Category Archives: Transhuman News

Dire Warning

The global ecosystem is in far greater danger than scientists previously thought, according to a new study and thats really saying something.

The research predicts that without dire action to reverse global climate change, entire ocean ecosystems could suddenly collapse this decade, The Guardian reports. Its a dire warning: as various organisms face temperatures higher than anything they have before, the study predicts sudden, massive die-offs.

The study, published Tuesday in theprestigious journal Nature, examines the temperatures that 30,000 land and sea organisms can withstand, and plots those ranges against the expected temperature increases through the year 2100.

As species hits their temperature thresholds, they may effectively vanish and many are expected to do so at the same time, in what the researchers call an abrupt exposure event.

Its not a slippery slope, but a series of cliff edges, hitting different places at different times, research leader Alex Pigot of University College London told The Guardian.

Unless world leaders act to stop the direst effects of climate change, the study predicts a similar terrestrial die-off during the 2040s.

The world is currently rightly focused on tackling the global health emergency, Mark Wright, science director of the U.K. branch of the World Wildlife Fund, told The Guardian. However, this new research reinforces that, after we are through this extremely difficult time, we will need renewed ambitious action to address the climate and nature crisis.

READ MORE: Wildlife destruction not a slippery slope but a series of cliff edges [The Guardian]

More on the environment: Doomsday Report Author: Earths Leaders Have Failed

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New Study Predicts the Ocean Ecosystem Will Collapse This Decade - Futurism

A new 3D-rendered simulation by Finnish researchers shows how aerosol particles coughed out by a person in an indoor environment can spread terrifyingly far.

The research aims to determine how the coronavirus can spread through the air, and found that aerosol particles carrying the virus can remain in the air longer than was originally thought, so it is important to avoid busy public indoor spaces, according to a statement.

The 3D environment is trying to provide an analogue for the average grocery store with run-of-the-mill ventilation.

In the 3D model, a person coughs in a corridor bounded by shelves under representative indoor ventilation air flow conditions, reads the video. As a result of coughing, an aerosol cloud travels in the air to the corridor. It takes up several minutes for the cloud to spread and disperse.

Someone infected by the coronavirus, can cough and walk away, but then leave behind extremely small aerosol particles carrying the coronavirus, explained Aalto University assistant professor Ville Vuorinen in the statement. These particles could then end up in the respiratory tract of others in the vicinity.

Aerosol particles from a dry cough a common symptom of COVID-19 are so small (less than 15 micrometers) that they float through the air rather than sinking to the floor. Air currents can help them spread. According to the researchers, previous studies have shown that influenza A viruses can be found in even smaller particles less than five micrometers.

The model underlines that avoiding crowded places or nodal points could be an effective way to curb the spread of the virus.

Masks have also proven to be an extremely effective way to curb the spread through aerosol particles and droplets that is, if a recent study published in the prestigious scientific journal Nature is to be believed.

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Terrifying Simulation Shows How Viruses Spread When You Cough - Futurism

Power Creep

Famous whistleblower Edward Snowden has a dire warning for everyone grappling with the coronavirus pandemic: dont let authoritarians exploit the crisis to claim more power.

Snowden told Vice that he sees the rise of emergency laws, increased surveillance, and other ways that governments have suspended civil rights to combat the pandemic as a disturbing power grab.

And, he added, he doesnt expect the leaders behind it to relinquish the newfound power when the coronavirus outbreak finally recedes.

Snowden argued that a global pandemic was readily predictable, and that scientists and intelligence agencies had long been sounding alarm bells. Imposing new emergency surveillance, he argues, is a particularly disturbing play.

As authoritarianism spreads, as emergency laws proliferate, as we sacrifice our rights, we also sacrifice our capability to arrest the slide into a less liberal and less free world, Snowden told Vice.

Ultimately, Snowden fears that the world leaders claiming new emergency authority will hold onto them well after the pandemic ends.

Do you truly believe that when the first wave, this second wave, the 16th wave of the coronavirus is a long-forgotten memory, that these capabilities will not be kept? Snowden said. That these datasets will not be kept? No matter how it is being used, what is being built is the architecture of oppression.

READ MORE: Snowden Warns Governments Are Using Coronavirus to Build the Architecture of Oppression [Vice]

More on COVID-19: A Growing Number of Countries Tap Phone Data to Track COVID-19

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Snowden: Governments Will Use the Coronavirus to Seize More Power - Futurism

In a small dark experiment room, Bill, a wheel-chair bound tetraplegic, stares intently at a simulated arm on a computer screen. Two tentacle-like cables protrude from his skull and hook into a nearby computer, which sends messages to electrodes implanted in his arm and hand. If the experiment is successful, Bill will move his limbs again.

This early scene from Futurisms newly released documentary I AM HUMAN sets the stage for jaw-dropping revelations to come. With this technology, Bill may someday be able to move other things with his brain signals. You know, telekinesis. Welcome to the future.

Though Bill doesnt resemble the cyborgs were used to seeing in movies, the image is just as compelling, and representative of a much larger real-world phenomenon. In fact, Bill is one of many first wave pioneers ushering in a biotechnological revolutionpresently, more than 200,000 people in the world have digital chip technology implanted in their brains.

Most of these people are Parkinsons patients, who undergo deep brain stimulation (DBS) surgery with the hope of ameliorating tremor and other symptoms. DBS has been a course of treatment for decades now, and opened the door for further trials into brain implants for a host of other ailments, including obesity, addiction, obsessive compulsive disorder, and depression.

In the film, we see firsthand the dramatic impact of this technology on Anne, an artist struggling with Parkinsons. We also meet Stephen, a blind retiree who undergoes a retinal prosthesis surgery (in sci-fi fashion, the implant is known as the Argus II.) As one of several hundred blind patients with bionic vision, the technology currently only offers the ability to see outlines and edges of objects. Progress however, is unbounded and accelerating. Within a few years, greater definition and infrared, heat-mapping vision will be just a software upgrade away.

For Bill, Anne, and Stephen three ordinary people robbed of basic function risking their brains is a brave effort to preserve their humanity but their decisions mark thrilling implications for us all. What happens when anyone can upgrade their bodies? What aspects of our humanity will we change? Who will decide who goes forth into our species next evolutionary phase, and who gets left behind?

You can imagine scientists, investors, and ethicists have quite a debate on their hands. While I AM HUMAN acknowledges concerns about playing God, it challenges fear-driven narratives surrounding human-machine evolution with unflinching optimism, grounded in the real-life stories of people whose lives may directly benefit from such scientific breakthroughs.

Watch I AM HUMAN now on your favorite streaming platform.

Disclaimer: I AM HUMAN was produced by Futurism Studios. Futurism has a financial interest in the film.

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The World's First Cyborgs: Humanity's Next Evolutionary Phase Is Here - Futurism

April 10th 20__Victor Tangermann__Filed Under: Hard Science

NASAs incredible view of the Pillars of Creation, courtesy of the Hubble Space Telescope, has become one of the most iconic views of our cosmos since it was first captured in 1995.

The agencys newest image of the Eagle Nebula, however, has left us speechless. It shows the radiating glow of the pillars in infrared light and you can see the infrared light piercing through dust and gas, giving the pillars a spectacular blueish shadow.

The earliest image of the pillars, a composite of 32 different images compiled using visible light, shows the pillars located in the Eagle Nebula throwing off cool hydrogen gas and cosmic dust.

First discovered in 1745 by Swiss astronomer Jean-Philippe Loys de Chseaux, the Eagle Nebula is roughly 7,000 light-years from Earth, a nursery for stars in the Serpens constellation.

The pillar structure is immense. Just the largest pillar on the left is about four to five light-years long.

READ MORE: Eagle Nebulas Pillars of Creation in Infrared [NASA]

More on space images: Scientists Release Incredible Video of Black Hole Spewing Matter

Up Next__Demand for Autonomous Delivery Bots is Expanding Exponentially >>>

<<< Snowden: Governments Will Use the Coronavirus to Seize More Power__Previously

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NASA Releases Breathtaking Infrared Image of Pillars of Creation - Futurism

An artificial intelligence created by New York-based risk detection firm Dataminr was able to predict where the next spike in coronavirus cases will be in the UK and US by analyzing social media posts, The Next Web reports.

According to the companys website, growth in clusters of eyewitness, on-the-ground, first-hand public social media posts on COVID-19 allowed their algorithm to detect hotspots 7-15 days prior to exponential growth in COVID-19 official case count.

These social media posts include posts ranging from people indicating they tested positive, people indicating they are experiencing symptoms, people indicating they have been exposed but not tested, first-hand accounts of confirmed cases and so on.

Dataminr also predicted future spikes in 14 different US states. Seven days later, all 14 states were hit hard by the coronavirus, TNW reports.

These kinds of posts appear to be a leading indicator of where case count may be spiking in the future, Dataminr CEO Ted Bailey told Business Insider.

The analysis of social media for predicting outbreaks could allow governments to better prepare for the next big crisis.

But any predictions by these kinds of systems have to be taken with a massive grain of salt. No artificial intelligence in the world can verify with 100 percent accuracy the validity of the claims social media users are making about tests being positive, or relatives showing symptoms.

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COVID AI Data Firm Says Its AI Predicts Where Next COVID-19 Spike Will Be - Futurism

Homeward Bound

As the coronavirus pandemic made it difficult and ill-advised to travel, one group found itself trapped in a particularly inhospitable environment: Antarctica.

The members of the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) staff were working at research stations when the pandemic hit. And while plans have been made to bring just about everyone stationed there home, BBC News reports, it was a harrowing endeavor to arrange travel in the midst of a global crisis.

Thecurrent plan is to get BAS workers on a ferry to the Falkland Islands, off the coast of South America, and then fly them home to the U.K. But the BAS is also commissioning a cruise ship, BBC News reports, to accommodate everyone until the ferry arrives and to help keep everyone separated.

The situation has been changing every day, BAS director Jane Francis told BBC News. You think youve got something in place to bring everyone home and then something happens.

Once everyone is home, the next problem is figuring out how to keep Antarctica coronavirus-free when scientists inevitably head back to continue their work.

Were working very hard to do that, Francis told BBC News. Were trying to make sure that anybody that goes to Antarctica is virus-free. So, theyve either not been anywhere where theres been the virus or theyve been in isolation. But that will be our challenge for the forthcoming season, I think.

READ MORE: Coronavirus complicates journeys home from Antarctica [BBC News]

More on COVID-19: Researchers Announce Promising Coronavirus Vaccine Candidate

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The Pandemic Stranded Them in the Worst Place: Antarctica - Futurism