2018 – Page 16 – Impact Lab

Analysis, Business, government, Legal Issues

55% of America’s billion dollar startups have an immigrant founder

November 2, 2018

Uber logo seen on a car door in Kiev, Ukraine. Garrett Camp, an immigrant from Canada, is one of Uber’s founders. (Photo by Pavlo Conchar/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

What would America lose if we blocked refugees and family-sponsored and employment-based immigrants from coming to the United States? For starters, we would likely lose more than half of the billion-dollar startup companies in America.

A new study from the National Foundation for American Policy finds that 55%, or 50 of 91, of the country’s $1 billion startup companies had at least one immigrant founder. I conducted the research by interviewing and gathering information on the 91 U.S. startup companies valued at over $1 billion (as of October 1, 2018) that are not publicly traded on the stock market and are tracked by Dow Jones VentureSource and The Wall Street Journal.

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Botnet, Business, communication, Internet, Legal Issues

A California law now means chatbots have to disclose they’re not human

November 2, 2018

There’s nothing loljk about Microsoft’s teenage chatbot, Zo.

California governor Jerry Brown signed regulations into law last Friday (Sept. 30) that should make it easier for Californians to know whether they’re speaking to a human or a bot.

The new law goes into effect on July 1, 2019—Botageddon, as we’re going to call it—and could have far-reaching consequences for how automated systems communicate with people online. It will require companies to disclose whether they are using a bot to communicate with the public on the internet (something like “Hi, I’m a bot.”) A representative for California state senator Robert Hertzberg, who authored SB-1001, says the law specifically targets deceptive commercial and political bots, not those meant to help you, for example, pay a bill on a company’s website. Still, companies that have built their businesses around automated messaging and chatbots will in coming months need to figure out whether their approaches are compliant with the new law.

The bill also specifically defines online content as publicly-facing, which raises questions about whether bot-sent emails fall under the new law. Overall, Landers expects there will be a “lot of litigation” before the law is actually implemented.

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Engineering, New Inventions, Robotics, Robots

Robot masters human balancing act

November 2, 2018

Mercury, a biped robot developed in Cockrell School of Engineering professor Luis Sentis’ Human Centered Robotics Lab, is able to maintain balance when hit unexpectedly or when force is applied without warning.

AUSTIN, Texas — When walking in a crowded place, humans typically aren’t thinking about how we avoid bumping into one another. We are built to use a gamut of complex skill sets required to execute these types of seemingly simple motions.

Now, thanks to researchers in the Cockrell School of Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin, robots may soon be able to experience similar functionality. Luis Sentis, associate professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics, and his team in the Human Centered Robotics Laboratory have successfully demonstrated a novel approach to human-like balance in a biped robot.

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Automation, Automobiles, cutting edge, Driverless vehicles

Honda is giving cars the ability to see around corners to avoid accidents

October 31, 2018

Traffic accidents are an unfortunate reality, and what may be most frustrating about these sometimes fatal incidents is that they can often be avoided. Honda has a plan to help cut down on accidents in one specific and common road feature: intersections.

The Japanese auto manufacturer is introducing, in a limited capacity, its “Smart Intersection” technology, that could help cut down on accidents that take place where roads cross paths. The company is launching a test run of the technology in partnership with the city of Marysville, Ohio, as part of its 33 Smart Mobility Corridor project.

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Agriculture, Automation, Farming, Farms, Food, Robotics

Inside Silicon Valley’s newest, most autonomous farm yet

October 31, 2018

Iron Ox’s robots are currently planting, growing, and harvesting lettuce in a California warehouse.

Inside Silicon Valley’s newest, most autonomous farm yet

Inside a former commercial warehouse in San Carlos, California, a robotic arm is carefully transplanting tiny sorrel plants from one large tray to another. In another corner of the room, a larger robot sits ready to carry other trays–filled with romaine lettuce, bok choy, cilantro, and more than two dozen other types of greens–over to the robotic arm. At the moment, there are no people in the room: This is the headquarters of Iron Ox, which bills itself as the world’s first fully autonomous farm.

“We designed the entire process, from the beginning, around robotics,” says Iron Ox co-founder and CEO Brandon Alexander, who previously worked at X, Alphabet’s so-called moonshot factory, and the robotics lab Willow Garage. “It required us pretty much going back to the drawing board to see what we could do if robots were in the loop.”

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Breakthrough Thinking, Ecological Products, Environment, New Inventions

’Venus Flytrap’ spheres catch and destroy BPA

October 31, 2018

Scientists have created micron-sized spheres built to catch and destroy bisphenol A (BPA), a synthetic chemical used to make plastics.

BPA is commonly used to coat the insides of food cans, bottle tops, and water supply lines, and was once a component of baby bottles. While BPA that seeps into food and drink is considered safe in low doses, scientists suspect prolonged exposure affects the health of children and contributes to high blood pressure.

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Big Problems, Cancer, Healthcare, Hot Issues

Study: Almost half of new cancer patients lose their entire life savings

October 31, 2018

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.

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AI, Analysis, Artificial Intelligence, Futurist

What if AI can make us more human in the age of robotic automation?

November 1, 2018

“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.

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Engineering, Inventions, Science & Technology News, Software Development

The next tech talent shortage: Quantum computing researchers

October 31, 2018

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.

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Latest Trend, New Viewpoints, Science & Technology News, Tourism, Travel

Tented camps are fast becoming the world’s best resorts

October 30, 2018

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.

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Analysis, Futurist, Tom Frey

Every disaster has a beginning: In search of Anomaly Zero

October 30, 2018

Anomaly-Zero-2

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.

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Bitcoin, Blockchain, Employment

Salaries for blockchain engineers are skyrocketing, now on par with AI experts

November 1, 2018

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.

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