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The Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect
Holy shit, if you can get past the intense, violent sex and murder of the first chapter, this book is one of the best Singularity thought experiments I’ve ever read.
Like, wow.
Google may already be conscious.
The Internet is waking up.
And it’s breaking things.
Excellent.
Optogenetics just got easier.
Controlling neurons with light is one of the most powerful emerging tools for exploring and understanding the brain, but it has always been extraordinarily complicated. Delivery of genes, light, and electricity was once three separate tasks; a team of German researchers has developed an implant that consolidates all three tasks into one.
This is gonna catapult neuroscience research and pave the way for manipulating and understanding the brain. Woo!
Harvard’s RoboBees to Fill Pollination Gap Caused by Bee Die-off
The Robobees won’t just share the pollinating function of real bees; the team is also looking to imbue them with colony behaviors. Although they won’t have a queen, the Robobees will live in a hive, which functions as a refueling station. Coordination algorithms and communication methods are in the works as well, hopefully giving the Robobees the ability to inform and help one another—sadly, without dancing.
The Microrobotics lab seems a host of possible uses for the robotic insects, including military surveillance, search and rescue missions, exploration of hazardous environments, traffic surveillance, and weather and climate mapping. Unfortunately, though, it seems they won’t be taking over all of the bees’ regular duties. While these Robobees don’t come with stingers yet, they aren’t off making honey, either.
Am I the only one who finds the idea of bee-sized predator drones terrifying?
Nope. We could have just, you know, stopped killing bees awhile ago….
Bomber-bees.
Fixing our accidental eradication of one of the most fundamental species on the planet is good too though.
(via randomactsofchaos)
Advanced Prosthetic Hand Ties Shoes, Deals Cards
This hand, the bebionic3, actually shows it doing some of the stuff you’d think it might: tying shoes, dealing cards, picking up household items, etc.
Those tasks make it sound mundane, but it’s actually a pretty darn impressive hand. Not only can it squeeze and pinch, it can also do some less commonly used movements, like making the rock-on devil horns or spinning in a full circle. It even automatically grips an object when it detects that the object’s slipping.
(via Watch This Unbelievable Robot Hand Tie A Shoe | Popular Science)
This decade people, it’s gonna be a big one for biotech.
(via emergentfutures)
Computer Mediated Rat Mind-Meld
Yeah, it’s as crazy as that.
Behold the 3Doodler, the world’s first pen that lets you draw 3D sculptures in real time.
brilliant. fucking brilliant.
(via jonesygeri)
Indie Game: The Movie
I just watched one of the most touching and inspiring movies ever.
(via emergentfutures)
Business Model Generation
Alexander Osterwald
Great book with lots of pictures! It does a really good job of visualizing most every aspect of a business, and communicating the important elements of building your own. This read was pretty quick, but I plan on going back over it very slowly with a whiteboard…
HOT OR NOT: INSTAGRAM GLASSES
Ok, this seriously takes Instagram to a whole new level. With over 50 million users (Android and iOS combined), there seems to be nothing that can stop Instagram from photo domination. German designer Markus Gerkes has created the first ever “Instaglasses” concept. Seemingly slick shades at first glance that are built with an implanted 5mp camera in them with a fliter adjuster on the side brim of the glasses.
The Instaglasses feature Wi-Fi and 3G, 2GB of onboard storage (not sure why you would need this since Instagram photos are stored in the cloud) and a seven hour battery life. Pretty cool, right? We give these a hot! What you YOU think?
Hot or Not?
The logical next step of Google Glass.
Yes please, sign me up and take my money now kthxbai
Quote from Steve Wozniak’s keynote at TEDxBrussels http://tnw.to/l0Ago
porn just gave us purpose aint even gon lie this caught me off guard
This is the most fucking glorious thing ive ever seen.
Props to the porn industry.
welp
guess i better start watching porn
My faith in humanity has been restored.
(via aloyaltysworn)
How to See the Future, by Warren Ellis
Sorry to say it’s not actually that instructive, but it’s fun to read nonetheless. It’s amazing what you can do when you decide to stop looking behind you and start looking around you.
