The paint contains a recently-developed compound that looks and feels like silica gel — commonly used in sachets to absorb moisture and keep food, electronics, and medicine dry — but acts like a semiconductor. Additionally, the synthetic molybdenum-sulphide material catalysis the splitting of water atoms into hydrogen and oxygen.
Continue reading… “‘Solar paint’ a breakthrough promising endless energy from water vapor”
Don’t expect to see a human behind the wheel of an 18-wheeler after 2027. Or a set of human hands performing a delicate surgery after 2053.
According to a new study from Oxford and Yale University researchers, those are the years artificial intelligence is slated to take over each of those tasks. And so it will go for millions of other jobs over the next 50 years, researchers find.
Continue reading… “Man vs. machine – predicting the year when machines win”
A few days ago, a startup called Bancor raised around $153 million in two hours and twenty-five minutes.
The ICO, short for initial coin offering, followed several similar, equally successful funding events, and the numbers are rising. Prediction market Augur raised around $5.2 million over two months in 2015; this year, its competitor Gnosis raised $12 million in just 15 minutes. And we could only be getting started.
Continue reading… “After the IPO comes the ICO, a revolutionary new way to get funded”
If age really is just a number, what number marks old age? Well, the answer to that depends on how old you are now.
Millennials hold the least generous views on aging, saying that you are old beginning at just 59, according to a new study by U.S. Trust. Older groups, however, put the starting point further out.
Continue reading… “At what age do you become ‘old?’ Here’s what four different generations think”
It’s no secret that chatbots are growing in popularity. From Facebook’s ecommerce bots for consumers to a plethora of customer service tools that now rely on chatbots to interface with customers, it’s clear that consumer chatbots have hit mainstream. Even Apple is expanding its commitment to chat technology with the release of Business Chat at a recent WWDC, allowing consumers to interact with businesses through iMessage.
Continue reading… “Chatbots are losing steam, think instead about workbots”
We’re beginning to get a glimpse of some of the built-in limits to artificial intelligence.
Humans are natural negotiators. We arrange dozens of tiny little details throughout our day to produce a desired outcome: What time a meeting should start, when you can take time off work, or how many cookies you can take from the cookie jar.
Machines typically don’t share that affinity, but new research from Facebook’s AI research lab might offer a starting point to change that. The new system learned to negotiate from looking at each side of 5,808 human conversations, setting the groundwork for bots that could schedule meetings or get you the best deal online.
Continue reading… “Facebook’s A.I. system that learned to lie to get what it wants”
After decades of lawsuits, public campaigns and painful struggles, Americans have finally done what once seemed impossible: Most of the country has quit smoking, saving millions of lives and leading to massive reductions in cancer.
That is, unless those Americans are poor, uneducated or live in a rural area.
Continue reading… “Tobacco’s new crisis – rich people stopped smoking, the poor didn’t”
Right now, it prints proteins. In the far future, it could print human babies on Mars. Craig Venter and Elon Musk have even discussed how printed life could help terraform Mars.
Continue reading… “Craig Venter’s ‘digital-to-biological converter’ is based on real science”
Elon Musk wants to launch a million people to Mars in the event some apocalyptic disaster eventually ruins Earth. And he wants it to be somewhat affordable — $200,000 or less per person.
To that end, the SpaceX CEO outlined his plan to colonize Mars on September 27, including how his Interplanetary Transport System of rockets, spaceships, fuel pods, and other crucial components would get the job done. Still, the full presentation at the International Astronomical Congress in Guadalajara, Mexico, barely scratched the surface.
Continue reading… “Elon Musk’s 4-step plan for colonizing Mars”
Drones built by Canadian company SkyX may never have to return home now that the company has developed xStation, a remote recharging platform that allows drones to hop from station to station while working out in the field. These stations could give the drones a near-indefinite range, as New Atlas points out.
Continue reading… “Recharge station gives SkyX drones potentially unlimited range”
Dentists and patients alike want to know how to make dental work less traumatic — and one possible solution may be to combine it with virtual reality. That’s why researchers in the UK enlisted 80 people who needed a cavity filled or a tooth pulled, and separated them into three groups. They gave the first two groups VR headsets, but not the unlucky third control group.
The VR groups either got to explore a beach or navigate a city. The people in the control group just stared at the ceiling while the dentist yanked on their teeth. (Everyone in the study got pain meds or sedation if they needed it.) Patients were surveyed both immediately after their appointments, and a week later.
Continue reading… “Adding VR to you next trip to the dentist, will it get rid of the pain?”
First Amazon announced plans to fully automate its new brick and mortar store with robots. Then we learned that Foxconn plans to automate 30 percent of its factory workforce by 2018. And recently, Wendy’s announced plans to add automated kiosks at more than 1,000 stores. One thing is clear — robots are changing the way we live and work.
Continue reading… “A.I. killed 800,000 jobs in the U.K., but created 3.5 million new ones”
By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.
Learn More about this exciting program.