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Nov 22, 2014

INTERSTELLAR – Blockbuster Movie features Decisive Black-Hole Effect

Posted by in category: cosmology

The movie is grandiose and beautifully done. Especially the young girl at the outset is an incredibly strong real-life personality. The movie brings together the issue of planetary survival – under the onslaught of a never explained progressive lethal scourge – with the redeeming power of black holes used as a vehicle to reach a distant twin earth to be colonized by a select few.

The scenario is ingenious because the two topics – planetary survival and black holes – are intertwined on our own planet as well. The movie therefore functions much like a nightly dream which reshuffles some elements of the daylight reality to enable the sleep to go on while still remaining decipherable after waking up. The current terrestrial situation is not at all unrelated – with black holes figuring decisively in it as well.

In this optically and acoustically overwhelming immersion, for the first time in history the basic effect which a black hole exerts on its vicinity is made palpable. The viewer becomes an eyewitness to the emotional ordeal gone through by the protagonist (a trained jet pilot originally) when he suddenly realizes what it means that he and his buddy are by a technical problem forced to stay for a few more minutes fairly deep down in the gravitational funnel of a giant black hole: That this means that decades will pass by on the outside during those very minutes – so his young daughter whom he so much longs to see again will afterwards be older than he is now. And indeed, when he returns at the end of the movie, she is lying on her death bed in old age, with all her descendants assembled around her.

The movie thereby makes “gravitational time dilation” a palpable experience on the viewer’s own body and mind. And it does the same thing to the specialists’ minds, so I am sure. Textbook knowledge can never replace being made an eyewitness in person. You are now able to realize yourself what happens if you get even closer to the surface (or “horizon” as my friend Wolfgang Rindler named it) of a black hole. The answer is that you will in the limit of going down to the horizon itself be faced with an infinitely old universe on your return.

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Nov 21, 2014

FUTURISM UPDATE (November 22, 2014) — Mr. Andres Agostini, Amazon

Posted by in category: futurism

FUTURISM UPDATE (November 22, 2014) — Mr. Andres Agostini, Amazon

0  ACROBATICS

BBC NEWS: Robots face new test of creative abilities. A US professor is proposing a new way to test whether artificial intelligence (AI) is on a par with that of humans. http://lnkd.in/eq8HWGx

FINANCIAL TIMES: Google break-up plan emerges from Brussels. The European parliament is poised to call for a break-up of Google, in one of the most brazen assaults so far on the technology group’s power. http://lnkd.in/eBaysU3

THE ECONOMIST: Is Germany’s economy getting too weak to pull Europe out of its crisis? http://lnkd.in/e6vF9kU

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Nov 21, 2014

Construction Starts on Jean Nouvel’s National Art Museum of China

Posted by in category: architecture

Dezeen Magazine

News: building work has begun in Beijing on the National Art Museum of China by French architect Jean Nouvel, who beat Frank Gehry and Zaha Hadid in a competition for the project in 2013.

The design for the National Museum of China (NAMOC) by Jean Nouvel features an intricately patterned perforated facade, which wraps around part of the building.

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Nov 20, 2014

FUTURISM UPDATE (November 21, 2014) — Mr. Andres Agostini, Amazon

Posted by in category: futurism

FUTURISM UPDATE (November 21, 2014) — Mr. Andres Agostini, Amazon

0    FORESIGHT

CleanTechnica: Biomimicry Run Amok: New Micro Air Vehicles Can Swarm Like Bees http://lnkd.in/dMpRCPB

FINANCIAL TIMES: Space junk or Russian satellite killer? It is a tale that could have come from the cold war. A mysterious object launched by the Russian military is being tracked by western space agencies, stoking fears over the revival of a defunct Kremlin project to destroy satellites. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/cdd0bdb6-6c27-11e4-990…z3JdykV8Dw

TECH CRUNCH: Eric Schmidt’s Farm2050 Collective Will Back Agriculture Tech To Feed Earth’s Growing Population http://lnkd.in/eBAaTfe

Continue reading “FUTURISM UPDATE (November 21, 2014) — Mr. Andres Agostini, Amazon” »

Nov 20, 2014

Bitcoin, Cryptocurrency, and Blockchain Technology — Voting Systems

Posted by in categories: automation, big data, bitcoin, business, complex systems, computing, disruptive technology, economics, encryption, engineering, ethics, geopolitics, government, hacking, hardware, information science, innovation, law, materials, open access, open source, philosophy, policy, polls, privacy, science, security, software, supercomputing, transparency, treaties

Quoted: “Bitcoin technology offers a fundamentally different approach to vote collection with its decentralized and automated secure protocol. It solves the problems of both paper ballot and electronic voting machines, enabling a cost effective, efficient, open system that is easily audited by both individual voters and the entire community. Bitcoin technology can enable a system where every voter can verify that their vote was counted, see votes for different candidates/issues cast in real time, and be sure that there is no fraud or manipulation by election workers.”


Read the article here » http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/239809?hootPostID=ba473f…aacc8412c7

Nov 20, 2014

The FIRST Team on Mars

Posted by in categories: education, science

“It’s human nature to stretch, to go, to see, to understand. Exploration is not a choice, really; it’s an imperative.” — Michael Collins, former astronaut

Nov 20, 2014

Has the flawed password system finally had its day?

Posted by in categories: computing, cybercrime/malcode, encryption, privacy

— BBC

woman thinking in from of password graphic

Passwords are a pain. We choose simple words that are easy to remember, but equally easy for hackers to guess.

Yet we still forget them. And they also get stolen with alarming frequency.

Continue reading “Has the flawed password system finally had its day?” »

Nov 19, 2014

BitCoin, Cryptocurrency, and Blockchain Technology — FACTOM

Posted by in categories: automation, big data, biotech/medical, bitcoin, business, complex systems, computing, disruptive technology, economics, education, encryption, engineering, environmental, ethics, finance, futurism, geopolitics, hacking, information science, law, materials, open access, policy, science, security, software, supercomputing, transparency

Quoted: “The Factom team suggested that its proposal could be leveraged to execute some of the crypto 2.0 functionalities that are beginning to take shape on the market today. These include creating trustless audit chains, property title chains, record keeping for sensitive personal, medical and corporate materials, and public accountability mechanisms.

During the AMA, the Factom president was asked how the technology could be leveraged to shape the average person’s daily life.”

Kirby responded:

“Factom creates permanent records that can’t be changed later. In a Factom world, there’s no more robo-signing scandals. In a Factom world, there are no more missing voting records. In a Factom world, you know where every dollar of government money was spent. Basically, the whole world is made up of record keeping and, as a consumer, you’re at the mercy of the fragmented systems that run these records.”

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Nov 19, 2014

FUTURISM UPDATE (November 20, 2014) — Mr. Andres Agostini, Amazon

Posted by in category: futurism

FUTURISM UPDATE (November 20, 2014) — Mr. Andres Agostini, Amazon

0   LAUGHTERS

HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW: The Cognitive Usefulness of the Internet of Things http://lnkd.in/dqVF9PX

ZDNet: Internet of things: Poised to be a security headache? Nearly 95 percent of enterprises are at least concerned about the security of the Internet of things. Here’s a look at a potential security model. http://lnkd.in/dBvktGj

CNNMoney: FAA can regulate drones http://lnkd.in/dX2iKEH

Continue reading “FUTURISM UPDATE (November 20, 2014) — Mr. Andres Agostini, Amazon” »

Nov 19, 2014

Mobile phones could be charged using sound

Posted by in categories: electronics, mobile phones

By — Gizmag

Thanks to zinc oxide nanorods, phones may someday be able to recharge using the sounds aro...

Four years ago, we first heard about how Korean scientists had proposed using sound to charge mobile phones. They explained that it could be done via a piezoelectric effect, in which zinc oxide nanowires converted sound-caused vibrations into electricity. At the time, the researchers couldn’t generate enough of a current to actually charge a phone. Now, however, scientists from Nokia and Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) have succeeded in doing so.

Like the Korean team, the Nokia/QMUL researchers utilized zinc oxide, in the form of a sheet of tiny nanorods. As is the case with other piezoelectric materials, zinc oxide produces an electrical current when subjected to mechanical stress. The nanorods will actually bend in response to sound waves, creating that stress in the process.

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