MIT researchers trained AI to write horror stories based on 140,000 Reddit posts

Not ready for prime time yet, but it's getting there:

https://qz.com/1115179/mit-used-data-from-reddit-to-train-an-ai-to-tell-horror-stories/

Scientists break new ground in memory technology

Impressive: "a novel thin, organic film that supports a million more times read-write cycles and consumes 1,000 times less power than commercial flash memories" and "the researchers are also looking at fabricating multi-state memories to produce neuromorphic memory devices (that resemble the brain) for artificial intelligence (AI) applications":

https://www.nanowerk.com/nanotechnology-news/newsid=48404.php

Amazon Is Quietly Building the Robots of Sci-Fi—Piece by Practical Piece

Amazon is uniquely positioned to build the kinds of robots we REALLY want:

https://singularityhub.com/2017/10/29/amazon-is-quietly-building-the-robots-of-sci-fi-piece-by-practical-piece/

The Real Story of Automation Beginning with One Simple Chart

A good look at the statistics behind trends in automation and its effects on economics:

https://medium.com/basic-income/the-real-story-of-automation-beginning-with-one-simple-chart-8b95f9bad71b

Technology That Sucks CO2 From Ambient Air is Already Used Commercially in Switzerland and Iceland

This needs to scale, but it's a brilliant solution (at least until we have advanced nanotech to do the job even more efficiently and larger scale):

http://bigthink.com/design-for-good/technology-that-sucks-co2-from-ambient-air-is-already-used-commercially-in-switzerland-and-iceland

Researchers watch video images people are seeing, decoded from their fMRI brain scans in near-real-time

Here comes mind reading:

http://www.kurzweilai.net/researchers-watch-video-images-people-are-seeing-decoded-from-their-fmri-brain-scans-in-near-real-time

Solar power crushes its own record for cheapest electricity ‘ever, anywhere, by any technology’

Wow: "The lowest price for solar power last year is the highest price now." That's not for the US, but still...

https://thinkprogress.org/stunner-lowest-price-solar-power-f3b620d04010/

DARPA’s New Brain Device Increases Learning Speed by 40%

"Advancements in technology seem to be bringing us closer to a future in which quickly leveling-up intelligence is a real possibility." Leveling-up. Hah!

https://futurism.com/darpas-new-brain-device-increases-learning-speed-by-40/

Daimler, Parent Company of Mercedes, Unveils an Electric Truck Ahead of Tesla

First electric truck:

https://futurism.com/daimler-parent-company-of-mercedes-unveils-an-electric-truck-ahead-of-tesla/

IBM scientists say radical new ‘in-memory’ computing architecture will speed up computers by 200 times

200 times? Wowsers:

http://www.kurzweilai.net/ibm-scientists-say-radical-new-in-memory-computing-architecture-will-speed-up-computers-by-200-times

Scientists Want to Create a Universe in a Lab, And They Actually Could

So much for the necessity of God:

https://futurism.com/scientists-may-create-universe-actually-could/

Is Technology Really Going to Destroy More Jobs Than Ever Before?

Another person missing the point that history isn't a guide to job loss from automation when the automation in question is the development of artificial intelligence more capable than any human:

https://futurism.com/technology-destroy-jobs/

AlphaGo Zero trains itself to be most powerful Go player in the world

Alpha-Go just keeps on getting smarter:

http://www.kurzweilai.net/alphago-zero-trains-itself-to-be-most-powerful-go-player-in-the-world

Armed Ground Robots to Fight in the Ukrainian Conflict, Ushering in a New Age of Warfare

It's happening whether we want it or not:

http://bigthink.com/paul-ratner/robot-wars-are-here-as-ukraine-plans-to-use-them-against-russia

There’s No Fire Alarm for Artificial General Intelligence

A long article, but has some interesting insights about how badly people can underestimate how quickly new technologies can arrive:

https://intelligence.org/2017/10/13/fire-alarm/

Nanoelectronics breakthrough could lead to more efficient quantum devices

https://nano-magazine.com/news/2017/10/18/nanoelectronics-breakthrough-could-lead-to-more-efficient-quantum-devices/

New Simple Device Uses Sound Waves to Store Quantum Information

You think computers are too noisy now?

https://scitechdaily.com/new-simple-device-uses-sound-waves-to-store-quantum-information/

Controlled by a synthetic gene circuit, self-assembling bacteria build working electronic sensors

Self-healing materials. I like it:

http://www.kurzweilai.net/controlled-by-a-synthetic-gene-circuit-self-assembling-bacteria-build-working-electronic-sensors

Robotic Farm Completes 1st Fully Autonomous Harvest

This is one of those images of "the future" that is now arriving:

https://www.livescience.com/60567-robotically-tended-farm-completes-first-harvest.html

A long interview with Ray Kurzweil from 1999

He notes that there will be more technological change by 2020 than there was in the entire 20th century. It doesn't feel that way...but perhaps it's true:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97c2ezJ_1U8&feature=youtu.be

“Skyrmions” Could Provide a Way to Bypass the Limits to Moore’s Law

https://scitechdaily.com/skyrmions-could-provide-a-way-to-bypass-the-limits-to-moores-law/

How AI Learned to Bluff and Beat Humans at Poker

A.I. beats yet another master player at yet another game, this time learning how to capitalize on the weaknesses of its human opponents:

http://bigthink.com/david-ryan-polgar/poker-is-harder-for-ai-to-master-than-chess-ai-has-now-learned-to-bluff-and-beat-humans

The World’s 1st Molecular Robot Has Just Been Created by UK Scientists

http://bigthink.com/philip-perry/the-worlds-1st-molecular-robot-has-been-created-by-uk-scientists

It's worth watching the Michio Kaku video. He postulates that mature nanotech may be 100 years out, but that's likely highly pessimistic.

Daddy's Car: a song composed by Artificial Intelligence - in the style of the Beatles

This is over a year old, but it shows how artificial intelligence can create music:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSHZ_b05W7o

Not my favorite pieces, but it would not be too out of place on the radio.

The Coming Creativity Explosion Belongs to the Machines

Why should creativity be any different from other forms of intelligence?

https://singularityhub.com/2017/10/01/the-coming-creativity-explosion-will-belong-to-the-machines

Artificial Intelligence Is Our Future. But Will It Save Or Destroy Humanity?

Different views on our future with A.I.:

https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence-is-our-future-but-will-it-save-or-destroy-humanity/

New Data Shows Progress in Fight Against Climate Change

Total emissions need to go substantially negative, but this is a good sign:

https://futurism.com/new-data-shows-progress-in-fight-against-climate-change/

Researchers Develop Regenerative Medicine Breakthrough

Watch the video. This sounds like pure science fiction:

https://wexnermedical.osu.edu/mediaroom/pressreleaselisting/researchers-develop-regenerative-medicine-breakthrough

This New 'Perfect' Battery Has Experts Stumped

Could be too good to be true, but...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAg_8iCLIIw&feature=youtu.be

Intel Jumps Into Brain-Like Computing With New Self-Learning Chip

"Once complete, it will feature 130,000 neurons and 130 million synaptic connections split between 128 computing cores. The device will be 1,000 times more energy-efficient than standard approaches, according to Mayberry, but more impressive are claims the chip will be capable of continuous learning."

https://singularityhub.com/2017/09/29/intels-new-brain-like-chip-will-learn-on-the-fly/