Lifeboat Foundation

As the world turns increasingly more digital and data-driven, there is an increasing desire for greater visibility and transparency of data. Governments around the world have turned to digital means to submit and pay taxes as well as collect a variety of revenue from different sources. Likewise, governments are making deeper use of data and systems for their expenditures and analyzing the patterns of that spending.

One of the lesser-known agencies in the US federal government is the Bureau of the Fiscal Service (BFS). As a bureau of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the BSF manages the federal government’s accounting, central payment systems, and public debt. In essence, the BFS is the bookkeeper for the US federal government. A huge role given the trillions of dollars that flow through US coffers on an annual basis. Since the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (FFATA) was signed into law on September 26 2006, the BFS has embarked on a number of wide ranging data-centric efforts to provide visibility into government spending including USASpending.gov, FiscalData.Treasury.gov, and DataLab.USASpending.gov.

Not surprisingly, the BFS has also invested heavily in the use of AI, the main topic of an upcoming AI in Government presentation on November 18 2021 with Justin Marsico, Chief Data Officer of the Bureau of the Fiscal Service. In that presentation, Justin shares how deeply the bureau is investing in the use of AI and some of the ways in which it is providing insights into government spending and revenues.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg accused other tech companies of “stifling innovation” with high fees and little choice for consumers during a live stream on Thursday, all while his company faces an antitrust lawsuit from the federal government and heightened pressure from Congress over recently-leaked internal documents

Zuckerberg made the comments at the Facebook Connect event Thursday, where he announced the company has changed its name to Meta.

He also laid out the company’s plans to build a metaverse — a virtual reality experience where people can meet online. His comments seemed to allude to mobile operating systems like those created by Apple and Google, though he did not mention any company by name or specify the types of platforms he was talking about.

The world’s largest semiconductor manufacturers—Intel, Samsung, and the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC)—have all announced plans to build new chip factories in the US. Everyone is bragging about those plans: American lawmakers say bringing chip manufacturing back onto US soil will strengthen national security, while the chip makers, chastened by this year’s disastrous semiconductor shortage, are diversifying their supply chains to avoid future crises.

But there’s one problem: Who will pay?

Intel, Samsung, and TSMC have all threatened to pull the plug on their US factory plans unless government subsidies are on the table. Company executives claim that if they don’t get a rich package of incentives and tax breaks, they’ll build their semiconductor factories elsewhere, effectively ending American ambitions to return chip manufacturing to its shores after ceding the bulk of the market to Taiwan in the 1990s.

To keep up with China and Russia. The future of warfare builds on previous successes. And throughout conflicts in Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan, the U.S. military possessed an unrivaled advantage in air superiority. But all things change, and to face the possibility of conflict with new and advanced weapons and aircraft from Russia or China, the Special Operations Command (SOCOM) wants to upgrade some of its largest aircraft with cruise missiles, according to a recent solicitation shared on a government website. Specifically, SOCOM’s plans call for equipping AC-130s with cruise missiles, in addition to transforming the MC-130 into a \.

Equipping AC-130s with cruise missiles could prove superfluous.

Continue reading “The US Wants to Upgrade Its Biggest Planes With Cruise Missiles” »

AI & computational technology for improving drug discovery & development — mati gill, CEO, AION labs.

Mati Gill is the Chief Executive Officer, of AION Labs (https://aionlabs.com/), a company recently launched and backed by a coalition of pharma and tech leaders, including AstraZeneca, Merck, Pfizer, Teva, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and the Israel Biotech Fund (IBF) and Israel Innovation Authority, to improve the whole drug discovery & drug development process with AI and computational biology.

Continue reading “Mati Gill, CEO, AION Labs — AI & Computational Technology For Improving Drug Discovery & Development” »

Track code: TD-3

Abstract:
Solar Sails are at the same stage of engineering development as electric motors were in the 1830’s. Each attribute of solar flux has been examined in isolation, such as photon, proton, plasma, and electrodynamic systems. This talk recommends designing a simple baseline system that converges multiple propulsion methods into optimized systems, as is currently done with electric motors. Many convergences can come from this solution space. Once a baseline design is created, AI genetic algorithms can “flight test” and refine the designs in simulation to adjust proportions and geometry. Once a base design is refined, a second AI evolution pass would design fleet systems that flock like birds to optimize performance. These could fly as a protective shield around Mars crewed fleets, provide space based solar power, deploy rapid reaction probes for interstellar comets, and be used in NEO asteroid mining. In the long term, fleets of solar energy management vehicles can provide orbital Carrigan event protection and Martian solar wind protection for terraforming. This talk is also a case study in how technology revolutions happen, and how to accelerate the creation and democratization of technical solutions.

Continue reading “FlexSail: Solar Sails and Tech Revolutions — Kent Nebergall — 2021 Mars Society Virtual Convention” »

26 Oct 2021 — Public Chinese government records reviewed by the Good Food Institute (GFI) APAC indicate that significant funds are being allocated to help the nascent alternative protein sector optimize and scale up – as was previously done for the nation’s development of solar panels, lithium-ion batteries and electric vehicles.

While Chinese funding for alternative protein remains a tiny proportion of what the nation is capable of, these moves by various government entities demonstrate the scope of interest among local officials, which could potentially position China at the forefront of the next big food tech boom.

“There is no pathway to achieve the climate goals set out in the Paris Agreement without changing how we produce protein, but encouraging new evidence suggests that Chinese leaders understand the massive benefits of making meat from plants and growing it directly from cells,” stresses the GFI.

The Russian-linked hacking group that’s been blamed for an attack on the U.S. government and a significant number of private U.S. companies last year is targeting key players in the global technology supply chain, according to cybersecurity experts at Microsoft.

Nobelium, as the hacking group is known, is infamous for the SolarWinds hack.

On Monday, Tom Burt, Microsoft corporate vice president of customer security and trust, said Nobelium has “been attempting to replicate the approach it has used in past attacks by targeting organizations integral to the global IT supply chain.”

Alfredo Munoz — Digital Twins of Martian Cities as a new frontier for Space Analogs.

From the 24th Annual International Mars Society Convention, held as a Virtual Convention worldwide on the Internet from October 14–17, 2021. The four-day International Mars Society Convention, held every year since 1,998 brings together leading scientists, engineers, aerospace industry representatives, government policymakers and journalists to talk about the latest scientific discoveries, technological advances and political-economic developments that could help pave the way for a human mission to the planet Mars.

Continue reading “Digital Twins of Martian Cities — Alfredo Munoz — 2021 Mars Society Virtual Convention” »