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Archive for the ‘neuroscience’ category: Page 897

Oct 30, 2016

Breaking into the Simulated Universe

Posted by in categories: computing, Elon Musk, ethics, internet, neuroscience

I argued in my 2015 paper “Why it matters that you realize you’re in a Computer Simulation” that if our universe is indeed a computer simulation, then that particular discovery should be commonplace among the intelligent lifeforms throughout the universe. The simple calculus of it all being (a) if intelligence is in part equivalent to detecting the environment (b) the environment is a computer simulation © eventually nearly all intelligent lifeforms should discover that their environment is a computer simulation. I called this the Savvy Inevitability. In simple terms, if we’re really in a Matrix, we’re supposed to eventually figure that out.

Silicon Valley, tech culture, and most nerds the world over are familiar with the real world version of the question are we living in a Matrix? The paper that’s likely most frequently cited is Nick Bostrom’s Are you living in a Computer Simulation? Whether or not everyone agrees about certain simulation ideas, everyone does seem to have an opinion about them.

Recently, the Internet heated up over Elon Musk’s comments at a Vox event on hot tub musings of the simulation hypothesis. Even Bank of America published an analysis of the simulation hypothesis, and, according to Tad Friend in an October 10, 2016 article published in New Yorker, “two tech billionaires have gone so far as to secretly engage scientists to work on breaking us out of the simulation.”

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Oct 30, 2016

Get Ready for Magic Leap: New Patent Brings VR Device One Step Closer to Reality

Posted by in categories: augmented reality, military, neuroscience, virtual reality

In Brief:

  • Now with just under $800 million in funding, Florida startup Magic Leap has applied for a patent for its VR/AR headsets, bringing them one step closer to market.
  • From healthcare to the military, VR/AR is being applied to industries far beyond its humble roots in gaming.

Florida-based startup Magic Leap has been getting considerable attention thanks in no small part to the awesome-looking augmented reality video demos it has released. Apart from these videos and the info we could glean from some interviews and Twitter posts, however, we haven’t yet been given a complete explanation of what the company has in store for consumers. What we do know is that it promises an AR experience unlike any other by delivering “neurologically true visual perception.” In short, the brain won’t be able to tell the difference between reality and virtual reality when you are using Magic Leap’s device.

Continue reading “Get Ready for Magic Leap: New Patent Brings VR Device One Step Closer to Reality” »

Oct 30, 2016

Neuroscientists Discover an Ignition Switch for Consciousness

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, neuroscience

What’s the Latest?

When Francis Crick, the English scientist who helped discover the structure of DNA, died in 2004, he and a colleague were in the midst of researching the potential existence of an on-off switch for consciousness located somewhere deep within the brain. Crick’s hypothesis likened the proposed switch to an orchestra conductor “to bind all of our different external and internal perceptions together.” Researchers at George Washington University in Washington DC believe they may have found Crick’s conductor. As it happens, it’s located in the exact part of the brain Crick had initially guessed: the claustrum.

What’s the Big Idea?

Continue reading “Neuroscientists Discover an Ignition Switch for Consciousness” »

Oct 29, 2016

Scientists Bringing Dinosaurs Back to Life

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, neuroscience

Why governments have been concerned around SynBio including CRISPR.


# Scientists # DinosaursScientists Bringing Dinosaurs Back to Life : The Jurassic Park film franchise is one of the most popular ever made but no one actually wants to bring dinosaurs back. Right? We’ve all seen the movies. The outcome is never a positive one. However, scientists continue to defy the realm of possibilities.

SCIENTISTS FIND FOSSILIZED BRAIN; DINOSAURS MAKE A COMEBACK

Continue reading “Scientists Bringing Dinosaurs Back to Life” »

Oct 29, 2016

This company wants to put a computer in your brain

Posted by in categories: computing, neuroscience

*BREAKING NEWS* This tech company is investing $100 million dollars to put computers inside our brains!

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Oct 28, 2016

World’s Smallest Extracellular Needle-Electrodes Developed

Posted by in category: neuroscience

A tiny needle of 5-μm-diameter may help solve the mysteries of the brain and facilitate the development of a brain-machine interface.

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Oct 28, 2016

First IEEE Conference on Rebooting Computing Focuses on Neuromorphic and Quantum Designs

Posted by in categories: computing, neuroscience, quantum physics

I hope I get invited to speak. Would love to.


Researchers discuss how to make machines more like the human brain—and faster and more energy-efficient.

By MONICA ROZENFELD 28 October 2016

Continue reading “First IEEE Conference on Rebooting Computing Focuses on Neuromorphic and Quantum Designs” »

Oct 27, 2016

Scientists identify fossilized dinosaur brain tissue for first time ever

Posted by in category: neuroscience

A brown pebble discovered on an English beach more a decade ago is actually the world’s first known example of a fossilized dinosaur brain, scientists have confirmed.

The remarkable find is thought to have come from a large plant-eater such as the Iguanodon, which walked the earth about 133 million years ago.

It is believed the creature must have died near water with its head buried in sediment in a swamp or boggy ground, allowing its brain to be “pickled” and preserved.

Continue reading “Scientists identify fossilized dinosaur brain tissue for first time ever” »

Oct 25, 2016

Can A Brain Computer Interface Convert Your Thoughts to Text?

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, computing, neuroscience

Summary: Brain-to-text system could help people with speech difficulties to communicate, researchers report.

Source: Frontiers.

Recent research shows brain-to-text device capable of decoding speech from brain signals.

Continue reading “Can A Brain Computer Interface Convert Your Thoughts to Text?” »

Oct 25, 2016

Can the brain feel it? The world’s smallest extracellular needle-electrodes

Posted by in category: neuroscience

A research team in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Information Engineering and the Electronics-Inspired Interdisciplinary Research Institute (EIIRIS) at Toyohashi University of Technology developed 5-μm-diameter needle-electrodes on 1 mm × 1 mm block modules. This tiny needle may help solve the mysteries of the brain and facilitate the development of a brain-machine interface. The research results were reported in Scientific Reports on Oct 25, 2016.

The neuron networks in the human brain are extremely complex. Microfabricated silicon needle-electrode devices were expected to be an innovation that would be able to record and analyze the electrical activities of the microscale neuronal circuits in the brain.

However, smaller needle technologies (e.g., needle diameter 10 μm) are necessary to reduce damage to brain tissue. In addition to the needle geometry, the device substrate should be minimized not only to reduce the total amount of damage to tissue but also to enhance the accessibility of the electrode in the brain. Thus, these electrode technologies will realize new experimental neurophysiological concepts.

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