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In the 21st Century curiosity will SKILL the cat.
Jobs are dying - Work is just beginning.
Work that engages our whole self becomes play that works.
Techne = Knowledge-as-Know-How :: Technology = Embodied Know-How
In the 21st century - the planet is the little school house in the galaxy.
Citizenship is the battlefield of the 21st Century
“Be careful what you ‘insta-google-tweet-face’”
Woody Harrelson - Triple 9
Content
Quotes:
Articles:
What I was seeing was a strategy that has been deployed by illiberal political leaders around the world. Rather than shutting down dissenting voices, these leaders have learned to harness the democratizing power of social media for their own purposes—jamming the signals, sowing confusion. They no longer need to silence the dissident shouting in the streets; they can use a megaphone to drown him out. Scholars have a name for this: censorship through noise.
How new technologies and techniques pioneered by dictators will shape the 2020 election
Maslow’s work began infiltrating management in the 1950s and ’60s, as the business trade press and management theorists picked up humanistic psychology to adapt managerial theories of motivation for a new era. For Maslow, corporations offered both an experimental site for him to observe human psychology – which he did as a consultant for California companies – and a site for humans to realise their higher-order needs through self-actualised work.
Why was corporate America drawn to the hierarchy of needs? They liked it because it offered both a grand narrative and master explanation for human psychology in a changing society and a practical guide to managing people. It is precisely in the tension between these two visions of the hierarchy of needs – the reductive diagram and the rich social theory – that the hierarchy of needs acquires its power and its politics.
The 1960s, renowned as a decade for social experimentation, was also an era when corporations were experimenting with new structures and styles of work. Against the backdrop of the counterculture, social movements and consumer society, management writers and social theorists alike argued that a widespread transformation in values was afoot – a transformation that required new approaches to managing people and marketing to consumers.
Management thinkers drew on Maslow to develop new theories of ‘participatory management’ that professed to give workers more autonomy and authority in work. Responding to criticisms of bureaucratic conformity and alienation, management gurus wielded the hierarchy of needs to argue that psychological fulfilment was not opposed to but in fact compatible with corporate capitalism. We could work hard, make money, and be happy. Win/win, right?
Some experiments in redesigning jobs did seek to address all levels of the corporate hierarchy, from janitorial work to executive work, but many substituted rhetoric for real change. One management thinker, the American psychologist Frederick Herzberg, used the hierarchy of needs to argue in The Motivation to Work (1959) that companies needn’t provide better benefits to workers, because better benefits had only made workers entitled, rather than increased productivity. Such is the dark side of motivation.
It is certainly not coincidental that a motivational theory dubbed the ‘hierarchy’ of needs was adopted in companies ruled by hierarchical organisational charts.
The dark shadow in the injunction to ‘do what you love’
Whenever Armenian radicals explained their participation in the three revolutions, they positioned themselves not apart from but as part of an inclusive society to be transformed by connected revolutionary struggles. Thus, their adoption and adaptation of ideas and, by extension, identities strongly linked their present and their future with those of their fellow-subjects. Their campaign to join the Iranian and Ottoman military is an excellent example of the application of an inclusive identity: they pushed for military service and government positions, seeking ‘to be not the illegitimate but the real child of a free fatherland and to enjoy the fatherland’s beneficence and bitterness’. Even as an ethnically and religiously distinct minority, they sought incorporation into the nation in place of ‘otherness’. They, like other imperial subjects such as Greeks, Arabs and others, adopted more than one loyalty – an all-encompassing imperial one, and a more local or ethnoreligious one. As such, they lived ‘betwixt and between’, a state that made them particularly proficient revolutionary cosmopolitans.
I am struck by the similarities between the rapidly changing world of these roving revolutionaries and that of today’s revolutionaries. Both groups have experienced figurative and literal ground-shaking changes in transportation and communication technologies; we might think of the telegraph at the turn of the 20th century as the internet of today, not only in its heightened pace of transmitting information but also for its transformational impact on society. Their world, much like ours, probably seemed to be on speed, with all the implied effects associated with the highs and the risks, including the ‘comedown’. An additional parallel to this world, accentuated by an absence – or at least challenge – is our revolutionary cosmopolitans’ efforts to obviate ethnic antagonism, their calls for inclusive identity, and their aspirations to belong to a larger whole, thus sharing both ‘beneficence and bitterness’.
Roving revolutionaries
This is a good piece for anyone interested in foresight and futures literacy.
Futures Literacy: The Capacity to Diversify Conscious Human Anticipation
Abstract
This chapter offers an introduction to a capability called Futures Literacy (FL), a framework for making sense of the anticipatory assumptions that distinguish different kinds of FL, and one specific research tool called Futures Literacy Laboratories (FLL) that has been designed to explore anticipatory assumptions. The chapter points to the following conclusions. First that FL is a practical skill that develops as people gain a better understanding of anticipatory assumptions. Second that our understanding of anticipatory assumptions requires a robust theory of anticipatory systems and processes. Third, FL has potentially important implications for the conceptualization and deployment of human agency, particularly with respect to our relationship to complexity.
Here’s another signal favoring the intrinsic nature of human altruism.
Altruistic babies? Study shows infants are willing to give up food, help others
Altruistic helping—the act of giving away something desirable, even at a cost to oneself—is perhaps no more evident than when it comes to food.
New research by the University of Washington's Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences, or I-LABS, finds that altruism may begin in infancy. In a study of nearly 100 19-month-olds, researchers found that children, even when hungry, gave a tasty snack to a stranger in need. The findings not only show that infants engage in altruistic behavior, but also suggest that early social experiences can shape altruism.
The study is published online Feb. 4 in Scientific Reports, an open-access journal from the Nature Publishing Group.
This is an interesting signal of how games can be used to train, educate, collaborate (in science, design, etc).
Online game has transnational impact as 'vaccine' against fake news
Bad News, a game devised to make players better at spotting fake news and misinformation, has the intended effect in Sweden, Greece, Germany and Poland. This is evident from a new academic study from the Universities of Uppsala and Cambridge. The assessment shows an improvement in players' ability to detect fabricated news reports while retaining their trust in real news.
"We were able to see that the people who'd been playing Bad News were significantly better at detecting fabricated news and misinformation based on, for example, fake social media accounts, conspiracy theories and mudslinging by investigative journalists," says Thomas Nygren, associate professor at Uppsala University's Department of Education.
A good signal of the emergence of self-driving transportation. The image is of a very cute vehicle.
“In order for them to grant this exemption, the process requires them to conclude that the vehicle itself is at least as safe as one that would be required to meet the standards,” he said in an interview with The Verge. “That doesn’t mean that they look at the whole vehicle. But what it means is they say, ‘When Nuro removes the mirrors and doesn’t have the windshield and doesn’t have the backup camera, we conclude that the vehicle itself will be at least as safe as if it did have these things.’”
The federal government just granted its first driverless car exemption
Nuro is first to nab a coveted FMVSS exemption from the US Department of Transportation
Nuro, the self-driving startup founded by two ex-Google engineers, has a new delivery robot. The R2 is the company’s second-generation vehicle, and while it looks similar to the first-generation R1 — egg-shaped, no room for a human driver, objectively cute — there is one important difference: the R2 has been granted a special exemption from federal safety requirements.
That may sound dangerous, but it’s actually pretty significant. It gives Nuro permission to produce and test vehicles that aren’t intended for human drivers. Right now, Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) require cars to have basic, human controls, like steering wheels, pedals, sideview mirrors, and so on. These standards specify how vehicles must be designed before they can be sold in the US. If a proposed new vehicle doesn’t comply with all existing FMVSS, manufacturers can apply for an exemption. But the government is allowed to grant 2,500 exemptions per company per year.
The R2 was built with the help of Detroit auto supplier Roush, which also helped build Google’s now retired “Firefly” prototype cars. The two vehicles have a lot in common: both are capped at 25 mph, lack traditional controls like steering wheels and pedals, and are adorably egg-shaped. But while the Firefly was built as a demonstrator for Google’s self-driving prowess, the R2 is designed to be a moneymaker.
A good signal of the ongoing progress in domesticating DNA for the treatment and cure of diseases.
Researchers plan DNA-based nanorobot for cancer diagnostics
A group of researchers from ITMO University has come up with the concept of a new drug against cancer: a nanorobot made of DNA fragments, which can potentially be used not only to destroy cancer cells, but also to locate them in the body. The research is published in Chemistry—A European Journal.
"DNA is the foundation of the cell, it contains its genetic material, which is needed to encode proteins that are vital for the existence of the cell," says Ekaterina Goncharova, a co-author of the research. "When a cell becomes cancerous, it leads to the change in the genome, after which it begins to synthesize "bad" proteins, not the ones that our body needs. As a result, the cells begin to multiply uncontrollably and the tumor grows bigger and bigger."
"Our DNA-based nanorobot consists of two parts: a detection one and a therapeutic one," explains Ekaterina Goncharova. "The therapeutic part destroys a pathogenic RNA strand: the more we destroy it, the less harmful protein is produced. The second part of our robot allows us to detect pathogenic cells: if there is an 'incorrect' RNA molecule in the cell, our substance binds with an chemically modified oligonucleotide, which is artificially introduced into the cell, cleave it, and a fluorescence occurs."
This is a weak but promising signal for longer and healthier life.
Molecular 'switch' reverses chronic inflammation and aging
Chronic inflammation, which results when old age, stress or environmental toxins keep the body's immune system in overdrive, can contribute to a variety of devastating diseases, from Alzheimer's and Parkinson's to diabetes and cancer.
Now, scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, have identified a molecular "switch" that controls the immune machinery responsible for chronic inflammation in the body. The finding, which appears online Feb. 6 in the journal Cell Metabolism, could lead to new ways to halt or even reverse many of these age-related conditions.
"My lab is very interested in understanding the reversibility of aging," said senior author Danica Chen, associate professor of metabolic biology, nutritional sciences and toxicology at UC Berkeley. "In the past, we showed that aged stem cells can be rejuvenated. Now, we are asking: to what extent can aging be reversed? And we are doing that by looking at physiological conditions, like inflammation and insulin resistance, that have been associated with aging-related degeneration and diseases."
I have become a real fan of Turmeric and use it in all my cooking and make a green tea, ginger root and turmeric root tea which is very tasty.
Another weak but promising signal.
The Role of Curcumin in the Modulation of Ageing.
Abstract
It is believed that postponing ageing is more effective and less expensive than the treatment of particular age-related diseases. Compounds which could delay symptoms of ageing, especially natural products present in a daily diet, are intensively studied. One of them is curcumin. It causes the elongation of the lifespan of model organisms, alleviates ageing symptoms and postpones the progression of age-related diseases in which cellular senescence is directly involved. It has been demonstrated that the elimination of senescent cells significantly improves the quality of life of mice. There is a continuous search for compounds, named senolytic drugs, that selectively eliminate senescent cells from organisms. In this paper, we endeavor to review the current knowledge about the anti-ageing role of curcumin and discuss its senolytic potential.
Another signal of the complex relationships that compose the ecologies of ourselves and how we are extending our capacity to recognize patterns with AI.
"This new ability to correlate microbes with age will help us advance future studies of the roles microbes play in the aging process and age-related diseases, and allow us to better test potential therapeutic interventions that target microbiomes,"
More than just a carnival trick: Researchers can guess your age based on your microbes
Our microbiomes—the complex communities of microbes that live in, on and around us—are influenced by our diets, habits, environments and genes, and are known to change with age. In turn, the makeup of our microbiomes, particularly in the gut, is well-recognized for its influence on our health. For example, gut microbiome composition has been linked to inflammatory bowel disease, autoimmune disease, obesity, even neurological disorders, such as autism.
Given a microbiome sample (skin, mouth or fecal swab), researchers have demonstrated they can now use machine learning to predict a person's chronological age, with a varying degree of accuracy. Skin samples provided the most accurate prediction, estimating correctly to within approximately 3.8 years, compared to 4.5 years with an oral sample and 11.5 years with a fecal sample. The types of microbes living in the oral cavity or within the gut of young people (age 18 to 30 years old) tended to be more diverse and abundant than in comparative microbiomes of older adults (age 60 years and older).
The predictive tool, described in a paper published February 11, 2020 by mSystems, was developed as a collaboration between researchers at University of California San Diego and IBM.
A signal of the amazing progress being made with direct brain-computer interfaces - enabling some sight to someone blind.
Using this, Gómez identified ceiling lights, letters, basic shapes printed on paper, and people. She even played a simple Pac-Man–like computer game piped directly into her brain. Four days a week for the duration of the experiment, Gómez was led to a lab by her sighted husband and hooked into the system.
A new implant for blind people jacks directly into the brain
Researchers have successfully bypassed the eyes with a brain implant that allows rudimentary vision.
“AllÃ,” says Bernardeta Gómez in her native Spanish, pointing to a large black line running across a white sheet of cardboard propped at arm’s length in front of her. “There.”
It isn’t exactly an impressive feat for a 57-year-old woman—except that Gómez is blind. And she’s been that way for over a decade. When she was 42, toxic optic neuropathy destroyed the bundles of nerves that connect Gómez’s eyes to her brain, rendering her totally without sight. She’s unable even to detect light.
But after 16 years of darkness, Gómez was given a six-month window during which she could see a very low-resolution semblance of the world represented by glowing white-yellow dots and shapes. This was possible thanks to a modified pair of glasses, blacked out and fitted with a tiny camera. The contraption is hooked up to a computer that processes a live video feed, turning it into electronic signals. A cable suspended from the ceiling links the system to a port embedded in the back of Gómez’s skull that is wired to a 100-electrode implant in the visual cortex in the rear of her brain.
A weak signal about the continuation of Moore’s Law and the emergence of quantum computing.
DNA-like material could bring even smaller transistors
Computer chips use billions of tiny switches, called transistors, to process information. The more transistors on a chip, the faster the computer.
A material shaped like a one-dimensional DNA helix might further push the limits on a transistor's size. The material comes from a rare earth element called tellurium.
Researchers found that the material, encapsulated in a nanotube made of boron nitride, helps build a field-effect transistor with a diameter of two nanometers. Transistors on the market are made of bulkier silicon and range between 10 and 20 nanometers in scale.
The research is published in the journal Nature Electronics. Engineers at Purdue University performed the work in collaboration with Michigan Technological University, Washington University in St. Louis, and the University of Texas at Dallas.
Here is a recent summary of the latest progress in 3D printing.
3D printing gets bigger, faster and stronger
Research advances are changing the image of a once-niche technology.
As a metal platform rises from a vat of liquid resin, it pulls an intricate white shape from the liquid — like a waxy creature emerging from a lagoon. This machine is the world’s fastest resin-based 3D printer and it can create a plastic structure as large as a person in a few hours, says Chad Mirkin, a chemist at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. The machine, which Mirkin and his colleagues reported last October, is one of a slew of research advances in 3D printing that are broadening the prospects of a technology once viewed as useful mainly for making small, low-quality prototype parts. Not only is 3D printing becoming faster and producing larger products, but scientists are coming up with innovative ways to print and are creating stronger materials, sometimes mixing multiple materials in the same product.
Sportswear firms, aviation and aerospace manufacturers and medical-device companies are eager to take advantage. “You’re not going to be sitting in your home, printing out exactly what you want to repair your car any time soon, but major manufacturing companies are really adopting this technology,” says Jennifer Lewis, a materials scientist at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
The latest techniques could be lucrative for researchers, many of whom — Lewis and Mirkin among them — are already commercializing their work. They’re also fundamentally exciting, says Iain Todd, a metallurgist at the University of Sheffield, UK. “We can get performance out of these materials that we didn’t think we could get. That’s what’s really exciting to a materials scientist. This is getting people used to the new weird.”
This is a fascinating weak signal about new sources of energy.
"Our research shows that a drop of 100 microliters of water released from a height of 15 cm can generate a voltage of over 140V. And the power generated can light up 100 small LED light bulbs," said Professor Wang.
the increase in instantaneous power density does not result from additional energy, but from the conversion of kinetic energy of water itself. "The kinetic energy entailed in falling water is due to gravity and can be regarded as free and renewable. It should be better utilized."
New droplet-based electricity generator: A drop of water generates 140V power, lighting up 100 LED bulbs
A research team led by scientists from the City University of Hong Kong (CityU) has recently developed a droplet-based electricity generator (DEG) with a field-effect transistor (FET)-like structure that allows for high energy conversion efficiency and instantaneous power density thousands of times that of its counterparts without FET technology. This would help to advance scientific research of water energy generation and tackle the energy crisis.
The research was led together by Professor Wang Zuankai from CityU's Department of Mechanical Engineering, Professor Zeng Xiao Cheng from University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and Professor Wang Zhong Lin, founding director and chief scientist from Beijing Institute of Nanoenergy and Nanosystems of Chinese Academy of Sciences. Their findings were published in Nature in a study titled "A droplet-based electricity generator with high instantaneous power density."
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