October 2017 – Lifeboat News: The Blog https://lifeboat.com/blog Safeguarding Humanity Fri, 03 Nov 2017 23:21:13 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.6.2 This handheld 3D body scanning device could replace the MRI — using the motion-sensing technology from a Nintendo Wii https://lifeboat.com/blog/2017/10/this-handheld-3d-body-scanning-device-could-replace-the-mri-using-the-motion-sensing-technology-from-a-nintendo-wii Wed, 01 Nov 2017 03:02:30 +0000 https://lifeboat.com/blog/2017/10/this-handheld-3d-body-scanning-device-could-replace-the-mri-using-the-motion-sensing-technology-from-a-nintendo-wii

Emergency Physician Joshua Broder realized his son’s Wii controller could detect movement than a $50,000 ultrasound machine. So he combined them.

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Truck attack in Manhattan kills 8; mayor calls it act of terror https://lifeboat.com/blog/2017/10/truck-attack-in-manhattan-kills-8-mayor-calls-it-act-of-terror Tue, 31 Oct 2017 21:42:27 +0000 https://lifeboat.com/blog/2017/10/truck-attack-in-manhattan-kills-8-mayor-calls-it-act-of-terror

NYC attack kills 8, injures 9; suspect in custody.


“This was an act of terror, and a particularly cowardly act of terror,” he said.

[Previous story, posted at 5:19 p.m. ET]

The driver of a rental truck drove the wrong way down a busy bicycle path in Manhattan near the World Trade Center, killing up to six people and striking numerous others, a New York Police official said.

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Alzheimer’s may be able to spread through blood transfusions https://lifeboat.com/blog/2017/10/alzheimers-may-be-able-to-spread-through-blood-transfusions Tue, 31 Oct 2017 20:42:29 +0000 https://lifeboat.com/blog/2017/10/alzheimers-may-be-able-to-spread-through-blood-transfusions

Alzheimer’s may be contagious.


A protein might be capable of spreading Alzheimer’s through blood transfusions and surgical equipment, but we don’t know yet how much of a risk this is.

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Robot bees can now dive in and out of water using tiny combustible rockets https://lifeboat.com/blog/2017/10/robot-bees-can-now-dive-in-and-out-of-water-using-tiny-combustible-rockets Tue, 31 Oct 2017 20:22:31 +0000 https://lifeboat.com/blog/2017/10/robot-bees-can-now-dive-in-and-out-of-water-using-tiny-combustible-rockets

Take that, real bees.

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The Race to Create a Star on Earth https://lifeboat.com/blog/2017/10/the-race-to-create-a-star-on-earth Tue, 31 Oct 2017 20:02:28 +0000 https://lifeboat.com/blog/2017/10/the-race-to-create-a-star-on-earth

If the processes powering the fusion reactor at the Sun’s core could be recreated on Earth, it would be one of the most important events in the history of our species. Nuclear fusion power plants could end our dependency on fossil fuels and provide a virtually limitless, highly efficient source of clean energy.

We went to two of the world’s leading nuclear fusion research centers—Sandia National Labs in New Mexico and General Fusion outside Vancouver—to see how close we are to bringing the power of the stars down to Earth.

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The robots helping to clear up Fukushima https://lifeboat.com/blog/2017/10/the-robots-helping-to-clear-up-fukushima Tue, 31 Oct 2017 19:42:46 +0000 https://lifeboat.com/blog/2017/10/the-robots-helping-to-clear-up-fukushima

Robots have become central to the cleaning-up operation at Japan’s Fukushima nuclear power plant, six years after the tsunami that triggered the nuclear meltdown.

It is estimated that around 600 tonnes of toxic fuel may have leaked out of the reactor during the incident.

The Tokyo Electric Power Company is using a variety of robots to explore areas too dangerous for people to go near.

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Gene-editing tool CRISPR can now manipulate more types of genetic material https://lifeboat.com/blog/2017/10/gene-editing-tool-crispr-can-now-manipulate-more-types-of-genetic-material Tue, 31 Oct 2017 19:42:32 +0000 https://lifeboat.com/blog/2017/10/gene-editing-tool-crispr-can-now-manipulate-more-types-of-genetic-material

‘It’s another tool in the toolbox’

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Can artificial intelligence beat musicians at their craft? https://lifeboat.com/blog/2017/10/can-artificial-intelligence-beat-musicians-at-their-craft Tue, 31 Oct 2017 19:22:28 +0000 https://lifeboat.com/blog/2017/10/can-artificial-intelligence-beat-musicians-at-their-craft

Artificial intelligence is automating tasks in many domains. Do musicians have reason to worry?

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Why tech giants are investing millions in AI that can play video games https://lifeboat.com/blog/2017/10/why-tech-giants-are-investing-millions-in-ai-that-can-play-video-games Tue, 31 Oct 2017 18:42:58 +0000 https://lifeboat.com/blog/2017/10/why-tech-giants-are-investing-millions-in-ai-that-can-play-video-games

For any AI people out there. I’d really like to see an AI get dropped into Ocarina of Time, and then Skyrim. The day an AI can be dropped into those, and complete the entire games, and go out and complete all the weird random tasks, it should be pretty close to human level.


AI just beat a top human professional in the game Dota 2, but the technology could help with much bigger strategic problems.

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The Huge Promise of Transparent Solar Cells—Turning the World’s Glass Surfaces Into Solar Panels https://lifeboat.com/blog/2017/10/the-huge-promise-of-transparent-solar-cells-turning-the-worlds-glass-surfaces-into-solar-panels Tue, 31 Oct 2017 18:42:36 +0000 https://lifeboat.com/blog/2017/10/the-huge-promise-of-transparent-solar-cells-turning-the-worlds-glass-surfaces-into-solar-panels

A long way to go but potentially well worth the R&D.


Transparent solar cells started to emerge in the last 5–6 years, but there are already some live installations of this tech with impressive performance.

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