Ray Kurzweil: In The 2030s, Nanobots In Our Brains Will Make Us 'Godlike'

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/ray-kurzweil-nanobots-brain-godlike_560555a0e4b0af3706dbe1e2&ncid=newsltushpmg00000003

Astronomers Conclude That Fewer Than 1% of Stars Have a MMSN Disk

http://scitechdaily.com/astronomers-conclude-that-fewer-than-1-of-stars-have-a-mmsn-disk/

I think this means few stars forming today produce many planets...but that's only today. In the past stars likely produced many more planets, and as far as our interests are concerned (finding habitable/inhabited planets), this finding is irrelevant.

Artificial Skin That Can Feel Is In Our Future

http://time.com/4074873/artificial-skin-prosthetic/?xid=newsletter-brief

Why a Mysterious Star Does Not Mean Life in Space (But Other Things Do)

It's always good to be a critical thinker:

http://time.com/4074957/flickering-star-aliens/?xid=newsletter-brief

Engineered Viruses Provide Quantum-Based Enhancement of Energy Transport

http://scitechdaily.com/engineered-viruses-provide-quantum-based-enhancement-of-energy-transport/

"Nature has had billions of years to perfect photosynthesis, which directly or indirectly supports virtually all life on Earth. In that time, the process has achieved almost 100 percent efficiency in transporting the energy of sunlight from receptors to reaction centers where it can be harnessed — a performance vastly better than even the best solar cells.

One way plants achieve this efficiency is by making use of the exotic effects of quantum mechanics — effects sometimes known as “quantum weirdness.” These effects, which include the ability of a particle to exist in more than one place at a time, have now been used by engineers at MIT to achieve a significant efficiency boost in a light-harvesting system."

Computer outperforms humans in intuition tests

This is one area those who dismiss the possibility of true general A.I. developing often say will never be superseded by machines:

http://scitechdaily.com/data-science-machine-replaces-human-intuition-with-algorithms/

Latest Innovation Could Be A Game Changer For Solar Cell Manufacturing

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/latest-innovation-could-game-changer-213143141.html?soc_src=mail&soc_trk=ma

The World's Smallest Robots: Rise of the Nanomachines

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loaqIqKCmog

TED: Google on how a driverless car sees the road

https://www.ted.com/talks/chris_urmson_how_a_driverless_car_sees_the_road

Has an alien civilization been discovered?

Probably not, but maybe...

http://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2015/10/the-most-interesting-star-in-our-galaxy/410023/?ncid=newsltushpmg00000003

Introducing the potassium-ion battery

http://oregonstate.edu/ua/ncs/archives/2015/oct/discovery-about-new-battery-overturns-decades-false-assumptions

Electric motor that uses 80% less energy

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/business/2015/10/12/inventors-motor-aims-to-save-millions-energy.html

Hmm, I wonder if it can be scaled to vehicles?

Here’s Why Nobody’s Talking About Nanotech Anymore

http://time.com/4068125/nanotech-sector/

Quiet advances beat hype anyway....

Dell. EMC. HP. Cisco. These Tech Giants Are the Walking Dead

http://www.wired.com/2015/10/meet-walking-dead-hp-cisco-dell-emc-ibm-oracle/?mbid=nl_101215

Singapore to start self-driving bus trials in 2016

http://mashable.com/2015/10/12/singapore-self-driving-bus/#y8qiWhNiBgqd

Neuroscientists simulate tiny part of rat brain in a supercomputer

And we get another step closer to modeling the human brain...

http://www.kurzweilai.net/a-major-proof-of-concept-for-brain-simulation?utm_source=KurzweilAI+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=03a47d229d-UA-946742-1&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6de721fb33-03a47d229d-281903081

Wind energy is now as cheap as natural gas, and solar is getting close

http://www.sciencealert.com/wind-energy-is-now-as-cheap-as-natural-gas-and-solar-is-getting-close?utm_source=Article&utm_medium=Website&utm_campaign=InArticleReadMore

Panasonic has made the world's most efficient rooftop solar panel

http://www.sciencealert.com/panasonic-has-produced-the-world-s-most-efficient-rooftop-solar-panel-with-22-5-module-efficiency?perpetual=yes&limitstart=1

3 Reasons GE's New Wind Turbine Changes Everything

http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2015/10/07/3-reasons-ges-new-wind-turbine-changes-everything.aspx?source=eogyholnk0000001&utm_source=yahoo&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=article

How batteries for homes and businesses could already make economic sense

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2015/10/07/how-installing-batteries-in-homes-and-businesses-could-already-make-economic-sense/

Fusion power only a few decades away!

This article could have been written a couple decades ago and STILL said basically the same thing. Sigh:

https://www.dur.ac.uk/news/newsitem/?itemno=25499

Crucial hurdle overcome in quantum computing

http://newsroom.unsw.edu.au/news/science-tech/crucial-hurdle-overcome-quantum-computing

Method to replace silicon with carbon nanotubes developed by IBM Research

http://www.kurzweilai.net/method-to-replace-silicon-with-carbon-nanotubes-developed-by-ibm-research?utm_source=KurzweilAI+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=66e6d31f38-UA-946742-1&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6de721fb33-66e6d31f38-281903081

Why The Internet Needs IPFS Before It’s Too Late

http://techcrunch.com/2015/10/04/why-the-internet-needs-ipfs-before-its-too-late/#.p2rwnh:Ztmm

Invisibility Cloak Might Enhance Efficiency of Solar Cells

http://www.kit.edu/kit/english/pi_2015_110_invisibility-cloak-might-enhance-efficiency-of-solar-cells.php

Ray Kurzweil: In The 2030s, Nanobots In Our Brains Will Make Us 'Godlike'

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/ray-kurzweil-nanobots-brain-godlike_560555a0e4b0af3706dbe1e2

Scientists are working on new technology that could beam unlimited energy to Earth from space

http://www.businessinsider.com/space-based-solar-panels-beam-unlimited-energy-to-earth-2015-9?ref=yfp

Bhutan Is Already Carbon Neutral and Now Plans to Go 100% Organic and Zero-Waste

http://ecowatch.com/2015/09/28/bhutan-organic-zero-waste/

Harvard Researchers Hail Cost-Effective Battery That Could Store Surplus Wind and Solar Power

http://ecowatch.com/2015/09/30/harvard-flow-battery/?ref=yfp

So...what's the holdup?

From a purely scientific perspective, solar is the only solution

http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-09-28/only-solar-power-can-meet-human-needs-in-long-term?cmpid=yhoo&ref=yfp

Tesla's Fully Autonomous Electric Vehicles With 1,000KM Range Will Be Available By 2018

http://www.ibtimes.com/elon-musk-teslas-fully-autonomous-electric-vehicles-1000km-range-will-be-available-2118251?ref=yfp

Tiny carbon-capturing motors may help tackle rising carbon dioxide levels

A way to combat climate change?

http://www.jacobsschool.ucsd.edu/news/news_releases/release.sfe?id=1817

Brain-computer interface enables paralyzed man to walk without robotic support

http://www.kurzweilai.net/brain-computer-interface-enables-paralyzed-man-to-walk-without-robotic-support?utm_source=KurzweilAI+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=db91598c16-UA-946742-1&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6de721fb33-db91598c16-281903081

First Internet-based telepathic communication

http://www.washington.edu/news/2015/09/23/uw-team-links-two-human-brains-for-question-and-answer-experiment/

Here's how much of the world would need to be covered in solar panels to power Earth

http://www.techinsider.io/map-shows-solar-panels-to-power-the-earth-2015-9

Scientists Achieve New Quantum Teleportation Record

http://scitechdaily.com/scientists-achieve-new-quantum-teleportation-record/

Electrophysiology of Intuition

I don't know if this is valid, but if so it's an interesting factor that may need to be accounted for in A.I. research:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=2&v=7-Trg51GKwM

100% Renewable Energy Possible by 2050, Says Greenpeace Report

http://ecowatch.com/2015/09/21/100-renewables-2050-greenpeace/

Greenpeace and DLR found that the investment necessary to reach a 100 per cent renewable goal will be a considerable US$1 trillion a year.

However, this will be more than covered by the US$1.07 trillion in savings on fuel costs alone in the same period, not to mention the vast co-benefits to human health and the avoided costs from climate change-related extreme weather that come with the renewable transition.

Bosch claims they will commercialize 400 watt hour per kilogram solid state batteries at half the price of today's batteries by 2020

http://nextbigfuture.com/2015/09/bosch-claims-they-will-commercialize.html

117 watt-hours per kilogram: The level Tesla and Panasonic were achieving in 2008 for the Roadster
200 watt-hours per kilogram: The level Sonny Wu, Boston-Power's CEO, says the company is achieving today
250 watt-hours per kilogram: The approximate energy density of the batteries in the Tesla S
400 watt-hours per kilogram: According to Tesla's Elon Musk, the concept of battery-powered transcontinental airplanes becomes “compelling” once batteries hit 400 watt-hours per kilogram
400 watt-hours per kilogram: The level that battery aspirant and ARPA-E grant recipient Envia claimed it could achieve

Stanford engineers invent transparent coating that cools solar cells to boost efficiency

http://news.stanford.edu/news/2015/september/thermal-overlay-solar-092115.html

and

http://www.engadget.com/2015/09/22/stanford-researchers-cool-sunlight-to-improve-solar-cell-effic/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+mbfbusinessyahoo+%28MBF+Yahoo+Business%29

Scientists Develop an Ultrathin Invisibility Cloak

http://scitechdaily.com/scientists-develop-an-ultrathin-invisibility-cloak/

Scientists Report a Major Breakthrough in Alzheimer’s Disease

http://scitechdaily.com/scientists-report-a-major-breakthrough-in-alzheimers-disease/

Low Vitamin D Associated with Faster Decline in Cognitive Function

http://media.jamanetwork.com/news-item/low-vitamin-d-associated-with-faster-decline-in-cognitive-function/

Lightweight solar cells track the sun, providing 40 percent more energy than fixed cells

http://www.kurzweilai.net/inspired-by-art-lightweight-solar-cells-track-the-sun?utm_source=KurzweilAI+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=3954f7edac-UA-946742-1&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6de721fb33-3954f7edac-281903081

Efficient new catalyst may pave way for hydrogen economy

http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2015/09/14/Study-Efficient-new-catalyst-may-pave-way-for-hydrogen-economy/5441442253733/

How one computer taught itself to be a chess 'international master' in 72 hours

http://www.dailydot.com/technology/giraffe-chess-program-deep-learning/?fb=dd

Why storing solar energy and using it at night is closer than you think

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2015/09/16/why-using-solar-energy-at-night-is-closer-than-you-think/

Realizing Carbon Nanotube Integrated Circuits

http://www.mccormick.northwestern.edu/news/articles/2015/09/realizing-carbon-nanotube-integrated-circuits.html

First superconducting graphene created

http://news.ubc.ca/2015/09/08/first-superconducting-graphene-created-by-ubc-researchers/

GoPro's Google-Powered Camera Is the Next Best Thing To Teleportation

This is pretty amazing. Play it on a smart phone, and wherever you tilt or turn it, the view changes like in virtual reality, but with great resolution and no hiccups:

http://gizmodo.com/gopros-15k-google-powered-camera-is-the-next-best-thin-1729264199

Some pretty amazing things are coming down the pike....

Reese Witherspoon Stared Into My Soul and Showed Me the Future of Films

http://ces.gizmodo.com/reese-witherspoon-stared-into-my-soul-and-showed-me-the-1677984150

High Density Wind Farms Generate Less Electricity Than Thought

http://scitechdaily.com/high-density-wind-farms-generate-less-electricity-than-thought/

The year humans finally got serious about saving themselves from themselves.

Long but good. This belongs in both the Political Venom and Advancing Technologies blogs:

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2015/09/sunniest-climate-change-story-ever-read.html?ncid=newsltushpmg00000003

Cooperative Carbon Capture by a Novel Material that Mimics a Plant Enzyme

http://science.energy.gov/bes/highlights/2015/bes-2015-07-b/

The Holy Grail: Machine Learning+Extreme Robotics

http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/vote/53216

Physicists Create a Magnetic Wormhole for the First Time

http://scitechdaily.com/physicists-create-a-magnetic-wormhole-for-the-first-time/

Not as exciting as a gravitational wormhole, but this is fascinating:

"The overall effect is that of a magnetic field that appears to travel from one point to another through a dimension that lies outside the conventional three dimensions."

Completely paralyzed man voluntarily moves his legs

http://www.kurzweilai.net/completely-paralyzed-man-voluntarily-moves-his-legs-ucla-scientists-report?utm_source=KurzweilAI+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=e32b1fa12f-UA-946742-1&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6de721fb33-e32b1fa12f-281903081

The US Just Made Its Largest Investment In Renewable Energy Yet

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/us-navy-solar-farm-arizona_55e5e235e4b0b7a9633a6406?utm_hp_ref=whats-working

Google’s Driverless Cars Run Into Problem: Cars With Drivers

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/09/02/technology/personaltech/google-says-its-not-the-driverless-cars-fault-its-other-drivers.html?_r=1&ncid=newsltushpmg00000003&referrer=

Artificial Leaf Harnesses Sunlight for Efficient Fuel Production

http://www.caltech.edu/news/artificial-leaf-harnesses-sunlight-efficient-fuel-production-47635

Capturing and Converting CO2 in a Single Step

http://www.kurzweilai.net/how-to-capture-and-convert-co2-from-a-smokestack-in-a-single-step-at-low-cost?utm_source=KurzweilAI+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=fe4b6dcfb0-UA-946742-1&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6de721fb33-fe4b6dcfb0-281903081

How a new battery revolution will change your life

http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/Energy/2015/0830/How-a-new-battery-revolution-will-change-your-life

The energy revolution comes in layers

http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/upfront-blog/2015/0830/A-revolution-comes-in-layers

Working Out Doesn’t Keep Your Brain Young

Alas, not good news:

http://time.com/4009723/brain-exercise-benefits/?xid=newsletter-brief

3D printer prints in 10 materials simultaneously

https://www.yahoo.com/tech/s/cutting-edge-3d-printer-prints-063531403.html?soc_src=mail&soc_trk=ma

First human head transplant could happen in two years

https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22530103.700-first-human-head-transplant-could-happen-in-two-years/#.VUVY87r6cXM

Um...this isn't a head transplant...it's a BODY transplant! Unless the body is more important than the head???

New anti-aging tricks from dietary supplement seen in mice

http://news.emory.edu/stories/2015/08/pgc_telomeres_alexander/

Making Hydrogen Fuel from Water and Visible Light Highly Efficient

http://www.mtu.edu/news/stories/2015/august/making-hydrogen-fuel-water-visible-light-highly-efficient.html

Why wind and solar are already better value than fossil fuels

http://reneweconomy.com.au/2015/why-wind-and-solar-are-already-better-value-than-fossil-fuels-16022

New research paves the way for rechargeable batteries with almost indefinite lifetimes

https://news.mit.edu/2015/solid-state-rechargeable-batteries-safer-longer-lasting-0817

"Solid-state electrolytes could be “a real game-changer,” Ceder says, creating “almost a perfect battery, solving most of the remaining issues” in battery lifetime, safety, and cost."

Most complete human brain model to date is a ‘brain changer'

https://news.osu.edu/news/2015/08/18/human-brain-model/

Surprising results from brain and cognitive studies of a 93-year-old woman athelete

http://www.kurzweilai.net/surprising-results-from-brain-and-cognitive-studies-of-a-93-year-old-woman-athelete?utm_source=KurzweilAI+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=4c0994f8ad-UA-946742-1&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6de721fb33-4c0994f8ad-281903081

Discovery in growing graphene nanoribbons could enable faster, more efficient electronics

http://news.wisc.edu/23936

‘Diamonds from the sky’ approach turns CO2 into valuable products

This appears to be the most realistic method for reversing climate change:

http://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/pressroom/newsreleases/2015/august/co2.html

“We calculate that with a physical area less than 10 percent the size of the Sahara Desert, our process could remove enough CO2 to decrease atmospheric levels to those of the pre-industrial revolution within 10 years,” he says.

New Temperature Record Is Huge Achievement for Superconducting

http://news.yahoo.com/temperature-record-huge-achievement-superconducting-162953981.html?soc_src=mail&soc_trk=ma

Google's making it easy for you to get solar panels onto your roof

http://www.engadget.com/2015/08/17/google-project-sunroof/

I have almost 2000 hours of usable sunlight a year, and can get 100% of my energy needs from the sun. Not bad! Unfortunately, it's a condo complex with a shared roof.

Solid Electrolyte Paves the Way for Rechargeable Batteries with Almost Indefinite Lifetimes

http://scitechdaily.com/solid-electrolyte-paves-the-way-for-rechargeable-batteries-with-almost-indefinite-lifetimes/

Researchers Reveal Why Black Phosphorus May Surpass Graphene

http://scitechdaily.com/researchers-reveal-why-black-phosphorus-may-surpass-graphene/

Watch a Boston Dynamics humanoid robot wander around outside

http://venturebeat.com/2015/08/15/watch-a-boston-dynamics-humanoid-robot-wander-around-outside/

Humanoid home robots can't be THAT far away....

Optical chip allows for reprogramming quantum computer in seconds

http://www.kurzweilai.net/optical-chip-allows-for-reprogramming-quantum-computer-in-seconds?utm_source=KurzweilAI+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=dd52caff08-UA-946742-1&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6de721fb33-dd52caff08-281903081

The Lowly Lightbulb Outshines Solar and Wind on U.S. Power Grids

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-08-13/the-lowly-lightbulb-outshines-solar-and-wind-on-u-s-power-grids

Small, modular, efficient fusion power plant could be a decade away

Instead of always being 30 years away, now it'll always be only 10 years away! ;-) Seriously, this looks like another potential game changer, one without the limitations of solar or wind (though still terribly expensive):

https://newsoffice.mit.edu/2015/small-modular-efficient-fusion-plant-0810

Electro-optical modulator is 100 times smaller, uses 100th of the energy consumption

http://www.kurzweilai.net/electro-optical-modulator-is-100-times-smaller-uses-100th-of-the-energy-consumption?utm_source=KurzweilAI+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=da831d8509-UA-946742-1&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6de721fb33-da831d8509-281903081

Cutting cost and power consumption for big data

http://newsoffice.mit.edu/2015/cutting-cost-power-big-data-0710

Scientists crack the secret of centenarians

http://www.ncl.ac.uk/press.office/press.release/item/scientists-crack-the-secret-of-the-centenarians

Unfortunately, there's not yet a clear path to lengthening telomeres or eliminating inflammation for the long haul.

Artificial intelligence will make religion obsolete within our lifetime

http://www.dailydot.com/lifestyle/superintelligence-meets-religion/?fb=dd

Spicy Food Linked with Longer Life

http://www.livescience.com/51743-spicy-food-linked-with-longer-life.html?cmpid=NL_LS_weekly_2015-08-05

Can we reverse the ageing process by putting young blood into older people?

The modern case for vampirism:

http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/aug/04/can-we-reverse-ageing-process-young-blood-older-people

First Solar Defends Plans To Make Cheaper, Better Solar Panels

http://www.forbes.com/sites/uciliawang/2015/08/04/first-solar-defends-plans-to-make-cheaper-better-solar-panels/?utm_campaign=yahootix&partner=yahootix

The MIND diet may slow brain aging by 7.5 years

I'm already following most of this, but I think I'll try to follow it more rigorously:

http://www.kurzweilai.net/the-mind-diet-may-slow-brain-aging-by-7-5-years?utm_source=KurzweilAI+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=2b3ba12420-UA-946742-1&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6de721fb33-2b3ba12420-281903081

Calculate the cost of installing solar power in your own home

Nifty:

http://geostellar.com/go/credo?utm_source=credo_emailblast&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=credo_emailcampaign7a

Sleeping on one's side may clear waste from one's brain most effectively

One possible way to keep one's brain healthy long enough for advancing tech to take over:

http://sb.cc.stonybrook.edu/news/general/150804sleeping.php

Meet the High-Performance Single-Molecule Diode

"...outperforms the best of its predecessors by a factor of 50."

http://newscenter.lbl.gov/2015/07/29/high-performance-single-molecule-diode/

Obama signs executive order authorizing development of exascale supercomputers

http://www.kurzweilai.net/obama-signs-executive-order-authorizing-development-of-exascale-supercomputers

IBM Watson Is Helping CVS Fight Chronic Diseases

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/cvs-ibm-watson_55ba74b1e4b095423d0e4902

New Capacitor Offers Record-high Energy Storage

http://www.news.gatech.edu/2015/07/29/sol-gel-capacitor-dielectric-offers-record-high-energy-storage

Researchers Reveal Climbing a Tree Can Improve Cognitive Skills by 50%

50%? Wow....

http://www.unf.edu/publicrelations/media_relations/press/2015/UNF_Researchers_Reveal_Climbing_a_Tree_Can_Improve_Cognitive_Skills.aspx

How the Research Community Is Addressing the ‘Reproducibility Crisis’

http://time.com/3978589/research-reproducibility-crisis/

With around 1.8 million articles published in scientific journals each year, a couple hundred cases of fraud isn't bad. But the lack of replication of studies is disturbing.

Hydropower: The Renewable Energy Source That’s About to Boom Again

http://time.com/3978215/hydropower-us-growth/

Precursors of Life Found on a Comet

http://time.com/3980243/organic-comet-philae/

I'd love to see someone model this prebiotic chemistry and run abiogenesis experiments at millions of times the speed of real chemistry to see what might evolve.