H+ Weekly - Issue #12
ISSUE #12
In this issue - how to shoot down a drone, children gets new hands, Facebook's new assistant AI, robots, virtual worlds and more!
Oh, and one more thing. H+ Weekly is now on Medium. It's yet another way to share with you what's worth knowing in the futuristic tech world.
More than human
Watch A Girl Named Isabella Unpack A New 3-D Printed Arm
If your work can make a children smile, you know you're doing something meaningful. Here's how 3D printing combined with prosthetics makes this girl smile.
'Bionic ear' lets deaf boy hear his family for the first time
Born profoundly deaf, five-year-old Caiden Moran is able to hear his family for the first time thanks to an auditory brainstem implant.
Boy, nine, fitted with first prosthetic hand that can change grip with gestures
A nine-year old boy, bullied because of his missing arm, received a new, very sophisticated prosthetic hand. Now he's a cyborg.
The Coming Wave of Bionic Hearing Gadgets
Startups like Doppler Labs are building earbuds that will let you turn down the volume on crying babies and pump up the bass on live music. Or to hear new sounds.
5 brain technologies that will shape our future
Nice showcase of the brain-related technologies, like mind mapping or brain-computer interfaces (BCI), that might change everything.
Artificial Intelligence
Facebook’s Human-Powered Assistant May Just Supercharge AI
Facebook has just challenged Siri, Google Now and Cortana by releasing M - their brand new human-powered virtual assistant. It promises to be way better than other services thanks to combined powers of AI and humans.
Google Is Working On A New Type Of Algorithm Called “Thought Vectors”
Google is working on a new type of algorithm designed to encode thoughts as sequences of numbers – something he described as “thought vectors”, which would enable machines to have something approaching human-like capacity for reasoning and logic.
Artificial Intelligence, Legal Responsibility And Civil Rights
The advances in robotics and AI will bring many new questions about our legal systems and civil rights, for which we don't have a good answer yet. For example, if robot commits a crime, who's to blame? The producer, the owner or maybe the robot? Can a robot have the civil rights?
Financial Robo-Advisers Go Into Overdrive as Market Rumbles
The Black Monday in China not only challenged the markets and investors, but also automated services that operate on financial markets. That was a test for them, a moment to show if they are worth the hassle or not.
This Robot Tutor Will Make Personalizing Education Easy
The best way to learn something is to have a teacher which is fully focused on his pupil. But personal teachers are expensive. Here where AI can help us. Meet Knewton, a startup that promises personalized education made easy with some help from artificial intelligence.
Will Artificial Intelligence be a Buddha? Is Fear of AI just a symptom of Human Self-Loathing?
We all are now hearing about killer AI or AI doomsday scenario. But there exists the possibility that artificial intelligence would most likely be more like a Buddha or saint, than a tyrannical operating system hell bent on destroying humans. Nicole Sallak Anderson explains this idea and also makes some points about human nature when exposed to idea of true artificial intelligence.
Robotics
Inside Amazon’s Warehouse, Human-Robot Symbiosis Amazon’s newest warehouse is testing the limits of automation and human-machine collaboration.
Robots With Smooth Moves Are Up to 40% More Efficient
It turns out that quick, precise robotic moves are not so efficient. Swedish researchers have taken a crack at robot arm efficiency, and come up with an optimization algorithm that tweaks acceleration and deceleration to reduce energy consumption by up to 40 percent.
How to Stop People from Flying Drones into Airplanes
From time to time, you might see headlines telling that another plane almost hit a drone. Drones in the hands of irresponsible persons might be a cause of a tragedy. Drone producers are aware of the problem and they try to solve the problem.
Welcome to the World, Drone-Killing Laser Cannon
Destroy drones with lazers!
New shotgun shell being marketed for shooting down drones
Or if you don't have a laser, maybe a good old shotgun with special shells would do the job?
Police in North Dakota can now use drones armed with tasers
Police in North Dakota are now authorized to use drones armed with tasers, tear gas, rubber bullets, and other "non-lethal" weapons.
8 Advanced Military Robot Conceptions You Should Definitely Know About
Army guys like robots. Here's a list of 8 military robots you should know.
This Robot Reads WikiHow Guides to Learn How to Make Breakfast
RobotHow's PR2 robot knows how to read and how to learn by reading. For example, it read how to make a breakfast on the Internet and made the breakfast. Impressive.
Should police have the capability to take control of driverless cars?
New technologies are forcing us to reevaluate our current beliefs and rules we follow. Without a doubt, driveless cars is a disruptive technology which will change everything. And people are asking questions about the impact of the technology on our lives. Like, should police be able to take control of driveless cars?
Virtual worlds
What Would a Truly 3D Operating System Look Like?
Guys from Leap Motion shares their insights and general rules on how to design a truly 3D operating system or a 3D interfaces.
The 3 Most Common Arguments Against VR and Why They’re Wrong Three most common arguments against VR debunked!
Biotechnology
Will Genetic Modification Kill Or Save Humanity?
Trace Dominguez discusses pros and cons of the genetic modifications. GMO, gene therapies, designing humans. Who it be the best thing humanity has in its hands? Or would it kill us?
A Google exec wants to genetically modify mosquitoes to wipe out malaria
Linus Upson, a Google executive who helped build the Chrome browser, says he wants to start a project that would genetically engineer mosquito's to help eradicate diseases like malaria and dengue fever. Noble goal, but for balance please also watch Trace's video above.
Dick Kitney - How synthetic biology will change the world
From vaccines to face creams, water treatment and a new source of energy, techniques to re-engineer DNA could revolutionise vast areas of global industry. Already America’s fastest growing sector, Biomedical engineer Professor Richard Kitney will explain why the UK government describes synthetic biology as one of its Eight Great Technologies for future economic prosperity.
New Life Form Created from Synthetic DNA
A small biotech startup in California has successfully added new synthetic components to the genetic alphabet of DNA, potentially creating entirely new kinds of life on Earth.
Are Vertical Farms The Future Of Agriculture?
The world requires an area of farmland the size of South America to feed itself. What will we do when we run out of farmland? We will build a farm on top of another farm, and so on.
Something to listen
Inquiring Minds - Alex Garland - The Science of Ex Machina
Alex Garland, the director of the Ex Machina, talks on Inquiring Minds about the science behind the movie and what he learned in the process of making it.
Something different
Gartner's 2015 Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies
Gartner published this year's edition of their famous Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies, which tries to show in what stage different emerging technologies are.
The future is now: 6 startups bringing science fiction to life
Augmented reality, robots, biotechnology - this article showcases six startups which are trying to bring science fiction to life.
If augmented reality became popular someone will make this app
I guarantee it.
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