Lifeboat Foundation

The rise of killer robots is now unstoppable and a new digital Geneva Convention is essential to protect the world from the growing threat they pose, according to the President of the world’s biggest technology company.

In an interview with The Telegraph, Brad Smith, president of Microsoft, said the use of ‘lethal autonomous weapon systems’ poses a host of new ethical questions which need to be considered by governments as a matter of urgency.

He said the rapidly advancing technology, in which flying, swimming or walking drones can be equipped with lethal weapons systems – missiles, bombs or guns – which could be programmed to operate entirely or partially autonomously, “ultimately will spread… to many countries”.

In two breakthroughs in the realm of photonics, City College of New York graduate researchers are reporting the successful demonstration of an LED (light-emitting diode) based on half-light half-matter quasiparticles in atomically thin materials. This is also the first successful test of an electrically driven light emitter using atomically thin semiconductors embedded in a light trapping structure (optical cavity).

The research is led by graduate physics student Jie Gu and post-doctoral fellow Biswanath Chakraborty, in collaboration with another graduate student, Mandeep Khatoniyar.

According to Vinod Menon, chair of physics in City College’s Division of Science and the research team’s mentor, their double feat, reported in the journal Nature Nanotechnology, marks an important milestone in the field of 2-D materials and, more broadly, LEDs.

Researchers at the Buck Institute, including Dr. Judy Campisi, have published a new study that shows, for the first time, that senescent cells are associated with age-related blood clots [1].

As we get older, increasing numbers of our cells enter into a state known as cellular senescence. Senescent cells do not divide or support the tissues of which they are part; instead, they emit a range of potentially harmful chemical signals known as the senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP), which encourages nearby healthy cells to enter the same senescent state.

The presence of high levels of SASP reduces tissue repair, increases chronic inflammation, and can even raise the risk of cancer and other age-related diseases.

Well, it’s sound weird but in the upcoming future, your toilet will be your mini doctor. A company called Micron is developing a smart artificial intelligence-powered toilet that will reportedly be able to diagnose your state of health and risk of disease by analyzing your bodily waste.

The major goal of this technology is to analyze bowel movements and recognize the signs for health issues or ailments early on. This information will also use to understand early symptoms of certain diseases.

Like many new technologies, light propulsion was originally conceived as a tool of war and national defense. But the “Star Wars” missile defense system may eventually send rockets, rather than missile-destroying lasers, into space.

Circa 2010

Light has been put to work generating the same force that makes airplanes fly, a study appearing online December 5 in Nature Photonics shows. With the right design, a uniform stream of light has pushed tiny objects in much the same way that an airplane wing hoists a 747 off the ground.

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O.o.

Schizophrenia may be caused by a gene that turns the immune system on overdrive, according to a surprising finding hailed by outside scientists.

For the first time, a gas station has converted its business model to 100% electric vehicle charging. The Takoma Park, Maryland, gas station conversion was funded by the Electric Vehicle Institute and Maryland government.

Elon Musk has once again issued a stark warning over his fears about the rise of artificial intelligence.

The Telsa CEO shared a pair of tweets today that stated it will not be long until ‘advanced AI’ manipulates social media.

Continue reading “Elon Musk warns ‘bot swarms’ will evolve to manipulate social media” »