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We are thrilled to have hosted the recentĀ AI for Climate and NatureĀ Workshop inĀ collaboration with the Bezos Earth Fund, heldĀ October 17-19 at The Institute, Salesforce Tower, San Francisco.
TheĀ workshop invited leading researchers,Ā entrepreneurs, and decision-makers to collectively drive progress in this neglected domain by exploringĀ high-impact opportunities. Key questions asked at the workshop included:
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Our Vision Weekends are the annual festivals of Foresight Institute. Held in two countries over two weekends, top talent across biotechnology, nanotechnology, neurotechnology, computing, and space are encouraged to burst their tech silos, and plan for flourishing long-term futures together.
Vision Weekend France: 17-19 NovemberĀ
Vision Weekend USA: 1-3 DecemberĀ
Take a look at the weekend agendasĀ here.
Capacity is limited for these highly engaging weekends. As both dates are quickly approaching,Ā secure your ticketsĀ today!
We continue to look for sponsors who can help support us and ensure deserving junior researchers and others in our community can attend Vision Weekend 2023. Please reach out if you can make this happen!
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Giving Tuesday is coming up, and we invite you to consider supporting our mission. Your donations directly empower our community of talented scientists and technologists who expand the limits of what civilization is capable of achieving.
Beyond advancing cutting-edge research, your donation may come with various perks. Dive into the variousĀ benefits of donating! For instance, you may receiveĀ an invitation to join ourĀ personal longevity group. This is an exclusive community of individuals who are passionate about exploring cutting-edge treatments and practices that can slow and eventually reverse personal aging. Meeting monthly, the group offers rich opportunities for discussions and insights from industry experts.
If you’re as passionate about advancing the fields of science and technology as we are, please considerĀ donating and becoming part of our community.Ā
As a reminder, Foresight Institute is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, so your donation is tax-deductible in the US as permitted by law. Our tax ID number is 77-0119168.
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We’re excited to share our 2023 Q3 Report with you! Highlights include:Ā
We could not achieve our mission without your support, so thank you! We highly appreciate it.Ā
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We’re thrilled toĀ announce the 2023 Feynman Prize winners! These awards have been a longstanding part of Foresight Institute, inaugurated inĀ 1993, honouring those who have made significant strides in the field of nanotechnology.
Inspired by the groundbreaking physicist Richard Feynman, these accolades recognize remarkable achievements in nanotechnology. From innovations in atomically precise manufacturing to game-changing nanosystems, the Feynman Prizes celebrate the best in the field. For a glimpse of the significance of these awards, look no further than 2016, when Sir J. Fraser Stoddart, a former Feynman Prize recipient, was honored with the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
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Feynman Prize 2023 Winners
Feynman Prize in Theory Winner:Ā Professor Alexandre Tkatchenko, University of Luxembourg
Feynman Prize in Experiment Winner:Ā Professor James J. Collins, MIT
Distinguished Student Award Winner:Ā Qiancheng Xiong, Yale University
Niamh Peren, Foresight Institute’s Chief of Strategy and Innovation,Ā had the pleasure of recently attending theĀ BrainMind Summit 2023, held at UCSF, San Francisco, 21-23 October!Ā Driven by a shared passion to unravel the mysteries of the human brain and harness this knowledge for the greater good, someĀ key ideas discussed at the summit were:
The symbiotic relationship between AI and the Brain
The latest advancements in Brain Mapping
Innovations in Neuromodulation
Exploring the Nuances of Gut-Brain Interactions
Many more!
It was evident that the future of neuroscience holds immense potential and promises innovations that will shape our lives and well-being in unprecedented ways.
A special note of gratitude toĀ Diana SavilleĀ forĀ inviting Niamh to attend!
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The Lander Challenge,Ā in partnership with Foresight Institute,Ā is a collection of 5 key milestone awards ($15k – $50k+) designed to drive elite collegiate rocketry teams to execute on self-landing rockets. This challenge is also designed to increase knowledge sharing.Ā
We’re very excited to share thatĀ Space Enterprise at BerkeleyĀ won the first Lander Challenge prize earlier his month!
This teamĀ won the $15k TVC hotfire prize after successfully firing their 550Ā lbfĀ engine for 14 seconds and demonstrating thrust vector control of 13 degrees in all directions.
Check outĀ TwitterĀ &Ā LinkedInĀ announcementsĀ for videos of the launch and landing!Ā
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On this month’s Existential Hope podcast,Ā Emilia JavorskyĀ envisions a future where we join forces with AIĀ to tackle global challenges. She emphasizes the importance of creating positive narratives, pointing towards a world where technology complements, not replaces, our human connections.Ā
In a positive vision, she believes AI can better human health, pioneer bioengineering, and aid in space exploration whilst enhancing human connection.Ā
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In collaboration with the DeSci Foundation, Foresight Institute CEO Allison DuettmannĀ spoke on the intersecting frontiers of Biotechnology, Neurotechnology, and Artificial Intelligence, which has significant implications for the future of humanity. In her talk, Duettman exploredĀ the long-term opportunities inherent to these fields by surveying emerging breakthroughs and their potential applications.
Whether we can enjoy the benefits of these technologies depends on us: can we overcome the institutional challenges that slowĀ down progress without exacerbating civilizational risks that come with powerful technological progress?
Congratulations toĀ Sofya Lebedeva,Ā currentlyĀ working on MAIT Cells (immune cells that have both innate and acquired immunity properties) for her PhD atĀ Paul Klenerman’s Lab, Oxford University.Ā
She has co-foundedĀ ARMoRāĀ a non-profit focusing on supporting sustainable access & development of antimicrobials to combat antimicrobial resistanceĀ (AMR).
Finally, she isĀ running the first round of theĀ Oxford Biosecurity Group,Ā a student-led team of researchers dedicated to addressing issues related to biosecurity. TheyĀ will be taking applications for project leads & fellows in January 2024.
Lisa ThiergartĀ and colleagues have shared a paper contributingĀ to being able to reliably controlĀ the behaviour of large language models, via modifying activations at inference time to alter model behaviour predictably.Ā Activation Addition: Steering Language Models Without Optimization.Ā
Concretely, theĀ inference-time approach givesĀ control over high-level properties of output and preserves off-target model performance whilstĀ involvingĀ far less compute and implementation effort than finetuning, and allows users to provide natural language specifications.Ā
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Here is a highlight reel of some of the fantastic presentations we had in our monthly seminar groups during October. Visit ourĀ seminar pageĀ to dive deeper.Ā
Thomas Duffield | Aging as a Failure of Epigenetic Repair Fidelity
Duffield joins our biotechnology group to propose a novel theory of biological systemic aging, and discuss why, how, and when epigenetic aging becomes inevitable.
Simon DĆ¼rr | Designing stable Metalloproteins using Deep Learning
Metal ions are essential cofactors for many proteins, including enzymes. However, it has been difficult to design metalloproteins due to the complicated electronic structure of metals. In this talk, DĆ¼rrĀ highlights the new Metal3D model that, together with a sequence design model,Ā allows computational design of new zinc-based metalloproteins without specifying the coordination motif and location of the binding site beforehand
Leon Peshkin |Ā Home Blood Testing for Longevity Science and Self-experimentation
This is an overview of today’s and tomorrow’s home blood testing technology and how we can leverage it to increase human health span and lifespan.Ā Foresight Institute isĀ partnering with the Peshkin Lab at Harvard Medical School and SiPhox Health for a decentralized science / self-experimentation for longevity session during the upcoming Vision Weekend France. SiPhox is providing home blood testing kits, and the Peshkin Lab will be analyzing the resulting anonymous data and making it publicly available.Ā
Ghada Almashaqbeh | Unclonable Polymers and Their Cryptographic Applications
Almashaqbeh joins our groups to share how unclonable polymers can be used for secure data storage, creating self-destruct properties and password-protected vaults.Ā
Mahendra Prasad | Background Conditions for Altruistic Intelligence Explosions
In this talk, Prasad discusses why approval voting is a significantly better tool for single-winner group decision-makingĀ and how it is worth greater adoption and implementation for important decision-making; howĀ Condorcet and Condorcetās jury theorem are useful concepts for popular discourse; and finally, how Condorcet Multiagent Systems is a useful framing tool for policymaking discourse.Ā
Mark S. Miller | Misdiagnosing AGI risk
Ā Miller explores the often misunderstood risks of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). He challenges conventional perspectives, distinguishing between genuine threats and misconceptions, and offers a fresh understanding of AGIās potential impact on society.
Applications are open for the Brains Coordinated Research Accelerator!Ā ā from Speculative TechnologiesĀ
A 13-week, part-time program to provide the skills and opportunities to translate ambitious research visions that arenāt a good fit for a company but are too big for a single academic lab into impact. To help people with ambitious research ideas refine them and find a place to execute them in government organizations, nonprofits, and beyond.
Cooperative AI: Melting Pot ContestĀ āĀ from Cooperative AI, Google DeepMind, & MIT
This is an opportunity for those interested in multi-agent cooperation ā a challenge for researchers to push the boundaries of multi-agent reinforcement learning for mixed-motive cooperation using Google Deepmind’s cutting-edge Melting Pot Environment Suite. Win $10,000 in prizes, $10,000 in travel grants, and co-authorship of a report for NeurIPS 2024
Submissions are due by November 10th!
Applications are open for the Longevity Funding Innovation PrizeĀ ā from The Longevity Prize
The longevity field stands out as havingĀ transformative potential, whichĀ promises a better future for all. Yet, the industry has suffered a perception problem, leading to inadequate funding. This prize offersĀ a $20,000 award to those who can devise effective strategies to substantially increase financial backing in this vital sector.
Apply for the Open Agency Keyholder Prize
They are looking forĀ innovative solutions to a unique problem in cryptographic key management within the Open Agency Architecture framework. The ideal solution will be awarded a $10,000 prize!
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As an active part of our community of talented scientists and technologists who expand the limit of our civilization’s capabilities, you will be at the forefront of our research, and our intriguing network.
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