Lifeboat Foundation

The use of artificial intelligence and, in particular, machine learning is becoming increasingly popular in research. Such systems excel at high-speed data analysis, interpretation, and laborious research tasks, such as image assessment. One of the areas in which machine learning has been enjoying success is image recognition. Now, researchers have begun to use machine learning to analyze brain tumors.

One of the areas in which machine learning has been enjoying success is image recognition. Now, researchers have begun to use machine learning to analyze brain tumors.

RT has released the first-ever 360-degree footage shot by man in outer space, putting viewers in the shoes of two Russian cosmonauts launching nanosatellites from outside the International Space Station (ISS).

The video, which shows out-of-this-world views of Planet Earth, is the first time that the so-called extravehicular activity (EVA) has been filmed in 360. The immersive new format previously helped viewers explore the ISS modules as part of the Space 360 project.

Continue reading “Spacewalk 360: RT releases first-ever panoramic video of man in outer space (VIDEO)” »

LEAF board director Elena Milova is featured today on the KP website talking about life extension. The page is in Russian but google translate does a reasonable job.

Публикация под заголовком «Мне 32 года, и я потратил $200 тысяч на «биохакинг» произвела в соцсетях эффект разорвавшейся бомбы. Ее автор бизнесмен Сергей Фаге (его состояние оценивается в $45 миллионов) создатель интернет сервисов «Островок» и TokBox рассказал об эксперименте, который он поставил на собой. Его цель ни много ни мало — вечная жизнь. Последние 4–5 лет он изменяет свое тело с помощью биотехнологий. На эту затею он потратил около $200 тысяч, львиная доля из них ушла на тысячи диагностических тестов и консультации врачей. Каждые несколько дней он сдает анализы и изучает детальную картину того, что происходит в его организме. Будучи здоровым человеком, ежедневно принимает несколько десятков разных лекарственных препаратов и, естественно, занимается спортом по собой программе.

These are a tiny fraction of the examples of how our economy differs from the 20th century industrial economy. Similar changes are under way in the developing world, as labor gives way to robotics and basic goods become affordable and accessible to the planet’s billions. Given those changes, why would 20th century models of prices and rates and money supply work as they used to work?

We like to believe that there are “laws of economics” and past patterns to guide us, but, as Yellen indicated, there is now “considerable uncertainty.” It may feel safer to trust that past patterns will reassert themselves. But maybe policymakers should weigh more heavily the chance that the patterns have changed.

The Federal Reserve takes a 20th-century approach to managing a 21st-century economy.

Continue reading “No Inflation? Technology May Have Left it Back in the 20th Century” »

Last year, artificial intelligence (AI) research company DeepMind shared details on WaveNet, a deep neural network used to synthesize realistic human speech. Now, an improved version of the technology is being rolled out for use with Google Assistant.

A system for speech synthesis — otherwise known as text-to-speech (TTS) — typically utilizes one of two techniques.

Concatenative TTS involves the piecing together of chunks of recordings from a voice actor. The drawback of this method is that audio libraries must be replaced whenever upgrades or changes are made.

Continue reading “Google’s New AI Can Mimic Human Speech Almost Perfectly” »

One startup company is repurposing the gene-editing tool.

As Silicon Valley heralds progress on self-driving cars and robot carers, much of the rest of the country is worried about machines taking control of human tasks.

Washington (AP) — Seated before the grounded space shuttle Discovery, a constellation of Trump administration officials used soaring rhetoric to vow to send Americans back to the moon and then on to Mars.

After voicing celestial aspirations, top officials moved to what National Intelligence Director Dan Coats called “a dark side” to space policy. Coats, Vice President Mike Pence, other top officials and outside space experts said the United States has to counter and perhaps match potential enemies’ ability to target U.S. satellites.

Pence, several cabinet secretaries and White House advisers gathered in the shadow of the shuttle at the Smithsonian Institution’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center to chart a new path in space — government, commercial and military — for the country. It was the first meeting of the National Space Council, revived after it was disbanded in 1993.

Continue reading “Pence Pledges the U.S. Will Go to the Moon, Mars and Beyond” »

Entrepreneur Elon Musk’s announcement last week accelerating plans for manned flights to Mars ratchets up political and public relations pressure on NASA’s efforts to reach the same goal.

With Musk publicly laying out a much faster schedule than NASA — while contending his vision is less expensive and could be financed primarily with private funds — a debate unlike any before is shaping up over the direction of U.S. space policy.

Read: Before Elon Musk can get SpaceX to Mars, he must overcome these nontechnical hurdles.

Continue reading “New space race to Mars pits NASA vs. SpaceX” »