Lifeboat Foundation

By Andy Greenberg — Wired

If you’re making a phone call with your iPhone, you used to have two options: Accept the notion that any wiretapper, hacker or spook can listen in on your conversations, or pay for pricey voice encryption software.

As of today there’s a third option: The open source software group known as Open Whisper Systems has announced the release of Signal, the first iOS app designed to enable easy, strongly encrypted voice calls for free. “We’re trying to make private communications as available and accessible as any normal phone call,” says Moxie Marlinspike, the hacker security researcher who founded the nonprofit software group. Later this summer, he adds, encrypted text messaging will be integrated into Signal, too, to create what he describes as a “single, unified app for free, easy, open source, private voice and text messaging.”

Read more

Terra Forming Venus & Mars by leveraging Asteroids
Inspired by: Lifeboat Foundation

Both Mars and Venus can be terra-formed to provide Earth-like gravity and atmospheres; Venus with an effort of about 100 years to terra-form the atmosphere, and Mars with an effort of about 2,000 years to terra-form the atmosphere. These are both potentially realized through the use of systems of solar sails. Asteroids provide many of the resources needed to seed related development.

Conceptual Space Elevator

Continue reading “Method of Sustainable Fuel-less Terra-forming of Venus & Mars” »

By Antonio Pasolini — GizMag

The search for more efficient tests of pharmaceuticals without animal models is taking a stride forward, with a new technology being developed in the US called Organs-on-Chips. The new miniature platform and software, which mimic the mechanical and molecular characteristics of human organs, were developed by bioengineers from the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University.

The device, about the size of a small computer memory stick, is created using microchip-manufacturing techniques. It features a porous flexible membrane that separates two channels at the center of the device. The channels are filled with living human cells and tissues cultured in a fluid that mimics the environment inside the human body. Micro-engineering and automated instrumentation allows the system to perform real-time analysis of biochemical, genetic and metabolic functions within single cells.

Read more

FUTURISM UPDATE (October 04, 2014)

DEFENSE SYSTEMS: Pentagon launches Insider Threat Program http://defensesystems.com/articles/2014/10/02/dod-insider-threat-program.aspx

WASHINGTON POST: Why quarantines won’t stop Ebola from spreading in the U.S. http://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2014/10/03/w…n-the-u-s/

Continue reading “FUTURISM UPDATE (October 04, 2014)” »

Would you have your brain preserved? Do you believe your brain is the essence of you?

To noted American PhD Neuroscientist and Futurist, Ken Hayworth, the answer is an emphatic, “Yes.” He is currently developing machines and techniques to map brain tissue at the nanometer scale — the key to encoding our individual identities.

A self-described transhumanist and President of the Brain Preservation Foundation, Hayworth’s goal is to perfect existing preservation techniques, like cryonics, as well as explore and push evolving opportunities to effect a change on the status quo. Currently there is no brain preservation option that offers systematic, scientific evidence as to how much human brain tissue is actually preserved when undergoing today’s experimental preservation methods. Such methods include vitrification, the procedure used in cryonics to try and prevent human organs from freezing and being destroyed when tissue is cooled for cryopreservation.

Hayworth believes we can achieve his vision of preserving an entire human brain at an accepted and proven standard within the next decade. If Hayworth is right, is there a countdown to immortality?

Continue reading “What if your memories could live past your mortal shelf life?” »

By Margaret Rhodes — Wired

“I honestly think in five years people are going to go, ‘Oh God, remember when we used to wash our hair with shampoo?’” says Michael Gordon. That’s a striking statement, given Gordon’s own history: He created the famed haircare company Bumble and Bumble in 1977, the spin off product line in 1992, and then in 2006 sold his stake to Estée Lauder. But he isn’t advocating for unwashed hair. He’s explaining Purely Perfect, his new product line that defies just about every expectation most consumers have when it comes to personal hygiene.

The marquee product is a hair cleanser that has no detergents and doesn’t create a foam. Specifically, it’s free of sodium laureth sulfate, a chemical ingredient used in virtually all shampoos because it kills oils and leaves users with a squeaky-clean scalp. Problem is, that also dries out skin and hair follicles—a problem that most people treat by buying, without batting an eye, additional products like conditioners and hair masks. Instead, the Purely Perfect cleansing creme has aloe vera, rose flower oil, evening primrose oil, and peppermint oil. Using it feels nothing like shampoo: Massage the balm into your scalp, through your strands, and rinse it out. That’s it. No lathering, no rinsing, no repeating. And no Bumble and Bumble.

Read more

FUTURISM UPDATE (October 03, 2014)

BBC: Toyota’s plans for a fuel cell future http://www.bbc.com/news/business-29459999

POPULAR SCIENCE: CHEOS– China’s New Eye In Space http://www.popsci.com/blog-network/eastern-arsenal/cheos-chi…e-in-space

Continue reading “FUTURISM UPDATE (October 03, 2014)” »

By Nick Lavars — GizMag

A team of international researchers has developed a molecule capable of triggering cancer cell death by carrying chloride into cancer cell membranes. The molecule flushes the cells with salt and causes them to self-destruct, potentially paving the way for new types of anti-cancer drugs.

The international effort involves researchers from the UK, Texas and South Korea who have collaborated to develop a synthetic ion transporter with a chloride payload. Once it reaches the cancer cells, the chloride interacts with the sodium in the cell membranes and leads to its demise.

Continue reading “Synthetic molecule uses salt to trigger self-destruction of cancer cells” »

FUTURISM UPDATE (October 02, 2014)

CIO: Microsoft Wants You to Help Predict the Future, and Bet on it http://www.cio.com/article/2689412/innovation/microsoft-want…on-it.html

FINANCIAL TIMES: Robots are our saviours, not the enemy. The alternative is a world in which wages fall and prices rise, writes Peter Thiel http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/db02d75c-4400-11e4-baa7-00144feabdc0.html

Continue reading “FUTURISM UPDATE (October 02, 2014)” »