New DNA Synthesis Method Could Soon Build a Genome in a Day

https://singularityhub.com/2018/07/10/new-dna-synthesis-method-could-soon-build-a-genome-in-a-day/

How do the Chevy Bolt and Tesla Model 3 compare?

https://pluginamerica.org/how-do-chevy-bolt-and-tesla-model-3-compare/

Inside a $1 Billion Real Estate Company Operating Entirely in VR

A taste of what working remotely is like in VR:

https://singularityhub.com/2018/07/08/inside-a-1-billion-real-estate-company-operating-entirely-in-vr/

An Overview of National AI Strategies

This worldwide push toward A.I. is why calls to keep the genie bottled up won't work:

https://medium.com/politics-ai/an-overview-of-national-ai-strategies-2a70ec6edfd

An AI learnt to drive an autonomous car in 20 minutes

It's breakthroughs like this that make me doubt autonomous car pessimists:

https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/an-ai-learnt-to-drive-an-autonomous-car-in-20-minutes/

This Map Shows the Fastest-Growing Job in Every State — and What Each One Pays

Solar and wind power jobs lead the way:

http://time.com/money/5325812/fastest-growing-job-map/

Three Huge Ways Tech Is Overhauling Healthcare

VERY nice:

"We are on the brink of a revolution in healthcare. AI is making the drug discovery process >100X faster and cheaper, and 90 percent more likely to succeed in clinical trials. Mobile health is predicted to become a $102 billion market by 2022, putting a virtual doctor, on-demand, in your back pocket. And the cost of sequencing your genome (3.2 billion base pairs) has decreased 100,000-fold over 13 years, a staggering speed that is 3 times faster than the rate of Moore’s Law."

https://singularityhub.com/2018/07/06/three-huge-ways-tech-is-overhauling-healthcare

Discovering new drugs and materials by ‘touching’ molecules in virtual reality

Very science fictiony way to design new materials:

http://www.kurzweilai.net/discovering-new-drugs-and-materials-by-touching-molecules-in-virtual-reality

The Infinadeck Omnidirectional Treadmill - Smarter Every Day 192 (VR Series)

You can see the future of VR gaming here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvu5FxKuqdQ

MIT’s Cheetah 3 blind robot can climb a staircase littered with debris, leap, and gallop across rough terrain

https://youtu.be/QZ1DaQgg3lE

We may have answered the Fermi Paradox: We are alone in the universe

This would suck...and make preserving out planet even more imperative:

https://qz.com/1314111/we-may-have-answered-the-fermi-paradox-we-are-alone-in-the-universe/

China's New Laser Gun Can Zap You with a Silent, Carbonizing Beam

I suspect this is bullshit, but here's the claim:

https://www.livescience.com/62973-china-laser-guns.html

Skeptics weigh in:

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2153791/laser-ak-47-chinese-developer-answers-sceptics-videos

Update: Yeah, certainly bullshit:

https://bigthink.com/news/we-call-bullshit-on-that-chinese-army-laser-gun-thats-making-the-rounds

Self-Driving Cars are Headed Toward an AI Roadblock

I really hope this isn't the case:

https://www.theverge.com/2018/7/3/17530232/self-driving-ai-winter-full-autonomy-waymo-tesla-uber

The New Energy Storage Tech Gates, Bezos, Ma, and Branson Are Investing In

Another potential avenue for solving the battery problem:

https://singularityhub.com/2018/07/02/the-new-energy-storage-tech-gates-bezos-ma-and-branson-are-investing-in/

One of these has to pay off sooner or later.

Disney Imagineering has created autonomous robot stunt doubles

Just because it's cool:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENa98h7M7qY

New material eliminates need for motors or actuators in future robots, other devices

"It can exert a force of up to 3000 times its own weight — producing stress and speed comparable to mammalian skeletal muscles, according to the researchers."

http://www.kurzweilai.net/new-material-eliminates-need-for-motors-or-actuators-in-future-robots-other-devices

A New Cloaking Approach Could Potentially Make Objects Invisible From Every Direction

No products yet, though:

https://futurism.com/cloaking-device-invisibility/

Organic Compounds Bubble Up from the Depths of Enceladus

And more encouragement for extraterrestrial life closer to home:

https://scitechdaily.com/organic-compounds-bubble-up-from-depths-of-enceladus/

Astronomers Discover More Clues That Earth-Like Exoplanets Are Indeed Earth-Like

This is encouraging for the prospects of extraterrestrial life:

https://scitechdaily.com/astronomers-discover-more-clues-that-earth-like-exoplanets-are-indeed-earth-like/

Nuclear Fusion Power Could Be Here by 2030, One Company Says

Well this is a step up from fusion power always being 30 years in the future:

https://www.livescience.com/62929-plasma-fusion-reactor-tokamak.html

The Smart Road Tech That’s Making Driving Faster, Safer, And Just Better

Very slick. Now if they can just integrate solar power:

https://singularityhub.com/2018/06/27/the-smart-road-tech-thats-making-driving-faster-safer-and-just-better/

Aliens May Be Rearranging Stars to Fight Dark Energy, Awesome Study Suggests

One way to possibly discover highly advanced alien life by simply looking at the stars:

https://www.livescience.com/62917-aliens-rearrange-stars-fight-dark-energy.html

DARPA Literally Reinvented The Wheel

Another very science-fictiony piece of tech:

https://taskandpurpose.com/darpa-wheel-combat-vehicles/

What it’s like to watch an IBM AI successfully debate humans

I watched a documentary on this. The amount of not just knowledge but ability to understand spoken debate and respond to it in kind is pretty amazing:

https://www.theverge.com/2018/6/18/17477686/ibm-project-debater-ai

Flying Dragon Robot Transforms Itself to Squeeze Through Gaps

Very science-fictiony cool (watch the video):

https://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/drones/flying-dragon-robot-transforms-itself-to-squeeze-through-gaps

Lab-Grown Neanderthal Minibrains Reveal How They’re Different From Humans’

https://futurism.com/lab-grown-neanderthal-minibrains-communicate/

Transdifferentiation Can Create An Endless Supply of Brain Cells—And Fast

A potential cure for aging?

https://singularityhub.com/2018/06/26/transdifferentiation-can-create-an-endless-supply-of-brain-cells-and-fast/

Electronic Skin Lets Amputees Feel Pain Through Their Prosthetics

An important step in truly useful bionics:

https://futurism.com/e-dermis-electronic-skin-pain/

This Jet Suit Agility Test Looks Like Something Straight Out Of An Action Film

More out of science fiction than an action film. Cool either way:

http://digg.com/video/jet-suit-testing

Hyundai teams up with VW's Audi to boost hydrogen cars

I think electric batteries are ultimately the way to go, but it's good to see alternatives being worked on:

https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-hyundai-audi/hyundai-teams-up-with-vws-audi-to-boost-hydrogen-cars-idUKKBN1JG0MM?il=0

CRISPR Doesn’t Cause Unintended Mutations in Monkeys, Study Finds

Good news:

https://futurism.com/crispr-off-target-mutations-monkeys/

Is AI on Track to Achieving Superintelligence?

Some fascinating developments...like being able to tell what a person looks like and much more from voice alone:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ls1_tqlpMww&feature=youtu.be

Artificial intelligence wins a debate against a human—twice

http://bigthink.com/brandon-weber/ibm-computer-wins-debate-against-humans

My conversation with an AI sexbot

It's happening. Slowly, and definitely not there yet, but surely:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pKczGG19uo&feature=youtu.be

Here Are The Best Candidates in the Competition to Design A Personal Flying Device

Just such a contest worked for robot cars in 2004 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DARPA_Grand_Challenge), so maybe we'll all have personal flying machines within 15-20 years:

https://futurism.com/boeing-gofly-competition-personal-flying-transport-vehicle/

Video Gamers May Soon Be Paid More Than Top Pro Athletes

Revenge of the nerds:

https://singularityhub.com/2018/06/14/video-gamers-may-soon-be-paid-more-than-top-pro-athletes/

Can Turning Air into Gasoline Really Reverse Climate Change?

It may be too expensive right now...but ultimately sucking carbon out of the air is going to have to happen:

https://www.livescience.com/62784-co2-suck-climate-gasoline-air.html

Tesla Will “Enable Full Self-Driving Features” in August. Here’s What That Actually Means.

This could be interesting:

https://futurism.com/tesla-full-self-driving-features-august/

Brain-Based Circuitry Just Made Artificial Intelligence A Whole Lot Faster

100 times less energy needed:

https://futurism.com/brain-based-circuitry-just-made-artificial-intelligence-faster/

The technologies which are revolutionizing batteries

Nanotech is creeping into batteries, but there are roadblocks:

https://nano-magazine.com/news/2018/6/13/the-technologies-which-are-revolutionizing-batteries/

This wild, AI-generated film is the next step in “whole-movie puppetry”

Filmmakers need not fear being replaced by A.I....yet:

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2018/06/this-wild-ai-generated-film-is-the-next-step-in-whole-movie-puppetry/

New PPA In Arizona Locks In Lowest Solar Prices In US As Demise Of Navajo Station Looms

Solar WITH battery comes out cheaper than coal here:

https://cleantechnica.com/2018/06/11/new-ppa-in-arizona-locks-in-lowest-solar-prices-in-us-as-demise-of-navajo-station-looms/

First contact: what if we find not organic life but ET’s AI?

An interesting exploration into the possibility of discovering machine life:

https://aeon.co/essays/first-contact-what-if-we-find-not-organic-life-but-ets-ai

The world’s most powerful supercomputer is tailor made for the AI era

https://www.technologyreview.com/s/611077/the-worlds-most-powerful-supercomputer-is-tailor-made-for-the-ai-era/

Waymo announces 7 million miles of testing, putting it far ahead of rivals

https://arstechnica.com/cars/2018/06/waymo-announces-7-million-miles-of-testing-putting-it-far-ahead-of-rivals/

The incredible inventions of intuitive AI | Maurice Conti

Enjoyable TED Talk:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aR5N2Jl8k14

This box sucks pure water out of dry desert air

All of us out west may be using this sort of a device before too long:

https://techcrunch.com/2018/06/08/this-box-sucks-pure-water-out-of-dry-desert-air/

Engineers Develop New System to Provide Low-Cost Drinking Water

This could add a massive amount to our drinking water supply:

https://scitechdaily.com/engineers-develop-new-system-to-provide-low-cost-drinking-water/

NASA Found Evidence of Organic Matter on Mars. Here’s Why That’s a Big Deal.

Very cool news!

https://futurism.com/curiosity-nasa-new-studies/

5 Reasons Car Companies Are Betting Big on Energy Storage

Makes a lot of sense to me:

https://singularityhub.com/2018/06/07/5-reasons-car-companies-are-betting-big-on-energy-storage/

To put things into perspective, a typical house easily runs on a 13.5 kWh Tesla Powerwall 2 all evening and more, and a Tesla car has a minimum of a 70 kWh battery.

Thank A Rare Fungus For The Sustainable Solar Cell Of The Future

A biological approach to solar power:

https://cleantechnica.com/2018/06/06/thank-a-rare-fungus-for-the-sustainable-solar-cell-of-the-future/

We took an exclusive ride in a flying car

A flying car made with drone technology to make it extremely simple to learn:

http://money.cnn.com/2018/06/06/technology/flying-car-las-vegas-kitty-hawk/index.html

AI can transfer human facial movements from one video to another

Further evolution in the creation of realistic fake videos. Pretty impressive...and bound to cause problems politically sooner or later:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=21&v=qc5P2bvfl44

Why the solar revolution is in grave danger—and how it can be saved

Stupidity must not prevail:

https://qz.com/1295679/why-the-solar-revolution-is-in-grave-danger-and-how-it-can-be-saved/

Robots Will Be Able to Feel Touch With This Artificial Nerve

https://singularityhub.com/2018/06/05/robots-will-be-able-to-feel-touch-with-this-artificial-nerve/#sm.0001p9abvhotbf0jwc02kzluw8213

How Cyanobacteria Could Help Save the Planet

Ultimately, I think we're going to need nanotech to pull carbon from the atmosphere and make it into useful products, but this may be helpful in the meantime:

https://singularityhub.com/2018/06/04/how-cyanobacteria-could-help-save-the-planet/

That natural gas power plant with no carbon emissions or air pollution? It works.

This sounds like a serious game-changer:

https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2018/6/1/17416444/net-power-natural-gas-carbon-air-pollution-allam-cycle

A Fruity Visual Metaphor Helps Explain Fermi’s Paradox

Simple illustrations for why we haven't detected any aliens out there:

https://futurism.com/videos/fermis-paradox-fruit-metaphor/

A Graphene Aerogel Is 99.8% Air and as Strong as Steel

I imagine aerogels would make great insulating structural supports for houses and perhaps vehicles:

https://futurism.com/videos/near-indestructible-gel-air/

High-quality carbon nanotubes made from carbon dioxide in the air break the manufacturing cost barrier

http://www.kurzweilai.net/high-quality-carbon-nanotubes-made-from-carbon-dioxide-in-the-air-break-the-manufacturing-cost-barrier

Batteries Still Suck, But Researchers Are Working on It

https://www.wired.com/story/building-a-better-battery/

Research Shows Advanced Biofuels Can Be Produced Extremely Efficiently

https://scitechdaily.com/research-shows-advanced-biofuels-can-be-produced-extremely-efficiently/

Revolutionary 3D nanohybrid lithium-ion battery could allow for charging in just seconds

Another potential game-changer:

http://www.kurzweilai.net/revolutionary-3d-nanohybrid-lithium-ion-battery-could-allow-for-charging-in-just-seconds

Outperforming steel and spider silk: The world's strongest bio-material

If wood is a good building material, this should be far better:

https://nano-magazine.com/news/2018/5/16/outperforming-steel-and-spider-silk-the-worlds-strongest-bio-material/

Scientists Transferred Memories From One Snail to Another. Someday, They Could Do The Same in Humans.

The earliest steps of downloading memories to our brains?

https://futurism.com/memory-snail-human-brain/

Researchers Develop A Fuel Cell That Uses Lignin

A renewable fuel cell fuel:

https://scitechdaily.com/researchers-develop-fuel-cell-that-uses-lignin/

Why the Discovery of Room-Temperature Superconductors Would Unleash Amazing Technologies

https://singularityhub.com/2018/05/13/the-search-for-high-temperature-superconductors/

You’ll Be Able to Buy a Boston Dynamics SpotMini Soon, Please Don’t Teach It To Kill

Mount a camera and a semi-automatic shotgun with a remote control trigger, and look out burglars, neighbors, and pretty much anyone else who might annoy you:

https://futurism.com/its-all-fun-and-games-until-private-security-turns-a-spotmini-into-a-killing-machine/

The LAPD’s Terrifying Palantir-Powered Policing Algorithm Was Just Uncovered and Yes It’s Basically ‘Minority Report’

This is concerning enough in the US. Imagine it used in an autocratic society to target dissent:

https://futurism.com/lapd-documents-show-their-policing-algorithms-continue-to-target-minorities-and-past-offenders/

How California’s Incredible New Solar Panel Law Is Historic for Green Energy

More on California's mandate for new housing to go solar:

https://futurism.com/california-solar-mandate/

Boston Dynamics’ Robot Just Went For A Cool Jog In The Garden, Like It’s No Big Deal

These critters are getting more and more Terminator-esque:

https://futurism.com/boston-dynamics-atlas-jogging/

Every Google search results in CO2 emissions. This real-time data viz shows how much

"One study from 2015 suggests internet activity results in as much CO2 emissions as the global aviation industry."

Yikes:

https://qz.com/1267709/every-google-search-results-in-co2-emissions-this-real-time-dataviz-shows-how-much/

Holograms Can Now Program Brain Activity—Are Fake Experiences Next?

This could lead to some pretty creepy scenarios:

https://singularityhub.com/2018/05/09/holograms-can-now-program-brain-activity-are-fake-experiences-next/

First Look: Google Lens

Cell phones truly are magic wands:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oywp4Uerd-4

Leapfrogging Tech Is Changing Millions of Lives. Here’s How

Skipping over the steps advanced nations used to get where they are saves time, money, energy, the environment, etc.:

https://singularityhub.com/2018/05/06/leapfrogging-tech-is-changing-millions-of-lives-heres-how/

Everyone Is Flipping Out About Google’s AI Assistant That Just Booked A Haircut On The Phone

The next logical step in artificial assistants:

https://futurism.com/google-assistant-booked-haircut-duplex/

This NYC Luxury Building Has The Air-Purifying Power Of 500 Trees

Way too many cities desperately need technology like this:

https://quartzy.qz.com/1269569/this-nyc-luxury-building-has-the-air-purifying-power-of-500-trees/

Prediction machines: Why A.I.’s true potential is learning to read the future

One of the more effective uses of A.I.:

http://bigthink.com/videos/ajay-agrawal-why-predictive-ai-leads-to-better-decision-making

Stephen Hawking’s (almost) last paper: putting an end to the beginning of the universe

This hypothesis is pretty mind blowing. It also includes a good simple explanation of cosmic inflation:

http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/05/stephen-hawking-s-almost-last-paper-putting-end-beginning-universe

Delivering VR in Perfect Focus With Nanostructure Meta-lenses

An important step in the development of virtual worlds indistinguishable from reality:

https://singularityhub.com/2018/05/04/delivering-vr-in-perfect-focus-with-nanostructure-meta-lenses/

California to become first U.S. state mandating solar on new homes

Woot!

https://www.ocregister.com/2018/05/04/california-to-become-first-u-s-state-mandating-solar-on-new-homes/

Biology Will be the Next Great Computing Platform

How CRISPR is moving into services and products:

https://www.wired.com/story/biology-will-be-the-next-great-computing-platform/

Scientists Announce Plan to Create Virus-Proof Cells

A rather drastic cure for the common cold:

http://time.com/5261777/scientists-virus-proof-cells/

3 Major Shifts Are About to Transform Manufacturing as We Know It

I look forward to designing my own products:

https://singularityhub.com/2018/05/01/3-major-shifts-are-about-to-transform-manufacturing-as-we-know-it/

The future is about manufacturing.

Cheap Hydrogen Fuel Was A Failed Promise. But Its Time May Have Arrived.

It's about damn time!

https://futurism.com/ammonia-hydrogen-fuel/

Watch Jeff Bezos’ space company Blue Origin launch its space tourism rocket

So the private space travel competition remains on:

https://qz.com/1265087/watch-jeff-bezos-space-company-blue-origin-launch-its-space-tourism-rocket-new-shepard/

Scientists Discover How to Harness the Power of Quantum Spookiness by Entangling Clouds of Atoms

https://singularityhub.com/2018/04/27/scientists-discover-how-to-harness-the-power-of-quantum-spookiness-by-entangling-clouds-of-atoms/

Stuff 3.0: The Era of Programmable Matter

A long-time nanotech promise:

https://singularityhub.com/2018/04/29/stuff-3-0-the-era-of-programmable-matter/

New Tech Marries the Best of Photonics and Electronics on the Same Silicon Chip

https://singularityhub.com/2018/04/30/new-tech-marries-the-best-of-photonics-and-electronics-on-the-same-silicon-chip/

Electric Buses Are Hurting the Oil Industry

This is significant:

"China had about 99 percent of the 385,000 electric buses on the roads worldwide in 2017, accounting for 17 percent of the country’s entire fleet. Every five weeks, Chinese cities add 9,500 of the zero-emissions transporters—the equivalent of London’s entire working fleet, according Bloomberg New Energy Finance."

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-04-23/electric-buses-are-hurting-the-oil-industry

A Data Storage Revolution? DNA Can Store Near Limitless Data in Almost Zero Space

"If we were to send a single exabyte of data (one billion gigabytes) to Mars using silicon binary media, it would take five Falcon Heavy rockets and cost $486 million in freight alone.

With DNA, we would need five cubic centimeters."

https://singularityhub.com/2018/04/26/the-answer-to-the-digital-data-tsunami-is-literally-in-our-dna/

Novel antioxidant makes old blood vessels seem young again

This sounds highly promising:

https://www.colorado.edu/today/2018/04/19/novel-antioxidant-makes-old-blood-vessels-seem-young-again

Frontier AI: How far are we from artificial “general” intelligence, really?

An interesting assessment. Things have been moving very quickly in the past year:

https://hackernoon.com/frontier-ai-how-far-are-we-from-artificial-general-intelligence-really-5b13b1ebcd4e

The Impossible Burger Looks, Tastes, and Smells Traditional – But Is Vegan

I wanted to try this meat substitute for myself, so I found a local restaurant that serves it. I have to say, that was a perfectly good burger and I would never have guessed it was vegan. Smell, taste, mouthfeel...all seemed like genuine beef:

https://futurism.com/videos/impossible-burger-traditional-vegan/

Assassin drones

The future of warfare will likely look a lot like this (click on "read more" on the Advancing Technologies page to see the embedded video):

Mini-Brains Just Grew Their Own Blood Vessels—Here’s Why That’s Great News

Ew. But rather cool. I wonder if mini-brains could be used to augment one's own brain?

https://singularityhub.com/2018/04/18/mini-brains-just-grew-their-own-blood-vessels-heres-why-thats-great-news/#sm.0001p9abvhotbf0jwc02kzluw8213

How your mini 'clone' heart could be grown in a jar

A variety of advances being made by combining biology with technology:

https://nano-magazine.com/news/2018/4/17/how-your-mini-clone-heart-could-be-grown-in-a-jar/

Engineers Develop New Manufacturing Process That Spools Out Strips of Graphene

Boring, but finding ways to make inexpensive graphene and nanotubes are critical to tomorrow's manufacturing:

https://scitechdaily.com/engineers-develop-new-manufacturing-process-that-spools-out-strips-of-graphene/

A future ultraminiature computer the size of a pinhead?

http://www.kurzweilai.net/a-future-ultraminiature-computer-the-size-of-a-pinhead

Toyota to launch 'talking' vehicles in United States in 2021

Best way to cut down on vehicle accidents, I'd say:

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-autos-communications-toyota/toyota-to-launch-talking-vehicles-in-united-states-in-2021-idUSKBN1HN2GJ