Foresight’s 1st Conference on Advanced Nanotechnology
October 22-24, 2004, Washington, DC

The 1st Conference on Advanced Nanotechnology: Research, Applications, and Policy is next month. Please join us as we examine nanotechnology from three different perspectives. Friday is designed for researchers and technologists, while Saturday and Sunday will make the applications and policy issues surrounding nanotechnology understandable to public interest representatives, investors, the general public, and those aiming at a career in the field.

The acceleration of the expansion of the universe places limits on future developments in technology according to two US cosmologists. Lawrence Krauss and Glenn Starkman of Case Western Reserve University have shown that the acceleration could put a fundamental limit on the total amout of information that can be stored and processed in the future. They also calculate that Moore’s Law will remain valid for no more than 600 years — although workers in the semiconductor industry are more pessimistic and think that the famous law will break down in the next decade or two.

From PhysicsWeb

Thu Oct 7th in San Francisco

Architects / Designers / Planners for Social Responsibility

The largest annual “green” materials trade show on the West Coast. A products fair for forward thinking design professionals, innovative construction firms, curious building officials, and concerned citizens of any profession. More than 70 exhibitors will showcase the latest resource-efficient materials and an array of products from non-virgin or renewable resources with high-recycled content, low embodied energy, long life-span, and no or low VOCs.

Presentations are scheduled every 30 minutes for us to learn about a broad range of environmental building products and methodologies. The Green Materials Showcase offers a unique opportunity for visitors to interact with building professionals sharing a strong interest in practicing and promoting sustainable design, construction, and development.

Attendance is Free
More info here

Sept 29 - Oct 2, 2004 @swissnex in San Francisco

Sept 29th: Automatons

Sept 30th: Autonomous robots

Oct 1st: Human Augmentation

Oct 2nd: Mars in Science and Fiction

More details here

Free registration here

Uses photosynthesis to generate electricity

“A solar cell made with spinach has been developed that promises electronic devices incorporating photosynthesis, the highly efficient process plants use to produce energy from sunlight.”

(Photo credit: MIT, via Betterhumans)

(by Nick Bostrom)

“What idea, if embraced, would pose the greatest threat to the welfare of humanity?” This was the question posed by the editors of Foreign Policy in the September/October issue to eight prominent policy intellectuals, among them Francis Fukuyama, professor of international political economy at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, and member of the President’s Council on Bioethics.

And Fukuyama’s answer? Transhumanism, “a strange liberation movement” whose “crusaders aim much higher than civil rights campaigners, feminists, or gay-rights advocates.” This movement, he says, wants “nothing less than to liberate the human race from its biological constraints.”

More accurately, transhumanists advocate increased funding for research to radically extend healthy lifespan and favor the development of medical and technological means to improve memory, concentration, and other human capacities. Transhumanists propose that everybody should have the option to use such means to enhance various dimensions of their cognitive, emotional, and physical well-being. Not only is this a natural extension of the traditional aims of medicine and technology, but it is also a great humanitarian opportunity to genuinely improve the human condition.

Read more here

The First International Conference on Affective Computing & Intelligent Interaction - October 22-24, 2005 Beijing, China

“Traditional human machine interaction is normally based on passive instruments such as keyboard, mouse, etc. It’s impossible for them to understand and express emotions. Without the ability of emotion processing, computers cannot be expected to be a human-like machine, and also cannot be expected to communicate with humans in a natural and harmonious way…”

[from emotionalmachines.com]

via BBC

Scientists are attempting to inject some real science into video games development to accurately measure the effects games have on minds and bodies.

“Playing a game puts you into an altered state. It’s like a runner’s high, where sports athletes are aware they are doing well.