This is a talk I gave to an audience of computer scientists and neuroscientists, interested in AI, consciousness, and the brain.
Category: biological – Page 81
๐๐ก๐ ๐ง๐๐จ๐๐จ๐ซ๐ญ๐๐ฑ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ง๐๐ฌ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐๐ฌ ๐ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ง๐ง๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐๐ก๐ข๐๐ฏ๐๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐จ๐ ๐๐ข๐จ๐ฅ๐จ๐ ๐ข๐๐๐ฅ ๐๐ฏ๐จ๐ฅ๐ฎ๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง. ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ฆ๐๐ฆ๐ฆ๐๐ฅ๐ฌ ๐ก๐๐ฏ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐ฐ๐๐ญ๐ก ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ ๐๐จ๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ข๐ซ ๐๐ซ๐๐ข๐ง, ๐๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฌ๐ข๐ฑ ๐ฅ๐๐ฒ๐๐ซ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ ๐๐๐ง๐ฌ๐๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ค๐๐ ๐ง๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐จ๐ง๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง ๐ข๐ญ ๐ก๐๐ง๐๐ฅ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฌ๐จ๐ฉ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐๐๐ญ๐๐ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฎ๐ญ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ฌ๐ฌ๐จ๐๐ข๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐๐ฎ๐๐ ๐๐จ๐ ๐ง๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐ฐ๐๐ฌ๐ฌ. ๐๐ข๐ง๐๐ ๐ง๐จ ๐๐ง๐ข๐ฆ๐๐ฅ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ง ๐ฆ๐๐ฆ๐ฆ๐๐ฅ๐ฌ ๐ก๐๐ฏ๐ ๐ ๐ง๐๐จ๐๐จ๐ซ๐ญ๐๐ฑ, ๐ฌ๐๐ข๐๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐ฌ ๐ก๐๐ฏ๐ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ง๐๐๐ซ๐๐ ๐ก๐จ๐ฐ ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐๐ก ๐ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐๐ฑ ๐๐ซ๐๐ข๐ง ๐ซ๐๐ ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐๐ฏ๐จ๐ฅ๐ฏ๐๐.
The brains of reptiles seemed to offer a clue. Not only are reptiles the closest living relatives of mammals, but their brains have a three-layered structure called a dorsal ventricular ridge, or DVR, with functional similarities to the neocortex.
The neocortex stands out as a stunning achievement of biological evolution. All mammals have this swath of tissue covering their brain, and the six layers of densely packed neurons within it handle the sophisticated computations and associations that produce cognitive prowess. Since no animals other than mammals have a neocortex, scientists have wondered how such a complex brain region evolved.
Now, however, by analyzing molecular details invisible to the human eye, scientists have refuted that view. By looking at patterns of gene expression in individual brain cells, researchers at Columbia University showed that despite the anatomical similarities, the neocortex in mammals and the DVR in reptiles are unrelated. Instead, mammals seem to have evolved the neocortex as an entirely new brain region, one built without a trace of what came before it. The neocortex is composed of new types of neurons that seem to have no precedent in ancestral animals.
Thatโs exactly what researchers in Germany set out to do, making use of โacoustic hologramsโ to form distinct 3D shapes out of particles suspended in water โ all in โone shot,โ said study lead author Kai Melde, a researcher from the Max Planck Institute, in a press release.
According to a study on the work, published last week in the journal Science Advances, the researchers were able to create a helix and a figure 8 out of silica gel beads, assembled biological cells into spherical clumps, and even provided a compelling concept for forming the shape of a dove in future experiments.
These acoustic holograms work by cleverly manipulating the pressure exerted by high frequency ultrasonic waves via the inexpensive use of a conventionally 3D-printed plate.
The Inner Life of the Cell by Harvard and HHMIThis is just me showing you how much youโve already learned about biology.
New research reveals clues about the physical and chemical characteristics of Earth when life is thought to have emerged.
About four billion years ago, the first signs of life emerged on Earth in the form of microbes. Although scientists are still determining exactly when and how these microbes appeared, itโs clear that the emergence of life is intricately intertwined with the chemical and physical characteristics of early Earth.
โIt is reasonable to suspect that life could have started differentlyโor not at allโif the early chemical characteristics of our planet were different,โ says Dustin Trail, an associate professor of earth and environmental sciences at the University of Rochester.
For a long time, scientists and engineers have drawn inspiration from the amazing abilities of animals and have sought to reverse engineer or reproduce these in robots and artificial intelligence (AI) agents. One of these behaviors is odor plume tracking, which is the ability of some animals, particularly insects, to home in on the source of specific odors of interest (e.g., food or mates), often over long distances.
A new study by researchers at University of Washington and University of Nevada, Reno has taken an innovative approach using artificial neural networks (ANNs) in understanding this remarkable ability of flying insects. Their work, recently published in Nature Machine Intelligence, exemplifies how artificial intelligence is driving groundbreaking new scientific insights.
โWe were motivated to study a complex biological behavior, odor plume-tracking, that flying insects (and other animals) use to find food or mates,โ Satpreet H. Singh, the lead author on the study, told Tech Xplore. โBiologists have experimentally studied many aspects of insect plume tracking in great detail, as it is a critical behavior for insect survival and reproduction. โ.
Tassili nโAjjer
Posted in biological
Tassili nโAjjer is a national park in the Sahara desert, located on a vast plateau in southeastern Algeria, bordering Libya, Niger, and Mali. It covers an area of roughly 80,000 sq. km. and contains one of the most important collections of prehistoric rock art in the world; it was inducted into the UNESCO World Heritage Site list in 1982. In 1986, UNESCO declared the area a Biosphere Reserve.
The plateau is composed largely of sandstone, and the natural erosion has resulted in hundreds of natural rock arches and other spectacular land formations โ the โforests of stoneโ. Because of the altitude and the water-holding properties of the sandstone, the vegetation is somewhat richer than in the surrounding desert, and includes scattered woodland of the endangered endemic species of the Saharan cypress โ one of the oldest trees in the world โ and the Saharan myrtle. The literal English translation of Tassili nโAjjer is โplateau of riversโ. Relict populations of the West African crocodile persisted in the Tassili nโAjjer until the twentieth century. Various other fauna still reside on the plateau, including Barbary sheep, the only surviving type of the larger mammals depicted in the rock art of the area.
The first signs of life emerged on Earth in the form of microbes about four billion years ago. While scientists are still determining exactly when and how these microbes appeared, itโs clear that the emergence of life is intricately intertwined with the chemical and physical characteristics of early Earth.
โIt is reasonable to suspect that life could have started differentlyโor not at allโif the early chemical characteristics of our planet were different,โ says Dustin Trail, an associate professor of earth and environmental sciences at the University of Rochester.
But what was Earth like billions of years ago, and what characteristics may have helped life to form? In a paper published in Science, Trail and Thomas McCollom, a research associate at the University of Colorado Boulder, reveal key information in the quest to find out. The research has important implications not only for discovering the origins of life but also in the search for life on other planets.
Yes, the world has some serious problems, but if we did not have problems, we would never be forced to find new solutions. Problems push progress forward. Letโs embrace our ultimate existential challenges and come together to solve them. It is time to forget our differences and think of ourselves only as humans, engaged in a common biological and moral struggle. If the cosmic perspective, and the philosophy of poetic meta-naturalism, or some similar world-view of evolution and emergence, can build a bridge between the reductionist worldview and the religions of the world, then we can be optimistic that a new level of order and functionality will emerge from the current sea of chaos.
Knowledge is enlightenment, knowledge is transcendence, and knowledge is power. The tendency toward disorder described by the second law requires that life acquire knowledge forever, giving us all an individual and collective purpose by creating the constraint that forces us to create. By becoming aware of our emergent purpose, we can live more meaningful lives, in harmony with one another and with the aspirations of nature. You are not a cosmic accident. You are a cosmic imperative.
Consciousness in the machine
Posted in biological, robotics/AI
Earlier this year, Google fired Blake Lemoine, for claiming that the companyโs chatbot was a self aware person. While the claim was derided, the belief that one day AI will become conscious is widespread and, according to a recent survey, held by 79% of experts. But many claim this is a fundamental error. While machines are becoming ever more capable and intelligent we still have no idea how a machine could create consciousness nor are neuroscientists able to provide an explanation for how the human brain does so.
Should we accept that consciousness arises in biological beings and that AI just isnโt made of the โright stuffโ? Or, is it possible that a computer that observes, interacts, and represents its own internal state to itself might also give rise to consciousness? Then again, is the puzzle deeper still on the grounds that we have no means of determining whether an intelligent machine, an organism or even a person other than ourselves is conscious or not?
Legendary anti-reality theorist Donald Hoffman, fearless computer scientist and philosopher Bernardo Kastrup and distinguished AI ethicist and philosopher Susan Schneider lock horns over the possibility of AI consciousness. Theories of Everythingโs Curt Jaimungal hosts.