Lifeboat Foundation

A fingerprint test developed by British scientists could tell if patients are skipping medication.

Forgetting or failing to take drugs can have serious consequences, particularly for people suffering from chronic conditions or those with mental health issues.

Non-adherence to prescribed medication is a major problem for the NHS, with some studies showing only 50 per cent of people take long-term drugs as instructed, at a cost of around £300 million in wasted medicine each year.

A brain receptor believed to be linked to negative moods has been discovered in a part of the brain that contributes to pain. The paper is published in Science.

Circa 2008

A recent study demonstrates that the use of an acute, localized static magnetic field of moderate strength can result in significant reduction of swelling when applied immediately after an inflammatory injury. Magnets have been touted for their healing properties since ancient Greece. Magnetic therapy is still widely used today as an alternative method for treating a number of conditions, from arthritis to depression, but there hasn’t been scientific proof that magnets can heal.

Lack of regulation and widespread public acceptance have turned magnetic therapy into a $5 billion world market. Hopeful consumers buy bracelets, knee braces, shoe inserts, mattresses, and other products that are embedded with magnets based on anecdotal evidence, hoping for a non-invasive and drug-free cure to what ails them.

“The FDA regulates specific claims of medical efficacy, but in general static magnetic fields are viewed as safe,” notes Thomas Skalak, professor and chair of biomedical engineering at U.Va.

“What foundational values need to be in place for an ethical utilitronium shockwave?”

What foundational values need to be in place for an ethical utilitronium shockwave?
We discuss:
- (following on from a previous video) more on Nozick’s experience machines (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxBvNbuYud0).
- given that in each age there has been different conceptions of utopia, what would utopia be for a post-human superintelligence?
- classical utilitarian vs negative utilitarian approaches to the long term good of life in the universe.
- whether a perfect decision theory would be equal to negative utilitarianism.
- how much attention should we give to preferences in improving well-being beyond eliminating suffering?
- if one does believe in the objectivity of value should we be concerned about being damned in a local maximum of well-being?
- what is God’s utility function?

Continue reading “David Pearce — Foundational Values for the Future — What is God’s Utility Function?” »

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Abstract: We know that creatures like us have two separate systems for processing information, the genome and the brain. We know that the genome is digital, and we can accurately transcribe our genomes onto digital machines. We cannot transcribe our brains, and the processing of information in our brains is still a great mystery. I will be talking about real brains and real people, asking a question that will have practical consequences when we are able to answer it. I am not able to answer it now. All I can do is to examine the evidence and explain why I consider it probable that the answer will be that brains are analog.

Prof Freeman Dyson | “Are Brains Analogue or Digital?” | 19th May 2014 — Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, Statutory Public Lecture of the School of Theoretical Physics, in association with the UCD School of Physics.

Continue reading “Freeman Dyson (Scientist)” »

What if god was literally real. Let’s just posit that instance. What if a type 7 civilization existed. What if the realm of impossibility of dream existed. I think if a realm of impossibility existed it have literal physics. This book talks about this real instance of possible impossibility. What if water into wine literally happened it would have a literal physics. In the realm of science of the impossible there could have a literal scientific proof that a chimp with god like powers did exist that essentially maybe it prove of a being that has impossible abilities. Some even posit that god is an alien perhaps. That the universe is a sandbox for us to live much like a video game is. That the vast expansion of this bubble universe with its realm of physics that has near endless possibilities stands to reason of a creator that has made those to be. That it is not just farming we do on earth but rather something different that even in a grain of sand there is infinite possibilities because essentially it was manufactured by a god like being that physically existed. This could rewrite the history books even proving that god does exist as an actual being of immense abundance and power. M theory would solve the questions we all hold dear that the secrets of the universe may be hidden in m theory.

Setting aside the pervasive material bias of science and lifting the obscuring fog of religious sectarianism reveals a surprisingly clear unity of science and religion. The explanations of transcendent phenomena given by saints, sages, and near-death experiencers—miracles, immortality, heaven, God, and transcendent awareness—are fully congruent with scientific discoveries in the fields of relativity, quantum physics, medicine, M-theory, neuroscience, and quantum biology.

Some can smell normally despite missing the part of the brain which science says is crucial.

Our brain has 86 billion neurons connected by 3 million kilometers of nerve fibers and The Human Brain Project is mapping it all. One of the key applications is neuromorphic computing — computers inspired by brain architecture that may one day be able to learn as we do.

#BloombergGiantLeap #Science #Technology

Continue reading “Building a Computer Like Your Brain” »