Science + Tech
Advances that redefine reality. Welcome to the future.
China's Environmental Cooperation
Ask a Westerner what most surprised them about their trip to China. If they were not staying in a five-star hotel in a major city on the dime of a major Chinese corporation, most likely you are going to get your ear bent with stories of people spitting on the floor of, not just a public streetcar, but their own bloody offices!...and also of pollution that makes L.A.’s ring-around-the-collar skyline circa the smoggy eighties look like a Rocky Mountain High by contrast. The brute summary is that this place is colossally productive, and also colossally filthy—and unashamed of it.
By Matthew Wilder8 years ago in Futurism
Elon Musk's Self-Driving Tesla Car
In 2012, there were 33,561 deaths from motor vehicle accidents. Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla Motors, announced in 2015 that Tesla cars would handle 90 percent of driving within five years. This plan included all Tesla vehicles being equipped with an autopilot system. Musk compared Tesla's autopilot to the autopilot in airplanes, where people still manually control the vehicle in risky situations.
By James Porterson8 years ago in Futurism
Discognition Questions Consciousness
My new book, Discognition, looks at science fiction in order to think about questions of consciousness. Each of us knows that he or she is conscious; and most of us take it for granted that not only human beings are conscious, but animals like dogs and cats are as well. But how far downwards does consciousness go? Are lobsters conscious? Are trees? Are bacteria? We don't really know. But the enigmas go further. We don't even understand our own intelligence and mental activity. We live in a golden age of neuroscience; every year, we learn more and more about the functioning of the brain. And yet, despite this accumulation of knowledge, nobody really knows what consciousness is, or how it works. Philosophers and scientists disagree on even the most basic issues. We have no idea how to get from the brain to the mind: from electrochemical processes in our neurons to things like feelings and thoughts and experiences.
By Steven Shaviro8 years ago in Futurism
Impact of Moore's Law on the Live Music Industry
Music may be art, but a live concert is more science. The variety and potential of visual technologies designed for live performances exploded in the late 1990's and early 2000's. Credit Moore’s Law—the projection that hardware capacity will double every two years—for these high-tech visuals. And don’t forget about the escalating velocity of software development, either, which now outpaces Moore’s law. Performers are better equipped than ever before to deliver mind-melting experiences to their audiences, and their futuristic visions are spilling over into the here and now.
By D.J. Pangburn8 years ago in Futurism
Interstellar Transit
This will be the beginning of a new age. Or I will fail. Again. For three hundred OE cycles, the We Together have dedicated our resources to this moment. Materials and refining facilities across the System have been shunted to the project, as both the Primary and a nontrivial proportion of upper tier secondary sentiences turned to designing and constructing the Transit Mechanism. Again.
By David Williams8 years ago in Futurism
'Star Wars' Sith Books
The Sith were the practitioners of the dark side and mortal enemies of the Jedi Order. Darth Sidious postulated that the source of dark side power was of the universe outside the borders of our maps. Star Wars Sith books explore the dark side and its most notorious characters on a deeper level than the films. There is a lot to learn when you delve deeper into the rivalry; In fact, some have postulated that the Sith are the good guys and the Jedi are the bad guys. From Darth Plagueis to The Dark Lord Trilogy, Star Wars Sith books expand your understanding of an ancient complex battle where sides are often gray and characters conflicted.
By Frank White8 years ago in Futurism