H+ Weekly - Issue #13
ISSUE #13
It's issue #13. On Friday. But I don't believe in superstitions.
That's why it's the biggest issue so far! Real-life cyborgs, killer and friendly robots, AIs that paint like a master or make poetry, on augmenting the world, biohackers and an awesome 3D printer I want
Enjoy!
More than Human
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An excellent video by Kevin Lieber from Vsauce2 on cyborgs. Where they came from? Where are they now? What is awaiting in the future for them and for us? All these questions are answered in this video.
Michio Kaku - Can We Have Brain-to-Brain Communication?
Michio Kaku says this brain-to-brain communication would involve not just the exchange of information, but also the transmission of emotions and feelings, "because these are also part of the fabric of our thoughts.". Note that this video is from 2012. The technology had moved on, but general message of Michio Kaku is still valid.
Pentagon Gambles on Brain Implants, Bionic Limbs and Combat Exoskeletons
It's not surprising that the army is really interested in cutting edge technologies, which might give advantage on the battlefield. The ambitious (or crazy) guys from DARPA make a big push into biological research, but some scientists question whether its high-risk approach can work.
Meet the cyborgs who are redefining what it means to be human
The cyborgs are already among us. This article describes story of three real-life cyborgs - Neil Harbisson, Moon Ribas and Stelarc.
New earbuds give you super-hearing
A showcase of startups that try to redefine now we are hearing. Filter out the noise you don't want to hear or pump up the noise you want to hear. Soon you might expect to see earbuds that would let you hear sounds human's can't hear.
In the basement with transhumanism’s DIY cyberpunks
A long-read article about transhumanism's DIY hackers/cyberpunks, who are testing on themselves ideas proposed in science fiction books or by futurology gurus. Maybe it’s in places like these basements or garages that transhumanism’s real possibilities are being put to the test.
7 real-life cyborg implants
If you want to become a true cyborg with superhuman powers, here's a list of currently available technologies to make your dreams come true. Happy augmenting!
Model With Bionic Arm To Walk In NYFW
Rebekah Marine, a model born without a right forearm, is set to walk in New York Fashion Week.
Artificial Intelligence
Why Human Intelligence and Artificial Intelligence Will Evolve Together, by Stephen Hsu
Or "Don’t Worry, Smart Machines Will Take Us With Them. Why human intelligence and AI will co-evolve."
The State of Artificial Intelligence in Six Visuals
If you ever wonder how AI market really looks like, then check this article. It explores 855 AI companies grouped in 13 categories and shows the real landscape of AI from an investor point of view - where these companies are from, how much funds each group had raised or how mature the technology is.
AI Creates Interactive Fiction by Reading Other People's Stories
Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed an artificial intelligence that can create interactive stories by reading and learning from stories written by other people. The AI was able to create interactive fiction that a group of readers found just as coherent and involving as one created by a human.
Artificial Intelligence Can Now Paint Like Art's Greatest Masters
Just give a photo to the system and it will be transformed into a painting that looks as though it was painted by Picasso, van Gogh, or Munch.
How Artificial Intelligence Can Fight Air Pollution in China
IBM researchers are developing a system that can predict how bad pollution will be across the city of Beijing 72 hours in advance.
The City of London - eaten by code, replaced by robots?
In the future, we won’t just be paying with bitcoin, companies will be run by software, argues Lloyd Davis
UK Government officials are investigating the impact of AI
Another episode in "The robots are taking our jobs!" series. Economist Daniel Susskind and legal expert Richard Susskind are calling for the creation of a national task force to investigate the moral constraints needed, as the roles of doctors and lawyers fall increasingly to intelligent machines.
Generating Poetry with PoetRNN
I saw recurrent neural networks (RNN) generating speeches in Obama's style, trying to rap or writing novels. Now I can add to the list RNN's writing poetry.
AI is So Hot, We’ve Forgotten All About the AI Winter
A bit of history and a reminder to not overhype. AI Winter is a period of time in the late 1970s and early 1980s when funding dwindled and AI research went underground. All because the AI didn't deliver the promises it made. Maybe this time will be different.
Will Your Job Be Done By A Machine?
Just tell what is your job and you get an answer how likely your job is to be replaced by a machine. You might also use this tool to plan your future career.
Robotics
Robot Hunt And Kill Destructive Starfish
A robot that can on its own identify one particular starfish and then kill it. It's like Terminator, but for starfishes.
Kids & the future of robotics: wires, duct tape & dreams
I like this quote: "we’ve got Big Hero dreams and we live in a Roomba world". But we are still dreaming of the robots from our dreams. And this article is about pursuing these dreams... with exposed wires and duct tape.
Invisible Sensor Dome Detects Spy Drones
Drones might be a serious threat for privacy and safety and there are startups which try to help you track unwanted drones in your area. Then just add a laser cannon from the last issue and no drone is going to invade your privacy.
In The War of 2050, The Robots Call The Shots
A group of experts tried to predict how would the battlefield in 2050 look like. Their conclusion - there will be a lot of robots involved in the battles in the future along with augmented super-soldiers.
The FAA Is Allowing a Company To Fly a Massive Fleet of 300 Drones
A small startup got an approval from FAA to fly a fleet of over 300 drones for “aerial data acquisition.”.
A peek into our robotic future
Here are two advanced and futuristic robots. First looks and works like an inchworm, which is capable of sensing the environment. The second robot is an intelligent drone which can navigate without GPS, because it can see its surroundings.
How BB-8 works?
If you watched new Star Wars' teaser you should be familiar with this orange, looking like a ball rolling robot. BB-8, which is its name, is a real robot and this page explains how it works.
DARPA’s next-gen drones will launch and land on other airplanes
Basically, they want to build a flying drone carrier. Not as awesome as Helicarrier from The Avengers, but still quite awesome.
Don’t Be Fooled: This Adorable Little Drone Means Business
Vantage Robotics Snap drone is probably the first filming drone with 4K camera on board. And it can follow you.
HoLLiE Robot Bartender Serves 280 Drinks at Party
Even bartenders can't be safe in the future full of robots.
Forget Pizza: In The Future, Drones May Deliver You
We were promised to have flying cars. Instead, we've got Facebook, Snapchat and other things. But there are people who believe that future of the transportation is in the sky. And this company believes we will be moving around in flying drone-taxis.
Top 10 Educational Robot kit for kids
The title tells all.
Robot 'shadow hand'
ESA is developing technologies for advanced human–machine interaction to transfer the human sense of touch to space. The aim is that remote operators will feel as though they are right there with whatever they are controlling, such as planetary rovers.
Is Drone Racing the Next Consumer Fad? Game of Drones Hopes So
Drone racing is the new thing cool geeks or nerds are doing. It's not only cool, but it also has a potential to became a real sport. But there's still a lot to do. Marque Cornblatt, CEO of San Francisco-based Game of Drones, sees a lot of “pain points” in today’s drones and shares how they going to solve them.
Virtual worlds
Augmented reality is the future of design
Is augmented reality the future of design? This article explores this question and tries to answer it, showing where is AR now and where can it go.
The guy who designed the ‘Minority Report’ future is predicting how yours will go
John Underkoffler, the guy who created iconic Minority Report's futuristic interfaces, shares his thoughts how the interaction with technology drives the technological progress and how the future of human-computer interfaces might look like.
Future of Wayfinding: Augmented Reality for Urban Bicyclists
Using augmented reality highlights, hints and cues to guide bikers through complex city paths and streets, this conceptual system addresses issues of wayfinding and safety, speculatively asking: “Could a cycle path be created, or at least augmented, using connected technologies?”
How to Design for Virtual Reality
A crash-course on how to design experiences for virtual reality. If you are into VR it might extend your creative horizons.
Biotechnology
DIY Biology and the Rise of Citizen Biotech Economies
Just as the kids were building computers in their garages in the 70s and 80s, now we see a new movement, which is a mix of DYI movement, hacker's philosophy, open source and biotechnology. In this article, Morgan Meyer shows different forms which this biohacker movement takes.
The future of food is giant, floating solar-powered farms
With growing population comes the problem of feeding everyone and current farming techniques are not efficient enough. So people are trying to came up with new ideas. One of which is this giant floating hydroponic farms powered by solar arrays.
NHS to give volunteers ‘synthetic blood’ made in laboratory within two years
The first attempt at giving human volunteers “synthetic blood” made in a laboratory for the first time will take place in UK within the next two years. The blood is made from stem cells extracted from either the umbilical cord blood of newborn babies or the blood of adult donors.
3D Printing
Now you can 3D print your own gummy bears
I want this 3D printer.
Open Bionics robotic hand for amputees wins Dyson Award
Open Bionics, a company producing cheap and open source 3D printed prosthetic hands, won this year's Dyson Award. Congratulations!
A 3D printed hand crawling across the table
I don't know if it's creepy or awesome. Guys from Open Bionics must like horror movies.
Something completely different
A.I. Burn
A good science fiction story can tell more about ourselves than other, more "realistic", stories. Here's a scene from I, Robot movie, which hits deep inside.
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