Lifeboat Foundation: Safeguarding Humanity
Toggle light / dark theme

Blog – Page 8250

It’s been said that quantum computing will be like going from candlelight to electric light in the way it will transform how we live. Quite a picture, but what exactly is quantum computing?

For the answer to that question, we’ll have to visit a scale of existence so small that the usual rules of physics are warped, stretched and broken, and there are few layperson terms to lean on. Strap yourself in.

Luckily, we have a world-leading researcher in quantum computing, Professor David Reilly, to guide us. “Most modern technologies are largely based on electromagnetism and Newtonian mechanics,” says Reilly in a meeting room at the University’s Nano Hub. “Quantum computing taps into an enormous new area of nano physics that we haven’t harnessed yet.”

Read more | >

Some foresee quantum computers will come to solve some of the world’s most serious issues. However, others accept that the advantages will be exceeded by the downsides, for example, cost or that quantum computers basically can’t work, incapable to play out the complexities demanded of them in the manner we envision. The integral factor will be if the producers can guarantee ‘quantum supremacy’ by accomplishing low error rates for their machines and outperforming current computers.

Hollywood has made numerous anticipations with respect to the future and artificial intelligence, some disturbing, others empowering. One of the most quickly developing research areas takes a look at the use of quantum computers in molding artificial intelligence. Actually, some consider machine learning the yardstick by which the field is estimated.

The idea of machine learning, to ‘learn’ new data without express explicit instruction or programming has existed since 1959, in spite of the fact that we still haven’t exactly shown up at the vision set somewhere by the likes of Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke. In any case, the conviction is that quantum computing will help accelerate our advancement right now. What was at one time a periphery thought evaded by the more extensive science community, has developed to turn into a well known and practical field worthy of serious investment.

Read more | >

This week, the U.S. government approved the first blood test in the country that will look for the antibodies produced by the body to fight the novel coronavirus. Such a test can reveal whether someone is actively infected by the virus, as well as whether they were previously infected but recovered. While these tests are very much needed to better understand the scale of the outbreak, they have a few major limitations.

On Thursday, the Food and Drug Administration issued an Emergency Use Authorization to a covid-19 antibody test developed by the company Cellex. The test looks for two types of antibodies, IgM and IgG, created by the body’s immune system in response to the new coronavirus, known as SARS-CoV-2. The test, which requires blood drawn from a vein, can return results within 15 to 20 minutes, though the testing itself has to be done in a certified laboratory, not at a doctor’s office, unlike some other rapid covid-19 tests.

Read more | >

A Google interview candidate recently asked me: “What are three big science questions that keep you up at night?” This was a great question because one’s answer reveals so much about one’s intellectual interests — here are mine:

Q1: Can we imitate “thinking” from only observing behavior?

Suppose you have a large fleet of autonomous vehicles with human operators driving them around diverse road conditions. We can observe the decisions made by the human, and attempt to use imitation learning algorithms to map robot observations to the steering decisions that the human would take.

Read more | >

Because crises shape history, there are hundreds of thinkers who have devoted their lives to studying how they unfold. This work – what we might call the field of “crisis studies” – charts how, whenever crisis visits a given community, the fundamental reality of that community is laid bare. Who has more and who has less. Where the power lies. What people treasure and what they fear.

Times of upheaval are always times of radical change. Some believe the pandemic is a once-in-a-generation chance to remake society and build a better future. Others fear it may only make existing injustices worse. By .

Read more | >