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Apr 5, 2019

Google to pull plug on AI ethics council

Posted by in categories: ethics, robotics/AI

(Reuters) — Alphabet Inc’s Google said on Thursday it was dissolving a council it had formed a week earlier to consider ethical issues around artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies.

The council had run into controversy over two of its members, according to online news portal Vox, which first reported the dissolution of the council.

The council, launched on March 26, was meant to provide recommendations for Google and other companies and researchers working in areas such as facial recognition software, a form of automation that has prompted concerns about racial bias and other limitations.

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Apr 5, 2019

Materials science is helping to transform China into a high-tech economy

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, economics, science

It’s the kind of diverse, multidisciplinary community, Chinese scientists say, that is crucial to doing great research but is often lacking in labs. “The goals of the Materials Genome Initiative in the States and in China are the same: to produce better materials more quickly that cost less. It’s very important we collaborate with overseas scientists because the materials genome is a new topic. We need to figure out the best path together,” says Zhang.


Researchers are reaping the benefits of carefully built programmes and a surge in funding.

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Apr 4, 2019

Amazon is Planning to Launch Thousands of Satellites to Offer High-Speed Internet

Posted by in categories: internet, satellites

Want one more option for home internet? Today it was announced that Amazon is planning to launch 3,236 satellites to build a network to provide global high-speed internet. Unlike current satellite internet, these devices will be in a far lower orbit and offer far faster speeds compared to current sa…

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Apr 4, 2019

Exclusive: Google cancels AI ethics board in response to outcry

Posted by in categories: ethics, robotics/AI

Instead of just getting rid of the regressive element from the Heritage Foundation, Google just cancelled the whole thing.


The controversial panel lasted just a little over a week.

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Apr 4, 2019

Scientists Say They Can Make Light Travel 30x Faster Than Normal

Posted by in category: space travel

“This is the first clear demonstration of controlling the speed of a pulse light in free space,” Abouraddy said in the statement. “And it opens up doors for many applications, an optical buffer being just one of them, but most importantly it’s done in a simple way, that’s repeatable and reliable.”

READ MORE: Researchers develop way to control speed of light, send it backward [Phys.org]

More on light: New NASA Animations Show How Slowly Light Travels Through Space.

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Apr 4, 2019

Russia Says “Super Soldiers” Can Crash Computers With Telepathy

Posted by in categories: computing, military, neuroscience

According to a report in the official magazine of its Defense Ministry, Russian “supersoldiers” are able to use “parapsychology” techniques to crash enemy computers, access the minds of foreign soldiers, and read documents inside locked safes — abilities they gained, according to the article, from telepathic dolphins they can now communicate with.

The report is almost certainly nonsense. But it does raise questions about the ambitions — and perhaps dysfunctions — of Russia’s military.

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Apr 4, 2019

Building a Hardware Store Faraday Cage

Posted by in categories: habitats, health, mathematics

Most Hackaday readers are no doubt familiar with the Faraday cage, at least in name, and nearly everyone owns one: if you’ve ever stood watching a bag of popcorn slowly revolve inside of a microwave, you’be seen Michael Faraday’s 1836 invention in action. Yet despite being such a well known device, the average hacker still doesn’t have one in their arsenal. But why?

It could be that there’s a certain mystique about Faraday cages, an assumption that their construction requires techniques or materials outside the realm of the home hacker. While it’s true that building a perfect Faraday cage for a given frequency involves math and careful attention to detail, putting together a simple model for general purpose use and experimentation turns out to be quick and easy.

As an exercise in minimalist hacking I recently built a basic Faraday cage out of materials sourced from Home Depot, and thought it would be interesting to not only describe its construction but give some ideas as to how one can put it to practical use in the home lab. While it’s hardly a perfect specimen, it clearly works, and it didn’t take anything that can’t be sourced locally pretty much anywhere in the world.

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Apr 4, 2019

This Jacket’s Faraday Cage Conveniently Silences Your Phone

Posted by in categories: entertainment, mobile phones

Circa 2012


Switching your phone off for important meetings or trips to the cinema can be a pain in the ass. Victor Johansson has a solution, though: he’s designed the Escape Jacket, which features a Faraday cage in the inside pocket to immediately take your phone off the grid.

UK-based designer Johansson says that the concept is all about you-time. He explains:

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Apr 4, 2019

Identifying Cancer Cell Types in a Hurry

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

Cancer cells are generally much more metabolically active than healthy cells, so some insight into a cancer cell’s behavior and type can be gathered by analyzing its metabolic activity. But getting an accurate assessment of metabolic activity has proven difficult. Several methods, including position emission tomography (or PET) scans, fluorescent dyes, and contrast agents have been used, but each is limited it is usefulness.


Researchers combine PAM and OCR to more quickly measure cancer-cell metabolisms.

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Apr 4, 2019

GQ talks to Luc Besson, the director who got inside Scarlett Johansson’s brain

Posted by in category: neuroscience

Circa 2014


French director, Luc Besson, talks to GQ ahead of the UK release of action-thriller Lucy.

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