Category Archives: Futurism

In BriefInspired by Wolverine, the ultimate self-healing hero, aresearcher has created a self-healing polymer that conductselectricity. This material may one day be used in smartphones thatcan repair themselves. Wolverine-Inspired Material

A researcher inspired by the X-Mens self-healing hero, Wolverine, has created a self-healing polymeric material for use in soft robotics and electronic devices like smartphones. Chao Wang, Ph.D. presented his teams research yesterday at the 253rd National Meeting and Exposition of the American Chemical Society.

When I was young, my idol was Wolverine from the X-Men, Dr. Wang said in a press release. He could save the world, but only because he could heal himself. A self-healing material, when carved into two parts, can go back together like nothing has happened, just like our human skin.

Chemical bonding is the key to self-repair, and materials can have two types of bonds: covalent bonds, which are stronger and dont easily reform once they are broken, and non-covalent bonds, which are weaker but more dynamic. The challenge with many non-covalent bonds is balancing that desirable flexibility with the ability to conduct electricity. Most self-healing polymers form hydrogen bonds or metal-ligand coordination, but these arent suitable for ionic conductors, explained Dr. Wang.

Wangs team looked for an alternative approach and settled upon an ion-dipole interaction. Ion-dipole interactions have never been used for designing a self-healing polymer, but it turns out that theyre particularly suitable for ionic conductors, said Dr. Wang. To that end, the team combined a stretchable, polar polymer with a mobile, ionic salt. The polymer, poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene), contains polar groups that interact with the ionic salt to create the ion-dipole force.

The result is a material that is conductive and extremely flexible, capable of stretching up to 50 times its starting size and stitching itself back together again completely within the space of a single day after being ripped in half. The material is also conductive enough for use with electronics and artificial muscles.

The researchers plan to alter the polymer to improve its properties next. For example, they are working toward achieving functionality in very humid conditions and other harsh environments. Previous self-healing polymers havent worked well in high humidity, Wang said. We are currently tweaking the covalent bonds within the polymer itself to get these materials ready for real-world applications.

The team also acknowledged that, while the material was able to self-heal without the application of intense pressure, exactly how much pressure must be applied for it to self-heal is unknown. This remains an area for further study.

All of the materials used to create the polymer are commercially available, so manufacturing it should remain inexpensive, especially at scale. However, the researchers acknowledge that there are many practical hurdles to clear before the material will be available commercially. I think we still have a lot of things to do before we can really use it for smartphones, Wang said at yesterdays press conference.

However, if this material lives up to its promise, dropping your expensive phone might not be such a tragedy one day soon.

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Scientists Just Created a Material for Self-Healing Smartphones - Futurism

Lotta good writers out there.

Lotta good novelists.

Few craft an entirely new genre, though. One who did, Octavia Butler, who thousands of acolytes credit with creating Afro-Futurism, left her papers to the Huntington Library, which in a new show celebrates her amazing writing and wonderfully American life story of self-creation after a childhood of poverty in the Northwest Pasadena ghetto.

Telling My Stories, which runs through Aug. 7, is one of those roomful-of-arcana museum biopics that I suppose you have to come to with at least a little interest beforehand in the subject. But once visitors wander past the West Hall of the main library exhibit space at the Huntington, many who otherwise just wanted to get a gander at the Gutenberg will be pulled into Butlers room, first by the oversized black and white portrait of the formidable, 6-foot-tall author staring out, and then by all thats contained on the walls and in the display cases.

This isnt like a visit with the papers of some Ivy League tweedster. Octavia Butlers widowed mother was a maid in a wealthy Pasadena household. Octavias exposure to books but for the Bible was not going to happen at home. But, thanks to the childrens section then known as the Peter Pan Room of the Pasadena Library, she discovered reading for pleasure. She began to scrawl little escapist stories about horses and romance. And then, according to Natalie Russell, the Huntingtons assistant curator of literary collections, Butler saw the 1954 B movie Devil Girl from Mars, and had a simple inspiration in reaction to the dumbed-down tale: I can write better than that.

Once she graduated from Muir High and Pasadena City College, and began hanging out at the Los Angeles Library downtown, reading more science fiction, Russell says Butler grew tired of stories featuring only white male heroes. I can write my own stories and I can write myself in, Butler often said after that.

It almost looks easy, or at least inevitable, a writers life in hindsight. But a shy, gangly girl such as Butler had zero role models for her craft. This exhibit shows the Benjamin Franklin-esque manner in which Butler created herself through the national pastime of over-the-top motivational imagineering. I am a bestselling writer, she wrote in ballpoint on lined three-hole-punched papers in the show. I write bestselling books and excellent short stories. Both books and short stories win prizes and awards.

And so she did. Eventually, because she willed it, she was mentored by Harlan Ellison, the Sherman Oaks sci fi giant, and gained entry to the Open Door Program for minority writers of the Writers Guild of America, West. Not that it was easy. No MFA programs or scholarships for her. In a Dear Mama letter Butler typed but never sent from a workshop, she wrote, Im afraid I cant write and I know I cant do anything else. Im blocked. ... Im alone here. I mean, Im the only Negro. That shouldnt mean anything. It means a lot.

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She unblocked, and, working menial L.A. office jobs by day, she wrote at night. She was 28 when she sold her first novel, Patternmaster, to Doubleday in 1975. As she gave me a preview of the show on Thursday, curator Russell noted of Butlers astounding Kindred, in which an African-American woman of today time travels back to a slave plantation, that only a woman protagonist such as the novels Dana had a chance of flying under the radar of the antebellum South and and making it home.

Butler won the Hugo, Nebula and a MacArthur genius grant. The big one. Like a salary, leaving her free to write. The only thing she ever wanted to do.

Larry Wilson is on the Southern California News Group editorial board. lwilson@scng.com.

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With Afro-Futurism, Octavia Butler created her own reality: Larry Wilson - LA Daily News

In BriefA Chinese engineer facing the realities of a widening gendergap in China, and the pressure to marry found a creative andcontroversial solution: he built himself a robot bride. Yingying

While Tindr and other apps might be the height of how technology is shaping human relationships, an engineer in China has taken it to the next level:Zheng Jiajia has married a robot he created.

Zheng, an artificial intelligence expert, spent two months dating Yingying, who he built late last year. Hemade their relationship official in asimple ceremony with his mother and friends in attendance. Or at least as official as the government would allow. Local authorities do not actually recognize the union, through the ceremony did follow Chinese tradition.Click to View Full Infographic

Zhengsdecision to wedthe robot was spurred bymounting pressure for the 31-year-old to marry. Due toChinas one-child policy,sex-selective abortions are common (and preferential to male offspring). China, therefore, has oneworst gender gaps in the world. There are 113.5 men for every 100 women in the country, according to the World Economic Forum. That fact, combined with views on matrimonyamong Chinas middle class, is making itdifficult for men to find wives.

As for Zheng and Yingying, the first hurdle in their relationship may be not dissimilar from human relationships: communication. Yingying is capable of reading some Chinese characters and images and can even speak a few words. Zheng is already working on an update which would hopefully allow her to walk (as of now she must be carried everywhere), do household chores, and converse at a higher level.

Reactions around the world to this unprecedented union have, of course, been mixed but its a very clear demonstration of how relationships and intimacy are evolving in the context of advancing technology.

Futurism explored this concept in previous report:

Technology is pushing human sexuality into uncharted terrain. Its transforming how we express love and intimacy, and holds tremendous potential for deeper emotional and physical connections. While everyone stands to benefit, this is perhaps especially true for those who face sexual challenges due to distance, loneliness, discrimination, or disability.

For many people faced with physical, emotional, and geographic challenges that impact their relationships, turning totechnology for emotional and sexual fulfillment may be their only option. And there are a number of options in that vein, many of which involve the use of remote sex tech, such as long-distance kissing devices, VR haptic body suits, or connected pillows for couples who are in two different geographic locations. Other avenues include adult virtual worlds where users create avatarsand join in virtual gatherings. Similar to Zhengs idea, there are also those creating robotic prototypes equipped with the illusion of sentience and human augmentation which provide companionship for human users.

If anything, these emerging technologies are able to provide context for the integral role that relationships play in human interaction. How these innovations will one day shape human connection and intimacy, however, is very much still evolving.

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The Relationship of The Future: A Man Married a Robot He Built ... - Futurism

In BriefAs the ISS winds down its mission and scientific work, the aninternational team considers a station in lunar orbit to replaceit. A lunar outpost would support the same scientific research andserve as a way station along the route to Mars. ISS is Passing the Baton

In the latest instance of our human obsession with the Moon, the International Spacecraft Working Group (ISWG), the agency architects of the International Space Station (ISS), recently met to discuss how to replace the station, which is set to be decommissioned in 2024. A plan to construct a space outpost in lunar orbit is evolving, and at this latest meeting the participants agreed to a tentative orbit trajectoryto be finalized by 2018.

The ISS was created as an international scientific laboratory for astronauts to conduct experiments in space. Despite our many technological advances, the environment of space is impossible to recreate on Earth, yet the drive to explore and even colonize space demands scientific experimentation in that environment.

The ISS has also been the center of private, commercial research in support of space colonization initiatives. The work conducted on ISS has greatly improved life back on Earth, supporting global water purification efforts, growing high-quality protein crystals for use in medical research, and providing new technologies for use in a wide range of industries.

A space station in lunar orbit poses significant challenges, but, compared with the ISS, holds more opportunity for testing technologies for deep space missions and greater scientific potential. Much ISS research centers on microgravity, studieswhich could be supported within a lunar outpost. The station would also allow for more study of the Moon itself thanks to its proximity to our natural satellite. A lunar orbit station could also serve as a stepping stoneon a journey to Mars.

Members of the ISWG agreed that the stationshould utilize plug and play parts so that new components can be adapted to existing infrastructure. They also want to make the development of common standards a priority.

At this time, designs for the new station incorperatethe Canadian robotic arm from the ISS, a Russian airlock, and propulsion and power systems from the U.S. Although Russia favors a lunar surface base, NASA is pushing for a higher orbit because of its convenience forMars access. Thus far, the plans cite a Near-Rectilinear Halo Orbit, a widened oval path 1450 km (900 miles) from the Moon at its closest and 69,000 km (43,000 miles) at its furthest, taking a week to complete one rotation.

Additionalbenefits of a station in this orbit would include good communication with Earth, constant sunlight for solar panels, and reduced need for departing spacecrafts to use height boosts that consume large amounts of fuel. The primary drawback of the design is that trips to the Moons surface would be somewhat difficult based on the distance, which has left Russia carrying on with its investigation of a Moon base. Solutions might include compromising with a modular design, or changing the orbit periodically.

The timeline right now plans for construction throughout the 2020s. This would have the new station ready to serve missions to Mars and elsewhere in the 2030s. Interestingly, if this timeline holds true, by the time the station is in orbit, private companies may already be on the Moon or in orbit around it.Bigelow Aerospace hopes its inflatable space station will be in orbit around the Moon by 2020, and SpaceX may be there even sooner.

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A Space Station That Orbits the Moon May Be on the Way - Futurism

Musks Neural Lace

When Elon Musk confirmed last week that hes working on a way to combine humans and machines, it wasnt exactly a surprise. The Tesla and SpaceX CEO has long been in favor of a human-machine merger in order to keep up with artificial intelligence (AI) development. Not to mentionavoiding the end of humankind at the hands of machines.

Neuralink is Musks unconventionalproposal forpreempting thatfear.The budding company will build a deviceto be implanted into the human brain. This device which is likely to be called aneural lace would give the human brain the ability to directly interface with gadgets and other devices. It could also improve the human brains memory by increasing its storage capacity. Such brain-computer implants could also lead to improved treatments for neurological diseases and cognitive disorders.If that wasnt impressive enough, such a device could potentially be used toreprogram a persons neural code.

In an piece he wrote for CNBC, Dustin McKissen wondered aloud how such a technology would be introduced quite literally into the public consciousness: one question Musk hasnt answered (and in fairness, it may not be his responsibility to answer) is who will have the privilege of getting a neural lace? McKissen is the founder and CEO of PR and strategy firm McKissen + Company, whose work includes analyzing the effects of politics in the U.S. business climate.

If the essentialness of maternity care is up for debate, it goes without saying Elon Musks neural lace probably wont be covered under your insurance plan, McKissen wrote, referring to the Obamacare repeal that has been at the forefront of U.S. political debate as of late. In other words, not only do the rich seem to get richerthey may get the benefit of having a computer-enhanced brain.

McKissen warns of how social inequality could render Musks neural lace beneficial only to a select few, rather than the human race on the whole. What will income inequality look like if only the very wealthy get an upgrade? And will children be able to get a neural lace?, he asked. Such a society is reminiscent of one featured in the science fiction film Elysium, where only the privileged few had access to technologys benefits.

McKissenadded: Research has shown there is already a digital divide contributing to chronic poverty in low-income and rural communities. That digital divide will only grow when some of us can afford a brain enhanced with artificial intelligence. [] most of us are going to have to compete with computer-enhanced peers in an already unequal world.

McKissen isnt arguing that some people would be more deserving of access to advanced technology like a neural lace, but rather, he points out theneed to improve the current playing field whichone could argue extends beyond the question of who gets a neural lace.

As he said, In a world thats growing increasingly class conscious, the ability for a relatively small number of people to become more than human could be a disaster for everyoneespecially if that technology arrives in a time when income inequality is even worse than it is today.

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Elon Musk's Attempt to Merge to the Human Brain With AI May Have Serious Problems - Futurism

In Brief Elon Musk took to Twitter today to defend Tesla against claims that it is overvalued. In the process, he delivered a mini lesson on how value is determined in a free market. Value: Past Versus Future

On Twitter today, Elon Musk responded to critics who were skeptical of Teslas hot streak in the stock market. The Wall Street Journal tweet that began the debate noted that Tesla passed up Ford by market cap. Christopher Mims, a tech columnist at the WSJ, took this opportunity to comment:

Walt Mossberg, executive editor for The Verge, responded to Mims with a tweet of his own:

Twitter user ForIn2020then responded to both critics, eliciting agreement from Musk himself:

The Twitter debate brings up to really two important points. The first is exactly what Musk noted. In a free market, value isnt focused on the past. To do so would not only limit innovation, it would be foolhardy.

Value is based on what investors can see happening in the future. Past performance plays a part in that, but so do many other factors. Its one of the reasons the stock market is risky. Not only can you notcontrol what other investors will do,you also can never be sure what anything will be actually worth when you make an investment.

The second point is this: Ford is just a car company. Tesla is a technology and energy innovation company that creates solar roofs, electric cars, power storage solutions, and other breakthroughs. The company even changed its name from Tesla Motors Inc. to simply Tesla Inc. earlier this year to make this distinction clear.

That focus on widespread energy innovation is why Tesla is poised to reach itsambitious target goal of delivering 47,000 to 50,000 vehicles in the first half of 2017 and why the Powerwall is going to come standard in all new Arden homes in Australia. The Tesla one stop shop model for sustainable energy is only going to become more relevant as non-renewable sources of energy get more expensive and eventually completely fall out of favor.

Its easy to understand why investors see a high earnings future for Tesla. Failing to see that the company is going to continue to shape the future is perhaps short-sighted. Failing to understand how the market values companies is a bit more mystifying. Either way, Tesla and its investors are going to be laughing all the way to the bank whatever form the bank takes a few decades from now.

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Elon Musk Responds to Criticism, Says Tesla is Not Overvalued - Futurism