Lifeboat Foundation

Japan is hoping to play a lead role in crafting international rules on what has been called lethal autonomous weapons systems or LAWS.

Japan is planning to give its backing to international efforts to regulate the development of lethal weapons controlled by artificial intelligence at a UN conference in Geneva late this month, government sources said Saturday.

It would mark a departure from Japan’s current policy. The government was already opposed to the development of so-called killer robots that could kill without human involvement. But it had called for careful discussions when it comes to rules so as to make sure that commercial development of AI would not be hampered.

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And Vetek Association present their list of the top 60 Longevity Influencers in Israel, whose efforts in science, technology, industry and policy are driving the growth of the Israeli Longevity Landscape.

Link to the Report: https://www.aginganalytics.com/longevity-in-israel

Aaron Ciechanover Anat Ben-Zvi, Ph.D., Clinical Psychologist Boaz Misholi Dov Chernichovsky — דב צ’רניחובסקי Ehud Cohen Eyal banin Idan Segev Ilia Stambler Israel Issi Doron Itamar Harel Itamar Raz Jonathan Mandelbaum Michael Neeman Mooly Eden Nir Barzilai MD Rafi Eitan Raphael Gorodetsky Ruth Arnon Uri Alon Valery Krizhanovsky Yael Sorek-benvenisti Yechezkel Barenholz Yosef Gruenbaum.

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Presents its list of the top 30 Longevity Influencers in Singapore, whose efforts in science, technology, industry and policy are driving the growth of the Singaporean Longevity Landscape.

Link to the Report: https://www.aginganalytics.com/longevity-in-singapore

Dr Finian Tan Brian Kennedy #DannySoon #GaryKhoo #BussarawanTeerawichitchainan #ChongHockSia #JaniceChia #JeffreyLu #CarlFirth #KanwaljitSoin #ChristianiJeyakumarHenry #ColinStewart #HweePinkTan Kenneth Noonan MD #LimChweeTeck #LokSheeMei #MelisTay #NeoKahYean #NgHuckHui #PaoloRampichini #PaulSi #PennyWan #JudithSwain #VishalDoshi #WallaceToores #WilfBlackburn #YuCai #LimXinhong WanJin Hong Birgit Lane.

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Circa 2012

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Continue reading “What our civilization needs is a billion-year plan” »

However, a shortage of hi-tech research capacity in the region is turning into a hindrance, according to analysts, with most of China’s top-notch science and engineering schools located in the northern and eastern provinces. Although Hong Kong has several universities in the world’s top 100, only a few of them have a science and technology focus.

China’s ‘Greater Bay Area’ plan aims to erase barriers between cities in the region in terms of policy, financing, logistics and talent.

I remember the #DotCom crash all too well.

The publication record of health-care start-up companies doesn’t seem to matter to investors, according to an analysis of nearly 50 biomedical ‘unicorns’ — venture-capital-backed companies valued at more than US$1 billion. The analysis, led by health-policy researcher John Ioannidis at Stanford University in California, finds no correlation between a company’s market valuation and its publication record — defined as the number of peer-reviewed papers authored directly by a firm. That’s a cause for concern, the authors say.

Firms can achieve fêted ‘unicorn’ valuations without publishing much peer-reviewed science. Health-care start-ups can reach billion-dollar valuations without publishing in peer-reviewed journals, but skipping that step can catch them out.

Oxfam’s director of campaigns and policy, Matthew Spencer, said: The massive fall in the number of people living in extreme poverty is one of the greatest achievements of the past quarter of a century but rising inequality is jeopardising further progress.

It said the widening gap was hindering the fight against poverty, adding that a wealth tax on the 1% would raise an estimated $418bn (£325bn) a year – enough to educate every child not in school and provide healthcare that would prevent 3 million deaths.

As Beijing’s pilot reform spreads nationwide to cut prices of drugs and improve their efficacy and safety, companies are under mounting pressure to invest in innovative drugs development and reduce reliance on low profit products that are the same copies of original drugs.

New policy environment demanding cheaper drugs adds pressure to innovate.

CERN has revealed plans for a gigantic successor of the giant atom smasher LHC, the biggest machine ever built. Particle physicists will never stop to ask for ever larger big bang machines. But where are the limits for the ordinary society concerning costs and existential risks?

CERN boffins are already conducting a mega experiment at the LHC, a 27km circular particle collider, at the cost of several billion Euros to study conditions of matter as it existed fractions of a second after the big bang and to find the smallest particle possible – but the question is how could they ever know? Now, they pretend to be a little bit upset because they could not find any particles beyond the standard model, which means something they would not expect. To achieve that, particle physicists would like to build an even larger “Future Circular Collider” (FCC) near Geneva, where CERN enjoys extraterritorial status, with a ring of 100km – for about 24 billion Euros.

Experts point out that this research could be as limitless as the universe itself. The UK’s former Chief Scientific Advisor, Prof Sir David King told BBC: “We have to draw a line somewhere otherwise we end up with a collider that is so large that it goes around the equator. And if it doesn’t end there perhaps there will be a request for one that goes to the Moon and back.”

“There is always going to be more deep physics to be conducted with larger and larger colliders. My question is to what extent will the knowledge that we already have be extended to benefit humanity?”

Continue reading “Why it is dangerous to build ever larger big bang machines” »