Futuristische ontwikkelingen

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Artificial Intelligence AI and the Dark Web

[Pilgrim]

Elon Musk: If Humans Are to Survive, We Must Merge With Machines

Written By Neil Bhavsar - February 14, 2017

In Brief

• Elon Musk thinks that, as AI technology and automation continue to replace jobs and more traditional technology, humans will become obsolete and need to merge with machines
• Since computers can communicate at speeds well beyond an organic organisms' capacity, Musk thinks that creating a symbiotic relationship between us and our tech will give us the edge we need

The Future is Here: Meet the Neural Lace
Elon Musk shocked the tech world this past summer when he explained both the concept and need for a neural lace at the 2016 Recode Code Conference.

The Neural Lace is a concept that has been a staple of science fiction. It’s the idea of capturing the processes of the human mind with a tool and enhancing them to better suit our environment and lifestyle in one large, wirelessly connected interface among humans. Recently, this concept has taken a step forward in transitioning from the realm of fiction to non-fiction.

With their results published in Nature Nanotechnology, scientist Charles Lieber and his team have developed syringe-injectable electronics. Thus far, they has only been tested on live mice, but the results are promising. These electronics assist in monitoring brain activity, delivering treatment, and can even enhance brain activity. While human trials are years away, and the neural lace is currently a wired technology, the reason why Elon Musk finds it imperative is because of what it could do.

Why We Need It
Elon Musk is making it very clear that the best way to avoid a dystopian nightmare is to form a symbiosis with machines. “The need for this, he said on Monday in Dubai, could “achieve a symbiosis between human and machine intelligence, and maybe solves the control problem and the usefulness problem.” Since computers are able to transmit information an exponentially quicker than humans, becoming “one” with them would allow humans to stay relevant in an age where automation and technology threaten our usefulness as organic organisms. Additionally, having a wireless interface would help to keep us on a similar playing field—essentially by making us part machine. So, while this cyborg idea of a future sounds ludicrous, when you consider how much of our reality is already sci-fi inspired, it makes a little bit more sense.

You can hear more about Musk’s thoughts on the necessary symbiosis between humans and machines in this recent video from CNBC.

https://futurism.com/elon-musks-and-the ... -machines/

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Ik denk dat Elon Musk zich vergist. Pure machines zonder menselijke zwakheden zullen uiteindelijk sterker blijken dan mens-machine-symbioses.

De enige (mogelijke, maar nog niet eens zekere) manier om te overleven is controleren en intomen van kwaadwillende (psychopathische en machtswellustige) mensen op zoveel mogelijk manieren die wij kunnen bedenken.

Daarnaast zullen machines met supermenselijke capaciteiten beperkingen moeten worden opgelegd die de kans op escalaties zoveel mogelijk voorkomt.

Hoe dan ook gaan we een supergriezelige, hoogst onzekere en supergevaarlijke tijd tegemoet zonder één enkele garantie "dat het allemaal wel goed zal komen".

[Pilgrim]

Hoe dan ook gaan we een supergriezelige, hoogst onzekere en supergevaarlijke tijd tegemoet zonder één enkele garantie "dat het allemaal wel goed zal komen".

Dat ben ik zeker met je eens.

[Pilgrim]

Billionaire CEO of SoftBank: Robots will have an IQ of 10,000 in 30 years

Catherine Clifford – 26 okt 2017


Billionaire Masayoshi Son, chairman and chief executive officer of SoftBank Corp., shakes hands with a human-like robot called Pepper, developed by the company's Aldebran Robotics unit, during a news conference in Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture, Japan.

Super artificial intelligence is coming, and sooner than you might expect.

That's according to SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son. The Japanese billionaire spoke from the Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Wednesday. In about 30 years, artificial intelligence will have an IQ of 10,000, Son says. By comparison, the average human IQ is 100 and genius is 200, according to Son. Mensa, "the High IQ society," starts accepting members with an IQ score of 130.

The idea of machine learning becoming smarter than the human brain is often referred to as the "singularity." When exactly this will happen is oft-debated among the tech community.

"Singularity is the concept that [mankind's] brain will be surpassed, this is the tipping point, crossing point, that artificial intelligence, computer intelligence surpass [mankind's] brain and that is happening in this century for sure. I would say there is no more debate, no more doubt," Son says.

Son is particularly aggressive in his prediction of how soon the singularity will happen — in the "next 30 years or so," he says.



It is in Son's best interest to believe in the power of artificial intelligence. Not only is he the leader of a tech company, but he is heavily invested in the future of AI. Son is in charge of a $100 billion Vision Fund, which he expects to invest within five years, all in companies that have at least some relationship to AI.

The tech executive believes that artificial intelligence will dramatically change every industry. Son, 60, remembers the first time he encountered the smartphone, a tool which has transformed the world we currently live in.

"When I met with Steve Jobs, before he announced the iPhone, he told me, 'Masa, Masa, if you see what I'm developing, when I'm finished, I'm going to show you, you're going to piss off your pants.' And when I saw it, I actually almost did."

Today, humanoid robots like SoftBank's Pepper, which can perceive human emotions, according to its website, impress most of us. In the future Son envisions, we will laugh at the capabilities of Pepper.

"Thirty years from now, they are going to learn by themselves, they are maybe going to laugh at you and us," Son says. "Today they look cute, they will stay cute, but they will be super smart."

Currently, some robots are smarter than humans in some areas, says Son. "But 30 years from now, most of the subjects, they will be so much smarter than us. Because they are going to be a million times smarter than today, million times," says Son.

"We mankind created tools, the premise was mankind were always smarter than the tool we invented so we control," he says. "This is the first time ... the tool becomes smarter than ourselves."

One area where humans will always reign supreme over robots, though, is imagination, says Son.

"If you have to envision, 10 years or 30 years later, at least some humans will have a better imagination than them. So, it's not the end. The power of the brain is no limit. The imagination that we can have has no limit. So we are also going to improve our imaginations and our feelings, gut feeling."

https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/25/masayos ... e=Facebook

[Ali Yas]

The imagination that we can have has no limit. So we are also going to improve our imaginations and our feelings, gut feeling.

Er is geen grens aan onzinnige fantasieën, maar de realiteit is heel anders.

[Ali Yas]

Elon Musk thinks that, as AI technology and automation continue to replace jobs and more traditional technology, humans will become obsolete and need to merge with machines

Musk is het contact met de realiteit al lang verloren. Bovendien is de man moreel defect. Die dingen horen bij elkaar blijkbaar, je ziet het vaker.

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Fully automated mining and factories on Earth
a precursor of automation for space

Brian Wang | October 27, 2017

Fully automated mining and factories and advanced robotics on the moon and asteroids could be leveraged for the exponential development of space. Here we review some of the developments of robotics for mining and factories on earth.

Robotic mining

Rio Tinto has 73 self driving trucks hauling iron ore 24 hours a day at four mines in Australia. They also use robotic rock drilling rigs. They are starting to use self driving trains that will be loaded and unloaded automatically. Driverless locomotives hae been tested extensively in 2017 and will be fully deployed by 2018.

BHP Billiton, the world’s largest mining company, is also deploying driverless trucks and drills on iron ore mines in Australia. Suncor, Canada’s largest oil company, has begun testing driverless trucks on oil sands fields in Alberta.

Driverless trucks have proven to be roughly 15 percent cheaper to run than vehicles with humans behind the wheel. The mining companies are going as aggressively as possible down this path.

Robotic and automated factories

Foxconn plans fully automated factories and already has automated production lines. The three step plan is:

1. set up individual automated work stations for work that workers are unwilling to do or is dangerous.

2. entire production lines automated along with a decrease of the number of robots used by the manufacturer.

3. which is aimed to be fully automated factories “with only a minimal number” of human workers.

Tesla also has highly automated factories.

Mining robots for space



RASSOR – Short for Regolith Advanced Surface Systems Operations Robot is a robotic miner that has the ability to operate autonomously and can excavate space dirt, or regolith, to be studied for producing water, breathing air, and much more. Engineers are developing and testing RASSOR, and RASSOR 2.0 —the second phase of the technology’s prototype— on Earth’s surface for potential use on the Moon or an asteroid. RASSOR’s excavation capabilities are a critical aspect of NASA’s deep-space travel goals.



Swarmies – These autonomously operating robotic vehicles are equipped with sensors, a webcam, GPS, and a Wi-Fi antenna that can be used independently or in a swarming pattern to locate, identify and collect valuable resources over unexplored space areas.

Electrostatic Dust Shield (EDS) – By using an electric field that spreads across the surface it is trying to protect, this technology prevents dust and debris from collecting on surfaces such as spacesuits, thermal radiators, solar panels, optical instruments and other devices.

There is an analysis of lunar resources written in 2014.

* Water most important first
* local refinement of metals
* longer term, if a substantial lunar infrastructure is developed to support wider economic activities in cis-lunar space, then local sources of metals, semiconductors (for solar arrays), and even uranium (for nuclear power) would become desirable in addition to indigenous volatiles and building materials.

The availability of resources obtained from the much shallower potential well of the Moon would help mitigate these obstacles to further economic development in Earth orbit. Near-term lunar exports to a cis-lunar infrastructure could include the supply of rocket fuel/oxidiser (such as hydrogen and oxygen; especially oxygen which dominates the mass budget for liquid hydrogen/oxygen propulsion), and simple structural components. Later, as the lunar industrial infrastructure becomes more mature, the Moon may be able to provide more sophisticated products to Earth-orbiting facilities, such as Ti and Al alloys, silicon-based solar cells, and uranium (or plutonium derived from it) for nuclear power/propulsion systems.

* significant future expansion of economic activity in cis-lunar space would be the development of solar power satellites.

[Pilgrim]

The headband that makes you smarter: US military reveals a bizarre device that increases learning by 40% - and it could be commonly used by 2022

By Shivali Best For Mailonline | Published: 16:25 BST, 23 October 2017

• The non-invasive device applies a current to the brain's prefrontal cortex
• This causes changes in connectivity between different brain areas
• In trials on macaques, it was shown to increase learning by 40 per cent
• Researchers are now seeking FDA approval, and suggest the device will be widespread in five to ten years

The idea of a headband you can wear to make you smarter may sound like a device from the latest science fiction blockbuster.

But experts have revealed such a device in reality – and claim it could increase learning by 40 per cent.

And it may not be long before you can get your hands on one, with the designers predicting its use will be common in just five to ten years.


The idea of a headband you can wear to make you smarter may sound like a device from the latest science fiction blockbuster. But experts have revealed such a device in reality – and claim it could increase learning by 40 per cent. Pictured is a soldier testing a similar device.

The device, which is described as 'non-invasive transcranial direct current stimulation' (tDCS) was designed by researchers from HRL Laboratories and McGill University in Montreal, with funding from the Defense Advance Research Project Agency (DARPA).

The device applies a current to an area of the brain called the prefrontal cortex.

This causes changes in connectivity between different brain areas, and increases learning.

While previous studies suggested that this occurs through increased firing of neurons, the researchers found that this wasn't the case.

Instead, modulated connectivity between brain areas accounted for the increased learning speed.

Dr Praveen Pilly, principal investigator, said: 'In this experiment we targeted the prefrontal cortex with individualised non-invasive stimulation montages.

'That is the region that controls many executive functions including decision-making, cognitive control, and contextual memory retrieval.

'It is connected to almost all the other cortical areas of the brain, and stimulating it has widespread effects.

'It is also the target of choice in most published behavioural enhancement studies and case studies with transcranial stimulation.'


The device applies a current to an area of the brain called the prefrontal cortex, but affects a wide portion of the brain in the process. This causes changes in connectivity between different brain areas, and increases learning. (stock image)

In the study, the researchers tested the device on macaque monkeys.

The macaques were tasked with learning associations between a visual stimulus and a location where they would get a reward.

Initially, this took them about 15 seconds, and then once they had learned the location of the reward, it took about two seconds to recall and find it.

Without the tDCS treatment, it took the macaques an average of 22 trials to learn to find the rewards.

But with the treatment, it took them an average of 12 trials, suggesting an increase in learning of 40 per cent.

Dr Pilly said: 'The behavioural effect was revealed when they learned to find the reward faster.'

The team now hopes to seek out FDA approval for the device, and Dr Pilly suggests that the technology could be widespread in just five to ten years.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/ ... ng-40.html

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Hoe onstuimig gaat de ontwikkeling van kunstmatige intelligentie nou eigenlijk? Met al die ontwikkelingen her en der op de wereld is daar maar moeilijk zicht op te krijgen. Toch wordt daartoe een poging gedaan door de Electronic Frontier Foundation bij AI Progress Measurement.

Dit met in het achterhoofd dat als de ontwikkeling van kunstmatige intelligentie sneller gaat dan door sommigen wordt voorzien dat we er snel bij moeten zijn om problemen daarmee te helpen voorkomen.

Toch denk ik wel dat er een fundamenteel probleem is waar we nu mee zitten en dat is het fenomeen "bedrijfsgeheim". In de kapitalistische "vrije" wereld is het de norm dat bedrijven geheimen mogen hebben uit concurrentie-overwegingen. Maar dat houdt tevens een groot gevaar in. Die kapitalistische waanzin-opstelling zou wel eens onze ondergang kunnen gaan betekenen als we niet snel de doodsteek aan het kapitalisme geven.

In feite is kapitalisme fundamenteel ondemocratisch. In een democratie hoort de bevolking overal vrij te kunnen controleren wat er gaande is. Die bevolking kan die controle nu slechts in zeer geringe mate uitvoeren omdat er ernstige beperkingen aan het kunnen uitvoeren van controles zijn opgelegd.

Wat er dus moet gebeuren is dat alle bedrijfsgeheimen van tafel moeten en dat er toegegroeid wordt naar een coöperatief systeem waar men ongebreideld aan kruisbestuiving van kennis doet. In alle bedrijven moeten camera's komen te hangen en microfoons om de bevolking de gelegenheid te geven om te zien wat er overal "achter de schermen" in bedrijven gebeurt. Er moet dus een algehele transparantie komen. Zonder volledige transparantie kan de bevolking immers gemakkelijk op allerlei fronten voor de gek worden gehouden en is er een te groot risico dat gevaarlijke ontwikkelingen niet op tijd worden gesignaleerd. Zonder transparantie staan ook de politieke keuzes binnen de bevolking op losse schroeven. Want hoe kan een bevolking die van niets weet en dom gehouden wordt nou goed meebeslissen?

Er moet dus een nieuw socialistisch systeem moeten komen die het huidige kapitalistische systeem omver werpt. Overheidsgeheimen zullen dan ook tot taboe moeten worden verklaard en ook de ambtenarij zal transparant moeten worden. Een overheid die gedwongen wordt transparant te zijn kan zich veel moeilijker tot een strenge dictatuur ontwikkelen zoals we daar in het verleden al genoeg schrikwekkende voorbeelden van hebben gezien. Transparantie zal ook corruptie tegenwerken.

Wat we niet moeten willen is het risico lopen dat een bedrijf ergens ter wereld straks op eigen houtje een leger van superintelligente robots uit de grond stampt en dit in het geheim kan doen wegens het beroep op "bedrijfsgeheimen".

In dit tijdperk van oprukkende kunstmatige intelligentie wordt het steeds meer van belang dat mogelijkheden om zaken in het geheim te kunnen doen op allerlei manieren worden tegengewerkt en teruggedraaid. De bevolking moet overal ter wereld toegang hebben tot camera's en microfoons overal ter wereld. Het gevaar kan straks immers van eender welke plek ook ter wereld komen.

[Ali Yas]

Toch denk ik wel dat er een fundamenteel probleem is waar we nu mee zitten en dat is het fenomeen "bedrijfsgeheim". In de kapitalistische "vrije" wereld is het de norm dat bedrijven geheimen mogen hebben uit concurrentie-overwegingen. Maar dat houdt tevens een groot gevaar in. Die kapitalistische waanzin-opstelling...

Met kapitalisme heeft dat toch niks te maken? Dit lijkt me eerder een gevalletje van door de overheid ondersteunde concurrentiebeperking. Het grote kwaad: het concept "intellectueel eigendom".

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Waar het hier ook om gaat : op welke manieren worden bedrijven gedwongen om te delen wat er in die bedrijven allemaal gebeurt? Hoe kan de gewone bevolking daar zicht op krijgen? Stel iets is nog geen "intellectueel eigendom", maar er is wel sprake van "een verzwegen doorbraak" die alles op zijn kop zet, wat dan? Dus om te stellen dat puur en alleen "intellectueel eigendom" het probleem is, is te kort door de bocht.

[Pilgrim]

Boven die bedrijven komt dus een supermachtige overheid die tot transparantie gedwongen moet worden. Maar hoe dwing je een overheid tot transparantie? Dat kan toch helemaal niet? Kijk naar onze eigen overheid en bijvoorbeeld de affaire Demmink, kijk naar de EU en wat daar stiekem bekonkeld wordt.

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Boven die bedrijven komt dus een supermachtige overheid die tot transparantie gedwongen moet worden.

De macht van die overheid zou beperkt moeten worden door de plicht op transparantie.

Maar hoe dwing je een overheid tot transparantie? Dat kan toch helemaal niet?

Er is wel een manier. Sommige politieke partijen zullen die eis tot transparantie in hun verkiezingsprogramma moeten opnemen en er zal propaganda gevoerd moeten worden voor de noodzakelijkheid van die transparantie. De bevolking zal dan vervolgens nog wel op 1 van die partijen moeten stemmen. Er was ook ooit al een politieke partij Nederland Transparant en ook een Europa Transparant. Pamela Hemelrijk was ooit lijstduwer van die partij. Bij E.J. Bron staat er in dit artikel over haar :

Ooit gehoord van Pamela Hemelrijk? Ikzelf niet tot voor kort. In ieder geval is ze dood. Zij was een genadeloos goed journaliste en columniste en overleed in de herfst van 2009 onder verdachte en mysterieuze omstandigheden. Ze was een goede vriendin van Pim Fortuyn. Die is toevallig ook dood. Even voordat de kogel kwam, stuurde ze hem een fax om hem te waarschuwen. Dat hij moest vrezen voor zijn leven: “Pim, zoek dekking, want dit ga je niet overleven”. Die fax heeft jarenlang ingelijst in haar kantoor gehangen.

Zij was ook goed bevriend met Theo van Gogh, die een voorwoord schreef in haar boek. Een verzameling van haar columns die ze uitbracht nadat ze was verketterd en monddood gemaakt door de politiek en media. Omdat ze de waarheid vertelde over de Europese Unie, over immigratie en islam en ons daarvoor wilde waarschuwen en bewust van wilde maken. Net zoals Fortuyn en van Gogh dat deden. En nu zijn ze allemaal dood.

Hier staat ook iets over haar op onze eigen FFI Dutch website.

De "transparant beweging" lijkt inmiddels grondig afgebroken en succesvol gesaboteerd te zijn. Het is echter bitter noodzakelijk dat die beweging nieuw leven wordt ingeblazen.

Kijk naar onze eigen overheid en bijvoorbeeld de affaire Demmink, kijk naar de EU en wat daar stiekem bekonkeld wordt.

Dat moet dus doorbroken worden. Ik zal de laatste zijn om te beweren dat dat gemakkelijk zal zijn of zonder gevaar voor eigen leven.

Het gevecht tegen het gevaar islam blijkt dus samenhang te hebben met het gevecht tegen het gevaar kunstmatige superintelligentie in verkeerde handen.

[Pilgrim]

Waymo demonstreert zelfrijdende auto met informatietablet voor passagiers

Gepubliceerd: 31 oktober



Waymo, het zusterbedrijf van Google dat zelfrijdende auto's ontwikkelt, heeft een robotauto gedemonstreerd die voor de achterstoelen speciale tablets hebben om informatie over de rit te geven aan passagiers.

In de Amerikaanse staat Phoenix test Waymo al enige tijd een soort taxidienst met zelfrijdende auto's. Een beperkte groep testgebruikers kan ritten maken met de autonome voertuigen.

Tijdens een demonstratie voor journalisten van onder meer de Financial Times en Wall Street Journal toonde Waymo hoe zulke ritten er in de praktijk uitzien. De auto's reden zonder chauffeur achter het stuur, al gebeurde dat nu nog op een gesloten testcircuit.

De passagiers op de achterbank kregen een kaart te zien waarin de rit werd uitgestippeld. Hier werd ook getoond wat de auto zoal probeerde te doen, zoals "voorrang geven aan voetgangers" of "zoeken naar een parkeerplaats".

Tests
John Krafcik, directeur van Waymo, zegt tegen de Financial Times dat de daadwerkelijke introductie van de robotauto "best dichtbij" is. Waymo heeft als doel om zijn technologie in 2020 op de markt te brengen, al zal dat dan vermoedelijk nog op een beperkt aantal bekende locaties zijn.

Tegen Reuters zegt Krafcik dat Waymo in eerste instantie nog dacht dat mensen een robotauto in noodsituaties zouden moeten overnemen. Maar toen tijdens tests bleek dat mensen dutjes gingen doen en met hun telefoon gingen spelen tijdens het rijden in autonome auto's, besloot Waymo om alleen nog auto's te ontwikkelen die altijd volledig zelfstandig moeten kunnen rijden.

In de auto's van Waymo zitten nu nog maar twee knoppen die mensen kunnen gebruiken om ze te bedienen: één om een rit te starten, en een ander om een auto zo snel mogelijk veilig aan de kant van de weg te zetten.

Door: NU.nl

https://www.nu.nl/gadgets/4986557/waymo ... giers.html

[Pilgrim]

How quantum materials may soon make Star Trek technology reality

October 26, 2017 10.22pm BST

If you think technologies from Star Trek seem far-fetched, think again. Many of the devices from the acclaimed television series are slowly becoming a reality. While we may not be teleporting people from starships to a planet’s surface anytime soon, we are getting closer to developing other tools essential for future space travel endeavours.

I am a lifelong Star Trek fan, but I am also a researcher that specializes in creating new magnetic materials. The field of condensed-matter physics encompasses all new solid and liquid phases of matter, and its study has led to nearly every technological advance of the last century, from computers to cellphones to solar cells.

My approach to looking for new phenomena in materials comes from a chemistry perspective: How can we create materials that have new properties that can change our world, and eventually be used to explore “strange, new worlds”? I believe an understanding of so-called “quantum materials” in particular is essential to make science-fiction science fact.

Quantum materials
What makes a substance a quantum material? Quantum materials have unusual and fantastic properties that arise from enormous numbers of particles acting in a concerted way.

Think of a conductor directing a symphony: without some order brought to the music, all you have is noise. The more musicians you have performing out of step, the more noise you will have.

A quantum material has all of the constituent musicians — in this case, the electrons or atoms in a material, which amounts to billions upon billions of particles — acting in a certain way according to quantum rules, or the “sheet music,” if you will.

Instead of noise from random electronic and atomic motions, with a conductor you get music — or in the case of new materials, a new property that emerges. The use of these new properties for devices is what is driving the technological revolutions that we are seeing today.

Magnetic fields and shields
So, how can these new materials be used in the spacecraft of tomorrow? One example might be the force-shields that protect ships in Star Trek. High magnetic fields could be used to protect bodies from incoming projectiles, especially if the projectiles have an electric charge.

How do you create large magnetic fields? One way is to use a superconducting magnet. Superconductors have electrons that conduct electricity with no resistance to flow. One of the consequences of this is that large magnetic fields can be generated — the current supported by a superconductor that generates the magnetic field can be huge without destroying the superconductivity itself.

These superconductors are used every day to create large magnetic fields in places such as hospitals for MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) devices to see inside the body.

Advanced superconductors might have new applications as magnetic shields for spacecraft. Imagine your spaceship coated in a superconductor that can generate a large magnetic field with a flick of a switch to get the current flowing, creating a magnetic force shield.

This is exactly what scientists at the European Organization for Nuclear Research, CERN, are investigating: a new magnetic shield for spacecraft — superconducting magnesium diboride, or MgB₂.



Superconductors on spaceships
A spaceship coated in superconducting magnets would generate a “magnetosphere” around the craft which could be used to deflect harmful projectiles. While we don’t have to worry about Klingon torpedoes just yet, we do have to worry about harmful cosmic rays in outer space for future space travel.

Cosmic rays are typically charged particles that can interfere with the electronics of a spacecraft, and more importantly, give astronauts a lethal dose of radiation during long space flights.

Protecting future spacecraft from these rays is crucially important for the future of any space program, including trips to Mars in the next few decades. And who knows, with the superconducting magnet shields you might be able to escape a Romulan attack on the way.

Technical hurdles
There is a catch, however. Superconductors do not work at high temperatures and there is no room-temperature superconductor. Above a certain temperature called the “critical temperature,” the superconductor becomes “normal” and the electrons experience a resistance to flow again. For magnesium diboride, this occurs at a very cold temperature — around -248℃. This is actually fine for interstellar space where the background temperature is a much colder -270℃ or so but it is not conducive to spacecraft visiting other warmer planets.

Scientists like me are searching for “room temperature” superconductors that would enable these shields to work at much higher temperatures. This would also enable new advances to society such as cheaper health care, for example, since one wouldn’t need low temperatures for MRI instruments to work.

However, high temperature superconductivity has been a mystery for decades, and progress is in slow increments. As someone who works on the border between physics and chemistry, I believe that the answer will be found in the discovery of new materials. Historically, this is where progress has been made to raise the critical temperature to one above the liquid nitrogen boiling point of -196℃.

These superconductors would be great to use as magnetic shield devices if you were exploring many areas of the galaxy. But they wouldn’t work on warmer planets such as Mars without significant amounts of cryogens to keep the magnets cold.

Quantum computers and societal revolution
Superconducting technology would also have a variety of other uses aboard starships. Quantum computers can perform operations orders of magnitude faster than conventional computers, and would undoubtedly be used on a modern starship. Need to send an encrypted message to Starfleet? If the Klingons have a quantum computer, they might be able to intercept and hack your message, so you had better make sure that you understand the technology.

And superconducting electrical systems would naturally be used for the most efficient devices, from starship engines down to tricorders used in away missions. The emergence of room temperature superconductors would spark a transformation of our society that would rival the silicon age of modern electronics. Their discovery is an essential hurdle to cross for the next part of our evolution as a species to a new technological age.

It would be highly logical to continue our search for a room temperature superconductor. If only we could make it so. Quantum materials offer strange new worlds of discovery and perhaps most exciting are the technologies we haven’t discovered yet — that will exploit quantum effects on scale that humans can easily see.

https://theconversation.com/how-quantum ... ign=buffer

[Ali Yas]

The emergence of room temperature superconductors would spark a transformation of our society that would rival the silicon age of modern electronics. Their discovery is an essential hurdle to cross

Tja, de schoorsteen moet bij deze wetenschapper thuis ook roken, nietwaar? Hij kan er de rest van zijn leven onderzoek naar doen.

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With artificial intelligence to new physics

02 November 2017

The particle accelerator of CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, produces large amounts of complex data with high accuracy, as a result of which theoretical predictions also need to be more accurate and faster. With his research team, PhD candidate Ben Ruijl developed very innovative methods for predicting theoretical outcomes. Thursday November 2nd, Ruijl defends his thesis Advances in Computational Methods for Quantum Field Theory Calculations.

With the Large Hadron Collider in Geneva physicists try to find out more about elementary particles, the smallest building blocks of matter. The computation of physical theories is complicated and time consuming. PhD student Ben Ruijl, associated with the Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science (LIACS), has succeeded to significantly improve this process.

New software requires less computing power
The physical theories are translated into mathematical formulas, which predict high precision measurements of particle accelerators. Using techniques from artificial intelligence, such as the search algorithm Monte Carlo Tree Search, Ruijl developed methods to simplify the formulas. These methods apply to all sorts of theories. Ruijl has made his techniques available through the open source program FORM. With this software researchers worldwide can do complex calculations with less computing power, memory, electric current and financial resources. One computer now carries out a calculation in six days that previously required twenty computers for a year and a half.

New level of precision calculations
According to Jos Vermaseren, co-promoter, Ruijl's research is of great value, as it enables research into minimal deviations in the standard particle physics model. Precision calculations are important when discovering new physics, and Ruijl's research takes the current state of those calculations to the next level.

• Ben Ruijl’s research is part of the program HEPGAME program, in which informatics researchers at Leiden University collaborate with theoretical physicists of the National Institute for Subatomic Physics (Nikhef). The project deploys the latest artificial intelligence insights for solving complex physical issues. Ruijl’s PhD supervisors are Jaap van den Herik (LCDS), Aske Plaat (LIACS) and Jos Vermaseren (Nikhef).

Berekeningen gaan met deze methode dus bijna met een factor van 2000 sneller. Dat is best veel. Revolutionair.

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Kurzgesagt – It’s Time to Talk about Bringing Aging Under Medical Control

Steve Hill - November 3, 2017

As we mentioned in a previous article, the level of interest and support for rejuvenation biotechnology that targets age-related diseases is growing. Over the last few years, we have seen a significant increase in the number of popular science articles, news stories and research papers focusing on the idea that the aging processes are something we can target with therapies to prevent or cure age-related diseases.

With human clinical trials launched this year for senolytic therapies that remove toxic, aged senescent cells from the body, that interest level is only growing. Later this year, there are also going to be human trials for DNA repair, which has great potential for cancer and aging therapies. It is no longer a case of “can it be done” but “when will it be done” when it comes to bringing aging under medical control.

Bringing aging under medical control
You may remember the excellent video about aging that Kurzgesagt recently published on Youtube, where they explored what aging is and if science should do something about it in order to promote healthy longevity. We were pleased to have worked with Kurzgesagt to help create that video, and today, we are equally pleased to announce that a second video has been made in collaboration with them.



The video today takes a look at some of the most promising approaches that science is taking to address the aging processes. It covers removing senescent cells to improve tissue repair, increasing NAD in cells to increase DNA repair and improve cell function, and finally the amazing progress being made with stem cell therapies to combat diseases.

LEAF president Keith Comito, Vice President Oliver Medvedik, and other members of the team helped Kurzgesagt in the making of this video. We believe that bringing this topic to public attention now is very important indeed, especially if we take into account rapid population aging and the forecast that people aged 60+ will make about 1/3 of the global population by 2100.

The video today and the previous video by Kurzgesagt tie into our grand strategy. Last year at the DNA Conference in the Netherlands we were talking about engaging the wider public audience via popular YouTube channels and personalities and now we have begun to deliver on that promise.

https://www.leafscience.org/bringing-ag ... l-control/

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Artificial intelligence may soon be able to build more AI

By Cade Metz Published 2:17 pm, Monday, November 6, 2017

They are a dream of researchers but perhaps a nightmare for highly skilled computer programmers: artificially intelligent machines that can build other artificially intelligent machines.

With recent speeches in both Silicon Valley and China, Jeff Dean, one of Google's leading engineers, spotlighted a Google project called AutoML. ML is short for machine learning, referring to computer algorithms that can learn to perform particular tasks on their own by analyzing data. AutoML, in turn, is a machine-learning algorithm that learns to build other machine-learning algorithms.

With it, Google may soon find a way to create AI technology that can partly take the humans out of building the AI systems that many believe are the future of the technology industry.

The project is part of a much larger effort to bring the latest and greatest AI techniques to a wider collection of companies and software developers.

The tech industry is promising everything from smartphone apps that can recognize faces to cars that can drive on their own. But by some estimates, only 10,000 people worldwide have the education, experience and talent needed to build the complex and sometimes mysterious mathematical algorithms that will drive this new breed of artificial intelligence.

The world's largest tech businesses, including Google, Facebook and Microsoft, sometimes pay millions of dollars a year to AI experts, effectively cornering the market for this hard-to-find talent. The shortage isn't going away anytime soon, just because mastering these skills takes years of work.

The industry is not willing to wait. Companies are developing all sorts of tools that will make it easier for any operation to build its own AI software, including things like image and speech recognition services and online chatbots.

"We are following the same path that computer science has followed with every new type of technology," said Joseph Sirosh, a vice president at Microsoft, which recently unveiled a tool to help coders build deep neural networks, a type of algorithm that is driving much of the recent progress in AI. "We are eliminating a lot of the heavy lifting."

This is not altruism. Researchers like Dean believe that if more people and companies are working on artificial intelligence, it will propel their own research. At the same time, companies like Google, Amazon and Microsoft see serious money in the trend that Sirosh described. All of them are selling cloud-computing services that can help other businesses and developers build AI.

"There is real demand for this," said Matt Scott, a co-founder and the chief technical officer of Malong, a startup in China that offers similar services. "And the tools are not yet satisfying all the demand."

This is most likely what Google has in mind for AutoML, as the Mountain View company continues to hail the project's progress. CEO Sundar Pichai boasted about it last month while unveiling an Android smartphone.

Eventually, the project will help companies build systems with artificial intelligence even if they don't have extensive expertise, Dean said. Today, he estimated, no more than a few thousand companies have the right talent for building AI, but many more have the necessary data.

"We want to go from thousands of organizations solving machine learning problems to millions," he said.

Google is investing heavily in cloud-computing services — services that help other businesses build and run software — which it expects to be one of its primary economic engines in the years to come. And after snapping up such a large portion of the world's top AI researchers, it has a means of jump-starting this engine.

Neural networks are rapidly accelerating the development of AI. Rather than building an image-recognition service or a language translation app by hand, one line of code at a time, engineers can much more quickly build an algorithm that learns tasks on its own.

By analyzing the sounds in a vast collection of old technical support calls, for instance, a machine-learning algorithm can learn to recognize spoken words.

But building a neural network is not like building a website or some run-of-the-mill smartphone app. It requires significant math skills, extreme trial and error, and a fair amount of intuition. Jean-François Gagné, chief executive of an independent machine-learning lab called Element AI, refers to the process as "a new kind of computer programming."

In building a neural network, researchers run dozens or even hundreds of experiments across a vast network of machines, testing how well an algorithm can learn a task like recognizing an image or translating from one language to another. Then they adjust parts of the algorithm over and over again, until they settle on something that works. Some call it a "dark art," just because researchers find it difficult to explain why they make particular adjustments.

But with AutoML, Google is trying to automate this process. It is building algorithms that analyze the development of other algorithms, learning which methods are successful and which are not. Eventually, they learn to build more effective machine learning. Google said AutoML could now build algorithms that, in some cases, identified objects in photos more accurately than services built solely by human experts.

Barret Zoph, one of the Google researchers behind the project, believes that the same method will eventually work well for other tasks, like speech recognition or machine translation.

This is not always an easy thing to wrap your head around. But it is part of a significant trend in AI research. Experts call it "learning to learn" or "meta-learning."

Many believe such methods will significantly accelerate the progress of AI in both the online and physical worlds. At UC Berkeley, researchers are building techniques that could allow robots to learn tasks based on what they have learned in the past.

"Computers are going to invent the algorithms for us, essentially," said Berkeley Professor Pieter Abbeel. "Algorithms invented by computers can solve many, many problems very quickly — at least that is the hope."

This is also a way of expanding the number of people and businesses that can build artificial intelligence. These methods will not replace AI researchers entirely. Experts like those at Google must still do much of the important design work. But the belief is that the work of a few experts can help many others build their own software.

Renato Negrinho, a researcher at Carnegie Mellon University who is exploring technology similar to AutoML, said this is not a reality today, but will be eventually. "It is just a matter of when," he said.

En "It is just a matter of when," kan bij wijze van spreken morgen al zijn.

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Waymo test als eerste openbaar zelfrijdende auto's zonder chauffeur

Gepubliceerd: 07 november 2017



Google-zusterbedrijf Waymo stuurt als eerste bedrijf ter wereld volledig zelfrijdende auto's zonder menselijke chauffeur de openbare weg op.

Dat maakte Waymo-CEO John Krafcik dinsdag bekend tijdens techconferentie Web Summit, meldt Recode. Een deel van de zelfrijdende vloot auto's van Waymo gaat in de stad Phoenix zonder chauffeur achter het stuur rijden. Wel zullen in eerste instantie medewerkers van het bedrijf meerijden op de achterbank van de wagens.

Die auto's kunnen worden opgeroepen door mensen die zich voor het testprogramma van Waymo hebben opgegeven. Met een app laten gebruikers de auto naar zich toe komen, en kunnen die vervolgens voor een enkele rit gebruiken, maar ook een hele dag of zelfs tot een week.

Waymo, eerder onderdeel van Google, werkt al ruim acht jaar aan zelfrijdende auto's. Sinds een aantal jaar worden de auto's met menselijke chauffeurs achter het stuur op de openbare weg getest, net zoals zelfrijdende auto's van concurrenten.

Niveau 4
De auto's van Waymo zijn nu echter de eersten die de weg op gaan zonder chauffeur die in geval van nood kan ingrijpen. Het bedrijf zegt dat zijn auto's daarmee het zelfrijdende niveau 4 hebben bereikt.

Niveau 4 staat voor volledig autonoom rijden binnen gebieden die al nauwkeurig in kaart zijn gebracht. Huidige legale auto's met zelfrijdende functies beperken zich vaak nog tot level 2, waarbij de handen aan het stuur moeten worden gehouden. Level 5, waarbij geen enkele menselijke ingreep nodig is, wordt op zijn vroegst binnen zo'n twee jaar verwacht.

Nieuwe fase
Hoewel de test van Waymo zich beperkt tot een deel van Phoenix, gaat het volgens CEO Krafcik niet om een "eenmalige rit of demo".

Krafcik spreekt van "de start van een nieuwe fase voor Waymo en de geschiedenis van deze technologie", meldt FT. Naarmate de auto's meer ervaring opdoen, wil Waymo de test uitbreiden tot buiten Phoenix, naar een gebied van zo'n 1500 vierkante kilometer. Dat is ongeveer even groot als de oppervlakte van Londen.

Waymo wil uiteindelijk ook verschillende soorten voertuigen beschikbaar stellen aan zijn klanten. Vooralsnog werkt Waymo enkel samen met automaker Fiat Chrysler; de zelfrijdende wagens van Waymo zijn speciaal aangepaste modellen van de Chrysler Pacifica.

Waymo wil niet zeggen hoeveel auto's zonder chauffeur achter het stuur het in de praktijk gaat testen. Het bedrijf heeft onder meer voor Phoenix gekozen omdat de stad een overzichtelijk wegennet heeft.

Door: NU.nl

https://www.nu.nl/gadgets/4997165/waymo ... ffeur.html

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Uber werkt met NASA aan luchtverkeersleiding voor vliegende taxi’s

Gepubliceerd: 08 november 2017



Uber werkt samen met ruimtebedrijf NASA aan een nieuw luchtverkeerssysteem dat zal worden gebruikt voor vliegende taxi’s.

Dat heeft Uber-productbaas Jeff Holden bekendgemaakt tijdens een presentatie op Web Summit.

Het verkeersssyteem wordt gemaakt om specifiek laagvliegende en mogelijk autonome vliegtuigen in de gaten te houden. Het plan is om de taxi's uiteindelijk helemaal zelfvliegend te maken, zodat een passagier enkel op een knop hoeft te drukken om te vertrekken.

Het nieuwe initiatief is onderdeel van het Elevate-programma van Uber, waarmee het bedrijf in 2020 vliegende taxi’s in de lucht wil krijgen.

Volgens Holden zal de vliegende taxi in 2020 ook worden getest in Los Angeles. Eerder had Uber aangekondigd de taxi te gaan testen in Dubai en Dallas.

Door: NU.nl

https://www.nu.nl/gadgets/4998041/uber- ... taxis.html

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Weer wat nieuws over het ruimtevliegtuig Skylon.

Reaction Engines – Making the leap to hypersonic travel
Reaction Engines Ltd - Gepubliceerd op 10 okt. 2017

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Reversing Aging: Scientists Make Old Human Cells Look And Act Younger in Breakthrough Discovery

By Kastalia Medrano On 11/8/17

A groundbreaking discovery in cellular biology could help humans age without as much deterioration in their bodies. A research team experimenting on a class of genes called "splicing factors" was able to take older human cells and physically rejuvenate them, turning back the clock to make them appear and behave young again.

"When I saw some of the cells in the culture dish rejuvenating I couldn't believe it. These old cells were looking like young cells. It was like magic," Eva Latorre, the research associate at the University of Exeter who conducted the experiments, told Medical Xpress. "I repeated the experiments several times and in each case the cells rejuvenated. I am very excited by the implications and potential for this research."

When human cells grow old, they become inactive. The splicing factors that "switch off" in old age can actually be switched back on by applying chemical compounds called reversatrol analogues. Within just a few hours of the application, the splicing factors started to rejuvenate, dividing themselves the way young cells do. Their telomeres, cap-like features on chromosomes which grow shorter and shorter as we age, became long again. A paper detailing the research was published in the journal BMC Cell Biology.

"This is a first step in trying to make people live normal lifespans, but with health for their entire life,” lead author Lorna Harries, professor of Molecular Genetics at the University of Exeter, told Medical Xpress. “Our data suggests that using chemicals to switch back on the major class of genes that are switched off as we age might provide a means to restore function to old cells."

Splicing factors help your genes operate smoothly, making sure that instructions like when to grow new blood vessels get to where they need to go. Over the course of the aging process, they become less efficient, and eventually break down entirely, leaving our bodies with less and less ability to regenerate.

"At a time when our capacity to translate new knowledge about the mechanisms of ageing into medicines and lifestyle advice is limited only by a chronic shortage of funds, older people are ill-served by self-indulgent science fiction,” Professor Richard Faragher of the University of Brighton told Medical Xpress. “They need practical action to restore their health and they need it yesterday ... Our discovery of cell rejuvenation using these simple compounds shows the enormous potential of ageing research to improve the lives of older people."

Reversatrol analogues, meanwhile, come from a substance common to red wine, dark chocolate, red grapes and blueberries. So while we wait for the arrival of therapies based on this research to help us all stay young, we can at least have a little more of those.

http://www.newsweek.com/ageing-youth-yo ... ing-705526

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Reversatrol analogues, meanwhile, come from a substance common to red wine, dark chocolate, red grapes and blueberries. So while we wait for the arrival of therapies based on this research to help us all stay young, we can at least have a little more of those.

Cacao, rode druiven en bosbessen zijn allemaal plantaardig. Veganisme heeft dus toekomst en verbetert bovendien de menselijke welvaart.

Zie ook What The Health