Self-Healing Artificial Muscle Generates Electricity

March 19th 2008--At the University of California, researchers have created an artificial muscle that contracts to more than twice its original length when electricity is applied to it. The muscle is made out of flexible carbon nanotubes which are built so that if a section of the muscle fails, the nanotubes seal themselves off by becoming non-conductive- this prevents the fault from spreading to other areas. Previous artificial muscles were often based on metal electrodes that often resulted in failures after repeated use. The uneven thickness of the metal and random spacing of the particles resulted in muscles that hamstrung themselves. The use of newer carbon nanotubes has resulted in much less failures. The conductivity of the nanotubes could allow them to power walking robots, develop better prosthetics, or even charge your Ipod.

Review of "The Singularity is Near" by Ray Kurzweil

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"The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology", gives us a preview of what awaits us in the future. The focus of the book is on a technological-evolutionary point known as the "Singularity". According to Kurzweil, because of the law of accelerating returns, technology is progressing toward the singularity at an exponential rate.

He believes that the human brain can be simulated by computers and will be done in the near future, thus leading to artificial intelligence. He adds that medical advancements should keep the current generation alive long enough for the exponential growth of technology reach the Singularity and the point where machines can outperform the processing of the human brain.

The book also discusses six epochs of how information is stored, each epoch being characterized by the major paradigm shift that takes place after each one.

Epoch 1. Physics and Chemistry: This epoch began with the creation of the universe; information was mostly held in subatomic structures such as particles and atoms.

Epoch 2. Biology and DNA: This epoch describes the beginning of life on Earth. Simple organisms stored information in DNA, from which they were able to grow and adapt.

Epoch 3. Brains: The third epoch involved the creation of a central nervous system that came about as a result of the evolution of life. Organisms were then able to change their behavior and learn from past experiences. Information in this epoch was stored in neural patterns.

Epoch 4. Technology: The fourth epoch was a culmination of the evolution of the brain, which produced the human. In this stage, humans are able to create technology which are also subject to evolution. Information is held in hardware and software designs. This is the epoch that is currently occurring.

Epoch 5. The Merger of Human Technology with Human Intelligence: The fifth epoch, which is the point that Kurzweil anticipates will be known as the Singularity, is one where technology reaches a level of sophistication that allows biology and technology to merge to create higher forms of life and intelligence.

Epoch 6. The Universe Wakes Up: The final epoch of human evolution, once we master the fields of biology and technology, our human/machine (or Cyber sapiens) civilization will "expand its frontiers into the universe, gradually consuming the contents of the cosmos until the universe reaches a 'saturated' state where all inanimate matter has been converted to substrates for computation and intelligence, and a truly universal super-intelligence takes form."

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Neuroscientists Hope To Model A Complete Rat Brain Within Two Years

Lausanne, Switzerland. March 3, 2008 - Composed of 2,000 IBM microchips stacked in repeating rows that can handle 22.8 trillion operations per second, the IBM Blue Brain supercomputer is designed to model a complete rat brain and download it into a robotic rat so that it can develop like a real rat--one with a "mind of its own."

Each microchip inside the Blue Brain has been programmed to act just like a real neuron in a real brain. Henry Markram, the director of the Blue Brain project and neuroscientist at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, wants to use the supercomputer to simulate what the brain of the robotic rat experiences and generate a movie of its reality rooted in the details of its brain.

Markram hopes that the model of the rat brain can be completed within two years. From this research, Markram and his team will be able to move onto simulating more complex brains, eventually leading to an artificial human brain.

Image Courtesy of BBP/EPFL

Taking A.I. To The Next Level

Memphis, Tennessee. March 1-3, 2008 – The FedEx Institute of Technology and the University of Memphis, in cooperation with AAAI, team up to present the First Conference on Artificial General Intelligence. Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) is a rapidly growing research area focusing on the original and ultimate goal of AI - to create intelligence at the human level and beyond, by exploring all available paths, including computer science, cognitive science, neuroscience, and innovative interdisciplinary methodologies.

The First Conference on Artificial General Intelligence brings 100 AI researchers, mostly PhD scientists from university and corporate labs, to plot the course of AGI’s future. AGI research is expected to accelerate dramatically in the next few years due to advances in computing technology and cognitive science, as well as allied disciplines such as virtual worlds and neuroscience.

When John McCarthy coined the term “Artificial Intelligence” in 1955, it was AGI that he had in mind. The AI field has made dramatic progress in creating task-oriented intelligent software. Now scientists want to “get back to the deepest questions of AI and general intelligence,” in a renewed attack on the problem of AGI.