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Dec 25, 2013

The Happiest Thought of Einstein’s Life is even Happier (A Christmas Carol)

Posted by in categories: existential risks, particle physics

The Happiest Thought of Einstein’s Life is even Happier (A Christmas Carol)

Otto E. Rossler, Faculty of Science, University of Tübingen, Auf der Morgenstelle 8, 72076 Tübingen, Germany

Abstract

Einstein’s happiest thought as he always said – weightlessness in free fall and hence usefulness of an imaginary rocketship for understanding gravity – has further implications if you look at it with the full attention of a child. Beside clock rate, size and mass and charge are miraculously transformed along, as every PET san confirms.

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Dec 23, 2013

It’s the 10th Anniversary of Battlestar Galactica. And it’s more relevant than ever.

Posted by in categories: existential risks, human trajectories, robotics/AI

By — Slate

Tricia Helfer, center, as humanoid Cylon model Number Six in Battlestar Galactica.

Ten years ago this month, a reimagined version of the ’70s science fiction series Battlestar Galactica began as a three-hour miniseries on the Sci-Fi Channel. (This was before the “Syfy” nonsense.) The critically acclaimed show ended up running for four seasons. Many articles and books have already been written about the enduring relevance of Battlestar Galactica’s religious and political themes—at least one of which, the dilemmas associated with a secretive national security state, is just as timely today as it was during the Bush administration.

But another key element of the show—the long-term societal risks associated with the development of intelligent machines—is even more relevant today than it was in 2003.

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Dec 23, 2013

Mustang 3D-prints engine… Wait, what?

Posted by in categories: 3D printing, business, transportation
By Staff — Emirates 24|7
“One day, millions of car parts could be printed as quickly as newspapers and as easily as pushing a button on theoffice copy machine, saving months of development time and millions of dollars,” so starts a media statement Emirates 24|7 just received from Ford.
It got us interested, so we continued reading…

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Dec 23, 2013

Building Bitcoin use in South Florida and beyond

Posted by in categories: bitcoin, economics

By Lance Dixon [email protected]

The U.S. Senate has deemed it legitimate. Detractors dismiss it as unstable and a vehicle for criminal trade. China has  A twenty-five bitcoin token. The digital currency, which carries the unofficial ticker symbol of BTC, was unveiled in 2009 by an unidentified programmer, or group of programmers, under the name of Satoshi Nakamoto. Supply is capped at 21 million Bitcoins and managed by a software algorithm embedded into the digital currency’s design, rather than a monetary authority such as a central bank. banned new deposits on its largest exchange.

Bitcoin, the international digital payment system and currency and one of the hottest technology and finance topics this past year, could become a widespread vehicle for trade, believe the leaders of a Miami group. To further that view, Miami International Bitcoin will be partcipating in the North American Bitcoin Conference slated for Miami Beach in January.

“The thing that’s really exciting about Bitcoin is that, here in South Florida, we have a half billion people to the south of us who do not have access to a banking system that works well, capital markets, credit — things that we take for granted,” said Charles Evans, business professor at Florida Atlantic University and one of the founders of Miami International Bitcoin.

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Dec 23, 2013

Singapore Government Decides Not to Interfere With Bitcoin

Posted by in categories: bitcoin, business, economics, geopolitics, government

for Tech in Asia

Bitcoin

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the country’s central bank, has decided not to intervene on whether businesses can accept Bitcoin as a means of transacting goods and services.

“Whether or not businesses accept bitcoins in exchange for their goods and services is a commercial decision in which MAS does not intervene,” it told Singapore-based Bitcoin trading platform Coin Republic in an email.

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Dec 23, 2013

Infinity Point Will Arrive by 2035 Latest

Posted by in categories: human trajectories, posthumanism, singularity, transhumanism

By: Eray Ozkural - h+

Computing-efficency

During writing a paper for the 100 Year Starship Symposium, I wished to convince the starship designers that they should acknowledge the dynamics of high-technology economy, which may be crucial for interstellar missions. Thus motivated, I have made a new calculation regarding infinity point, also known as the singularity. According to this most recent revision of the theory of infinity point, it turns out that we should expect Infinity Point by 2035 in the worst case. Here is how and why.

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Dec 22, 2013

Ohio training students for civilian drone jobs

Posted by in categories: drones, education

CINCINNATI (AP) — Some Ohio schools are preparing students for a boom in the drone industry once the federal government, as is expected, allows civilian unmanned aircraft to fly in U.S. airspace.

The Federal Aviation Administration estimates as many as 7,500 commercial drones could be flying in national airspace within a few years, and has until 2015 to present a plan for safely integrating drones into U.S. airspace.

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Dec 22, 2013

D.C. businesses starting to accept Bitcoin

Posted by in categories: bitcoin, business

By — The Washington Post

In May, brothers Guiseppe and Mario Lanzone started a Peruvian food business in Washington, hoping to cash in on the District’s enchantment with food trucks.

Today, the two are betting on another trend: a virtual currency called Bitcoin. The Lanzones decided a few weeks ago they would be accepting Bitcoin, announcing the change in a tweet to their 800 followers.

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Dec 22, 2013

Solidator 3D Printer Prints Large Objects and Does it Fast

Posted by in category: 3D printing

by — Technabob

Two of the biggest challenges with today’s desktop 3D printers are that they 1) don’t print very large objects and 2) are painfully slow. The Solidator 3D printer aims to change both of those things, in a printer that costs less than $5,000.

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Dec 22, 2013

Japanese Team Dominates Competition to Create Generation of Rescue Robots

Posted by in categories: engineering, robotics/AI

HOMESTEAD, Fla. — An international competition to pave the way for a new generation of rescue robots was dominated by a team of Japanese roboticists who were students in the laboratory of a pioneer in the design of intelligent humanoid machines.

The early roboticist, Hirochika Inoue, began working in the field almost a half-century ago at the University of Tokyo, and in the mid-1990s led the design of robots that could both walk and manipulate objects.

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