Our Vision Weekends are the annual member 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.
Take advantage of the Early Bird Special and get your tickets for Vision Weekend France or Vision Weekend USA today!
General applications for our Space Workshop in San Francisco are CLOSED. We are currently only accepting admission through sponsorship and volunteering at this time. If you or someone you know would like to offer sponsorship, please reach out to [email protected]. If you would like to attend through volunteering, please reach out to [email protected].
This two-day workshop will allow attendees to explore new opportunities, form lasting collaborations, and drive cooperation toward shared long-term goals.
Confirmed presenters include:
Use the link below to apply to our other upcoming workshops:
We are excited to announce the first ever Norm Hardy Prize, administered by the Foresight Institute and sponsored by Agoric and Protocol Labs.
The long term goal of the Norm Hardy Prize is a set of design principles and tools that encourage developers to create interaction designs that make it easy for people to use secure systems securely.
To be eligible for the annual $10k prize, please submit a short essay, no more than 1,500 words, discussing at least one of these four criteria:
Thank you to all who joined us for our Whole Brain Emulation Workshop in Oxford, UK on May 22nd and 23rd.
This year, we included project development grants in our workshop, awarding a total of $6k to three working groups for their incredible ideas:
1st Place: Comparative Analysis of Static Neuroimaging Modalities – Andrew Payne, Todd Huffman, Logan Thrasher Collins, Joanne Peng, Ken Hayworth, Davidad, Berry Bentley, Michael Andregg
2nd Place: BCIs for AI Alignment – Sumner Norman, Judd Rosenblatt, Andy Matuschak, Tamuz Hod, Niccolo Zanichelli, Davidad, Joanne Peng
3rd Place: Minimum Emulation NextUp – Randal Koene, Anita Fowler, Adrian Gehr, Michael Skuhersky, Michael Andregg, Roman Bauer, Barry Bentley
Stay tuned for the recordings from speakers and the whole brain 2.0 roadmap!
The Feynman Prizes are named in honor of the physicist Richard Feynman. In 1959, Feynman gave a talk titled “There’s Plenty Of Room At The Bottom,” which is considered by many industry advocates to have inspired the field of nanotechnology itself.
With the Feynman Prizes, Foresight Institute wishes to recognize recent and brilliant achievements that contribute deeply to the field of Nanotechnology.
Nominations are now open for this year’s award. Please nominate yourself or someone you think should be awarded here.
Announcing the DeSci Workshop: 2 day event held on July 15th and 16th where presentations and workshops are meant to advance and proliferate the intersection between web3 technology and science: decentralized technology to innovate on scientific publication, data sharing, and knowledge engineering. The full workshop schedule can be found here.
Allison Duettmann, Foresight’s CEO, was recently published on Coindesk.com. Check out her piece on AI Safety here.
The Foresight Fellowship is a one-year program committed to giving change-makers the support to accelerate their bold ideas into the future. Our mission is to catalyze collaboration among leading young scientists, engineers, and innovators who work to advance technologies for the benefit of life.
If you’d like to nominate anyone or apply for the 2024 Foresight Fellowship, please do so here.
Iqbal Utama, postdoctoral researcher at Northwestern University, is developing methods to better control how single-photon emitters produce light! Check out his paper “Chemomechanical modification of quantum emission in monolayer WSe2” recently published in Nature! This work was accomplished with theoretical support from Professor George C. Schatz, winner of the Foresight Feynman Prize in 2008.
Renaud Jolivet, Professor of Neural Engineering and Computation at Maastricht University, was appointed Chair of the EBRAINS Science and Technology Committee as of March 27th, 2023. Congratulations!
Kevin Lalli’s spacetech start up, Hydrosat, was recently nominated by PitchBook Data as a top European spacetech startup to watch!
Jamie Joyce, Society Library, recently gave a talk titled Democracy’s Library: Community Collaboration at the Internet Archive HQ in San Francisco. Check out the recording here.
Guido Putignano, Nucleate, hosted Nucleate Longevity Conference in Milano last week. Our CPO Niamh Peren was honored to speak.
Top left: Biosecurity Artivism, Foresight x Bronic London Salon on May 18th!
Top right: Our Zuzalu meetup in Montenegro on May 16th
Bottom left: Whole Brain Emulation and AI Risk Evening at Trajan House on May 24th
Bottom right: Foresight x Bronic SynBioBeta Satellite Salon on May 25th
Here is a highlight reel of some of the fantastic presentations we had in our monthly seminar groups during May. Visit our seminar page to dive deeper.
Nathan Johnson | Space Court Foundation’s Research Into Foundations and Evolution of Space Law
As humanity ventures beyond Earth and expands its presence in space, the need for a robust legal framework to govern activities in the cosmos becomes increasingly paramount. In this compelling talk, Nathan Johnson, a leading expert in space law and a key member of the Space Court Foundation, unravels the intricacies of the organization’s research into the foundations and evolution of space law.
Aleksei Aksimentiev | DNA Electromotors
In this talk, Aleksei Aksimentiev highlights the applications of the all-atom molecular dynamics method to design molecular motors and to unravel microscopic phenomena that give rise to puzzling experimental observations.
Using molecular dynamics simulations on some of the largest supercomputers in the world using NAMD simulation software and rate-kinetic diffusion models, A. Singharoy dissects some of the basic needs of directional rotation in nature, mechanisms to overcome noise, and allude to possibilities of molecular designs for controlling such movements even in crowded environments.
Linda MacDonald Glenn | The Future Envisioned Through the Prism of Interconnectedness
This talk by bioethicist and legal scholar Linda MacDonald Glenn delves into the future through the lens of interconnectedness, offering a kaleidoscopic view of the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead
Stephane Redon | Recent Developments in Integrated Molecular Design
This talk will provide a look at the latest developments in the platform, focusing on three advancements: the extension of the data model for coarse-grained systems, new tools for Python development, and the introduction of SAMSON AI, a large language model (LLM)-based assistant.
Lewis Hammond | Introduction to Cooperative AI
After motivating the importance of cooperation in the context of AI, Lewis Hammond highlights the location of cooperative AI within the broader landscape of AI safety research (most of which considers only single-agent settings) and provides several examples of problems and progress in this area.
Kevin Kelly | Pioneering Visions of a High-Tech Future
Kelly shares details about his latest book, a collection of optimistic advice in tweet form, and talks about his current project envisioning a desirable hi-tech future 100 years from now.
AI Knowledge Mapping Hackathon
Calling all knowledge graph and mapping enthusiasts! The AI Knowledge Mapping Hackathon will be taking place at the Internet Archive on 6/2. Register for your free ticket today!
Biomarkers of Aging Consortium
The Biomarkers of Aging Consortium unites scientists, clinicians, and experts to advance biomarkers of aging for clinical use. With diverse expertise, they forge a foundation for future endeavors and unlock the potential of longevity research. Explore their initiatives, events, and updates on their website, LinkedIn, and Twitter.
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.