| The Singularity's Happening And Nobody's HappySid Caesar said that comedy has to be based on truth. You take the truth and you put a little curlicue at the end.
The truth is that the Singularity is happening all around us. Technology is increasing rapidly. So, according to comedian Lewis C.K., is our human ability to complain. |
| Fighting The Last War: Should Government Fund Health Care or Health CureThere’s an old military adage.
Generals always fight the the last war.
Creating technologies that cure and that inexpensively treat medical conditions is far more cost-effective than building large government-run medical insurance bureaucracies or re-configuring private medical insurance concerns. |
| Will Sustainability Kill The Singularity?Think about how words are generally used in the media. What about “energy?” In the past, that was a positive term; now, it has the same feel as “greed” or “destruction.”
There is a fine line between Sustainability and the Luddite movement. Are we crossing that line? What will be the ramifications? |
| AI–Wave of the Future–Rewrites the PastAs artificial intelligence–or machine intelligence–makes strides to become a powerful tool of the future, it’s interesting to read this article from a Wired blog.
Scientists are using AI as a tool to unlock the mysteries of symbols found in the Indus Valley. This 4,000-year-old script may represent a spoken language. But linguists have found the script so hard to decipher, they weren’t sure if it was just a bunch of pictures.
It wasn’t… |
| Synthetic Biology To Change Life In More Ways Than OneA recent front-page story in the Investor’s Business Daily shows just how far Singularity technology is penetrating mainstream life.
And synthetic biology, just one field that’s adding fuel to the accelerating future, is poised to penetrate the mysteries of biological life even more deeply. |
| Are You Ready To Let A Robot Take The Wheel... And The Brakes?According to a report from the Next Big Future, a sentience driving software not only saves money and fuel when it operates a car, it’s also safer. And it may be on the market by 2012. The software was tested in a vehicle in real world conditions near the Transport Research Laboratory in England. (I hope I don’t have to drive on the left side of the road now.) The system, which uses GPS-equipped smart phone to determine its position and wireless links to control the vehicles acceleration. |
| New Chip Imitates BrainAccording to an article in Technology Review, European scientists have created a silicon chip that comes close to the human brain’s “structure and function.”
In fact, in some ways, it exceeds the performance of the human brain.
The prototype was created by scientists at the Heidelberg University of Germany. The design features 200,000 neurons that are linked to 50 million synapses.
Researchers say that the chip works 100,000 times faster than a brain. |
| Life In The Infinite Abundance EconomyThe consensus was that factories would never be obsolete; that we would always need a generous supply of gadgets, nick-knacks, do-dads, and other products. However, with desktop fabrication machines and the exponentially increasing availability of technology, I can foresee a time, perhaps sooner, rather than later, that vast amounts of products could be created in one’s home without labor. |
| There’s No Such Thing As Artificial IntelligenceMaybe my disagreement is merely semantics, but artificial intelligence produces a negative connotation, like artificial sweetener or artificial Christmas trees. It implies that it is fake.
There is only intelligence. There may be machine-produced intelligence, or artificially-enhanced intelligence, but intelligence is intelligence. Intelligence is intention working on data to produce a result. |
| What's The Spin On Quantum DotsQuantum dots are essentially semiconductors that have an enormous control over electrons. This ability to control electrons just took a new dramatic leap forward when the National Institute of Nanotechnology at the University of Alberta announced that they created the smallest quantum dot.
Previously, quantum dots could only be used in low temperature settings; this new technology does not. |
| Roll Over Darwin. Technology Could Supercharge EvolutionThe University of Edinburgh has developed a new technique that selects the best sperm cells for fertilization.
Primarily researchers are indicating this breakthrough could be used to improve vitro fertilization. Researchers also say this can improve fertility rates. |
| One Small Quantum Leap Toward The SingularityTeleportation, which is the transfer of information from one area to another, hit an important milestone when scientists from the Joint Quantum Institute at the University of Maryland announced they succeeded in teleporting information between two separate atoms. |
| Change or Chance: Political Prediction Markets Fare WellAccording to a Northwestern University study, the ability to “buy” contracts on candidates Barack Obama and John McCain led to the correct prediction that Obama would win the presidency.
But strong political bias threatens the way a trader makes intelligent trades. |
| The Universe Is One Giant HologramHave you ever seen a hologram? One example is the shiny stamp on your credit card that has a three-dimensional appearance, even though it’s flat.
Scientists have discovered that a hologram is more than a sticker on your Visa card--it may be the best model for reality devised so far. |
| Exponential Growth Versus Existential RisksThere’s a business cliche that managers are trained to say, usually right before they cut your salary or move your unit into a basement cubicle farm, they say: “Embrace change.”
In our recent election we talked a lot about change and the resulting change will be overwhelmingly positive. Change is coming. Change we can believe in. America is changing. Ch-Ch-Changes.
There is no doubt that we–as in, humanity, in general–are going to face major changes. |
| Top Ten Singularity Predictions for 2009 (Humor... Hopefully)The year 2008 has been a thrilling year in Science and an amazing year in Singularity advances, specifically.
Here’s a list of the top ten possible developments in 2009 that will take us closer to the Singularity, the point at which humor will be distributed throughout the universe and our sense of humor will become so refined that everything will be funny. |
| How Technology Is Re-Writing The Writing Industry IINew technology is shaking up the publishing business. In this post, we look at a book-making machine that's about the size of an older office copier. It may one day pave the way for the availability of book-making vending machines. |
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