Lifeboat Foundation: Safeguarding Humanity
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Cyborgs transhumanist and futurists.

Museum of Science | Boston, MA
March 28th, 2018

We’ve all heard of Terminator, Blade Runner, and other science fiction about cyborgs. But how far is reality from fiction? Can scientists transform humans into machine-like creatures, stronger, smarter and, who knows, even immortal?

Join us for a unique conversation about our transhumanist future with neuroscientist Ed Boyden, leader of the Synthetic Neurobiology Group and associate professor of Biological Engineering and Brain and Cognitive Sciences at the MIT Media Lab and McGovern Institute for Brain Research; humanist Mark O’Connell, journalist and author of To Be a Machine: Adventures Among Cyborgs, Utopians, Hackers, and the Futurists Solving the Modest Problem of Death; and physicist Marcelo Gleiser, director of the Institute for Cross-Disciplinary Engagement at Dartmouth College.

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In recent years, roboticists and material scientists worldwide have been trying to create artificial systems that resemble human body parts and reproduce their functions. These include artificial skins, protective layers that could also enhance the sensing capabilities of robots.

Researchers at Donghua University in China and the Jülich Centre for Neutron Science (JCNS) in Germany have recently developed a new and highly promising artificial ionic skin based on a self-healable elastic nanomesh, an interwoven structure that resembles human skin. This artificial skin, introduced in a paper published in Nature Communications, is soft, fatigue-free and self-healing.

“As we know, the skin is the largest organ in the human body, which acts as both a protective layer and sensory interface to keep our body healthy and perceptive,” Shengtong Sun, one of the researchers who carried out the study, told TechXplore. “With the rapid development of artificial intelligence and , researchers are currently trying to coat with an ‘artificial skin’ that replicates all the mechanical and sensory properties of human skin, so that they can also perceive the everchanging external environment like us.”

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“Almost every male character so far is a coward, a jerk or both,” he posted to Twitter. “Tolkien is turning in his grave.”

Amazon aired the first two episodes of Rings of Power on Friday, which centered on Galadriel, commander of the Northern Armies, bent on exacting vengeance for the death of her brother centuries earlier. By comparison, fellow elf Elrond prefers his life of quiet counsel to King Gil-galad, who attempts to send Galadriel away to avoid any military skirmish with Sauron’s scattered forces.

The debate over Amazon’s Rings of Power began in earnest after showrunners and studio executives argued in Vanity Fair they needed to take liberties when adapting Tolkien characters such as Galadriel and Elrond, since his Middle-earth was badly in need of an update to reflect today’s more modern societies.

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This video is episode two from the series “Examining the Big Questions of Time”.
Stream the full series now on Wondrium http://www.Wondrium.com/YouTube.

Just a few decades ago, scientists were absolute in their determination that time began with the Big Bang. But that’s all been turned on its head with the rise of string theory and other fascinating developments in theoretical physics. Learn how those advances brought the pre-Bang universe to the forefront of cosmology.

00:00 Was the Big Bang Really the Beginning of Time?
04:18 Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation.
07:22 Is Relativity Theory Always Valid?
09:06 Origins of String Theory.
13:51 Quantum Strings Introduce Dualities.
17:41 Why Can’t We Perceive All Dimensions of Space?
21:53 New Big Bang Theories and Controversy.
25:37 Observable Consequences of a Pre-Bang Epoch.

Welcome to Wondrium on YouTube.

Here, you can enjoy a carefully curated selection of educational videos from our library of history and science series.

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A year back and bodily function improves, and it’s a shot rather than transfusion as needed from other plasma treatments.

Researchers have found that intramuscular injections of plasma concentrate made from human umbilical cord blood improve various health biomarkers and decrease biological age in elderly people [1].

Circulating proteins have a significant impact on our health, and blood plasma transfusion is increasingly used against inflammatory conditions as well as some autoimmune and genetic diseases [2]. Basically, plasma transfusion enables physicians to alter the concentration of interesting molecules in the blood.

In recent years, Michael and Irina Conboy, along with other researchers, have experimented with blood/plasma exchange in the context of longevity [3]. Their continuing research has shown that heterochronic parabiosis (blood exchange between old and young animals), as well as plasma transfusion and even dilution of old plasma [4], alleviate various aspects of aging and decrease biological age as measured by methylation clocks.

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The popularity of electric vehicles (EVs) as an environmentally friendly alternative to conventional gasoline vehicles has been on the rise. This has led to research efforts directed toward developing high-efficiency EV batteries. But, a major inefficiency in EVs results from inaccurate estimations of the battery charge. The charge state of an EV battery is measured based on the current output of the battery. This provides an estimate of the remaining driving range of the vehicles.

Typically, the currents in EVs can reach hundreds of amperes. However, commercial sensors that can detect such currents cannot measure small changes in the at milliampere levels. This leads to an ambiguity of around 10% in the battery charge estimation. What this means is that the driving range of EVs could be extended by 10%. This, in turn, would reduce inefficient battery usage.

Now, a team of researchers from Japan, led by Professor Mutsuko Hatano from Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech), has now come up with a solution. In their study published in Scientific Reports, the team has reported a diamond quantum sensor-based detection technique that can estimate the battery charge within 1% accuracy while measuring high currents typical of EVs.

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