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“It’s Part Of A Surprisingly Rich History Of Applying Algorithms Inspired By Nature To Traffic Light Timing”

August 16, 2012 in Excerpts, Science/Tech, Urban Studies, Videos | Permalink

Lessons learned from bacterial life forms may be used to unsnarl China’s horrible traffic. From Christopher Mims at the BBC:

“Two Chinese researchers have proved, at least theoretically, that insights borrowed from the lowly bacterium E. coli could markedly increase the throughput of a real-world traffic light in Guangzhou. No one knows what effect this could have if it were applied to an entire city, but it’s fitting that a solution from a class of algorithms that seek to mimic the collective behaviour of organisms should be applied to the teeming masses of Guangzhou’s trucks and automobiles.

Traffic lights around the world, from Guangzhou to Geneva, are managed by computerised systems housed in a metal cabinet at the side of the road, which regulate the cycle of changes from red to green to red either through fixed time periods, or through sensors in the road that can detect when a car is stationary. Both options work well when traffic is low, less so during rush hour, as any driver will tell you.

The solution Qin Liu and Jianmin Xu have proposed for improving flow during high traffic periods is what’s known as a Bacterial Foraging Optimisation (BFO) algorithm. The algorithm varies when and for how long a given light is red or green. So, for example, the algorithm has an almost traffic cop-like sense for which road at an intersection has a higher volume of traffic, and when to strategically deprioritise traffic that may be waiting on a less-used road. Simulations of a Guangzhou intersection showed that BFO-regulated lights reduce the average delay of vehicles by over 28% compared with those regulated by a fixed time cycle.

It’s part of a surprisingly rich history of applying algorithms inspired by nature to traffic light timing – researchers have applied everything from genetic algorithms to models of ant behaviour to the problem. And it’s not just traffic lights – BFO can be used on just about any engineering problem, from tuning the behaviour of simple automated control systems, such as those used to regulate the level of water in water towers, to determining the lightest and strongest configuration of structural elements in a building.”

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Godardian traffic jam, 1967:

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“We Should Actively Give Parents The Choice To Screen Out Personality Flaws In Their Children”

August 16, 2012 in Excerpts, Science/Tech, Urban Studies | Permalink

An Oxford professor wants us to genetically engineer “ethically enhanced” babies. This will not go over well. From Richard Alleyne in the Telegraph:

“Professor Julian Savulescu said that creating so-called designer babies could be considered a ‘moral obligation'” as it makes them grow up into ‘ethically better children.’

The expert in practical ethics said that we should actively give parents the choice to screen out personality flaws in their children as it meant they were then less likely to ‘harm themselves and others.’

The academic, who is also editor-in-chief of the Journal of Medical Ethics, made his comments in an article in the latest edition of Reader’s Digest.

He explained that we are now in the middle of a genetic revolution and that although screening, for all but a few conditions, remained illegal it should be welcomed.”

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“They Can Actually Change Their Color And Appearance”

August 16, 2012 in Science/Tech, Urban Studies, Videos | Permalink

Harvard researchers have created a soft-bodied bot capable of camouflage.

“A Part Failed, Causing It To Plummet Into The Pacific Ocean”

August 16, 2012 in Excerpts, Science/Tech, Urban Studies | Permalink

In case you missed it, the hypersonic test flight happening over the Pacific–the trial that scientists hoped would lead to cross-country trips in less than an hour–ended in complete failure. Most first steps into the future are missteps, but it’s still important to keep trying to move forward. From W.J. Hennigan in the Los Angeles Times:

“A closely watched test flight of an experimental aircraft designed to travel up to 3,600 mph ended in disappointment when a part failed, causing it to plummet into the Pacific Ocean, the Air Force revealed. 

The unmanned X-51A WaveRider was launched over the Pacific Tuesday from above the Point Mugu Naval Air Test Range in a key test to fine-tune its hypersonic scramjet engine.

The aircraft was designed to hit mach 6, or six times the speed of sound, and fly for five minutes. But that didn’t happen. The engine never even lit.

About 15 seconds into the flight, a fault was identified in one of the WaveRider’s control fins, and the aircraft was not able to maintain control and was lost.”

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“Billionaire Peter Thiel Would Like To Introduce You To The Other, Other White Meat”

August 16, 2012 in Excerpts, Science/Tech, Urban Studies | Permalink

Peter Thiel, Libertarian and contrarian, has invested in research for 3-D printed meat. I’m a vegetarian, but I hope it works out (despite thinking it’s not so close to happening). Most studies estimate that meat production is responsible for close to 20% of our carbon footprint. From Clay Dillow at Popsci:

“Billionaire Peter Thiel would like to introduce you to the other, other white meat. The investor’s philanthropic Thiel Foundation’s Breakout Labs is offering up a six-figure grant (between $250,00 and $350,000, though representatives wouldn’t say exactly) to a Missouri-based startup called Modern Meadow that is flipping 3-D bio-printing technology originally aimed at the regenerative medicine market into a means to produce 3-D printed meat.”

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“A Dynamic Experience That Inspires Consumers To Change Their Physical Future”

August 16, 2012 in Excerpts, Science/Tech, Sports, Videos | Permalink

Nike touts its forthcoming eyeD technology with a futuristic promo created by Tron Legacy director, Joseph Kosinski (no relation to Jerzy). It’s a virtual athletic experience that’s supposed to translate into actual physical exercise. Well, perhaps. But way more people exercise than when Nike was founded in 1964, and way more people are obese. So we’re clearly not primarily talking about an exercise problem but one more of diet.

From the eyeD marketing materials: “Imagine being able to see what it is like to run 100m in under 10 seconds, or leap over a small forward and throw down a game-changing dunk… With Nike eyeD fans can experience more than just 2D high definition video. They can see, feel and monitor their favorites athletes through streaming Nike eyeD video (play on 2D/3D). Stereo haptics allow you feel the heart pounding thrill of elite competition from anywhere. A dynamic experience that inspires consumers to change their physical future.”

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“People Are Particular Computations That Currently Run In Human Wetware”

August 15, 2012 in Excerpts, Science/Tech, Urban Studies | Permalink

A couple of segments from a new Ask Me Anything on Reddit that was conducted by Singularity Institute CEO Luke Muehlhauser.

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Question:

Given the rate of technological development, what age do you believe people that are young (20 and under) today will live to?

Luke Muehlhauser:

That one is too hard to predict for me to bother trying.

I will note that it’s possible that the post-rock band Tortoise was right that “millions now living will never die” (awesome album, btw). If we invest in the research required to make AI do good things for humanity rather than accidentally catastrophic things, one thing that superhuman AI (and thus a rapid acceleration of scientific progress) could produce is the capacity for radical life extension, and then later the capacity for whole brain emulation, which would enable people to make backups of themselves and live for millions of years. (As it turns out, the things we call “people” are particular computations that currently run in human wetware but don’t need to be running on such a fragile substrate. 

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Question:

I’ve had one major question/concern since I heard about the singularity.

At the point when computers outstrip human intelligence in all or most areas, won’t computers then take over doing most of the interesting and meaningful work? All decisions that take any sort of thinking will then be done by computers, since they will make better decisions. Politics, economics, business, teaching. They’ll even make better art, as they can better understand how to create emotionally moving objects/films/etc.

While we will have unprecedented levels of material wealth, won’t we have a severe crisis of meaning, since all major projects (personal and public) will be run by our smarter silicon counterparts? Will humans be reduced to manual labor, as that’s the only role that makes economic sense?

Will the singularity foment an existential crisis for humanity?

Luke Muehlhauser:

At the point when computers outstrip human intelligence in all or most areas, won’t computers then take over doing most of the interesting and meaningful work?

Yes.

Will humans be reduced to manual labor, as that’s the only role that makes economic sense?

No, robots will be better than humans at manual labor, too.

While we will have unprecedented levels of material wealth, won’t we have a severe crisis of meaning… Will the singularity foment an existential crisis for humanity?

Its a good question. The major worry is that the singularity causes an “existential crisis” in the sense that it causes a human extinction event. If we manage to do the math research required to get superhuman AIs to be working in our favor, and we “merely” have to deal with an emotional/philosophical crisis, I’ll be quite relieved.

One exploration of what we could do and care about when most projects are handled by machines is (rather cheekily) called “fun theory.” I’ll let you read up on it.

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“There Is A Widespread Belief That They Use An Electric Machine”

August 15, 2012 in Science/Tech, Videos | Permalink

Guitar god Les Paul and wife (and singer) Mary Ford appear on Omnibus in 1953. They play along with Alistair Cooke on a gag in which they pretend to use a Goldbergesque gadget to create their multilayered recordings. Once the jig is up, they show off the real multi–track method, which involved a gigantic tape recorder (standard size for that era) and a lot of persistence.

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“Stores Won’t Stock Any Merchandise”

August 15, 2012 in Excerpts, Science/Tech, Urban Studies | Permalink

New technologies are bound to soon remake the retail experience greatly. Jon Swartz of USA Today tries to tell the future: 

“The convergence of smartphone technology, social-media data and futuristic technology such as 3-D printers is changing the face of retail in a way that experts across the industry say will upend the bricks-and-mortar model in a matter of a few years.

‘The next five years will bring more change to retail than the last 100 years,’ says Cyriac Roeding, CEO of Shopkick, a location-based shopping app available at Macy’s, Target and other top retailers.

Within 10 years, retail as we know it will be unrecognizable, says Kevin Sterneckert, a Gartner analyst who follows retail technology. Big-box stores such as Office Depot, Old Navy and Best Buy will shrink to become test centers for online purchases. Retail stores will be there for a ‘touch and feel’ experience only, with no actual sales. Stores won’t stock any merchandise; it’ll be shipped to you. This will help them stay competitive with online-only retailers, Sterneckert says.” (Thanks Browser.)

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“Notice How The Colors Are Starting To Bleed”

August 15, 2012 in Science/Tech, Videos | Permalink

We’re born with trillions of cells and every ten years or so they’re all replaced by new ones. We go from an original to a copy to a copy of a copy to a copy of a copy of a copy and so on. Flaws set in, weaknesses emerge, the system teeters at the point of collapse. But there’s an odd beauty in the decline, in truly knowing how things fall apart. Eventually we’ll figure out how to slow the process–or stop it. That will be good, but it will be different.

“Geologists Predict Those Same Forces Will Reassemble The Pieces Into A New Supercontinent”

August 14, 2012 in Excerpts, Science/Tech | Permalink

Wernher von Braun, that Nazi, wanted us to vault deep into space because he believed the Earth would be inhabitable for only 100 to 150 million more years, even though the planet will go on for billions before the sun dies. But how will our continents, the remnants of Pangaea’s division, be formed at that late date? Yale geologist Ross Mitchell thinks he has the answer and it involves the formation of a new supercontinent. From Discover:

“Earth’s modern continents are the fragments of a single, 300-million-year-old supercontinent called Pangaea. This vast landmass once rested on the equator, near where Africa is today. During the age of dinosaurs, tectonic forces slowly tore Pangaea apart. Now geologists predict those same forces will reassemble the pieces into a new supercontinent, named Amasia, about 100 million years in the future.

Ancient rocks and mountain ranges show that the constant movement of Earth’s crust has assembled and ripped apart supercontinents several times before, in a roughly half-billion-year cycle. But pinpointing where the past ones formed has proven difficult, which in turn clouded attempts to forecast the next great smashup.”

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“His Family Didn’t Have Enough Money To Bring His Body Back Home To Saskatoon, And The Circus Wasn’t Going To Pay It”

August 14, 2012 in Excerpts, Science/Tech, Urban Studies | Permalink

From “Giant Size,” Tom Breihan’s article at the Classical about a very select group of people–the 70 or so Americans between the ages of twenty and forty who are at least seven feet tall:

“Edouard Beaupré was the giantest giant in pro wrestling history. At eight feet and three inches, Beaupré was the fifth-tallest human being in recorded history, and he wrestled at a time when wrestling was pretty much just big strong guys fighting each other at carnivals. Before Beaupré’s pituitary gland really started acting up, he’d wanted to be a cowboy, but his size kept him from riding horses. So instead, he lifted them, squatting down and lugging around 800-pounders at circus sideshows across North America. And on at least one occasion, he wrestled fellow strongman Louis Cyr and, by most accounts, got his ass resoundingly beat.

Beaupré was 23 and still growing when he died of tuberculosis in St. Louis, though the gigantism that kept him growing probably didn’t help. His family didn’t have enough money to bring his body back home to Saskatoon, and the circus wasn’t going to pay it. Instead of burying him, the kind circus folk embalmed Beaupré and used his body as an attraction. Even in death, Beaupré lived as a freak.” (Thanks Browser.)

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“He Was A London Taxi Driver Who Back In 1956 Had A Strange Experience”

August 14, 2012 in Excerpts, Science/Tech, Urban Studies, Videos | Permalink

From a recent post on Adam Curtis’ BBC blog, a recollection of a British man who convinced many in the 1950s that he had a special connection to the good people of Mars:

“To celebrate today’s successful landing on Mars I thought I would show a film of a man who claimed to have got to Mars a long time ago. He did this back in the late 1950s by communicating telepathically with the beings who inhabited the Red Planet. He also claimed that his mother went there on a UFO. And what’s more the BBC took him very seriously.

He was called George King. He was a London taxi driver who back in 1956 had a strange experience.

He was washing the dishes when he heard a voice which said

“Prepare yourself. You are about to become the voice of Interplanetary Parliament.“

  • At the 10:50 mark. King “contacts” our planetary neighbors:

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“Advanced Medical Robots Are Rapidly Evolving To Keep Up With An Aging Global Population”

August 14, 2012 in Excerpts, Science/Tech, Urban Studies | Permalink

From “Jobs of the Future,” by Parag Khanna and Aaron Smith at Foreign Policy, a segment about one occupation about to shift:

“Hospital orderly —> Medical roboticist 

In this summer’s sci-fi blockbuster Prometheus, an astronaut climbs into a fully robotic surgical pod to have an alien baby removed by cesarean section. Although extraterrestrial cross-breeding is a ways off (let’s hope), advanced medical robots are rapidly evolving to keep up with an aging global population. Japan leads the way in robot innovation to care for its growing elderly population, including rehabilitative and therapeutic robots from Honda and Toyota. Medical roboticists will be needed to design, build, and operate these intelligent devices, which will increasingly replace humans — and provide more precise care — in doctors’ offices and hospitals.”

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“A Passenger Aircraft Traveling At That Speed Could Fly From Los Angeles To New York In 46 Minutes”

August 13, 2012 in Excerpts, Science/Tech, Urban Studies | Permalink

An unmanned flight above the Pacific Ocean may eventually influence the way all humans fly. From W.J. Hennigan in the Los Angeles Times:

“Since test pilot Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier in 1947, engineers and scientists have dreamed of ever-faster aircraft. Now, they face one of their toughest challenges yet: sustaining hypersonic flight — going five times the speed of sound or more — for more than a few minutes.

In a nondescript hangar at Edwards Air Force Base in the Mojave Desert, a team of aerospace engineers has been putting the finishing touches on a lightning-quick experimental aircraft designed to fly above the Pacific Ocean at 3,600 mph. A passenger aircraft traveling at that speed could fly from Los Angeles to New York in 46 minutes.

On Tuesday a key test is set for the unmanned experimental aircraft X-51A WaveRider.”

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“We’re Building A Giant Walking Robot That You Can Ride”

August 13, 2012 in Excerpts, Science/Tech, Urban Studies | Permalink

From a Kickstarter campaign for “Stompy,” which could be incredibly helpful in cleaning up disaster areas: “First of all, we’re building a giant walking robot that you can ride, and if all goes according to plan, we’ll be showing it off at a festival or fair near you. Depending on your level of support, you may even get to ride it or drive it – how about that?

Beyond that, though, your support for Project Hexapod will drive a personal robotics revolution (if we have anything to say about it). The past twenty years have seen an explosion of productivity in hobbyist robotics made possible by cheap, easy to use microcontrollers and RC servos. The hobbyist community has built a wealth of knowledge and infrastructure around these components, but RC servos severely limit the size of robot you can build.

Project Hexapod wants to make large-scale robots easier to build, and inspire people to build them.

Stompy is 6 giant steps towards that dream. Once we finish this robot, we’re releasing our plans, our CAD, our diagrams, the presentations from all the lectures we gave in class, our lists of materials and parts, everything. The construction and control techniques we’re using will drop the cost of controlled hydraulics by an order of magnitude or two from where they are now, and will make giant robots affordable to small groups of enthusiasts everywhere.

The robot isn’t just being built for fun, though – it has incredibly practical purposes, as well. With 6 force-sensitive legs and a ground clearance of 6 feet, the robot will be able to walk over broken terrain that varies from mountainous areas, to rubble piles, to water up to 7 or 8 feet deep – everywhere existing ground vehicles can’t go. Not only that, but while navigating such terrain, Stompy could carry 1,000 pounds at 2-3 mph, and up to 4,000 pounds at 1 mph. This is important because in disaster areas like Haiti’s Port Au Prince, it’s taken more than three years to clear the rubble out of some areas – meaning that throughout that entire time, people have had to be rescued or resupplied by helicopter, because no ground vehicle could reach them. Stompy (and the technology it represents) could easily reach people who can’t be reached by any other means in a natural disaster.” (Thanks Kurzweil)

What Life On Mars Looked Like 40 Years Ago

August 13, 2012 in Science/Tech, Videos | Permalink

Silent video from pre-Viking, pre-Rover 1972 of a collection of artist renderings which tried to approximate what Mars looked like.

“They Created Segments Like That Of The Earthworm”

August 12, 2012 in Science/Tech, Urban Studies, Videos | Permalink

Autonomous robots as earthworms, inching along, unstoppable. Be afraid.

“I Am Not Advocating A Romantic Regression Behind Technology”

August 12, 2012 in Excerpts, Politics, Science/Tech, Urban Studies | Permalink

Philosopher Herbert Marcuse imagined technology untangled from capitalism, but it’s difficult to see how that’s possible in the foreseeable future. Not if we want cheap tools delivered to masses of people. Though perhaps we’ll all end up doing genetic engineering. From “The End of Utopia“:

“In the form of a social productive force, these new vital needs would make possible a total technical reorganization of the concrete world of human life, and I believe that new human relations, new relations between men, would be possible only in such a reorganized world. When I say technical reorganization I again speak with reference to the capitalist countries that are most highly developed, where such a restructuring would mean the abolition of the terrors of capitalist industrialization and commercialization, the total reconstruction of the cities and the restoration of nature after the horror of capitalist industrialization have been done away with. I hope that when I speak of doing away with the horrors of capitalist industrialization it is clear I am not advocating a romantic regression behind technology. On the contrary, I believe that the potential liberating blessings of technology and industrialization will not even begin to be real and visible until capitalist industrialization and capitalist technology have been done away with.”

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“I Find The Claim That Scientific Progress Is Exponential To Be Extremely Dubious”

August 12, 2012 in Science/Tech, Urban Studies | Permalink

The opening of an argument against the plausibility of the Singularity, via the Cognitive Social Web:

“Given that you are tech-savvy, by that point you have almost certainly come across the idea of the Singularity as defended by futurists like Ray Kurzweil and Vernor Vinge. As a reminder, it is the notion that, when we are at last able to compile a smarter-than-human artificial intelligence, this AI will in turn manage to improve its own design, and so on, resulting in an out-of control loop of ‘intelligence explosion’ with unpredictable technological consequences. (singularists go on to predict that after this happens we will merge with machines, live forever, upload our minds into computers, etc).

What’s more, this seemingly far-future revolution would happen within just a few decades (2040 is often mentioned), due to the ‘exponential’ rate of progress of science. That this deadline would arrive just in time to save the proponents of the Singularity from old age is just a weird coincidence that ought to be ignored.

Objection, your honor. As a scientist, I find the claim that scientific progress is exponential to be extremely dubious.”

“To Keep From Getting Numbed Their Brains Will Be Warmed Or Fed Energizers”

August 10, 2012 in Excerpts, Science/Tech | Permalink

I put up a couple of posts this week about computer scientist Manfred Clynes (here and here), who, along with psychiatrist Nathan Kline, coined the term “cyborg” in 1960 for a theory they had that as humans began to travel in space they would have to incorporate silicone into their carbon in order to survive and thrive. It was the nascency of the space program and seemed no more far-fetched than anything else. From “Man Remade to Live in Space,” a 1960 Life magazine article that further investigated their cyborg theories:

“The cyborg idea, presented recently to an impressed Astronaut conference, was conceived by an unusual partnership of doctor and computer engineer. Dr. Nathan Kline is a famous psychiatrist and researcher in mental drugs at New York’s Rockland State Hospital. Engineer Manfred Clynes does computer studies at the same hospital on body cybernetics: the interrelationship of the body’s check-and-balance systems.

For cyborgs, Kline and Clynes dispense with most conventional space flight plans. Cyboorgs will wear sealed skintight suits but will travel in unsealed cabins exposed to the near vacuum of space. Ordinarily, at these low pressures the blood would boil and the lungs explode. But cyborgs’ lungs will be partly deflated and their blood will be cooled. To keep from getting numbed their brains will be warmed or fed energizers. Their messages to one another will be picked up electrically from their vocal nerves and transmitted by radio. Their mouths will be sealed and unused. Concentrated food will be piped direct to their stomachs or blood streams. Wastes will be chemically processed to make new food. Totally worthless end-products will be kept in small canisters on their backs. Kline’s and Clynes’ motives in developing cyborgs are not at all astronautic. Kline wants to work out the problems involved because the solutions will have vast implications for medicine as a whole. Clynes, an accomplished pianist, feels the artistic experiences to be had in space should not be overlooked. ‘Imagine,’ he says, ‘what leaps a ballet dancer could take on the moon.'”

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“Hyper Facial Perception Stems From An Evolutionary Need To Recognize — Often Quickly — Faces”

August 10, 2012 in Excerpts, Science/Tech, Urban Studies, Videos | Permalink

Pareidolia is our ability see a human face where there is none, like a religious figure in a piece of toast. Computers appear to have the same tendency. From Rebecca J. Rosen in the Atlantic:

“Pareidolia was once thought of as a symptom of psychosis, but is now recognized as a normal, human tendency. Carl Sagan theorized that hyper facial perception stems from an evolutionary need to recognize — often quickly — faces. He wrote in his 1995 book, The Demon-Haunted World, ‘As soon as the infant can see, it recognizes faces, and we now know that this skill is hardwired in our brains. Those infants who a million years ago were unable to recognize a face smiled back less, were less likely to win the hearts of their parents, and less likely to prosper.’

Humans are not alone in their quest to ‘see’ human faces in the sea of visual cues that surrounds them. For decades, scientists have been training computers to do the same. And, like humans, computers display pareidolia.”

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Audi “Faces” commercial:

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“The Crash Has Not Even Retarded, Let Alone Halted, Human Progress”

August 10, 2012 in Excerpts, Politics, Science/Tech, Urban Studies | Permalink

“The world has never been richer, healthier, freer or more equal than it is today.” (Image by Steven Zwerink.)

There is still a lot of suffering the world, a lot of inequality. It’s no time to spike the football. But I largely agree with Fraser Nelson’s Telegraph article which argues that we’re living in a sort of golden age. An excerpt:

“It feels almost indecent to enjoy the Olympics so much. To spend a day at the Games is to move into a parallel universe, where things are actually going right for Britain and some mild rejoicing is justified. The Olympic motto, ‘Faster, Higher, Stronger,’ strikes a depressing contrast with a British economy showing none of these characteristics. Behind the jubilation lies a horrible feeling that when the Games end, we’ll be back to the grim reality: the Leveson Inquiry, the still-unravelling Budget and the slow-motion implosion of global capitalism.

There ought to be a name for this feeling: political myopia. It can afflict anyone who confuses what politicians do with what’s happening in the country, or what they say with what is going on in the world. Governments may be having a hard time of it, struggling with debt they ought not to have taken on. Noisy pressure groups who seek government funding may also believe that the sky is falling in. But a clear-headed analysis of the facts reveals something rather extraordinary. The crash has not even retarded, let alone halted, human progress. The world has never been richer, healthier, freer or more equal than it is today.” (Thanks Browser.)

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“He Is A Cyberneticist (Computer Scientist) And Concert Pianist Who Can Look Back On Friendship With The Late Dr. Albert Einstein”

August 9, 2012 in Excerpts, Science/Tech, Urban Studies | Permalink

I mentioned Manfred Clynes in a post earlier today. He co-authored a 1960 paper in which the term “cyborg” was coined. Here’s an excerpt from “Young Scientist Leads Two Lives,” a New York Times article about Clynes from that same year which looks at his parallel interest in music:

“Late one recent evening a bespectacled young man, struck the resounding final chords of a Chopin ballade, rose hesitantly from the piano and with a shy smile bowed to the applause of a small group at a home near here.

The guests knew they had heard a breathtaking performance by the boyish-looking chief research scientist of the Rockland State Hospital.

But many did not know that scientists had been excited recently by his findings on the relation between breathing and the rate of the heart beat. They were equally ignorant of the high praise he had won from European and Australian music critics several years ago.

Manfred Clynes, born in Vienna and educated in Budapest and Australia, is still in his early thirties. He is a cyberneticist (computer scientist) and concert pianist who can look back on friendship with the late Dr. Albert Einstein and on notable accomplishments with such diverse instruments as the analog computer and the concert grand.

Since 1957 his small laboratory, resembling the back room of a radio-television repair shop, has seen pioneering experiments in applying computers and missile-control theory to medicine.”

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“Construction The Way It Is Done Today Is Very Wasteful”

August 9, 2012 in Science/Tech, Videos | Permalink

A lecture about printing a home in less than a day, as presented at TED by USC professor Behrokh Khoshnevis. Kinda great, although I don’t think slums are merely a problem of construction.

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