So long pseudo-random number generator. Quantum mechanics brought us true randomness to power our crypto algorithms, and is strengthening encryption in the cloud, the datacenter, and the Internet of Things.
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This genetics company claims it just achieved a major milestone in biology — and it could transform personalized medicine
Veritas Genetics, a Boston-based biotech company co-founded by Harvard geneticist George Church, is claiming it can now sequence your entire genome — the genetic blueprint inside all your cells that makes you who and what you are — for less than $1,000. That price tag includes an interpretation of the results and genetic counseling.
If the claim is true, it would shatter a long-held barrier in genetic medicine.
Reaching the $1,000 genome
The so-called $1,000 genome has long been a holy grail in genetics. While others — notably the company Illumina — have previously claimed to reach this milestone, these efforts did not include the cost of interpreting the results.
No Man’s Sky
This new video game would take over 5 BILLION years to fully explore!
Zoom to Mars in 6 weeks with new Russian nuclear-fission engine
A nuclear power propulsion system could propel a spacecraft to Mars in just over a month, a huge step forward from the current 18 months required. Russia might test a nuclear engine as early as 2018, the head of the Rosatom nuclear corporation revealed.
Another advantage of a nuclear engine is that it enables a spacecraft to maneuver throughout the flight, whereas existing technology only makes a defined trajectory flight possible.
First ‘natural machine’ augmented reality product Meta 2 launches to developers
Last month, Meta CEO Meron Gribetz wowed TED with a sneak peak at the company’s new Meta 2 augmented-reality product. Today, Meta announced that the Meta 2 Development Kit is now available for pre-orders.
Meta 2′s Iron-Man-like immersive functionality appears similar to Hololens and Magic Leap, but with a wider 90-degree field of view, 2560 × 1440 high-DPI display, and natural hand-controlled operation.
Meta | Meta 2 Development Kit — Launch Video
Ask Ray | Ethan Kurzweil debates the role of tech firms in personal privacy
Dear readers,
My son Ethan Kurzweil — who is a partner at Bessemer Ventures Partners — tracks the future of web innovation, social and legal concerns about privacy, and start-ups who have an edge with their business or consumer applications, like team sourcing or software-as-a-service.
He appeared on C • NBC business affairs show Power Lunch. Episode debated the recent news about the US government and law enforcement asking Apple to release private data on an iPhone used by terrorists.
Google’s new robot is now even more human
Google’s latest version of the Atlas robot can open doors, balance while walking through the snow, place objects on a shelf and pick itself up after being knocked down.
