Browse by Tags

• Robot solves Rubik's cube

  Add solving Rubik's cubes to the list of things robots can now do better than most people: Three University of Michigan students -- Doug Li, Jeff Loevell, and Mike Zajac -- have created a "Rubik's Cube Solver" robot for their final project. Watch the Read More...
  Posted Monday, June 26, 2006 11:51 AM by Simon / 5 Comments

  Tags: News

• Alter your mind with portable TMS

  Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) can have dramatic effects on the brain, and evidence suggests it can temporarily increase certain cognitive capacities , such as artistic and creative ability. Now researchers have developed a portable TMS machine Read More...
  Posted Thursday, June 22, 2006 8:37 AM by Simon / 11 Comments

  Tags: News

• The kids are alright with smart drugs

  A new report by the Washington Post suggests that many students in American colleges are using smart drugs such as Provigil to boost their grades: There are lots of the first-generation drugs around. Total sales have increased by more than 300 percent Read More...
  Posted Wednesday, June 14, 2006 8:41 AM by Simon / 7 Comments

  Tags: News

• Plan proposed to RFID immigrant workers

  Via KurzweilAI (I can't wait for our news blog to go live), I just read that the Chairman of the Board of VeriChip Corporation has proposed using RFID tags to track immigrant workers: Scott Silverman, Chairman of the Board of VeriChip Corporation, has Read More...
  Posted Wednesday, June 07, 2006 11:57 AM by Simon / 3 Comments

  Tags: News

• Slate's Saletan takes on transhumanism

  William Saletan of Slate has published a column on transhumanism following the recent Human Enhancement Technologies and Human Rights conference . The column, " Among the Transhumanists ," isn't particularly flattering, but Saletan does call it "interesting," Read More...
  Posted Monday, June 05, 2006 9:11 PM by Simon / 8 Comments

  Tags: News

• Novamente aiming for human-level AI in six years

  Some people may be familiar with Novamente , the artificial intelligence company founded by Ben Goertzel . Recently, Immortality Institute founder Bruce Klein joined Novamente as its president. The company has since greatly ramped up its activities, seeking Read More...
  Posted Friday, June 02, 2006 1:36 PM by Simon / 20 Comments

  Tags: News

• Spot and forecast trends with Google

  Google has released a new tool, Google Trends , that could be useful in attempts at trend spotting and forecasting. The tool allows you to type in a phrase and see its search frequency over time, as well as its frequency in news articles. For example, Read More...
  Posted Wednesday, May 10, 2006 9:37 PM by Simon / 0 Comments

  Tags: News

• Bostrom talks transhumanism with UK paper

  Philosopher and World Transhumanist Association founder Nick Bostrom is interviewed in today's edition of the Guardian newspaper--a major UK paper. One interesting point to note is Bostrom's observation that mainstream society no longer regards transhumanist Read More...
  Posted Tuesday, May 09, 2006 3:34 PM by Simon / 7 Comments

  Tags: News

• Cell phones spur action at Darfur rally

  I attended a rally in Toronto today called " Scream for Darfur ." The event, organized in part by my 18-year-old sister Leora with a group called Project Equity , was intended to spur action by Canadian politicians against the genocide in Darfur . It Read More...
  Posted Sunday, April 30, 2006 9:10 PM by Simon / 2 Comments

  Tags: News

• Think twice about early nanotech cosmetics

  Christine Peterson at the Foresight Institute has highlighted how cosmetics are now available on the market with nanoscale particles. While she's "pro-free enterprise and pro-nanotech," she's concerned about the unknown risks of nanoscale particles and Read More...
  Posted Thursday, April 06, 2006 12:10 PM by Simon / 3 Comments

  Tags: News