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Jan 26, 2018

European Electricity Industry Pledges to Deliver on Paris Agreement | UNFCCC

Posted by in categories: business, energy, environmental, governance

EURELETRIC, the association representing the interests of the electricity industry in Europe, has said the region’s power companies intend to be both part of a competitive European economy and reliably powered by clean, carbon-neutral energy.”

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Jan 26, 2018

Digital Transformation: Interview with David Edgerton, King’s College London | Manuel Stagars

Posted by in category: media & arts

“In conversations with visionaries, decision makers, technologists, leading scientists, entrepreneurs, artists, and others around the world, the film gives insight into the global digital future, its most pressing challenges, and biggest opportunities. Interviews from the project are available in long form. This conversation took place in June 2017 with David Edgerton, Hans Rausing Professor of the History of Science and Technology and Professor of Modern British History at King’s College London.”

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Jan 26, 2018

500 Companies to Commit to Science-Based Climate Targets | UNFCCC

Posted by in categories: business, environmental

“In an effort to spur further climate action at this year’s Global Climate Action Summit in September and at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP24) in December, Summit co-chair and Mahindra Group Chairman, Anand Mahindra today challenged businesses around the world to join the growing number of companies committed to setting greenhouse gas reduction targets in line with climate science.”

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Jan 26, 2018

World Leading Multinationals Accelerating a Clean Economy — RE100 Report | The Climate Group | CDP

Posted by in categories: business, disruptive technology, environmental

“A rapidly growing group of ambitious multinational businesses are actively reshaping the energy market through their global investment decisions and accelerating a zero emissions economy, a new report released today (Tuesday January 23) shows.”

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Jan 26, 2018

Uber drivers, freelancers and other independent contractors are getting a tax cut — By Andrew Khouri | Los Angeles Times

Posted by in categories: business, government, law, transportation

““Every Uber driver, as far as I can see, gets a benefit,” said Edward Kleinbard, a USC professor and former chief of staff to Congress’ Joint Committee on Taxation.”

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Jan 26, 2018

Chinese volunteers spend 200 days on virtual ‘moon base’

Posted by in category: space

Chinese students spent 200 continuous days in a “lunar lab” in Beijing, state media said Friday, as the country prepares for its long-term goal of putting people on the moon.

Four students crammed into a 160-square-metre (1,720-square-foot) cabin called “Yuegong-1”—Lunar Palace—on the campus of Beihang University, testing the limits of humans’ ability to live in a self-contained space, the official Xinhua news agency said.

The volunteers lived in the sealed lab to simulate a long-term space mission with no input from the outside world.

Continue reading “Chinese volunteers spend 200 days on virtual ‘moon base’” »

Jan 26, 2018

Gen-next smart solar windows could produce electricity

Posted by in categories: solar power, sustainability

Washington: Scientists have discovered a new material for next-generation smart windows that not only darken automatically when the Sun is too bright but also convert solar energy into electricity.

Researchers at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) in the US found a form of perovskite that works well as a stable and photoactive semiconductor material that can reversibly switch between transparent and non-transparent state, without degrading its electronic properties.

The scientists made the discovery while investigating the phase transition of the material, an inorganic perovskite.

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Jan 26, 2018

New Silicon Probes Record Activity of Hundreds of Neurons Simultaneously

Posted by in categories: innovation, neuroscience

We helped develop Neuropixels probes to accelerate neuroscience research.

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1cm long and 70 microns across, this technology is capable of recording signals from 384 brain cells at the same time. #InnovationWeek

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Jan 26, 2018

Artificial Intelligence Nears the Summit of Hype in Davos

Posted by in categories: government, policy, robotics/AI

Artificial intelligence approached the summit of hype at this year’s World Economic Forum.

AI was on the lips of seemingly every corporate chief and policy maker attending this year’s conference in Davos, Switzerland. On Wednesday, the term “artificial intelligence” appeared in more than 20 headlines and stories Bloomberg ran about the gathering.

British Prime Minister Theresa May announced a new government-funded center to advise on ethical use of AI and French President Emmanuel Macron launched a 10 billion euro innovation fund aimed at new technologies like AI.

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Jan 25, 2018

What is the next stage in human evolution?

Posted by in categories: biological, Ray Kurzweil, robotics/AI, singularity, transhumanism

Will the transhumanist path forward lead us to singularity of posthuman superintelligence a-la Ray Kurzweil?


“I think that the definition of being human is about to change a lot in the next century,” says Michelle Thaller, astronomer and Assistant Director for Science Communication at NASA — National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Human beings next evolutionary leap is going to take us beyond our biological existence. How do you feel about merging with an artificial intelligence?

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