Lifeboat Foundation: Safeguarding Humanity
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IBM announced today it has successfully built and tested its most powerful universal quantum computing processors. The first new prototype processor will be the core for the first IBM Q early-access commercial systems. The first upgraded processor will be available for use by developers, researchers, and programmers to explore quantum computing using a real quantum processor at no cost via the IBM Cloud. The second is a new prototype of a commercial processor, which will be the core for the first IBM Q early-access commercial systems.

Launched in March 2017, IBM Q is an industry-first initiative to build commercially available universal quantum for business and science applications. IBM Q systems and services will be delivered via the IBM Cloud platform. IBM first opened public access to its quantum processors one year ago, to serve as an enablement tool for scientific research, a resource for university classrooms, and a catalyst of enthusiasm for the field. To date users have run more than 300,000 quantum experiments on the IBM Cloud.

With the introduction of two new processors today for IBM Q, the company is building the foundation for solving practical problems in business and science that are intractable even with today’s most powerful classical computing systems. The two new IBM-developed processors include:

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Sometimes, albeit rarely, people object to rejuvenation biotechnologies saying that ageing has its pluses too, thus subtly implying that we should leave it alone in order not to lose these pluses. The thing is, they’re not talking about the same kind of ageing that science is trying to undo. They’re mixing up chronological and biological ageing, and they’re not at all the same thing.

This objection is very simple to explain and even simpler to dismantle, because it boils down to a gross misunderstanding.

Whoever raises this objection generally says that with ageing comes experience, that later in life people are generally happier, more accomplished, and so on. I have nothing to object to that, except that all those nice things are a (possible) consequence of chronological ageing, most definitely not of biological ageing. It is not very often that people mix the two up, but at times they do, so let us clarify once and for all what the difference is.

Chronological ageing is nothing more, nothing less than the passing of time. Becoming chronologically older simply means that the time you’ve existed for is getting longer. There’s nothing wrong with it, and no one (to my knowledge) wants to stop, ‘cure’, or reverse chronological ageing—especially because that would be a bit complicated to do and it would have annoying side-effects, such as time freezing or rewinding your life back to your elementary school years, possibly dragging the entire universe along, and would do nothing to eliminate the ill health of old age. Doesn’t sound like a lot of fun—and I speak as a chap with a thing for time travel.

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The world isn’t changing — it has already changed. Just a few decades ago, the path to the “good life” seemed so obvious. Go to school. Graduate college. Pay your dues. Build your career.

Just play by the rules and you’d be guaranteed a spot at the table.

That’s what we were promised by our parents, our grandparents, our teachers and professors, our politicians and our society as a whole.

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“Members of a Hindu far-right organization called Arogya Bharati say they are working with expectant couples in the country to produce “customized” babies, who, they hope, will be taller, fairer and smarter than other babies, according to a report in the Indian Express newspaper.”

“The group’s health officials claimed that their program — a combination of diet, ayurvedic medicine and other practices — has led to 450 of these babies, and they hope to have “thousands” more by 2020, the report said.”

“The parents may have lower IQ, with a poor educational background, but their baby can be extremely bright. If the proper procedure is followed, babies of dark-skinned parents with lesser height can have fair complexion and grow taller,” Hitesh Jani, the group’s national convener, told the newspaper.”

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Nearly all those who await results have followed the traditional route to lawyerdom: They’ve toiled through three years of rigorous study at an American Bar Association-approved law school. They’ve taken $5,000+ bar exam prep courses. They’ve spent summers fetching coffee for district attorneys and corporate lawyers.

A select few, however, have completely bypassed these steps. Several U.S. states offer a little-known alternative path to the bar exam room: “reading the law” — or serving as an apprentice in the office of a practicing attorney or judge.

Last year, out of 83,963 bar exam takers, only 60 were apprentices. A mere 17 succeeded in passing the bar exam and becoming eligible to practice law. It is a long, difficult road, requiring four years of mentorship and thousands of hours of self-led work, but when completed, it can save a prospective lawyer hundreds of thousands of dollars in law school debt.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-6-T_StYM8

From 2014, a docu focusing on Aubrey and Bill Andrews.

Live forever… or die trying

For downloads and more information visit: http://www.journeyman.tv/67791/documentaries/the-immortalists-hd.html

What would the world look like if humans never grew old? Two eccentric biologists are determined to find out. In this larger-than-life doc, Bill Andrews and Aubrey de Grey leave behind the journals and peer reviews of the scientific establishment to embark on a quest for the age-old secret of eternal youth. Can it be done? And is it desirable? They differ in their approach, but are united in their goal: to learn to live forever, or die trying.

Structure Films — Ref 6258

Every week Journeyman offers a brand new documentary, fresh out of the cutting room. They’re award winning documentaries, some destined for the festival circuit and some for broadcast. The one thing you can know is that here you get to see them when they’re fresh, often before they appear anywhere else. To watch them in full go to our VOD platform at http://jman.TV

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Elena Milova continues her coverage of the recent conference on aging in St-Peterberg.

During my recent journey to Saint-Petersburg to attend the in situ education program of the International Institute on Ageing of the United Nations, Malta (INIA), I asked one of the main speakers, former Head of the UN Programs on Ageing Dr. Alexandre Sidorenko, to find a few minutes to talk about his work.

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Elena Milova was our official LEAF Ambassador at a special education program organized by the International Institute on Ageing of the United Nations, Malta (INIA). We are all really proud of the hard work she has been doing for aging research.

Here is her discussion with Dr. Marvin Formosa — director of the INIA. Enjoy!

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Alibaba Chairman Jack Ma warned on Monday that society could see decades of pain thanks to disruption caused by the internet and new technologies to different areas of the economy.

In a speech at a China Entrepreneur Club event, the billionaire urged governments to bring in education reform and outlined how humans need to work with machines.

“In the coming 30 years, the world’s pain will be much more than happiness, because there are many more problems that we have come across,” Ma said in Chinese, speaking about potential job disruptions caused by technology.

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