The Singularity

Singularity Summit 2010

Kevin — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 18:58:42 +0000

The Singularity Summit this year is August 14th through August 15th in San Francisco. Last year's conference was great. I really recommend going to the Singularity Summit because it provides an overview of current thinking on Singularity related issues by almost all of the current thought leaders in the space.

Check out the Singularity Summit web page and watch some of the videos from last years conference.

Freely available Singularity fiction novels

Kevin — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 04:21:53 +0000

There are several great fictional post-Singularity or Singularity related fiction stories available online. Following is a list of some of my favorites. Post in the comments if you know of any other similar stories available online!

Accelerando

Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom

The Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect

Three Worlds Collide

NY Times: Merely Human? That’s So Yesterday

admin — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 21:19:57 +0000

The Singularity gets a good write-up by the Gray Lady. Many fascinating facts percolate the article, but my favorite is the fact that the USA has a contingency plan for an attack by Canada.

VIDEO: 17-Year Old Ray Kurzweil Appears On TV’s “I’ve Got A Secret” (1965)

admin — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 17:03:22 +0000

A young Kurzweil demonstrates his invention: an "electronic computer" that composes music.

Via the New York Times

Singularity: The three schools of thought

Kevin — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 01:46:24 +0000

There is a lot of confusion around the meaning of the world Singularity. One of many reasons for this confusion is that people use the word Singularity to describe at least three different related but logically distinct possible outcomes.

Eliezer Yudkowsky's post about the three schools of Singularity clears up a lot of confusion.

GLENN REYNOLDS: The Singularity is Near

admin — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:26:20 +0000

Via Instapundit's column for Popular Mechanics:

Destructive technologies generally seem to come along sooner than constructive ones—we got war rockets before missile interceptors, and biological warfare before antibiotics. This suggests that there will be a window of vulnerability between the time when we develop technologies that can do dangerous things, and the time when we can protect against those dangers. The slower we move, the longer that window may remain open, leaving more time for the evil, the unscrupulous or the careless to wreak havoc. My conclusion? Faster, please.

BOINGBOING: Building a brain inside a supercomputer

admin — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 18:23:31 +0000

Blue Brain is an IBM computer built to simulate a human brain. It's powered by 2,000 microchips, each acting as a single neuron, that enable it to execute 22.8 trillion operations per second. Based at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, the project launched in 2005 to much controversy and skepticism. Modeling the complexity of the brain in a computer is considered a holy grail to some, and hubris to others.

BREITBART.COM: Scientists find path to fountain of youth

admin — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 22:10:25 +0000

The key to eternal -- or at least prolonged -- youth lies in genetic manipulation that mimics the health benefits of reducing calorie intake, suggesting that aging and age-related diseases can be treated.

NY TIMES: Quest for a Long Life Gains Scientific Respect

admin — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 05:01:27 +0000

Who would have thought it? The quest for eternal life, or at least prolonged youthfulness, has now migrated from the outer fringes of alternative medicine to the halls of Harvard Medical School.

INDEPENDENT (UK): By 2040 you will be able to upload your brain…

admin — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 21:57:32 +0000

...or at least that's what Ray Kurzweil thinks. He has spent his life inventing machines that help people, from the blind to dyslexics. Now, he believes we're on the brink of a new age – the 'singularity' – when mind-boggling technology will allow us to email each other toast, run as fast as Usain Bolt (for 15 minutes) – and even live forever. Is there sense to his science – or is the man who reasons that one day he'll bring his dad back from the grave just a mad professor peddling a nightmare vision of the future?