Lifeboat Foundation

The great silence and the fermi paradox by Ted Chiang.

Dropbox is a free service that lets you bring your photos, docs, and videos anywhere and share them easily. Never email yourself a file again!

Check out my interview with Dr. Noam Chomsky where he explains why we have more urgent problems than the technological singularity.

Large language models are computer programs that can analyze and create text. They are trained using massive amounts of text data, which helps them become better at tasks like generating text. Language models are the foundation for many natural language processing (NLP) activities, like speech-to-text and sentiment analysis. These models can look at a text and predict the next word. Examples of LLMs include ChatGPT, LaMDA, PaLM, etc.

Parameters in LLMs help the model to understand relationships in the text, which helps them to predict the likelihood of word sequences. As the number of parameters increases, the ability of the model to capture complex relationships and its flexibility in handling rare words also increases.

ChatGPT is an open-source chatbot powered by the GPT-3 language model. It is capable of engaging in natural language conversations with users. ChatGPT is trained on a wide array of topics and can assist with various tasks like answering questions, providing information, and generating creative content.

A supermassive black hole at the centre of a galaxy some 8.5 billion years way has ripped apart a nearby star, producing some of the most luminous jets ever seen.

When stars and other objects stray too close to a supermassive black hole they are destroyed by the black hole’s immense gravity.

These occurrences, known as tidal-disruption events (TDEs), result in a circling disk of material that is slowly pulled into the black hole and very occasionally, as in the case of supermassive black hole AT2022cmc, ejecting bright beams of material travelling close to the speed of light.

In a recent study published in Cell, researchers presented eight hallmarks of neurodegenerative diseases (NDDs), their in vivo biomarkers, and interactions to help categorize NDDs and specify patients within a specific NDD.

Despite being linked to rare genetic forms, all eight NDD hallmarks (cellular/molecular processes) also contribute to sporadic NDDs. In addition, they contribute to neuronal loss in preclinical (animal) models and NDD patients, manifesting as an altered molecular (hallmark) biomarker.

An NDD patient could have defects in multiple NDD hallmarks. However, the primary NDD hallmark depends on the NDD insult and the neuronal susceptibility and resilience, i.e., one’s ability to handle insults in the affected brain region.

Scientists have identified the exact point at which healthy brain proteins are shocked into the tangled mess that is commonly associated with Alzheimer’s disease.

Researchers at the University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB) are h opeful that the new laboratory technique behind the discovery can be used to directly study the ‘never-before-seen’ early stages of many neurodegenerative diseases.

Tau proteins are abundant in the human brain. At first, these proteins look like tiny pieces of string inside neurons. As they fold and bind together with structural elements called microtubules, however, they create a sort of skeleton for brain cells that helps them function properly.

With major advancements in space optics over the last 20 years, ultrahigh-bandwidth signals now regularly ping back and forth over great distances, providing a communications canopy that extends over the entire globe.

19 minutes in, “At this point I think things are going pretty damned well,” when talking about if the middle-aged will benefit.

Life-Extension pioneer Dr. Aubrey De Grey discusses the LEV & SENS foundations, the latest trends in anti-aging research, new animal trials anticipated to double or triple life expectancy, and increased social acceptance for the disease model of aging.

Continue reading “Aubrey de Grey — Longevity & Life-Extension” »

My last genAI experiment where I created a children’s (audio)book in more than 10 languages within a few days with the help of AI was quite a while ago. So now it was time for a new experiment. This time I created a fully synthetic podcast using generative AI and brought Steve Jobs to life as a synthetic AI character to have a conversation with him.

In this blog post I talk about my motivation, explain how I proceeded step by step and also share my learnings.