Lifeboat Foundation

Say hello to the fireworks of tomorrow.

Controlling the organization of nanoparticles into patterns in ultrathin polymer films can be accomplished with entropy instead of chemistry, according to a discovery by Dr. Alamgir Karim, UA’s Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company Professor of Polymer Engineering, and his student Dr. Ren Zhang. Polymer thin films are used in a variety of technological applications, for example paints, lubricants, and adhesives. Karim and Zhang have developed an original method—soft-confinement pattern-induced nanoparticle segregation (SCPINS)—to fabricate polymer nanocomposite thin films with well-controlled nanoparticle organization on a submicron scale. This new method uniquely controls the organization of any kind of nanoparticles into patterns in those films, which may be useful for applications involving sensors, nanowire circuitry or diffraction gratings, with proper subsequent processing steps like thermal or UV sintering, that are likely required but the self-organization into directed patterns.

This work, “Entropy-driven segregation of polymer -grafted nanoparticles under confinement,” has been published in the February 2017 issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

Intuitively, entropy is associated with disorder of a system. However, for colloidal matter, it has been shown that a system can experience transitions which increase both entropy and visible order. Inspired by this observation, Karim and Zhang investigated the role of entropy in directed organization of polymer-grafted nanoparticles (PGNPs) in polymer thin films. By simply imprinting the blend films into patterned mesa-trench regions, nanoparticles are spontaneously enriched within mesas, forming patterned microdomain structures which coincide with the topographic pattern. This selective segregation of PGNPs is induced by entropic penalty due to the alteration of the grafted chain conformation when confined in ultrathin trench regions.

Computer researchers are betting they can take on the house after designing a new artificial intelligence program that has beat professional poker players.

Researchers from University of Alberta, Czech Technical University and Charles University in Prague developed the “DeepStack” program as a way to build artificial intelligence capable of playing a complex kind of poker. Creating an AI program that can win against a human player in a no-limit poker game has long been a goal of researchers due to the complexity of the game.

Michael Bowling, a professor in the Department of Computing Science in the University of Alberta, explained that computers have been able to win at “perfect” games such as chess or Go, in which all the information is available to both players, but that “imperfect” games like poker have been much harder to program for.

Continue reading “Poker-playing AI beats pros using ‘intuition,’ study finds” »

The cover features an AI interstellar probe, beautifully illustrated by concept artist Efflam Mercier. Here is the download link:

http://i4is.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Principium_16_Feb_2017.pdf

This issue covers the following topics:

Continue reading “Our free interstellar magazine ‘Principium’ N°16 is out now!” »

Enjoy this Sci-Fi short film created by the talented Jason J. Whitmore! Earth’s days are numbered when a nearby star goes supernova. Seizing the opportunity, an alien race has offered humanity a deal: Be our slaves or be left to die. As one couple struggles toward the last escaping ship, they grapple with the cost of sacrificing their freedom for their survival.

Contact:
[email protected]
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2405816/?ref_=nm_flmg_snd_1

Continue reading “A Sci-Fi Short Film HD: ‘At the End’” »

It’s looking increasingly likely that artificial intelligence (AI) will be the harbinger of the next technological revolution. When it develops to the point wherein it is able to learn, think, and even “feel” without the input of a human – a truly “smart” AI – then everything we know will change, almost overnight.

That’s why it’s so interesting to keep track of major milestones in the development of AIs that exist today, including that of Google’s DeepMind neural network. It’s already besting humanity in the gaming world, and a new in-house study reveals that Google is decidedly unsure whether or not the AI tends to prefer cooperative behaviors over aggressive, competitive ones.

Continue reading “Google’s ‘DeepMind‘ AI Understands The Benefits Of Betrayal” »

In Brief

• The game designers for Mass Effect have gone all out for scientifically accurate weapons.
• From rail guns to “element 0,” this science fiction game mirrors reality.

From the astoundingly stiff weaponry of 1995’s GoldenEye to the alien arsenal of the Halo franchise, video games haven’t always had the most realistic arms. But, in Bioware’s Mass Effect franchise, the game designers opted for scientifically accurate weapons.

Continue reading “Could We Bring The Technology in Mass Effect to Life?” »

If I dare show this to my nephews, we will never see them again.

When the Arcade Hotel Amsterdam opened last year, owner Daniel Salmanovich couldn’t help but smile when his hotel had people wanting what is known as the world’s first gaming hotel. It has its doors closed now until it will reopen in May for a much bigger expansion.

Continue reading “World’s First Gaming Hotel in Amsterdam To Reopen In May 2017” »

Considering how far technology has come in recent years, the idea that we may all just be simulated beings in a simulated game may not be too far off. And microchips might soon become so powerful they can simulate something as complex as the cosmos.