Lifeboat Foundation

Goodbye phone lines. Hello quantum physics.

Jennifer Doudna:

Nobel Laureate Biochemist: Early in my work on CRISPR, I had a dream one night about a colleague of mine asking me to explain CRISPR to a friend of his. And the friend turned out to be Hitler. And it was Hitler with a pig face and a horrifying look that made me imagine some of the worst aspects of what genome editing could bring about if it were used irresponsibly.

And I woke up from that dream thinking that it was so critical that we as scientists think together about how we use our technologies responsibly.

This film by Ken Gumbs tackles the issue of pending greater-than-human artificial intelligence and the possible ramifications. Different individuals with different backgrounds are interviewed on the subject, including a theologian, a philosopher, a brain builder and a cyborg. A wide spectrum of topics are discussed, including trans-humanism, mind-machine mergers, uploading, and artificial super-intelligence.

The method is based on a gel containing enzymes that catalyze electrode formation from endogenous molecules.

A new approach shrinks quantum photonic technology to the size of a Euro coin.

A recent showcase in the Dutch city highlighted the potential of green rooftops, which can lower city temperatures by 5 degrees Fahrenheit, say researchers.

The James Webb Space Telescope keeps finding galaxies that shouldn’t exist, a scientist has warned.

Six of the earliest and most massive galaxies that NASA’s breakthrough telescope has seen so far appear to be bigger and more mature than they should be given where they are in the universe, researchers have warned.

The new findings build on previous research where scientists reported that despite coming from the very beginnings of the universe, the galaxies were as mature as our own Milky Way.

An older article but something the world is facing just like in certain sci-fi movies.

The reference publication of the movement in the 80s, the Earth First journal, featured a column called Ask Ned Ludd, in reference to the mythical character that gave name to the luddites. Jones thinks that neo-luddites are in fact misreading the original luddites, but he believes that understanding the difference between the old and modern ones tells us a lot about the ideology of the latter.

“Luddites were not anti-technology: they were skilled craftsmen, involved in a labour movement aimed at keeping their machines and their jobs,” he says. “That’s very different from the neo-luddites ideas of relinquishing civilisation and [of] nature as the supreme good.” Jones thinks neo-luddism is fed rather by “the idea of technology as a disembodied, transcendent, terrifying force outside the human”, which emerged in the mid 20th century, with the bomb and the rise of large-scale computing.

The CEO of Alphabet-owned AI research lab, DeepMind Technologies, spoke about the potential of artificial intelligence in an interview with CBS’ “60 Minutes,” which aired on Sunday.

DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis told CBS that he thinks that AI might one day become self-aware.

“Philosophers haven’t really settled on a definition of consciousness yet but if we mean self-awareness, and these kinds of things … I think there’s a possibility that AI one day could be,” he said.