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Foresight Update 23.44: "Can 'artificial life' evolve intelligence?" - September 8, 2010

ISSN 1078-9731

Discuss these news stories at http://foresight.org/nanodot.


In this issue:

Foresight Events – Lectures
Foreseeing Future Technologies - Join Foresight
Events
Contact Foresight

Japan, Germany, S. Korea commercialize nanotech better than U.S.

Nanodot normally focuses on longer-term nanotechnologies such as molecular manufacturing, but we do like to keep an eye on how different countries compare to each other in nanotech and technology in general. Below is an excerpt from a recent Lux Research announcement…

IBM makes world map 1000 times smaller than grain of sand

Forbes describes work at IBM Zurich:

IBM researchers in its Zurich lab have drawn—or rather, carved—a three-dimensional map of the world that's 22 micrometers east to west by 11 micrometers north to south. At that size, about 15 of the maps could be wrapped end to end long-ways around a strand of human hair, by our math.…

"Science court"-style software from the CIA

Longtime Foresight supporter John Gilmore writes: "I noticed a story that reminded me of something Foresight wanted to encourage in society. Wired reports that the CIA uses decision analysis software 'Analysis of Competing Hypotheses', and has funded a rewritten version for shared networked analysis by many people. But the gov't contractors got into a hassle over who owned the code, so its developer is dumping it out into the open source world…

Life extension conference: $100 off discount code

Many of you have an interest in human longevity in general and in being healthier and living longer personally. If we want to help develop and guide nanotech and other advanced technologies, we need to stay healthy. I am organizing a conference on this topic, October 9-10, here in the Bay Area…

Bill Joy on steering the future to lower-risk

Many of you will recall Bill Joy's famous article in Wired called Why the future doesn't need us, where he expressed concern about various technologies including advanced nanotech. Apparently he gave an update of his views on this in his talk for TED, viewable here. An excerpt…

Can "artificial life" evolve intelligence? An update

An article in New Scientist with the optimistic title "Artificial life forms evolve basic intelligence" gives an update on how two specific examples of computational artificial life is doing in terms of evolving to have more interesting behavior. An excerpt…

Space Manufacturing Conference

The Space Studies Institute will hold Space Manufacturing 14 on Oct. 30-31, 2010 at NASA Ames here in Silicon Valley. Topics to be covered include…

—Nanodot posts by Christine Peterson

Foresight Events – Lectures

Foresight Lectures

October 15-17, 2010
Libertopia 2010
Hollywood, California
Christine Peterson will speak on life extension.

Libertopia is an annual festival of freedom, community and art for sovereign individuals. It is a unique experience — a three-day gala packed with renowned speakers, banquets, parties, films, music, art and social networking.

Over thirty leading thinkers in the movement for a voluntary society include philosophers, economists, political scientists, law professors, entrepreneurs, and artists who give short, informative, exciting speeches with ample time for question and answer interaction.

Click here for conference details

Foreseeing Future Technologies

Advancements in technologies such as nanotech, robotics, and biotech are promising to make major differences in our lives in the not-too-distant future, as the Industrial Revolution did to the agrarian world — to do for the physical world what the computer and Internet have done to the world of information.

Since 1986, the Foresight Institute has been in the forefront of a worldwide community of visionaries who work to help shape these possibilities into a positive, beneficial reality. If you would like to help us understand the potential of these technologies, and influence their direction, please consider becoming a member of the Foresight community. With your support, Foresight will continue to educate the general public on these technologies and what they will mean to our society.

To join:
http://foresight.org/members/index.html

Events

Emerging Technologies Roundtable
September 17, 2010
Emerging Technologies Roundtable
The National Nanotechnology Initiative after 10 years: toward the next strategic plan
Center for Policy on Emerging Technologies
9:00 - 12:30 (breakfast included)
10 G Street NE, Suite 710
Washington DC, 20002

Project on Nanotechnology and Convergence

Knowledge. Risk. Anticipation.
C-PET'S mission is to explore the impacts of transformative emerging technologies, and anticipate their implications for public policy.

Foresight Senior Fellow Dr. David Forrest will participate. Register for this event.

Personalized Life Extension Conference 2010
October 9-10, 2010
San Francisco Airport Marriott, California USA

Many Foresight members & friends have an interest in human longevity in general and in being healthier and living longer personally. If we want to help develop and guide nanotech and other advanced technologies over the long term, we need to apply our high-tech knowledge and skills to keeping our bodies and brains functioning optimally.

Advances are being made daily on what each of us can do NOW to slow the aging process to a minimum, and to delay or prevent the diseases of aging. Life extension news comes out faster than any one of us can evaluate it on our own. Let's get together and determine how to take personal action.

Foresight is a partner with this conference, and of course Foresight members get a discount on registration. By using the code below, you will get $100 off: Discount code: FORESIGHT

Feel free to pass this along to your friends and colleagues in any way you wish. The goal is to benefit the Foresight community, broadly defined.

If you have already paid the higher rate, please let me know.

Whether you can attend the meeting or not, if this is a topic of interest, you can join the Facebook page and participate in other ways -- see some ideas listed here: http://lifeextensionconference.com/contact

Hope to see you there!

Christine Peterson
Chairman
Personalized Life Extension 2010

Contact Foresight

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