Better Worlds

Better Worlds brings you:

The Better Worlds Conference, a meeting of new ideas

and

Immodest Proposals, a pub-based "town hall" meeting for society's cutting edge.

and

A blog that collects ideas to make Earth, and other planets, better places to live.

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This is a video of a bottle coated with LiquiGlide, which makes condiments come out more easily.  That’s regular ketchup.  More on this from fast.coexist.

Source fastcoexist.com
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Better Worlds is very excited to announce a huge discussion event, about startups and immigration, headlining with Reddit co-founder and Breadpig founder Alexis Ohanian. The event will take place at General Assembly in New York City, and is described in full at our meetup.com page for Immodest Proposals NYC. This is a great thing, guys, and a huge step for us as we try to help you make the world a better place.  Best of all: It’s FREE.  But space is very limited, so sign up as soon as possible if you plan to come. If you’re not in New York, or can’t come, feel free to invite your friends.  There will also be a webcast—details on that to follow. Poster by Two Thousand.

Better Worlds is very excited to announce a huge discussion event, about startups and immigration, headlining with Reddit co-founder and Breadpig founder Alexis Ohanian.

The event will take place at General Assembly in New York City, and is described in full at our meetup.com page for Immodest Proposals NYC.

This is a great thing, guys, and a huge step for us as we try to help you make the world a better place.  Best of all: It’s FREE.  But space is very limited, so sign up as soon as possible if you plan to come.

If you’re not in New York, or can’t come, feel free to invite your friends.  There will also be a webcast—details on that to follow.

Poster by Two Thousand.

Well these robots are awesome.

advicebyada:

Just think of how creepy robots can find us…

a-skynet-future:

DARPA Robot Masters Stairs

I think DARPA has it wrong. Humanoids don’t make robots easier to relate to. They’re just more creepy!

Source Mashable

4/25/12: Immodest Proposals XVI: One Pill Makes You Smarter, the Ethics of Mind Enhancers


  Join John Skylar and Better Worlds for the sixteenth installment in the Immodest Proposals discussion series!  This time, we’ll be talking about the ethics of using mind-altering substances to affect the creative process.  Is it the same thing as using steroids in sports?  Is it different?  Are there special rules?


  We’ve assembled a panel of creatives from every corner of the Internet, including Nella from The Nostalgia Chick, Elisa of The Nostalgia Chick and Maven of the Eventide, Brentalfloss, and writer Dan Roth (who has worked on Dr. Who, Angel, SyFy’s Blastr and a webcomic collaboration with Brentalfloss).


  This event is on April 25th at The Way Station, at 683 Washington in Brooklyn, NY.  It’s the bar with a TARDIS! The discussion starts at 7:45 PM, doors at 7:15.  $5 in advance, $10 at the door.  Happy hour pricing to all attendees during the event.

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Human networks can also be safety nets. smarterplanet: How Social Media Is Changing Disaster Response | Mashable More than 66% of adult online users are now connected to one or more social media platforms. And it’s not just about keeping in touch with friends or following news or interests. As social media continues to play a pervasive role in the way people think, act and react to the world, it’s also changing one of the most crucial ways of actually helping the world: how people respond to emergencies and disaster. From government agencies and other organizations, to citizens and social platforms themselves, people across the spectrum of social media are leveraging its use to respond to emergencies. According to a 2011 report of the Congressional Research Service, there are two broad categories in the way that we can conceptualize this use of social media: 1) to “somewhat passively” disseminate information and receive user feedback; and 2) to use social media more systematically as an emergency management tool.

Human networks can also be safety nets.

smarterplanet:

How Social Media Is Changing Disaster Response | Mashable

More than 66% of adult online users are now connected to one or more social media platforms. And it’s not just about keeping in touch with friends or following news or interests. As social media continues to play a pervasive role in the way people think, act and react to the world, it’s also changing one of the most crucial ways of actually helping the world: how people respond to emergencies and disaster.

From government agencies and other organizations, to citizens and social platforms themselves, people across the spectrum of social media are leveraging its use to respond to emergencies. According to a 2011 report of the Congressional Research Service, there are two broad categories in the way that we can conceptualize this use of social media: 1) to “somewhat passively” disseminate information and receive user feedback; and 2) to use social media more systematically as an emergency management tool.

Source Mashable
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In other good energy news, this laser-fusion reactor is nearing the point where it will produce more energy than it takes in, known as the “break even” point.  Researchers are apparently optimistic that they could make power-producing laser fusion reactors within a decade. LIFE director Mike Dunne says that the capital costs for the pilot plant would be about $4 billion, and it could be putting hundreds of megawatts into the grid by the early 2020s — at least a decade earlier than the magnetic-fusion community hopes to deliver a practical power plant. Recalling the first time he presented the LIFE concept to magnetic-fusion researchers at a conference a few years ago, Moses says “The response to it was almost violent: ‘This cannot be.’ They were shocked at the ambition of it for sure. And they still are.”

In other good energy news, this laser-fusion reactor is nearing the point where it will produce more energy than it takes in, known as the “break even” point.  Researchers are apparently optimistic that they could make power-producing laser fusion reactors within a decade.

LIFE director Mike Dunne says that the capital costs for the pilot plant would be about $4 billion, and it could be putting hundreds of megawatts into the grid by the early 2020s — at least a decade earlier than the magnetic-fusion community hopes to deliver a practical power plant. Recalling the first time he presented the LIFE concept to magnetic-fusion researchers at a conference a few years ago, Moses says “The response to it was almost violent: ‘This cannot be.’ They were shocked at the ambition of it for sure. And they still are.”

Source nature.com

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