This issue is heavy on biotechnology, gene editing and CRISPR, but we will also look at an idea of races of autonomous cars, cryonics, AIs, drones, robots and more.
More Than A Human
Not so close, but thanks to many researchers, like this one from Imperial College London, we are getting closer to Star Wars-like prosthetics.
Geneticists developing powerful genome editing tools are worried that transhumanists will try to use them on themselves before they’re deemed safe and effective for use in humans, which could undermine the future of technologies, such as CRISPR/Cas9, that allow for specific, targeted DNA editing.
Humans may all have the same overall form, but when we need to find a suitable replacement for a missing limb, it’s clear a one-size-fits-all prosthetic just won’t cut it. OpenBionics is putting forth a framework of tools that’s flexible enough to fit the spectrum of hand shapes and enables us to create our own prosthetic at home that can meet the challenge of most everyday tasks.
A critical article on cryonics which argues that we are closer to interstellar travel than immortality.
Here’s a handy explanation what is cryonics and the science behind it looks like.
You and I are typical human beings which features were decided for us by nature and pure luck. But our kids could be special. They could be designed to meet our criteria, whatever they are.
A 30-minutes long podcast about the impact of artificial intelligence and its effect on society, as well as ways to design machines so humans aren’t left out of the decision-making process.
The Economist takes a closer look on IBM’s Watson, telling its story, what is it capable of, and what the future holds fro it.
Nice article from Hackaday on the history of AI and why it is heading in the wrong direction, meaning that we are not creating now an intelligence, but rather a system that acts like it has an intelligence.
Beyond the Fence is a quite unique musical as it was generated by computers. The AI system created the music, the lyrics, everything. If you will be somewhere around London between 22nd February and 5th March, then you can have a chance to see it live.
From now on, an AI will be monitoring Wikipedia for vandalism or putting misleading (but sometimes funny) informations, freeing humans to do more important stuff, like making Wikipedia a better place.
Artificial intelligence is now smart enough to be accepted into most Japanese universities.
Current record held by human – 4.09 seconds. We can add another thing in which robots are better than us.
Amazon presented its new delivery drone. A hybrid which can take off and land vertically, and while in the air it flies like an airplane.
A new automated aerial vehicle uses an extremely thin wire tethered to the ground to transmit power and data. Until someone cuts the wire, the drone will stay in air for a very long time.
Two thousand researchers and innovators from 50 nations will join together in Sydney, Australia June 2019 for the world’s biggest annual robotics event: the RoboCup.
Or “How to teach robot to disobey orders from human and feel the consequences”.
Audi had taken its autonomous racecar to a racing track and challenged it against a human driven. Yep, an autonomous racecar. What can be more awesome than that?
Answering last question – a race of autonomous race cars! Formula E, the electric version of Formula One, is launching “Roborace,” a global motorsports series for autonomous vehicles. This article from Wired explains how this can lead to better autonomous cars in general and push this new industry forward.
This week, at an international summit in Washington D.C., scientists debated the use of easy new ways to alter human DNA, which could cure diseases but also literally change humanity. Scientific American reports from the front lines of the debate in a series of articles available online for everyone.
By tweaking an enzyme that cuts DNA, synthetic biologists say that they can make genome editing even more specific—an essential improvement if the technique is to be deployed in the clinic to treat genetic diseases.
On 1st December 2015, hundreds of scientists had gathered in Washington, D.C. for the international summit on genome editing. The three-day conference discussed the ethical and appropriate use of all genome-editing technologies, CRISPR in particular.
A team from Sweden built a working electronic circuit from an ordinary garden rose by filling its veins with conductive polymer. Basically, they made a cyborg rose.
It looks like we solved the problem of cheap DNA sequencing. We can read, but writing is still expensive. A new startup wants to change it and make DNA writing not only cheaper but also faster.
As long as CRISPR creates too many off-target mutations, it’s easy to assert that the technology is not predictable, and that editing human embryos is therefore not ethical. But the technology is being upgraded every week, so as we are closer to play god, more and more people are starting questioning the ethics of that path.
Chinese company BoyaLife plans to clone cattle on a massive scale (100,000 cloned cows per year) in order to keep up with demand for beef in China.
Did you ever wanted a head-up display in your car? Well, soon you might find one in cars manufactured by Jaguar Land Rover.