Lifeboat Foundation

It might not be long before machines begin thinking for themselves — creatively, independently, and sometimes with better judgment than a human.

A dozen years ago, an auto accident left Nathan Copeland paralyzed, without any feeling in his fingers. Now that feeling is back, thanks to a robotic hand wired up to a brain implant.

“I can feel just about every finger – it’s a really weird sensation,” the 28-year-old Pennsylvanian told doctors a month after his surgery.

Continue reading “Brain implant provides sense of touch with robotic hand – and that’s just the start” »

Cross-party report suggests the education system must be adapted to “focus on things that machines will be less good at for longer”

Researchers have discovered a link between a protein and aging

A protein found within the powerhouse of a cell could be the key to holding back the march of time, research by scientists at The University of Nottingham has shown and the discovery could offer a new target for drugs that may help to slow the debilitating effects of ageing on our bodies.

Their research, published in the academic journal Aging, could have special significance for combatting age related decline and halting the progression of neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Disease.

Continue reading “Scientists may have identified the genes responsible for ageing” »

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama sought Tuesday to reinvigorate his call for the U.S. to send humans to Mars by the 2030s, showcasing budding partnerships between the U.S. government and commercial companies to develop spacecraft capable of carrying out the extraterrestrial mission.

Obama was calling attention to government contracts awarded to six companies to build prototypes for “habitats” that could sustain human life in deep space. He also said that within two years, private companies will send astronauts to the International Space Station, part of a program to allow companies to use an open docking port on the station to develop their own innovations.

“These missions will teach us how humans can live far from Earth, something we’ll need for the long journey to Mars,” Obama wrote in an op-ed on CNN’s website. He said the ultimate goal is for humans eventually to stay on the red planet “for an extended time.”

Continue reading “Obama pushes US goal to send humans to Mars” »

BERLIN — Scientists in Germany have flipped the switch on a 60 million euro ($66 million) machine designed to help determine the mass of the universe’s lightest particle.

The Karlsruhe Tritium Neutrino experiment, or KATRIN, began tests Friday and is expected to begin making actual measurements next year.

Physicists at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology hope the 200-metric-ton (220-ton) device will narrow down or even pinpoint the actual mass of neutrinos.

Continue reading “Experiment to weigh ‘ghost particles’ starts in Germany” »

Wonder if my friends Alex and Ray have read this.

An expert at the University of California discusses how spliced RNA could decipher ‘normal’ aged cells from pre-cancerous and cancerous ones, which could lead to detecting aging cells.

Continue reading “Expert says the key to living longer is our RNA” »

Interesting perspective.

By David J Hill: If you have a job, odds are society benefits from your work, and theoretically, the compensation you receive is how the marketplace values your contribution…