Lifeboat News: The Blog – Safeguarding Humanity

Get the latest international news and world events from around the world.

Feb 21
2019

VASIMR plasma engine: Earth to Mars in 39 days?

Circa 2017

“We’re likely to find hydrogen pretty much anywhere we go in the Solar System,” he said.

A spacecraft using conventional chemical rockets would take eight months to get to Mars during opposition. However, the VASIMR engine would make the journey in as little as 39 days.

Chang Diaz explained: “Remember, you are accelerating the first half of the journey – the other half you’re slowing, so you will reach Mars but not pass it. The top speed with respect to the Sun would be about 32 miles per second [or 51.5 km/s]. But that requires a nuclear power source to heat the plasma to the proper temperature.”

Feb 21
2019

You Can Now Check the Weather on Mars Every Day

Instruments aboard NASA’s InSight lander are now gathering meteorological data from the Martian surface, allowing for daily weather reports that are being made available to the public.

The daily weather reports from Elysium Planitia began on February 11, and contain information about air temperature, wind speed, and air pressure, reports NASA.

Feb 21
2019

These New Computer Chips Are Made From Wood

Circa 2015

A new technique replaces the bulk of smartphone-friendly microchips with a transparent, flexible material made from wood pulp.

Feb 21
2019

Watch Samsung unveil the Galaxy Fold

Samsung’s first foldable phone costs $1,980 and goes on sale April 26. Here is the announcement at the company’s event in San Francisco.

Samsung’s foldable phone is here!

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Feb 21
2019

Scientist Who Gene-Hacked Babies “Likely” Boosted Their Brainpower

He Jiankui did more than make the twins immune to HIV.

Feb 21
2019

China’s CRISPR twins might have had their brains inadvertently enhanced

New research suggests that a controversial gene-editing experiment to make children resistant to HIV may also have enhanced their ability to learn and form memories.

Feb 21
2019

Mysterious signals are probably coming from space every second and no one can explain why

No one knows what it is, just where it comes from.

Feb 21
2019

Neuralink’s ‘Neural Lace’ vs a Digital Brain

In this post we discuss the differences between a Neuralink-style ‘Neural Lace’ and how this compares to a digital brain.

Feb 21
2019

India Just Swore in Its First Robot Police Officer

India just swore in its first robotic police officer, which is named KP-Bot.

The animatronic-looking machine was granted the rank of sub-inspector on Tuesday, and it will operate the front desk of Thiruvananthapuram police headquarters, according to India Today.

Feb 21
2019

A philosopher argues that an AI can never be an artist

Advances in artificial intelligence have led many to speculate that human beings will soon be replaced by machines in every domain, including that of creativity. Ray Kurzweil, a futurist, predicts that by 2029 we will have produced an AI that can pass for an average educated human being. Nick Bostrom, an Oxford philosopher, is more circumspect. He does not give a date but suggests that philosophers and mathematicians defer work on fundamental questions to “superintelligent” successors, which he defines as having “intellect that greatly exceeds the cognitive performance of humans in virtually all domains of interest.”

Creativity is, and always will be, a human endeavor.