Category Archives: Transhuman News

In Brief Facebook has filed a patent application for a modular consumer electronic device that could function as a smartphone, GPS, microphone, speaker, and touch display. This device will be similar to the failed Google Project ARA device if it succeeds. Plug-and-Play Smartphones

On Thursday July 20, Facebook published its patent application for a modular electromechanical device that includes a phone, GPS, microphone, speaker, and touch display. This kind of modular consumer hardware would allow users to combine several differentcomponents together on a single device a kind of plug-and-play smartphone.

This sort of modular design is also of interest to Google, who has already made one unsuccessful attemptto bring its Project Ara smartphone to market. Some members of the Project Ara team are now at Facebooks Building 8 including Regina Dugan, the leader of the research lab.Building 8 is Facebookslab for consumer technologies and the epicenter of its futuristic projects.

Several Building 8 employees were named on the patent application. Thefour employees had previously worked for Nascent Objects, a startup that prototyped modular gadgets using 3D printing. Facebook acquired Nascent Objects last year, and a spokesperson confirmed to Tech Insider that the technologies in the patent application were part of that acquisition.

According to the patent application, the device could work as a phone, or it could work more like Amazons Alexa doesin terms of its music speaker function. The application also notes that the components of millions of connected devices could be loaded with various kinds of software as pieces are swapped out.

The modular system also appears to be a move towards more efficient and long-term use of consumer electronics. The application reads, Typically, the hardware components included in the consumer electronics that are considered outdated are still useable. However, the hardware components can no longer be re-used since consumer electronics are designed as closed systems. From a consumer prospective, the life cycle of conventional consumer electronics is expensive and wasteful.

It remains to be seen whether Facebook will succeed where Google failed; just because a patient application is filed, theres no guarantee that a device willactually get made.

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Facebook Just Filed a Patent for a Modular Consumer Device - Futurism

In Brief A nine-year-old child from South Africa has reportedly been "virtually cured" of HIV, as signs and symptoms of the dreaded infection hasn't been seen since the child received treatment shortly after being born in 2007. But how was this child cured? Nine Years and Counting

At the on-going Paris conference of the International AIDS Society (IAS), a team of scientists is presenting details of a remarkable development that could improve HIV treatment. The case is that of a nine-year-old South African child who was infected with HIV at birth. After receiving a burst of treatment soon after being born, the child has since been free of any symptoms or activesigns of the menacing virus without any further treatment.

HIV, which is known to affect more than36.7 million people worldwide, is one of the deadliest viruses around today since it was discovered, its taken the lives of more than 35 million victims, according to the World Health Organization. This South African case, however, is a glimmer of hope.

[T]his new case strengthens our hope that by treating HIV-infected children for a brief period beginning in infancy, we may be able to spare them the burden of lifelong therapy and the health consequences of long-term immune activation typically associated with HIV disease, Anthony Fauci, directorNational Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), told The Guardian.

While the doctors report detectingtiny fraction of immune cells that still have the virus integrated into them, the childs immune system remains healthy, and there is no sign of HIV infection.

The South African child was part of a NIAID-funded trial in 2007for treating infants with HIV. Scientists and doctors, however, haveyet to understand why and how the 40-week treatment (which was also given to 142 other children) worked for this child, whose identity remains anonymous.

We dont believe that antiretroviral therapy alone can lead to remission, Avy Violari, pediatric research head at the Perinal HIV Research Unit in Johannesburg, told the BBC. We dont really know whats the reason why this child has achieved remission we believe its either genetic or immune system-related.

Still, the mere fact that something like this is possible is a cause for hope. Unlike other cases where supposedly cured infants later on demonstrated latent HIV in the immune system, this South African case is the third reported virtually cured child. Speaking to The Guardian, Caroline Tiemessen from Johannesburgs National Institute of Communicable Diseases said, By further studying the child, we may expand our understanding of how the immune system controls HIV replication.

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Scientists Assert That A Child has Officially Been Virtually Cured of HIV - Futurism

In Brief Ripple and its token, XRP, have dominated the crypto currency market during the first half of 2017 as XRP finished the second quarter up 3,977 percent. This is an example of cryptocurrencies booming during an overall digital currency renaissance. Ripple Exploding In Q2

The digital currency market has been dominated by Ripples XRP for the first half of the year. XRP finished itssecond financial quarter up 3,977 percent from the beginning of the year at $0.26. It has now dropped to about $0.19, but this is still an impressive display of growth and strength.

Ripple and XRP are just part of the latest example of cryptocurrencies booming during an overall digital currency renaissance. Right now, various countries are experimenting with cryptocurrencies, acknowledging their role in the future of finance and looking to secure their place in that future. For example, the South African Reserve Bank, the countrys central bank, is trying on Bitcoin regulation for size; China is testing a national cryptocurrency a sensible option in a country that has gone almost totally cashless in urban areas; andEthereum Island may be coming to the African coast as Mauritius moves to take its place as a cryptocurrency and blockchain technology hub.

Meanwhile, despite some rocky days, many experts think that now is the best time to invest in cryptocurrencies whichever platform appeals to you. While some are worried that the cryptocurrency market might be experiencing a bubble, others see this period of rapid growth as a sign of larger changes in the world economy. As countries like China and Japan sway the cryptocurrency market, it becomes clearer that close attention to technological advancement, a desire to achieve cybersecurity, and a need to control ones money are the decisive factors for many cryptocurrency investors.

This makes Ripples focus on international payments seem shrewd, and feel like a strong explanatory factor in XRPs current strong position in the cryptocurrency market.

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

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The Third-Largest Cryptocurrency, Ripple's XRP, Up Almost 4000% in Second Quarter - Futurism

In BriefAfter generating a lot of hype over the past weeks, the sourceof the mysterious signal from Ross 128 has finally been confirmed.A second observation concluded that the signal isn't some form ofalien communication, but instead satellite transmissions. Surprise, Surprise!

The detection ofpeculiar radio signalsfrom a dim star roughly 11 light-years away from Earth had the public speculating wildly last week about the possibility that wed finally detected an alien communication.

After looking further into the signals with a little help from theSearch for ExtraTerrestrial Life (SETI) Institute, astronomers at thePlanetary Habitability Laboratory at the University of Puerto Rico at Arecibo are ready to confirm the source of the signals from Ross 128, and its not ET.

We are now confident about the source of the Weird! Signal, Abel Mendez, director of the PHL, wrote in a blog post on Friday. The best explanation is that the signals are transmissions from one or more geostationary satellites.

The signal officially named the Weird! Signal was only spotted near Ross 128, one of several red dwarf stars Mendez and his team have been studying, because Ross 128 is close to the celestial equator where many geostationary satellites are placed, Mendez explained.

The PHL also conductedan informal survey of almost 800 participants, including more than 60 astronomers, to find out what people thought was causing the Weird! Signal. Most said it was likely astronomical in nature. This is interesting since in the absence of solid information about the signal, most astronomers would think that [radio interference or instrumental failures] would probably be the most likely explanation, Mendez noted.

Unexplained signals, like the more popular and recently resolved Wow! signal, draw significant attention because many people are hopeful that well find some trace of alien life. Indeed, the unofficial public survey showed that roughly 200 of the 800 participants believed the Weird! Signal was communication from intelligent alien life.

However, as Mendez explained, Unexplained here does not mean inexplicable; it just means we are not able to tell which is the precise source from many possibilities.

Just like the Wow! Signal, the Weird! Signal from Ross 128 demonstrates that theres likely to be some non-alienanswer to many of the mysteries we uncover from the universe.

Of course, this doesnt mean that the search for alien life isnt worth it. Before we can consider any such explanation, however, we need to explore all stellar and astronomical possibilities. Sometimes, these possibilities may take 40 years to be completely explored, as was the case with the Wow! Signal, but such is the nature of scientific inquiry.

This was a great experience of open science, Mendez wrote. Sometimes projects, observational campaigns, or missions do not necessarily reach their objectives. The lesson here is that we all need to continue exploring and sharing results openly. Some people prefer to only learn about the successes, but others prefer science in real-time, no matter the end result.

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Source of Weird! Signal From Nearby Star Finally Confirmed - Futurism