According to a new study published in the American Journal of Medicine, 42% of new cancer patients lose their entire life savings in two years because of treatment.
The same study found that 62% of cancer patients are in debt because of their treatment.
Continue reading… “Study: Almost half of new cancer patients lose their entire life savings”
“We now live in a global, exponential world,” Steven Kotler tells my coauthor Michael Ashley and I from his Santa Monica office. We’re interviewing the New York Times bestselling author and entrepreneur for our upcoming book: Uber Yourself Before You Get Kodaked: A Modern Primer on A.I. for the Modern Business. “You need to understand our brains evolved in a local, linear environment. We cannot process change at this speed or this scale; we’re bad at it. But in the 21st century, according to research done by Ray Kurzweil, we will experience over 20,000 years’ worth of change. To put it succinctly, over the next 80-something years we will go through the birth of agriculture to the industrial revolution — twice — in terms of our technological advancement.”
Much has been made of the fact that humans are poised to be replaced by artificial intelligence in the workplace, from home-care robots to robot waiters. However, what Kotler and his coauthor Peter Diamandis have asserted in such books as Bold: How to Go Big, Create Wealth and the Impact the World, is that unprecedented technological abundance is also coming. Importantly, these thinkers suggest the future of prosperity depends not just on exponential technological innovation, but also on exponential creativity.
Continue reading… “What if AI can make us more human in the age of robotic automation?”
Christopher Savoie, founder and chief executive of a start-up called Zapata, offered jobs this year to three scientists who specialize in an increasingly important technology called quantum computing. They accepted.
Several months later, the Cambridge, Mass., company was still waiting for the State Department to approve visas for the specialists. All three are foreigners, born in Europe and Asia.
Whether the delays were the result of tougher immigration policy or just red tape, Mr. Savoie’s predicament was typical of a growing concern among American businesses and universities: Unless policies and priorities change, they will have trouble attracting the talent needed to build quantum technology, which could make today’s computers look like toys.
Continue reading… “The next tech talent shortage: Quantum computing researchers”
They’re popping up everywhere, from Mexico to Laos—and luxury travelers can’t get enough. Here’s why.
At one point in the mid-2010s, “glamping” became a four-letter word.
A sudden boom in upscale tented accommodations—which ultimately felt neither glamorous nor like camping—saw the trend go from boom to bust as quickly as spaghetti donuts and ramen burgers.
But now, glamping is back, and the glamour factor is through the canvas roof.
Continue reading… “Tented camps are fast becoming the world’s best resorts”
In 2012, when 15-year old Jack Andraka’s uncle died of pancreatic cancer, he decided to look into it. He found that the current test for pancreatic cancer was over 60 years old, cost over $800, and wasn’t very reliable.
For this reason over 85% of pancreatic cancer cases were detected too late, when the chances of survival were only 2%.
As a bright and inspired young mind, Jack was able to devise a far better testing procedure, which he took to the researchers at Johns Hopkins University.
The result is a new dipstick-type diagnostic test that uses a paper sensor, similar to that of the diabetic test strip. This strip tests for cancer biomarkers in blood or urine, is over 90% accurate and only costs 3 cents per test.
Continue reading… “Every disaster has a beginning: In search of Anomaly Zero”
Blockchain engineers are making between $150,000 and $175,000 in annual salaries on average.
Blockchain engineers are the top paid roles in software development, on par with specialists focused on artificial intelligence.
Demand for blockchain engineers has increased by 400 percent since late 2017 on Hired, a firm that helps clients recruit tech candidates.
The value of cryptocurrencies might be down in the dumps, but demand for blockchain engineers has never been higher.
Continue reading… “Salaries for blockchain engineers are skyrocketing, now on par with AI experts”
High power wireless charging efficiency reaches 97%.
The Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) upgraded its previous 20 kW wireless charging system to 120 kW, and through a new design and a silicon carbide power electronic device, it was able to achieve 97% efficiency.
Continue reading… “120-kW wireless charging proves 97% efficient”
It’s dorm life for adults: A PodShare co-living building in Venice Beach, Calif., where dorm beds go for about $1,400 per month with shared kitchens and bathrooms.
The cost of housing is out of reach for many residents in cities such as Los Angeles and Seattle. One solution is called co-living, and it looks a lot like dorm life. Co-living projects are trying to fill a vacuum between low-income and luxury housing in expensive housing markets where people in the middle are left with few choices.
Nadya Hewitt lives in a building in Los Angeles run by a company called PodShare, where renters (or “members,” in company lingo) occupy “pods.” The grand tour of 33-year-old Hewitt’s home takes place sitting on her bed as she points out the various things she keeps within arm’s reach: a lamp, sunglasses, a water bottle, a jar of peanut butter.
Continue reading… “Can’t find an affordable home? Try living in a pod”
The synthetic material is faster to make than natural wood.
A new lightweight substance is as strong as wood yet lacks its standard vulnerabilities to fire and water.
To create the synthetic wood, scientists took a solution of polymer resin and added a pinch of chitosan, a sugar polymer derived from the shells of shrimp and crabs. They freeze-dried the solution, yielding a structure filled with tiny pores and channels supported by the chitosan. Then they heated the resin to temperatures as high as 200 degrees Celsius to cure it, forging strong chemical bonds.
Continue reading… “Scientists create artificial wood that is water – and fire resistant”
GE Aviation engineers have unveiled Affinity, a new family of supersonic jet engines for civilian aircraft.
GE Aviation has given impetus to the revival of civilian supersonic flight by revealing a new family of engines designed to fly faster than the speed of sound. Called the Affinity, the new engine will be incorporated into the Aerion AS2 supersonic business jet, which is being developed in partnership with Lockheed Martin, GE Aviation and Honeywell, and could cut the time of a transatlantic flight by three hours.
Continue reading… “GE unveils new supersonic commercial jet engine”
Today, 790 million people — 11 percent of the world’s population — live without access to clean water.
Two years ago, XPrize, an international nonprofit organization, announced a global competition enticing innovators to find a sustainable and affordable way to bring potable water to those who aren’t privileged enough to have it now.
Skeptics told the competition organizers that it was impossible.
Nearly 100 submissions later, and XPrize found precisely what they were looking for — entrepreneurs who could design a minimalistic device that could reliably extract 2,000 liters of water from the atmosphere per day for no more than two cents per liter all using 100 percent renewable energy.
Continue reading… “How a team of innovators overcame the odds to create water from thin air”
For about 200,000 years, modern humans have relied on our eyes and ears to separate truth from lies and fact from fiction. Even if we ignore the rise of fake news (and how difficult it is to do anything about it), technology (like deep learning) is on the verge of making it impossible to know if what you are seeing and hearing is real or fake.
Continue reading… “Deepfakes: The dawn of the Post-truth era”
By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.
Learn More about this exciting program.