Future, Research, Engineering, and Science

My collection of random stuff found on the web. Mostly related to research, robotics, technological advances, engineering and sustainable development. Enjoy!

[nng-fres]

Cathy O'Neil: The era of blind faith in big data must end TED | Published on Sep 7, 2017 | Filmed April 2017

Algorithms decide who gets a loan, who gets a job interview, who gets insurance and much more -- but they don't automatically make things fair. Mathematician and data scientist Cathy O'Neil coined a term for algorithms that are secret, important and harmful: "weapons of math destruction." Learn more about the hidden agendas behind the formulas.

[nng-fres]

Shenzhen: The Silicon Valley of Hardware (Full Documentary) | Future Cities | WIRED WIRED UK | Published on Jul 5, 2016

Future Cities, a full-length documentary strand from WIRED Video, takes us inside the bustling Chinese city of Shenzhen. Subscribe to WIRED►► http://po.st/SubscribeWired

We examine the unique manufacturing ecosystem that has emerged, gaining access to the world’s leading hardware-prototyping culture whilst challenging misconceptions from the west. The film looks at how the evolution of “Shanzhai” – or copycat manufacturing – has transformed traditional models of business, distribution and innovation, and asks what the rest of the world can learn from this so-called “Silicon Valley of hardware".

ABOUT FUTURE CITIES Future Cities is part of a new flagship documentary strand from WIRED Video that explores the technologies, trends and ideas that are changing our world. Subscribe to the WIRED YouTube channel to ensure you never miss an episode.

HOLY LAND: STARTUP NATIONS (SERIES 2) Premiering in February, the second season of WIRED’s Future Cities series takes us inside one of the world’s biggest startup nations. With the most tech startups and venture capital per capita in the world, Israel has long been hailed as The Startup Nation. WIRED’s four-part series will look beyond Tel Aviv’s vibrant, liberal tech epicentre to the wider Holy Land region – the Palestinian territories, where a parallel Startup Nation story is emerging in East Jerusalem, Ramallah and the West Bank, as well as in the Israeli cybersecurity hub of Beersheba. And we will learn how the fertile innovation ecosystem of Silicon Wadi has evolved as a result of its unique political, geographical and cultural situation and explore the future challenges – and solutions – these nations are facing.

[nng-fres]

Healthcare Triage: Reproducibility in Research: An Introduction Healthcare Triage | Published on May 22, 2017

This episode is part of Healthcare Triage’s series on Improving Reproducibility in Research. A blog post with more information on the series is here: Improving reproducibility in research – There’s a Healthcare Triage series for that!

The full Experimental Design Playlist is here

The full Analysis and Reporting Playlist is here If you are interested, in earning CME for watching these videos, go here for Experimental Design and here for Analysis and Reporting.

[nng-fres]

Computerphile: Bell Labs' Research (Prof Brian Kernighan) Computerphile | Published on Jun 14, 2017

We ask Bell Labs alumnus and 'C' expert Professor Brian Kernighan about research at Bell Labs

[nng-fres]

Sam Harris: Can we build AI without losing control over it? TED | Filmed: June 2016 at TEDSummit | Published on Oct 19, 2016

Scared of superintelligent AI? You should be, says neuroscientist and philosopher Sam Harris -- and not just in some theoretical way. We're going to build superhuman machines, says Harris, but we haven't yet grappled with the problems associated with creating something that may treat us the way we treat ants.

[nng-fres]

Stuart Russell: 3 principles for creating safer AI TED | Filmed: April 2017 at TED2017 | Published on Jun 6, 2017

How can we harness the power of superintelligent AI while also preventing the catastrophe of robotic takeover? As we move closer toward creating all-knowing machines, AI pioneer Stuart Russell is working on something a bit different: robots with uncertainty. Hear his vision for human-compatible AI that can solve problems using common sense, altruism and other human values.

[nng-fres]

Jonathan Marks: In praise of conflict TED | FilmedFebruary 2017 at TEDxPSU | Published on May 8, 2017

Conflict is bad; compromise, consensus and collaboration are good — or so we're told. Lawyer and bioethicist Jonathan Marks challenges this conventional wisdom, showing how governments can jeopardize public health, human rights and the environment when they partner with industry. An important, timely reminder that common good and common ground are not the same thing.

Governments should fight corporations, not collaborate with them!

[nng-fres]

What Is It Like to Be a Robot? Dr. Leila Takayama | TEDxPaloAlto | Published on May 4, 2017

Dr. Leila Takayama is a human-robot interaction researcher. In 2016, she founded Hoku Labs and joined the faculty at the University of California, Santa Cruz, as an acting associate professor of Psychology. Prior to UC Santa Cruz, she was a senior user experience researcher at GoogleX, and was a research scientist and area manager for human-robot interaction at Willow Garage. She is a World Economic Forum Global Future Council Member and Young Global Leader. In 2015, she was presented the IEEE Robotics & Automation Society Early Career Award. In 2012, she was named a TR35 winner and one of the 100 most creative people in business by Fast Company.

[nng-fres]

Mona Chalabi: 3 ways to spot a bad statistic TEDNYC | Filmed Feb 2017 | Published on Apr 17, 2017

Sometimes it's hard to know what statistics are worthy of trust. But we shouldn't count out stats altogether ... instead, we should learn to look behind them. In this delightful, hilarious talk, data journalist Mona Chalabi shares handy tips to help question, interpret and truly understand what the numbers are saying.

[nng-fres]

Simon Anholt: Who would the rest of the world vote for in your country's election? TEDxFrankfurt | Filmed Nov 2016 | Published on Apr 14, 2017

To make the world work, we need leaders who consider the needs of every man, woman, child and animal on the planet -- not just their own voters. With the Global Vote, an online platform that lets anybody, anywhere in the world vote in the election of any country on earth, policy advisor Simon Anholt hopes to fill the gap between the few people who elect the world's most powerful leaders ... and the rest of us.

[nng-fres]

Rewarding Disobedience MIT Media Lab | Published on Mar 7, 2017

On July 21, 2016 we announced the creation of a $250K cash prize award for disobedience. This idea came after a realization that there’s a widespread frustration from people trying to figure out how can we effectively harness responsible, ethical disobedience aimed at challenging our norms, rules, or laws to benefit society. And so we begin the process of searching for the first MIT Media Lab Disobedience Award recipient. The award will go to a person or group engaged in what we believe is extraordinary disobedience for the benefit of society. Specifically, we’d like to call out action that seeks to change society in positive ways and is consistent with a set of key principles. These principles include non-violence, creativity, courage, and taking responsibility for one’s actions. We’re seeking both expected and unexpected nominees. This could include–but isn’t limited to–those engaged in scientific research, civil rights, freedom of speech, human rights, and the freedom to innovate.

Learn more and nominate a person or group for the Disobedience Award at:

https://www.media.mit.edu/posts/disobedience-award/

[nng-fres]

The Real Moral Dilemma of Self-Driving Cars Veritasium | Published on Jan 19, 2017

We talk about all the potentially challenging situations autonomous cars could get into but not about how human drivers are not very good. Tens of thousands die on the roads every year in collisions, most of which could be prevented by autonomous vehicles. Sponsored by BMW

[nng-fres]

Tim Leberecht: 4 ways to build a human company in the age of machines Filmed June 2016 at TEDSummit | Published on Nov 30, 2016

In the face of artificial intelligence and machine learning, we need a new radical humanism, says Tim Leberecht. For the self-described "business romantic," this means designing organizations and workplaces that celebrate authenticity instead of efficiency and questions instead of answers. Leberecht proposes four (admittedly subjective) principles for building beautiful organizations.

[nng-fres]

Sam Harris: Can we build AI without losing control over it? Filmed June 2016 at TEDSummit | Published on Oct 19, 2016

Scared of superintelligent AI? You should be, says neuroscientist and philosopher Sam Harris -- and not just in some theoretical way. We're going to build superhuman machines, says Harris, but we haven't yet grappled with the problems associated with creating something that may treat us the way we treat ants.

[nng-fres]

Gary Marcus: Why toddlers are smarter than computers TEDxCERN | Published on Nov 22, 2016

Advancements in artificial intelligence are changing how we analyze and process information. But these advances fall short when compared with the ingenuity and creativity of an average three-year old. In his talk, psychologist and neuroscientist Gary Marcus compares advancements in AI to the resilience of the human brain on tasks such as common sense and real-time evaluations. 

[nng-fres]

The exhaust emissions scandal („Dieselgate“) [32c3] CCCen | Published on Dec 27, 2015

The exhaust emissions scandal („Dieselgate“) Take a deep breath into pollution trickery Analysis of the emission scandal shaking the German automotive industry from a procedural, organizational and technical level. Includes insight into cheating for advanced managers and code extraction from ECUs from Ebay. And from Volkswagen. Initially. The exhaust emission scandal has visibly shaken the confidence auto buyers put into the German automotive industry. The details are – half a year after Volkswagen managers confessed to fraud – scarce, very scare. Both around the procedural and the technical details of the betrayal. Daniel will show how engineering a Electronic Control Unit (ECU) works, and how many people are involved. And he will take a look at the revealing communication from the affected parties. That try to share nothing with many words but still reveal a few interesting details. Felix takes the other approach and looks at body of evidence that 8+ million people have access to but too few took a closer look. He will share the tricks to extract the firmware from the affected engine control units and share the findings he made along the way and when he looked at the plain and honest truth in code.

[nng-fres]

Recent research has highlighted a strong correlation between tissue-specific cancer risk and the lifetime number of tissue-specific stem-cell divisions. Whether such correlation implies a high unavoidable intrinsic cancer risk has become a key public health debate with the dissemination of the ‘bad luck’ hypothesis. Here we provide evidence that intrinsic risk factors contribute only modestly (less than ~10–30% of lifetime risk) to cancer development. First, we demonstrate that the correlation between stem-cell division and cancer risk does not distinguish between the effects of intrinsic and extrinsic factors. We then show that intrinsic risk is better estimated by the lower bound risk controlling for total stem-cell divisions. Finally, we show that the rates of endogenous mutation accumulation by intrinsic processes are not sufficient to account for the observed cancer risks. Collectively, we conclude that cancer risk is heavily influenced by extrinsic factors. These results are important for strategizing cancer prevention, research and public health.

Wu, S., Powers, S., Zhu, W., & Hannun, Y. A. (2015). Substantial Contribution of Extrinsic Risk Factors to Cancer Development. Nature, advance online publication. doi: 10.1038/nature16166