2020 – Page 38 – Impact Lab

AI, brain-computer interfaces, Elon Musk, Futurist, Machine Learning, Science & Technology News

Elon Musk claims AI will overtake humans in ‘less than five years’

August 5, 2020

Chatbots powered by artificial intelligence are already capable of passing some Turing tests. ( AFP via Getty Images )

Existential threat posed by artificial intelligence is much closer than previously predicted, billionaire warns.

Elon Musk has warned that humans risk being overtaken by artificial intelligence within the next five years.

The prediction marks a significant revision of previous estimations of the so-called technological singularity, when machine intelligence surpasses human intelligence and accelerates at an incomprehensible rate.

Noted futurist Ray Kurzweil previously pegged this superintelligence tipping point at around 2045, citing exponential advances in technologies like robotics, computers and AI.

Continue reading… “Elon Musk claims AI will overtake humans in ‘less than five years’”

Batteries, Energy, Record Breaker, Science & Technology News

Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 5 refuels phones 50% in 5 minutes, 100% in 15

August 5, 2020

Wireless recharging has become increasingly popular over the past few years due to its convenience — just drop your phone on a pad and pick it up later — but wired charging is faster, and some ultra-high-speed options have emerged this month to power next-generation phones. Today, Qualcomm is adding its latest innovations to the mix under the name Quick Charge 5, a wired platform that promises to fully recharge upcoming phones in 15 minutes or go from zero to 50% in only five minutes.

Continue reading… “Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 5 refuels phones 50% in 5 minutes, 100% in 15”

communication, Internet, mobile technology, new technology, Science & Technology News

Cambridge researchers create a touchscreen you don’t have to touch

August 5, 2020

We’d assume at this point that every smartphone user knows that their touchscreen is one of the nastiest devices they own. The surface of a touchscreen can be packed with viruses and bacteria that have the potential to make people sick. This is a particularly significant issue in the current world climate with the coronavirus pandemic leading to illnesses that could potentially kill people.

Researchers from the University of Cambridge have been working on a new type of touchscreen that doesn’t have to be touched. It’s called the “no-touch touchscreen” and was developed specifically for use in cars. Researchers believe that it could have widespread applications in the post-COVID-19 world thanks to its ability to reduce the risk pathogen transmission from the surface of devices. The patent behind the technology is known as “predictive touch” and was developed as part of research collaboration with Jaguar Land Rover.

Continue reading… “Cambridge researchers create a touchscreen you don’t have to touch”

Coronavirus, Entertainment, Science & Technology News

Drive-through strip clubs are a thing now

August 4, 2020

Dancer Olivia entertains patrons during the Drive-thru at The Lucky Devil in Portland, Oregon.

Some strip clubs have found a creative way to keep workers employed through the pandemic.

It was bound to happen. Despite the pandemic, strip clubs have found a way to bring customers back in, while keeping bartenders, servers, and entertainers employed.

Enter the drive-through strip club, where you can order a burger and beer from your car, while performers dance with masks on behind a barricade. There are now at least a couple of these joints in the U.S., including Lucky Devil Lounge in Portland, Oregon, and Vivid Gentleman’s Club, in Houston.

Strip club employees are particularly vulnerable in the midst of the pandemic-induced recession. As The Cut reported, dancers at these venues are effectively gig workers. They don’t earn an hourly wage, nor do they have benefits or paid time off. They rely entirely on tips. And these earnings dried up when strip clubs had to close during state-mandated lockdowns.

Continue reading… “Drive-through strip clubs are a thing now”

Automobiles, Elon Musk, Insurance, Science & Technology News, Tesla

Elon Musk says Tesla is launching an insurance company

August 4, 2020

Tesla is about to get into the auto insurance game, CEO Elon Musk announced Wednesday.

On a call with investors, Musk said that Tesla is in the process of “building” what he called a “major insurance company,” Business Insider reports. By the end of the year, he hopes to have launched in a handful of U.S. states, generating premiums and rates for drivers based on data collected by their cars’ internal sensors.

Continue reading… “Elon Musk says Tesla is launching an insurance company”

Automobiles, Driverless vehicles, Elon Musk, Science & Technology News, Tesla

World’s first fully self-driving car will be ready this year, Elon Musk claims

August 4, 2020

Tesla’s Autopilot software, which relies on various cameras and sensors to operate, can be updated remotely.

‘I’m very confident about full self-driving functionality being complete by the end of this year,’ he says. ‘It’s because I’m literally driving it’

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has said the electric car maker will have fully self-driving vehicles on the road by the end of the year.

During an earnings call with investors on Wednesday, the serial entrepreneur revealed that he is already testing an updated version of the firm’s Autopilot software on his commute to work in Los Angeles.

“It’s almost getting to a point where I can go from my house to work with no interventions, despite going through construction and widely varying situations,” he said.

Continue reading… “World’s first fully self-driving car will be ready this year, Elon Musk claims”

AI, Banking, Bitcoin, Money Talk, Science & Technology News

Bank of Korea launches a department devoted to blockchain and AI

August 4, 2020

Bank of Korea is launching a digital innovation department that will leverage blockchain and AI to improve business efficiency.

The Bank of Korea has reportedly chosen to establish a “Digital Innovation department” through organizational reform in the second half of this year, according to the local news on July 22.

Continue reading… “Bank of Korea launches a department devoted to blockchain and AI”

Engineering, Environment, People Making a Difference, Science & Technology News, Sealife

Fabien Cousteau is raising $135 million to build the International Space Station of the deep sea

August 4, 2020

Concept design for the Proteus undersea habitat.

Fabien Cousteau, grandson of famous undersea explorer Jacques-Yves Cousteau, is building on his family legacy by constructing a state-of-the art research facility—60 feet below the surface of the ocean.

Fabien Cousteau was born to be an aquanaut. The grandson of the famed explorer Jacques-Yves Cousteau learned how to scuba dive at the age of four and grew up joining his grandfather on research expeditions. “Scuba diving is an amazing blessing, but there’s a very real limit of time,” he says.

One way to circumvent that time limit is to live in an underwater habitat, which provides researchers the opportunity to do more extended work in the ocean. His grandfather pioneered such habitats in the 1960s, and today Fabien plans to continue that legacy with the construction of Proteus, an underwater habitat and research station that would be one of the largest ever built. The habitat will take three years to complete, located 60 feet underwater in a marine protected area off the cost of Curaçao, an island in the Caribbean Sea. And it will have room for up to 12 people to live underwater for weeks—possibly even months—at a time.

Continue reading… “Fabien Cousteau is raising $135 million to build the International Space Station of the deep sea”

Analysis, Coronavirus, Education, Science & Technology News, Trending

New global data reveal education technology’s impact on learning

August 3, 2020

The use of technology in education has become a lifeline during the COVID-19 pandemic. As students return to the classroom, school systems must carefully consider the longer-term role of technology.

The promise of technology in the classroom is great: enabling personalized, mastery-based learning; saving teacher time; and equipping students with the digital skills they will need for 21st-century careers. Indeed, controlled pilot studies have shown meaningful improvements in student outcomes through personalized blended learning.1 During this time of school shutdowns and remote learning, education technology has become a lifeline for the continuation of learning.

As school systems begin to prepare for a return to the classroom, many are asking whether education technology should play a greater role in student learning beyond the immediate crisis and what that might look like. To help inform the answer to that question, this article analyzes one important data set: the 2018 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), published in December 2019 by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Continue reading… “New global data reveal education technology’s impact on learning”

Analysis, Big Problems, Environment, New Viewpoints, Science & Technology News

This is now the world’s greatest threat – and it’s not coronavirus

August 3, 2020

An environmental worker stands near an excavator amid waste at Tianziling landfill in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, China August 7, 2019.

Affluence is the biggest threat to our world, according to a new scientific report.

True sustainability will only be achieved through drastic lifestyle changes, it argues.

The World Economic Forum has called for a great reset of capitalism in the wake of the pandemic.

A detailed analysis of environmental research has revealed the greatest threat to the world: affluence.

That’s one of the main conclusions of a team of scientists from Australia, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, who have warned that tackling overconsumption has to become a priority. Their report, titled Scientists’ Warning on Affluence, explains that true sustainability calls for significant lifestyle changes, rather than hoping that more efficient use of resources will be enough.

Continue reading… “This is now the world’s greatest threat – and it’s not coronavirus”

Fashion, Human Behavior, Science & Technology News, Shopping

Meet the teenage ‘beauty boys’ coming for the cosmetics industry

August 2, 2020

Gen-Z boys online are chipping away at the taboo against men wearing makeup – with or without the makeup industry’s help

In March of 2019, 17-year-old Elliot Ceretti walked into his local convenience store with a couple of friends. He had been re-watching the 10th season of RuPaul’s Drag Race, and one of the show’s drag queens, Aquaria, had inspired an unfamiliar but exciting longing in Ceretti.

He loaded his basket with the cheapest makeup products he could find, and a glue stick to glue down his brows. When he got home that night, he waited until his mother and sister were asleep and locked himself in the bathroom, applying makeup like he had seen on the show. That night, he brought Ella Souflee, his drag persona, to life for the first time.

Continue reading… “Meet the teenage ‘beauty boys’ coming for the cosmetics industry”

Banking, Bitcoin, Money Talk, Science & Technology News

Banks in the US can now offer crypto custody services, regulator says

August 2, 2020

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) is letting all nationally chartered banks in the U.S. provide custody services for cryptocurrencies.

In a public letter dated July 22, Senior Deputy Comptroller and Senior Counsel Jonathan Gould wrote that any national bank can hold onto the unique cryptographic keys for a cryptocurrency wallet, clearing the way for national banks to hold digital assets for their clients.

The letter marks a major development for the crypto industry. Previously, custody was the province of specialist firms, such as Coinbase, which typically needed a state license, such as a trust charter, to offer the service to large investors. Now, large, regulated financial companies that already provide similar safekeeping services for stock certificates and the like could enter the fray.

The letter, which appears to be addressed to an unidentified bank or similar entity, notes that banks “may offer more secure storage services compared to existing options,” and that both consumers and investment advisors may wish to use regulated custodians to ensure they don’t lose their private keys, and therefore, access to their funds.

Continue reading… “Banks in the US can now offer crypto custody services, regulator says”