Futurism – Lifeboat News: The Blog

May 8
2019

Nothing to be blue about as werewere-kōkako mushrooms spotted in Rotorua scenic reserve

Blue mushrooms flourishing in Rotorua scenic reserve.

May 8
2019

Ambopteryx, new species of bat-wing dinosaur, discovered in China

The rare fossil find from China is the best preserved example yet of this very odd dinosaur group.

May 8
2019

How Earth’s continents became twisted and contorted over millions of years

Giant forces slowly move continents across a viscous layer of the Earth, like biscuits gliding over a warm toffee ocean. This stresses the continents, and twists and contorts the crust.

May 8
2019

Denver first in U.S. to decriminalize psychedelic mushrooms

Denver is set to become the first city in the nation to effectively decriminalize psychedelic mushrooms after final ballot-counting flipped Initiative 301’s margin in favor of narrow passage.

May 8
2019

Face it: a farmed animal is someone, not something

Farmed animals have personalities, smarts, even a sense of agency. Why then do we saddle them with lives of utter despair?

May 8
2019

Unhackable: New chip stops attacks before they start

ANN ARBOR—A new computer processor architecture developed at the University of Michigan could usher in a future where computers proactively defend against threats, rendering the current electronic security model of bugs and patches obsolete.

Called MORPHEUS, the chip blocks potential attacks by encrypting and randomly reshuffling key bits of its own code and data 20 times per second—infinitely faster than a human hacker can work and thousands of times faster than even the fastest electronic hacking techniques.

“Today’s approach of eliminating security bugs one by one is a losing game,” said Todd Austin, U-M professor of computer science and engineering and a developer of the system. “People are constantly writing code, and as long as there is new code, there will be new bugs and security vulnerabilities.

May 8
2019

Wasps are smarter than we thought, new study shows

Summer is approaching in the northern hemisphere, heralding the return of that great scourge of al fresco diners everywhere: the wasp.

Now, a new study out of the University of Michigan reveals that the striped critters aren’t just pesky — they’re smart.

The research found that wasps can use a form of logical reasoning to infer unknown relationships from known relationships, according to a press release.

May 8
2019

There’s a Global Crackdown on the Dark Web Happening Right Now

The FBI has seized a dark web site just days after Europol police took down another.

May 8
2019

Scientists figure out new way to remove salt from water

Huge.

The solvent-based method could be much cheaper to use than reverse osmosis or distillation based on water evaporating.

May 8
2019

A machine has figured out Rubik’s Cube all by itself

Working strategy, by starting at the desired end destination and then looking back, by connecting the dots as they are presented chronologically (in our present) towards the future, a strategic level of thinking now available to machines.

Unlike chess moves, changes to a Rubik’s Cube are hard to evaluate, which is why deep-learning machines haven’t been able to solve the puzzle on their own. Until now.