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Sep 30, 2017

Earth to Earth Rocket

Posted by in category: futurism

The Earth to Earth Rocket will be capable of taking people from any city to any other city on Earth in under one hour.

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Sep 30, 2017

Investment: GomSpace to establish space company in Luxembourg

Posted by in categories: economics, government, satellites

GomSpace Group, a company listed on the Nasdaq First North Premier exchange, and the Luxembourg Economy Ministry agreed in principle to establish in the country a company focused on satellite operations and data processing and distribution.

By 2021 the company could employ up to 50 full-time staff, GomSpace said in a statement. The ministry will provide funding through its Luxembourg space programme as well as grants for research and development that will happen in the country, it said.

“By choosing the Grand-Duchy for their international expansion, GomSpace acknowledges the substantial efforts of the government over the last years to put in place the necessary measures to support the continued strengthening and diversification of its space sector,” Economy Minister Etienne Schneider said.

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Sep 30, 2017

Disease resistance successfully spread from modified to wild mosquitoes

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, genetics

NIAID-funded group assesses mating of genetically modified species.

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Sep 30, 2017

How Should Autonomous Vehicles Be Regulated?

Posted by in categories: robotics/AI, transportation

Autonomous vehicles could greatly reduce the risk of crashes. But the safety benefits are not yet proven and may not be known until AVs are widespread. What kind of regulatory approach could help balance innovation, risk, and uncertainty?

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Sep 30, 2017

Exoskeleton for Duchenne

Posted by in category: cyborgs

Getting up from falling on its back was pretty impressive.

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Sep 30, 2017

You better explain yourself, mister: DARPA’s mission to make an accountable AI

Posted by in categories: futurism, robotics/AI

Continued advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning promise to produce autonomous systems that will perceive, learn, decide, and act on their own. However, the effectiveness of these systems is limited by these machines’ current inability to explain their decisions and actions to human users. Explainable AI—especially explainable machine learning—will be essential if future users are to understand, appropriately trust, and effectively manage an emerging generation of artificially intelligent machine partners.

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Sep 30, 2017

Increasing Human Life Expectancy through Stem Cell Rejuvenation

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, life extension, neuroscience

Dr. Mark Katakowski makes the case that rejuvenation of the bone marrow niche is a practical approach to life-extension today. Mark is President of the longevity company Forever Labs, and is a medical physicist with extensive experience developing stem cell therapies for neurological disease and injury.

Mark was first to demonstrate that microRNA functions as a communication molecule between brain tumor cells, a previously unknown mechanism of intercellular eukaryotic gene regulation. Based upon his use of stem cells to treat age-related disease, Mark surmises that rejuvenating the bone marrow provides significant opportunity to combat aging.

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Sep 30, 2017

New ‘Biosensitive’ Tattoo Ink Can Read What’s In Your Blood

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, health

Researchers at Harvard University and M.I.T. developed tattoos that can monitor chronic health issues as well as levels of dehydration and blood sugar.

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Sep 29, 2017

Engineers create wristbands that keep wearers thermally comfortable

Posted by in categories: energy, engineering, transportation, wearables

Cool Wearable! Actually does something useful & could help reduce energy waste.


Sitting in a stifling subway car or walking Boston’s cold winter streets may soon become more bearable, thanks to a “personal thermostat” wristband being released by MIT spinout Embr Labs.

For a design competition in 2013, four MIT engineering students created a smart wristband, called Wristify, that makes its wearer feel warmer or cooler through its contact with the skin on the wrist. After much fanfare, and a lot of research and development, the wristband will hit the shelves early next year.

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Sep 29, 2017

Artificial Intelligence Might Run the World Better Than Humans Do

Posted by in categories: physics, robotics/AI

Will A.I. take us over, and one day look back on this time period as the dawn of their civilization? Richard Dawkins posits an interesting idea, or at the very least a premise to a good science-fiction novel…

When we come to artificial intelligence and the possibility of their becoming conscious we reach a profound philosophical difficulty. I am a philosophical naturalist. I am committed to the view that there’s nothing in our brains that violates the laws of physics, there’s nothing that could not in principle be reproduced in technology. It hasn’t been done yet, we’re probably quite a long way away from it, but I see no reason why in the future we shouldn’t reach the point where a human made robot is capable of consciousness and of feeling pain. We can feel pain, why shouldn’t they?

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