Education is the key to freedom, but a lot of incarcerated people never had the right opportunities, right teachers, etc. to find their potential. As an operations research analyst, I know the value of math - and how it can change lives.

This is such an important project that two missionaries like yourselves could spend your lives and their three children's lives to show the path the Lord has chosen for all of you.
You are bringing a sustainable way of life back to the fishermen in the Philippines.
God Bless you all for your dedication and service to the Lord and to the economically depressed population there.
You all are truly doing the Lord's work.  God Bless the Martins!
Darla and Andy

The only fully and easily modular cross platform open source game engine that gives you incredible levels of parallelization performance for free.

Great language. Great people working on it. Worth supporting. 

Aubrey and his teams have a history of making biorejuvenation breakthroughs that lay the groundwork for future anti-aging therapies that will someday save billions of lives. They tackle the intractable bits of aging, bits that are too speculative or longterm or unprofitable for venture capital. I’m proud to support LEVF and Aubrey and their work to defeat aging.

Fighting diseases of old age is one of the most important things there is.

The Prison Mathematics Project supports incarcerated individuals pursue self-studies in the field of mathematics.

The Prison Mathematics Project (PMP) brings math into prison in three different ways. 

1. Our one-on-one mentorship program pairs incarcerated individuals with a mathematical mentor. Our mentors are professors, post-docs, PhD students, undergraduates, math teachers, and people working in industry who have a passion for math. Once paired, the mentorship works to reach the educational goals of the incarcerated participant. This is done through letters, e-messaging, and phone calls when available. Deep relationships are formed that continue post-release and are a great way to support the difficult transition back to the outside world. 
2. Math circles in prison are a great way to build a community around math. Local mathematicians go into the prison to lead 1-2 hour events that work on problems solving and analytical thinking skills. Some of the topics explored in these events are combinatorics, number theory, graph theory, etc.  We have done events in Washington, Michigan, North Dakota, and we have upcoming events planned in New Jersey, Calgary, and Toronto. 
3. The PMP Console is a coding app that goes on inmates' tablets. It has a text editor, complier, and courses with exercises and explanations. It has recently been approved for a pilot program at the biggest prison in Australia. Giving people more technical skills and education will lead to better post-release employment and will help lower the recidivism rate. 

Prison Mathematics Project

Eliminating obstacles on the path to the comprehensive medical control of aging and age-related disease.

Longevity Escape Velocity (LEV) Foundation exists to conduct and inspire research to proactively identify and address the most challenging obstacles on the path to the widespread availability of comprehensively effective treatments to prevent and reverse human age-related disease.

Longevity Escape Velocity Foundation

Zig is a general-purpose programming language and toolchain for maintaining robust, optimal, and reusable software.

The Zig Software Foundation is a non-profit corporation founded in 2020 by Andrew Kelley, the creator of Zig, with the goal of supporting the development of the language. Currently, the ZSF is able to offer paid work at competitive rates to a small number of core contributors. We hope to be able to extend this offer to more core contributors in the future.

Zig Software Foundation Inc

Reefs for Life is bringing life back to coral reefs and hope to the communities that depend on them.

Reefs for Life is transforming communities through conservation and restoring damaged coral reefs. We are bringing hope back to needy communities and life back to the ocean that they depend on to make a living. Partner with us and play a role in restoring tropical coral reefs in the Philippines.

Reefs for Life

A refreshingly simple data-driven game engine built in Rust. Free and Open Source Forever! 

Our mission is to promote, protect, and advance the free and open source [Bevy ](https://bevyengine.org/)[Bevy Engine](https://bevy.org/) and related open source projects. We coordinate and promote its continued maintenance and development, educate and train members of the general public in its usage, and conduct research and development to advance the state of the art of creating real-time applications and simulations.

In short: **we exist to develop Bevy and teach people how to use it!**

Bevy will always be free and open-source, but it isn't free to make! Because Bevy is free, we rely on the generosity of the Bevy community to fund our efforts. If you are a happy user of Bevy or you believe in our mission, please consider donating!

**Bevy Foundation** currently uses donations in the following ways:

- **Hiring Maintainers:** Maintainers are technical experts that facilitate the development of Bevy by reviewing, adjusting, and merging changes from the Bevy community, reviewing and developing designs, and choosing project direction. They are technical experts that contribute their own changes to Bevy, as well as social experts that ensure the Bevy community is a pleasant and effective place to work. Maintainers serve as public representatives of the project. Our bar for maintainership is high. See our [Bevy Organization](https://github.com/bevyengine/bevy/blob/main/docs/the_bevy_organization.md#maintainer) document for details.
- **Infrastructure:** The foundation will pay present and future hosting costs, such as hosting the Bevy website and continuous integration (CI) to validate our code. Currently these costs are low, but we expect them to increase over time.
- **Operational Costs:** Keeping a nonprofit organization compliant and operational takes time and money. These costs are currently very low, but we expect them to increase over time as we grow. Our goal is to minimize these costs as much as possible as our goal is to maximize the amount we spend on actually building Bevy and accomplishing our mission.

Bevy Foundation

The AI Futures Project is a nonprofit research organization working to research and understand the trajectory of AI development

The **AI Futures Project** is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit research organization. We have developed a scenario forecast detailing the development of artificial general intelligence (AGI) and artificial superintelligence (ASI). Based on our research, we’ve come to believe that we might cross the thresholds to AGI and ASI within just a few years—and that plausible outcomes include unprecedented concentration of power, global catastrophe, or progress and flourishing.

The world is not ready for such a radical transformation. We hope to help policymakers, AI companies, AI entrepreneurs, AI safety researchers, and the general public to make sense of what’s coming, so they can take action and steer us in a better direction. In addition to our scenario forecast, we are developing [policy recommendations](https://time.com/collection/time100-voices/7086285/ai-transparency-measures/) and tabletop exercises (wargames) for decisionmakers.



AI Futures Project

From microbes to alien intelligence, the SETI Institute is the only organization dedicated to the search for life beyond Earth.

Have you ever looked at the stars and wondered if humans are alone in the universe?

The SETI Institute is a non-profit dedicated to the exploration and understanding of life on Earth and beyond. Our researchers are working to understand humanity's beginnings and our place among the stars. 

The SETI Institute runs the Allen Telescope Array, the first observatory built from the ground up to search for signals from technologically advanced societies in nearby star systems. Since federal funding for SETI research like this is limited, our donors have carried the torch for humanity in searcing the universe for other intelligent species. 

But life comes in all sizes, and just because there aren't other intelligent species in our solar system, doesn't mean there isn't microbial life on Mars or under the ice of Europa. Our scientists study extreme environments and the microbes that inhabit them so we are better prepared to search for life on planetary bodies throughout the galaxy. For example, the SETI Institute has a long history of supporting Mars exploration, including the search for biosignatures and the understanding of the planet's past climate. 

And research is only a part of what we do. We are also committed to educating the next generation of SETI scientists and public programming on science topics critical to all of humanity.

Where will you be when we find life beyond Earth? Join the search today.


SETI Institute

Alcor is the world’s leader in cryopreservation research. Established in 1972, we are a non-profit scientific research foundation.

**Our Mission**

To save lives through the following prioritized principles:

1. Maintain the current patients in biostasis.
2. Place current and future members into biostasis (when and if needed).
3. Eventually restore to health and reintegrate into society all patients in Alcor’s care.
4. Fund research into developing more cost effective and reliable means for 1-3 above.
5. Provide public education as a means of fostering growth to support the goals of 1, 2, 3, 4 above.

Alcor Life Extension Foundation

Communicating the best research and data to understand big global problems and make progress against them

Poverty, disease, hunger, climate change, war, existential risks, and inequality: The world faces many great and terrifying problems. Our World in Data focuses on communicating the best research and data that helps us understand and find solutions to the world’s largest problems.


Our World in Data publishes an open-access publication where users can understand the state of the world today, where we are making progress and where we are falling behind. Through interactive data visualizations we can see how the world has changed; by summarizing the scientific literature we can understand why. We cover everything from global poverty to natural disasters, education and health, democracy; we have over 13,000 charts across hundreds of topics.


Our World in Data is free, open-source and provided as a public good. It has millions of users every month, and is cited in research and media across the world every day. This allows millions of people to understand the large problems the world is facing, and how we can solve them.

Our World in Data

PEN is enabling every African child to learn by doing. 

In the Upper East Region of Ghana, there was a young boy named Issifu, living in a humble home – his dad was a mechanic and his mom sold goods in the market. 

As he went through elementary school, one of his least favorite subjects was math. One year, his grade in that class was 20%. He dreamed of being a doctor, but with grades like that, it wasn't going to happen. Then in his last year of junior high school, he had a math teacher who used a very different approach in class - he used activities, he made it interesting....even fun! That point marked a 180 degree turn in Issifu's life. He began loving the subject, excelling in it, reaching the top of his class across all the subjects, and today he is studying computer engineering at one of the best universities in Ghana.  

Issifu's story is why we are here.  
STEM education changes children's lives.  

We invite you to be a part of childrens' lives in Ghana, walking with them as they explore the world that exists when their potential is unleashed through STEM education.  

From $20 a month, you can become a PEN Pal,  a monthly donor program we have created to connect you with children like Issifu who are yearning for the doors of opportunity to be opened.

Your $20 monthly donation can provide one student with hands-on STEM education for an entire year.  
Your $50 monthly donation can provide one class of 40 students with the resources they need to learn hands-on STEM virtually. 
Your $165 monthly donation can provide one teacher with life-time practical skills to impact 100 new students every year till retirement.  

Right now, millions of children are where Issifu was – they are bored with the traditional classroom, their innate potential is being squelched, and any career aspirations are relegated to pipe dreams. BUT we know that a strong education will change the trajectory of their lives. 

Join us today and become a PEN Pal! 

*Note: Please make sure to select "monthly" under Donation Frequency to be added to the PEN Pals. Thank you for supporting Practical Education Network!*

PEN Pals - Practical Education Network

To act as a catalyst for change, fostering a fairer, more inclusive, and more sustainable society. To fully embrace its role in advancing knowledge and contributing to societal progress, our university must be equipped to leverage its areas of excellence, enhance them with agility, and cultivate new ones.

Your gift has a direct impact on our 4 ambitions:

1. To be a center of excellence of international renown
2. To be at the forefront of educational innovation ; to provide students with the best learning conditions
3. To spearhead a multidisciplinary approach that brings together socio-economic stakeholders to address major societal challenges
4. To be an entrepreneurial university, an economic driver for Wallonia, Belgium, and Europe
 

UCLouvain - La Fondation

FQxI is a nonprofit foundation that funds and supports blue skies research on the foundational questions of science. 



**FQxI's Mission**

FQxI catalyzes research and outreach primarily on questions at the foundations of physics and cosmology. FQxI supports high-risk, high-reward science—in particular new frontiers and innovative ideas integral to a deep understanding of physical reality that lie beyond the remit of conventional institutional support and funding. FQxI strives to make science more effective and equitable in all its efforts.

**How FQxI Makes a Difference**

At FQxI, we are committed to supporting scientific revolution, not just evolution. FQxI funds high-risk, high-reward projects that challenge the status quo. We cultivate curiosity, and our interest is in science itself.

Through FQxI’s grantmaking programs, we support scientists across the globe working at the forefront of their disciplines—those who challenge the ideas others take for granted and those who dream big and then roll up their sleeves to test their ideas.

FQxI runs grant programs to support research endeavors varying from large-scale support of laboratory work through our Zenith Grant program to mini-grants awarded to create workshops where great ideas can be exchanged between colleagues via our Fulcrum Grant program. In addition to funding over US$29M in grants for foundational questions research and outreach on issues ranging from the origin of the arrow of time in quantum gravity to the nature of consciousness., FQxI has generated thousands of scientific papers, hosted six international conferences, supported countless science meetings and workshops, and presented eleven competitions on foundational questions themes, awarding US$0.5M in prizes. Through it all, we share articles, podcasts, and videos featuring our grantees on QSpace.fqxi.org and engage our Membership of 200+ foundational questions researchers and outreach specialists (including five Nobel Prize in Physics winners).

Foundational Questions Institute

Anti Entropy builds operational infrastructure for impactful organizations to enhance their efficiency in global impact.

**Strengthening the Operations Behind World-Changing Work**

Anti Entropy supports high-impact organizations tackling humanity's most pressing challenges—from AI safety and global health to catastrophic risk reduction. We believe that world-changing missions deserve world-class operations.

**How We Create Impact:**

Through our **SparkWell fiscal sponsorship program**, we incubate promising nonprofit projects by providing tax-exempt status, financial infrastructure, and dedicated mentorship. Our projects include organizations working on AI safety in Brazil, cost-effective animal welfare solutions in Asia, and innovative approaches to global health challenges.

We also provide **operations consulting** to established organizations facing complex operational challenges, maintain the **Anti Entropy Resource Portal**—a comprehensive knowledge base helping organizations build stronger operational foundations—and offer direct support to select nonprofits.

**Your Donation's Impact:**

When you support Anti Entropy, you're not just funding one cause—you're amplifying the effectiveness of multiple high-impact organizations. Your contribution helps us:

- Provide operational infrastructure that lets mission-driven teams focus on their core work
- Offer expert mentorship that accelerates project development and independence
- Build resources that strengthen the entire ecosystem of impactful organizations

Every dollar you invest multiplies across our network, creating ripple effects that strengthen the operational backbone of organizations working to improve humanity's future.

Anti Entropy

Global Alliance for Africa is a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization focused on digital education in Africa and based in Chicago, IL. 

**Global Alliance for Africa (GAA) Mission Statement**

To collaborate with local partners to bridge the digital divide in educational opportunities and in technological resources for public school students in remote rural areas and urban slums in North African and Sub-Saharan African communities. We strongly believe that ***ICT Education is Essential to Breaking the Cycle of Poverty.***

**See our proposal here and partner with us.**

**Organizational Profile**

Increasing digital connectivity for poor, disadvantaged and under-resourced youth will foster multigenerational wealth, pivoting education as being the cornerstone that effects transformational growth, fostering a sustainable future built in equity.

In collaboration with public middle and secondary schools, universities, local agencies, community-based organizations, and various cooperatives, GAA has been at the forefront of building partnerships to design, implement and manage successful educational development and training programs in Africa.

**Statement of Need**

To close the digital divide in Africa, some say that stakeholders need to rethink universal access and broadband policies, promote equal access to digital technology and Increase investment.

**Current Statistics**

- **Broadband access**: In 2022, only 36% of Africa's population had broadband internet access. 
- **Mobile internet availability**: While 70% of Africa's population has access to mobile internet, less than 25% use it. 
- **Digital gender gap**: In 2020, 35% of men and 24% of women in Africa used the internet. 
- **Affordability**: In 2019, the average cost of one gigabyte of mobile data was 10.5% of monthly per-capita Gross National Income (GNI), which is higher than the United Nations Broadband Commission's recommended 2% target. 
- **Digital literacy**: Africa has a significant divide in digital skills. 
- **Digital infrastructure**: Africa's digital infrastructure coverage, access, and quality lag other regions. 
- **Digital competitiveness**: In 2021, Egypt ranked first in Africa in the digital competitiveness index, followed by the Gambia and Tanzania. 

As recently as January 2024 datareportal.com reports that more than 90% of the U.S. population has access to the Internet — whereas in rural areas throughout Morocco there is limited access, and in Kenya 40.8%, Tanzania 31.9% and Uganda 27% of the population has NO such access. Without urgent action, the situation will likely get worse as the region faces a rising demand for education due to a still-growing school-age population.

**Funding Request:** To offer a holistic, scalable program to bridge the inequity gap in digital access and education for 20,000 students in 50 public middle schools and secondary schools in Kenya, Morocco, Tanzania and Uganda. Through a coalition of community-based partners, GAA will lead the Digital Learning Program whose objective is to assure: A world where all can access reliable high-speed internet, devices, learning content, and digital literacy skills. By fostering equal access and proficiency in navigating the digital landscape, we empower current and future generations.

**Program Description Goals:**

Bridging the digital divide is not exclusive to the gap between wealthy nations and poor countries; it also encompasses the growing internal divide in developing countries between middle class families who can afford to send their children to private schools that are equipped with computer labs versus poor households whose children attend schools public schools that have minimal or no technological resources. For digital equity to be successful, technology tools must be **accessible**; schools, learners and families must be able to **affordably** access and maintain them; and learners and families must have the information and skills to **adopt** the technology. These three pillars—**access, affordability, and adoption**—must all exist and work together for communities to remain connected and fully participate as informed citizens in society and the global economy.

**Proof of Concept**

This request is an expansion of a current program already approved by the Ministries of Education in each of four countries in Africa, and has a proven record of success for the five year in the slums of Nairobi, Kenya; rural areas of the Atlas Mountains in southern Morocco; in and around Arusha, Tanzania; and in West Nile Region (including students from the refugee settlements), in southwest Uganda.

**IMPACT Report (AS OF 6/30/2024)**

·      Number of Students: more than 16,000

·      Of the total number of students that the program will reach, approximately 45% of them are female students, plus a growing percentage of students in Uganda in the program are refugees.

·      Number of Teachers: more than 220

·      Number of Countries: 4 — Kenya, Morocco, Tanzania, Uganda

·      Number of Locations: 35, including 33 public schools, two faith-based schools, one technology training center

·      Partners: Al-Alakawayn University (Morocco), Tangaza University (Kenya), Muni University (Uganda)

·      The Program Provides:

—Lenovo Laptop Computers

—Samsung A7 and Samsung A8 Tablets

—External keyboards for tablets

—Coverings for computers and tablets

—Secure storage containers for laptops and tablets

—Internet Connectivity, including routers/modems

—Teachers workshop trainings

—Textbooks

—Software applications in math, french language, history, literature and more

**Rationale for the Program**

Digital literacy and accessibility are widely regarded as a basic component of civic life and has enormous impact on education, economic development, social welfare, social equity as well as the increased public participation in elections and development of good governance, and access to expanding opportunities both at the local and international level.

A digital learning program for poor and vulnerable students will develop digital skills and provide them with the lifelong ability to navigate the internet. Presently, for example, university application forms are all online, which provides a distinct advantage to urban students who have computer training and access to the internet, whereas rural students are hindered from apply to university due to their lack of computer training as well as access to the internet in rural areas. This results in an even more pronounced digital divide that excludes poorer, rural students from entering higher education.

Of the total number of students that the program will reach, approximately 45% of them are female students, and a growing percentage of students in Uganda are refugees.

Total Cost of the Program: Between $26-$38 per student.

Global Alliance for Africa

An institute dedicated to spreading and applying humanity's deepest and most consequential ideas.

Understanding how knowledge grows (the primary concern of *epistemology*) is one of the most fundamental questions that humanity has ever asked. Because the growth of knowledge plays a role in every human endeavor–from science to politics to creating artificial intelligence to raising children to entrepreneurship–getting the answer wrong necessarily leads to blind alleys and errors. Fortunately, Karl Popper, David Deutsch, and other thinkers have discovered and elaborated upon the right answer: that knowledge grows via conjecture and criticism.

Such a simple idea (the entire theory of which is called *critical rationalism*) has an enormous number of practical implications for all of the aforementioned fields and any other in which humans can make progress. While the revolutions brought forth by Newton, Darwin, and Einstein were profound and improved mankind's lot in the universe, even they were limited to particular strands of human endeavors. But epistemology is universal for any problem a person or society faces. Therefore, spreading critical rationalism and its implications will dissolve barriers to progress that most people do not even know stand in their way.

Conjecture Institute Inc

We want to make life better for wild animals.

We are dedicated to finding evidence-backed ways to improve the lives of animals in the wild.

We depend on individual donors to help us make life better for wild animals. To a small nonprofit working hard on a big problem, your support is more crucial now than ever!

Wild Animal Initiative

We develop community-led, circular solutions to end plastic pollution in remote coastal areas, grounded in local heritage.

We are an East African circular economy movement that in 2018 built the world’s first 100% recycled plastic sailing dhow.  Built from 10 tonnes of beach plastic, it was covered in 30,000 pieces of discarded flipflops collected from Kenyas beaches, hence its name 'The Flipflopi'. 

We employ a “full-systems” approach to beating plastic pollution through 

(1) education and awareness campaigns, 

(2) waste-plastic innovation rooted in heritage, and 

(3) influencing legislative change to ban single-use plastics. 

Over the course of three expeditions, the Flipflopi sailing boat has proved to be an exceptional campaign tool to catalyse engagement and action all three of the above focus areas. Watch our latest video, "[Stubborn Optimism - A Plastic Revolution" 
](https://youtu.be/RjVd7RR\_vPs?si=5XrC37OrODfvgnZJ)The 2019 Lamu to Zanzibar expedition, conducted in partnership with UN Environment, brought international media attention - 890 million people saw our message, we hosted the presidents and government ministers on the boat, and played a central role in national plastic bag bans that came into effect in both Kenya and Tanzania shortly after our campaign.

In 2020 Flipflopi Co-founder was awarded Kenya’s highest civilian honour for his contribution to preserving Kenya's Swahili culture and his environmental campaigning.  

In 2022, Flipflopi was awarded the FCDO’s prestigious SMEP Grant to tackle marine ecosystem health challenges which led to the creation of an innovative community-centered programme that is ‘closing the loop’ on waste plastic in the Lamu Archipelago (on the coast of northern Kenya) by combining indigenous knowledge of boatbuilding with modern innovation.  In a 24 month perirod we have collected 288 tonnes of plastic from the enviroment within the Lamu region. 

In 2022 we set up a Heritage Boat Building centre that runs pioneering classes teaching Dhow building and traditional craftsmanship to mixed gender classes of young people from Lamu County.  Students on these 12 week courses have built everything from ornately carved traditional Lamu chairs to Swahili Dhows – all from recycled plastic lumber instead of wood.  

In 2023, The Flipflopi team met UK Monarch King Charles whilst on a visit to Kenya, presenting him with an elegant traditional Swahili throne made entirely from recycled beach plastic.  It made headlines around the world. 

To date Flipflopi activity has principally taken place within Kenya, and to a lesser extent, in neighbouring countries Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda.  In 2025 we are turning our attention to globally scaling the many valuable lessons we have learned about how to create a circular economy for plastic waste.

In 2025 we begin our most ambitious campaign yet – first we will construct a 120 tonne, 24 metre long traditional Lamu Dhow (again, built entirely from recycled plastic) and then we embark on a global expedition that will convene the action we need globally to see a WORLD WITHOUT SINGLE USE PLASTIC. 

The Flipflopi Project

A research nonprofit that works on assessing whether cutting-edge AI systems could pose catastrophic risks to society.

METR (Model Evaluation and Threat Research) builds the science of accurately assessing risks, so that humanity is informed before developing transformative AI systems.

We believe that AI could change the world quickly and drastically, with potential for both enormous good and enormous harm. We also believe it’s hard to predict exactly when and how this might happen.

At some point, AIs will probably be able to do most of what humans can do, including developing new technologies; starting businesses and making money; finding new cybersecurity exploits and fixes; and more.

We think it’s very plausible that AI systems could end up pursuing goals that are at odds with a thriving civilization. This could be due to someone’s deliberate effort to cause chaos, or happen despite the intention to only develop AI systems that are safe.

Given how quickly things could play out, we don’t think it’s good enough to “wait and see” whether there are dangers.

We believe in vigilantly, continually assessing risks. If an AI brings significant risk of a global catastrophe, the decision to develop and/or release it can’t lie only with the company that creates it.

METR

Abortion Freedom Fund supports accessible, affordable, evidence-based abortion pills by mail for all. 

Abortion Freedom Fund is a national fund focusing on funding abortion pills by mail.

Abortion Freedom Fund supports accessible, affordable, evidence-based abortion pills by mail for all. Our mission is to help pregnant people take control of their healthcare and futures by dismantling medicalized control of abortion and encouraging a world where abortion pills are over the counter.

We simplify access to care for patients by funding virtual abortion providers and clinics, individuals accessing telehealth abortions, and reimbursing local funds for telehealth abortion care, allowing them to focus their resources on people seeking procedural abortions in their communities.

In addition to direct funding, we partner with organizations doing research and other activism to increase access to abortions.

Our core aims are:
-Assisting people who are pregnant to take control of their health care and futures
-Dismantling medicalized control of abortion and encouraging a world where abortion pills are over the counter
-Advocating for the full continuum of abortion care from self managed to clinician supported
-Breaking down the stereotype that abortion pills are dangerous

Abortion Freedom Fund

Spritely Institute builds, researches, and standardizes networked technology which put people and communities first.


Centralized social media is harmful to society. We are building a gatekeeper-free decentralized system. Our mission is “social media done right”, to put people in control of their own identity and build the technology that would enable a shift to collaborative and intentional security models prioritizing active consent. To accomplish this, we will build a new architecture for the internet: removing the necessity of client-server architecture, replacing it with a participatory peer-centric model.

Spritely’s technology is being released as free and open source software aiming for multiple programming language implementations and eventual open standardization. All of our work, ranging from decentralized identity, peer-to-peer user agents, decentralized social networks, encrypted and portable storage, and distributed object programming infrastructure is being built to enable a gatekeeper-free path where users and content are not tied to a specific server.

Spritely Networked Communities Institute

Let's dream together better!  Exploring wisdom for a world of magical technologies with paleontologist-futurist Michael Garfield.

**If you could do anything with technology, what will you do?**

Humans On The Loop is a transdisciplinary inquiry into the nature of agency in our age of automation.

In our AI-infused society, the gap between imagination and “reality” is smaller than it’s ever been — and now it’s time for humankind to graduate from asking if our dreams are possible to asking how we can dream better. This means cultivating deeper self-awareness, more discipline and humility, and a better metaphysics of technology to help us wield these new superpowers. But decades into a period of rapid information scaling, our grasp of consensus reality and executive function have eroded, causing an epistemic crisis. The wicked problems of this century require coordination at unprecedented scale, but our greatest natural resource — attention — has worn even thinner than our topsoil. How do we regenerate it and restore the faculties we need to be good stewards of this new ecology of minds?

Navigating the challenges that come with new information technologies is a group exercise and demands inherently plural approaches. The right response to tools that amplify our biases is to lean in with curiosity and play, not fearI have spent two decades studying and synthesizing  perspectives on intelligence and technology, innovation, and human-technology co-evolution…as well as testing bleeding-edge creative tools in public, helping cultivate systems literacies for navigating transformation, and fostering a massive network of mentors and collaborators with whom I share a devotion to the cultivation of a healthy Biosphere and Technosphere. As AI comes of age, this is the moment to recruit as many of them as we can into a multimodal public inquiry on wisdom and technology, power and responsibility, holistic practices for cultivating saner futures…and how we can keep Humans On The Loop and at the wheel.

It's going to be a trip — how can we make sure that it’s a good one?

This project exists to foster a renaissance of collaboration and the conditions for new ways of knowing. Its goals include to:

– Boost public discourse at the intersection of technology and wisdom
– Create a legacy of public goods that help train instruments for deepening our understanding
– Prototype and demonstrate experimental tools for thought
– Promote the adoption of reflexive AI for both private and public good
– Help map the emergent ecosystem of changemaking orgs and wise innovators
– Fertilize new narratives and strategies for navigating "wicked problems"
– Bridge domains and cultures in positive-sum collaboration

***Explore this project's [vision document](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kIoDlRD721UhZW4SjXIeccpCo2-v3ngoF1iZDwNyfPU/edit?usp=sharing), [pitch deck](https://bit.ly/hotl-slideshow), and* [essay/podcast archive](https://michaelgarfield.substack.com/t/humans-on-the-loop)*.***
***[Subscribe](https://michaelgarfield.substack.com/subscribe) for weekly dialogues plus articles, reviews, monthly hangouts, and more.* And please** [email my secure inbox](mailto:humansontheloop@proton.me) **with questions or partnership requests!**

Humans On The Loop

CETI is a nonprofit org applying advanced machine learning and gentle robotics to listen to and translate whale communication. 

Founded in 2020 as a TED Audacious Project, the organization’s science team is made up of the world's leading artificial intelligence and natural language processing experts, marine biologists, cryptographers, linguists, roboticists and underwater acousticians. CETI’s research is taking place off of the island of Dominica in the Caribbean.

In the late 1960s, scientists, including Dr. Roger Payne, a principal advisor of CETI, discovered that whales sing to one another. His recordings, Songs of the Humpback Whale, sparked the “Save the Whales” movement, one of the most successful conservation initiatives in history. The campaign eventually led to the Marine Mammal Protection Act that marked the end of large-scale whaling and saved several whale populations from extinction. 

All this by just hearing the sounds of whales. Imagine what would happen if we could understand them?

WHY WHALES 
Sperm whales specifically share traits strikingly similar to humans. They live in matriarchal and multicultural societies and share dialects and strong multigenerational family bonds. Sperm whales have the largest brains of any species and have higher-level functions such as conscious thought and future planning, as well as speech and feelings of compassion, love, suffering and intuition. Their vocalizations, among the loudest animal sounds on the planet, have a Morse code-like structure that shares the hallmarks of a highly-evolved language. Our understanding of these animals and their dialects is still in its infancy. Only in the last fifteen years have we begun to learn how some of their vocalizations are used for communication.  
WHAT CETI IS DOING
CETI is:
-Developing non-invasive robotics to listen to a population of whales in the Caribbean and put their sounds into context.
-Deploying a “Core Whale Listening System,” an innovative hydrophone array, underwater robotic gliders, custom bioinspired whale tags and other technology to gently study the whales.
-Building on substantial data on the whales’ sounds, social lives, and behavior already obtained by the Dominica Sperm Whale Project. 
-Creating a bespoke, big-data pipeline to examine the recorded data and decode it using advanced machine learning, natural language processing and data science.
-Publishing a series of academic papers beginning with the CETI roadmap.
-Collaborating with the National Geographic Society, including their Exploration Technology Lab, and amplifying the project across National Geographic’s storytelling and education channels.
-Implementing community-based programs like the Dominica Marine Conservation Fellowship, a community-based 10-month multi- module training program for young Dominicans interested in marine science, that was developed in partnership with National Geographic.
-Launching various communications projects to tell CETI’s story including a public interface for the citizen science community, resources for educators and children and arts programs.

IMPACT
Now, for the first time in history, it’s possible to use artificial intelligence to identify and interpret deep structure within animal communication. Using these technologies, CETI is building on the legacy of the “Save the Whales” movement with the goal of having an impact by contributing the following:
Interspecies Communication - A new data set of unprecedented size to the rapidly expanding field of interspecies communication and a roadmap of how humans could translate the communication of any other species
Marine Biology - A substantive contribution to the field of whale research within marine biology that opens gateways for future research initiatives. 
Policy - New information about whales that can bolster policy efforts to protect marine mammals and ocean habitats. Policy advances in this area are crucial as six out of the 13 “great” whale species (the largest whales) are still endangered (World Wildlife Federation). To ensure impact in this area, CETI plans to build out policy campaigns and initiatives. 
Perspective - It is widely endorsed that connectivity with nature can improve mental health. By sharing its journey and findings with the public, CETI hopes to contribute to a feeling of increased wonder and connectedness to whales and the ocean that can inspire action. CETI will build out arts and childrens’ initiatives in support of this impact goal.
Conservation - CETI’s first phase of research is taking place in Dominica in the Caribbean, a region that is one of the world’s greatest centers of diversity. By carrying out its research in partnership with local stakeholders, CETI hopes to contribute to regionally-led research and conservation efforts.

HOW CETI IS SUPPORTING DOMINICA
-CETI’s capacity-building initiative, Dominica Marine Conservation Fellowship is a 10-month, nine module training program for young Dominicans interested in marine science) in partnership with National Geographic.  The program has three 2022/2023 fellows and partnerships with the Dominica National Youth Council, Dominica State College and Dominica’s Ministry of Education. The program’s curriculum (co-created with National Geographic) includes modules on marine science, scientific research/techniques, water and vessel skills and storytelling and leadership among other topics.
-All research and findings by CETI in Dominica are all open-source and will be available for Dominica. The organization’s sailing research vessel (CETI-1), a Rigid Inflatable Boat (CETI-2) and Dominican made boat (CETI-3) are in operation in Dominican waters; these boats along with other CETI equipment will be donated to the local entity at the completion of the project.
-A temporary field station has been established in Dominica and has the capacity to host 10-12 researchers, fellows and students. In the long-term, CETI plans to build a permanent field station in Dominica 
-In 2023, CETI will continue local engagement and presentations with primary and secondary schools, development of video content for use in classrooms, collaborations with local artists and collaborations with local stakeholders such as marine and dive operators, civil society organizations and schools.



Project CETI

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188270313

2052641908

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