#postnormal
Improve your pilot skills by zapping your brain with recorded brain patterns of experienced pilots
Researchers at HRL Laboratories have discovered that low-current electrical brain stimulation can modulate the learning of complex real-world skills.
The study, published in an open-access paper in the February 2016 issue of the journal Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, found that novice pilots who received brain stimulation via electrode-embedded head caps improved their piloting abilities, with a 33 percent increase in skill consistency, compared to those who received sham stimulation. “Pilot skill development requires a synthesis of multiple cognitive faculties, many of which are enhanced by tDCS (transcranial direct current stimulation) and include dexterity, mental arithmetic, cognitive flexibility, visuo-spatial reasoning, and working memory,” the authors note.
Phillips speculates that the potential to increase learning with brain stimulation may make this form of accelerated learning commonplace. “As we discover more about optimizing, personalizing, and adapting brain stimulation protocols, we’ll likely see these technologies become routine in training and classroom environments,” he says. “It’s possible that brain stimulation could be implemented for classes like drivers’ training, SAT prep, and language learning.”
Is there a word for the period, when reality catches up with scifi? Postnormal is a good start. Are there others?
Luxembourg announced Asteroid Mining Initiative
The Luxembourg Government announced a series of measures to position Luxembourg as a European hub in the exploration and use of space resources. Amongst the key steps undertaken, as part of the spaceresources.lu initiative, will be the development of a legal and regulatory framework confirming certainty about the future ownership of minerals extracted in space from Near Earth Objects (NEO’s) such as asteroids.
Luxembourg will also invest in relevant R&D projects and consider direct capital investment in companies active in this field.
The country’s deputy prime minister, Étienne Schneider, said: “Our aim is to open access to a wealth of previously unexplored mineral resources, on lifeless rocks hurtling through space, without damaging natural habitats. We will support the long-term economic development of new, innovative activities in the space and satellite industries as a key high-tech sector for Luxembourg. At first, our aim is to carry out research in this area, which at a later stage can lead to more concrete activities in space.“
Welcome to the postnormal: Genetically modified limes
Left, a lime with genes from red grapes. Center, a lime with genes from the blood orange. Right, a control.
Researchers at the University of Florida Citrus Research and Education Center have modified the genetic code of limes, making the fruit more resilient and healthier including a new paintwork.
[via popular science][read more] [Photo Courtesy of Manjul Dutt/UF/IFAS]
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Neural Network generates new images
In case you’re wondering why your child doesn’t look like your child in the cloud.
„By combining deep convolutional neural network with MRF prior, our method can transfer both photorealistic and non-photorealistic styles to new images.“
Looking forward to postnormal photo albums, where reality is just a dream of an algorithm.
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Studio Smack - Branded Dreams: The Future of advertising
We’re not there yet. Guess that’s the best way to describe the status of nascent technologies like neurotech-brain-reading-devices and inception methods, memory implants and memory augmentation at the moment without the use of hype and buzzwords a la: “it will disrupt the way we live”or“this tech will change everything blabla”.
But how to talk about emerging technologies, socio-technological trends and changing societal patterns in a nutritious way? One of the best mix methods approaches for a broader audience is to research possible implications of emerging technologies and visualize them in a discussion-ready format for a broader audience.
In this case: If we know how to hack our brains and mix it with typical advertising and marketing strategies, what are possible outcomes? Studio Smack has created a great visual scifi prototype (and/or design fiction with flaws) for a postnormal world, that should spark discussions with contrasting points about the implications of neurotechnologies:
We see ads everyday and everywhere. They have become part of our life. While some people try to avoid seeing ads, advertisers keep finding new ways to reach us. However they are unable to reach us when we sleep. Our dreams are the last safe and add-free place so it seems.
But what happens when advertisers have the possibility to enter our dreams? Based on recent developments in brain science and technology this might be possible in the near future.
Chapeau! Great work.
