Impact Lab – Page 583 – A Laboratory of the Future Human Experience

Biotech, Legalized marijuana, Science & Technology News

Pharma company hacks tequila bacteria to produce THC

April 10, 2019

Farmako, a pharmaceutical cannabis company based in Frankfurt, Germany recently registered a patent for a gene-editing process that turns tequila bacteria into cannabinoids, Futurism reports.

The genetically modified bacterium is called Zymomonas cannabinoidis, a gene-edited version of Zymomonas mobilis, which is used to produce tequila. By feeding on sugar, the bacterium produces biosynthetic cannabinoids such as tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), and “more than 180 known cannabinoids,” according to a press release. The process could make producing cannabinoids “a thousand times cheaper,” Futurism reports.

As VinePair reported in February, several organizations are working to engineer more cost-effective ways to produce THC, CBD, and other cannabinoids. For example, scientists revealed a process in which turning a sugar found in brewers yeast can be converted into cannabinoid compounds.

Via Vinepair.com

Amazon.com, Automation, Business, Science & Technology News, Shopping

7-Eleven unveiled a store of the future complete with scan-and-go tech, craft beer, and tacos as it prepares to fend off Amazon Go

April 10, 2019

The store’s also got made-to-order smoothies. Courtesy of 7-Eleven

7-Eleven launched a lab store in Dallas on March 22.

The store features plenty of new additions, like in-store baked cookies and a craft beer station.

“7-Eleven stays at the forefront by pushing the boundaries and being unafraid to try new things,” Chris Tanco, 7-Eleven’s executive vice president and chief operating officer, said in a statement.

Via BusinessInsider

Life Skills, Money Talk, Report, Science & Technology News

There’s a retirement crisis in America where most will be unable to afford a ‘solid life’

April 10, 2019

The three “legs” of the retirement “stool” (private savings, pensions, and Social Security) are all in dire shape.

At Vanguard, the median 401(k) account value for an investor age 65 and older is a measly $58,035.

After looking at the data, the Saint Louis Fed concluded: “It could be worrisome that, for many American households, the total balances of their retirement accounts may not be sufficient to ensure a solid life in retirement.”

Continue reading… “There’s a retirement crisis in America where most will be unable to afford a ‘solid life’”

Children, Internet, Latest Trend, Parenting, Science & Technology News

Verizon’s new ‘Just Kids’ plan aims to become your child’s first smartphone plan

April 9, 2019

A child’s first cell phone is increasingly becoming an earlier, and pricier, decision for parents.

While each family has its own decision to make on when the appropriate time is for their child to get their first device, Verizon is hoping a new plan will make the choice easier on the financial side of things with its new “Just Kids” plan.

The new plan, available starting Thursday, includes 5GB of 4G LTE data plus unlimited talk and text to 20 contacts pre-approved by the parents. Like other recent Verizon plans, there are no overage fees if the child goes beyond the allotted data, with the speeds simply slowed down instead.

Continue reading… “Verizon’s new ‘Just Kids’ plan aims to become your child’s first smartphone plan”

Automation, Driverless vehicles, Employment, Science & Technology News

Dockworkers battle driverless trucks plan

April 9, 2019

Los Angeles – A fierce struggle over automation has erupted at the Port of Los Angeles, as local union officials representing some 12,000 dockworkers demand that one of the world’s largest shipping firms abandon a plan to introduce driverless electric cargo trucks.

Shouting, whistling and jeering, more than 1,200 union members, local business owners and community activists packed a four-hour hearing Thursday before the Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners. The board voted to postpone a construction permit for the automated system after an offer by Mayor Eric Garcetti to mediate the dispute.

“The decision before the board may have far-reaching impacts on the pace of automation at our port and could define how the port will compete and sustain jobs into the foreseeable future,” Garcetti wrote in a letter unveiled at the hearing.

Continue reading… “Dockworkers battle driverless trucks plan”

Automation, Automobiles, Driverless cars, Driverless vehicles, Science & Technology News

Self-driving cars will change over 30 industries in the long run

April 9, 2019

Self-driving cars were just s sci-fi-like idea 10 years back, but today it is a reality. They have caused a commotion in the market, affecting a great number of industries with the revolutionary AV technology. It is said that with this technology driverless cars will save more than half million of lives between 2035 and 2045.

Still restricted in many parts of the world, driverless cars are being tested in California as the regulations allowing the testing of self-driving cars on the streets of California is contributing to the growth and development of companies and manufacturers such as Tesla and Alphabet.

In the meanwhile, Uber, a rideshare provider preparing to g public with the forthcoming IPO, is also working with AV.

Continue reading… “Self-driving cars will change over 30 industries in the long run”

Automation, Automobiles, Food, mobile apps, Science & Technology News

Domino’s adds in-car ordering to its tech lineup

April 8, 2019

Dive Brief:

Domino’s has partnered with Xevo, which provides in-vehicle commerce and services for automakers, to provide an AnyWare pizza ordering platform, according to a press release.

Customers can order via Easy Order and track it using the Domino’s Tracker. They also can find their local stores and call in an order from the in-car interface.

The ordering feature will be automatically loaded into millions of cars with the Xevo platform starting later this year.

Continue reading… “Domino’s adds in-car ordering to its tech lineup”

Children, Healthcare, People Making a Difference, Science & Technology News

This 61-year-old woman just gave birth to her own granddaughter

April 8, 2019

Matthew Eledge and Elliot Dougherty of Omaha, Nebraska, needed a surrogate to carry their baby. They never expected she would turn out to be Matthew’s mother.

When Matthew Eledge and his husband, Elliot Dougherty, told Matthew’s mother, Cecile, that they were planning to start their family, Cecile thought fondly of her own parental journey. She’d loved being pregnant decades earlier with her three now-grown children.

“If you want me to be the gestational carrier,” she told Matthew, “I’d do it in a heartbeat.”

Matthew, 32, and Elliot, 29, appreciated the gesture, but, they thought, let’s be real — it’s not like that would ever happen. A postmenopausal 61-year-old couldn’t possibly be equipped to carry and give birth to a baby. Right?

Continue reading… “This 61-year-old woman just gave birth to her own granddaughter”

Big Data, Big Problems, Corporate Manipulation, Science & Technology News

How Tech is creating data “cravability,” to make us digitally obese

April 8, 2019

Are you taking in too much information every day? If so, be on the lookout for this potentially dangerous new condition.

Obesity and dramatic overweight are a huge global problem, costing an estimated $450 billion per year in the U.S. alone, where more than two-thirds of people are overweight and an estimated 35.7% are considered obese. But that’s just physical obesity. The exact same processes that companies use to trick us into wanting to eat and eat are also being used to get us to spend more and more time online.

Continue reading… “How Tech is creating data “cravability,” to make us digitally obese”

Artificial Intelligence, Biotech, quantum computing, Report, Science & Technology News

Top 10 technology trends transforming Humanity beyond cyberspace, Geospace and Space

April 6, 2019

Human interest in exploring the unknowns has always been universal and enduring. While, over the years, the nature of exploration has changed fundamentally, humans have always been keen to explore the unknown and discover new worlds: be it beyond our geographical boundaries, new trade routes, lands, or opportunities in cyberspace, geospace, and space (CGS). In pursuit of unknowns, it is our imagination, ideas, innovations, and inventions that are helping us push the boundaries of our exploration limits beyond CGS. It is the never-ending human drive that pushes us further to discover new worlds. Imagination has always been an indicator of human intelligence, and each new idea and innovation is helping us push the boundaries of human exploration further. Technology, which gives us the foundation on which we can define and design the human ecosystem beyond cyberspace, geospace, and space, is pushing these boundaries. Where would it take us in the coming years?

Continue reading… “Top 10 technology trends transforming Humanity beyond cyberspace, Geospace and Space”

Automation, facebook, Google, Science & Technology News, Social Media

The automatic weapons of social media

April 6, 2019

It’s time for the platforms to admit their response is flawed, and work together to protect our civil discourse.

This is not an easy essay to write, because I have believed that technology companies are a force for good for more than 30 years. And for the past ten years, I’ve been an unabashed optimist when it comes to the impact of social platforms like YouTube, Twitter, and even Facebook. I want to believe they create more good than bad in our world. But recently I’ve lost that faith.

What’s changed my mind is the recalcitrant posture of these companies in the face of overwhelming evidence that their platforms are being intentionally manipulated to undermine our democracy. This is an existential crisis, both for civil society and for the health of the businesses being manipulated. But to date the response from the platforms is the equivalent of politicians’ “hopes and prayers” after a school shooting: Soothing murmurs, evasion of truly hard conversations, and a refusal to acknowledge the core problem: Their automated business models.

Continue reading… “The automatic weapons of social media”

AI, Artificial Intelligence, Report, Science & Technology News

What are the values that drive decision making by AI?

April 6, 2019

A screen shows a demonstration of SenseTime Group Ltd’s SenseVideo pedestrian and vehicle recognition system in Beijing, China, on Friday 15 June 2018.

Moral technology

Self-driving cars don’t drink and medical AIs are never overtired. Given our obvious flaws, what can humans still do best?

A five-year-old boy is helping his grandmother cook by cutting out biscuits from the dough she’s made, and he’s doing it rather badly. He instructs the family robot to take over and, even though the robot’s never done this before, it quickly learns what to do, and cuts out the biscuits perfectly. The grandmother is rather disappointed, remembering fondly the lopsided biscuits, complete with grubby fingerprints, that her son had charmingly baked for her at that age. Her grandson continues to use the robot for such tasks, and will grow up with pretty poor manual dexterity.

When the boy’s parents come home, he says: ‘Look, I’ve made these biscuits for you.’ One parent says: ‘Oh how lovely, may I have one?’ The other thinks silently: ‘No you didn’t make these yourself, you little cheat.’

Artificial intelligence (AI) might have the potential to change how we approach tasks, and what we value. If we are using AI to do our thinking for us, employing AI might atrophy our thinking skills.

Continue reading… “What are the values that drive decision making by AI?”