Lifeboat Foundation

China is showing the world how things should be done.

As America has turned away from searching for extraterrestrial intelligence, China has built the world’s largest radio dish for precisely that purpose.

Last January, the Chinese Academy of Sciences invited Liu Cixin, China’s preeminent science-fiction writer, to visit its new state-of-the-art radio dish in the country’s southwest. Almost twice as wide as the dish at America’s Arecibo Observatory, in the Puerto Rican jungle, the new Chinese dish is the largest in the world, if not the universe. Though it is sensitive enough to detect spy satellites even when they’re not broadcasting, its main uses will be scientific, including an unusual one: The dish is Earth’s first flagship observatory custom-built to listen for a message from an extraterrestrial intelligence. If such a sign comes down from the heavens during the next decade, China may well hear it first.

Letters from a time capsule opened in the Russian city of Novorossiysk have revealed that Soviet students in 1967 believed their peers in 50 years time would be living on other planets and eating ice cream for free, while their homework will be done by machines.

Hundreds of time capsules were laid across the USSR in 1967 as the country celebrated half a century since the Russian Revolution, which eventually led to the creation of the Soviet state. Those messages, containing the accounts of Soviet people’s lives and their messages to descendants, are being opened in Russia this year, coinciding with the 100th anniversary of the events of 1917.

READ MORE: Cruiser Aurora fires at Winter Palace 100 years ago, signals peak of Russian Revolution.

As if the mere phrase “killer robots” weren’t scary enough, AI researchers and policy advocates have put together a video that combines present-tense AI and drone technologies with future-tense nightmares.

The disturbing seven-minute movie is being released to coincide with a pitch being made on Monday in Geneva during talks relating to the U.N. Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, or CCW.

The Government of Dubai Media Office via the United Arab Emirates Prime Minister’s official YouTube channel has released a 3-minute video of the World Economic Forum Global Future Councils 2017 meeting. My speech on the main stage at the event is covered a number of times in the middle of this video as I discuss #transhumanism and human enhancement. I was honored to have founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum Klaus Schwab and the Prime Minister of UAE, HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, listen to some of my talk. The Global Futures Council event was a big success and a lot of fun: #gfc17

http://fw.to/ilMs6BD
11 November, 2017 — Vice President, Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum has attended part of the 2nd Annual Meeting of the Global Future Councils (AMGFC) organised in partnership between the UAE Government and the World Economic Forum (WEF) – Davos. During a meeting with the Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum Professor Klaus Schwab, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed asserted that the United Arab Emirates is keen on adopting the future industry by utilising the Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies to benefit societies.

Continue reading “The Government of Dubai Media Office” »

Wow!!!

Humans have witnessed many cataclysmic volcanic eruptions, but around the world right now there are about 20 so-called “supervolcanoes” that could outdo them all. One is in Yellowstone National Park.

The SYFY25: Origin Stories Podcast, hosted by Adam Savage (editor-in-chief, tested.com and former co-host of Mythbusters), is a nostalgic celebration of all things science fiction. In this podcast series Adam sits down with creators, thought-leaders, and celebrity fans to discuss the moments, people, and milestones that have changed the genre universe forever. From revealing personal anecdotes to deep philosophical discussions.

Transhumanist philosopher Natasha Vita-More chats with Adam and explains what transhumanism means for us regular humans, how it will impact the evolution of humanity, and close we are to uploading our brains into databases, ensuring our immortality.

Listen on iTunes.

Continue reading “Listen: Adam Savage interviews Natasha Vita-More” »

Boeing and Northrop Grumman have each received deals to start developing a replacement for the Minuteman III.

The Trump administration placed orders with two major defense firms on Monday to start working on technology for new intercontinental ballistic missiles to replace the Cold War-era Minuteman III.

The deals come amid nuclear threats against the U.S. by North Korea and increased tension with Russia, which is upgrading its ICBMs.

Continue reading “US Air Force Hires Two Firms to Start Developing America’s Next ICBM” »

As digital innovations continue to transform the way we live, a lot of things we once took for granted are falling by the wayside. Paper money and coins could soon be among them.

The use of digital payments in all forms is fast becoming commonplace. A cashless society, once considered remote if not unimaginable, is now more imminent, with staggering amounts of transactions being digitally processed daily. In Nordic countries, especially Sweden and Denmark, the majority of all transactions are now made through electronic or digital means.

Governments around the world are working to prepare their citizens to fully benefit from a digital future. India, for example, has hundreds of millions of people in the database of its Aadhaar biometric identity and payment system. But the country’s Supreme Court recently ruled that the system could compromise citizens’ fundamental right to privacy, underscoring one of the key concerns about the new digital era.