Magneto-inertial fusion concepts, such as the magnetized liner inertial fusion (MagLIF) platform[M. R. Gomez et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 113, 155003 (2014)], constitute an alternative path for achiev…
Category: futurism – Page 349
Scientists have precisely measured the masses of 19 neutron-rich nuclei, discovering a new isotope of uranium in the process.
Spinning Heat in Reverse
Posted in futurism
Derek Thompson published an essay in the Atlantic last week that pondered an intriguing question: “When we’re looking at generative AI, what are we actually looking at?” The essay was framed like this: “Narrowly speaking, GPT-4 is a large language model that produces human-inspired content by using transformer technology to predict text. Narrowly speaking, it is an overconfident, and often hallucinatory, auto-complete robot. This is an okay way of describing the technology, if you’re content with a dictionary definition.
He closes his essay with one last analogy, one that really makes you think about the-as-of-yet unforeseen consequences of generative AI technologies — good or bad: Scientists don’t know exactly how or when humans first wrangled fire as a technology, roughly 1 million years ago. But we have a good idea of how fire invented modern humanity … fire softened meat and vegetables, allowing humans to accelerate their calorie consumption. Meanwhile, by scaring off predators, controlled fire allowed humans to sleep on the ground for longer periods of time. The combination of more calories and more REM over the millennia allowed us to grow big, unusually energy-greedy brains with sharpened capacities for memory and prediction. Narrowly, fire made stuff hotter. But it also quite literally expanded our minds … Our ancestors knew that open flame was a feral power, which deserved reverence and even fear. The same technology that made civilization possible also flattened cities.
Thompson concisely passes judgment about what he thinks generative AI will do to us in his final sentence: I think this technology will expand our minds. And I think it will burn us.
Thompson’s essay inadvertently but quite poetically illustrates why it’s so difficult to predict events and consequences too far into the future. Scientists and philosophers have studied the process of how knowledge is expanded from a current state to novel directions of thought and knowledge.
Generative AI, in concert with other quickly growing technologies, is propelling a revolutionary future, blurring the line between the digital and physical world, says Accenture’s new report.
When combined, cloud, metaverse, and AI trends will reduce the gap between the virtual and real worlds, according to the Fortune Global 500 tech company.
It’s a companion app. It’s a sidebar. It’s definitely not trying to replace mobile Safari, at least not yet.
When the team at The Browser Company set out at the beginning of this year to build a mobile web browser, CEO Josh Miller made a rule: we are not allowed to build a default mobile browser.
It won’t replace your default browser, but it might make you want to.
Carl Sagan explores the life and legacy of the ancient Greek polymath Eratosthenes, who, in the 3rd century BCE, not only understood Earth to be spherical, but was able to calculate its circumference with remarkable accuracy. In detailing Eratosthenes’ ingenious methods, Sagan provides a fascinating science history lesson that doubles as a tribute to the remarkable ingenuity of ancient thinkers, who were able to uncover extraordinary truths with the simplest of tools.
Australian scientists have just discovered a new species of arachnid, dubbed the giant trapdoor spider, in Queensland. It’s huge, bright red, and it can live for up to two decades.
Before you panic, we should note that trapdoor spiders aren’t considered a threat to humans. While they are venomous, their bites aren’t known to have any lasting effect on people, reports the BBC. Besides, hikers rarely encounter them; the spiders are nocturnal and spend most of their lives underground. And while they’re big for trapdoor spiders, they’re not as massive as, say, tarantulas or giant desert scorpions.
Female giant trapdoor spiders can grow up to two inches long. That’s about twice the size of other trapdoor spiders. Male trapdoor spiders are slightly smaller.
More than 260 fragments of animal bones have been found at the monument.
Artnet News, March 29, 2023.