Lifeboat News: The Blog – Safeguarding Humanity

AI on a chip for voice, image recognition

Posted by Klaus Baldauf in computing, health, internet, neuroscience, robotics/AI, wearables

Jul 20
2016

Horizon Robotics, led by Yu Kai, Baidu’s former deep learning head, is developing AI chips and software to mimic how the human brain solves abstract tasks, such as voice and image recognition. The company believes that this will provide more consistent and reliable services than cloud based systems.

The goal is to enable fast and intelligent responses to user commands, with out an internet connection, to control appliances, cars, and other objects. Health applications are a logical next step, although not yet discussed.

Wearable Tech + Digital Health San Francisco – April 5, 2016 @ the Mission Bay Conference Center.

How Virgin Galactic’s new spaceship honors Stephen Hawking — By Michael D’Estries | Mother Nature Network

Posted by Odette Bohr Dienel in space, space travel

Jul 20
2016

“Virgin Spaceship Unity, set to begin test flights next month, includes a very special nod to the theoretical physicist.”

UK National Space Propulsion Facility | UK Space Agency

Posted by Odette Bohr Dienel in space, space travel

Jul 20
2016

“The UK Space Agency is investing £4.12m in a National Propulsion Test Facility, giving the UK a new facility for space technology testing.”

Kenya to adopt space technology for wildlife and ecosystems conservation — By Linnete Bahai | Africanews

Posted by Odette Bohr Dienel in spaceTagged Africa

Jul 20
2016

“Kenyan policy makers and experts are rooting for the use of space technology to enhance wildlife and ecosystems management in the country.”

IBM Just Put A Quantum Computer On The Cloud For Anyone To Use

Posted by Shailesh Prasad in computing, quantum physics

Jul 20
2016

IBM just opened up access to one of its 5-qubit quantum processors for anyone to use by connecting it to the cloud. Here’s what it means for quantum research—and IBM’s top-line in years to come.

What free will looks like in the brain

Posted by Shailesh Prasad in neuroscience

Jul 20
2016

Johns Hopkins University researchers are the first to glimpse the human brain making a purely voluntary decision to act.

Unlike most brain studies where scientists watch as people respond to cues or commands, Johns Hopkins researchers found a way to observe people’s brain activity as they made choices entirely on their own. The findings, which pinpoint the parts of the brain involved in decision-making and action, are now online, and due to appear in a special October issue of the journal Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics.

“How do we peek into people’s brains and find out how we make choices entirely on our own?” asked Susan Courtney, a professor of psychological and brain sciences. “What parts of the brain are involved in free choice?”

Interesting Futurism Animation 33

Posted by Shailesh Prasad in futurism

Jul 20
2016

Solar-powered desalination produces energy

Posted by Shailesh Prasad in solar power, sustainability

Jul 20
2016

Silver, silica and titania nanocomposite converts seawater into pure drinking water and hydrogen gas.

Will Computers Redefine the Roots of Math?

Posted by Shailesh Prasad in computing, mathematics

Jul 19
2016

When a legendary mathematician found a mistake in his own work, he embarked on a computer-aided quest to eliminate human error. To succeed, he has to rewrite the century-old rules underlying all of mathematics.

Dropbox open-sources Lepton, a compression algorithm that cuts JPEG file size

Posted by Shailesh Prasad in computing, information science

Jul 19
2016

Cloud syncing and sharing software company Dropbox today announced that it has released an image compression algorithm called Lepton under an Apache open source license on GitHub.

Lepton can both compress and decompress files, and for the latter, it can work while streaming — that is, files can be expanded back into full size as they are being sent over the network. So Lepton is important for user experience, given how it can more quickly transfer data and show content. But at the same time, it has an impact on the data center infrastructure where files often end up.

“We have used Lepton to encode 16 billion images saved to Dropbox, and are rapidly recoding our older images. Lepton has already saved Dropbox multiple petabytes of space,” Dropbox software systems architect Daniel Reiter Horn wrote in a blog post.