News of The Future, This Week: December 19, 2017

December 19, 2017 by Mark Sackler

Blockchain is the tech. Bitcoin is merely the first mainstream manifestation of its potential.”–Marc Kenigsberg, founder, Bitcoin Chaser

http://www.andertoons.com

The price of a single Bitcoin, as of this writing, sits at just north of US$18,300. At that level, I don’t think that guy to the left is going to be finding too many of them in his virtual hat. But as this week’s lead story suggests, some workers in Japan will soon need Bitcoin wallets.***

While you’re reading about all this week’s future-related news, don’t forget that you can subscribe to Seeking Delphi™ podcasts on iTunes or PlayerFM, and you can also follow us on Twitter and Facebook

Bitcoin/Cryptocurrency/Digital Payments–A Japanese company will start paying part of it’s employees salaries in Bitcoin. Participation is voluntary; that’s probably a good thing. When the bubble caves in, those employees might wind up looking like the bum in the cartoon.

—Wired Magazine reports that a serious unintended side effect of Bitcoin is environmental damage. The mining of Bitcoin, according to a source they cite, is burning more energy than the entire nation of Serbia.

–Despite strong growth of digital payments and cryptocurrencies, it appears cash won’t be going away any time soon. According to a report by Boston Consulting Group, digital payments will account for about 30-35% of all non-credit transactions by 2025.

The Future of China–Next Big Future reports that China has embarked on a three year plan for a massive roll-out of artificial intelligence systems centered mainly in manufacturing, autonomous vehicles, and energy efficiency management.

—The Chinese won’t make it easy for foreign firms entering the self-driving car market, though. They won’t be allowed to map roads in China, and will have to partner with Chinese firms to do so if they want to sell, build or operate autonomous vehicles there.

—According to a new report Global Cities report by Oxford Economics, Asian cities (mostly Chinese) will outstrip European and North American cities in total economic activity by 2035, and will account for nearly half of global GDP.

Advanced Transport–Virgin Hyperloop One set a new speed record for the vacuum tube transport system. The system reached 240 mph (387 kph) on December 18, surpassing the record of 220 mph (355 kph) set this past summer by Elon Musk’s hyperloop.

Coming Attractions–2017, Future Stories, year in review, coming next week.

***By the time I hit the “publish” button on this post, the Price of Bitcoin had fallen, in just a few hours, to under $17,000. That represented a drop of 15% from its high over $19,000 earlier in the day.

A reminder that the Seeking Delphi™ podcast is available on iTunes, PlayerFM, blubrry , and has a channel on YouTube. You can also follow us on Facebook.

Podcast #19: Ending Aging, with Aubrey de Grey

December 13, 2017 by Mark Sackler

“Aging is mostly the failure to repair.”–Gregory Benford

One man who agrees wholeheartedly with Gregory Benford is Aubrey de Grey. He’s the author of Ending Aging, and chief science officer of the SENS Foundation, a 501-(c)(3) non-profit dedicated to researching the reversal of human aging. His approach focuses on 7 areas of cellular and molecular damage, the repair of which he believes to be the keys to effective rejuvenation therapy. He joins me in this episode of Seeking Delphi™ for a lively discussion on the present state of the anti-aging art.

Links to relevant stories appear after the audio file and embedded YouTube video below. A reminder that this and all Seeking Delphi ™podcasts are available on iTunes, PlayerFM, and has a channel on YouTube. You can also follow us on Facebook

Follow me on twitter @MarkSackler

Episode #19, Ending Aging With Aubrey de Grey

YouTube slide show of Episode #19

Relevant links

Aubrey de Grey wikipedia bio

SENS Foundation

Elizabeth Parrish self-tests Bioviva gene therapy

Brian Hanley’s bold experiment

George Church’s ambitious plans

Laura Deming’s Longevity Fund

Information injected into monkey brains

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The Future This Week: December 12, 2017

December 12, 2017 by Mark Sackler

“The pace of progress on Mars depends upon the pace of progress of SpaceX.”–Elon Musk

Who will get there first?

Oh really, Elon? It seems that Boeing may have something to say about that. We got to the moon because of a frantic race between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, propelled by the cold war. If an when we get to Mars, it just might be because of a frantic race between commercial ventures, fueled by the almighty dollar.

Mars/Space Exploration–Speaking on CNBC recently, Boeing CEO Dennis Mullenberg said, “I firmly believe the first person to set foot on Mars will get there on a Boeing rocket.” There was no immediate comment from Elon Musk, whose SpaceX aims to be there first. Whoever gets there first, maybe they can getaround on the Tesla that Elon intends to launch into Mars orbit next year.

—President Trump announced that the Moon will be the next destination for U.S. astronauts. Whether he intends to put the treasury’s money where his mouth is remains to be seen.

—Physics.org reports that a new space suit design will have a “take me home” button for astronauts who get separated from their craft and disoriented on space walks. Danger, Will Robinson!

Artificial Intelligence–The IEEE released the second edition of its global treatise on ethics of autonomous and intelligent systems, today. The report can be requested for download here. The report was mentioned in Seeking Delphi™ podcast episode #17, featuring an interview with the initiative’s executive director, John C. Havens. (YouTube video link below).

—Researchers from the University of Texas and the city of Austin are employing deep learning and big data to try to alleviate traffic jams. They will present their findings at an IEEE conference on big data later this month.

—Using A.I. to alleviate traffic? Good! Using A.I. to create fake porn of anybody? Er–not so much. The Verge reports that just a few photographs and some open source A.I. software is all that it takes to graft anybody’s face onto any picture in a convincing manner. As they put it, seeing may no longer be believing.

Biotech–Researchers at the Salk Institute say they have been able to use CRISPR gene editing to reverse disease in mice. They used a new procedure that does not actually cut the genes, but affects the expression–or epigenetics–of genes. It turns them on or off.

—Researchers at the University of Rochester say they have successfully been able to insert new information directly in the the pre-motor cortex of the brains of two monkeys. Anyone for trying this on politicians?

Material Science/Athletics–British sportswear brand inov-8 is partnering with the University of Manchester to introduce graphene-infused athletic footwear in 2018. Laboratory tests have shown the shoes to be stretchier, stronger and more wear resistant than conventional rubber-soled sneakers.

Aubry de Grey

Coming Attractions–SENS foundation co-founder and chief science officer, Aubrey de Grey, will join me for the final Seeking Delphi™ podcast interview of 2017. Look for it in soon.

A reminder that the Seeking Delphi™ podcast is available on iTunes, PlayerFM, blubrry , and has a channel on YouTube. You can also follow us on Facebook.

The Future This Week: December 5, 2017

December 5, 2017 by Mark Sackler

“The autonomous car is definitely coming…”–Masayoshi Son

http://www.andertoons.com

Cars, cars, cars. In America, we love our cars. And, whether gas, electric, or hybrid, we love to drive them. So what happens when they drive themselves? And an even better question: when they get built in emotion A.I., will our cars love us? OK, that last one is not a real issue–yet. But every major car company is working on self-driving, all-electric cars. The news this week is just full of cars, cars, cars.

Self Driving Cars/Autonomous Vehicles–General Motors has announced plans to launch a self-driving, ride-sharing car service in major U.S. cities by 2019. The aim is to compete directly with Uber and Lyft.

—Uber is not standing idly by. Volvo says they expect to sell them tens of thousands of self driving cars between 2019 and 2021.

—Next Big Future reports that every major car company is working on all-electric, self-driving vehicles. Ford, for one, also plans a self-driving, ride-sharing service by 2021.

What will Elon think of next?

Electric Vehicles–You can’t make this up, but apparently Elon Musk can. He’s on record, and apparently serious, about launching a Tesla into orbit around Mars early next year. The good news is, as long as it stays in orbit, it won’t need a charging station.

—Ford’s chairman says they will introduce several electric car models in China over the next few years. He added that he expects China to be the leader in EV proliferation.

–According to recent reports, though, the Canadian province of Ontario will likely not reach its 2020 target for electric vehicle deployment.

Flying Cars/Taxis–Yeah, sure. Why should all the traffic jams be on the ground? Volocopter says its flying taxis will be up (literally) and running in two to three years.

Space/Lunar Exploration–China has announced big plans for the moon. A robotic lunar station, and a dark side radio telescope are targeted for 2019.

Brexit scenarios to 2030–The latest Seeking Delphi™ podcast features SAMI Consulting’s Jonathan Blanchard Smith discussing four post-Brexit scenarios for the UK. (YouTube slide show link below)

Aubrey de Grey

Coming Attractions–SENS foundation co-founder and chief science officer, Aubrey de Grey, will join me for the final Seeking Delphi™ podcast interview of 2017. Look for it in a few days.

A reminder that the Seeking Delphi™ podcast is available on iTunes, PlayerFM, blubrry , and has a channel on YouTube. You can also follow us on Facebook.

Podcast #18, U.K. 2030: Four Post-Brexit Scenarios

December 4, 2017 by Mark Sackler

“Brexit was the first brick that was knocked out of the establishment wall.”–Nigel Farage

“Brexit was a fantastic example of a nation shooting itself in the face.”–Hugh Grant

Even as Trumpism continues to agitate and divide the U.S., Brexit continues to do the same in Britain. As the process plays out through lengthy and difficult negotiations, no particular outcome is clear. In this podcast episode #18 of Seeking Delphi™, I talk with one of the architects of SAMI Consulting’s wide ranging report on 4 possible scenarios for Brexit, through 2030. The future is murky, but one way or the other, it will get here.