Lifeboat Foundation

Circa 2019

Imagine we go through the disruptive transition between an economy where we need to work to make a living, to one where we don’t. It is hard to imagine because in North America; we haven’t been in this situation since the colonial era. Back in the colonial era, most people were farmers and families had to build their own homes. Neighbors traded with each other and with the closest town with what they had to get what else they needed. Those were difficult days with minimal supply chains established in North America. It is not a period we want to go back to, but we may learn from our forebears to prepare us for what is to come.

It is no surprise, in this age where automation is threatening to replace all employees, that we have concerns about how we can still function as a society when automation will take over most jobs. Fortunately, the same systems that threaten our livelihoods can bring us to a Golden Age of civilization where people live free, happy lives, without the concern for survival. I talk about the future of work in an article I published earlier this year. In a nutshell, and for the purpose of this article, I’ll jump to the conclusion: there won’t be enough demand for humans to have jobs within the next 20 years to sustain an employment-taxation type of economy.

Continue reading “A Fully Automated Economy–How Can It Work?” »

A new wearable device turns the touch of a finger into a source of power for small electronics and sensors. Engineers at the University of California San Diego developed a thin, flexible strip that can be worn on a fingertip and generate small amounts of electricity when a person’s finger sweats or presses on it.

What’s special about this sweat-fueled device is that it generates power even while the wearer is asleep or sitting still. This is potentially a big deal for the field of wearables because researchers have now figured out how to harness the energy that can be extracted from human sweat even when a person is not moving.

Continue reading “Calling All Couch Potatoes: This Finger Wrap Can Let You Power Electronics While You Sleep” »

Astronomers estimate 29 habitable planets are positioned to see Earth transit and intercept human broadcasts.

Immortality DNA strands found in humans.

Distributed stem cells (DSCs), which continuously divide asymmetrically to replenish mature tissue cells, adopt a special form of mitotic chromosome segregation. Chromosome segregation is nonrandom instead of random. DSCs cosegregate the set of sister chromosomes with the older of the two template DNA strands used for semiconservative DNA replication during the preceding S phase. Neither the responsible molecular mechanisms nor the cellular function of nonrandom segregation are known. Here, we report evidence that immortal strand chromosomes have a higher level of cytosine 5-hydroxymethylation than mortal chromosomes, which contain the younger DNA template strands. We propose that asymmetric chromosomal 5-hydroxymethylation is a key element of a cellular mechanism by which DSCs distinguish older DNA template strands from younger ones.

Immortal strands are the targeted chromosomal DNA strands of nonrandom sister chromatid segregation, a mitotic chromosome segregation pattern unique to asymmetrically self-renewing distributed stem cells (DSCs). By nonrandom segregation, immortal DNA strands become the oldest DNA strands in asymmetrically self-renewing DSCs. Nonrandom segregation of immortal DNA strands may limit DSC mutagenesis, preserve DSC fate, and contribute to DSC aging. The mechanisms responsible for specification and maintenance of immortal DNA strands are unknown. To discover clues to these mechanisms, we investigated the 5-methylcytosine and 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC) content on chromosomes in mouse hair follicle DSCs during nonrandom segregation. Although 5-methylcytosine content did not differ significantly, the relative content of 5hmC was significantly higher in chromosomes containing immortal DNA strands than in opposed mitotic chromosomes containing younger mortal DNA strands.

Given this idea could be scaled up to revive even deceased humans essentially like the tardigrade does.

Arctic ice dating to 24000 years ago held frozen microscopic animals called rotifers. Scientists just brought them back to life.

Lawyers and venture capitalists said DeFi inhabits a largely unregulated grey area that could face pressure from the new Securities and Exchange Commission chair Gary Gensler. Some investors drew comparisons between DeFi and the boom in initial coin offerings four years ago, which collapsed following interventions by regulators.

Wave of ‘DeFi’ projects aim to reinvent exchanges, insurance, lending and more.

If there’s alien life nearby, where are we most likely to find it?

From nearby planets like Venus and Mars, to distant moons like Europa and Titan, these are worlds where we’re most likely to find alien life.

Daniel Schmachtenberger is a philosopher and founding member of The Consilience Project. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors:
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Continue reading “Daniel Schmachtenberger: Steering Civilization Away from Self-Destruction | Lex Fridman Podcast #191” »

This article is an excerpt from a report by Partners in Foresight, The Home of the 2020s: Scenarios for How We Might Live in the Post-Pandemic Future.

The homes we inhabit in the 2020s could serve as a personal headquarters for building the good society. How can a house help create a more positive future? Here are four ways the home of the future might support meaningful personal commitment to the greater good.

1. Advocate From Home (AFH)

During the pandemic lockdown period, a new wave of civic engagement has taken hold. A trend called Advocate From Home (AFH) takes the form of digital organizing (e-mail, text banking, content production) for political, ecological, social and economic justice, often using work-from-home tools.

2. Decentralized Energy

Households are embracing renewables in terms of solar energy and decentralized systems with independent home batteries. There are revolutions happening in the world of clean kinetic energy that could transform our spaces by allowing objects to collect and then transmit power. Future homes may be self-sustaining in terms of power and energy needs.

3. Biophilia

One way people express environmentalist values at home is through a love of nature. Outdoors, there are green options for the visionary homeowner, such as garden plots, low-intensive watering solutions, use of native plants and compost bins. Inside the home, people are gravitating to hydroponically grown vegetables and herbs. Indoor plants of all kinds are at the height of interior design trends and architecture is looking to biomimicry for sustainable ideas. Pets outnumber children in US homes.