Baffled by the Singularity? Heard it referred to in blogs and science fiction novels, but not entirely sure what people mean when they say it? You’re not alone – but Michael Anissimov at Accelerating Future has a handy round-up of articles that should get you up to speed on ‘friendly’ general artificial intelligence and the Singularity as seen from the leading edge of theory.
All posts by Paul Raven
The hazards for life on Mars
It’s a tautology to say that Mars isn’t the most friendly environment for human explorers. In addition to the lack of atmosphere, fluctuating temperatures and high levels of cosmic radiation, fierce storms of super-fine Martian dust could present a serious problem for bold pioneers on the Red Planet’s surface. In fact, Mars’ surface is inimical to local lifeforms, too – which is why NASA’s forthcoming Phoenix Lander will be digging beneath the surface in its hunt for indigenous microbial critters.
Lego lifeforms – the progress of synthetic biology
Biotech is really hitting its stride as far as rapid progress – and grabbing headlines – is concerned. New Scientist takes a look at the work of Craig Venter – the tycoon who recently attempted to patent a ‘minimal genome’ – who claims his team have passed an important milestone in the journey towards creating entirely synthetic bacteria … and at his competitors, who believe that Venter’s
project isn’t creating genuine synthetic life at all.
Strange sources for marvellous medicines
We humans use some pretty odd things as medicines – penicillin is a form of fruit mold, after all. But sometimes the origins and other uses of a substance get in the way of objective scientific study of its effects – the marijuana debate being a prime example. That said, mold and resinous plants are fairly innocuous when compared to the
original source of a new weight-loss drug for diabetics – gila monster saliva.
Could Bigelow’s inflatables replace the International Space Station?
Bigelow Aerospace is certainly on a roll with their inflatable orbital module projects, demonstrating that you don’t need a vast Federal budget to get functional capsules into space. Colony Worlds suggests that such low-tech success stories will erode political support for the ISS, which will become increasingly hard to maintain once the Space Shuttle is retired. Will this be the tipping point for the commercial space industry?