Originally shared by Keith Wilson
May
06
Monthly Archives: May 2018
May
05
For all your “Hitler’s brain in a jar” story needs.
For all your “Hitler’s brain in a jar” story needs.
(I also have an idea for a story in which pigs’ brains are implanted in asteroid prospecting spacecraft, to sniff out valuable minerals as if they were truffles. But of course, some dodgy bastard tries it with a human brain…)
Originally shared by Neuroscience News
Scientists Reanimate Disembodied Pigs’ Brains – How Could This Impact the Human Mind?
Some have argued that even with a fully functional body, immortality would be tedious. With absolutely no contact with external reality, it might just be a living hell.
May
05
Granting robots legal personhood is mainly about being able to make them liable for damages and hence making sure…
Granting robots legal personhood is mainly about being able to make them liable for damages and hence making sure they’re insured. Not necessarily the best way to achieve the goal, and a lot of people are slamming it.
May
05
Not a particularly substantial or well-written article, but an important topic: biotech, one of the big coming…
Not a particularly substantial or well-written article, but an important topic: biotech, one of the big coming technologies. The companies profiled here have learned from computing that the first thing you want to do is build a platform that everyone wants to use, because it makes their work easier.
https://www.wired.com/story/biology-will-be-the-next-great-computing-platform/
May
04
tl;dr: You don’t have to handwave your high-res augmented/virtual reality as much anymore.
tl;dr: You don’t have to handwave your high-res augmented/virtual reality as much anymore.
Not that I think that was stopping anyone, certainly not me.
Originally shared by Singularity Hub
Delivering VR in Perfect Focus With Nanostructure Meta-lenses https://suhub.co/2rmrnYI
May
03
Extract from the famous Joanna Russ book of the same name.
Extract from the famous Joanna Russ book of the same name.
Originally shared by Alexander M Zoltai
May
03
The obvious next question after “Can we extend human liespans?” is “Should we?”
The obvious next question after “Can we extend human liespans?” is “Should we?”
Originally shared by Singularity Hub
Is the Secret to Significantly Longer Life Hidden in Our Cells? https://suhub.co/2w9h9Rd
May
03
I enjoy reading novels from different cultural traditions, and a couple of these I will be looking into further.
I enjoy reading novels from different cultural traditions, and a couple of these I will be looking into further.
Originally shared by Kam-Yung Soh
“[I]n the past decade, mainstream publishing has inched closer towards better representation, even if we’re still not quite there. Ken Liu’s Grace of Kings proved that an epic based on the Romance of the Three Kingdoms could be just as popular as Game of Thrones; JY Yang’s Tensorate Series novellas have been racking up the awards nominations this year; and the anthology A Thousand Beginnings and Endings, a collection of reimagined Asian folklore and myths that has already garnered critical acclaim, comes out this year in June.
So here are five more recently published books about East Asian culture and history, by East Asian (diaspora) authors, that I wish I’d been able to find on shelves when I was younger. I’ve tried to pick books across genres and age groups (adult and YA) so that there’s something here that might appeal to everyone. Enjoy!”
May
02
Matches well with a piece I saw the other day about how US rail safety was being improved by an anonymized reporting…
Matches well with a piece I saw the other day about how US rail safety was being improved by an anonymized reporting mechanism through NASA (which is used to handling transport safety reports). Because the railway workers face no sanctions for reporting incidents, they don’t hesitate to do so.
In this case, the undesired behaviour is being sanctioned in a way that doesn’t activate people’s defensiveness at being accused, so they’re more likely to stop.
Originally shared by ****
This little article about how MIT admins used to handle trolls, harassment, and other issues has been making the rounds on Mastodon today and I thought it was interesting.
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The third stopit mechanism is a carefully-structured standard note to alleged perpetrators of harassment, improper use, or other uncivil behavior. “Someone using your account,” the note begins, “did [whatever the offense is].” The u.y.a. note (as this mechanism is known, for its introductory words) then explains why this behavior or action is offensive, or violates MIT harassment policy, or Rules of Use, or whatever. “Account holders are responsible for the use of their accounts. If you were unaware that your account was being used in this way,” the note continues, “it may have been compromised. User Accounts can help you change your password and re-secure your account.” Detailed directions to User Accounts follow. The note concludes with a short sentence: “If you were aware that your account was being used to [whatever it was], then we trust you will take steps to ensure that this does not happen again.”
Two interesting outcomes ensue.
First, many recipients of u.y.a. notes go to User Accounts, say their accounts have been compromised, and change their passwords – even when it’s clear, from eyewitnesses or other evidence, that they personally were the offenders.
Second, and most important, u.y.a. recipients virtually never repeat the offending behavior.
This is important: even though recipients concede no guilt, and receive no punishment, they stop.
May
02
I always enjoy a vertical farming concept.
I always enjoy a vertical farming concept.
Originally shared by Greg Batmarx
This may sound a little odd, but it’s a very interesting idea. Many over populated areas around the world are having trouble supplying their population with food, and countries such as Singapore, the most densely populated country in the world, do not have the space to grow crops and are forced to import around 90 percent of their food.
Spanish architects from a design firm called JAPA may have found a solution to this problem: floating vertical farms.
They call it FRA (floating responsive architecture) and it is based on floating fish farms which have been used since the 1930s. The shape is a bit… different, but the structure is designed this way to capture the most amount of sunlight for the plants, reducing shadows and saving space.
This new innovation offers some cool features to help ensure the right productivity. Inside these towers are a large number of sensors that will help monitor the crops and send status updates to various networks in charge of looking after them. This will help guarantee that all crops are getting the right amount of water and keep track of plants that might be dying so they can be rejuvenated, or replaced to continue consistent production.
The data from these sensors will also be used to calculate the amount of food being produced and how much of this food is being purchased from stores. These sensors will suggest how much food needs to be produced on a regular basis, so over time they can adjust the production so no food goes to waste. Javier Ponce principal from JAPA, stated The system will aim for zero food waste.
Although these designs are just a concept for now, it is being proposed that a smaller set of prototypes be tested first to see what vertical farming could really be capable of. Singapore, as mentioned before being the most densely populated country, is the leading candidate for these farms as they are in the most need with China next in line. JAPA has actually already set up areas around Singapore of where vertical farming would be placed in order to help balance the distribution throughout the country.
As of now, the amount of energy needed to run the farms is being looked at, as well as the amount of food that each will be able to produce. I assume that solar energy will be a main energy source involved to ensure sustainability.
Although we may never see these floating vertical farms, this type of thinking is what we need for our world to improve.
http://www.theevolvingplanet.com/floating-vertical-farming-food-crisis/