Technology: General Issues

What if the best was yet to come? Recent studies show that our happiness levels peak at age 82, and that our decision-making skills improve as we age. As more of us live past the age of 80, in this ground-breaking book, Dr Daniel Levitin uses cutting-edge research from neuroscien...ce and psychology to demonstrate the benefits of getting older. Packed with engaging interviews with individuals who thrived far beyond the conventional age of retirement, this book also reflects on challenges many readers will recognize. Levitin offers a realistic personal plan full of practical, cognitive enhancing tricks for everyone to follow over the years. Successful Ageing is a radical exploration of what we all can learn from those who age joyously. This book will revolutionize the way we plan for old age as individuals, family members, and citizens of a society in which the average life expectancy continues to rise.
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The long-held dream of artificial intelligence researchers is to build machines that are conscious and self-aware - the dream of creating life itself. While this remains a remote prospect, the AI floodgates have opened, and they are changing our world fundamentally. Yet the publi...c debate and media hype is still largely centred on elusive prospects such as sentient machines and dystopian robot takeovers. In this lively and clear-headed guide, Michael Wooldridge changes the narrative on AI, revealing how these anxieties distract us from the more realistic risks that this transformative technology poses, from algorithmic bias to fake news. He also shows us how they overlook the true life-changing potential of the field he loves. Instead, The Road to Conscious Machines gives us the real story of AI, through all its booms and busts, elucidating the discoveries of its greatest pioneers from Alan Turing to Demis Hassabis. It shows us what today's AI researchers actually think and do, and how they are ushering in a new era of real-time spoken word language translation, augmented reality tools, healthcare innovations and much more.
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Have you ever asked yourself how the inventions, gadgets, and devices that surround us actually work? Discover the hidden workings of everyday technology with this graphic guide. How Technology Works demystifies the machinery that keeps the modern world going, from simple objects... such as zip fasteners and can openers to the latest, most sophisticated devices of the information age, including smart watches, personal digital assistants, and driverless cars. It includes inventions that have changed the course of history, like the internal combustion engine, as well as technologies that might hold the key to our future survival, including solar cells and new kinds of farming to feed a growing population. All the way through the book, step-by-step explanations are supported by simple and original graphics that take devices apart and show you how they work. The opening chapter explains principles that underpin lots of devices - from basic mechanics to electricity to digital technology. From there on, devices are grouped by application - such as the home, transport, and computing - making them easy to find and placing similar devices side by side. How Technology Works is perfect for anyone who didn't have a training in STEM subjects at school or is simply curious about how the modern world works.
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Ray Avery is an amazing person. He is the current NZer of the Year because of his clever work in the third world using his scientific and business knowledge to provide cheap cataract operations, cheap and more effective incubators for babies and other creative scientific solution...s. His childhood was very 'Angela's Ashes' - brought up in an orphanage (his own mother had tried to sell him?, then ran away and lived on the streets. But Ray went on to become a scientist, a millionaire, very successful businessman and now someone who literally does help to change the world. During the mid-nineties Ray spent most of his time working in Eritrea and Nepal setting up two world class Intraocular lens laboratories. At that time the cost of an Intraocular lenses was about US$300 but Ray managed to put the technology together to produce lenses for under US$10.00 making modern Cataract surgery accessible to the poor throughout Africa and Asia.Today these laboratories produce over 10% of the worlds supply of Intraocular lenses. Today he encourages other talented people to get on board and tackle some of the really big problems confronting the poor in developing countries. From his garage in Mt Eden Auckland Ray manages a global network of experts to work on specific projects and somehow everyone finds themselves donating their time and knowledge for free - and they are rewarded by making a difference.
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A compact and accessible history, from punch cards and calculators to UNIVAC and ENIAC, the personal computer, Silicon Valley, and the Internet.