Links

Writing Technique

• I strongly encourage you to use the Undergraduate Writing Center, FAC 211, 471-6222. The UWC offers free, individualized, expert help with writing for any UT undergraduate, by appointment or on a drop-in basis. These services are not just for writing that has "problems": Getting feedback from an informed audience is a normal part of a successful writing project. The UWC’s trained consultants work with students from every department on both academic and non-academic writing. Using methods that preserve the integrity of your work, they help you develop strategies to improve your writing and become a more independent writer. Whether you are writing a lab report, a resume, a term paper, a statement for an application, or your own poetry, UWC consultants will be happy to work with you.
• George Orwell: 6 Questions/6 Rules

Astronomical and Physical Context

• James Crocker - From Galileo to Hubble: Mankind’s Extraordinary Journey
• New Results on Big Bang

Evolution

• Carl Sagan Portal
• Carl Sagan Cosmic Calendar
• Study Discovers DNA That Tells Mice How to Construct Their Homes
• Mice Burrows
• Ted Talks - Evolution
• Mutations Found in Melanomas May Shed Light on How Cancers Grow
• Sagan Series
• Bones Under Parking Lot Belonged to Richard III
• Asian Mutation
• How Beer Gave Us Civilization
• Reverse Extinction
• Virtual Brain
• Human Migration from Africa
• TED - The History of the World in 18 Minutes
• Experts Tackle Question of How Humans Will Evolve
• Epigenetics: genes, environment and the generation game
• Emergence (Cosmos)
• Tree of Life

Genetics

• Jennifer Doudna
• Doudna CRISPR-Cas9
• Genomic Engineering
• Gene Editing
• Editing Animals
• Gene Hackers
• Synthetic Human Genomes
• Gene Driving

Institutions for the Study of the Future of Humanity

• The Cambridge Project for Existential Risk
• The Future of Humanity Institute
• The Future of Life Institute
• Center for Genetics and Society

Human Population

• Albert Bartlett "Arithmetic, Population and Energy” video lecture
• Austin leads 50 largest US cities in population growth
• Human Numbers Through Time animation
• Population Counter
• Evolution of Women
• A World Without Work

Computers

• Brain-like Computers
• Are We Really Conscious?
• Long-term Data Storage in DNA
• New 'Artificial Synapses' Could Let Supercomputers Mimic the Human Brain

Robots

• Robot Water Strider
• New Dog Robot
• Robot Jellyfish
• Night Watchman
• Flying Insect
• Kirobo - space robot
• Robot James Bond Theme
• Robot Dog Throwing Cinderblocks
• Flying robot quadrocopters throwing a rod
• Origami robot [mp4]
• Robot fish [mp4]
• DARPA Legged Squad Support System [mp4]
• A Swarm of Nano Quadrotors [mp4]
• The 1,000-robot swarm
• Construction with Quadrotor Teams
• Sand Flea Jumping Robot
• Awesome Robot Spider!
• Humanoid Robot 2014
• Humanoid Robot 2015
• Japanese Robot Reads the News
• Geminoid DK
• Self-aware Robot
• With artificial ‘octopus skin,’ robots can bend and stretch while changing color
• A Plan in Case Robots Take the Jobs: Give Everyone a Paycheck
• Microrobots
• 3D Printed Robots
• Robo-bee

Current Status and Near Future

• Autonomous Weapons: an Open Letter from AI & Robotics Researchers
• Robot Weapons
• Global Trends 2030: Alternative Worlds
• Farming With Nature: Permaculture with Sepp Holzer
• Greening the Desert
• The Global Farmland Rush
• Beware of Errant Asteroids
• The Future of Jobs
• Papal Encyclicals
• Artificial Leaf Could Soon Fuel the Planet
• The Future of Digital Fabrication
• When Robots Take Jobs
• A World Without Growth
• Women in an Accelerated Age
• Reinventing the Web

Exoplanets

• Science Seat: How to make a planet

Space Travel

• Stephen Hawking - Possible Future Space Travel
• Stephen Hawking Speaks Out On Space Exploration, Time Travel
• National Geographic Space Travel
• For Space Station, a Pod That Folds Like a Shirt and Inflates Like a Balloon
• Freeman Dyson - Let's look for life in the outer solar system
• Burt Rutan sees the future of space
• Alcubierre drive
• von Neumann probe
• Lets Not Move to Mars

Future

• Bill Joy - Why the Future Doesn't Need Us
• Arc - A digital quarterly from the makers of New Scientist
• Martin Rees - Is this our final century?
• Why Alien Life Will Be Robotic

Consciousness

• Mind and Cosmos