H+ Weekly - Issue #100
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In this issue, we have a video about cyborgs from Isaac Arthur, discussions about gene editing and designer babies, cryonics and brain-computer interfaces. Plus, AI and the theory of everything, Chinese battle mech to challenge US' Megabot, CRISPR to cure HIV and more!
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MORE THAN A HUMAN
Cyborgs by Isaac Arthur
What are cyborgs and how they differ from bionics, androids, and similar concepts, explained by Isaac Arthur. If you are not subscribed to his channel, please fix it. Isaac does a great job taking sci-fi concepts and explaining how possible they are using science.
Would You Edit Your Child’s Genome?
Mike from PBS Idea Channel looks closely on genetic engineering, CRISPR and playing with the human genome. What lines we can cross and what will it mean for humanity? Mike excellently packs all the ethical concerns around human gene-editing and CRISPR in 15 minutes long video.
The Gene Machine
Or "How Genetic Technologies Are Changing the Way We Have Kids - and the Kids We Have"
DARPA Plans To Begin Hacking Human Brains
Everyone is hacking the brain these days...
Neutralink wants to wire your brain to the internet – what could possibly go wrong?
The quest for hacking the brain had begun and some people are already questioning the idea. Which is good. Before we allow to put something inside out brains it's worth looking at pros and cons of the technology and think about everything that can go wrong before we start to use it.
The Creepy, Insane, and Undeniably Romantic World of Cryonics
One journalist decided to explore the concept of cryonics and body preservation after death. As she wrote: "I went into it a skeptic—and I still don’t think it’ll work. And yet I’m sold."
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
Google AIY: Artificial Intelligence Yourself
If you are a maker this might be interesting. Google has made a free hardware kit that adds speech recognition to Raspberry Pi. This move, along with Alexa being available on Raspberry Pi, might result in a wave of everyday devices controlled by voice. "Toaster, make me a sandwich!"
DeepMind Demis Hassabis, "AI is Theory of Everything, combining Physics & Neuroscience"
Interesting point made by Demis Hassabis, the founder of DeepMind.
AI With Human-Level Intelligence Will Be Walking the Streets by 2040
According to expert Ben Ross, human-level AI is something that we will see in our lifetime, and we'd better be prepared for it — because whether it will be a force of good or destruction is actually in our hands.
AI’s PR Problem
"Had artificial intelligence been named something less spooky, it might seem as prosaic as operations research or predictive analytics", says Jerry Kaplan. That's why the researchers coined the term "machine learning" to distance themselves from the term "artificial intelligence".
ROBOTICS
Chinese inventors show off the gladiator robot they want to use to challenge the US' 'Megabot.'
The future is now!
Astrobee: The Adorable Little Robot That’ll Soon Jet Around the ISS
Soon, there will be a new crew member on ISS. It won't be a human. It will be a robot named Astrobee, floating around the space station and keeping eye on stuff.
BIOTECHNOLOGY
Scientists have eliminated HIV in mice using CRISPR
Scientists have shown that HIV can be completely annihilated from the body using CRISPR. And with impressive effect. After just one treatment, scientists were able to show the technique had successfully removed all traces of the infection within mouse organs and tissue. The technique is still in early stages and needs to be improved, but we might be closer to a cure for cancer.
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Conrad Gray (@conradthegray)
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