In BriefScientists have just discovered the oldest human fossils inMorocco. This find alters the narrative of human origins and helpsfill in missing details in our evolution as a species. Rediscovering Ourselves

On Wednesday, scientists reported they had discovered the oldest known remains of Homo sapiens in Morocco.The bones and other remains are approximately 300,000 years old. This revelation provides new insights into the origins of humankind: a consequence of such findings would be that human beingsevolved earlier than had previously believed. The fossils also indicate that despite fundamental differences in the brains of modern humans and early Homo sapiens, our faces strongly resemble those of our early ancestors.

Until this remarkable find at Jebel Irhoud, the oldest human fossils only dated back 195,000 years. These new fossils make experts believe that our species evolved not in Eastern Africa (specifically near Ethiopia) where later fossils were found, but across the continent in Western Africa where modern Morocco is situated.

We did not evolve from a single cradle of mankind somewhere in East Africa, paleoanthropologist Phillipp Gunz, a co-author of the two new studies on the fossils, told The New York Times.

Before now, fossils found in different places made paleoanthropologists believe that Homo sapiens arose in East Africa and then moved across the continent. However, mysterious human fossils from other parts of Africa didnt seem to fit in with this story, and caused scientists to wonder where they fit into the Homo sapiens puzzle. The remains discovered in Morocco will helpsolve these mysteries, even as it suggests new questions for further research.

For example, the recent finds at Jebel Irhoud confirm that Homo sapiens had flatter faces, similar to ours today. National Museum in London paleoanthropologist Christopher Stringer speculates that the flattened faces of early Homo sapiens may be related to the advent of speech. We really are at very early stages of trying to explain these things, Dr. Stringer told theThe New York Times.

The larger, rounder brain of modern humans is a more recent development. Dr. Gunz indicates that the human brain may have evolved into a rounder shapeduring a later phase of human existence. Two areas of the brain in particular the cerebellum and the parietal lobe, both toward the back of the head seem to have adapted over thousands of years. That being said,scientists dont yet know how the rounder brain changed how humans think.

Flint blades from around the same time have been found elsewhere across Africa, and the Jebel Irhoud fossils suggest that they may have been made by early humans. Dr. Gunz and his team believe that is this is true: Homo sapiens may have evolved across the continent as a network of groups. The only way well ever know for sure and resolve other questions these findings may bring up will bethrough additional research, which will require adequate funding.

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New Discovery of the Oldest Known Human Remains Will Change the Narrative of Human Evolution - Futurism

In Brief The government of Hawaii signed two bills on Tuesday which formalizes its commitment to the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement. This comes after U.S. President Donald Trump decided to pull out of the climate deal.

Tuesday was a historic moment for Hawaii as it became the first state in the U.S. to make its stand on the Paris Climate Agreement formal. The Pacific state signed two bills to honor the climate deal after the federal governments decision to withdraw from it. In his statement during the signing of the two bills, Hawaii governor David Ige said that hes looking forward to working with other states to fight global climate change.

Governor Ige signed Senate Bill 559 which would ensure statewide support for Hawaiis green initiatives and to further theStates commitment to combat climate change by systematicallyreducing and mitigating greenhouse gas emissions through theenactment of principles that mirror many of the provisions adopted in the Paris Agreement.

The governor also signed House Bill 1578, which creates a task force to help keep Hawaiis soil and air clean. It would identify agricultural and aquacultural practices to improve soil health and promote carbon sequestration the capture and long-term storage of atmospheric carbon dioxide to mitigate climate change.

Hawaii isnt the only state that pledged to uphold the guidelines set by the Paris Agreement. Several governors and a dozen mayors across the U.S. have promised to do the same. The Hawaii State Legislature understands the importance of taking action, and I applaud its work this session to ensure that we continue to deliver the island Earth that we want to leave to our children, Ige said.

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Blazing a Trail: Hawaii Becomes the First US State to Commit to the Paris Climate Accords - Futurism

In BriefMark Cuban has attacked Bitcoin on Twitter, claiming it is nota currency, it is a bubble, and that the whole system of valuationconcerning it is wrong. But is he right? Mark Cubans Twitterstorm

Mark Cuban has recently raised a series of criticisms of bitcoin on Twitter, which has resulted in the cryptocurrencys exchange rate dropping rapidly illustrating many of the issues with the currency that he discussed in the Tweet themselves.

Mark Cuban rose to wealth by selling his start-up businesses MicroSolutions (a PC company that he sold to CompuServe for $6 Million) and Broadcast.com (which transmitted sports games over the internet, and was subsequently sold to Yahoo for $5.7 Billion) in the 1990s, and rose to prominence by becoming owner of the NBA team the Dallas Mavericks.

Earlier today he took his opinions of Bitcoin toTwitter:

Cuban crucially differentiates between blockchain and Bitcoin: the former being a means of transaction that is more secure, transparent, and distributive, and the latter a cryptocurrency.

However, Cuban likens bitcoin to the religious worship of gold as an asset and describes it as a stock, which is fundamentally different from a currency currencies measure how much of an asset you have. This is why Cuban progresses to state I am not questioning value. Im questioning valuation.

Just because bitcoins exchange rate has reached thousands of dollars, this doesnt mean that anyone would be willing to give you thousands of dollars for your bitcoin. Currencies are universal measures of value in the country you operate which allows anyone to trade with anyone as part of a universal system of value. This is in contrast to assets which you can buy with that value system but not necessarily trade anywhere as easily.

Currencies, in order to operate in this way, need to be relatively stable which Cuban showed bitcoin was not due to the almost instant drop after his tweetstorm. To analogise: can you imagine the dollar, pound, or euro drastically dropping in a matter of hours just because of a few tweets?

On the surface, Bitcoin looks monumentally impressive: it has grown every year apart from 2014, has climbed 141 percent in value this year alone, even peaking at $2,900 this past week. However, the precise reason for this success is the reason for its potential failure it is too turbulent, too successful.

This means that while Bitcoin may seem extremely seductive it has been billed as, among other things, the ultimate investment and a universal currency we must be careful when investing in it (particularly because it is difficult to convert back into dollars), putting faith in it, and being overoptimistic about its potential.

Bitcoin is one particularly famous use of a potentially more promising and widely applicable system called blockchain, which has the potential to revolutionize everything from the music industry to sustainable development and even banking accountability.

According to many, it is blockchain, not bitcoin, that has the potential to revolutionize future transactions: If the internet bought us near instant digital communication, then the blockchain brings us near instant asset transfer, asset movement and security of data movement said Simon Taylor, the previous head of Barclays cryptocurrency division.

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Mark Cuban Asserts That Bitcoin is Not Currency - Futurism

In BriefTesla's annual shareholders meeting took place yesterday, andfor many, the highlight of the event was CEO Elon Musk taking thestage. In addition to answering questions from Twitter, hedelivered updates on several forthcoming Tesla projects. An Annual Update

Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk is a showman, perhaps on par withApples Steve Jobs when it comes to big reveals during public appearances.

His usual platform is Teslas annual shareholder meeting, but yesterday, he didnt deliver much by way of reveals. Still, Musk didpaint the general direction Tesla would be taking in the next several months while addressing the shareholders and responding to questions from Twitter.

If you missed the livestream of the presentation, dont fret. Heres everythingyou need to know from it.

Musk mentioned three upcoming vehicles that Tesla has been working on: the Model 3, the Model Y, and an electric semi truck (that last ones so exciting it deserved an article all to itself).

The Model 3 is expected to be releasedby the end of the month, andMusk emphasized the vehicles relative simplicity. I should say that weve kept the initial configurations of the Model 3 very simple, said the CEO. A big mistake we made with the X, which is primarily my responsibility there was way too much complexity right at the beginning. That was very foolish.

Attendees were then treated toa first look at the Model Y, Teslas electric crossover SUV. Theimage is decidedly lacking in detail, so we still have very little to go on with this model, but we do know that its slated for a 2019 release and would be built on a completely new platform. In fact, Tesla would build an entirely new factory for its production.

Oh, and an electric plane somewhere down the road is also not inconceivable, according to Musk.

Musk also offered updates on Teslas Autopilot, claiming that the company will be rolling out improvements to the system for its Hardware 2 vehicles. Since its split with Mobileye the Israeli software maker responsible for the earlier versions of Teslas self-driving system Tesla has been developing its own semi-autonomous software. While some consumers have had some issues with the autonomous system in Teslas new vehicles, Musk said that its now almost better than the Mobileye version.

Usually, after Musk points out a problem, he shares a solution for it(see: traffic and the Boring Company). At yesterdays meeting, Musk shared his criticisms of todays music algorithms and playlist quality, and in typical Musk fashion, he plans to do something about it. He says Tesla will release a music service or feature later this year, and its gonna be the music you want to listen to.

After being asked about how he spends his time, Musk made reference to his late-night tweets. He admitted that he would sometimes go crazy on Twitter, but he blames it on music, wine, and a sedative. You know, [when] theres a little red wine, a vintage record player, some Ambien. Magic. Magic happens, he said, later echoing the sentiment (where else?) in a tweet.

Musk also explained that he generally spends 90 percent of his time working on Tesla and SpaceX, whiledividing therest betweenNeuralink (3 to 5 percent), the Boring Company (2 percent), and Open AI (less than 2 percent).

Like a true showman, Muskwas sure toinclude a cliffhanger in his presentation to keep the people wanting mroe. Theres a few other things I havent mentioned here. I just like, really recommend showing up for the semi truck unveiling, he said. Maybe theres a little more than were saying here. Maybe. Could be. Who knows?

Continued here:

Here's Everything You Missed From Tesla's Annual Shareholder Meeting - Futurism

In Brief Researchers at the University of Adelaide have developed an AI that can analyze CT scans to predict if a patient will die within five years with 69 percent accuracy. This system could eventually be used to save lives by providing doctors with a way to detect illnesses sooner. Predicting the Future

While many researchers are looking for ways to use artificial intelligence (AI) to extend human life, scientists at the University of Adelaidecreated an AI that could help them better understand death. The system they created predicts ifa person will die within five years after analyzingCT scans of their organs, and it was able to do sowith 69 percent accuracy a rate comparable to that of trained medical professionals.

The system makes use of thetechnique of deep learning, and it was tested using images taken from 48 patients, all over the age of 60. Its the first study to combine medical imaging and artificial intelligence, and the results have been published in Scientific Reports.

Instead of focusing on diagnosing diseases, the automated systems can predict medical outcomes in a way that doctors are not trained to do, by incorporating large volumes of data and detecting subtle patterns, explained lead authorLuke Oakden-Rayner in a university press release. This method of analysis can explore the combination of genetic and environmental risks better than genome testing alone,according to the researchers.

While the findings are only preliminary given the small sample size, the next stage will apply the AI to tens of thousands of cases.

While this study does focus on death, the most obvious and exciting consequence of it is how it could help preserve life. Our research opens new avenues for the application of artificial intelligence technology in medical image analysis, and could offer new hope for the early detection of serious illness, requiring specific medical interventions, said Oakden-Rayner. Because it encourages more precise treatment using firmer foundational data, the system has the potential to save many lives and provide patients with less intrusive healthcare.

An added benefit of this AI is its wide array of potential uses. Because medical imaging of internal organs is a fairly routine part of modern healthcare, the data is already plentiful. The system could be used to predict medical outcomes beyond just death, such as the potential for treatment complications, and it could work with any number of images, such as MRIs or X-rays, not just CT scans. Researchers will just need to adjustthe AItotheir specifications, andtheyll be able to obtain predictions quickly and cheaply.

AIsystems are becoming more and more prevalentin the healthcare industry.Deepmind is being usedto fight blindness in the United Kingdom, and IBM Watson is already as competent as human doctors at detecting cancer. It is in medicine, perhaps more than any other field, that we see AIs huge potential to help the human race.

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An AI Can Now Predict How Much Longer You'll Live - Futurism

In Brief Researchers from St. George's, University of London have found that combining chemotherapy with cannabinoids can effectively treat leukemia. Though the tests were done in vitro, it showed that it could potentially lower the needed dose for chemo. Working in Tandem

Theres a growing literature of research showcasing the supposed health benefits of cannabis, specifically its active chemicals like cannabinoids. These have gone to cover various diseases, most notably brain-related ones such as epilepsy, Alzheimers, dementia, as well as heart problems and cancer. One study even claims that cannabis could potentially reverse aging. Now, researchers from St Georges, University of London have found cannabinoids to be effective in treating leukemia.

Specifically, the research involved using phytocannabinoids the naturally-occurring cannabinoids in the cannabis plant in tandem with chemotherapy. Phytocannabinoids possess anticancer activity when used alone, and a number have also been shown to combine favorably with each other in vitro in leukaemia cells to generate improved activity, according to a study published in the International Journal of Oncology.

Though the tests were done in the laboratory, the researchers are confident that combining phytocannabinoids with chemotherapy for leukemia patients could mean lower doses for the latter effectively lessening its side-effects.

As with most studies involving cannabis, its worth mentioning that its not possible to achieve the effects claimed by the study by recreational use of the drug. These extracts are highly concentrated and purified, so smoking marijuana will not have a similar effect, lead researcher Wai Liu said in a press release. But cannabinoids are a very exciting prospect in oncology, and studies such as ours serve to establish the best ways that they should be used to maximize a therapeutic effect.

With cancers continuing prevalence, research into potential treatments have become rather creative over the past years. Gene therapy is, perhaps, the most popular and other explore the use of nanoparticles. The strangest of these potential treatments is in an anti-cancer drug-delivery mechanism courtesy of sperm cells. At any rate, for a fight against one of the worlds deadliest diseases, we need all the help we could get.

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New Research Shows That Cannabinoids Can Help Treat Leukemia - Futurism

In BriefMark Cuban has attacked Bitcoin on Twitter, claiming it is nota currency, it is a bubble, and that the whole system of valuationconcerning it is wrong. But is he right? Mark Cubans Twitterstorm

Mark Cuban has recently raised a series of criticisms of bitcoin on Twitter, which has resulted in the cryptocurrencys exchange rate dropping rapidly illustrating many of the issues with the currency that he discussed in the Tweet themselves.

Mark Cuban rose to wealth by selling his start-up businesses MicroSolutions (a PC company that he sold to CompuServe for $6 Million) and Broadcast.com (which transmitted sports games over the internet, and was subsequently sold to Yahoo for $5.7 Billion) in the 1990s, and rose to prominence by becoming owner of the NBA team the Dallas Mavericks.

Earlier today he took his opinions of Bitcoin toTwitter:

Cuban crucially differentiates between blockchain and Bitcoin: the former being a means of transaction that is more secure, transparent, and distributive, and the latter a cryptocurrency.

However, Cuban likens bitcoin to the religious worship of gold as an asset and describes it as a stock, which is fundamentally different from a currency currencies measure how much of an asset you have. This is why Cuban progresses to state I am not questioning value. Im questioning valuation.

Just because bitcoins exchange rate has reached thousands of dollars, this doesnt mean that anyone would be willing to give you thousands of dollars for your bitcoin. Currencies are universal measures of value in the country you operate which allows anyone to trade with anyone as part of a universal system of value. This is in contrast to assets which you can buy with that value system but not necessarily trade anywhere as easily.

Currencies, in order to operate in this way, need to be relatively stable which Cuban showed bitcoin was not due to the almost instant drop after his tweetstorm. To analogise: can you imagine the dollar, pound, or euro drastically dropping in a matter of hours just because of a few tweets?

On the surface, Bitcoin looks monumentally impressive: it has grown every year apart from 2014, has climbed 141 percent in value this year alone, even peaking at $2,900 this past week. However, the precise reason for this success is the reason for its potential failure it is too turbulent, too successful.

This means that while Bitcoin may seem extremely seductive it has been billed as, among other things, the ultimate investment and a universal currency we must be careful when investing in it (particularly because it is difficult to convert back into dollars), putting faith in it, and being overoptimistic about its potential.

Bitcoin is one particularly famous use of a potentially more promising and widely applicable system called blockchain, which has the potential to revolutionize everything from the music industry to sustainable development and even banking accountability.

According to many, it is blockchain, not bitcoin, that has the potential to revolutionize future transactions: If the internet bought us near instant digital communication, then the blockchain brings us near instant asset transfer, asset movement and security of data movement said Simon Taylor, the previous head of Barclays cryptocurrency division.

Read more:

Business Expert Asserts That Bitcoin is Not Currency - Futurism

Wow! Messages From Space

In 1977, the sound of extraterrestrials was heard by human ears for the first time or so people at the time thought.The Wow! Signal was detected by astronomer Jerry Ehman using Ohio State Universitys Big Ear radio telescope. It isa radio signal detector that, at the time, was pointed at a group of stars called Chi Sagittariiin the constellation Sagittarius.

When scanning the skies around the stars, Ehmancaptured a 72 second burst of radio waves: He circled the reading and wrote Wow!: next to it, hence the signals name. Over the last 40 years, the signal has beencited as evidence that we are not alone in the galaxy. Experts and laypeople alike believed that, finally, we had evidence of alien life.

However, Professor Antonio Paris, of St Petersburg College, has now discovered the explanation: A pair of comets. The work was published in the Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences.

These comets, known as 266P/Christensen and 335P/Gibbs, have clouds of hydrogen gas millions of kilometers in diameter surrounding them. The Wow! Signal was detected at 1420MHz, which is the radio frequency hydrogen naturally emits. Notably, the team has verified that the comets were within the vicinity at the time, andtheyreport that the radio signals from 266/P Christensen matched those from the Wow! signal.

While this discovery is a disappointment to alien enthusiasts everywhere, as the Wow! Signal is the strongest signal we have ever received from space, it is a testament to our ability to accurately interpret signals and sounds from the cosmos. This gives us hope in our attempt to decode the hundreds of strange, alien signals coming from other stars that have been observed recently.

We have several weapons in our cosmic detection arsenal, most of which are used by the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence Institute (SETI). Their main means of detection is using radio-telescopes, and their most ambitious project to date has been Project Phoenix; the worlds most sensitive and comprehensive search for extraterrestrial intelligence.

For this project, they used three of worlds biggest radio telescopes: the Parkes radio telescope in Australia (210 feet indiameter), the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in West Virginia (140 feet in diameter), and Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico (the worlds largest at 1,000 feet in diameter). They have also built The Allen Telescope Array with financial backing from Paul Allen.

While the technology for detecting alien messages is remaining relatively static, ideas for communicating better with our own satellites is advancing rapidly, with possibilities including communicating by a laser beam and establishing a space satellite network.

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The 40-Year Old Mystery of the Wow! Signal Was Just Solved - Futurism

In Brief A new train that operates autonomously is expected to begin serving a Chinese city next year. The train follows a pre-set route laid out by white dots on the road. The technology provides small and medium-sized cities with a cheaper public transport

The state of public transportation has arrived at an exciting juncture. It seems that technologies have finally advanced to the point that truly never before seen solutions are starting to pop up all around the world. Were seeing the likes of autonomous taxis, flying taxis, and high-speed trains like themag-lev limo concept, which promises to deliver travelers from New York to Beijing in 2 hours time.

Another option is readying itself to transport people around the Chinese city of Zhuzhou as soon as 2018. The smart bus is being developed by Chinese rail transit firm CRRC to combine the economical ease of bus systems with the modularity of subway trains, as well as the convenience and safety of autonomy.

The smart bus, or Autonomous Rail Rapid Transit (ART), will follow a preset path guided by white dots lining the roads picked up by sensors in the trains. ART is an excellent option for smaller to medium sized cities who cannot afford to invest in the infrastructurenecessary to have a subway system.

The three-car trains will be able to hold 300 people along its 6.5 km (4 mile) track. More carriages could be added to allow for a greater numbers of passengers.

This project seems like a stepping stone solution between our current transportation systems and the forthcoming high(er)-tech possibilities.

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China to Reveal Its Autonomous Bus/Train Hybrid in 2018 - Futurism

In BriefLab-grown meat prices have dropped by 96% in just four years.Although they are still too costly to be fully scalable, this willsoon change, and lab-grown meats will provide a real solution toenvironmental harm caused by livestock agriculture. Cost Of Cruelty-Free Meat Technology is teaming up with cuisine to provide realistic alternatives to meat, and the first prototype products are starting to interest consumers. Mimicking the taste, texture, look, and smell of meat isnt easy, and creating these first few products demands a significant investment from companies. However, more companies are taking a chance on synthetic meats, hoping for major returns in the long run. In 2016, Beyond Meat became, arguably,the first startup to bring a plant-based meat alternative one that could really stand in for real meat to grocery stores. Impossible Foods, its main competitor, is insteadapproaching restaurants first with the intention of penetrating the grocery market later. Other companies are literally growing synthetic meats, called cellular-agriculture meats, fiber by fiber in labs. These are extremely expensive to produce, but their prices are falling fast. The price of the first lab-grown beef burger, created by Mosa Meats, was equivalent to about $1.2 million per pound, retail. Now, lab-grown hamburger runs forabout $11.36 per pound, similar to the Beyond Meat alternative which goes for about $12 per pound although both are still out of reach for most consumers. In contrast, ground beef retails for around $3.54 per pound on average. Meanwhile, Memphis Meats is currently in the process of growing chicken meat in the lab. Although comparatively, its retail price of $6,000 per pound is much more accessible than $1.2 million, it still has a way to go before it will be attainable for consumers. Kinder To The Environment According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), livestock feed production eats up 26% of the ice-free land on Earth, and 13 billion hectares (32.1 billion acres) of forest are lost to land conversion for pastures or cropland annually. Livestock farming also contributes to about 14.5% of all anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. All of this damage could be alleviated by transitioning to lab-grown meats. Scaling the ability to consistently meet demand in a cost-effective way is the main problem holding lab-grown meats back. Although companies are working toward solutions, animal-free meat will not be affordable for average consumers before 2020. Still, Impossible Foods CEO Patrick Brown aims to completely replace the meat industry by producing more realistic meat alternativeswith products like whole turkeys, and companies like Tyson are investing in his idea. For now, thats just a pipe dream, but if lab-made and plant-based meats can prove to be friendlier to the environment, healthier, and cost effective, they might just have a fighting chance.

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Are Lab-Grown Meats Really the Future of Food? - Futurism

In BriefHyperloop One has released a shortlist of nine proposed routesfor European systems. These routes could potentially connect 75million people via cutting-edge, high-speed transport. Euro-Hyperloop

Europealready enjoys an extensive and diverse system of railways. Still, there is always room for improvement, and an Elon Musk-inspired company is looking to introduce the continent to the next generation of travel.

Hyperloop One has unveiled their shortlist of potential European routes for their high-speed transportation project. Shervin Pishevar, the companys co-founder and executive chairman, told CNBC, Our vision is to, one day, connect all of Europe with our Hyperloop One system, networking the entire continent.

The list was compiled through a global challenge initiated by Hyperloop One to find the cities that would benefit the most from the cutting-edge transportationsystem. According to CNBC,the proposed cities would connect more than 75 million people in 44 cities, spanning 5,000 kilometers (3,100 miles).

The nine finalists range from a 1,991 km (1,237 mile) route through Germany to a 90 km (56 mile) route connecting Estonia to Finland. Other proposed routes would connect parts of Poland, cities in the Netherlands, the islands of Corsica and Sardinia, Spain and the north African country of Morocco, and several points in the United Kingdom.

Hyperloop One shared 11potential locations in the United States for Hyperloop routes a few months ago, and in March, the company announced talks with India, adding yet another country into the fortuitous futuristic fold.

Its no wonder so many countries are eager to welcomethis technology to their regions. If the system can perform as promised, it would revolutionize how we transport not only people but also cargo. At its peak speed, a Hyperloop is expectedto be capable of traveling more than 1,000 kmh (700 mph). The company boasts on its website that a trip between theAustralian cities of Melbourne and Sydney, a distance of 878 km (546 miles), would take only 55 minutes.

A system of Hyperloops would not only make traveling easier, it would also have a positive impact on a regions environment and economy. Ideally, the system will be able to generate more solar power than it consumes, making it an excellent green travel alternative to automobiles, trains, and airplanes. Tickets to ride could also cost as little as $25, often making the clean choice easily the best choice for travelers.

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One of These Nine Routes Could Be Home to the First European Hyperloop - Futurism

In Brief Japanese car giant Toyota has officially divested from Tesla as of the end of last year. The company has begun its own electric car division and may also be helping to bring a flying car into reality.

Toyota officially ended its relationship with Elon Musks Tesla by selling off its remaining shares of the company by the end of last year. The Japanese automaking company began with a $50 million investment for a three percent stake in the company.

In a statement, Toyota spokesman Ryo Sakai said, via Reuters, Our development partnership with Tesla ended a while ago, and since there has not been any new developments on that front, we decided it was time to sell the remaining stake. Interestingly, late last year, Toyota formed an electric car division of its own. So, it looks like Japans biggest automobile company is looking to compete for Teslas market share.

News from the BBC points to Toyota investing in Cartivatorto develop a flying car. The startuphas been crowdfunding their vehicle, the Skydrive, which has projected speeds of about 100 km/h (62 mph) and the ability to fly 10 meters (33 feet) off the ground.

Credit: Cartivation

This move directly opposes previous statements made by Elon Musk regarding flying cars. In an interview with Bloombergearlier this year he said, Obviously, I like flying things. But its difficult to imagine the flying car becoming a scalable solution.

Electric cars have quickly become the clear front runner in the future of personal transportation. Still, it is exciting to see that flying cars may not altogether be DOA.

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Toyota Severs Ties With Tesla, Launches Their Own Electric Car Division - Futurism

In Brief IBM has unveiled the world's first 5nm silicon chip. The chip offers a 40% performance boost at the same power, or consumes 75% less power at the same level of performance, enabling more powerful devices that are smaller. Scaling Down, Powering Up

In partnership with GlobalFoundries and Samsung, IBM has unveiled the worlds first 5nm silicon chip. The chip is notable in that it is smaller than previous versions yet more dense and powerful, therefore offering higher performance. Its also the first practical application of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography and horizontal gate-all-around (GAA) field effect transistors (FETs).

Tri-gate finFETs, now used in most chip designs sized at 22nm and below, will probably be unsuitable at around 7nm. In contrast, GAAFETs particularly in tandem with EUV could work all the way down to 3nm. Below that size, no one yet knows what will function properly. FinFETs originally solved the volume issues older 2D transistors faced because they are 3D, increasing the volume of silicon atoms which can carry electricity by protruding from the substrate. GAAFETs can revert back into 2Ds using stackable silicon nanowires.

According to IBM, the new 5nm tech offers a 40 percent performance boost at the same power, or a 75 percent drop in power consumption at the same performance. Density is also significantly improved: IBM states that it can now fit up to 30 billion transistors onto a chip 50-square-millimeters across about the size of a fingernail. In the past, a similarly sized chip would hold 20 billion transistors at most.

As this technology continues to shrink, we will be able to fit more of it into less space. This will mean computers and other devices can becomemore powerful,but at the same time smaller and more portable. IBM is already on the job, having pointed out that GAAFETs are ripe for scaling down even further.

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IBM Created a Chip the Size of a Fingernail That Holds 30 Billion Transistors - Futurism

In BriefRay Kurzweil is a formidable figure in futuristic thinking, ashe is estimated to have an 86 percent accuracy rate for hispredictions about the future. The future he envisions is one markedby decentralization of both the physical and mental. The Futurist

Motherboard has called Ray Kurzweil a prophet of both techno-doom and techno-salvation. With a little wiggle room given to the timelines the author, inventor, computer scientist, futurist, and director of engineering at Google provides, a full 86 percent of his predictions including the fall of the Soviet Union, the growth of the internet, and the ability of computers to beat humans at chess have come to fruition.

Kurzweil continues to share his visions for the future, and his latest prediction was made at the most recent SXSW Conference, where heclaimed that the Singularity the moment when technology becomes smarter than humans will happen by 2045. Sixteen years prior to that, it will be just as smart as us. As he told Futurism, 2029 is the consistent date I have predicted for when an AI will pass a valid Turing test and therefore achieve human levels of intelligence.

Kurzweilsvision of the future doesnt stop at the Singularity. He has also predictedhow technologies, such as nanobots and brain-to-computer interfaces likeElon MusksNeuralinkor Bryan Johnsons Kernel, will affect our bodies, leading to a possible future in which both our brains and our entire beings aremechanized.

This process could start with science fiction-level leaps in virtual reality (VR) technology. He predicts VR will advance so much that physical workplaces will become a thing of the past. Within a few decades, our commutes could just become a matter of strapping on a headset.

As Inverse points out,this paradigm shift could have some interesting consequences. Without the need for people to live close to work, we could see unprecedented levels of deurbanization. People will no longer need to flock to large cities for work or be tethered to a specific location. Inversesuggests that this decentralization may decrease the opportunity forterrorist attacks. Blockchain technology will continue to bolster decentralization as well.

According to Kurzweil, technology will not onlyenable us torethink the modern workplace, it will also give us the ability to replace our biology withmore substantial hardware. He predicts that by the early 2030s, we will be able to copy human consciousness onto an electronic medium.

As Inverse puts it, That means no more flesh, blood, or bones just a scan of your brain on a machine and [it] will enable humans to take any form, from a box to a bird. The even bigger implication of this ability is that humans will no longer die. As our brains will no longer be reliant on fragile biology, we could (theoretically) live forever.

Not all of Kurzweils predictions are so drastic, and some seem even more likely to come to fruition. For example, his prediction of truly ubiquitous WiFi is well on its way to becoming reality, especially with Elon Musks announcement that he hopes to beam the internet across the globe from space, and his belief that many of the diseases currently plaguing humanity will be eradicated by the 2020s also seems remarkably possible given ever more frequent medical breakthroughs.

Kurzweil envisions a future that is exciting, daunting, and a little bit terrifying all at once. Time will tell if his impressive batting average will improve or if the future has other plans for humanity.

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Ray Kurzweil's Most Exciting Predictions About the Future of Humanity - Futurism

In BriefA startup operating out of Tel Aviv, Israel is looking tochange the way artificial intelligence is able to perceive theworld. Cortica boasts of having a transparent and verifiablemachine learning algorithm that makes it possible for machines tolearn, classify, and represent things without guidance. Seeing the World as We Do

On the second floor of a small office building in the middle of Tel Aviv, the bustling heart of Israels booming tech industry, sits the world headquarters for Cortica, an AI company with the ambitiousgoal of getting machines to see the world as well as we do.Click to View Full Infographic

They are one of hundreds of AI startups that have sprouted up all over the world in the last few years. The global AI market has now exceeded a billion dollarsandthe tech giants are racing to acquire them as they are re-positioning themselves as AI companies first.

But its a convoluted space with a high knowledge barrier of entry. Most of these companies use buzz words like machine learning, deep learning or neural networks knowing that most consumers and investors have no idea what they really mean.For someone without a background in the field it can be hard to distinguish substance from snake oil.

What makes Cortica different is that unlike most machine learning algorithms that are essentially blackboxes, systems where even the programmers dont know what the system is doing, Corticas program is transparent and verifiable.

It also relies on a branch of AI research called unsupervised learning. Most AI companies rely on algorithms that have to be taught by humans how to characterize and represent whatever they are learning. It is a much slower and more tedious process that has far less chance of revealing anything novel. Unsupervised learning algorithms, such as the ones Cortica uses, are capable of learning, classifying and representing things without guidance.

Cortica was founded by Professor Josh Zeevi and two of his doctoral graduates, Igal Raichelgauz and Karina Odinaev from Technion Israel Institute of Technology. Israel, a tiny country of just over 8 million people, has emerged as a global hub of technical innovation. Israel now has more companies listed on the New York stock exchange than any country besides America and China and 50% of those Israeli firms can trace their origins to Technion. If Corticas aspirations come to fruition, it will catapult itself to the top of a long list of successfulIsraeli startups.

As Prof. Zeevi states, There is no objective reason why computers should not do better than the human brain. Although no one is there yet, Cortica will get there. Their team, with offices in New York and Beijing, believe they have figured out how to reverse engineer the biological visual cortexto enable machines to see the world as well as we can.

Doing so is no trivial task as an incredible amount of processing goes on in your head whenever you open your eyes. As soon as your eyelids flicker open receptors in the back of your eye take in the visible light waves and convert it to electrical signals that relay that message to the back of your brain to sort and analyze the immense amount of information contained into the size, shape, depth, and color of all the objects in view. All that data then gets sent for further processing to your cortex which classifies everything into objects by comparing them to every other object you have ever encountered. This is how you recognize things, make sense of them and determine their function. This happens tens of times per second and gives you a sense of motion as each frame is represented by a selected group of neurons that constitutes a clique a fundamental concept in Corticas technology that was motivated by the neurophysiological function exhibited by cortical networks of neurons. This visual response is triggered instantaneously and gets compared with

This is how you recognize things, make sense of them and determine their function. This happens tens of times per second and gives you a sense of motion as each frame is represented by a selected group of neurons that constitutes a clique a fundamental concept in Corticas technology that was motivated by the neurophysiological function exhibited by cortical networks of neurons. This visual response is triggered instantaneously and gets compared with Corticas extensive data base of previously triggered clustered and stored image concepts represented by highly-compressed signatures of neural cliques. All told, it is a mind-boggling amount of processing that happens at every moment your eyes are open and is a process that Cortica believes they have managed to accurately simulate in silicon.

A number of companies now claim to be on the verge of getting machines to do this task with the same ease and fluidity that humans can. Cortica believes that their unique approach to the problem puts them ahead of the crowd and that they will be the first to come up with a visual system on par with our own.

This will have a wide range of applications and revolutionize a number of different fields. Everything from security cameras to autonomous vehicles to satellite imagery to medical diagnostics will be vastly improved by the application of this technology.

But that is just the beginning of what the people at Cortica believe their system will be capable of.

Endowing computers with a sense of sight will be a monumental step forward in AI research. Coupled with advances in natural language processing, AI will then have the fundamental pieces needed to understand and interact with the world. This will enable AI research to move into its next phase which is the search for the holy grail of computer science; AGI, artificial general intelligence.

Unlike narrow AI that is designed to take in and spit out specific information, AGI will be able to take in a variety of inputs and give a variety of outputs. In many ways this is what separates humans from computers, computers need specific instructions and can only output what they are directed to output. But humans can take in a wide range of inputs through our various senses and then do different tasks with that information. In the eyes of programmers, this makes us general purpose computers.

But we too are limited, mostly by the amount of information that we can process and the speed at which we can output information. People can really only do one task effectively at a time and can only send information at the speed at which we can talk or write. AGI has the potential to far exceed us in both.

Cortica believes that in time their technology will be a vital part of bringing about AGI. If successful, it will be the last tool we will ever need to create.

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An Israeli AI Company Is Giving Machines The Gift Of Sight - Futurism

In Brief Nerdalize has developed a system that uses the heat produced by data servers to warm water in households in Holland. Not only does it help homeowners and companies in need of data storage save money, it also reduces CO2 emissions. Rethinking Data Storage

Nerdalize, a Dutch startup, has found a practical use for the huge amount of energy wasted in the cloud storage sector. Theyre installing cloud servers in households and using the heat to warm water.

According to the companys website, Combined, data centers use up more electricity than India and generate more CO2 emissions than the airline industry. A significant proportion of this electricity is used to cool servers, so rather than attempt to negate this heat, Nerdalize decided to develop a beneficial way to use it to heat water is peoples homes.

Through this system,Nerdalize will make a profit by selling data space; homeowners will save an estimated 300 ($337) a year in heating costs; and companies will save 50 percent on their data storage expenses. Beyond the financial benefit, the system also reduces the carbon emissionsof each house by up to three tons.

While some logistical aspects of the system may prove trickier than others such as maintaining the security of the servers and fixing them when they break the idea has proven wildly popular. A second pilot trial will start in 42 homes in August, and the companysSymbid crowdfunding campaignfar exceeded its target with weeks to spare.

The tech elite have pioneered a number of high-profile systemsto combat climate change, from Elon Musks electric cars and solar panel roofsto Bill Gates Breakthrough Energy Ventures. However, thetech world also has a whacky and innovative underbelly of which Nerdalize is a good example.

Students and startups, researchers and renegades are coming up with wonderful ideas. NET Power, formed by a retired chemist, a lawyer, and a chemical engineer, hasfound a way touse C02 emissions to produce energy,students from the Universit Laval have developed a car that gets 2,713 miles to the gallon, and the creators of theMashambas Skyscraper plan to use it to grow food tens of stories above the ground.

We clearlyneed a green energy revolution, and the only way to get there is to incorporate as many revolutionary ideas as possible. The innovative concepts proposed by companies like Nerdalize are vital for the future of our planet.

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A New Trial Is Using Data Servers to Heat Homeowners' Water Supplies - Futurism

In BriefPurdue researchers have developed a flow battery that wouldallow electric cars to be recharged instantly at stations likeconventional cars are. The technology is clean, safe, and cheap. Go With The Flow

Purdue researchers have developed technology for an instantly rechargeable battery that is affordable, environmentally friendly, and safe. Currently, electric vehicles need charging ports in convenient locations to be viable, but this battery technology would allow drivers of hybrid and electric vehicles to charge up much like drivers of conventional cars refill quickly and easily at gas stations.

This breakthrough would not only speed the switch to electric vehicles by making them more convenient to drive, but also reduce the amount of new supportive infrastructure needed for electric cars dramatically. Purdue University professors John Cushman and Eric Nauman teamed up with doctoral student Mike Mueterthies to co-found Ifbattery LLC (IF-battery) forcommercializing and developing the technology.

The new model is a flow battery, which is not does not require an electric charging station to be recharged. Instead, all the users have to do is replace the batterys fluid electrolytes rather like filling up a tank.This batterys fluids from used batteries, all clean, inexpensive, and safe, could be collected and recharged at any solar, wind, or hydroelectric plant. Electric cars using this technology would arrive at the refueling station, deposit spent fluids for recharging, and fill up like a traditional car might.

This flow battery system is unique because, unlike other versions of the flow battery, this one lacks the membranes which are both costly and vulnerable to fouling. Membrane fouling can limit the number of recharge cycles and is a known contributor to many battery fires, Cushman said in a press release. Ifbatterys components are safe enough to be stored in a family home, are stable enough to meet major production and distribution requirements, and are cost effective.

Transitioning existing infrastructure to accommodate cars using these batteries would befar simpler than designing and building a host of new charging stations which is Teslas current strategy. Existing pumps could even be used for these battery chemicals, which are very safe.

Electric and hybrid vehicle sales are growing worldwide and the popularity of companies like Tesla is incredible, but there continues to be strong challenges for industry and consumers of electric or hybrid cars, Cushman said in the press release. The biggest challenge for industry is to extend the life of a batterys charge and the infrastructure needed to actually charge the vehicle.

When can we expect to see these batteries in use? The biggest hurdle isnt the materials, which are cheap and plentiful, but person power. The researchers still need more financing to complete research and development to put the batteries into mass production. To overcome this problem, theyre working to publicize the innovation in the hopes of drawing interest from investors.

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New Instantly Rechargeable Battery Deals a Fatal Blow to Fossil Fuels - Futurism

In Brief Elon Musk's SpaceX successfully launched its Dragon spacecraft on its second mission to the International Space Station. The launch further solidifies SpaceX's goal to make space travel cheaper and more accessible. History in the Making

SpaceX is wasting no time on their mission to reinvent and revitalize space travel. The company has once again made history by successfully launching the previously-flown Dragon Cargo ship.The crafts first mission, back in September 21, 2014, successfully delivered 2.5 tons of cargo to the International Space Station.

According to CBSNews, for todays launch,the craft was filled with nearly 6,000 pounds of cargo including supplies, equipment, special telescopes to study neutron stars, mice, and even thousands of fruit flies.The craft launched from the historic Kennedy Space Centers launch pad 39A, the same pad from which the Apollo 11 mission launched in 1969.

The craft was successfully launched today, June 3rd at 5:07 PM EDT. Falcon 9 has just touched back down at the time of publishing and Dragon is well on its way in itstwo and a half day journey to the ISS.

TheDragon spacecraft now joins a prestigiousgroup of multi-orbit space flight craft like NASAs Atlantis, Challenger, Columbia, Discovery, and Endeavour firmly planting SpaceX as a formidable force in the new space race.

This is just the latest move by SpaceX that is poised to completelytransform spaceflight. In March, the company made history by successfully launching and landing a recycled rocket for the first time. The relaunch of the Dragon has proven that SpaceX can continue to make missions to space cheaper, and therefore, more accessible.

SpaceXs plans dont just stop at restocking the ISS. The company has much bigger plans involving putting people back on the moon next year and sending the first humans to Mars by 2025. While SpaceX is no doubt celebrating this latest achievement, they are hard at work preparing their next feat: launching theFalcon Heavy rocket this summer.

The SpaceX team is truly revolutionizing space travel for the betterment of all of humanity. Witha clear goal to make history and push the boundaries of whats possible on Earth and in space, SpaceX is rapidly cementing its legacy while becoming a forerunner in the race toward the future.

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The Launch was Successful. SpaceX Just Made History. - Futurism

In BriefThe world's first commercial carbon capture plant is nowonline in Switzerland. Its operators emphasize that both carboncapture systems and a low-carbon economy are essential to meetingclimate change goals. The CO2 Collector

Yesterday, the worlds first commercial carbon capture plant began sucking carbon dioxide (CO2) out of the air around it. Perched atop a Zurich waste incineration facility, the Climeworks carbon capture plant comprisesthree stacked shipping containersthat hold six CO2 collectors each. Spongey filters absorb CO2 as fans pull air through the collectors until they are fully saturated, a process that takes about two or three hours.

The container then closes, and the process reverses. The collector is heated to 100 degrees Celsius (212 degrees Fahrenheit), and the pure CO2 is released in a form that can be buried underground, made into other products, or sold.

According to Climeworks, the startup that createdthis carbon capture facility, hundreds of thousands more like it will be needed by midcentury if we want to remain below the limits set by the Paris Agreement. However, to keep the planets temperature from increasing bymore than 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit), well need to do something more than simply lowering global emissions.

We really only have less than 20 years left at current emission rates to have a good chance of limiting emissions to less than 2C, Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment director Chris Field told Fast Company. So its a big challenge to do it simply by decreasing emissions from energy, transportation, and agriculture.

Other innovative efforts to reduce global CO2 levels are already underway all over the world. Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), have found a way to turn captured carbon into concrete for building, while scientists from Rice University have found that doping graphene with nitrogen allows it to convert CO2 into environmentally useful fuels. If enacted, various proposals to preserve wetlands, old growth forests, and other areas could alsoreduce CO2 levels.

Climeworks plant is particularly appealing because it can be used repeatedly, produces something commercially useful, and is about 1,000 times more efficient at CO2 removal than photosynthesis.

You can do this over and over again, Climeworks director Jan Wurzbacher told Fast Company. Its a cyclic process. You saturate with CO2, then you regenerate, saturate, regenerate. You have multiple of these units, and not all of them go in parallel. Some are taking in CO2, some are releasing CO2.

Even so, Field emphasizes that the possibility of carbon capture should not be seen as a license to emit more CO2. We need to combine the technology with a low-carbon economy to ensure our planets survival. Its not either/or, according to Field. Its both.

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A Plant 1000 Times More Efficient at CO2 Removal Than Photosynthesis Is Now Active - Futurism

In Brief Intel has unveiled their latest family of ultra-fast processing chips. The i9 series is headed by an 18-core beast capable of more than a teraflop of computing power. The series also offers cheaper prices for chips with fewer cores.

A new crop of ultra-fast processors has arrived from Intel. The new chips boast some serious power, allowing for unprecedented levels of multitasking. Intel has unveiled the Core X-series of chips with the i9-7980XE leading the pack. This chip is the companys first 18-core CPU and is capable of more than a teraflop of computing power.

However, that much power is certainly going to cost you. If the $1,999 price tag is a little steep, you may want to consider some of the other offerings in the series. There are also 10-, 12-, 14- and 16-core offerings costing as little as $999.

Granted the higher end of the series is not for the casual user, but more for those who have the will and resources to invest in that kind of raw power. The chip is ideal for those who require a lot out of their rigs, like gamers who wish to play in 4K while broadcasting or those who create and edit 4K video.

An 18-core processor may be a far cry from the 1000-core processor created nearly a year ago at UC Davis, but it still packs more of a punch than most users will need in their lifetime. Still, the real future of computing lies in the quantum realm,which is, even in its earliest stages, already producing technology thats outperforming conventional computers.

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Intel's New Processor is the First Consumer Chip to Offer a Teraflop of Power - Futurism