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Sex is one of the most powerful, fundamental human drives. Its caused wars, and built and destroyed kingdoms. It occupies a significant percentage of most peoples thoughts. As such, its worth a conversation about how exponential technologies will change our relationship with sex.

Dating in past generations was local and linear. You had access to a small number of potential mates based on where you lived, where you went to school and your social status. In the 1960s, over 50% of marriages globally, and 95% of marriages in India, were arranged. Today that number has dropped to less than 15% (globally). In 1960, the median age at first marriage for the bride was 20 and the groom was 23 years old. Today, the median age is closer to 29 for women and 30 for men. A cultural shift is happening, and its changing the game. Dating has gone digital. As such, it has gone from local and linear to global and exponential. Today, 40 million Americans use online dating services (thats about 40% of the single population in the U.S.), driving the creation of a $2.4 billion online dating industry.

These services transcend geography and social strata. People are matched from around the world. Between 1995 and 2005, there was exponential growth among heterosexual couples meeting online. (See the green line in the chart below.)

For same-sex couples, the online dating trend has been even more dramatic, with more than 60% of same-sex couples meeting online in 2008 and 2009 (see the green line in the chart above).

The implications of this are staggering. Besides moving the marriage age back, there are a number of sociological effects such as decision fatigue, gamification of dating, and the commoditization of people that will start to have population-level effects as mating behaviors change. And this is just the beginning.

In the very near future, we will see machine learning / artificial intelligence-based matchmakers that will find the perfect match for you based upon everything from your genomics to your psychographics. Once youre on a date, your augmented reality glasses will give you real-time dating info, calling up any info you want to know, as you need to know it. Perhaps you want to understand how she/he is feeling about you, and your AR camera is watching her pupillary dilation and capillary flushing. Like all technology, these applications are double-edged swords. My hope is that this tech actually increases the number of successful, meaningful relationships in the world and, in turn, has a net positive impact. But while dating is one side of the coin, sex is another and the implications of exponential technology on sex can be shocking.

Today, sex has been digitized; as such, it has been dematerialized, demonetized and democratized. Sex, in the form of pornography, is free, available to anyone with an internet connection and pervasive across many platforms. In 2015, just one pornography website reported that their users watched over 4.3 billion hours of porn (87 billion videos) that year. The proliferation of internet connectivity, online video players and streaming, mobile phones, and advertisement delivery networks have propelled pornography into a $97 billion industry. This is causing a number of negative social phenomena. More than half of boys and nearly a third of girls see their first pornographic images before they turn 13. In a survey of hundreds of college students, 93% of boys and 62% of girls said they were exposed to pornography before they turned 18. Pornography is influencing everything from how teens language and frame sexuality to how and why they pierce certain body parts to what they expect to give and receive in intimate relationships, says Jill Manning, Ph.D, Witherspoon Institute.

In Japan, a growing population of men report that they *prefer* having virtual girlfriends over real ones (i.e. they believe they are dating virtual avatars that they largely control). 45%of Japanese single women, and 25 %of Japanese single men aged 16 to 24 claim they arent even interested in sexual contact. Given these trends, unless something happens to boost Japans birth rate, its population will shrink by a third between now and 2060. In other words, there is serious concern of significant UNDERpopulation. But again, this is only the beginning as virtual reality (VR) becomes more widespread, one major application will inevitably be VR porn. It will be much more intense, vivid, and addictive and as AI comes online, I believe there will be a proliferation in AI-powered avatar and robotic relationships, similar to those characters depicted in the movies Her and Ex Machina.

VR porn promises to offer a virtual world filled with more sex, better sex, endless sex, and new varieties of sex. The dark secret, however, is that the further a user goes into that fantasy world, the more likely their reality is to become just the opposite. Many psychologists believe that VR porn may numb us to sexual desire and pleasure in the real world, leading to less and less satisfying sex. For many, VR (as well as other exponential technologies such as robotics, sensors and A.I.) will act as a complete replacement for intimacy and human relationships, as it is more easily accessible, cheaper, on-demand, and, well, controllable. As the father of two five-year-old boys, this is really concerning to me. That said, are there upsides too? Perhaps a bit of intimacy (if even technological) for those who are infirmed, aged, crippled and thereby alone. We shall see. One thing is for sure: as with every technology in history, from the printing press to VHS and the internet, pornography will be on the front line funding the advance of technology.

This is the sort of conversation we explore in my digital communitycalled Abundance 360. The program is highly selective. If youd like to be considered, apply here.

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The Next Sexual Revolution Is Going to be All About Technology - Futurism

In Brief Soft robotics and 3D printing have allowed a team of researchers from Switzerland to develop an artificial heart that works like the real thing. This proof of concept design was successfully tested in the lab, but it may take a while before it will be ready.

Scientists have been developingartificial hearts for quite some time now. However, many of the current designs are unfortunatelyclunky, which presents difficulties in successfully integrating them into human tissue. To approach this issue, a team of researchers from ETH Zrich decided to take a cue from thebiological human heart.

Instead of using separate parts, the Swiss team, led by Nicholas Cohrs, 3D-printed an artificial heart using a soft, flexible material. The material was molded into a single part (or a monoblock) which allowed the team to design a complex inner structure complete with pumping mechanisms able to be triggered by silicon ventricles. This method imitates a realistic human heartbeat.

[O]ur goal is to develop an artificial heart that is roughly the same size as the patients own one and which imitates the human heart as closely as possible in form and function, Cohrs said in a press release. The team successfully tested this artificial heart, pumping blood-like fluid at human body-like pressures. The team published their research in the journal Artificial Organs.

However, this design is still a proof of concept, which means its yet to be ready for actual implantation. The materials used are, as of right now, unable to last more than half an hour or some few thousand heartbeats, though that could vary a bit depending on a persons heart rate. Its a limitation the team will continue to work on, as new materials and design improvements advance. Once perfected, this design could potentially improve the lives and health ofaround 26 million people worldwide who suffer from various heart conditions.

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This 3D-Printed Human Heart Can Do Everything a Real One Can - Futurism

In Brief Elon Musk shared a bold prediction for the future of EVs and autonomous driving systems during a talk at a meeting of the National Governors Association. Just two decades from now, he expects most of the vehicles on the road will be electric and autonomous.

During a talk at the National Governors Association on Saturday, Elon Musk shared a bold prediction for the future of personal transportation. Not only does he believe that half the cars produced in the United States just 10 years from now will be electric, he thinks almost all cars produced by then will be autonomous.

In 10 years, half of all production will be EV, he told the governors. I think almost all cars produced will be autonomous in 10 years, almost all. It will be rare to find one that is not, in 10 years.

While EVs and autonomous cars will comprise a bulk of new vehicles, however, that doesnt mean they will be the majority on the roads. New vehicle production is only about five percent of the size of the vehicle fleet, Musk explained, and because a car or truck can last for 15 to 20 years, it will take some time for the old to be replaced by the new. Even when new vehicle production switches over to electric or autonomousthat still means the vast majority of the fleet is not, he noted.

Musk estimated that well have to wait a bit longer before we see a significant change in the types of vehicles on the road, but two decades from now, he expects an overwhelming portion of vehicles to be electric and fully autonomous.

The shift wont be limited to cars and trucks, either. He predicts that eventually all transport will go fully electric with the exception of spacecraft.

Musk is at the forefront of this driverless and electric revolution. Tesla recently began production on their Model 3, which is poised to make electric vehicles more affordable, and the companys cars have been breaking EV industry records for hypermiling and cannonball runs.

Teslas progress has spurred their competitors into action, with other industry leaders like Volvo making the decision to go all electric. If the trend continues, Musks predictions could prove true and we could be just a few short years from entering the age of electric, autonomous vehicles.

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Elon Musk: Almost All Cars Produced Will Be Autonomous in 10 Years - Futurism

In Brief Virgin Galactic founder and CEO Sir Richard Branson believes the Trump administration in the U.S. should not continue to push coal mining as an energy solution. The serial entrepreneur said it would be better for coal miners, the U.S., and the world if the nation focused on creating more jobs in clean energy. The Better Option

At a panel discussion during the DS Virgin Racing Innovation Summiton Friday, Virgin Galactic CEO and founder Sir Richard Branson had a suggestion for the United States government. Instead of trying to revive the countrys declining coal mining industry a promise U.S. president Donald Trump made in March as part of a new era in American energy and production and job creation Branson suggested focusing on clean energy.

Coal mining is not the nicest of jobs, and coal mining disappeared in Britain many decades ago, Branson said, replying to a question by Yahoo Finance. Pretty much every single one of those coal miners went into jobs which were far more pleasant, far less dangerous, far better for their health, and I doubt that theres one coal miner that looks back thinking, God, I wish I was down in a coal mine.

During the talk, Branson noted that clean energy jobs wouldnt just benefit the coal miners. Theyd also be good for the U.S. and the world as a whole.According to a study from the Michigan Technological University, the coal industry causes52,000 American deaths each year due to air pollution, and transitioning to clean energy sources would decrease the nations greenhouse gas emissions, helping the world in the fight against global warming.

Whilethe U.S. government is working to revive coal, the rest of the world is veering away from it. India, for example, has shut down 37 mines that belonged to the worlds largest coal company, while France has promised to close down all coal power plants by 2023.

These moves arent just being made for environmental reasons. Renewables, such as solar and wind, have become a more profitable form of energy. Solar power has been decreasingin cost, and renewables will likelysurpass coal and other fossil fuelsin the next decade as the cheapest form of energy. At the same time, the renewable industry is creating jobs. In the U.S. alone, solar already employs twice as many peopleas coal and more than Apple, Facebook, and Google combined.

How coal could compete with clean energy in the future has not been made clear by the Trump administration, and Branson sees the federal governments lack of support for clean energy as a problem.

Obviously, whats happened in America, having an administration that put out the most bizarre statement on [the Paris climate agreement] is not good news because you do need governments to set the rules, Branson told the audience in New York. And you do need to make it clear that clean energy should have a leg up over dirty energy. And you have a government thats not setting proper differentials. Thats going to be tricky.

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Richard Branson Suggests the US Focus on Clean Energy Instead of Reviving Coal - Futurism

Stranger Things

Astronomers say they have detected strange signals coming from the direction of a small, dim star located about 11 light-years from Earth.

Researchers picked up the mysterious signals on May 12 using the Arecibo Observatory, a huge radio telescope built inside of a Puerto Rican sinkhole. The radio signals appear to be coming from Ross 128, ared dwarf starthats not yet known to have any planets and is about 2,800 times dimmer than the Sun.

Abel Mndez, an astrobiologist at the University of Puerto Rico at Arecibo, said the star was observed for 10 minutes, during which time the signal was picked up and almost periodic.

Mndez said its extremely unlikely thatintelligent extraterrestrial lifeis responsible, but noted the possibility cant yet be ruled out.

The SETI [Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence] groups are aware of the signals, Mndez wrote in an email to Business Insider.

While Arecibo is known for its role in efforts to search forsignals from aliens, its also great for looking at distant galaxies andpinging near-Earth asteroids. Mndez thinks the signal is more likely from something humans put in space, perhaps a satellite that passed thousands of miles overhead.

The field of view of [Arecibo] is wide enough, so there is the possibility that the signals were caused not by the star but another object in the line of sight, Mndez said, adding that some communication satellites transmit in the frequencies we observed.

However, ina July 12 blog postabout the mystery of Ross 128, he wrote that we have never seen satellites emit bursts like that and called the signals very peculiar.

Another possible explanation is a stellar flare, or outburst of energy from the stars surface. Such bursts from the sun travel at light-speed, emit powerful radio signals, and can disrupt satellites and communications on Earth, as well asendanger astronauts.

Solar flares can also be chased by a slower-moving yet more energetic coronal mass ejections: a flood of solar particles that can distort our planets magnetic field, generate geomagnetic storms, andcripple power gridsandfry electronics.

To see if the signals are still there, Mndez said Arecibo is going to stare down Ross 128 and its surroundings many more times, starting July 16.

Success will be to find the signal again in the star but not in its surrounding[s]. If we dont get the signal again then the mystery deepens, he said. We are not sure if we can get to the bottom of this mystery from just the next observations if that was a rare event.

But FAST isnt operational right now, since its being calibrated, and Mndez said he doesnt know when it will be back online.

Seth Shostak, a senior astronomer at the SETI Institute, confirmed that the group is well aware of the signals and might use its powerfulAllen Telescope Arrayin California to check them out.

The chances are high that theyre terrestrial interference, in fact. Thats really always been the case, Shostak told Business Insider in an email.

Right now theres really onlyone compelling signalfrom outer space that might come from aliens: [T]he WOW signal, Shostak said. That one is still quite odd.

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Astronomers Have Detected Strange Signals Coming From a Star 11 Light Years Away - Futurism

In Brief Volkswagen announced that the I.D. Concept, the company's electric concept car designed to compete with the Tesla Model 3, will sell for $7,000 to $8,000 less. The low price is part of VW's drive to compete with Tesla in the EV market.

Volkswagen chief strategist Thomas Sedran announced at the Automobil Forum that the I.D. Concept will sell for $7,000 to $8,000 less than Teslas model. Aside from competitive pricing, the I.D. Concept wasdesigned to compete with the Tesla Model 3across the board.The price cutting strategy is one of the companys more traditional competitive moves in a battle that has, at times, strayed into the unorthodox.According to Electrek, last year before unveiling the concept, VW misrepresented the Model s NEDC-rated range in a presentation designed to favorably compare the VW concept electric vehicle (EV).

At this point, it appears that the all-electric hatchback from VW will be available to compete with the Model 3 in the U.S., but not for more than a year after the Model 3 hits the market. Meanwhile, the concept vehicle which is about the size of the VW Golf will be part of the companys more focused EV efforts in the EU and China. Its crossover model made its debut in Shanghai in April.

While Tesla may see the VW model as a potential competitor, its marketing strategies are more centered on converting drivers of gas-powered cars to EVs. However, if VW follows through with its plan to offer 30 all-electric or hybrid models by 2025, it seems likely that it will remain acompetitor for Tesla and everyone else.

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Volkswagen's EV Will Sell for $7-8K Cheaper Than the Tesla Model 3 - Futurism

The Fermi Paradox

The Milky Way Galaxy alone is home to between 100 billion and 400 billion stars, and each is potentially orbited by planets. There are probably at least 2 trillion galaxies like ours in the observable universe, each one populated by trillions of planets orbiting hundreds of billions of stars. Even if planets capable of sustaining life are exceedingly rare, on the numbers alone there should be intelligent life somewhere in the universe. For example, according to Business Insider, if a mere 0.1 percent of planets in our galaxy that might be habitable harbored life, that would mean there were about a million planets with life on them.

These numbers prompted Nobel Prize-winning physicist Enrico Fermi to ask in regard to alien life forms: Where are they? This question has come to be known as the Fermi paradox, and most possible answers to it would be concerning for humans.

Climate change, if it is allowed to continue, will eventually devastate much of life on Earth as we know it. It was the remarkably stable climate of the past 12,000 years or so that has allowed human civilization to flourish, benefitting from agriculture and eventually industrialization (although ironically that may also be our undoing).

Recent research points to several characteristics of species more likely to survive the rigors of a planet ravaged by climate change: two of the most vital being anindiscriminate palate and a rapid reproductive cycle. Therefore,humans are basically the oppositeofthe types of creatures considered to be prime survivors.

Other thinkers have different answers to the Fermi paradox, which are even more depressing (or less depending on your perspective). Oxford neuroscientist Anders Sandberg, Astronomical Observatory of Belgrade member Milan irkovi, and artificial intelligence (AI) expert Stuart Armstrong have suggested that aliens arent extinct, but are in hibernation, waiting for the universe to cool. Professor Zaza Osmanov of the Free University of Tbilisi believes that our search for signs of alien megastructures has yet to be rewarded because we are looking around stars when we should be looking around pulsars.

And physicist Brian Cox suggests yet another possibility; a cautionary tale for our own civilization as well as any others: It may be that the growth of science and engineering inevitably outstrips the development of political expertise, leading to disaster, says Cox. If intelligent life unwittingly renders itself extinct as soon as it advances sufficiently, the physicist believes, we could be approaching that position.

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The Reason We've Never Found Intelligent Life Might be Because We Are Already Going Extinct - Futurism

In BriefIBM representatives are meeting with congress to challenge thelawmakers apocalyptic perceptions about artificial intelligence(AI). IBM paints a different picture of the future in which AI willcreate jobs, drive progress, and help us develop as a species. IBM to Meet Washington

IBMis taking a stand for artificial intelligence (AI). The technology giant islobbying Washington with the hope of challenging the view of fearful prophets envisioning massive job loss, or even an eventual AI overlord that controls humanity as David Kenny, the vice president for IBM Watson, wrote in an open letter to congress.

He went on towritethat the real disaster would be abandoning or inhibiting cognitive technology before its full potential can be realized. Kenny is also participating with the bipartisan Artificial Intelligence Caucus.

Kennys arguments center around three core principles. The first is that past technologies likethe bar code scanner and ATM have vastly improved efficiency and drove job creation. The second is that taxing or otherwise inhibiting the process of AI will cost the U.S. its competitive advantage. Instead, there should be a change in education and training to prepare the country for the technology. The third is any AI company should be transparent about their systems decision-making process and promote a principle of individual data governance.

IBM isweaved into the history of AIs development. Its engineerspioneered some of the earliest AI systems, including Deep Blue, which was responsible for beating world chess champion Gary Kasparov one of AIs greatest achievements to date. Currently, IBMs Watson is one of the leading cognitive computing systems in the world, with applications stretching from diagnosing disease, to writing cookbooks and creating recipes, to tackling the data-heavy tasks of the federal government.

IBMs proposal to inform congress about AI is not the first high-profile venture to do so. Numerous think tanks, meetings, and summitshave occurred to discuss the ethics of AI and promote responsible integration of the technology.

Last year, representatives from Google, Amazon, Microsoft, IBM, and Facebook formed the Partnership on AI to Benefit People and Societywith the goal of developing a possible set of guidelinesfor AI development. There have also been more individual attemptsto investigate AI such as those by Pierre Omidyar, the founder of eBay, and Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn, both of whom have invested millions in AI research.

Despite the minds and the money devoted tosolving the problem, the ethics of AI remains a remarkably sticky moral bog, which involves questions of personhood, sentience, and rights that have troubled philosophers for centuries.

However, IBMsefforts represent a positive step toward apragmatic approach to solve a problem before we are amidst it. Our regulation of and relationship with AI is likely to govern our future. We can take solace that the industry leaders are at least taking it seriously and thinking about the implications of their decisions.

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In Brief Microsoft has announced the creation of its new research lab, Microsoft Research AI, which will focus on general-purpose artificial intelligence (AI) technology development and provide ethics oversight for its AI operations.

Microsoft has created a new research lab which will focus on general-purpose artificial intelligence (AI) technology development. The lab will be called Microsoft Research AI, and will capitalize on the companys existing AI expertise whilepursuing new hires from related fields like cognitive psychology. The lab will also seek out academic partnerships, including a formal collaboration with MITs Center for Brains, Minds and Machines. Located within Microsofts Redmond HQ, the lab will ultimately be home to a team of more than 100 AI scientists exploring learning, natural language processing, perception systems, and other areas.

The purpose of combining these disciplines and striving toward more general AI will be to develop a single system that can master a broad array of challenges and tasks. This mirrors a goal that other tech companies like Google are pursuing. This kind of system could ultimately plot out the most efficient route for a road trip, relate to a human conversation partners sense of humor, or even optimize a budget. This broader focus is in contrast with the more common and specific AI systems we see now, like those that perform facial recognition tasks.

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Microsoft Takes On Google and Deep Mind with AI Research Lab - Futurism

In Brief Tezos, the new blockchain on the block, has finished its Initial Coin Offering (ICO) crowdfunding run. The startup generated more more than $200 million worth of bitcoin and ether cryptocoins, making it the largest ever ICO in the world to date. No Caps, Just Coins

If youre building a new blockchain system, might as well fund it using digital currency generated by other blockchains. Thats what Tezos did when it decided to launch an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) back onJuly 1 for its new decentralized blockchain. Now, after 13 days of crypto asset crowdsale, the Tezos ICO generated more than $230 million worth of bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH) coins, making it the largest ICO to date.

The Tezos ICO closed with 65,627 BTC (with current prices hovering around $155-6 million) and 361,122 ETH (about $76 million), reaching a total of $232 million. Thats almost 100 million more than the previously highest Bancor ICO, which ended with about $150 million worth of ether coins. It helped that the Tezos ICO that didnt have a cap for total coins sold and was launched back when 2,000 transaction blocks were added to the Bitcoin blockchain.

Cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and ether are used to pay for miners who maintain their respective blockchains the decentralized digital ledger of transactions thats recently found applications in not just finance, but other industries as well.

As mentioned, Tezos is a blockchain. It wants to be different from existing blockchains, however, by refining the way these decentralized networks are governed and developed. Tezos describes its blockchain as a self-amending cryptoledger, i.e. it gives stakeholders the ability to decide on network-wide changes at the protocol level.

Essentially, this could eliminate the current conundrum Bitcoin finds itself in. Bitcoin miners and developers who have opposing goals when it comes to the future of the blockchain are in a deadlock regarding whether to accept and implement an improvement that would handle increased traffic in the network.

Tezos isnt free of critics, however: Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin previously expressed his disagreement with the idea of eliminating the need for outside protocol governance. Tezos, however, will offer support for smart contracts that use Proof-of-Stake (PoS) as a consensus algorithm something that Ethereum is supposedly working on.

While regular investments are already volatile by nature, ICOs are even more so. Theres no guarantee how many of these startups with ICOs will actually last. For now, though, Tezos is just enjoying the overwhelming amount of funding and support its generated.

Disclosure: Several members of the Futurism team, including the editors of this piece, are personal investors in a number of cryptocurrency markets. Their personal investment perspectives have no impact on editorial content.

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Tezos Just Finished the World's Largest ICO, Hitting More Than $200 Million Worth of Cryptocoins - Futurism

In Brief NASA admitted today that under the current budget they cannot afford to get humans to Mars. NASA's next steps will depend on its funding, but now more than ever, the future of Mars colonization rests in the hands of commercial space companies. Budget Bummer

NASA has been talking about getting humans to Mars for years, and continues to provide updatedplans for getting there. Unfortunately, though, NASAs chief of human spaceflight, William H. Gerstenmaier, just announced that the agency cant achieve the Mars goal on its current budget.

I cant put a date on humans on Mars, and the reason really is the other piece is, at the budget levels we described, this roughly 2 percent increase, we dont have the surface systems available for Mars, Gerstenmaier said during a propulsion meeting of the American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics on Wednesday. And that entry, descent, and landing is a huge challenge for us for Mars.

Essentially, the SLS rocket and Orion craft have cost the agency a lot. As a result, NASA hasnt even been able to begin designing vehicles to land on Mars or ascend from the surface.

NASAs next moves will depend on funding. Gerstenmaier indicated the agency might be interested in a Moon exploration mission one that is more extensive than the current plan to build the Deep Space Gateway in the Moons orbit. Beyond just being a launching pad for further space exploration, the gateway could support an extensive moon surface program, says Gerstenmaier.

Fortunately for our Red Planet dreams, it isnt just up to NASA. Getting humans to Mars is a team effort. Agencies like NASA are really at the mercy of political moods and budgetary restraints, so they need to do as much as they can with what resources are there. One way they can maximize impact is to partner with private companies.

This month Elon Musk announcedwe might be getting an update about the SpaceX Mars mission in September at the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) in Australia. For now, though, SpaceX has set a deadline of 2018 for an unmanned Mars mission and 2025 for a manned mission. Both Boeing and Blue Origin are also planning to put humans on Mars. It may turn out that the we in Vice President Pences remarks about putting American boots on Mars is the larger American we, and not the government or NASA.

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NASA Just Announced They Can't Afford to Get Humans to Mars - Futurism

In Brief Microsoft has launched its Rural Airband Initiative, which aims to bring internet access to remotel areas in 12 U.S. states. The TV White Spaces project will provide 2 million rural Americans with internet that is a fifth of the cost of fiber cable-based internet and half the cost of 4G networks. Going the Extra Mile

At the historic Willard Hotel where a little over 100 years ago Alexander Graham Bell demoed the coast-to-coast telephone call, Microsoft announced on Monday its latest effort to bring internet access to American rural areas. The project makes use ofunused television broadcast channels which are called white spaces.

Back in 2010, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted rules that opened up TV white spaces for broadband use. Microsoft itself has considerable experience with this spectrum, having deployed 20 TV white spaces projects in 17 countries that have served 185,000 users, Brad Smith, the companys president, wrote in a press release.

Now, through Microsofts Rural Airband Initiative, the tech giant aims to open up broadband access to 2 million people in rural areas in America by 2022. Microsoft has 12 partners working in 12 states including Arizona, Kansas, New York, and Virginia for its TV White Spaces projects, which will be up and running inthe next 12 months.

This project will provide rural Americans with internet that is a fifth of the cost of fiber cable-based internet and about half the cost of 4G networks.

After the United Nations declared internet access as a basic human right, a number of tech industry heavyweights have stepped up to the task of bringing internet connectivity to the worlds remote areas. There are several othersimilar initiatives to bring internet access to all of North America, including a couple in New York and Canada.

Social media giant Facebook has been working on its Aquila project for the past two years. The idea is to beam internet to far flung areas using Facebooks solar-powered Aquila drones, which recently completeda second successful test flight.

Elon Musks SpaceX is approaching the problem with a different strategy. The plan is to improve internet access around the world by launching 4,000 satellites in orbit. SpaceX completed its applications to the FCC for this global internet network back in November 2016. This plan seems to have inspired satellite internet startup OneWebbacked by Virgin Groups Richard Branson, Qualcomm, and Airbus which would launch 720 satellites to build a global wireless internet network.

It seems unthinkable that in such a day and age, where internet is available even through your smartphones and wearable gadgets, there are still 4 billion people wholack such access. Hopefully, efforts likeMicrosofts will soon bridge this information divide.

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Microsoft Is Bringing Affordable Broadband Internet to Rural America - Futurism

FDA Panel Recommends Approval

Today a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) panel unanimously recommended that the agency approve atreatment that genetically alters a patients own cells to fight leukemia. If the agency does make the approval, the first-ever such treatment will be the start of the living drug era of human medicine, in which we harness technology to boost our natural immune system and improve its ability to master formerly unbeatable diseases.

While this gene therapy treatment for leukemia, known as CTL019, will be the first to reach the market, there are more on the way. Treatments for an aggressive type of brain tumor, as well as myeloma and other varieties of leukemia, are also in development.

This technique is a true example of personalized medicine: a unique version of the treatment must be created for every patient from their own cells. After the cells are removed by medical personnel, they are frozen, shipped to Novartis (the therapys maker), processed, refrozen, and shipped back to the medical center.

Assuming this treatment is approved, it will be a first for the FDA. Though the approval wouldnt necessarily be surprising in light of theresults of the trials, which were stunning: patients facing death after all other treatments failed who receivedjust a single dose of the gene therapy experiencedlong remissions that could, intime, prove curative. The FDA panel therefore recommended approval for treatment of relapsed or treatment-resistant B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia in children and young adults ages 3 to 25.

One attendee of the panels meeting was thefirst patient from the trials, Emily Whitehead, age 12. She almost died as a result of leukemia, which was considered fatal until she was treated at age 6. Since that time she has been cancer free. We believe that when this treatment is approved it will save thousands of childrens lives around the world, Tom Whitehead, Emilys father, told the panel, according to The New York Times. I hope that someday all of you on the advisory committee can tell your families for generations that you were part of the process that ended the use of toxic treatments like chemotherapy and radiation as standard treatment, and turned blood cancers into a treatable disease that even after relapse most people survive.

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania developed the treatment, which is now licensed to Novartis. The disease its meant to treat, however, is rare affecting only about 5,000 people annually. Around 60 percent of them are young adults and children. Standard treatments can cure most children, but approximately 15 percent of patients, like Emily, do not respond to treatment or experience relapses.

Novartis will limit the use of CTL019 initially because the treatment process is complex and managing side effects demands expert care. Therefore, only about 30 or 35 medical centers will have access to the treatment upon its release. Furthermore, staffat thosecenters will receive special training and approval to administer it, according to The New York Times. Although analysts predict that the cost of these unique treatments may exceed $300,000, a Novartis spokesman declined to specify a price whenNYTinquired.

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An FDA Panel Just Approved A Treatment That Genetically Alters Your Own Cells - Futurism

In Brief NASA researchers have discovered that human presence inside a closed environment (such as a space station or off-world habitat) changes its mycobiome. This research will help develop health and safety protocols for Mars exploration and colonization. Cohabitating With Fungi

Research by NASA has proventhat the presence of humans inside the closed spacesneeded to explore other planets correlates with changes in the mycobiomes and fungal communities that grow inside the habitats. The research, published this week in the journalMicrobiome, is critical to space exploration and the colonization of new planets because it will help determine which health and maintenance measures are needed for human survival in closed habitats.Click to View Full Infographic

Senior Research Scientist Dr. Kasthuri Venkateswaran of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Caltech, who is the studys corresponding author, told Phys.org: Characterizing and understanding possible changes to, and survival of, fungal species in environments like the ILMAH is of high importance since fungi are not only potentially hazardous to the inhabitants but could also deteriorate the habitats themselves.

The team discovered that the presence of certain varieties of fungi including pathogens that cause asthma, allergies, and skin infections increased when humans were also present inside the Inflatable Lunar/Mars Analog Habitat (ILMAH). The stress of long-term stays in closed habitats might produce decreased immune responses in humans, rendering them more vulnerable to opportunistic fungi. Knowing how fungal communities react when humans are present is critical for the maintenance of off-world habitats, which demand appropriate health and safety countermeasures.

The goal of the ILMAH study was to understand how humans change psychologically, physiologically, and behaviorally in confined environments. For 30 days, three student crews were housed inside the ILMAH; completely isolated from the outside world except for exchanging filtered air. The researchers collected and characterized samples of fungal species to determine which were present and how the mycobiome changed during the 30-day period. Crew members cleaned the habitat and collected surface samples weekly.

The researchers established that the mycobiomes diversity and the sizes of various fungal populations fluctuated during the experiment. For example, populations of Cladosporium cladosporioides acommon outdoor fungus that can cause asthmatic reactions, particularly in people with weakened immune systems increased. The next steps will include studying the mycobiomes of human participants to prove that these fluctuations are the result of human presence.

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NASA: Understanding Fungi is Necessary to Keep Humans Safe While Exploring Space - Futurism

In BriefA study published earlier this year warned scientists ofpotential complications with CRISPR/Cas9, but after review byresearchers at another institution, the findings of that study arebeing brought into question. It remains to be seen whether theoriginal study will be corrected or retracted, but this developmenthighlights the importance of peer review in science. Wrongfully Accused?

A study published earlier this year warned scientists of potential complications in their work with CRISPR/Cas9, but after review by researchers at another institution, the findings of that study are being brought into question. The original paper was publishedby a team at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) in May of this year in the journal Nature Methods.

In the studys original press release, co-author Stephen Tsang said: We feel its critical that the scientific community consider the potential hazards of all off-target mutations caused by CRISPR, including single nucleotide mutations and mutations in non-coding regions of the genome. The researchers had sequenced the genomes of mice whose genes had previously been editing using CRISPR in an attempt to cure their blindness. The genomes revealed there were 1,500 single-nucleotide mutations and over 100 larger deletions,= and/or insertions in two of the mice which had been modified using the gene-editing technique.

In their study, the researchers attributed these genetic anomalies to the use of CRISPR but a team of researchers from Harvard University and MIT have reviewed the paper and are challenging that attribution. In a paper published in bioRxiv a pre-print server for biology research which is not a peer reviewed journal the researchers pointed out the CUMC study had several serious problems. The most glaring of which, the Harvard and MIT researchers argue, is that the mutations found in the mice that were attributed to CRISPR were more likely than not already present in those mice before they were exposed to the gene-editing technique.

The third mouse whose genome had been edited with CRISPR did not demonstrate the mutations, and was also not as genetically similar as the two mice who did. The Harvard and MIT research team argue that this supports the theory that the mutations in the pair of mice were not caused by CRISPR. It should be noted that this criticism comes from a small study that was not peer reviewed.

The teams goal in refuting the research is to make sure the rest of the scientific community is reminded of the lasting impact claims that are not well supported by data can have. Given these substantial issues, we urge the authors to revise or re-state the original conclusions of their published work so as to avoid leaving misleading and unsupported statements to persist in the literature, the team explained in their paper.

The peer review process is essential to scientific disciplines other than biology and genetics, of course. Whether researchers are making claims about climate change, artificial intelligence, or medical treatments, rigorous review of their methods, data, and analysis by other scientists who are doing similar work is essential. This process ensures that the research and the way it is presented is accurate, of high quality, and will be useful not only to the scientific community, but to the general public.

For teams who have spent months if not years heavily focused on a single study, trial, or data set, it can be very easy to lose sight of the bigger picture. Peer review offers research teams the chance to address inconsistencies, data that doesnt add up, and conclusions that make assumptions or inferences that arent supported by the data.

While there have certainly been instances where teams have intentionally fabricated data in order to mislead their peers and the public, most members of the scientific community do not mislead intentionally. But thats why the peer review process is so important. It remains to be seen if the team at CUMC plans to revisit, or possible retract, their paper in light of the response.

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Researchers Refute Study That Claims CRISPR Causes Unexpected Mutations - Futurism

In BriefThe battle for the future of Bitcoin is heating up. Twoopposing camps, one consisting of miners and the other ofdevelopers, are struggling to work out an ideological rift thatcould lead to a civil war that splits the cryptocurrency in two assoon as August. A House Divided Bitcoin may be themost popular, longest standing cryptocurrency, but that doesnt mean its path forward is without potential conflict. In fact, analysts are now predicting that the cryptocurrency is on the brink of a civil war that would put Captain America and Iron Mans to shame.

Like the Marvel story, the Bitcoin rift is an ideological one.On one side of the divide are the bitcoin miners who oversee every transaction made on the Bitcoin blockchain. On the other side are the developers thathave maintained Bitcoins bug-proof software theyre led by a group called Core.

The problem of how to handle increased Bitcoin traffic has caused the rift. The former group wants to increase Bitcoins block size limit in order to process more transactions. Meanwhile, the latter wants to move data off the main network, which would diminish the influence of miners and essentially make Bitcoin more enterprise-friendly, like its main competitor, Ethereum.

Its moderates versus extremists, Stephen Pair, chief executive officer of bitcoin wallet provider BitPay, told Bloomberg. It depends on how much a person values the majority of people staying on one chain at least for a little while longer, versus splitting and allowing each [to pursue] their own vision for scaling.

Whats ironic about this situation is that its made possible by blockchains decentralized nature, which is often heralded as one of the technologys most interesting features. The absence of a central Bitcoin authority has made it difficult for a consensus to be reached.

At any rate, a compromise called the SegWit2x updatehas been developed, and it should be available by July 21. It changes how some of Bitcoins data will be storedwhile also doubling the block size limit.

Though support for SegWit2x is reportedly high, no one knows for sure how it will be received until it is actuallyreleased. Its a high-stakes game of chicken, Arthur Hayes from Hong Kong-based BitMEX told Bloomberg. If youre a trader, theres a lot of uncertainty as to what happens.

Bitcoin has been enjoyinga continuous upward trend in market valuefor the past several months at one point, it was evenmore valuable than gold. Well have to wait to see if this growth can continue past the next couple of weeks, which will possibly be the most turbulent in Bitcoins history. As Hayes said, Once theres a definitive signal about what will be done, the price could move very quickly.

Disclosure: Several members of the Futurism team, including the editors of this piece, are personal investors in a number of cryptocurrency markets. Their personal investment perspectives have no impact on editorial content.

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The Finance World Is Preparing for a Bitcoin Civil War - Futurism

In Brief Two friends driving from California to New York in a Tesla Model S just broke the record for quickest transcontinental run in an electric vehicle. The achievement is the latest to illustrate the impressive progression of electric vehicles.

Two friends, Jordan Hart and Bradly DSouza, have beaten the previous record for the fastest transcontinental run in an electric vehicle by more than three hours. Using a Tesla Model S, they traveled fromRedondo Beach, California, to New York City in just 51 hours and 47 minutes. The previous record was 55 hours.

The duo achieved the feat through a combination of bullishness and optimal driving strategies, only stopping to eat once and selectively ignoring the vehicles recommendations. I believe that our knowledge of the limitations and willingness to push the boundaries whenever possible is what made the largest difference, DSouza told The Verge.

Despite some hardware obstacles, like their Tesla Model S 85D being less efficient than the Model S used by the previous record holders, the pair endured no environmental hardships. As Hart explained, We hit essentially zero traffic jams, only [four] minutes of inclement weather, and arrived in NYC on a holiday to find the streets almost empty/devoid of traffic.

This represents a victory for not only the two Tesla owners, who were doing the run to raise awareness of human trafficking, but also for Tesla specifically and the electric car market in general. It illustrates the capabilities of EV technology and will potentially speed up the acceptance of EVs into the mainstream.

Fastest transcontinental run isnt the only EV record to be broken recently. Steven Peeters and Joeri Cools broke the hypermiling record for a Tesla, achieving a whopping 901.2 kilometers (~560 miles) on a single charge, and the Nio EP9 broke the record for fastest speed of an electric vehicle, getting to a dizzying 312 km/h (194 mph). The age of impressive electric vehicles is well and truly upon us.

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Two Guys Just Drove a Tesla Model S From California to NYC in a Record Breaking 52 Hours - Futurism

In BriefEthereum startup ConsenSys and the nation of Mauritius areexploring a partnership and the creation of Ethereum Island, ablockchain technology hub. This would help transform the localeconomy and bring blockchain to more people around the world. Global Blockchain Hub

Ethereum startup ConsenSys and the African nation of Mauritius are actively exploring a partnership. This collaboration would allow the two to create Ethereum Island, a blockchain technology hub for innovators hoping to extend into Asia, Africa, and elsewhere in the world. ConsenSys founder Joseph Lubin and a team of executives toured Mauritius in early July to meet with the Bank of Mauritius, the countrys Board of Investment, and various authorities in both the public and private sectors.

Located 700 miles east of Madagascar along Africas eastern coast, Mauritius is an established, offshore financial hub. Now the nation is hoping to solidify itself as a leader in blockchain technologies. In 2016, it began the regulatory sandbox license process in order to appeal to blockchain innovators.

Mauritius has also been working to become a center for the migration of tech knowledge from Silicon Valley, and other innovation locations, to the rest of the world. This has been referred to as a Silicon Corridor approach in a local publication. Beyond this, Mauritius offers enthusiasm for blockchain technology, a knowledge of technologies and regulatory issues more generally, and the nimbleness and ability to adopt new tools and technologies quickly that is typically associated with smaller countries.

For this plan to work for ConsenSys, it will need to invest locally in human capital something thats likely to be beneficial for both the company and the local community. The company would present and establish the basics of a blockchain ecosystem as it worked to develop a talent pool within the ecosystem. A ConsenSys Academy based in Mauritius similar to the Dubai version from May 2017 is one possible human capital tactic the company could take.

The presence of a strong blockchain ecosystem will also help Mauritius to accomplish its own economic goals, aside from employing its citizens. We are working to take our economy to another level, and these kinds of technologies are very important in our strategy, Atma Narasiah, head of technology, innovation and services at the Board of Investment Mauritius, told CoinDesk in May.

Lubin and the ConsenSys team appear to have come away from the meetings impressed by the knowledge and enthusiasm for the technology they saw in Mauritius. Lubin emphasized, We expected to encounter significant enthusiasm but we were overwhelmed with the excitement that we felt in every single meeting. If Mauritius puts together a concerted effort to be a world leader, it will be.

Disclaimer: Futurism has a personal affiliation with ConsenSys. This is a piece of editorial content. ConsenSys does not have any review privileges on editorial decisions.

Disclosure: Several members of the Futurism team, including the editors of this piece, are personal investors in cryptocurrency markets. Their personal investment perspectives have no impact on editorial content.

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Ethereum Island May Soon Exist Off the Coast of Africa - Futurism

In Brief Mary Lou Jepsen, former head of display technology at Oculus, has founded a startup called Openwater that hopes "to create a wearable to enable us to see the inner workings of the body and brain at high resolution." A Wearable MRI

What if you couldseedirectly into another persons brain? Theability to read minds, referred to as telepathy, is yet another concept thatsabundant in science fiction, but a former Facebook executive says that we could all be capable of at least seeing inside someone elsesmind provided that were equipped with the right technology.

Mary Lou Jepsen was the head of display technology at Oculus before founding her own startup called Openwater. The companys goal, while ambitious, is in theory quite simple: to create a wearable to enable us to see the inner workings of the body and brain at high resolution. In short, telepathy courtesy of a brain-computer interface (BCI) a wearable device that works like an Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machine.

I dont think this is going to take decades, Jepsen said of the techs development, during an interview withCNBC. I think were talking about less than a decade, probably eight years until telepathy. Her company plans to make avery limited number of prototypes available to their early access partners by next year.

Wearable MRI technology could be quite an asset in terms ofdisease diagnosis and treatment. With just one quick look, a physician couldsee whats happening inside a persons brain, or elsewherein the body.Of course, this raises many questions and concerns about privacy, which Jepsen says the company is working on. Were trying to make the hat only work if the individual wants it to work, and then filtering out parts that the person wearing it doesnt feel its appropriate to share, she said.

Openwater isnt the only one working to give the human brain machine-like capabilities. In fact, Facebook is also developing a device similar to Jepsens. BCIs, which already haveapplications in prosthesis use, could also become apopular means to prepare humankind for future of intelligent machines.

This is whatTesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has in mind withhis mind/machine merging venture, Neuralink. The U.S. Department of Defenses research arm,DARPA, is also working on projects that would combinehumans with machines. Another company is Kernel, which has been working on a neuroprosthesis that can make the brains neural code programmable.

Disclosure: Bryan Johnson is an investor in Futurism; he does not hold a seat on our editorial board or have any editorial review privileges.

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This Wearable MRI Device Could Help Us Read Minds - Futurism

Disclaimer: Futurism only supports products that we trust and use. This post is in partnership with Abundance 360, and Futurism may get a small percentage of sales. Want to take a class with Peter Diamandis? Click here to learn more! Reinventing Humanity

As we close out 2016, if youll allow me, Id like to take a risk and venture into a topic Im personally compelled to think about, a topic that will seem far-out to most readers.

Todays extraordinary rate of exponential growth may do much more than just disrupt industries. It may actually give birth to a new species reinventing humanity over the next 30 years.

I believe were rapidly heading towards a human-scale transformation, the next evolutionary step into what I call a meta-intelligence, a future in which we are all highly connected brain to brain via the cloud sharing thoughts, knowledge, and actions.

In this blog, Im investigating the driving forces behind such an evolutionary step, the historical pattern we are about to repeat, and the implications thereof. Again, I acknowledge that this topic seems far-out, but the forces at play are huge and the implications are vast.

Lets dive in

About 4.6 billion years ago, our solar system, the Sun, and the Earth were formed. Four steps followed

Today, at a massively accelerated rate some 100 million times faster than the steps I outlined above life is undergoing a similar evolution. In this next stage of evolution, we are going from evolution by natural selection (Darwinism) to evolution by intelligent direction.

Allow me to draw the analogy for you:

Four primary driving forces are leading us towards our transformation of humanity into a meta-intelligence both on and off the Earth:

Lets take a look at each.

Today, there are 2.9 billion people connected online. Within the next six to eight years, that number is expected to increase to nearly 8 billion, with each individual on the planet having access to a megabit-per-second connection or better.

The wiring is taking place through the deployment of 5G on the ground, plus networks being deployed by Facebook, Google, Qualcomm, Samsung, Virgin, SpaceX, and many others.

Within a decade, every single human on the planet will have access to multimegabit connectivity, the worlds information, and massive computational power on the cloud.

A multitude of labs and entrepreneurs are working to create lasting, high-bandwidth connections between the digital world and the human neocortex (I wrote about that in detail).

Ray Kurzweil predicts well see human-cloud connection by the mid-2030s, just 18 years from now.

In addition, entrepreneurs like Bryan Johnson (and his company Kernel) are committing hundreds of millions of dollars towards this vision.

The end results of connecting your neocortex with the cloud are twofold: First, youll have the ability to increase your memory capacity and/or cognitive function millions of fold; second, via a global mesh network, youll have the ability to connect your brain to anyone elses brain and to emerging AIs, just like our cell phones, servers, watches, cars, and all devices are becoming connected via the Internet of Things (IoT).

Next, and perhaps most significantly, we are on the cusp of an AI revolution.

Artificial intelligence, powered by deep learning and funded by companies such as Google, Facebook, IBM, Samsung, and Alibaba, will continue to rapidly accelerate and drive breakthroughs.

Cumulative intelligence (both artificial and human) is the single greatest predictor of success for both a company or a nation. For this reason, beside the emerging AI arms race, we will soon see a race focused on increasing overall human intelligence.

Whatever challenges we might have in creating a vibrant brain-computer interface (e.g. designing long-term biocompatible sensors or nanobots that interface with your neocortex), those challenges will fall quickly over the next couple of decades as AI power tools give us every increasing problem-solving capability.

It is an exponential atop an exponential. More intelligence gives us the tools to solve connectivity and mesh problems and in turn create greater intelligence.

Finally, its important to note that the human race is on the verge of becoming a multiplanetary species.

Thousands of years from now, whatever weve evolved into, we will look back at these next few decades as the moment in time that the human race moved off Earth irreversibly.

Today, billions of dollars are being invested privately into the commercial space industry. Efforts led by SpaceX are targeting humans on Mars, while efforts by Blue Origin are looking at taking humanity back to the Moon and plans by my own company, Planetary Resources, strive to unlock near-infinite resources from the asteroids.

The rate of human evolution is accelerating as we transition from the slow and random process of Darwinian natural selection to a hyper-accelerated and precisely directed period of evolution by intelligent direction.

In this blog, I chose not to discuss the power being unleashed by such gene-editing techniques as CRISPR-Cas9. Consider this yet another tool able to accelerate evolution by our own hand.

The bottom line is that change is coming, faster than ever considered possible. All of us leaders, entrepreneurs, and parents have a huge responsibility to inspire and guide the transformation of humanity on and off the Earth.

What we do over the next 30 years the bridges we build to abundance will impact the future of the human race for millennia to come. We truly live during the most exciting time ever in human history.

Disclaimer: Futurism only supports products that we trust and use. This post is in partnership with Abundance 360, and Futurism may get a small percentage of sales. Want to take a class with Peter Diamandis?Click here to learn more!

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Humanity Is About to Transition To Evolution by Intelligent Direction - Futurism