AI/Transhumanism Update

Free Will is not an Illusion after all
NewScientist (2009-09-23) -- New Zealand researchers have developed an experiment that delves deeper than ever before into the issue of determining whether or not we have free will. The results seem to overturn the conclusions of Libet's landmark experiment in the 1980s and imply that we do indeed have free will.
newscientist.com

The Future of Human Evolution
Bedeutung (2009-09-01) -- Oxford philosopher and transhumanism expert Nick Bostrom speculates on the future of human evolution and the failure of the Panglossian view.
bedeutung.co.uk

Man-made Organisms will be here in Four Months
Daily Mail (2009-08-22) -- Famous biologist Craig Ventner boldly predicts that his team will be able to create a synthetic organism within 4 months time.
dailymail.co.uk

Evidence fir Programmed Reality from Deep Space
NewScientist (2009-08-12) -- Differences in time between photons of various energies travelling great distances may hint at the quantized nature of space.
newscientist.com

Organelle Simulated on Microchip for First Time
Scientific American (2009-07-31) -- Researchers from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed the first working artificial prototype of an "organ" of a human cell—the Golgi apparatus."
scientificamerican.com

Artificial Brain within 10 Years?
CNET News (2009-07-24) -- Henry Markram, director of the Blue Brain Project, announces his goal to build "a functioning, artificial human brain within the next 10 years."
cnet.com

Japanese Scientists to Create Robotic Insects
PHYSORG (2009-07-14) -- Professors at Tokyo University's Research Centre for Advanced Science and Technology aim to create robotic insects.
physorg.com

Computer Recognition of Human Emotions
New Scientist (2009-07-03) -- Computers with Innerscope Research's emotion sensing technology can recognize human emotions like disgust, happiness, sadness, anger, fear, and surprise 9 times out of 10.
newscientist.com

Chemist Shows How RNA Can Be the Starting Point for Life.
New York Times (2009-05-13) -- UK chemists create the recipe for life.
nytimes.com

Kepler search for habitable planets begins.
NASA (2009-04-30) -- The Kepler search for habitable planets began officially at 5:01 PM PDT on May 12, 2009.
nasa.com

Could the Internet become self-aware?
New Scientist (2009-04-30) -- AI expert Francis Heylighen thinks that the Internet could become self-aware within 10 years.
newscientist.com

Medical 'microbot' to swim human arteries.
The Journal (2009-04-15) -- More than 40 years later, some of the futuristic potential of "Fantastic Voyage" has taken a step closer to realisation, thanks to a remarkable achievement in miniaturization unveiled last week.
indexcontact.com

Robot scientist makes discoveries without human help.
New Scientist (2009-04-02) -- A robot scientist that can generate its own hypotheses and run experiments to test them has made its first real scientific discoveries.
newscientist.com

Honda connects brain thoughts with robotics.
Comcast.net (2009-03-31) -- Honda Motor Co. has developed a way to read patterns of electric currents on a person's scalp as well as changes in cerebral blood flow when a person thinks about four simple movements.
comcast.net

Can the Human Lifespan Reach 1,000 Years?
The Daily Galaxy (2009-03-27) -- Various scientists believe that if immortality isn't around the corner, living to 1000 may be possible by some who are alive today.
dailygalaxy.com

The human brain is on the edge of chaos
PhysOrg.com (2009-03-20) -- Cambridge-based researchers provide new evidence that the human brain lives "on the edge of chaos", at a critical transition point between randomness and order.
physorg.com

It's Easier to Observe the Failure of Local Realism than Previously Thought.
PhysOrg.com (2009-03-04) -- A team of scientists have now shown that the failure of local realism can be observed at a macroscopic level. More evidence for a grainy, or programmed reality.
physorg.com

Bionic Eye Restores Sight in Blind Man .
BBC (2009-03-04) --
A man who lost his sight 30 years ago says he can now see flashes of light 7 months after being fitted with a bionic eye in London's Moorfield eye hospital.
bbc.co.uk

Adding Touch, Taste, and Smell to Virtual Reality.
Wired (2009-03-04) -- Virtual reality schemes have long tantalized geeks with unrealized visions of holodecks and long-distance cybersex. Now, a group of British researchers want to round out the experience with virtual touch, taste and smell. To simulate the real world, they argue, all five of your senses must be stimulated. Toward that end, they've mocked up a "Virtual Cocoon" with a separate glove that — at least in theory — could tickle your tongue as it, uh, nukes your nose.
wired.com


AI/Transhumanism Archive