Non-Human Consciousness Exists Say Experts. Now What?
Non-Human Consciousness Exists Say Experts. Now What? Phillip Low at Singularity University Have you ever considered the consciousness, or unconsciousness, of your dog? Earlier this month, some of the leading scientists from around the world congregated at the Hotel Du Vin in Cambridge to discuss the evidence that has amassed over the years. the declaration of consciousness Organized by Philip Low, CEO of NeuroVigil and inventor of the iBrain, the group consisted of 25 of the planet’s top minds on the mind, including honorary guest Stephen Hawking. This announcement arises in a manner similar to the Pluto files in 2006, when the world's leading astronomer's demoted Pluto from planet to "dwarf planet". As mankind continues to explore the universe, many more discoveries will prompt an official announcement such as the one Phillip Low delivered this week at Singularity University. For more on the conference and the Cambridge declaration, check out
Can A Computer Finally Pass For Human?
“Why not develop music in ways unknown…? If beauty is present, it is present.” That’s Emily Howell talking – a highly creative computer program written in LISP by U.C. Classical musicians refuse to perform Emily’s compositions, and Cope says they believe “the creation of music is innately human, and somehow this computer program was a threat…to that unique human aspect of creation.” The article includes a sample of her music, as intriguing as her haiku-like responses to queries. Share
Self- Aware Robot
Researchers Create Thousand Strong Swarm Of Bots That Can Assemble Into Complex Shapes
By itself, this simple little puck-shaped robot is cute, but not revolutionary: It’s a few centimeters across, stands on three pin-like legs, moves a centimeter a second, and costs about $20. Put a thousand or so of these Kilobots together, and you have the largest robotic swarm the world has ever seen. Self-assembling robotic systems exist, but they’ve been limited to dozens, maybe a few hundred robots. Now, a trio of Harvard researchers led by Michael Rubenstein has programmed 1,024 Kilobots to organize themselves into various shapes, such as stars, a wrench, and letters of the alphabet. The work was published in Science this week. Kilobots were designed to mimic the behavior of a swarm of bees, colony of army ants, or flock of starlings. These inexpensive robots have two little vibrating motors to help them slide across surfaces on their skinny rigid legs. The infrared transmitters are also used by the scientists to give commands to all the bots simultaneously. Photo Gallery
Data that lives forever is possible: Japan's Hitachi
As Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones prove, good music lasts a long time; now Japanese hi-tech giant Hitachi says it can last even longer—a few hundred million years at least. The company on Monday unveiled a method of storing digital information on slivers of quartz glass that can endure extreme temperatures and hostile conditions without degrading, almost forever. And for anyone who updated their LP collection onto CD, only to find they then needed to get it all on MP3, a technology that never needs to change might sound appealing. "The volume of data being created every day is exploding, but in terms of keeping it for later generations, we haven't necessarily improved since the days we inscribed things on stones," Hitachi researcher Kazuyoshi Torii said. "The possibility of losing information may actually have increased," he said, noting the life of digital media currently available—CDs and hard drives—is limited to a few decades or a century at most.
Positive Futurist - The Singularity: when machines surpass human intelligence
What can we expect when machines surpass humans in intelligence; a point in time that futurists predict will happen by 2045 or before. Though it's impossible to forecast this far in advance with 100% accuracy, by combining predicted technology breakthroughs with present-day knowledge, we can make plausible guesses about how tomorrow's super-intelligent machines might affect our lives. The concept for the Singularity goes something like this: As computers become faster with increased memory capabilities, they will eventually develop intelligence comparable to humans. These machines will not only defeat us in chess and games like Jeopardy, but also will drive cars, write books, make decisions, and replace humans in customer service; and one day, they may even emulate consciousness. These machines could then keep on developing until they surpass human levels of intelligence, a phase many predict will happen by 2045. J. This writer is amazed at how fast the future is advancing.
Neurosurgeon to attempt world's first head transplant
An Italian neurosurgeon has unveiled plans to perform the first human head transplant by the end of 2017. Dr Sergio Canavero announced his plan at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurological and Orthopaedic Surgeons in the US state of Maryland on Friday, saying he believes he has a 90 percent chance of success. He said his patient will be a 30-year-old Russian man, Valery Spiridonov, who has the muscle-wasting disease, Werdnig-Hoffmann. "Of course there is a margin of risk, I cannot deny that," Canavero said. "I made the announcement only when I was pretty sure I could do it." Both men, who have been in regular contact through video chats, believe the controversial procedure is Spiridonov's best hope, the Reuters news agency reported. "If it goes good, I think I will get rid of the limits which I have today and I will be more independent and this will much improve my life," Spiridonov said. "We are making a huge step forward in science and I hope it will be OK." Source: Reuters
Deep learning
Branch of machine learning Deep learning is the subset of machine learning methods based on artificial neural networks with representation learning. The adjective "deep" refers to the use of multiple layers in the network. Methods used can be either supervised, semi-supervised or unsupervised.[2] Artificial neural networks (ANNs) were inspired by information processing and distributed communication nodes in biological systems. Definition[edit] Deep learning is a class of machine learning algorithms that[9]: 199–200 uses multiple layers to progressively extract higher-level features from the raw input. From another angle to view deep learning, deep learning refers to "computer-simulate" or "automate" human learning processes from a source (e.g., an image of dogs) to a learned object (dogs). Overview[edit] The word "deep" in "deep learning" refers to the number of layers through which the data is transformed. Deep learning algorithms can be applied to unsupervised learning tasks.
Scientists Worry About The Robots....
Inject Your Eyeballs With Night Vision
Synopsis In "people becoming superhuman" news, a small independent research group has figured out how to give humans night vision, allowing them to see over 50 meters in the dark for a short time. Summary Science for the Masses, a group of biohackers based a couple hours north of Los Angeles in Tehachapi, California,theorized they could enhance healthy eyesight enough that it would induce night vision.
