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Blog – Page 9589

Ingenius.

Researchers in China have developed a new way to remove bacteria from water that they say is both highly efficient and environmentally sound.

By shining ultraviolet light onto a two-dimensional sheet of a compound called graphitic carbon nitride, the team’s prototype can purify 10 litres (2.6 liquid gallons) of water in just one hour, killing virtually all the harmful bacteria present.

This type of technique for water cleaning is known as photocatalytic disinfection, and it is often talked about — and ardently researched — as an appealing alternative to current water filtration systems, such as chlorination or ozone disinfection, neither of which are particularly eco-friendly.

Continue reading “Scientists Develop a Material That Kills 99.9% of Bacteria in Drinking Water Using Nothing But Light” | >

This next wave of automation won’t just be sleek robotic arms on factory floors. It will be ordering kiosks, self-service apps and software smart enough to perfect schedules and cut down on the workers needed to cover a shift. Employers are already testing these systems. A recession will force them into the mainstream.

Robots’ infiltration of the workforce doesn’t happen gradually, at the pace of technology. It happens in surges, when companies are given strong incentives to tackle the difficult task of automation.

Typically, those incentives occur during recessions. Employers slash payrolls going into a downturn and, out of necessity, turn to software or machinery to take over the tasks once performed by their laid-off workers as business begins to recover.

As uncertainty soars, a shutdown drags on, and consumer confidence sputters, economists increasingly predict a recession this year or next. Whenever this long economic expansion ends, the robots will be ready. The human labor market is tight, with the unemployment rate at 3.9 percent, but there’s plenty of slack in the robot labor force.

Continue reading “When the next recession comes, the robots will be ready” | >

Foreword to the Syntellect Hypothesis.

I had the honour of writing the foreword of Alex Vikoulov’s recently published masterpiece and bestseller “The Syntellect Hypothesis”. Hereunder you can read my foreword:

“If you picked up this book, it is not unlikely that you may have heard of the early 20th century philosophical movement of Cosmism. This movement, which originated in Russia, was striving for conquering the planets and stars, for radical life extension, immortality and resurrection of our loved ones by the means of technology. Perhaps one of its most important pioneers was Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, whose aspirations did not only venture into the realm of the Macro, but also explored the Micro. He spoke of the atomic world as being animated and can thus be considered a kind of cosmist-panpsychist.

The foundational work of the cosmic aspirations of man by the Russian Cosmists soon reverberated through the intellectual world of the early 20th century and found a resonance and fertile ground in the works of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. Teilhard saw evolution as having a direction, namely the direction of concentrating consciousness in form, striving towards accumulation of knowledge, which gradually is attained by the formation of the Noosphere and which will culminate in the apotheosis of the Omega Point. Teilhard de Chardin considered that Omega Point is not necessarily merely a future construct, but in a sense is already here as the ”Great Presence.” Thus, his pantheism is more panentheism in which God has both an immanent and transcendent aspect.

Continue reading “Masterpiece: “The Syntellect Hypothesis”” | >

We already had a robot that could make fast food burgers. And now we have an artificial intelligence that can take your order for one. Earlier this month, Colorado-based startup Valyant AI announced the launch of a voice-based AI customer service platform, which is now taking customer orders at the drive-thru at Denver’s Good Times Burgers and Frozen Custard.

The AI is reportedly not taking jobs from humans, either.

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Three years ago Kate Phillips, who has suffered congenital heart disease her whole life, received a heart and lung transplant which saved her life.

But her successful operation isn’t a reality for many patients on vital organ waiting lists.

Out of 381 hearts only 81 were successfully transplanted in Australia last year. Hearts are usually lucky to withstand a transport time of about four hours, with only one in four reaching operating tables.

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