About an hour long presentation is made by Aubrey de Grey. Thanks to Michael Anissimov at Accelerating Future and Fight Aging for pointing it out. I have seen it and prior presentation made by Aubrey de Grey a few years ago at a Senior Associate Gathering of the Foresight Institute. Aubrey is making a slightly …
Highly technical discussion about the Dwave quantum computer system, claims and other quantum computer papers. This was triggered by a post by Geordie Rose of Dwave Bill Kaminsky provides interesting comments Not directly related but on quantum computers in general:Scott Aaronson has some general questions and answers related to his view of the field of …
Comcast CEO Brian Roberts said his company plans to roll out a new cable modem that delivers 150 megabits per second (Mbps) of bandwidth. It seems a 2008 trial and start of rollout is likely It is a DOCSIS 3.0 modem. DOCSIS information is here at wikipedia A recent study predicted that by 2011, DOCSIS …
From the New Scientist, a pocket-sized device that runs on two AA batteries and copies DNA as accurately as expensive lab equipment has been developed by researchers in the US. The DNA-copying device runs off two AA batteries (Image: Victor Ugaz/Angewandte Chemie) The device has no moving parts and costs just $10 to make. It …
The genomics era is now making way for the era of proteomics – the study of the proteins that genes encode. Future proteomics research should see a substantial acceleration with the development of a new device that provides the first monolithic interface between mass spectrometry and silicon/silica-based microfluidic “lab-on-a-chip” technologies. This new device, called a …
Rice University scientists today revealed a breakthrough method for producing molecular specks of semiconductors called quantum dots, a discovery that could clear the way for better, cheaper solar energy panels. One way towards cheaper solar cells is to make them out of quantum dots. Prior research by others has shown that four-legged quantum dots, which …
A method of using isotopes to make bonds in the body more resistant to free radical damage could lengthen human lives by 10% or about 10 years. It does not reverse free radical damage, so it would be less helpful to older people. A team led by Mikhail Shchepinov, formerly of Oxford University, fed nematode …
Scientists at Forsyth may have moved one step closer to regenerating human spinal cord tissue by artificially inducing a frog tadpole to re-grow its tail at a stage in its development when it is normally impossible. Past articles on regenerative medicine on advancednano Using a variety of methods including a kind of gene therapy, the …
An interesting article about the costs of regulation by Eliezer Yudkowsky It links to the benefits of FDA regulation relative to that in foreign countries could reasonably be put at some 5,000 casualties per decade or 10,000 per decade for worst-case scenarios. In comparison, it has been argued above that the cost of FDA delay …
Crazy-sounding ideas for saving the planet are getting a serious look from top scientists, a sign of their fears about global warming and the desire for an insurance policy in case things get worse. There’s the man-made “volcano” that shoots gigatons of sulfur high into the air. The space “sun shade” made of trillions of …
I want to create a new term, media equivalence, for debates about the problems of civilization, technology and society. We currently have the term moral equivalence From wikipedia, moral equivalence is a term used in political debate, usually to characterize in a negative way the claim that there can be no moral or ethical hierarchy …