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Sep 30, 2016

Challenging America’s Two Party System

Posted by in categories: geopolitics, transhumanism

I’m on BBC World Service and some NPR stations over the next 6–10 hours talking politics and transhumanism with Prof. Lawrence Lessig and others. Jill Stein also on show. Give it a listen:


Why can’t a third party candidate become US president?

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Sep 30, 2016

D-Wave Systems previews 2000-qubit quantum processor

Posted by in categories: energy, information science, quantum physics

D-Wave 2000-qubit processor (credit: D-Wave Systems)

D-Wave Systems announced Tuesday (Sept. 28, 2016) a new 2000-qubit processor, doubling the number of qubits over the previous-generation D-Wave 2X system. The new system will enable larger problems to be solved and performance improvements of up to 1000 times.

D-Wave’s quantum system runs a quantum-annealing algorithm to find the lowest points in a virtual energy landscape representing a computational problem to be solved. The lowest points in the landscape correspond to optimal or near-optimal solutions to the problem. The increase in qubit count enables larger and more difficult problems to be solved, and the ability to tune the rate of annealing of individual qubits will enhance application performance.

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Sep 30, 2016

New Ethernet standards will offer up to 5Gbps performance using cables you already own

Posted by in category: futurism

A newly-approved wired Ethernet standard could deliver 2.5GbE and 5GbE connections over existing infrastructure. After nearly 20 years, are we finally ready to move past gigabit Ethernet?

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Sep 30, 2016

Scientists Can Reconstruct An Image Of What Someone Was Looking At Using Brain Scans

Posted by in category: neuroscience

Soon, scientists will be able to record your dreams.

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Sep 30, 2016

This Startup Employs Robots That Bake Pizza En Route for Delivery

Posted by in category: robotics/AI

Its co-founder may have this skeptical New Yorker convinced.

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Sep 30, 2016

Massive Earthquake Along the San Andreas Fault Is Disturbingly Imminent

Posted by in category: futurism

Anyone who is, or will be, anywhere near these potentially severe earthquake damage zones, be safe!


A series of quakes under the Salton Sea may be a signal that the San Andreas Fault is on the verge of buckling. For the next few days, the risk of a major earthquake along the fault is as high as 1 in 100. Which, holy crap.

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Sep 30, 2016

Elon Musk Will Name the First Mars-Bound Craft After a Mega-Famous Sci-Fi Ship

Posted by in categories: Elon Musk, space travel

“It’s driven by infinite improbability.”

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Sep 30, 2016

If There’s Life on Europa, Robots Like These Will Find It

Posted by in categories: robotics/AI, space travel

The exploration of Europa begins under the ice in Antarctica.

That’s where a team of researchers, led by the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), has been testing a variety of robotic subs in recent years to learn about what technologies will work best when NASA eventually launches a mission to Jupiter’s icy moon.

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Sep 30, 2016

These Dudes Played IRL Space Invaders

Posted by in categories: drones, space

These dudes used drones to create an IRL version of ‘Space Invaders’.

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Sep 30, 2016

IBM Just Made Artificial Neurons to Help Computers Mimic Our Brains

Posted by in categories: computing, neuroscience

In Brief.

Scientists at IBM achieve another breakthrough by recreation of artificial neurons that successfully respond to phase changes due to electric signals while using very little power, much like the human brain.

Even after all the developments in computers, the human brain remains by far, the most complex, sophisticated, and powerful computer in existence. And for decades, scientists have been looking for ways to translate its processing mechanisms into a system that machines can replicate.

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