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Sean Carroll speaking at the 6th International FQXi Conference, “Mind Matters: Intelligence and Agency in the Physical World.”

The Foundational Questions Institute (FQXi) catalyzes, supports, and disseminates research on questions at the foundations of physics and cosmology, particularly new frontiers and innovative ideas integral to a deep understanding of reality but unlikely to be supported by conventional funding sources.

Continue reading “Sean Carroll on Causality and the Arrow of Time” »

Investors raced to reinstate Altman after the OpenAI board fired him Friday. But Elon Musk says for AI safety reasons the true reason for the firing must be revealed.

On July 12, 2023, a new research paper was published in Aging, titled, “Chemically induced reprogramming to reverse cellular aging.”

BUFFALO, NY– July 12, 2023 – In a groundbreaking study, researchers have unlocked a new frontier in the fight against aging and age-related diseases. The study, conducted by a team of scientists at Harvard Medical School, has published the first chemical approach to reprogram cells to a younger state. Previously, this was only achievable using a powerful gene therapy.

On July 12, 2023, researchers Jae-Hyun Yang, Christopher A. Petty, Thomas Dixon-McDougall, Maria Vina Lopez, Alexander Tyshkovskiy, Sun Maybury-Lewis, Xiao Tian, Nabilah Ibrahim, Zhili Chen, Patrick T. Griffin, Matthew Arnold, Jien Li, Oswaldo A. Martinez, Alexander Behn, Ryan Rogers-Hammond, Suzanne Angeli, Vadim N. Gladyshev, and David A. Sinclair from Harvard Medical School, University of Maine and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) published a new research paper in Aging, titled, “Chemically induced reprogramming to reverse cellular aging.”

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UTokyo People NAKANISH Makoto

UTokyo People JOHMURA Yoshikazu

Continue reading “GLS1 inhibitor that selectively removes senescent cells ameliorated age-associated tissue dysfunction and diseases such as arteriosclerosis” »

Cambridge scientists have shown that placing physical constraints on an artificially-intelligent system—in much the same way that the human brain has to develop and operate within physical and biological constraints—allows it to develop features of the brains of complex organisms in order to solve tasks.

As neural systems such as the brain organize themselves and make connections, they have to balance competing demands. For example, energy and resources are needed to grow and sustain the network in physical space, while at the same time optimizing the network for information processing. This trade-off shapes all brains within and across species, which may help explain why many brains converge on similar organizational solutions.

Jascha Achterberg, a Gates Scholar from the Medical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit (MRC CBSU) at the University of Cambridge said, “Not only is the brain great at solving complex problems, it does so while using very little energy. In our new work we show that considering the brain’s problem-solving abilities alongside its goal of spending as few resources as possible can help us understand why brains look like they do.”

Archaeologists from University College Dublin, working with colleagues from Serbia and Slovenia, have uncovered a previously unknown network of massive sites in the heart of Europe that could explain the emergence of the continent’s Bronze Age megaforts—the largest prehistoric constructions seen prior to the Iron Age.

Using satellite images and aerial photography to stitch together the prehistoric landscape of the south Carpathian Basin in Central Europe, the team discovered more than 100 sites belonging to a complex society.

Their commonplace use of defensible enclosures was a precursor and likely influence behind the famous hillforts of Europe, built to protect communities later in the Bronze Age.

Marcus says he feels “sick to his stomach” as the OpenAI board—ostensibly in control with an eye on the nonprofit mission—appears to get overpowered.

A fundamental question in neuroscience is what are the constraints that shape the structural and functional organization of the brain. By bringing biological cost constraints into the optimization process of artificial neural networks, Achterberg, Akarca and colleagues uncover the joint principle underlying a large set of neuroscientific findings.

Join Brian Greene and Juan Maldacena as they explore a wealth of developments connecting black holes, string theory, quantum gravity, quantum entanglement, wormholes, and the holographic principle.

This program is part of the Big Ideas Series, made possible with support from the John Templeton Foundation.

Continue reading “String Theory, Quantum Gravity and Black Holes (Or, Are We Holograms?)” »