The World Transformed

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Risks: Rational and Otherwise, Best of TWT Mar 10, 2017

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[This show first aired February 11, 2008.] When risk is irrational: The EU is banning GM food.Recycling is important for the environment. But if the United States tried to adopt a system as onerous as the system in Sweden, there'd be the risk of a backlash. Phil recommends recycling our waste to make fuel.When making fuel, particularly ethanol, we have to beware the risk of unintended consequences. This week we learned that using food to make ethanol pushes corn production to places like Brazil where rain forests are slashed and burned. Counting that, the study argues, more carbon is released with corn ethanol than gasoline.Gilgamesh was said to be 2/3rds devine, 1/3 human. Phil wondered how that parentage was possible. Well, now its possible for embryos to come from 3 or any number of parents. What are the risks of designer babies? To the baby? To society?Existential risk - the various risks that our species could be wiped out.Stephen considered existential risks awhile back and thinks unfriendly AI might be the biggest risk.

Ancient Martian Fossils, Self-growing Computers, and Flowers that Cure Cancer Mar 09, 2017

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Hosts Phil Bowermaster and Stephen Gordon review amazing developments in a variety of scientific and technological fields Oldest Fossil Ever Found on Earth Shows that Alien Life on Mars “Likely” It’s life, but not as we know it. The oldest fossil ever discovered on Earth shows that organisms were thriving 4.2 billion years ago, hundreds of millions of years earlier than previously thought. University of Windsor lab uses compound inspired by spider lily to kill cancer cells A University of Windsor lab has successfully used a compound inspired by a flower to target and kill cancer. Scientists reveal new super-fast form of computer that 'grows as it computes' Researchers from The University of Manchester have shown it is possible to build a new super-fast form of computer that "grows as it computes". WT 275-584

Super Speculist Sunday, Best of TWT Mar 08, 2017

Show notes

[This show first aired February 3, 2008.] "The M Report." Michael Darling spoke about the dream of fusion power and the need to pursue Robert Bussard's reactor design. Bussard's model is significantly different from the Tokamak design. We're hoping that we push toward fusion purposefully, rather than hope for an accidental breakthrough as with AIDS in Nairobi. Astounding Science Facts: All blue eyed people are decended from a single individual who had mutant eyes.Astronomers have found a spiral galaxy that is rotating in two different directions. The inner part is rotating clockwise and the outer part is rotating counter-clockwise. How did this happen?Stephen thinks jet packs are cool. But if you want to strap something to your back and go flying, try powered paragliding. Its safer and cheaper.

Revisiting the Robot Good News / Bad News Mar 07, 2017

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Hosts Phil Bowermaster and Stephen Gordon debate whether AI and automation represent a coming economic boom or meltdown Which story gets ir right? Robots won't just take our jobs – they'll make the rich even richer Building Human-Level A.I. Will Require Billions of People Scenarios for how this might play out Robots take all the jobs (first article) Government pays UBIUBI funded by tax on machines Alternative Government apportions robot ownership to populationRobot tax paid to populace as dividends on robot profits AI creates huge opportunity for people to train AI (second article) Maybe this is the beginning oh how we merge with the machines ?Universal Basic Robots AI is open sourced and made available to anyone who wants to use itComputer and internet technology continue to be more widely available ?Universal Basic Abundance As we get chummier with the robots, we drive them towards being agents of post-scarcityUniversal access to the means of producing food and any material goods from raw materials WT 274-583

Don't Fear the Robots! (Or Should We?) Mar 04, 2017

Show notes

Hosts Phil Bowermaster and Stephen Gordon discuss positive and worrying trends related to artificial intelligence Reinforcement Learning Related: Playing Atari with Deep Reinforcement Learning Fear Not the Robots - Jobs Aren't Scarce The flip-side of the scarcity proposition, one that economists and others usually ignore, is that limitless consumption desires, relative to productive resources, means the number of tasks for people to do is also limitless. Jobs aren’t scarce! They are limitless as sure as consumption desires relative to productive resources are limitless. The notion that there is a fixed number of tasks or jobs to do at any point in time is bogus. Ditto for the notion that job opportunities can fall. A community’s economic ladder always has more rungs to climb. Virtual assistant Hound can make you an espresso while it reads your football scores OTHER GEEK Updates on Space and books on Audible WT 273-582

What Is Transhumanism? Panel Discussion, Best of TWT Mar 03, 2017

Show notes

[This show first aired January 28, 2008.] What is transhumanism?We all agreed that we need more kids interested in science. Some good programs that are already working toward this goal are: Knowledge Context, andFIRST. FIRST stands for For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology.Dean Kamen is trying to bring an invention to market that would produce clean drinking water for the poorest people in the world. The problem - he's having trouble getting investors.The panel talked about blade runner Oscar Pistorius as an example of a person who can function better than normal human. Check out the video of this runner at the link.

Human Lifespan X 10 (and Other Amazing Stories) Mar 02, 2017

Show notes

Hosts Phil Bowermaster and Stephen Gordon celebrate Amazing Wednesday --- and Future Day! -- with some very encouraging developments Endless nuclear power can be found in the seas A new technique makes it more feasible to extract trace uranium from the ocean. With $294M, Kamen Hopes to Bring Regenerative Medicine “Up to Scale” In December, the U.S. Department of Defense announced that Kamen, an Xconomist, would be helping to lead a coalition of 87 businesses, academic institutions, and other organizations in an effort to advance regenerative medicine and tissue engineering. The Math That Shows Humans Could Live Ten Times Longer A new model shows that evolution has programmed us to die—and that reprogramming isn’t off the table. Join us! WT 272-581

Star Trek Tech, Best of TWT Mar 01, 2017

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[This show first aired January 21, 2008.] Stephen Gordon and Michael Darling discuss the emergence of Star Trek technology in the world today. Topics: Methuseleh Yeast. Do we have a "Wondering Ecuadorian?" Was Nikola Tesla a time traveler? The Star Trek technologies that are now becoming real world inventions. Growing new organs that are a perfect match for patients by using protein scaffolding in the shape of the organ and the patient's own progenitor cells. It's the Chia heart! We're witnessing a race to bring plug-in hybrid vehicles to market. Today's nonplugin's have environmentally unfriendly nickel cadmium batteries. The plug-ins will have safe Lithium Ion batteries.

Back to the Moon (and on to the Stars) Feb 28, 2017

Show notes

Hosts Phil Bowermaster and Stephen Gordon discuss recent big news touching on space exploration. Is a return to the moon imminent? Nasa discovers new solar system TRAPPIST-1 - where life may have evolved on three planets Life may have evolved on at least three planets within a newly discovered solar system that is 39 light years from Earth, it was announced last night. How to Get Back to the Moon in 4 Years--This Time to Stay Who is able to land on the lunar surface? Elon Musk and Robert Bigelow. Musk’s rockets—the Falcon and the soon-to-be-launched Falcon Heavy—are built to take off and land. So far their landing capabilities have been used to ease them down on earth. Space Startups Are Booming in the Mojave Desert Inside a series of nondescript buildings in the driest desert in North America, an entrepreneurial enclave is chasing the next frontier of commerce. WT 271-580

How Elon Musk Can Become More Interesting Feb 25, 2017

Show notes

Phil and Stephen provide unsolicited advice to Elon Musk. Elon Musk Is Really Boring Elon Musk: Humans must merge with machines or become irrelevant in AI age AI will make life meaningless, Elon Musk warns OTHER GEEK Phil finally saw Arrival -- spoiler-laden review Stephen and family saw Lego Batman Stephen and sons finished (almost) a project he started in 2004: building his own arcade cabinet. WT 270-579

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