Lifeboat Foundation: Safeguarding Humanity
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Blog – Page 4939

Weighing cost vs. benefit

For small business owners, implementing sustainability initiatives may seem more like a pipe dream than a tangible goal, as the technology can be costly to implement. What’s more, businesses that are using technology to drive sustainability must employ talented workers who can tap into those resources and streamline operations for the greatest economic and environmental benefit.

However, as companies can leverage automation and data analytics to increase efficiency, adjust energy usage, reduce waste and otherwise help with sustainability, the cost of investing in automation is worth it. By giving company leaders the ability to see the big picture in terms of carbon footprint, data and automation can help optimize operations and improve a company’s bottom line.

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In the 1980s, biologist Dr Michael Rose started to selectively breed Drosophila fruit flies for increased longevity. Today, the descendants of the original Methuselah flies are held by biotech firm Genescient Corporation and live 4.5 times longer than normal fruit flies.

The flies’ increased lifespan is explained by a significant number of systemic genetic changes — but how many of these variations represent lessons that can be used to design longevity therapies for humans? Dr. Ben Goertzel and his bio-AI colleagues at SingularityNET and Rejuve. AI are betting the answer is quite a few.

SingularityNET and Rejuve. AI have launched a partnership with Genescient to apply advanced machine learning and machine reasoning methods to transfer insights gained from the Methuselah fly genome to the human genome. The goal is to acquire new information regarding gene therapies, drugs or nutraceutical regimens for prolonging healthy human life.

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Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have adapted their atom-based radio receiver to detect and display live color television and video games.

Atom-based communications systems are of practical interest because they could be physically smaller and more tolerant of noisy environments than conventional electronics. Adding video capability could enhance radio systems in, for example, remote locations or emergency situations.

NIST’s receiver uses atoms prepared in high-energy “Rydberg” states, which are unusually sensitive to , including . These sensors also enable signal power measurements linked to the international system of units (SI). The latest work, described in AVS Quantum Science, is the first to demonstrate video reception.

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There were two Teslabot videos. The first has a discussion with James Douma. James describes his perspective of the advances in neural nets. He described how GPT-3 created a foundational capability by cracking language. He believes the Teslabot will leverage neural nets to crack robotic methods for bipedal movement and mastering identifying and picking up objects.

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Damage to the ends of your chromosomes can create “zombie cells” that are still alive but can’t function, according to our recently published study in Nature Structural and Molecular Biology.

When cells prepare to divide, their DNA is tightly wound around proteins to form chromosomes that provide structure and support for genetic material. At the ends of these chromosomes are repetitive stretches of DNA called telomeres that form a protective cap to prevent damage to the genetic material.

However, telomeres shorten each time a cell divides. This means that as cells divide more and more as you age, your telomeres become increasingly shorter and more likely to lose their ability to protect your DNA.

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First photographers were creating portraits of people that don’t exist, now Aurel Manea has created a series of “landscape photos” using a new artificially intelligent (AI) software program called Stable Diffusion.

Manea tells PetaPixel that he has been blown away by what the London and Los Altos-based startup Stability AI has created.

“I can’t, as a landscape photographer myself, emphasize enough what these new technologies will mean for photography,” explains Manea.

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Faster computers, tap-proof communication, better car sensors—quantum technologies have the potential to revolutionize our lives just as the invention of computers or the internet once did. Experts worldwide are trying to implement findings from basic research into quantum technologies. To this end, they often require individual particles, such as photons—the elementary particles of light—with tailored properties.

However, obtaining individual particles is complicated and requires intricate methods. In a study recently published in the journal Science, researchers now present a new method that simultaneously generates two individual particles in form of a pair.

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Scientists experimenting with next-generation plastics at Finland’s University of Turku have developed a form of the material with some impressive capabilities, most notably an ability to quickly break down after use. The eco-friendly “supramolecular” plastic is therefore highly recyclable and, with careful tuning of its water content, can be turned into an adhesive or even instantly self-heal when damaged.

The reason conventional plastics persist in the environment for so long is the incredibly strong chemical connections between the monomers within them. These particles link up to form polymers through what are known as covalent bonds, but scientists hope to fashion more environmentally forms of the material based on non-covalent bonds instead.

These weaker connections are better suited to degradation and recycling of the material, but do come at a cost in terms of mechanical performance. We have looked at some interesting examples of these “supramolecular” materials in the form of hybrid polymers for drug delivery, self-assembling plastics and adhesives that work at extreme temperatures.

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