The recent high-profile, invitation-only TED (technology, entertainment, design) conference was supposedly more focused on philanthropy than ever before, and transhumanist extraordinaire Aubrey de Grey’s talk was well-received. The Executive Director of Google’s brand new philanthropic wing, Larry Brilliant, received a $100K grant to conduct future work. Here is WIRED magazine’s summary.

Check out the top 10 ways to destroy Earth. (Doesn’t include seed AI!)

Did you ever stop to think that the mathematics we know may not be anything Platonic or transcendental, but contigent on our particular human psychology and problem-solving necessities? Welcome to the cognitive science of mathematics. Meanwhile, mathematical proofs are getting so complicated that they are difficult to verify.

Check out this huge collection of pictures of North Korea taken by a Russian visitor.

In Japan they are constructing a building lit by natural light, even during the night! The structure will use a complementing set of thin solar panels and LEDs to store and release energy at the appropriate times.

In more exciting news involving Dubai, the CRN weblog made me aware of construction of the Hydropolis, the first underwater hotel.

And what’s all the new hubbub about a hypertelescope?