Lifeboat Foundation

“Virtually all new fossil fuel-burning power-generation capacity will end up “stranded”. This is the argument of a paper by academics at Oxford university. We have grown used to the idea that it will be impossible to burn a large portion of estimated reserves of fossil fuels if the likely rise in global mean temperatures is to be kept below 2C. But fuels are not the only assets that might be stranded. A similar logic can be applied to parts of the capital stock.”

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My new article for The Hufffington Post on whether transhumanism will change racism in the near future:

A future transhumanist? — CCO Public Domain

Continue reading “Will Transhumanism Change Racism in the Future?” »

High-profile physicists and philosophers gathered to debate whether we are real or virtual—and what it means either way.

By Clara Moskowitz on April 7, 2016.

Spaceplane program looks to public-private effort to enable next-generation space launch.

The Sea Hunter, the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s most ambitious unmanned vessel to date, may well be the most advanced self-navigating surface craft in the world. Its 130-foot trimaran hull is designed for a maximum speed of 27 knots and operations in conditions up to sea state five. It can conduct missions of up to 70 days without resupply, and can work unmanned to perform tasks too risky for human sailors. It is even capable of complying with the Rules of the Road, in certain well-defined situations. And it can do all of these things at a construction cost of $23 million, a bit under one percent of the price for a Zumwalt -class destroyer (excluding R&D).

Continue reading “DARPA Christens (Mostly) Autonomous Vessel” »

The remotely piloted aircraft has landed, but there’s still work to be done.

After the launch and recovery element lands the RPA, they taxi it off the runway and in to a hangar, where the maintenance Airmen get right to work.

“Post-flight we do any scheduled maintenance for the aircraft and change any parts that need to be replaced if they are broken, or if the manufacturer has deemed it necessary to change at a specific allotted time,” said Staff Sgt. Matthew, 432nd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron MQ-1 Predator crew chief. “We also refuel the aircraft with the required amount for the next mission.”

Continue reading “Piecing the puzzle together, MQ-1 and MQ-9s provide crucial CAP capabilities: Post-flight procedures” »

Nick Walker, an innovation scientist looking to stem cells for an HIV cure, has won the South African edition of the Singularity University Global Impact Competition (GIC), and with it the chance to attend a 10-week course at the prestigious innovation institution.

The scientist currently works at Next Biosciences, Africa’s leading stem cell laboratory and cryogenic biobank, based in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Walker completed his BSc, BSc (Hons, Cum Laude) and PhD at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Pietermaritzburg. In his PhD work he focussed on the role of the extracellular matrix (ECM) on various aspects of myogenesis.

Continue reading “SA innovation scientist wins space at Singularity University, wants to cure HIV” »

Agree; this is our future.

Almost ten years ago, Freeman Dyson ventured a wild forecast:

“I predict that the domestication of biotechnology will dominate our lives during the next fifty years at least as much as the domestication of computers has dominated our lives during the previous fifty years.”

Continue reading “Why We Should Teach Kids to Code Biology, Not Just Software” »

Zika. Ebola. Dengue. Influenza. Chikungunya. These are but a few among the growing cadre of viruses that today pose serious health threats to U.S. troops, as well as to civilian populations in the United States and around the world. Vaccines exist for but a few of these infectious diseases. And since these viruses have an uncanny ability to mutate and morph as they reproduce inside their hosts, those few vaccines that do exist are quickly outdated, providing little protection against the latest viral strains. That’s why flu vaccine manufacturers, for example, must produce new versions annually, at enormous expense and with variable year-to-year efficacy.

Ideally, to outpace evolving pathogens, a therapy or a vaccine would adapt in real time, shape-shifting as fast as its targets do. To pursue that radical approach, DARPA today launched its INTERfering and Co-Evolving Prevention and Therapy (INTERCEPT) program.

“We need a new paradigm to stay ahead of these moving targets,” said Jim Gimlett, DARPA program manager. “With INTERCEPT, the goal is to develop viral therapies that are effective against a broad spectrum of viral strains, and that can co-evolve and outpace new strains.”