, 2016
Flaunt Magazine
Posted by Zoltan Istvan in categories: biotech/medical, cyborgs, mobile phones, robotics/AI, transhumanism
A column on #transhumanism I did for Flaunt:
Are you ready for the future? A Transhumanist future in which everyone around you—friends, family, and neighbors—has dipped into the cybernetic punch bowl? This is a future of contact lenses that see in the dark, endoskeleton artificial limbs that lift a half-ton, and brain chip implants that read your thoughts and instantly communicate them to others. Sound crazy? Indeed, it does. Nevertheless, it’s coming soon. Very soon. In fact, much of the technology already exists. It’s being sold commercially at your local superstore or being tested in laboratories right now around the world.
We’ve all heard about driverless test cars on the roads and how doctors in France are replacing people’s hearts with permanent robotic ones, but did you know there’s already a multi-billion dollar market for brainwave-reading headsets? Using electroencephalography (EEG) sensors that pick up and monitor brain activity, NeuroSky’s MindWave can attach to Google Glass and allow you to take a picture and post it to Facebook and Twitter just by thinking about it. Other headsets allow you to play video games on your iPhone with only your thoughts as well. In fact, a few months ago, the first mind-to-mind communication took place. A researcher in India projected a thought to a colleague in France, and using their headsets, they understood each other. Telepathy went from science fiction to reality, just like that.
Dec 21, 2016
Newly discovered disease could hold key to Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s – and even ageing
Posted by Shane Hinshaw in categories: biotech/medical, genetics, life extension, neuroscience
A new genetic disease has been discovered that could play a key role in devastating brain conditions such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, opening up the possibility of new forms of treatment.
A 47-year-old Canadian woman, who had been having difficulty walking and balancing since she was 28, was found to have a new genetic disease after 10 known conditions were ruled out, according to a paper in the journal Nature by an international team of researchers.
The disease causes an over-reaction by the body’s natural repair system. An enzyme, known as PARP1, goes into over-drive, ultimately causing the deaths of brain cells.
Dec 21, 2016
BREAKING: Large Wave of Energy From Unknown Source Hitting Earth Now!
Posted by Shane Hinshaw in category: energy
A large wave of energy impacting the entire planet has UNINTENTIONALLY been detected by the MIMIC TPW microwave background imagery. Currently ONGOING as of 12/19/2016 at 1:20am US central time)
Link to see the event here:
– http://tropic.ssec.wisc.edu/real-time/mimic-tpw/global2/main.html – http://tropic.ssec.wisc.edu/real-time/mimic-tpw/global2/anim…anim72.gif
Continue reading “BREAKING: Large Wave of Energy From Unknown Source Hitting Earth Now!” »
Dec 21, 2016
Piperlongumine as a Senolytic Drug Candidate with Fewer Side-Effects
Posted by Steve Hill in categories: biotech/medical, health, life extension
Senescent cell removal is the first true rejuvenation therapy to treat one of the aging processes and with human clinicial trials in the next 18 months these are some very exciting times. Here is yet another study showing natural compounds can be used in combination with drugs to kill senescent cells.
Today’s open access research paper outlines the discovery of yet another new candidate drug for the selective destruction of senescent cells. This is an increasingly popular research topic nowadays. Senescent cells perform a variety of functions, but on the whole they are bad news. Cells become senescent in response to stresses or reaching the Hayflick limit to replication. They cease further division and start to generate a potent mix of signals, the senescence-associated secretory phenotype or SASP, that can provoke inflammation, disarray the surrounding extracellular matrix structures, and change behavior of nearby cells for the worse. Then they destroy themselves, or are destroyed by the immune system — for the most part at least. This is helpful in wound healing, and in small doses helps to reduce cancer incidence by removing those cells most at risk of becoming cancerous. Unfortunately a growing number of these cells linger without being destroyed, more with every passing year, and their presence eventually causes significant dysfunction. That in turn produces age-related disease, frailty, and eventually death. Senescent cells are not the only root cause of aging, but they provide a significant contribution to the downward spiral of health and wellbeing, and even only their own would eventually produce death by aging.
The beneficial aspects of senescent cells seem to require only a transient presence, so the most direct approach to the problem presented by these cells is to destroy them every so often. Build a targeted therapy capable of sweeping senenscent cells from tissues, and make it efficient enough to keep the count of such cells low. That is the way to prevent senescent cells form contributing to age-related disease. Working in mice, researchers have produced results such as functional rejuvenation in aged lungs and extended life span through the targeted destruction of senescent cells. Since perhaps only a few percent of the cells in old tissue are senescent, this targeted destruction can be accomplished with few side-effects beyond those generated by off-target effects of the medication itself.
Continue reading “Piperlongumine as a Senolytic Drug Candidate with Fewer Side-Effects” »
Dec 21, 2016
New biomarker predicts Alzheimer’s disease and link to diabetes
Posted by Steve Hill in categories: biotech/medical, neuroscience
A new biomarker for Alzheimers could improve the patient outcome and allow for earlier treatment.
An enzyme found in the fluid around the brain and spine is giving researchers a snapshot of what happens inside the minds of Alzheimer’s patients and how that relates to cognitive decline.
Iowa State University researchers say higher levels of the enzyme, autotaxin, significantly predict memory impairment and Type 2 diabetes. Just a one-point difference in autotaxin levels — for example, going from a level of two to a three — is equal to a 3.5 to 5 times increase in the odds of being diagnosed with some form of memory loss, said Auriel Willette, an assistant professor of food science and human nutrition at Iowa State.
Continue reading “New biomarker predicts Alzheimer’s disease and link to diabetes” »