Email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser.

Tuesday January 22, 2013 Daily edition   News and Blog Headlines Researchers turn one form of neuron into another in the brain Four-stranded ‘quadruple helix’ DNA structure proven to exist in human cells Akamai moves to optimize TV Can Neanderthals be brought back from the dead? A supercomputer to map the cosmos Commercial asteroid hunters announce plans for new robotic exploration fleet Belgium plans artificial island to store wind power Filabot turns your plastic junk into material for 3D printers Latest News Researchers turn one form of neuron into another in the brain January 22, 2013   A new finding by Harvard stem cell biologists turns one of the basics of neurobiology on its head — demonstrating that it is possible to turn one type of already differentiated (formed from a stem cell) neuron into another within the brain. The discovery by Paola Arlotta and Caroline Rouaux indicates that “maybe the brain … more… Four-stranded ‘quadruple helix’ DNA structure proven to exist in human cells January 22, 2013   Cambridge University researchers have published a paper that they say proves that four-stranded “quadruple helix” DNA structures (G-quadruplexes) exist within the human genome. They form in regions of DNA that are rich in the DNA building block guanine (G). The findings mark the culmination of over 10 years investigation by scientists to show these complex … more… Akamai moves to optimize TV January 22, 2013   Akamai, the Web optimization company whose servers deliver up to 30 percent of Web traffic, is setting its sights on creating a TV technology that can detect what a person is watching and stream secondary content to a smartphone or tablet in near real-time, MIT Technology Review reports. The aim, the company says, is to … more… Can Neanderthals be brought back from the dead? January 22, 2013   In a SPIEGEL interview, synthetic biology expert and Harvard University professor of genetics George Church explains how DNA will become the building material of the future — one that can help create virus-resistant human beings and possibly bring back lost species like the Neanderthal. In his new book, “Regenesis: How Synthetic Biology Will Reinvent Nature … more… A supercomputer to map the cosmos January 22, 2013   A new petascale supercomputer built to study the universe is one of the fastest calculating machines in the world, and certainly the fastest of its kind. The supercomputer is part of ALMA, a new radio telescope that is claimed to be “largest ground-based astronomical project in existence,” HPC Wire reports. The ALMA (Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter … more… Commercial asteroid hunters announce plans for new robotic exploration fleet January 22, 2013   Deep Space Industries (DSI) announced Monday night that it will send a fleet of asteroid-prospecting spacecraft out into the solar system to hunt for resources to accelerate space development to benefit Earth. These “FireFly” spacecraft utilize low-cost cubesat components and get discounted delivery to space by ride-sharing on the launch of larger communications satellites. “This … more… Belgium plans artificial island to store wind power January 22, 2013   Belgium is planning to build a doughnut-shaped island in the North Sea that will store wind energy by pumping water out of a hollow in the middle, as it looks for ways to lessen its reliance on nuclear power, Reuters reports. (More) Filabot turns your plastic junk into material for 3D printers January 21, 2013   Filabot promises to help turn your plastic junk into 3-D printed objects, Wired reports. Most contemporary printers use plastic filament, available in spools from various suppliers. With Filabo, you can grind up several types of household plastics or even past projects to make new filament lines. New EVENTS   NeuroGaming 2013 Conference and Expo Dates: May 1 – 2, 2013 Location: San Francisco, California more... New VIDEOS   Landscape House by Universe Architecture Latest Kurzweil Collection posts Ray Kurzweil plans to create a mind at Google and have it serve you   Source: MIT Technology Review — January 18, 2013 | Will Knight Famed AI researcher and incorrigable singularity forecaster Ray Kurzweil recently shed some more light on what his new job at Google will entail. It seems that he does, indeed, plan to build a prodigious artificial intelligence, which he hopes will understand the world to a much more sophisticated degree than anything built before, or at least that will act … more… Read full article here How to Create a Mind: the astonishing organization of the human brain   Source: The Seattle Times — January 20, 2013 | Drew DeSilver Any book that promises on the cover to reveal “the secret of human thought” is setting the bar pretty high. But if anyone could be expected to pull it off, it’s inventor/futurist/Big Thinker Kurzweil, who’s been ruminating about the possibilities of human/computer convergence for more than 20 years now. Kurzweil’s new book continues and expands … more… Read full article here Visit KurzweilAI.net You are currently subscribed to the KurzweilAI.net newsletter as *|EMAIL|* To unsubscribe, please click here. To change your email preferences, please click here. *|LIST:ADDRESS|*.