New Human-Like Species Discovered in South Africa
September 10th, 2015Via: BBC:
Scientists have discovered a new human-like species in a burial chamber deep in a cave system in South Africa.
The discovery of 15 partial skeletons is the largest single discovery of its type in Africa.
The researchers claim that the discovery will change ideas about our human ancestors.
The studies which have been published in the journal Elife also indicate that these individuals were capable of ritual behaviour.
The species, which has been named naledi, has been classified in the grouping, or genus, Homo, to which modern humans belong.
The researchers who made the find have not been able to find out how long ago these creatures lived – but the scientist who led the team, Prof Lee Berger, told BBC News that he believed they could be among the first of our kind (genus Homo) and could have lived in Africa up to three million years ago.
Genetic Modification of Human Embryos
September 9th, 2015I just read about this in, Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies by Nick Bostrom and the implications are very wild and potentially terrifying, especially in terms of social engineering.
Via: BBC:
It is “essential” that the genetic modification of human embryos is allowed, says a group of scientists, ethicists and policy experts.
A Hinxton Group report says editing the genetic code of early stage embryos is of “tremendous value” to research.
It adds although GM babies should not be allowed to be born at the moment, it may be “morally acceptable” under some circumstances in the future.
The US refuses to fund research involving the gene editing of embryos.
The global Hinxton Group met in response to the phenomenal advances taking place in the field of genetics.
A range of novel techniques combine a “molecular sat-nav” that travels to a precise location in our DNA with a pair of “molecular scissors” that cut it.
It has transformed research in a wide range of fields, but the progress means genetically modified babies are ceasing to be a prospect and fast becoming a possibility.
Meanwhile, in Hitachi Warehouses
September 9th, 2015Via: Popular Science:
Say hello to your new artificial intelligence overlord–er, boss.
At Hitachi, the Japanese electronics manufacturer, workers have started to take orders from artificial intelligence programs meant to increase productivity in the workplace.
Hitachi has deployed the AI in an unspecified number of warehouses, where it issues work orders and instructions to employees. The computer analyzes employees’ previous approaches to problems, and if an employee uses a new way to accomplish a job more efficiently, that technique is analyzed and used later on. This idea of kaizen, or constant improvement, is an often-repeated theme in Hitachi’s announcement of the AI system.
Rather than relying on preprogrammed instructions like other warehouse software, Hitachi claims that this AI can go off-script, adapting to on-site changes, weather patterns, and shifts in demand.
The company says productivity has already increased in the warehouse environment by 8 percent, compared to one of their non-AI run warehouses, and they hope to expand “human and AI cooperation.” Last month, they also announced a warehouse robot that picks up items twice as fast as other robots. It has two arms that operate independently, and is expected to be commercially available within 5 years.
Hitachi may be the first to create robot bosses, but AI has been seen in warehouses before. Suppliers like Amazon and Diapers.com use autonomous warehouse robots outfitted with AI algorithms to deliver items to the humans packing boxes.
Russian Troops Join Combat in Syria
September 9th, 2015Via: Reuters:
Russian forces have begun participating in military operations in Syria in support of government troops, three Lebanese sources familiar with the political and military situation there said on Wednesday.
The sources, speaking to Reuters on condition they not be identified, gave the most forthright account yet from the region of what U.S. officials say appears to be a new military buildup by Moscow, one of President Bashar al-Assad’s main allies, though one of the sources said the numbers of Russians involved so far were small.
…
Moscow confirmed it had “experts” on the ground.
The Website That Visualizes Human Activity in Cities Across the World
September 9th, 2015Via: MIT Technology Review:
Phone data is set to become a standard resource that almost anyone can use to study and watch humanity continuously, much as they can now watch the weather unfold anywhere on the planet almost in real time.
But one thing is holding them back—the lack of powerful computational tools that can gather, crunch, and present the data in meaningful ways.
Today, that looks set to change to the work of Dániel Kondor and a few pals at the SENSEable City Laboratory, part of MIT, and at Ericsson, a company that produces network infrastructure technologies. These guys have unveiled a powerful online tool that uses mobile phone data to visualize human activity in cities all over the world.
This new tool, called ManyCities, allows anybody to study human activity in various cities with unprecedented detail. But the key is that it organizes and presents the data in intuitive ways that quickly reveals trends and special events.
Kondor and co show off their new toy by gathering mobile phone data from base stations across the cities of Los Angeles, New York, London, and Hong Kong between April 2013 and January 2014. The data includes the number of calls placed, the number of text messages sent, the amount of data downloaded and uploaded and the number of data requests at 15-minute intervals.
“The aggregated data does not include any sensitive customer information, but provides enough detail about the typical usage patterns on the scale of small neighborhoods,” say Kondor and co.
The CIA’s Most Famous Ship Headed for the Scrapyard
September 9th, 2015Via: PRI:
The Hughes Glomar Explorer was more than just a giant ship — it was a giant secret, possibly the biggest and strangest covert operation the CIA pulled off during the Cold War. But now, 40 years after its original mission, it’s finally headed to the scrapyard.
Macy’s to Close 35-40 Stores
September 8th, 2015Recovery.
Via: USA Today:
Macy’s will close 35 to 40 underperforming stores, around 5% of its total locations, the department store chain announced Tuesday.
The stores, slated to be shuttered in early 2016, will be identified at a later date, said the company with corporate offices in Cincinnati and New York.
New Teflon Coating Renders Drones Nearly Invisible
September 8th, 2015Via: Inverse:
Just as we’re getting used to the idea of drones flying overhead, the University of California-San Diego has figured out how to make them invisible.
While making a drone literally invisible isn’t possible, covering it in a sheet that reflects its surroundings — like a fluid mirror — has a similar effect. The UCSD researchers just published their work in the journal Progress In Electromagnetics Research and, yes, they can do that.
Germany: Dozens of People at Homeopathy Conference Given Hallucinogenic Drug
September 8th, 2015Via: Independent:
An alternative medicine conference has ended in chaos in Germany after dozens of delegates took a LSD-like drug and started suffering from hallucinations.
Broadcaster NDR described the 29 men and women “staggering around, rolling in a meadow, talking gibberish and suffering severe cramps”.
The group of “Heilpraktikers” was discovered at the hotel where they held their conference in the town of Handeloh, south of Hamburg, on Friday.
More than 150 medical staff, ambulances and police descended on the scene and took the raving delegates to hospital.
The patients, aged between 24 and 56, were found suffering from delusions, breathing problems, racing hearts and cramps, with some in a serious condition, Deutsche Welle reported.
Tests on their blood and urine revealed they had all taken hallucinogenic drug 2C-E, which is known as Aquarust in Germany and has been illegal there since the end of last year.
Study Links Air Pollution to Children’s Low Grades
September 8th, 2015Via: University of Texas at El Paso:
A University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) study on children’s health has found that fourth and fifth graders who are exposed to toxic air pollutants at home are more likely to have lower GPAs.
UTEP researchers analyzed academic performance and sociodemographic data for 1,895 fourth and fifth grade children living in El Paso, Texas that were attending the El Paso Independent School District (EPISD).
They used the Environmental Protection Agency’s National Air Toxics Assessment to estimate children’s exposure to toxic air pollutants, such as diesel exhaust, around the location of their homes.
Children who were exposed to high levels of motor vehicle emissions from cars, trucks and buses on roads and highways were found to have significantly lower GPAs, even when accounting for other factors known to influence school performance. The results of the study were published in the academic journal Population and Environment.
