Lifeboat Foundation: Safeguarding Humanity
Toggle light / dark theme

Blog

Category: space travel

From CLUBOF.INFO

#YEStoIndependence? According to much of the negative commentary in the Scottish independence debate, scientific research in Scotland will be negatively affected by independence. However, Scottish contributions to science will in the long term receive more recognition if Scotland is an independent state.

Scotland is on the periphery of the UK. According to supporters of independence, the public spending Scotland is receiving from London is not proportionate to what it contributes to the British economy. The interests of the Scottish people are marginalized by London.

Independence: justified for any group that is neglected and marginalized

Scottish independence is not some narrow-minded celebration of nationalism, but a prudent economic decision. London’s inability to let the Scots pursue their own interests has naturally driven the people towards increasingly wanting to govern themselves as an independent state.
Desperately negative or even outright threatening statements from London aimed at the Scottish people only strengthen their preference not to be governed by London, thus leading to an increase in support for independence. As far as the interests of the Scottish people are concerned, independence may be the best choice when they vote in the referendum in September about whether or not to be governed from London.

Concern about independence harming science in Scotland is short term thinking

In the short term, funding to research in Scotland may indeed be negatively affected by independence, as predicted. However, this would really just be a transitory problem far outweighed by the long-term gains for the Scots.
An independent Scotland can be expected to want to change the direction of its development, including its research priorities, and these will be directed more in the interests of the Scottish people rather than Britain as a whole. In this sense, from London’s point of view, research will have been undermined, but from Edinburgh’s point of view it will only have been reoriented and sent in a different direction.
How Scotland progresses scientifically in the long term is up to the way successive Scottish governments handle research spending after independence, and that can be expected to be in the direction of improving their independent country’s standing globally. For this reason, the Scottish government already pledges that it will increasingly support research and development, working diligently to support Scottish scientists because this will help their independent country to stand out.

Scotland to get more recognition in scientific world, if independent

Independence will fundamentally change the way Scotland is perceived in the world. Rather than being seen as a periphery of Britain and all of its accomplishments being credited to the UK, Scotland will become an increasingly strong brand in itself and attract a lot of investment. Best of all, its people will be more recognized for their contributions to science, rather than all the credit going to London. It will have a unique opportunity to grow its own scientific community, and become a centre in ways that it was not before. After independence, there would likely be a lot of effort to create a ‘Scottish Silicon Valley’.
If people have doubts about this being a realistic outcome, they should consider Scotland’s leading scientific role in the United Kingdom at present. Most notably, Scotland is able to manufacture its own satellites and is becoming the site of the first spaceport in Britain. This is not a gift from the UK government, but a combination of the ideal launch sites being in Scotland and the fact that Scottish companies are in the lead in producing components and systems for the UK’s satellites. Considering these advantages, Scotland is likely to have a stronger presence in space and more leeway to make breakthroughs as an independent country than as part of the United Kingdom.
The UK’s scientific contributions could be reduced in the world’s eyes by the loss of Scotland from the Union, but Scotland’s contributions will be more recognized. As an independent country, it will stand out more and will be more motivated to improve its global standing.
There is good reason to expect that Scottish independence is not going to harm scientific funding or collaboration, and will instead lead to more recognition, more competition and a better use of resources within Scotland itself. In truth, this should be expected to lead to more effective global collaboration and more success.

Image credit: Clydespace

By Harry J. Bentham - More articles by Harry J. Bentham

Interested in the crossroads of politics and technology? Subscribe by email to receive the free CLUBOF.INFO Ezine

Book Review: The Human Race to the Future by Daniel Berleant (2013) (A Lifeboat Foundation publication)

Posted by Harry J. Bentham in alien life, asteroid/comet impacts, biotech/medical, business, climatology, disruptive technology, driverless cars, drones, economics, education, energy, engineering, ethics, evolution, existential risks, food, futurism, genetics, government, habitats, hardware, health, homo sapiens, human trajectories, information science, innovation, life extension, lifeboat, nanotechnology, neuroscience, nuclear weapons, philosophy, policy, posthumanism, robotics/AI, science, scientific freedom, security, singularity, space, space travel, sustainability, transhumanismTagged , , , , , , | Leave a Comment on Book Review: The Human Race to the Future by Daniel Berleant (2013) (A Lifeboat Foundation publication)

From CLUBOF.INFO

The Human Race to the Future (2014 Edition) is the scientific Lifeboat Foundation think tank’s publication first made available in 2013, covering a number of dilemmas fundamental to the human future and of great interest to all readers. Daniel Berleant’s approach to popularizing science is more entertaining than a lot of other science writers, and this book contains many surprises and useful knowledge.

Some of the science covered in The Human Race to the Future, such as future ice ages and predictions of where natural evolution will take us next, is not immediately relevant in our lives and politics, but it is still presented to make fascinating reading. The rest of the science in the book is very linked to society’s immediate future, and deserves great consideration by commentators, activists and policymakers because it is only going to get more important as the world moves forward.

The book makes many warnings and calls for caution, but also makes an optimistic forecast about how society might look in the future. For example, It is “economically possible” to have a society where all the basics are free and all work is essentially optional (a way for people to turn their hobbies into a way of earning more possessions) (p. 6–7).

A transhumanist possibility of interest in The Human Race to the Future is the change in how people communicate, including closing the gap between thought and action to create instruments (maybe even mechanical bodies) that respond to thought alone. The world may be projected to move away from keyboards and touchscreens towards mind-reading interfaces (p. 13–18). This would be necessary for people suffering from physical disabilities, and for soldiers in the arms race to improve response times in lethal situations.

To critique the above point made in the book, it is likely that drone operators and power-armor wearers in future armies would be very keen to link their brains directly to their hardware, and the emerging mind-reading technology would make it possible. However, there is reason to doubt the possibility of effective teamwork while relying on such interfaces. Verbal or visual interfaces are actually more attuned to people as a social animal, letting us hear or see our colleagues’ thoughts and review their actions as they happen, which allows for better teamwork. A soldier, for example, may be happy with his own improved reaction times when controlling equipment directly with his brain, but his fellow soldiers and officers may only be irritated by the lack of an intermediate phase to see his intent and rescind his actions before he completes them. Some helicopter and vehicle accidents are averted only by one crewman seeing another’s error, and correcting him in time. If vehicles were controlled by mind-reading, these errors would increasingly start to become fatal.

Reading and research is also an area that could develop in a radical new direction unlike anything before in the history of communication. The Human Race to the Future speculates that beyond articles as they exist now (e.g. Wikipedia articles) there could be custom-generated articles specific to the user’s research goal or browsing. One’s own query could shape the layout and content of each article, as it is generated. This way, reams of irrelevant information will not need to be waded through to answer a very specific query (p. 19–24).

Greatly similar to the same view I have written works expressing, the book sees industrial civilization as being burdened above all by too much centralization, e.g. oil refineries. This endangers civilization, and threatens collapse if something should later go wrong (p. 32, 33). For example, an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) resulting from a solar storm could cause serious damage as a result of the centralization of electrical infrastructure. Digital sabotage could also threaten such infrastructure (p. 34, 35).

The solution to this problem is decentralization, as “where centralization creates vulnerability, decentralization alleviates it” (p. 37). Solar cells are one example of decentralized power production (p. 37–40), but there is also much promise in home fuel production using such things as ethanol and biogas (p. 40–42). Beyond fuel, there is also much benefit that could come from decentralized, highly localized food production, even “labor-free”, and “using robots” (p. 42–45). These possibilities deserve maximum attention for the sake of world welfare, considering the increasing UN concerns about getting adequate food and energy supplies to the growing global population. There should not need to be a food vs. fuel debate, as the only acceptable solution can be to engineer solutions to both problems. An additional option for increasing food production is artificial meat, which should aim to replace the reliance on livestock. Reliance on livestock has an “intrinsic wastefulness” that artificial meat does not have, so it makes sense for artificial meat to become the cheapest option in the long run (p. 62–65). Perhaps stranger and more profound is the option of genetically enhancing humans to make better use of food and other resources (p. 271–274).

On a related topic, sequencing our own genome may be able to have “major impacts, from medicine to self-knowledge” (p. 46–51). However, the book does not contain mention of synthetic biology and the potential impacts of J. Craig Venter’s work, as explained in such works as Life at the Speed of Light. This could certainly be something worth adding to the story, if future editions of the book aim to include some additional detail.

At least related to synthetic biology is the book’s discussion of genetic engineering of plants to produce healthier or more abundant food. Alternatively, plants could be genetically programmed to extract metal compounds from the soil (p. 213–215). However, we must be aware that this could similarly lead to threats, such as “superweeds that overrun the world” similar to the flora in John Wyndam’s Day of the Triffids (p. 197–219). Synthetic biology products could also accidentally expose civilization to microorganisms with unknown consequences, perhaps even as dangerous as alien contagions depicted in fiction. On the other hand, they could lead to potentially unlimited resources, with strange vats of bacteria capable of manufacturing oil from simple chemical feedstocks. Indeed, “genetic engineering could be used to create organic prairies that are useful to humans” (p. 265), literally redesigning and upgrading our own environment to give us more resources.

The book advocates that politics should focus on long-term thinking, e.g. to deal with global warming, and should involve “synergistic cooperation” rather than “narrow national self-interest” (p. 66–75). This is a very important point, and may coincide with the complex prediction that nation states in their present form are flawed and too slow-moving. Nation-states may be increasingly incapable of meeting the challenges of an interconnected world in which national narratives produce less and less legitimate security thinking and transnational identities become more important.

Close to issues of security, The Human Race to the Future considers nuclear proliferation, and sees that the reasons for nuclear proliferation need to be investigated in more depth for the sake of simply by reducing incentives. To avoid further research, due to thinking that it has already been sufficiently completed, is “downright dangerous” (p. 89–94). Such a call is certainly necessary at a time when there is still hostility against developing countries with nuclear programs, and this hostility is simply inflammatory and making the world more dangerous. To a large extent, nuclear proliferation is inevitable in a world where countries are permitted to bomb one another because of little more than suspicions and fears.

Another area covered in this book that is worth celebrating is the AI singularity, which is described here as meaning the point at which a computer is sophisticated enough to design a more powerful computer than itself. While it could mean unlimited engineering and innovation without the need for human imagination, there are also great risks. For example, a “corporbot” or “robosoldier,” determined to promote the interests of an organization or defeat enemies, respectively. These, as repeatedly warned through science fiction, could become runaway entities that no longer listen to human orders (p. 83–88, 122–127).

A more distant possibility explored in Berleant’s book is the colonization of other planets in the solar system (p. 97–121, 169–174). There is the well-taken point that technological pioneers should already be trying to settle remote and inhospitable locations on Earth, to perfect the technology and society of self-sustaining settlements (Antarctica?) (p.106). Disaster scenarios considered in the book that may necessitate us moving off-world in the long term include a hydrogen sulfide poisoning apocalypse (p. 142–146) and a giant asteroid impact (p. 231–236)

The Human Race to the Future is a realistic and practical guide to the dilemmas fundamental to the human future. Of particular interest to general readers, policymakers and activists should be the issues that concern the near future, such as genetic engineering aimed at conservation of resources and the achievement of abundance.

By Harry J. Bentham - More articles by Harry J. Bentham

Originally published on April 22 in h+ Magazine

Interested in this subject? Subscribe to receive free CLUBOF.INFO articles by Email

Amy Shira Teitel — Motherboard

The Explosive Evolution That Took Rocket Cars and Trains to Space Flight

One night in the spring of 1914, what appeared to be an impossibly large comet whizzed through the skies over Innsbruck, the capital city of Tyrol in western Austria. It terrified the locals; it was too big and too low in the sky to be something as innocent and ordinary as an actual comet or a planet. It turned out to be something equally innocuous, however alien: a rocket-powered model airplane. Nineteen-year-old high school student Max Valier had launched his model with a firecracker as its engine. It was the first in a series of rocket-powered vehicles he would test in his short lifetime, all in the hope of eventually seeing rockets carry men into space.

Read more

Private Space exploration is gaining a lot of attention in the media today. It is expected to be the next big thing after social media, technology, and probably bio fuels . Can we take this further? With DARPA sponsoring the formation of the 100 Year Starship Study (100YSS) in 2011, can we do interstellar propulsion in our life times?

The Xodus One Foundation thinks this is feasible. To that end the Foundation has started the KickStarter project Ground Zero of Interstellar Propulsion to fund and accelerate this research. This project ends Fri, May 9 2014 7:39 AM MDT.

The community of interstellar propulsion researchers can be categorized into three groups, those who believe it cannot be done (Nay Sayers Group – NSG), those who believe that it requires some advanced form of conventional rockets (Advanced Rocket Group – ARG), and those who believe that it needs new physics (New Physics Group – NPG).

The Foundation belongs to the third group, the New Physics Group. The discovery in 2007 of the new massless formula for gravitational acceleration g=τc^2 , where τ is the change in time dilation over a specific height divided by that height, led to the inference that there is a new physics for interstellar propulsion that is waiting to be discovered.

What would this physics look like if nothing can travel faster than light? Founder & Chairman, Benjamin T Solomon, of the Xodus One Foundation believes that the answer lies in our understanding of photon probability. Can we discover enough physics to figure out how to control photon probability?

To facilitate this discovery one can participate in the Ground Zero of Interstellar Propulsion. If Solomon is right …

By Hotelier Middle East Staff

Virgin Galactic — backed by the Abu Dhabi government’s Aabar Investments — is expected to launch its first space flight within three months, marking the first commercial trip into outer space in history.

Branson, who also spoke about his plans to launch commercial space flights between London and Australia during a recent trip to Dubai, said if the flights are commercially successful there were numerous plans for space-related enterprises.

“If we can get enough people wanting to fly [to space] we can start building Virgin hotels in space, we can start doing trips to Mars, we can colonise Mars, we can start pulling asteroids back to Earth to see what minerals they have got in them,” he said during an interview on The Jonathan Ross show in the UK on Saturday.

Read more

By Katie Lobosco — CNN Money

winklevoss virgin galactic bitcoins
The brothers, known for their legal battle over the creation of Facebook (FB, Fortune 500), are going to space and paying for it with Bitcoins. Take that, Mark Zuckerberg.

The twins bought tickets, valued at $250,000 each, for a ride to space with Virgin Galactic. That’s about 375 Bitcoins, at Wednesday’s price.

They think of their purchase “as seed capital” supporting new technologies they have high hopes for.

Read more


By Harry Corlett — SpaceNews
Neil Armstrong is dead. The space shuttle program is no more. The Constellation program has been canceled, and the main spacecraft is a wheezy 50-year-old Soyuz. Our cosmic escapades feel distant. All those memories of daring men and women of “The Right Stuff” will soon be lost in time, like tears in rain, unless as a species we recognize the urgent need to venture to the stars.

On Jan. 31, NASA honored all the members of Apollo 1, Challenger and Columbia who perished while “furthering the cause of exploration and discovery.” Surely they would be devastated that their bravery and sacrifice might have been in vain as the great American pioneer flame gutters in the winds of political expediency.

Read more

By Eduard Gismatullin — Irish Examiner

More than 70 individuals with a combined wealth of $200bn (€145bn) are investing in space projects including travel, Knight Frank said ahead of its release of The Wealth Report 2014 on Wednesday.

A suborbital trip from London to Sydney will take about two hours and 12 minutes or one-tenth the time of flying by plane.

“New commercial space will be one of the most exciting investment sectors in the next 20 years,” Branson, founder of Virgin Galactic, was cited as saying in the statement.

Read more

LIST OF UPDATES (FEBRUARY 24 THROUGH MARCH 02/2014). By Mr. Andres Agostini at The Future of Scientific Management, Today! At http://lnkd.in/bYP2nDC

Brain signals from a primate directly move paralyzed limbs in another primate ‘avatar’
http://www.kurzweilai.net/brain-signals-from-a-primate-directly-move-paralyzed-limbs-in-another-primate-avatar

Rice’s carbon nanotube fibers outperform copper
http://www.kurzweilai.net/rices-carbon-nanotube-fibers-outperform-copper

Single-chip device to provide real-time ultrasonic 3D images from inside the heart and blood vessels
http://www.kurzweilai.net/single-chip-device-to-provide-real-time-ultrasonic-3d-images-from-inside-the-heart-and-blood-vessels

Researchers create powerful muscles from fishing line, sewing thread
http://www.kurzweilai.net/researchers-create-powerful-muscles-from-fishing-line-sewing-thread

The Future of World and Technology in 2030
http://vivatechnics.com/global/the-future-of-world-and-technology-in-2030/

Grandma’s Experiences Leave a Mark on Your Genes
http://discovermagazine.com/2013/may/13-grandmas-experiences-leave-epigenetic-mark-on-your-genes#.UwueOYVUOHd

Q&A with Martin Whist: Designing RoboCop’s Reboot
http://discovermagazine.com/2014/march/18-the-man-behind-robocops-reboot

Scientists Bring Extinct Mouth-Brooding Frog Back to Life After 30 Years
http://inhabitat.com/scientists-bring-extinct-mouth-brooding-frog-back-to-life-after-30-years/

Computer robots will outsmart humans within 15 years, Google director claims (and a giant laboratory for artificial intelligence is already planned)
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2565948/Computer-robots-outsmart-humans-15-years-Google-director-claims-giant-laboratory-artificial-intelligence-planned.html

Microsoft Said to Cut Windows Price 70% to Counter Rivals
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-02-22/microsoft-said-to-cut-windows-price-70-to-counter-rivals.html

Are the robots about to rise? Google’s new director of engineering thinks so…
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/feb/22/robots-google-ray-kurzweil-terminator-singularity-artificial-intelligence

5 Reasons Why Big Data Will Crush Big Research
http://www.forbes.com/sites/onmarketing/2013/12/03/5-reasons-why-big-data-will-crush-big-research/

Scientists ‘freeze’ light for an entire minute
http://themindunleashed.org/2014/02/scientists-freeze-light-entire-minute.html?utm_content=buffer60f8d&utm_medium=social&utm_source=linkedin.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Facebook will lose 80% of users by 2017, say Princeton researchers
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/jan/22/facebook-princeton-researchers-infectious-disease

Stanford’s New Pomegranate Super Batteries Could Store 10 Times More Juice
http://inhabitat.com/stanfords-new-pomegranate-super-batteries-could-store-10-times-more-juice/

Web Analytics Trends for 2014
http://www.atomrain.com/it/it/web-analytics-trends-2014

Bitcoin is not just digital currency. It’s Napster for finance.
http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2014/01/21/bitcoin-platform/

Did A Russian Scientist Really ‘Cure Aging’ or Is It Just a Fluke?

Did A Russian Scientist Really ‘Cure Aging’ or Is It Just a Fluke?

Map of the World key to full immersion in geospatial data
http://fcw.com/articles/2014/02/18/map-of-the-world-key-to-full-immersion-in-geospatial-data.aspx

When Will My Car Fix Istelf Using Wireless Uploads?

When Will My Car Fix Istelf Using Wireless Uploads?

The lie detector for your TWEETS: Scientists develop system that can tell fact from fiction in 140 characters or less
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2562919/A-lie-detector-TWEETS-Scientists-develop-tell-fact-fiction-140-characters-less.html

Don’t read War & Peace with your Google Glass…yet
http://www.publishingtechnology.com/2014/02/dont-read-war-peace-with-your-google-glassyet/

Henry Ford Gave Innovators The Wrong Message About The Value Of History
http://www.forbes.com/sites/johnowrid/2014/02/21/henry-ford-gave-innovators-the-wrong-message-about-the-value-of-history/

The Office Of The 21st Century Will Be Your Self-Driving Car
http://www.fastcodesign.com/3026652/the-office-of-the-21st-century-will-be-your-self-driving-car

An Amazing Village Designed Just For People With Dementia
http://gizmodo.com/inside-an-amazing-village-designed-just-for-people-with-1526062373

Scientists Turn Off Pain Using Nothing But Light
http://gizmodo.com/scientists-turn-off-pain-using-nothing-but-light-1526906564

UA Researchers Use 3D Printing to Help Fight Cancer

UA Researchers Use 3D Printing to Help Fight Cancer

Concrete and Climate Change – the Greening of Infrastructure

Concrete and Climate Change – the Greening of Infrastructure

Stephen Hawking: Humanity Must Colonize Space to Survive
http://www.space.com/20657-stephen-hawking-humanity-survival-space.html

Stephen Hawking: “Why We Should Go Into Space“
http://www.nss.org/resources/library/spacepolicy/hawking.htm

Incredible Technology: How Future Space Missions May Hunt for Alien Planets
http://news.yahoo.com/incredible-technology-future-space-missions-may-hunt-alien-114833845.html

Exoplanets: New missions hunting for alien worlds
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20130829-the-new-hunt-for-alien-worlds

Five alien worlds with water detected by Hubble Space Telescope
http://www.sott.net/article/269546-Five-alien-worlds-with-water-detected-by-Hubble-Space-Telescope

Drake equation: How many alien civilizations exist?
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20120821-how-many-alien-worlds-exist

DARPA Seeking Automated Decision Aids for Pilots and Battle Managers in Contested Environments
http://www.darpa.mil/NewsEvents/Releases/2014/02/21.aspx

Radiation-free cancer scans may be on the horizon
http://news.cnet.com/8301-11386_3-57619153-76/radiation-free-cancer-scans-may-be-on-the-horizon/

3 Ways Social Media Is Driving A Business Revolution
http://www.forbes.com/sites/drewhendricks/2014/02/25/3-ways-social-media-is-driving-a-business-revolution/

Your Twitter Search Results Will Now Feature Promoted Accounts
http://www.fastcompany.com/3026918/fast-feed/your-twitter-search-results-will-now-feature-promoted-accounts?partner=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+fastcompany%2Fheadlines+%28Fast+Company%29

Apple Doesn’t Need a Mega-Acquisition to Think Bold
http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2014/02/25/apple_mega_acquisition.html

How Millennials Are Changing the Face of Consumer Marketing
http://www.v3im.com/2014/02/how-millennials-are-changing-the-face-of-consumer-marketing/#axzz2uNRMOFdc

Not Your Typical Hackathon: Symantec’s Cyberwar Simulation Transforms Employees Into Criminals
http://www.fastcompany.com/3026749/not-your-typical-hackathon-symantecs-cyberwar-simulation-transforms-employees-into-criminals

How Cloud Computing is Changing Many Job Descriptions
http://www.forbes.com/sites/joemckendrick/2011/12/26/cloud-computing-is-changing-many-job-descriptions/

Are We Measuring Methane Accurately in Calculating GHG Emissions?

Are We Measuring Methane Accurately in Calculating GHG Emissions?

An Artificial Hand with Real Feeling
http://www.technologyreview.com/photoessay/524676/an-artificial-hand-with-real-feeling/

The Dawn of the Age of Artificial Intelligence
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/02/the-dawn-of-the-age-of-artificial-intelligence/283730/

Monetizing the Internet of Things : 4 key areas of focus
http://siliconangle.com/blog/2014/02/24/monetizing-the-internet-of-things-4-key-areas-of-focus/

25 maps and charts that explain America today
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/govbeat/wp/2014/02/24/25-maps-and-charts-that-explain-america-today/

Newest Air Force One aircraft to arrive in 2017
http://www.gsnmagazine.com/article/17880/newest_air_force_one_aircraft_arrive_2017

Lie detector on the way to test social media rumours
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-26263510

Future green technology concept
http://itechfuture.com/future-green-technology-concept/

The Google Smartwatch Is Real, And It’s Coming Soon (But Maybe Not Too Soon)

The Google Smartwatch Is Real, And It’s Coming Soon (But Maybe Not Too Soon)

Self-forming liquid metal just like a TERMINATOR emerges from China lab
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/02/21/liquid_metal_breakthrough_brings_our_robot_overlords_one_step_closer/

Fear of Being Different Stifles Talent
http://hbr.org/2014/03/fear-of-being-different-stifles-talent/ar/1?utm_campaign=Socialflow&utm_source=Socialflow&utm_medium=

Researchers hijack cancer migration mechanism to ‘move’ brain tumors
http://www.kurzweilai.net/researchers-hijack-cancer-migration-mechanism-to-move-brain-tumors

New wireless tech may radically transform mobile video streaming
http://www.kurzweilai.net/new-wireless-tech-may-radically-transform-mobile-video-streaming

Graphene found to efficiently absorb radio waves
http://www.kurzweilai.net/graphene-found-to-efficiently-absorb-radio-waves

Will plug-in electric cars crash the electric grid?
http://www.kurzweilai.net/will-plug-in-electric-cars-crash-the-electric-grid

The Future of the News Business: A Monumental Twitter Stream All in One Place

The Future of the News Business: A Monumental Twitter Stream All in One Place

Exiles on Main Street: When Ordinary People Resist the Oil-pocalypse
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/reverend-billy/resisting-the-oil-pocalypse_b_4855437.html?utm_hp_ref=green&ir=Green&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

PM/AM: Citizen Science Goes Mobile
http://www.popularmechanics.com/how-to/blog/pmam-citizen-science-goes-mobile-16530992?click=pm_latest

The Missed Opportunity in STEM Education
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-sten-odenwald/the-missed-opportunity-in-stem-education_b_4832030.html

‘Space-Based’ Astronomy From Antarctica
http://www.forbes.com/sites/brucedorminey/2014/02/25/space-based-astronomy-from-antarctica/

Two Explorers Just Completed A Polar Expedition That Killed Everyone The Last Time It Was Attempted
http://www.businessinsider.com/british-explorers-make-world-record-for-longest-polar-expedition-on-foot-2014-2

NASA to launch satellite in collaboration with ISRO
http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/nasa-to-launch-satellite-in-collaboration-with-isro-488328

Dad May Join Two Moms for Disease-Free Designer Babies
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-02-25/dad-may-join-two-moms-for-disease-free-designer-babies.html

Tiny Blobs and Tunnels in Meteorite Revive Debate Over Life on Mars
http://www.nbcnews.com/science/space/tiny-blobs-tunnels-meteorite-revive-debate-over-life-mars-n38431

How Millennials Can Better Prepare For Today’s Workforce: 10 Critical Steps
http://www.forbes.com/sites/kathycaprino/2014/02/22/how-millennials-can-better-prepare-for-todays-workforce-10-critical-steps/

Average Chinese Getting Richer
http://linkis.com/dlvr.it/Hzx4C

Swiss Company Turns Human Ashes Into Diamonds

Swiss Company Turns Human Ashes Into Diamonds

Why China can’t take over the world
http://qz.com/162690/why-china-cant-take-over-the-world/

How to Get a Job at Google

Nanopatterned natural biological scaffold for stem cells may allow for softer engineered tissues
http://www.kurzweilai.net/nanopatterned-natural-biological-scaffold-for-stem-cells-may-allow-for-softer-engineered-tissues

Offshore wind farms could tame hurricanes before they reach land, Stanford-led study says
http://www.kurzweilai.net/offshore-wind-farms-could-tame-hurricanes-before-they-reach-land-stanford-led-study-says

Major enigma solved in atmospheric chemistry
http://phys.org/news/2014-02-major-enigma-atmospheric-chemistry.html

Pine forest particles appear out of thin air, influence climate
http://phys.org/news/2014-02-forest-particles-thin-air-climate.html

Local Motors to Debut 3D Printed Car in September
http://www.engineering.com/3DPrinting/3DPrintingArticles/ArticleID/7214/Local-Motors-to-Debut-3D-Printed-Car-in-September.aspx

Rossetta’s Portrait Above Mars
http://www.engineering.com/DesignerEdge/DesignerEdgeArticles/ArticleID/7210/Rossettas-Portrait-Above-Mars.aspx

There is no Engineer in CAD!
http://www.engineering.com/DesignSoftware/DesignSoftwareArticles/ArticleID/7208/There-is-no-Engineer-in-CAD.aspx

Lotus Debuts its First Motorbike — The C-01
http://www.engineering.com/DesignerEdge/DesignerEdgeArticles/ArticleID/7200/Lotus-Debuts-its-First-Motorbike–The-C-01.aspx

Fastest Wire Bending in the World
http://www.engineering.com/Videos/VideoPlayer/tabid/4627/VideoId/3337/Fastest-Wire-Bending-In-The-World.aspx

Braigo — the Lego-made Braille printer built by a twelve year old
http://www.engineering.com/DesignerEdge/DesignerEdgeArticles/ArticleID/7201/Braigo–the-Lego-made-Braille-printer-built-by-a-twelve-year-old.aspx

Stretchable Optical Circuits Have Futuristic Possibilities
http://www.engineering.com/DesignerEdge/DesignerEdgeArticles/ArticleID/7194/Stretchable-Optical-Circuits-Have-Futuristic-Possibilities.aspx

10 ways mobile technology will save your life in the future
http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/25/business/10-ways-mobile-technology-will-save-your-life/?hpt=hp_c1

Boundless Natural Gas, Boundless Opportunities: Interview with EIA Chief
http://blog.cleantechies.com/2014/02/24/boundless-natural-gas-boundless-opportunities-interview-with-eia-chief/

Brain Scans Show Striking Similarities Between Dogs and Humans
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2014/02/dog-brains-vocal-processing/

Record number of test tube babies born in the U.S.
http://www.impactlab.net/2014/02/19/record-number-of-test-tube-babies-born-in-the-u-s/

A Solar Energy Breakthrough:
http://youtu.be/J_zzE8xMdZc

A Solar Energy Breakthrough:
http://youtu.be/J_zzE8xMdZc

A new breed of research is trying to Moneyball the least logical of all human endeavors: love.
http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/2014/02/the_science_of_relationships_predicting_love_one_data_point_at_a_time.html

Wearable computers could act like a sixth sense
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9246582/Wearable_computers_could_act_like_a_sixth_sense?pageNumber=1

3D printing takes on metal at Amsterdam lab (w/ video)
http://phys.org/news/2014-02-3d-metal-amsterdam-lab-video.html#ajTabs

QUOTATION(S): “…To every man there comes in his lifetime that special moment when he is figuratively tapped on the shoulder and offered a chance to do a very special thing, unique to him and fitted to his talents. What a tragedy if that moment finds him unprepared or unqualified for the work which would be his finest hour…”

AND

“…Change is not merely necessary to life ─ it is life…”

AND

“…The mind is a terrible thing to waste…”

CITATION(S): “…If you like where events seem to be headed, you may want to take timely action to preserve their positive trajectory. If you do not like where they appear to be going, you will have to develop and implement policies to change their trajectory…”

AND

“…Because time is real, and the future unpredictable, the challenge of carving a path into the future calls for a different way of thinking than the old, mechanical methods of strategic planning. In order to anticipate wholly new industries like the personal computer industry, it’s not enough to make predictions based on old assumptions. You need to imagine alternative scenarios based on new assumptions. You need to imagine alternative scenarios based on new assumptions. Those new assumptions need more than new numbers…”

NEWEST, PRACTICAL PRINCIPALS (TENETS) TO SEIZE SUSTAINABLE PROFESSIONAL, MANAGERIAL AND BUSINESS SUCCESS TENTES: (24) Don’t copy Nature and Biology, don’t even copy Universe. Just copy the Omniverse.

BOOK(S): The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable: With a new section: “On Robustness and Fragility… by Nassim Nicholas Taleb (ISBN-13: 978–0812973815).

N.B.: Quotations, Citations and Success Tenets are by the Futuretronium Book.

Regards,

Mr. Andres Agostini
Risk-Management Futurist and Success Consultant
http://lnkd.in/bYP2nDC