Lifeboat Foundation

We are fascinated by machines that can control cars, compose symphonies, or defeat people at chess, Go, or Jeopardy! While more progress is being made all the time in artificial intelligence (AI), some scientists and philosophers warn of the dangers of an uncontrollable superintelligent AI. Using theoretical calculations, an international team of researchers, including scientists from the Center for Humans and Machines at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development, shows that it would not be possible to control a superintelligent AI. Their study is published in the Journal of Artificial Intelligence Research.

Suppose in the not-too-distant future that a research team builds an AI system with intelligence superior to that of humans, so it can learn independently. Connected to the Internet, the AI would have access to all of humanity’s data. It could replace existing programs and take control of all machines globally.

Would this produce a utopia or a dystopia? Would the AI cure cancer, bring about world peace, and prevent a climate disaster? Or would it destroy humanity and take over the Earth?

HURRY. I’m getting old.

Recent advances in deep learning enabled the development of AI systems that outperform humans in many tasks and have started to empower scientists and physicians with new tools. In this Comment, we discuss how recent applications of AI to aging research are leading to the emergence of the field of longevity medicine.

Summary: While 40% of people with primary progressive aphasia have underlying Alzheimer’s disease, a new study suggests they may not develop the memory problems associated with Alzheimer’s.

Source: AAN

Primary progressive aphasia is a rare neurodegenerative condition characterized by prominent language problems that worsen over time. About 40% of people with the condition have underlying Alzheimer’s disease. But a new study has found that people with the condition may not develop the memory problems associated with Alzheimer’s disease. The study is published in the January 132021, online issue of Neurology.

Technique for trapped ions could lead to more reliable quantum computers.

The Federal Aviation Administration has released new and looser rules for flying drones over highly populated areas and at night, effectively laying a welcome mat for future aerial deliveries of takeout food, Amazon packages, prescription drugs — you name it.

Why it matters: While the prospect of Jetsons-style convenience with less street gridlock is tantalizing, there are still plenty of logistical hurdles, and it will take some time for cities to figure out how to manage low-altitude air traffic as routinely as they do today’s road traffic.

Driving the news: FAA rules — handed down late last month — will require drones flying over cities to use remote identification technology, so people on the ground can tell what they’re doing and who owns them.

A team of researchers affiliated with a host of institutions across Japan has found that inhibiting kidney-type glutaminase-dependent glutaminolysis in mice can lead to elimination of senescent cells. In their paper published in the journal Science, the group describes using RNA interference to look for enzymes that are required for senescent cell survival and subsequently inducing them to die. Christopher Pan and Jason Locasale, with the Duke University School of Medicine, have published a Perspectives piece in the same journal issue outlining research into glutamine and the role it played in the work done by the team in this new effort.

Cells are described as senescent when they lose the ability to divide. Prior research has found that cells can reach senescence due to exposure to stress, which can include mitochondrial, replicative or oxidative stress. In all cases, the cells live and continue to function, but can no longer divide. Prior research has found evidence suggesting that senescent cells play a role in the development of some aging-related diseases such as arteriosclerosis and muscle degeneration. For that reason, scientists have been looking for ways to eliminate them. In this new effort, the researchers have found a way to rid test mice of senescent cells by removing a pathway necessary for their continued survival.

The work involved a screening effort using RNA interference to look for enzymes that senescent cells need to survive. This led them to look closer at glutamine metabolism, specifically glutaminase 1. Testing showed it to be critical to survival for senescent cells. The team then inhibited the glutaminase 1 pathway in test mice. After allowing time for the changes to take effect, the researchers found that inhibiting the pathway led to the deaths of senescent cells. In the longer term, they found that it also reduced age-related organ problems and also health issues related to obesity.

It’s good that they’re finally looking at the science.

The New York Times is now noting that “once most adults are immune — following natural infection or vaccination” the virus will enter its endemic phase and corona “will be no more of a threat than the common cold, according to a study published in the journal Science on Tuesday.”

Once immunity is widespread in adults, the virus rampaging across the world will come to resemble the common cold, scientists predict.

Continue reading “Even the NY Times is Noting That: The Future of the Coronavirus? An Annoying Childhood Infection!” »

To date, paralysis resulting from spinal cord damage has been irreparable. With a new therapeutic approach, scientists from the Department for Cell Physiology at Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB) headed by Professor Dietmar Fischer have succeeded for the first time in getting paralyzed mice to walk again. The keys to this are the protein hyper-interleukin-6, which stimulates nerve cells to regenerate, and the way how it is supplied to the animals. The researchers published their report in the journal Nature Communications from 15 January 2021.

Spinal cord injuries caused by sports or traffic accidents often result in permanent disabilities such as paraplegia. This is caused by damage to nerve fibers, so-called axons, which carry information from the brain to the muscles and back from the skin and muscles. If these fibers are damaged due to injury or illness, this communication is interrupted. Since severed axons in the spinal cord can’t grow back, the patients suffer from paralysis and numbness for life. To date, there are still no treatment options that could restore the lost functions in affected patients.

Scientists have developed a first-of-its-kind human stem cell that seems to be capable of repairing and healing damage anywhere in the body.

These so-called “smart” stem cells start off as human fat cells. But after being reprogrammed with cancer drugs that stripped the cells of their identity, they turned back into multipotent stem cells that were able to adapt to their surroundings in a mouse model, according to research published Wednesday in the journal Science Advances.”

While these findings are very exciting, I will keep a lid on my excitement until we get this through to patients, Chandrakanthan said in the press release.