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Rubikscube

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Re: Adapting to the Anthropocene
« Reply #150 on: March 19, 2016, 05:06:26 AM »
Thanks, Rubikscube. This sounds at least quasi-intelligent. But I guess the perceptory apparatus (e.g. database scheme) is still custom made. Would be interesting if this machine can easily be re-wired to play chess. (BTW I know of a 3-player chess. That might be a better test than Go. It is not a duel but a triell...)

Haha, it may indeed be more quasi than intelligent, an honest try though. If I understand this correctly Google DeepMind (the company behind this) claims that AlphaGo wasn't initially programmed to play Go specifically (or make the computer teach itself this specific game), but is rather a learning algorithm specifically trained at Go, which could technically learn to play other games if was fed with such information. I do indeed agree that putting a computer like this into a multiplayer game is an intriguing idea.

A basic introduction to neural networks
http://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~bolo/shipyard/neural/local.html

and a very lengthy and comprehensive one (a book actually)
http://neuralnetworksanddeeplearning.com/index.html

AbruptSLR

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Re: Adapting to the Anthropocene
« Reply #151 on: March 27, 2016, 07:01:33 AM »
Practical quantum computers just got one step closer to reality:

http://www.csmonitor.com/Technology/2016/0326/How-a-Fredkin-gate-could-be-a-quantum-leap-forward-for-computing

Extract: "Scientists have built a new computer chip capable of overcoming one of the key obstacles to building quantum computers. The quantum Fredkin gate is a vital piece of quantum computing that was previously too complex to build, but scientists have found a way to simplify the process.
By simplifying one of the basic parts of a quantum computer, the team behind the breakthrough hopes it will make building functional quantum computers more feasible and unlock the massive potential behind the advanced computers.



Fredkin gates are just one part of a quantum computer circuit, a place where two quantum bits can be changed or swapped depending on a third value. But to build one Fredkin gate requires five logic operations. Add in the required amount of Fredkin gates and soon a circuit would be bustling with far too many components to be realistically made.
Scientists from Griffith University and the University of Queensland found a way to construct Fredkin gates while simplifying the amount of logic operations needed. The team used particles of light.
"The research team used the quantum entanglement of photons – particles of light – to implement the controlled-SWAP operation directly," the press release states."
“It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change.”
― Leon C. Megginson

AbruptSLR

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Re: Adapting to the Anthropocene
« Reply #152 on: March 29, 2016, 10:48:58 PM »
The linked Forbes Magazine article indicates that: "Uncertainty About The Future Is More Stressful Than Knowing That The Future Is Going To Suck", and recommends that in inherently uncertain situations mindfulness and meditation is probably the best thing that we can do to navigate through such stressful situations.  Perhaps business is learning the First Noble Truth that suffering exists and that mindfulness can reduce (if not eliminate) that suffering; which hopefully the GOP (as a proxy for business interests) will learn to apply to climate change uncertainty:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/alicegwalton/2016/03/29/uncertainty-about-the-future-is-more-stressful-than-knowing-that-the-future-is-going-to-suck/#53c7b518454c

Extract: "As Bestmann mentions, there are little things we can invent to help with some of the uncertainty in daily life, like apps and Googling for real-time info. Otherwise, since uncertainty is sort of a given in many other areas, learning how to sit with that feeling (as in mindfulness and meditation) and to navigate through it without coming apart, is probably about the best thing we can do."

See also:
http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2016/160329/ncomms10996/full/ncomms10996.html

“It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change.”
― Leon C. Megginson

AbruptSLR

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Re: Adapting to the Anthropocene
« Reply #153 on: March 31, 2016, 04:33:59 PM »
The linked article discusses another big step forward towards making practical AI computers based on human brain inspired hardware architecture.  Such new architecture requires that computer programs be written differently than current programs, which is most likely why IBM is providing smart guys at LLNL (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory) with the first chips, as they are willing/capable of doing the programming necessary to tackle problems related to national security.

http://www.techtimes.com/articles/145540/20160331/ibms-latest-supercomputer-inspired-human-brain-powerful.htm

Extract: "Serving as its backbone is TrueNorth technology, a one-of-a-kind chip architecture based on neurosynaptic concept, which means it is designed to work like the human brain.
Just as the human brain has neurons that transmit information through electrical impulses and synapses that allow the berve cells to connect and communicate, a TrueNorth processor is equipped with 256 million synapses and 1 million neurons linked together by 5.4 billion transistors, all of which are capable of 46 giga synaptic operations for every second.
The energy requirement? Only 70 milliwatts at 0.8 volts.
LLNL is set to receive 16 of these chips, which will equal to 4 billion synapses and 16 million neurons powered by 2.5 watts – energy similar to that of a hearing aid battery."
“It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change.”
― Leon C. Megginson

AbruptSLR

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Re: Adapting to the Anthropocene
« Reply #154 on: April 24, 2016, 01:03:50 AM »
Prospero:
Our revels now are ended. These our actors,
As I foretold you, were all spirits, and
Are melted into air, into thin air:
And like the baseless fabric of this vision,
The cloud-capp'd tow'rs, the gorgeous palaces,
The solemn temples, the great globe itself,
Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve,
And, like this insubstantial pageant faded,
Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff
As dreams are made on; and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep.

The Tempest Act 4, scene 1, 148–158
“It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change.”
― Leon C. Megginson

AbruptSLR

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Re: Adapting to the Anthropocene
« Reply #155 on: April 27, 2016, 05:16:13 PM »
AI is already helping to deal with climate change, and other Earth Sciences challenges:

http://ensia.com/features/three-ways-artificial-intelligence-is-helping-to-save-the-world/

Extract: "One of the places machine learning is turning out to be the most beneficial is in the environmental sciences, which have generated huge amounts of information from monitoring Earth’s various systems — underground aquifers, the warming climate or animal migration, for example. A slew of projects have been popping up in this relatively new field, called computational sustainability, that combine data gathered about the environment with a computer’s ability to discover trends and make predictions about the future of our planet. This is useful to scientists and policy-makers because it can help them develop plans for how to live and survive in our changing world."
“It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change.”
― Leon C. Megginson

AbruptSLR

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Re: Adapting to the Anthropocene
« Reply #156 on: April 28, 2016, 05:38:12 PM »
Anyone who is feeling depressed by climate change news would likely benefit from either Mindfulness meditation and/or therapy:

http://www.hngn.com/articles/198312/20160428/mindfulness-based-cognitive-therapy-reduce-chances-depression-relapse.htm

Extract: "Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy Can Reduce Chances Of Depression Relapse
A new study has found that Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy can reduce the chances of depression relapse in those with the disorder."
“It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change.”
― Leon C. Megginson

AbruptSLR

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Re: Adapting to the Anthropocene
« Reply #157 on: May 14, 2016, 04:11:58 AM »
Just a quick note to observe that swarm intelligence is becoming more & more practicable:

http://www.techtimes.com/articles/158076/20160513/swarm-intelligence-could-be-gamblers-key-to-betting-heres-how-it-works.htm

Extract: "Swarm intelligence seeks to amplify, not replace, human intelligence, with the idea that large groups predict an event outcome better than just one individual can. According to UNU inventor and Unanimous AI chief executive Louis Rosenberg, forcing polarized groups into a swarm lets them find that answer that will satisfy most people."
“It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change.”
― Leon C. Megginson

AbruptSLR

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Re: Adapting to the Anthropocene
« Reply #158 on: May 15, 2016, 08:20:26 PM »
Brian Christian and Tom Griffiths have written a new book entitled: "Algorithms to Live By The Computer Science of Human Decisions".  Once people realize that addressing climate change is a prerequisite to future livable conditions, maybe they will learn to apply such algorithm so as to adjust they lives to allow for a sustainable future:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/thought-matters/algorithms-to-live-by_b_9772622.html

Extract: "The next pages begin our journey through some of the biggest challenges faced by computers and human minds alike: how to manage finite space, finite time, limited attention, unknown unknowns, incomplete information, and an unforeseeable future; how to do so with grace and confidence; and how to do so in a community with others who are all simultaneously trying to do the same. We will learn about the fundamental mathematical structure of these challenges and about how computers are engineered—sometimes counter to what we imagine—to make the most of them. And we will learn about how the mind works, about its distinct but deeply related ways of tackling the same set of issues and coping with the same constraints. Ultimately, what we can gain is not only a set of concrete takeaways for the problems around us, not only a new way to see the elegant structures behind even the hairiest human dilemmas, not only a recognition of the travails of humans and computers as deeply conjoined, but something even more profound: a new vocabulary for the world around us, and a chance to learn something truly new about ourselves."
“It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change.”
― Leon C. Megginson

AbruptSLR

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Re: Adapting to the Anthropocene
« Reply #159 on: May 17, 2016, 09:23:06 PM »
In order to better deal with climate change, school children should be taught to use free computational knowledge engines like WolframAlpha so that they can stay current on the state of the art in climate change without undue complexity (as the software handles the math automatically, see the current plot [from the second link] of GMST departures with a pre-industrial baseline as an example that I did in about 2 seconds and which correctly shows that through April 2016 the 12-month running average GMST departure is at 1.246C above pre-industrial):

https://www.wolframalpha.com/

https://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=modeling+climate+change

See also:
https://reference.wolfram.com/language/guide/MathematicsAndAlgorithmsOverview.html

“It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change.”
― Leon C. Megginson

AbruptSLR

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Re: Adapting to the Anthropocene
« Reply #160 on: May 17, 2016, 09:48:50 PM »
One of the lessons from the book: "Algorithms to Live By" is that when faced with a wick problem, to be most effective one should "Dumb it down" and focus exclusively on solutions that give you want you want.  Unfortunately, capitalism is very effective in doing just that by focusing on money while dumbing down sustainability (as being too complex).  Hopefully, school children will learn to be effective by using free algorithms available through the internet (via Google, Facebook, Wolfram etc) to simplify the math of climate change issues so that they can focus on sustainable solutions rather than just on making the most money:


http://us.macmillan.com/algorithmstoliveby/brianchristian
“It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change.”
― Leon C. Megginson

Laurent

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Re: Adapting to the Anthropocene
« Reply #161 on: May 26, 2016, 05:05:41 PM »
 If robots are the future of work, where do humans fit in?
Zoe Williams
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/may/24/robots-future-work-humans-jobs-leisure
Quote
Robin Hanson thinks the robot takeover, when it comes, will be in the form of emulations. In his new book, The Age of Em, the economist explains: you take the best and brightest 200 human beings on the planet, you scan their brains and you get robots that to all intents and purposes are indivisible from the humans on which they are based, except a thousand times faster and better.

AbruptSLR

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Re: Adapting to the Anthropocene
« Reply #162 on: June 04, 2016, 08:31:37 PM »
The linked article discusses new theoretical advances that raise the possibility of combining the math of string theory with the methodology of loop quantum gravity, LQG, to develop a new "Theory of Everything", TOE, where string, and LQG, theories can be viewed as opposite sides of the same coin (see attached associated image).  I note that the Holoborg theory/interpretation that I touched on earlier in this thread, considers time and space as derived quantities resulting from a universal network of discrete information. 
Thus it is possible/probable that the final TOE will acknowledge that we live in a universe where time is a construct and that when one fails to acknowledge this and creates a moral hazard via the Tyranny of the Contemporary for climate change, then one cannot escape facing the consequences of ones actions by passing this on to future generations, as time is nothing more than a construct, one experiences the negative consequences that one is seeking to pass on to future generations.

https://www.quantamagazine.org/20160112-string-theory-meets-loop-quantum-gravity/

Extract: "Among the attempts to unify quantum theory and gravity, string theory has attracted the most attention. Its premise is simple: Everything is made of tiny strings. The strings may be closed unto themselves or have loose ends; they can vibrate, stretch, join or split. And in these manifold appearances lie the explanations for all phenomena we observe, both matter and space-time included.

Loop quantum gravity, by contrast, is concerned less with the matter that inhabits space-time than with the quantum properties of space-time itself. In loop quantum gravity, or LQG, space-time is a network. The smooth background of Einstein’s theory of gravity is replaced by nodes and links to which quantum properties are assigned. In this way, space is built up of discrete chunks. LQG is in large part a study of these chunks.

This approach has long been thought incompatible with string theory. Indeed, the conceptual differences are obvious and profound. For starters,
LQG studies bits of space-time, whereas string theory investigates the behavior of objects within space-time.

New theoretical findings have revealed potential similarities between LQG and string theory. A young generation of string theorists has begun to look outside string theory for methods and tools that might be useful in the quest to understand how to create a “theory of everything.” And a still-raw paradox involving black holes and information loss has given everyone a fresh dose of humility.

Moreover, in the absence of experimental evidence for either string theory or LQG, mathematical proof that the two are in fact opposite sides of the same coin would bolster the argument that physicists are progressing toward the correct theory of everything. Combining LQG and string theory would truly make it the only game in town.

LQG is a method, it’s not a theory. It’s a method to think of quantum mechanics and geometry. It’s a method that string theorists can use and are actually using. These things are not incompatible.”
“It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change.”
― Leon C. Megginson

AbruptSLR

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Re: Adapting to the Anthropocene
« Reply #163 on: June 06, 2016, 10:50:18 PM »
Neural lace:

http://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-on-neural-lace-2016-6

Extract: "Elon Musk thinks that humans are going to need to add a digital layer of intelligence to our brains to avoid becoming house cats to artificial intelligence.

Neural lace is essentially a wireless brain-computer system.
"I don't love the idea of being a house cat, but what's the solution? I think one of the solutions that seems maybe the best is to add an AI layer," he said. "A third, digital layer that could work well and symbiotically" with the rest of your body.
Nanotechnologists have actually already been working on this concept."
“It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change.”
― Leon C. Megginson

sidd

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Re: Adapting to the Anthropocene
« Reply #164 on: June 07, 2016, 05:46:37 AM »
I would hate being a house cat, i feel so sorry for them when i see em in the windows. Yes, i know about the bird thing, but animals need space to roam, like humans. If I couldn't give them room, I wouldnt have them.

I would much prefer to be a barn cat. I have some, (or actually, they roam far and wide thru many barns and corn cribs and neighbors porches where they get fed by kind hearted people) and they seem to have a good time. (Modulo coyotes, hawks and eagles ...  lotsa things will kill a cat out in the country.) But they have fun, and keep the rodents down in the barn.

So, I for one, welcome our new overlords, and would like to apply for the position of barn cat.

sidd

AbruptSLR

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Re: Adapting to the Anthropocene
« Reply #165 on: June 07, 2016, 05:15:03 PM »
So, I for one, welcome our new overlords, and would like to apply for the position of barn cat.

sidd,

If you want to be the coolest cat in the barn, you can start by playing cat & mouse with quantum computing at the links provided in the following article.  That way even without any neural lace you will have more in common with the new overlords (which will likely be machine/human Swarm Intelligence, ala the Holoborg Interpretation).  The attached image shows the trend line for Moore's Law, which will soon be replaced/accelerated by a quantum computing trend line (and I note that human brains are certainly quantum computers):

http://www.uloop.com/news/view.php/203670/Quantum-Computing-And-How-You-Can-Get-Involved-Now

Extract: "By exploiting this, quantum computers can calculate things exponentially fast because once you know one thing, the other is given to you.

With this logic, quantum computing can exploit this as a workaround to search for something, such as information in a database, without looking through each and every entry. Scientists are attempting to use this advantage to speed up the times of search engines such as Google and decryption of secure and encrypted information in a matter of seconds. The potential of quantum computing is massive enough to cause a tremendous change in technology and spike up our computing power.

How Do I Get Involved?

Huge companies such as Google, IBM, and Microsoft have released quantum computer simulators to help developers and users who are interested in quantum computing to be able to experiment. You can access these simulators in the links below!

IBM’s quantum computer is definitely recommended because it is actually a quantum computer that can be accessed from your home for experimentation.

Google: http://www.quantumplayground.net

Microsoft: http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/research-areas/quantum-computing.aspx

IBM: http://www.research.ibm.com/quantum

The most exciting part about quantum computing is that scientists are walking an unpaved path into this computing phenomena. Once scientists discover the power to effectively and practically use quantum computing, our computing world will never be the same."

Best,
ASLR
« Last Edit: June 07, 2016, 05:29:46 PM by AbruptSLR »
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AbruptSLR

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Re: Adapting to the Anthropocene
« Reply #166 on: June 09, 2016, 12:07:25 AM »

Per the following linked article Google may have a commercially available a small (but scalable) general-purpose/universal quantum computer available in about two years:

R. Barends, A. Shabani, L. Lamata, J. Kelly, A. Mezzacapo, U. Las Heras, R. Babbush, A. G. Fowler, B. Campbell, Yu Chen, Z. Chen, B. Chiaro, A. Dunsworth, E. Jeffrey, E. Lucero, A. Megrant, J. Y. Mutus, M. Neeley, C. Neill, P. J. J. O’Malley, C. Quintana P. Roushan, D. Sank, A. Vainsencher, J. Wenner, T. C. White, E. Solano, H. Neven & John M. Martinis et al. (09 June 2016), "Digitized adiabatic quantum computing with a superconducting circuit", Nature, Volume: 534, Pages: 222–226, doi:10.1038/nature17658

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v534/n7606/full/nature17658.html
&
http://www.nature.com/articles/nature17658.epdf?referrer_access_token=aqU6_fdKVRN2Ni58_S8NN9RgN0jAjWel9jnR3ZoTv0OZ9ghpZg--X8LqGksShUmTEpFHjQ9vJcRLdRjhp-XpoPWUbHMLmvja9Pez3kwLNaRT0mWgITLoIsJEPSqVIgwOqUWx6nbhUL2H9rFuAAUCrtT0R0NajLnRX02hVmdNu2UyF8bieRI5pDGT1QWYUqIhC4Shzo3SoLXfBeZ2rvqKYqC1gcABXcZJmSIZmZ5N5yU%3D&tracking_referrer=www.nature.com


Abstract: "Quantum mechanics can help to solve complex problems in physics and chemistry, provided they can be programmed in a physical device. In adiabatic quantum computing, a system is slowly evolved from the ground state of a simple initial Hamiltonian to a final Hamiltonian that encodes a computational problem. The appeal of this approach lies in the combination of simplicity and generality; in principle, any problem can be encoded. In practice, applications are restricted by limited connectivity, available interactions and noise. A complementary approach is digital quantum computing, which enables the construction of arbitrary interactions and is compatible with error correction, but uses quantum circuit algorithms that are problem-specific. Here we combine the advantages of both approaches by implementing digitized adiabatic quantum computing in a superconducting system. We tomographically probe the system during the digitized evolution and explore the scaling of errors with system size. We then let the full system find the solution to random instances of the one-dimensional Ising problem as well as problem Hamiltonians that involve more complex interactions. This digital quantum simulation of the adiabatic algorithm consists of up to nine qubits and up to 1,000 quantum logic gates. The demonstration of digitized adiabatic quantum computing in the solid state opens a path to synthesizing long-range correlations and solving complex computational problems. When combined with fault-tolerance, our approach becomes a general-purpose algorithm that is scalable."

See also:
Philip Ball (June 8 2016), "Google moves closer to a universal quantum computer", Nature, doi:10.1038/nature.2016.20032

http://www.nature.com/news/google-moves-closer-to-a-universal-quantum-computer-1.20032

Extract: "Combining the best of analog and digital approaches could yield a full-scale multipurpose quantum computer

Computer scientists at Google’s research laboratories in Santa Barbara, California, and physicists at the University of California at Santa Barbara, describe their new device online in Nature1.
“It’s terrific work in many respects, and is filled with valuable lessons for the quantum computing community,” says Daniel Lidar, a quantum-computing expert at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.

The Google device is still very much a prototype. But Lidar says that in a couple of years, devices with more than 40 qubits could become a reality.
“At that point,” he says, “it will become possible to simulate quantum dynamics that is inaccessible on classical hardware, which will mark the advent of ‘quantum supremacy’.”
“It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change.”
― Leon C. Megginson

AbruptSLR

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Re: Adapting to the Anthropocene
« Reply #167 on: June 09, 2016, 01:01:08 AM »
Google's Deep Mind has been incentivized to teach itself how play and win games that are difficult to master:

http://www.wired.co.uk/article/google-ai-montezuma-revenge

Extract: "Google's Deep Mind has learned how to play yet another game - this time because it had been 'incentivised' to want to win.
"Intrinsic rewards" meant the AI obtained "significantly improved exploration in a number of hard games, including the infamously difficult Montezuma's Revenge", wrote Google researchers in a paper.
Intrinsic motivation (IM) algorithms typically use signals to make the AI more 'curious' and are inspired by classic, human-based psychological ideas."



For a pdf of the associated paper see:
https://arxiv.org/pdf/1606.01868v1.pdf
“It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change.”
― Leon C. Megginson

Laurent

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Re: Adapting to the Anthropocene
« Reply #168 on: June 10, 2016, 09:29:50 PM »
Climate change could force huge migrations for people and animals living near the equator
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2016/06/09/climate-change-could-force-huge-migrations-for-people-and-animals-living-near-the-equator/?postshare=2341465483441770&tid=ss_tw
Quote
t’s no surprise that populations living in the Arctic — whether human, animal or otherwise — have become the poster children for global warming’s terrible consequences. The Arctic is warming faster than anywhere else on the planet, and its rapid ice loss has not only become a major contributor to global sea-level rise, but is also destroying habitats for polar bears and people alike. 

But a new study, published Thursday in the the journal Scientific Reports, argues that, while the stakes at the poles are high, we may want to be paying a little more attention to what’s going on near the equator, as well. The research suggests that even a moderate amount of warming could force populations in the tropics to undergo huge migrations — longer journeys than they’d have to take if they lived anywhere else on the planet — to get to cooler ground.

AbruptSLR

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Re: Adapting to the Anthropocene
« Reply #169 on: June 14, 2016, 12:42:56 AM »
The linked article indicates that AI development is likely to be gradual (over decades) and open (within limits, but I note that Elon Musk has initiated OpenAI which will provide open source software to the public) and will also involve "enhancing" the human mind (to work interactively with increasingly strong AI):

http://www.wsj.com/articles/whats-next-for-artificial-intelligence-1465827619

Extract: "The greatest scientific challenges of our times, and it will require the sharing of ideas across countries, companies, labs and academia. Progress in AI is likely to be gradual—and open.

Strong AI appears to be on the horizon, but for now the human mind is the only one we have. Enhancing our own intelligence is the first step toward creating—and successfully coexisting with—the intelligent machines of the future."
« Last Edit: June 14, 2016, 01:14:07 AM by AbruptSLR »
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AbruptSLR

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Re: Adapting to the Anthropocene
« Reply #170 on: June 15, 2016, 12:26:35 AM »
The linked article discusses new theoretical advances that raise the possibility of combining the math of string theory with the methodology of loop quantum gravity, LQG, to develop a new "Theory of Everything", TOE, where string, and LQG, theories can be viewed as opposite sides of the same coin (see attached associated image).

We may (or may not) need a new Theory of Everything, sooner rather than later, if CERN announces a new particle find (maybe in the next few days):

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/is-particle-physics-about-to-crack-wide-open/

Extract: "Hints of an unexpected new particle could be confirmed within days—and if it is, the Standard Model could be going down"

http://www.sciencealert.com/evidence-of-a-new-particle-that-could-break-the-standard-model-of-physics-is-mounting

Extract: "As Davide Castelvecchi and Elizabeth Gibney report for Nature, the new analysis of the the statistical significance of the CMS bump has now gone up from 1.2 to 1.6 sigma, while ATLAS’s statistical significance now sits at 1.9 sigma after corrections.
Sample says the chance of a 1.9 sigma effect being a fluke is the same as flipping a five heads in a row - hard, but not impossible. According to the rules of science, you can’t say something’s a discovery until you hit that 5-sigma mark - the same as tossing 21 heads in a row.

As Castelvecchi and Gibney write for Nature, "by June, or August at the latest, CMS and ATLAS should have enough data to either make a statistical fluctuation go away - if that’s what the excess is - or confirm a discovery", and we can’t wait."
“It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change.”
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Re: Adapting to the Anthropocene
« Reply #171 on: June 18, 2016, 06:47:52 PM »
To help you adapt quickly enough to meet the challenges of both the Anthropocene and the technological singularity, there is now a Singularity University online covering technology, science, health and future impacts with linked articles

http://singularityu.org/overview/

E.g. see:
http://singularityhub.com/2016/06/17/long-promised-artificial-intelligence-is-looming-and-its-going-to-be-amazing/

Extract: "There have been more advances in AI over the past three years than there were in the previous three decades.
Even technology leaders such as Apple have been caught off guard by the rapid evolution of machine learning, the technology that powers AI. At its recent Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple opened up its AI systems so that independent developers could help it create technologies that rival what Google and Amazon have already built. Apple is way behind.

AI has applications in every area in which data are processed and decisions required. Wired founding editor Kevin Kelly likened AI to electricity: a cheap, reliable, industrial-grade digital smartness running behind everything. He said that it “will enliven inert objects, much as electricity did more than a century ago. Everything that we formerly electrified we will now ‘cognitize.’ This new utilitarian AI will also augment us individually as people (deepening our memory, speeding our recognition) and collectively as a species. There is almost nothing we can think of that cannot be made new, different, or interesting by infusing it with some extra IQ. In fact, the business plans of the next 10,000 start-ups are easy to forecast: Take X and add AI. This is a big deal, and now it’s here.”

Though some people, such as futurist Ray Kurzweil, see us using AI to augment our capabilities and evolve together, others, such as Elon Musk and Stephen Hawking, fear that AI will usurp us. We really don’t know where all this will go.
What is certain is that AI is here and making amazing things possible."

E.g. see:

http://singularityhub.com/2016/06/14/what-happens-if-society-is-too-slow-to-absorb-technological-change/?utm_source=Trending&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=content%20access

Extract: "It’s tempting to dub 2016 the "Year of Artificial Intelligence."
This is the year AI has hit the public consciousness hard. Whether calls for universal basic income in the face of an automation tsunami or alarms over the loss of privacy when everything you do can be monitored and analyzed, people are discussing and debating AI more than ever in an effort to quell their dystopian fears about humanity’s future.

Speaking from the Exponential Finance conference, Salim Ismail, Singularity University’s founding executive director and global ambassador, offered a more optimistic view.
"We’re augmenting the human experience with AI, not taking away from or replicating it," Ismail said. "We tend to overemphasize the concern.

To Ismail, the true challenge with advancing technologies isn’t the threats they impose, but more that society is sluggish at absorbing and making use of the technology at its current pace.

We're at a critical juncture in the public conversation about artificial intelligence. Beyond the concerns, threats, and fears are a wealth of opportunities to utilize AI to improve human conditions and extend life spans. It's simply a matter of adapting, something that is altogether human."

See also:
http://singularityhub.com/2016/06/18/this-weeks-awesome-stories-from-around-the-web-through-june-18th/?utm_source=Latest&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=content%20access

Edit: For those who are still concerned about the impacts of AI on humanity, I note that in addition to increased education and open sourcing of AI code, I believe that the increased use of mindfulness meditation is perhaps the single best defense against the potential ill effects of AI.
« Last Edit: June 18, 2016, 08:44:02 PM by AbruptSLR »
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Re: Adapting to the Anthropocene
« Reply #172 on: July 07, 2016, 10:58:43 PM »
Here is a link to SingularityHub's June 9 2016 article entitled: "Ray Kurzweil’s Four Big Insights for Predicting the Future".  Whether exponential growth leads to overshoot societal collapse, or to a sustainable future society depends on how wise Homo Sapiens Sapiens really turns out to be:

http://singularityhub.com/2016/06/09/ray-kurzweils-four-big-insights-for-predicting-the-future/

Extract: "… we explore three technological areas Kurzweil believes are poised to change our world the most this century: genetics, nanotechnology and robotics/AI.
The genetics revolution will allow us to reprogram our own biology. The nanotechnology revolution will allow us to manipulate matter at the molecular and atomic scale. The robotics revolution will allow us to create a greater than human non-biological intelligence."

See:
http://www.siliconbeat.com/2016/05/31/google-chat-bot-coming-year-renowned-inventor-says/

Extract: "Google will let you turn yourself into a bot, Ray Kurzweil says"

Also see:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human
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Re: Adapting to the Anthropocene
« Reply #173 on: July 27, 2016, 12:22:42 PM »
While Moore's law is rapidly coming to an end; the linked articles indicate that there are still paths forward for continued growth to realize the coming 4th Industrial Revolution, with regards to both the Internet of Things (IoT) and AI; until quantum computing gets up to speed:


http://www.techrepublic.com/article/moores-law-dead-in-2021-heres-what-the-next-revolution-will-mean/

Extract: “The news that transistors will essentially stop shrinking after 2021 is a big deal. Being that Moore's Law only accounts for the number of transistors in a circuit, it could very well be meeting its demise as the de facto measure of growth in the computing industry. This lead many to ask where the industry will go after Moore's Law.
Hanselman said he believes there's a bigger question to ask: "What are we doing with this kind of computing power?"
Fitting more transistors on a wafer is a useful measure, he said, but we need to better understand how we are designing the systems that are leveraging those transistors. After 2021, we may no longer be able to increase the number of transistors on a particular die, but the cost will continue to drop, which may be an even bigger catalyst.
"As we look toward technologies like the Internet of Things and various means of dispersed computing, we now start to make it very inexpensive to put an awful lot of processing horsepower into all sorts of things that, today, are cost prohibitive," Hanselman said. "And that, I think, is probably the larger revolution that continues, even though we may taper off the advances that Moore's Law has afforded us for so long."


http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/232342-moores-law-scaling-dead-by-2021-to-be-replaced-by-3d-integration


Extract: “Moore’s law scaling dead by 2021, to be replaced by 3D integration

...

… while the ITRS’ executive summary makes extensive predictions regarding future device frequencies, bandwidths, and operating characteristics at the data center, mobile, and Internet of Everything (the proposed successor to the Internet of Things), it does not attempt to predict the future of conventional desktops and laptops. The closest it comes is predicting that by 2029 the average mobile processor will contain 25 application processors and 303 GPU cores, with a max single-component frequency of 4.7GHz (presumably burst frequency).

The implications of the report are clear: Those who seek significantly improved CPU performance will do best to seek it via new computing architectures, improved multi-threading, or improved memory performance in general — not via improvements to raw clock speed. With Intel stuck in the doldrums when it comes to providing architectural improvements, we wouldn’t hold our breath on this front.


https://www.technologyreview.com/s/601441/moores-law-is-dead-now-what/


Extract: “But in a few years technology companies may have to work harder to bring us advanced new use cases for computers. The continual cramming of more silicon transistors onto chips, known as Moore’s Law, has been the feedstock of exuberant innovation in computing. Now it looks to be slowing to a halt.
“We have to ask, is this going to be a problem for areas like mobile devices, data centers, and self-driving cars?” says Thomas Wenisch, an assistant professor at the University of Michigan. “I think yes, but on different timescales.”



…  Intel pushed back its next transistor technology, with features as small as 10 nanometers, from 2016 to late 2017. The company has also decided to increase the time between future generations (see “Intel Puts the Brakes on Moore’s Law”). And a technology roadmap for Moore’s Law maintained by an industry group, including the world’s largest chip makers, is being scrapped. Intel has suggested silicon transistors can only keep shrinking for another five years.



“For the last three years we’ve seen a kind of stagnation,” says Simon. That’s bad news for research programs reliant on supercomputers, such as efforts to understand climate change, ...

Simon says the coming plateau in transistor density will stir more interest in redrawing the basic architecture of computers among supercomputer and data-center designers. Getting rid of certain design features dating from the 1940s could unlock huge efficiency gains (see “Machine Dreams”). Yet taking advantage of those would require rethinking the design of many types of software, and would require programmers to change their habits.
Whatever kind of computer you’re interested in, the key question is whether the creative avenues left open to computing companies can provide similar payoffs to Moore’s Law after it ends, says Neil Thompson, an assistant professor at MIT Sloan School. “We know that those other things matter, but the question is, are they of the same scale?” he says.”


See also:
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/601102/intel-puts-the-brakes-on-moores-law/

&

https://www.technologyreview.com/s/601195/a-2-billion-chip-to-accelerate-artificial-intelligence/


Extract: “At a company event in San Jose, he said, “For the first time we designed a [graphics-processing] architecture dedicated to accelerating AI and to accelerating deep learning.” Nvidia spent more than $2 billion on R&D to produce the new chip, said Huang. It has a total of 15 billion transistors, roughly three times as many as Nvidia’s previous chips. Huang said an artificial neural network powered by the new chip could learn from incoming data 12 times as fast as was possible using Nvidia's previous best chip.
Deep-learning researchers from Facebook, Microsoft, and other companies that Nvidia granted early access to the new chip said they expect it to accelerate their progress by allowing them to work with larger collections of neurons.
“I think we’re going to be able to go quite a bit larger than we have been able to in the past, like 30 times bigger,” said Bryan Catanzero, who works on deep learning at the Chinese search company Baidu. Increasing the size of neural networks has previously enabled major jumps in the smartness of software. For example, last year Microsoft managed to make software that beats humans at recognizing objects in photos by creating a much larger neural network.
Huang of Nvidia said that the new chip is already in production and that he expects cloud-computing companies to start using it this year. IBM, Dell, and HP are expected to sell it inside servers starting next year.”

See also:
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/540851/microsoft-says-programmable-chips-will-make-ai-software-smarter/

&

https://www.technologyreview.com/s/536786/machine-dreams/



Regarding Quantum Computing see:

http://www.siliconbeat.com/2016/05/04/moores-law-doubt-eyes-turn-quantum-computing/


Extract: “Industry experts from around the world who have been working together for years for forecast technology advances in the tech industry are throwing in the towel. The next version of the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors, which is produced jointly by the semiconductor industry associations of the United States, Europe, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, will be the last, the New York Times reported.
The reason: the industry can no longer count on silicon chip technology advancing like clockwork as Intel co-founder Gordon Moore predicted back in 1965.
“The end of Moore’s Law is what led to this,” Thomas M. Conte, a computer scientist at the Georgia Institute of Technology, told the Times.
Conte and other experts are working on a replacement for the forecasts that will include other types of technologies, including so-called quantum computers.



Some experts think there are ways out of the future — just not with silicon-based chips.
Chip experts are already exploring — and in some cases already producing — chips made of materials other than silicon. One material considered promising is graphene, which is a form of carbon.
Another possibility is to ditch the cut-and-dry, black-and-white, binary computer architecture for the weird world of quantum mechanics. Some computer scientists are already pioneering computers that are built around quantum bits, or “qubits.””
“It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change.”
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Re: Adapting to the Anthropocene
« Reply #174 on: July 27, 2016, 12:46:54 PM »
As a follow-on to my last few posts, I provided the following related links, indicating that the acceleration to the 4th Industrial Revolution will not be slowed by the dead of Moore's Law:


http://singularityhub.com/2016/06/09/ray-kurzweils-four-big-insights-for-predicting-the-future/


Extract: “... after decades of going strong, it looks like Moore's Law might be running out of steam. But does that mean it’s the end of exponential progress in computers?
Kurzweil is confident the answer is no.


http://www.forbes.com/sites/gregsatell/2016/06/03/3-reasons-to-believe-the-singularity-is-near/#23ffbf211cbe

Extract: “Kurzweil has pointed out that microprocessors are in fact the fifth paradigm of information processing, replacing earlier technologies such as electromechanical relays, vacuum tubes and transistors. He also argues that the numbers of transistors on a chip is a fairly arbitrary way to measure performance and suggests to look the number of calculations per $1000 instead.
And it turns out that he’s right. While the process of cramming more transistors on silicon wafers is indeed slowing down, we’re finding a variety of ways to speed up overall performance, such as quantum computing, neuromorphic chips and 3D stacking. We can expect progress to continue accelerating, at least for the next few decades.

The idea of approaching a technological singularity is both exciting and scary. While the prospects of technologies that are hundreds of times more powerful than what we have today will open up completely new possibilities, there are also inherent dangers. How autonomous should we allow robots to become? Which genes are safe to edit and which are not?
Beyond opening up a Pandora’s box of forces that we may not fully understand, there is already evidence that technology is destroying jobs, stagnating incomes and increasing inequality. As the process accelerates, we will begin to face problems technology cannot help us with, such as the social strife created by those left behind as well as others in developing countries who will feel newly empowered and demand a greater political voice.
We will also have to change how we view work. Much like in the industrial revolution when machines replaced physical labor, new technologies are now replacing cognitive tasks. Humans, therefore, will have to become more adept at things that machines can’t do, namely dealing with other humans, and social skills will trump cognitive skills in the marketplace.
The truth is that the future of technology is all too human. While technologies will continue to become exponentially more powerful, the decisions we make are still our own.”
“It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change.”
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Re: Adapting to the Anthropocene
« Reply #175 on: July 29, 2016, 05:00:07 PM »
The linked article indicates how blockchain technology could be used to decentralize the energy grid, thus facilitating the use of sustainable energy:

http://www.fastcoexist.com/3058380/world-changing-ideas/how-blockchain-technology-could-decentralize-the-energy-grid

Extract: ” One day, the energy grid could look completely different than it does today. Instead of big power plants sending electrons over long distances to people's homes, we might generate more power locally using solar panels, and homeowners might become makers and traders of power as well as passive consumers.

If so, blockchain technology could help keep track of electrons flowing through the system, energy futurists say. Just as the blockchain has allowed people to track and authenticate Bitcoin transactions, it could help mediate transactions of energy units through a cooperative, decentralized network, they believe."
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Re: Adapting to the Anthropocene
« Reply #176 on: August 01, 2016, 07:54:55 PM »
It is my belief that in the future Maxwell's Demon (as a metaphor for the relationship between the extraction of work from a system and the information about this system) will not only allow for the design of more efficient cooling & energy extraction systems; but will also facilitate the use of AI (& of associated humans who successfully use mindfulness meditation) to create a more sustainable global socio-economic system (with less waste by improved use of information):

http://motherboard.vice.com/read/physicists-test-maxwells-demon-with-beams-of-light-2

Extract: "The demon’s ability to create this temperature difference without the expenditure of work appeared to Maxwell to be in violation of the second law of thermodynamics, which states that two bodies of different temperature, when brought into contact with one another in isolation from the rest of the universe, will establish a thermodynamic equilibrium. Another way of putting this is that in an isolated system, entropy never decreases—although Maxwell’s hypothetical did in fact seem to allow the entropy of the system to decrease.
In the years since Maxwell initially proposed his hypothetical, physicists have managed to satisfactorily explain away the evident paradox of Maxwell’s demon. According to some of these physicists’ explanations, although Maxwell’s demon is not directly doing work on the system, it is extracting information about the system by sorting the molecules. The process of extracting this information about the system is a form of work, and therefore the entropy of the system does in fact increase in accordance with the second law of thermodynamics.
Although physicists were able to show that Maxwell’s paradox didn’t actually violate the second law of thermodynamics, the exact nature of the relationship between the extraction of work from a system and the information about this system acquired through measurements which explained the paradox was not that well understood. This was the relationship that the Oxford team hoped to elucidate with their photonic demon.



According to the team, its experiment is the first step toward gaining a better understanding of how thermodynamics plays out on microscales. A better understanding of the link between information and thermodynamics could have a variety of real world applications, ranging from more efficient cooling and energy extraction systems to application in quantum information technologies.

“Personally I think that sort of technology will have a real impact on meeting the energy challenge facing the world,” said Dahlsten. “We are already thinking of ways in which features such as entanglement can be introduced in future experiments based on this one, as our interests gravitate around quantum information.”"

See also:
http://phys.org/news/2016-02-physicists-photonic-maxwell-demon.html

&

Mihai D. Vidrighin, et al. "Photonic Maxwell's Demon." Physical Review Letters. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.050401

http://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.050401

« Last Edit: August 01, 2016, 10:01:15 PM by AbruptSLR »
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Re: Adapting to the Anthropocene
« Reply #177 on: August 01, 2016, 09:47:12 PM »
To illustrate the connection between Maxwell's Demon and quantum entanglement, I provide the following two linked references:

Experimental entanglement-enhanced work extraction based on a Maxwell's demon
Authors: Mario A. Ciampini, Luca Mancino, Adeline Orieux, Caterina Vigliar, Paolo Mataloni, Mauro Paternostro, Marco Barbieri
(Submitted on 25 Jan 2016)

http://arxiv.org/abs/1601.06796

Abstract: "The relation between the theory of entanglement and thermodynamics is very tight: a thermodynamic theory of quantum entanglement, as well as the establishment of rigorous formal connections between the laws of thermodynamics and the phenomenology of entanglement are currently open areas of investigation. In this quest, an interesting problem is embodied by the role played by entanglement in processes of work extraction from a working medium embodied by quantum information carriers. In this work, we experimentally address the question "Is there any intrinsic advantage for work extraction given by the use of an entangled working medium?". By addressing work-extraction protocols based on a mechanism intimately linked to the paradigm of Maxwell's daemon, and implementing suitably designed multi-photon optical interferometers, we demonstrate experimentally the intrinsic advantages for such tasks provided by bipartite and genuine multipartite entanglement. We highlight the unique nature of such tests by comparing their performance to standard tests for the inseparability of multi-photon state resources. Our work contributes strongly to the ongoing efforts in establishing photonic systems as a platform for experiments for information thermodynamics."


&

Maxwell's demon based on a single qubit
J. P. Pekola, D. S. Golubev, and D. V. Averin
Phys. Rev. B 93, 024501 – Published 5 January 2016

http://journals.aps.org/prb/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevB.93.024501

Abstract: "We propose and analyze Maxwell's demon based on a single qubit with avoided level crossing. Its operation cycle consists of adiabatic drive to the point of minimum energy separation, measurement of the qubit state, and conditional feedback. We show that the heat extracted from the bath at temperature T  can ideally approach the Landauer limit of k B Tln2  per cycle even in the quantum regime. Practical demon efficiency is limited by the interplay of Landau-Zener transitions and coupling to the bath. We suggest that an experimental demonstration of the demon is fully feasible using one of the standard superconducting qubits."
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Re: Adapting to the Anthropocene
« Reply #178 on: August 01, 2016, 10:15:06 PM »
As a follow-on to my last few posts, I provided the following related links, indicating that the acceleration to the 4th Industrial Revolution will not be slowed by the dead of Moore's Law:

Heterostructure devices, may help reduce the future cost of computing within the next 10 years:

K. S. Novoselov et al. 2D materials and van der Waals heterostructures, Science (2016). DOI: 10.1126/science.aac9439


http://science.sciencemag.org/content/353/6298/aac9439

Abstract: "The physics of two-dimensional (2D) materials and heterostructures based on such crystals has been developing extremely fast. With these new materials, truly 2D physics has begun to appear (for instance, the absence of long-range order, 2D excitons, commensurate-incommensurate transition, etc.). Novel heterostructure devices—such as tunneling transistors, resonant tunneling diodes, and light-emitting diodes—are also starting to emerge. Composed from individual 2D crystals, such devices use the properties of those materials to create functionalities that are not accessible in other heterostructures. Here we review the properties of novel 2D crystals and examine how their properties are used in new heterostructure devices."

See also:
http://phys.org/news/2016-07-two-dimensional-materials-revolutionary-graphene.html

Extract: "Writing in Science, leading 2D materials researchers estimate that research on combining materials of just a few atomic layers in stacks called heterostructures is at the same stage that graphene was 10 years ago, and can expect the same rapid progress graphene has experienced."
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Re: Adapting to the Anthropocene
« Reply #179 on: August 04, 2016, 04:00:30 AM »

Per the following linked article Google may have a commercially available a small (but scalable) general-purpose/universal quantum computer available in about two years:

R. Barends, A. Shabani, L. Lamata, J. Kelly, A. Mezzacapo, U. Las Heras, R. Babbush, A. G. Fowler, B. Campbell, Yu Chen, Z. Chen, B. Chiaro, A. Dunsworth, E. Jeffrey, E. Lucero, A. Megrant, J. Y. Mutus, M. Neeley, C. Neill, P. J. J. O’Malley, C. Quintana P. Roushan, D. Sank, A. Vainsencher, J. Wenner, T. C. White, E. Solano, H. Neven & John M. Martinis et al. (09 June 2016), "Digitized adiabatic quantum computing with a superconducting circuit", Nature, Volume: 534, Pages: 222–226, doi:10.1038/nature17658


While it may be debatable about which team is the first to create a general purpose small programmable quantum computer; nevertheless, it is fair to say that such computers are coming closer and closer to being a commercial reality:

S. Debnath, N. M. Linke,   C. Figgatt, K. A. Landsman, K. Wright & C. Monroe (04 August 2016), "Demonstration of a small programmable quantum computer with atomic qubits", Nature 536, 63–66  doi:10.1038/nature18648

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v536/n7614/full/nature18648.html

Abstract: "Quantum computers can solve certain problems more efficiently than any possible conventional computer. Small quantum algorithms have been demonstrated on multiple quantum computing platforms, many specifically tailored in hardware to implement a particular algorithm or execute a limited number of computational paths. Here we demonstrate a five-qubit trapped-ion quantum computer that can be programmed in software to implement arbitrary quantum algorithms by executing any sequence of universal quantum logic gates. We compile algorithms into a fully connected set of gate operations that are native to the hardware and have a mean fidelity of 98 per cent. Reconfiguring these gate sequences provides the flexibility to implement a variety of algorithms without altering the hardware. As examples, we implement the Deutsch–Jozsa and Bernstein–Vazirani algorithms with average success rates of 95 and 90 per cent, respectively. We also perform a coherent quantum Fourier transform on five trapped-ion qubits for phase estimation and period finding with average fidelities of 62 and 84 per cent, respectively. This small quantum computer can be scaled to larger numbers of qubits within a single register, and can be further expanded by connecting several such modules through ion shuttling or photonic quantum channels."

See also:

http://phys.org/news/2016-08-programmable-ions-stage-general-purpose-quantum.html

Extract: "Making a quantum computer that can run arbitrary algorithms requires the right kind of physical system and a suite of programming tools. Atomic ions, confined by fields from nearby electrodes, are among the most promising platforms for meeting these needs.
In a paper published as the cover story in Nature on August 4, researchers working with Christopher Monroe, a Fellow of the Joint Quantum Institute and the Joint Center for Quantum Information and Computer Science at the University of Maryland, introduced the first fully programmable and reconfigurable quantum computer module. The new device, dubbed a module because of its potential to connect with copies of itself, takes advantage of the unique properties offered by trapped ions to run any algorithm on five quantum bits, or qubits—the fundamental unit of information in a quantum computer."

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Re: Adapting to the Anthropocene
« Reply #180 on: August 04, 2016, 04:23:02 AM »
For other news on quantum computing, see the following linked articles:

http://phys.org/news/2016-07-russian-physicists-approach-quantum.html


Extract: "Physicists from MIPT and the Russian Quantum Center have developed an easier method to create a universal quantum computer using multilevel quantum systems (qudits), each one of which is able to work with multiple "conventional" quantum elements – qubits.

Professor Vladimir Man'ko, Aleksey Fedorov and Evgeny Kiktenko have published the results of their studies of multilevel quantum systems in a series of papers in Physical Review A, Physics Letters A, and also Quantum Measurements and Quantum Metrology.

"In our studies, we demonstrated that correlations similar to those used for quantum information technologies in composite quantum systems also occur in non-composite systems – systems which we suppose may be easier to work with in certain cases. In our latest paper we proposed a method of using entanglement between internal degrees of freedom of a single eight-level system to implement the protocol of quantum teleportation, which was previously implemented experimentally for a system of three two-level systems," says Vladimir Man'ko."

&

http://www.seeker.com/virtual-light-particles-may-boost-quantum-computing-1957488436.html


Extract: "A single photon can excite two or more atoms at the same time, scientists found. And the light particle would do so in a very counterintuitive way, by summoning one or more companion photons out of nothingness.

If you think of particles of light, or photons, as billiard balls, it makes intuitive sense that a single photon can excite a single atom.

The new, less intuitive finding depends on the strange nature of quantum mechanics, and might help improve advanced machines known as quantum computers, researchers said. Prior work suggested that such machines could simultaneously perform more calculations in one instant than there are atoms in the universe.

For decades, physicists have known that atoms could each absorb one or more photons, with each photon boosting an atom to a higher-energy state. Scientists have also long known that atoms could each spit out one or more photons, with each loss dropping an atom to a lower-energy state.

This previous research into two-photon absorption and emission led senior study author Salvatore Savasta, a theoretical physicist at the University of Messina in Italy, to wonder if two atoms could together absorb or emit single photons. He and his colleagues developed computer models to figure out whether such events were possible, at least theoretically."
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Re: Adapting to the Anthropocene
« Reply #181 on: August 05, 2016, 05:33:05 PM »
Steady progress is being made toward building practicable commercial quantum computers:

C. J. Ballance et al, High-Fidelity Quantum Logic Gates Using Trapped-Ion Hyperfine Qubits, Physical Review Letters (2016). DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.117.060504 , On Arxiv: http://arxiv.org/abs/1512.04600

http://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.117.060504

Abstract: "We demonstrate laser-driven two-qubit and single-qubit logic gates with respective fidelities 99.9(1)% and 99.9934(3)%, significantly above the ≈99%  minimum threshold level required for fault-tolerant quantum computation, using qubits stored in hyperfine ground states of calcium-43 ions held in a room-temperature trap. We study the speed-fidelity trade-off for the two-qubit gate, for gate times between 3.8  μs  and 520  μs , and develop a theoretical error model which is consistent with the data and which allows us to identify the principal technical sources of infidelity."

see also:

http://phys.org/news/2016-08-record-breaking-logic-gate-important-milestone.html

Extract: "Professor Lucas added: 'Achieving a logic gate with 99.9% precision is another important milestone on the road to developing a quantum computer. A quantum logic gate on its own does not constitute a quantum computer, but you can't build the computer without them.
'An analogy from conventional computing hardware would be that we have finally worked out how to build a transistor with good enough performance to make logic circuits, but the technology for wiring thousands of those transistors together to build an electronic computer is still in its infancy.' "
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AbruptSLR

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Re: Adapting to the Anthropocene
« Reply #182 on: August 26, 2016, 01:52:29 AM »
The linked reference not only provides possible insights in how to move beyond the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics and how to unite the General Theory of Relativity with Quantum Theory:

Leonard Susskind (2016), "Copenhagen vs Everett, Teleportation, and ER=EPR"

http://arxiv.org/pdf/1604.02589v2.pdf

Abstract: "Quantum gravity may have as much to tell us about the foundations and interpretation of quantum mechanics as it does about gravity. The Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics and Everett's Relative State Formulation are complementary descriptions which in a sense are dual to one another. My purpose here is to discuss this duality in the light of the of ER=EPR conjecture."


Extract: "Sooner or later we will have to give up the security of an asymptotically cold boundary, and formulate a theory in which the universe is a highly interconnected network of entangled subsystems, with no preferred uber-observer. I expect that when this happens ER=EPR will take its place as one of the cornerstones of the new theory.
What all of this suggests to me, and what I want to suggest to you, is that quantum mechanics and gravity are far more tightly related than we (or at least I) had ever imagined. The essential nonlocalities of quantum mechanics - the need for instantaneous communication in order to classically simulate entanglement - parallels the nonlocal potentialities of general relativity: ER=EPR."

See also:
http://www.sciencealert.com/this-new-equation-might-finally-unite-the-two-biggest-theories-in-physics-says-physicist

Extract: ""The claim, in its most dramatic-sounding form, is that gravity (spacetime curvature caused by energy/momentum) isn’t hard to obtain in quantum mechanics - it’s automatic! Or at least, the most natural thing to expect," he says.

We'll have to wait and see if ER = EPR or something closely related bears out, but it's certainly food for thought, and Susskind for one thinks he's on to something here.

"To me it seems obvious that if ER = EPR is true, it is a very big deal, and it must affect the foundations and interpretation of quantum mechanics," he writes, adding that if he's right, "quantum mechanics and gravity are far more tightly related than we (or at least I) had ever imagined"."
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AbruptSLR

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Re: Adapting to the Anthropocene
« Reply #183 on: September 04, 2016, 03:13:35 PM »
The linked report from Stanford is entitled: "ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND LIFE IN 2030 - ONE HUNDRED YEAR STUDY ON ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE | REPORT OF THE 2015 STUDY PANEL | SEPTEMBER 2016" and it envisions rapid progress in AI development/implementation by 2030:

https://ai100.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/ai_100_report_0831fnl.pdf

Extract: "Longer term, AI may be thought of as a radically different mechanism for wealth creation in which everyone should be entitled to a portion of the world’s AI-produced treasures.

Misunderstandings about what AI is and is not could fuel opposition to technologies with the potential to benefit everyone. Poorly informed regulation that stifles innovation would be a tragic mistake.

An accurate and sophisticated picture of AI—one that competes with its popular portrayal—is hampered by the difficulty of pinning down a precise definition of artificial intelligence.


Intelligence lies on a multi-dimensional spectrum. According to this view, the difference between an arithmetic calculator and a human brain is not one of kind, but of scale, speed, degree of autonomy, and generality.

A growing body of research is devoted to the idea that a wide array of devices can be interconnected to collect and share their sensory information. Such devices can include appliances, vehicles, buildings, cameras, and other things.

As cars will become better drivers than people, city-dwellers will own fewer cars, live further from work, and spend time differently, leading to an entirely new urban organization.

Over the next fifteen years, coincident advances in mechanical and AI technologies promise to increase the safe and reliable use and utility of home robots in a typical North American city.

AI-based applications could improve health outcomes and quality of life for millions of people in the coming years—but only if they gain the trust of doctors, nurses, and patients.

Specialized motion tracking devices... and the emerging (inter) connectedness between the home environment and health-monitoring devices have created a vibrant new sector of innovation.

Though quality education will always require active engagement by human teachers, AI promises to enhance education at all levels, especially by providing personalization at scale.

The current absence of sophisticated use of AI technologies in schools, colleges, and universities may be explained by the lack of financial resources as well as the lack of data establishing the technologies’ effectiveness.

While formal education will not disappear, the Study Panel believes that MOOCs and other forms of online education will become part of learning at all levels, from K-12 through university, in a blended classroom experience.

As dramatized in the movie Minority Report, predictive policing tools raise the specter of innocent people being unjustifiably targeted. But well-deployed AI prediction tools have the potential to actually remove or reduce human bias.

As labor becomes a less important factor in production as compared to owning intellectual capital, a majority of citizens may find the value of their labor insufficient to pay for a socially acceptable standard of living.

AI could widen existing inequalities of opportunity if access to AI technologies—along with the high-powered computation and large-scale data that fuel many of them—is unfairly distributed across society.

Absent sufficient technical expertise to assess safety or other metrics, national or local officials may refuse to permit a potentially promising application—or green light a sensitive application that has not been adequately vetted.

AI applications could increasingly shift investment from payroll and income to capital expenditure. Depending on a state budget’s reliance on payroll and income tax, such a shift could be destabilizing.

Although the separation of AI into sub-fields has enabled deep technical progress along several different fronts, synthesizing intelligence at any reasonable scale invariably requires many different ideas to be integrated."

Also see:
http://www.computerworld.com/article/3116124/artificial-intelligence/scientists-look-at-how-ai-will-change-our-lives-by-2030.html

Separately, see:
http://www.morningticker.com/2016/09/incredible-discovery-could-forever-change-clothing/

“It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change.”
― Leon C. Megginson

AbruptSLR

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Re: Adapting to the Anthropocene
« Reply #184 on: October 08, 2016, 03:43:24 AM »
The linked article entitled: "Why insights of Nobel physicists could revolutionise 21st-century computing", indicates that the research of this year's Nobel physicists could make quantum computing practical in as little at ten years:

http://theconversation.com/why-insights-of-nobel-physicists-could-revolutionise-21st-century-computing-66613

Extract: "It might take between ten and 30 years before scientists become sufficiently good at manipulating electrons to make quantum computing possible, but they open up exciting possibilities. They could simulate the formation of molecules, for example, which is numerically too complicated for today’s computers. This could revolutionise drug research by enabling us to predict what will happen during chemical processes in the body.

To give just one other example, quantum computing has the potential to make artificial intelligence a reality. Quantum machines may be better at learning than classical computers, partly because they might be underpinned by much cleverer algorithms. Cracking AI could be a step change in human existence – for better or worse.

In short, the predictions of Thouless, Haldane and Kosterlitz have the potential to help revolutionise 21st-century computer technology. Where the Nobel committee has recognised the importance of their work in 2016, we are likely to be thanking them many decades into the future."
“It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change.”
― Leon C. Megginson

AbruptSLR

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Re: Adapting to the Anthropocene
« Reply #185 on: October 14, 2016, 04:11:41 PM »
The linked reference (& associated article) indicates that the adoption of rapid terahertz radiation, ("T-rays") to improve memory switching rates could result in ultrafast data recording that could facilitate a smooth transition to quantum computation:

S. Baierl, M. Hohenleutner, T. Kampfrath, A. K. Zvezdin, A. V. Kimel, R. Huber & R. V. Mikhaylovskiy  (03 October 2016), "Nonlinear spin control by terahertz-driven anisotropy fields", Nature Photonics, doi:10.1038/nphoton.2016.181


http://www.nature.com/nphoton/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nphoton.2016.181.html

Abstract: "Future information technologies, such as ultrafast data recording, quantum computation or spintronics, call for ever faster spin control by light. Intense terahertz pulses can couple to spins on the intrinsic energy scale of magnetic excitations. Here, we explore a novel electric dipole-mediated mechanism of nonlinear terahertz-spin coupling that is much stronger than linear Zeeman coupling to the terahertz magnetic field. Using the prototypical antiferromagnet thulium orthoferrite (TmFeO3), we demonstrate that resonant terahertz pumping of electronic orbital transitions modifies the magnetic anisotropy for ordered Fe3+ spins and triggers large-amplitude coherent spin oscillations. This mechanism is inherently nonlinear, it can be tailored by spectral shaping of the terahertz waveforms and its efficiency outperforms the Zeeman torque by an order of magnitude. Because orbital states govern the magnetic anisotropy in all transition-metal oxides, the demonstrated control scheme is expected to be applicable to many magnetic materials."

See also:
https://www.engadget.com/2016/10/12/terahertz-radiation-could-speed-up-computer-memory-by-1000-times/

Extract: "One area limiting speed in personal computing speed is memory -- specifically, how quickly individual memory cells can be switched, which is currently done using an external magnetic field. European and Russian scientists have proposed a new method using much more rapid terahertz radiation, aka "T-rays," the same things used in airport body scanners."
“It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change.”
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budmantis

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Re: Adapting to the Anthropocene
« Reply #186 on: October 18, 2016, 02:34:47 PM »
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20161017-can-wild-seeds-save-us-from-food-apocalypse

"Around the world, botanists are battling to find rare wild seed strains before they die out, helping ensure food supplies that can survive the perils of climate change".

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Re: Adapting to the Anthropocene
« Reply #187 on: October 21, 2016, 06:25:35 PM »
The linked reference is entitled: "Correlations in quantum thermodynamics: Heat, work, and entropy production".  The quantum methodology discussed in the reference could be used to "… build efficient quantum heat engines, or shed light on our understanding of the role of correlations in biological processes in relation to, e.g., the efficiency of photosynthetic light-harvesting complexes."

http://www.nature.com/articles/srep35568

For more on quantum computing see also the following reference entitled "A dressed spin qubit in silicon":

http://www.nature.com/nnano/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nnano.2016.178.html
« Last Edit: October 23, 2016, 06:21:49 PM by AbruptSLR »
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Re: Adapting to the Anthropocene
« Reply #188 on: October 26, 2016, 05:38:48 PM »
The linked article demonstrate the rate of progress being made for both quantum computing and a quantum Internet:

Haw et. al. (Oct 26 2016), "Surpassing the no-cloning limit with a heralded hybrid linear amplifier for coherent states", Nature Communications 7, Article no. 13222, doi:10.1038/ncomms13222.

http://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms13222

&

Dong et. al. (Oct 26 2016), "Learning robust pulses for generating universal quantum gates", Scientific Reports 6, Article no. 36090, doi:10.1038/srep36090

http://www.nature.com/articles/srep36090
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budmantis

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Re: Adapting to the Anthropocene
« Reply #189 on: October 28, 2016, 06:08:09 AM »
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-37789594

"World's  largest marine protected area declared in Antarctica".

"Conservationists are delighted that the Ross Sea has been designated a marine protected area".

AbruptSLR

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Re: Adapting to the Anthropocene
« Reply #190 on: November 05, 2016, 06:47:33 PM »
In Reply #39, I referenced an article by Paul Mason that indicated that Karl Marx understood how information theory could be used to re-shape our economic system into a more sustainable post-capitalistic global socio-economic system.

http://forum.arctic-sea-ice.net/index.php/topic,1308.msg57468/topicseen.html#msg57468

The linked book by John Bellamy Foster (2016) is entitled: "Marx’s Ecology: Materialism and Nature", and it indicates that Karl Marx thought of the human body as part of the natural world and called nature an extension of our bodies.  Thus Marx's ideas for the use of information theory to re-shape our post-capitalistic global socio-economic system should result in an improved relationship between mankind and Mother Nature.

http://monthlyreview.org/product/marxs_ecology/

Promotional summary: "Progress requires the conquest of nature. Or does it? This new account overturns conventional interpretations of Marx and in the process outlines a more rational approach to the current environmental crisis.

Marx, it is often assumed, cared only about industrial growth and the development of economic forces. John Bellamy Foster examines Marx’s neglected writings on capitalist agriculture and soil ecology, philosophical naturalism, and evolutionary theory. He shows that Marx, known as a powerful critic of capitalist society, was also deeply concerned with the changing human relationship to nature.

Marx’s Ecology covers many other thinkers, including Epicurus, Charles Darwin, Thomas Malthus, Ludwig Feuerbach, P. J. Proudhon, and William Paley.

By reconstructing a materialist conception of nature and society, Marx’s Ecology challenges the spiritualism prevalent in the modern Green movement, pointing toward a method that offers more lasting and sustainable solutions to the ecological crisis."
“It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change.”
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AbruptSLR

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Re: Adapting to the Anthropocene
« Reply #191 on: November 15, 2016, 12:09:10 AM »
The linked Nature reference entitled: "Multi-scale Adaptive Computational Ghost Imaging", uses information science to dramatically enhance the performance of image detection & processing (see attached image).  Such technology can give practicable eyes to AI:

http://www.nature.com/articles/srep37013

“It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change.”
― Leon C. Megginson

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Re: Adapting to the Anthropocene
« Reply #192 on: November 17, 2016, 06:35:07 PM »
Good video about the Anthropocene (I hope that I am not repeating this link):

http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/4574615.htm
Which is the best answer to Sep-2012 ASI lost (compared to 1979-2000)?
50% [NSIDC Extent] or
73% [PIOMAS Volume]

Volume is harder to measure than extent, but 3-dimensional space is real, 2D's hide ~50% thickness gone.
-> IPCC/NSIDC trends [based on extent] underestimate the real speed of ASI lost.

AbruptSLR

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Re: Adapting to the Anthropocene
« Reply #193 on: November 21, 2016, 09:59:50 PM »
The linked article is entitled: "Microsoft 'doubles down' on futuristic quantum computers".  This is another indication that the future of quantum computing is coming sooner rather than later:

http://www.pcworld.com/article/3143705/hardware/microsoft-puts-quantum-computing-higher-on-its-hardware-priority-list.html

Extract: "Microsoft is accelerating its efforts to make a quantum computer as it looks to a future of computing beyond today’s PCs and servers.

Microsoft has researched quantum computing for more than a decade. Now the company’s goal is to put the theory to work and create actual hardware and software."
“It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change.”
― Leon C. Megginson

AbruptSLR

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Re: Adapting to the Anthropocene
« Reply #194 on: December 07, 2016, 01:21:15 AM »
The linked article is entitled: "The Fourth Industrial Revolution: what it means, how to respond".  Climate change is not the only thing that people will need to adapt to in the Anthropocene:


https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/01/the-fourth-industrial-revolution-what-it-means-and-how-to-respond/

Extract: "There are three reasons why today’s transformations represent not merely a prolongation of the Third Industrial Revolution but rather the arrival of a Fourth and distinct one: velocity, scope, and systems impact. The speed of current breakthroughs has no historical precedent. When compared with previous industrial revolutions, the Fourth is evolving at an exponential rather than a linear pace. Moreover, it is disrupting almost every industry in every country. And the breadth and depth of these changes herald the transformation of entire systems of production, management, and governance.

In the future, technological innovation will also lead to a supply-side miracle, with long-term gains in efficiency and productivity. Transportation and communication costs will drop, logistics and global supply chains will become more effective, and the cost of trade will diminish, all of which will open new markets and drive economic growth.

At the same time, as the economists Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee have pointed out, the revolution could yield greater inequality, particularly in its potential to disrupt labor markets. As automation substitutes for labor across the entire economy, the net displacement of workers by machines might exacerbate the gap between returns to capital and returns to labor. On the other hand, it is also possible that the displacement of workers by technology will, in aggregate, result in a net increase in safe and rewarding jobs.

We cannot foresee at this point which scenario is likely to emerge, and history suggests that the outcome is likely to be some combination of the two. However, I am convinced of one thing—that in the future, talent, more than capital, will represent the critical factor of production. This will give rise to a job market increasingly segregated into “low-skill/low-pay” and “high-skill/high-pay” segments, which in turn will lead to an increase in social tensions.

The impact on people
The Fourth Industrial Revolution, finally, will change not only what we do but also who we are. It will affect our identity and all the issues associated with it: our sense of privacy, our notions of ownership, our consumption patterns, the time we devote to work and leisure, and how we develop our careers, cultivate our skills, meet people, and nurture relationships. It is already changing our health and leading to a “quantified” self, and sooner than we think it may lead to human augmentation. The list is endless because it is bound only by our imagination.

In the end, it all comes down to people and values. We need to shape a future that works for all of us by putting people first and empowering them. In its most pessimistic, dehumanized form, the Fourth Industrial Revolution may indeed have the potential to “robotize” humanity and thus to deprive us of our heart and soul. But as a complement to the best parts of human nature—creativity, empathy, stewardship—it can also lift humanity into a new collective and moral consciousness based on a shared sense of destiny. It is incumbent on us all to make sure the latter prevails."

“It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change.”
― Leon C. Megginson

AbruptSLR

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Re: Adapting to the Anthropocene
« Reply #195 on: December 08, 2016, 12:14:46 PM »
The two linked article indicate that the 4th Industrial Revolution will not only be about robotics and AI, but also about the interface of AI & humans to enhance Human Intelligence, HI.

The first linked article is entitled: "The ethics of transhumanism".

https://techcrunch.com/2016/08/26/the-ethics-of-transhumanism/

Extract: "Transhumanists believe that humankind can evolve beyond its current physical and mental limitations to become “superhuman” and, eventually, immortal.

One of the proposed solutions to achieve immortality comes from Ray Kurzweil, who believes that we can transfer our consciousness to machines to achieve digital immortality within three decades.

However, by the time it is predicted we achieve digital immortality, it is also likely that we would have developed human-like artificial intelligence. Elon Musk believes that humans need to add digital implants in the form of a neural lace to their brains to be able to compete with artificial intelligence."

The second linked article is entitled: "The Brain Tech to Merge Humans and AI Is Already Being Developed".

http://singularityhub.com/2016/12/05/the-brain-tech-to-merge-humans-and-ai-is-already-being-developed/

Extract: "Is AI the greatest tool humanity will ever create, or are we “summoning the demon”?
To quote the head of AI at Singularity University, Neil Jacobstein, “It’s not artificial intelligence I’m worried about, it’s human stupidity.”

In a recent Abundance 360 webinar, I interviewed Bryan Johnson, the founder of a new company called Kernel which he seeded with $100 million.

To quote Bryan, “It’s not about AI vs. humans. Rather, it's about creating HI, or ‘Human Intelligence’: the merger of humans and AI.”

we’re taking evolution into our own hands.
I like to say we're going from evolution by natural selection — Darwinism — into evolution by intelligent direction.
We can now focus on technologies to augment human intelligence (HI)."
“It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change.”
― Leon C. Megginson

AbruptSLR

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Re: Adapting to the Anthropocene
« Reply #196 on: December 12, 2016, 07:58:39 PM »
The linked article is entitled: "FEMA's Director Wants Capitalism to Protect Us From Climate Change".  Those who adapt early to the coming systemic changes will have a better chance of survival.

https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2016-12-12/fema-s-director-wants-capitalism-to-protect-us-from-climate-change

Extract: "FEMA suggested what it called a disaster deductible: State governments would be on the hook for some of the cost of cleaning up after hurricanes, floods and other calamities. But they could lower that deductible by taking steps to reduce their exposure -- for example, by passing tougher building codes.

States balked. But as climate change puts more property at risk, the pressure to reform federal disaster policy will only increase. Fugate spoke with me last week about social welfare for developers, the futility of regulating where people can build, and why this issue won't go away once Republicans are in charge."
“It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change.”
― Leon C. Megginson

AbruptSLR

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Re: Adapting to the Anthropocene
« Reply #197 on: January 04, 2017, 12:13:06 AM »
Here are a couple of plots that might help some to better adapt to the on-coming 4th Industrial Revolution:
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Re: Adapting to the Anthropocene
« Reply #198 on: January 06, 2017, 05:25:16 PM »
The linked article is entitled: "Quantum Computers Ready to Leap Out of the Lab in 2017".

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/quantum-computers-ready-to-leap-out-of-the-lab-in-2017/

Extract: "Quantum computing has long seemed like one of those technologies that are 20 years away, and always will be. But 2017 could be the year that the field sheds its research-only image.

Computing giants Google and Microsoft recently hired a host of leading lights, and have set challenging goals for this year. Their ambition reflects a broader transition taking place at start-ups and academic research labs alike: to move from pure science towards engineering."
“It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change.”
― Leon C. Megginson

AbruptSLR

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Re: Adapting to the Anthropocene
« Reply #199 on: January 25, 2017, 03:09:50 AM »
The linked article is entitled: "Why it matters that Human Poker Pros are being Trounced by AI", indicating that the performance of AI is accelerating on track with projections by Ray Kurzweil:

http://gizmodo.com/why-it-matters-that-human-poker-pros-are-getting-trounc-1791565551

Extract: "Given the early results, it appears that we’ll soon be able to add Heads-Up, No-Limit Texas Hold’em poker (HUNL) to the list of games where AI has surpassed the best humans—a growing list that includes Othello, chess, checkers, Jeopardy!, and as we witnessed last year, Go. Unlike chess and Go, however, this popular version of poker involves bluffing, hidden cards, and imperfect information, which machines find notoriously difficult to handle. Computer scientists say HUNL represents the “last frontier” of game solving, signifying a milestone in the development of AI—and an achievement that would represent a major step towards more human-like intelligence."
“It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change.”
― Leon C. Megginson