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Why Elon Musk is sounding the alarm on Artificial Intelligence

Kevin Drum
Mother Jones
Thu, 26 Oct 2017 00:00 UTC
"AI is a fundamental risk to the existence of human civilization."
Elan Musk
© Bobby Yip/Reuters
Elon Musk is a household name. The South African-born billionaire can seemingly pioneer anything: PayPal, Tesla, SpaceX, and (maybe) the Hyperloop. He's an engineer and a marketer, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak rolled into one. And he's always great for a quote because he's photogenic, telegenic, and technogenic.

But there's one technology he's deeply scared of: artificial intelligence. "AI is a fundamental risk to the existence of human civilization," he warned a meeting of the nation's governors earlier this year. "I have access to the very most cutting-edge AI, and I think people should be really concerned about it." He has also warned that Google is creating "a fleet of artificial-intelligence-enhanced robots capable of destroying mankind."

Comment: See also:

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Comet 2

Speeding space rock is first interstellar object to be seen in our solar system


RT
Fri, 27 Oct 2017 20:11 UTC
interstellar comet
© NASA
Scientists believe they've just pinpointed the first interstellar comet or asteroid ever detected to pass through the solar system, speeding by at a phenomenal rate.

The scale of our star's reach is so large that NASA says you could travel more than 13 billion km into deep space and still not escape the influence of the sun. The sheer distance makes the incursion of an alien object - dubbed A/2017 U1 - into the solar system a significant find, as it has traveled an incredible distance to register on the watchful telescopes of Earth.

The object, believed to be a comet or asteroid, was spotted by the University of Hawaii's Pan-STARRS 1 telescope on October 19.

According to NASA, the 400-meter-diameter object is traveling at an incredible 25.5km per second, and is destined to vanish from the boundaries of our planetary network.
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Beaker

Composition of gut microbiome identified as factor in developing post-traumatic stress disorder


Science Daily
Wed, 25 Oct 2017 18:47 UTC
gut bacteria
The bacteria in your gut could hold clues to whether or not you will develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after experiencing a traumatic event.

PTSD is a serious psychiatric disorder that can develop after a person experiences a life-threatening trauma. However, not everyone exposed to a traumatic event will develop PTSD, and several factors influence an individual's susceptibility, including living conditions, childhood experiences and genetic makeup. Stellenbosch University researchers are now also adding gut bacteria to this list.

In recent years, scientists have become aware of the important role of microbes existing inside the human gastrointestinal tract, called the gut microbiome. These microbes perform important functions, such as metabolising food and medicine, and fighting infections. It is now believed that the gut microbiome also influences the brain and brain function by producing neurotransmitters/hormones, immune-regulating molecules and bacterial toxins.

In turn, stress and emotions can change the composition of the gut microbiome. Stress hormones can affect bacterial growth and compromise the integrity of the intestinal lining, which can result in bacteria and toxins entering the bloodstream. This can cause inflammation, which has been shown to play a role in several psychiatric disorders.

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Nebula

'Landmark' quantum physics breakthrough with detection of Majorana fermions - dubbed 'angel particles'

Ian Johnston
The Dindependent
Thu, 20 Jul 2017 18:24 UTC
angels
© St Catherine's Monastery, Mount Sinai
Two angels painted in Byzantium between 395 and 1453AD
Scientists say they have found the first evidence that 'Majorana fermions' exist, 80 years after they were first suggested

Physicists believe they have discovered a particle that is both matter and anti-matter, an idea that was first theorised 80 years ago.

When the Big Bang created the universe out of nothing, scientists believe the explosion created equal amounts of matter and anti-matter.

And, if they were ever to meet, they would annihilate each other - returning to 'nothing' apart from a burst of energy.

However, in 1937 an Italian theoretical physicist, Ettore Majorana, predicted the existence of a strange class of particles called fermions that were their own anti-particles.

And now, in an article in the prestigious journal Science, researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles, and Stanford University reported they had found the first evidence of just such an object, which they dubbed the "Angel Particle" after Dan Brown's thriller Angels and Demons which involves a bomb made from a combination of matter and anti-matter.
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Galaxy

The bizarre behaviour of anti-matter has scientists saying universe shouldn't exist

Andrew Griffin
The Independent
Fri, 27 Oct 2017 18:19 UTC
Universe
© NASA
We don't know why the universe isn't destroying itself

Our universe shouldn't exist, scientists say.

The most elite scientists in the world are still struggling to find why exactly our universe didn't destroy itself as soon as it came into existence. That's what science says should have happened - but it clearly hasn't, since you're here reading this, as far as we know.

At the beginning of the universe, according to the standard model, there are equal amounts of matter and anti-matter. The trouble with that is that they would each have annihilated each other, leaving none of the matter that surrounds us today.

Researchers have been frantically looking for some difference between matter and anti-matter that could explain why the universe is still around. But they have tried a range of different possibilities - that they have different mass, electric charge, or something else - but have found no difference.

That has led researchers to question why the universe is still around at all.
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Brain

UCLA neuroscientists enhance human memory by electrically stimulating the brain


Scienmag
Fri, 27 Oct 2017 00:00 UTC
Electrically stimulating the brain
FINDINGS

Neuroscientists at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA have discovered precisely where and how to electrically stimulate the human brain to enhance people's recollection of distinct memories. People with epilepsy who received low-current electrical pulses showed a significant improvement in their ability to recognize specific faces and ignore similar ones.

Eight of nine patients' ability to recognize the faces of specific people improved after receiving electrical pulses to the right side of the brain's entorhinal area, which is critical to learning and memory. However, electrical stimulation delivered to the left side of the region, tested on four other people, resulted in no improvement in the patient's recall.
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Microscope 1

Scientists discover certain immune cells clear debris after injury leading the way to nerve regeneration after injury


Scienmag
Wed, 25 Oct 2017 00:00 UTC
nerve regeneration
Immune cells are normally associated with fighting infection but in a new study, scientists have discovered how they also help the nervous system clear debris, clearing the way for nerve regeneration after injury. In a study published in the Journal of Neuroscience, researchers from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine showed certain immune cells-neutrophils-can clean up nerve debris, while previous models have attributed nerve cell damage control to other cells entirely.

"This finding is quite surprising and raises an important question: do neutrophils play a significant role in nerve disorders?" said Richard Zigmond, PhD, senior author on the study and professor of neurosciences, neurosurgery, and pathology at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. Neutrophils are one of the most common types of immune cells and known to engulf microorganisms, but they are not normally associated with peripheral nerve damage, such as that caused by diabetes or trauma.
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Info

Silk could be used to repair damaged spinal cords according to scientists


Medical Xpress
Thu, 26 Oct 2017 00:00 UTC
silkworm
© University of Aberdeen
Silk from the Antheraea pernyi silkworm could be used to help repair damaged spinal cords, according to academics at the University of Aberdeen and University of Oxford.
Modified silk from Asian wild silkworms could be used in a strategy to repair damaged spinal cords, according to scientists from the universities of Aberdeen and Oxford.

The researchers working in collaboration with Oxford Biomaterials Ltd discovered that cleaned, sterilised silk from the Antheraea pernyi (AP) silk spinner had properties well suited to spinal repair. Their work was published this week in the Nature journal Scientific Reports.

There are currently around 50,000 people in the UK with a serious spinal cord injury with 1,000 new cases arising every year. In the UK the cost to the NHS to treat the damage and to help patients manage the injury and subsequent dramatic lifestyle changes is around £1billion a year.

Currently there is no cure for serious spinal cord trauma, in part because spinal nerves are unable to cross the scar tissue barrier and t

he cavity that forms in the cord after the injury.

Comment: See also: Stem cell injections could bring relief to millions with lower back pain and cut reliance on opioids

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Eye 1

Canary Island volcanologists monitoring eruption, tsunami risks from Cumbre Vieja after recent wave of tremors

Ronan J O'Shea
The Independent
Wed, 25 Oct 2017 00:00 UTC
cumbre vieja la palma

Scientists fear Cumbre Vieja, which erupted in 1949 and 1971, will blow soon
After a year that has seen concern about potential voicano eruptions in Iceland, Italy and Bali, volcanologists on the Canary Islands have been asked to work out whether the island of La Palma is facing an imminent eruption.

The experts have been asked to monitor activity on the island, which saw 400 tremors in 15 hours over the weekend, according to The Express.

Close to Tenerife, Cumbre Vieja (meaning "Old Summit") previously erupted in 1949 and 1971. After the recent tremors - and a 3.5cm rise in the earth over the past year - scientists have been asked to monitor the volcano, amid fears that an eruption might lead to an earthquake and possible tsunami.

Comment: La Palma volcano in the Canary Islands hit by hundreds of earthquakes in 15 hours

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Rocket

NASA's Twins Study shows genes alter faster in space than on Earth

Nina Godlewski
International Business Times
Wed, 25 Oct 2017 23:17 UTC
nasas twins study
© NASA
The Kelly twins
Early results from NASA's twins study show that space travel actually increases the process that controls gene expression called methylation. They've also learned more about how the process works. The preliminary results from the year-long study have been released and they show that during the Twins Study thousands of genes changed, turned on and off, during the time in space, according to NASA.

What is the "Twins Study?"

NASA's Twins Study centers around astronauts and twins Scott and Mark Kelly. The goal was to examine the changes spaceflight could cause on the body by studying two genetically identical individuals who were in different environments. The study actually consists of 10 investigations happening across 12 universities, NASA biomedical labs and the National Space Biomedical Research Institute.

When astronaut Scott Kelly returned from a year on the International Space Station in March 2016, researchers started taking samples from him and his brother to further the research for the study. Then those researchers combined all of their data and started reviewing it all looking for similarities, correlations and differences in the previously identical genes. The point was to help determine that the risks of space travel as we know it, are to the human body, and what changes will happen during long-term continuous space travel.
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