H+ Weekly - Issue #25
ISSUE #25
Hacking brain, AI walks around Amsterdam, reviving the dead with AI, robot-cat, drones, biohackers and more!
More than a human
Conductive Circuit Board Tattoos: Tech Tats
Tech Tats is a temporary tattoo with embedded electronic circuits. A very interesting idea which might find applications in medical industry or as a digital wallet or ID.
Hacking the Brain — Restoring Lost Abilities With the Latest Neurotechnologies
Peter Diamandis writes how using neuroprosthetics, Brain-Computer Interfaces, and optogenetics we can soon fix our brains.
Tech Company Humai Wants to Resurrect the Dead Using A.I.
Humai, a company founded in Los Angeles, California by entrepreneur Josh Bocanegra, doesn’t just want to help engineer strong A.I., but wishes to use their developments in the technology to someday bring people back from the dead. Crazy? Perhaps, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible.
Artificial Intelligence
Watch a neural network describe what it sees on a stroll through Amsterdam
A guy walks around Amsterdam with a camera and a neural network describes in real-time what it sees.
Facebook Reveals The Secrets Behind “M,” Its Artificial Intelligence Bot
Facebook’s David Marcus says in this article from Buzzfeed M is already a lot more than just people pretending to be robots. He also tells a bit how M works and what are the plans for the future.
How swarm intelligence could save us from the dangers of AI
The answer - because swarm intelligence will keep humans in the loop.
Beware, poker face: Automatic system spots micro-expressions
Now he can, now he can, now he can read my poker face!
We have greater moral obligations to robots than to humans "Here’s why: we will have been their creators and designers. We are thus directly responsible both for their existence and for their happy or unhappy state. If a robot needlessly suffers or fails to reach its developmental potential, it will be in substantial part because of our failure – a failure in our creation, design or nurturance of it. Our moral relation to robots will more closely resemble the relation that parents have to their children, or that gods have to the beings they create, than the relationship between human strangers."
The Emotional Uncanny Valley
or "How zombies could be the future of artificial intelligence."
When will the Singularity happen? (infographic)
Here's an infographic that shows, in a nutshell, our progress in robotics and artificial intelligence, and tries to answer the question "when will the Singularity happen?"
Robotics
The ethics of robot love
Although it might sound like a distant future, people are already concern with ethical dilemmas regarding sexual contacts with robots. Movies like Ex Machina and Her also tried to address this problem. With current progress in robotics, we might be forced to solve this problem sooner than we think.
China dreams of electric sheep at robot conference
In a martial artist's white silk pyjamas, a man practised tai-chi in harmony with a motorised arm at a Beijing exhibition showcasing a vision of robots with Chinese characteristics. Vehicles with automated gun turrets sat alongside drink-serving karaoke machines at the World Robot Conference, as manufacturers sought new buyers for their "jiqiren"—"machine people" in Chinese.
Robotic Cats to Keep Seniors Company
I'm not sure if I would like to have this robotic cat.
Drone Racing League Will Give You a Wild Robot’s-Eye View in VR
I was already sold on an idea of drone racing, but a drone racing league in VR... it is getting better with every month!
Futuristic coffee serving robot arm
Soon (?) in your coffee shop.
A row-bot that loves dirty water
In theory, this robot could operate indefinitely, just by opening its belly and feeding from dirty water.
15 Official World Records Set By Robots
Here are some of the world records set by robots.
Biotechnology
The Drug Lords of Tomorrow Will Be Biohackers
You might seen this picture in some cyberpunk story - instead of taking pills or injecting some drugs, people of the future use their brain implants to upload a code that lets them get high. Soon that vision might come true, thanks to advancements in biotechnology.
Genetically modified mosquitos could stop malaria
With better and cheaper gene editing techniques, we are now one step closer to introduce genetically modified mosquitoes that don't spread malaria - the biggest killer of humans in history. But the scientific community is at odds over whether or not we should do it.
Inside the Pentagon’s biotech strike force
DARPA's medical research office develops biotech projects that sound like science fiction, spends heavily on them, and then moves on.
Injectable 'Cyborg' Brain Implant Can Monitor and Manipulate Brain Activity
A team of researchers at Harvard just figured out how to "cyborgize" mice brains by using flexible polymer mesh lined with tiny electrical devices.
Virtual Worlds
Improbable: The British tech startup with massive ambition
London-based Improbable unveils SpatialOS – a system that opens the door to vast virtual worlds and the ability to model truly big data. Also, it might be our first step to build the Matrix. Or OASIS from Ready Player One.
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