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The much pursued fountain of youth can become a reality if humans agree to share their DNA information, according to Google Ventures’ CEO Bill Maris, who has warned that “we’re all going to die” earlier if we keep our genetic codes secret.

Maris, who aims to digitize DNA, stressed during a Wall Street Journal technology conference in California that our genomes “aren’t really secret,” urging those protective of their genetic information to loosen the reins a bit.

Noting that genetic material is constantly left lying around in public, Maris addressed those who remain nervous about the digitization of DNA. “What are you worried about?” he said on Tuesday, adding that a person could easily gather information by fishing a used cup out of the trash and taking it to a lab for analysis.

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In one of my first articles for Lifeboat,* I provided an experimental methodology for demonstrating (or proving) the instantaneous ‘communication’ between quantum entangled particles. Even though changes to one particle can be provably demonstrated at its far away twin, the very strange experimental results suggested by quantum theory also demonstrate that you cannot use the simultaneity for any purpose. That is, you can provably pass information instantly, but you cannot study the ‘message’ (a change in state at the recipient), until such time as it could have been transmit by a classical radio wave.

Now, scientists have conducted an experiment proving that objects can instantaneously affect each other, regardless o the distance between them. [continue below]

delft quantum entanglement apparatus

[From The New York Times—Oct 21, 2015]:

Sorry Einstein.
Quantum Study Suggests ‘Spooky Action’ is Real

In a landmark study, scientists at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands reported that they had conducted an experiment that they say proved one of the most fundamental claims of quantum theory — that objects separated by great distance can instantaneously affect each other’s behavior.

The finding is another blow to one of the bedrock principles of standard physics known as “locality,” which states that an object is directly influenced only by its immediate surroundings. The Delft study, published Wednesday in the journal Nature, lends further credence to an idea that Einstein famously rejected. He said quantum theory necessitated “spooky action at a distance,” and he refused to accept the notion that the universe could behave in such a strange and apparently random fashion.

[Read John Markoff’s full article in The New York Times]

* The original Lifeboat article—in which I describe an experimental apparatus in lay terms—was reprinted from my Blog, A Wild Duck.

The $1.7 billion investment has finally opened its doors to the public, and the robots are ready to provide patients with a medical experience that’s truly revolutionary.

Hailed as the first fully digital hospital in North America, the Humber River Hospital in Toronto, CA finally opened its doors to the public on October 18. In addition to being equipped with the most advanced technologies, robots currently man several areas of the facility. This includes the radiology area where they facilitate the X-Ray procedure and the chemotherapy area where they mix, prepare, and monitor the drugs being administered to the patients. Before the drugs get to the patients, each package is checked and scanned thoroughly through an information management system to make sure that the patients get the correct treatment. These automated robots will also be assisting the health care staff by carrying and delivering medical supplies and food for patients.

Here’s a video of one of the automated robots in action:

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A footpath in the UK has been equipped with free Wi-Fi coverage, with manholes, on-street cabinets, and other ‘street furniture’ being used to broadcast the signal, which reaches maximum speeds of 166 Mbps and can be accessed from up to 80 metres (260 feet) away.

For the time being, this is a very small-scale scheme: the connected street has been set up in the market town of Chesham, home to some 21,000 people, about 50 km outside of London. As you might expect, it’s a promotional stunt on the part of Virgin Media, but the company says it’s committed to improving public Wi-Fi access across the country, and will be using feedback from the trial in Chesham to help inform its future plans.

“The unlimited Wi-Fi service is available to residents, businesses, and visitors passing through the centre of Chesham,” explains the Virgin Media team. “The service even covers parts of Lowndes Park — Chesham’s 36-acre park space.”

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A robot construction worker that can move around a building site autonomously and make architectural structures is being developed by Swiss designers and roboticists. Jim Drury saw it for himself.

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Remember that paralyzed guy from Southern California who managed to walk on his own accord thanks to a revolutionary technique that bridged the gap in his severed spinal column with a wireless Bluetooth link? A team of doctors at Ohio’s Case Western Reserve University have reportedly accomplished the same feat with a patient’s arms.

The team described its initial findings at a meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in Chicago on Tuesday. The system works much like that of the earlier team at UC Irvine: a brain-control interface (BCI) reads the patient’s brain waves emanating from his motor cortex, converts them into actionable electrical signals and wirelessly transmits them to an actuator “sewn into” the patient’s arm. This actuator is comprised of 16 filament wires that generate electrical impulses, which cause various muscle groups to contract when stimulated. The patient thinks about moving his arm and it does so — well, sorta.

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