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Jul 9, 2014

The global-c “Catastrophe” in Physics

Posted by in categories: existential risks, particle physics

To elder children and young adults, it is a bonanza since everything becomes transparent. The “ugly” dependency of the speed of light on the local pull of gravity – that it is slowed in the vicinity of the sun (Shapiro) and comes to a standstill at the horizon of a black hole (Oppenheiumer) – is gone since the distances travelled are proportionally enlarged. Simultaneously, the so far assumed to be added-on expansion speed of the universe ceases to be an option so that the “Big Bang” is no longer a physical reality. A new freedom – a vast new spatial reality to roam – opened itself up.

The same liberation has almost the opposite effect on slightly older young people – those who have to pass an exam or defend a thesis in a physical discipline. They are at a loss as to what still to believe and defend. Most textbooks have become obsolete. How discuss the new situation with Stephen Hawking, for example, or with CERN? Most importantly: How reconcile it with Einstein’s own work?

The latter job is a joy. A renaissance of the young Einstein – of the three years of his miraculous period ranging from 1905 until late 1907 – follows. These years were fueled by the universal constancy of the speed of light c in the vacuum as is well known.

What about the famous “Einstein equation” of late 1915, however: Has it become obsolete since its c is not a global but only a local constant? The equation only needs a re-scaling. The “too short” spatial distances for the elongated light travelling times just get proportionally stretched. The “Shapiro time delay” is now accompanied by a space dilation (“Shapiro-Cook space dilation”) and the infinite temporal distance to the horizon of a black hole is accompanied by an equally infinite spatial distance valid from outside.

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Jul 8, 2014

Something is Amiss with Light in the Universe –“Photons May Be Coming from Some Exotic Unknown Source”

Posted by in category: space

The Daily Galaxy
Dark-energy

The vast reaches of empty space between galaxies are bridged by tendrils of hydrogen and helium, which can be used as a precise “light meter.” In a recent study published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, a team of scientists finds that the light from known populations of galaxies and quasars is not nearly enough to explain observations of intergalactic hydrogen. The difference is a stunning 400 percent.
“The most exciting possibility is that the missing photons are coming from some exotic new source, not galaxies or quasars at all,” said Neal Katz a co-author from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. For example, the mysterious dark matter, which holds galaxies together but has never been seen directly, could itself decay and ultimately be responsible for this extra light.
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Jul 8, 2014

The Planet’s Biggest Water Supply Might Be Hidden 400 Miles Below the US

Posted by in categories: environmental, water

Kelsey Campbell-Dollaghan — Gizmodo

When most of us imagine what the mantle of the Earth is like, we see burning hot rock and magma (and maybe satan hanging out for good measure or something). But scientists have discovered evidence that all that rock may be hiding huge amounts of water—three times the volume of all our oceans combined.

The scientists behind the study, which was published online today in the journal Science, think they’ve figured out the answer to a question that has long plagued Earth science: Just how much water is there on Earth in total? “I think we are finally seeing evidence for a whole-Earth water cycle, which may help explain the vast amount of liquid water on the surface of our habitable planet,” said study co-author and Northwestern geophysicist Steve Jacobsen to PhysOrg. “Scientists have been looking for this missing deep water for decades.”

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Jul 8, 2014

Scientists have found that memories may be passed down through generations in our DNA

Posted by in category: DNA

The Unleashed Mind
http://themindunleashed.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/memoriess-1050x656.jpg

New research from Emory University School of Medicine, in Atlanta, has shown that it is possible for some information to be inherited biologically through chemical changes that occur in DNA. During the tests they learned that that mice can pass on learned information about traumatic or stressful experiences – in this case a fear of the smell of cherry blossom – to subsequent generations.

According to the Telegraph, Dr Brian Dias, from the department of psychiatry at Emory University, said: ”From a translational perspective, our results allow us to appreciate how the experiences of a parent, before even conceiving offspring, markedly influence both structure and function in the nervous system of subsequent generations.

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Jul 8, 2014

How to build an optical invisibility cloak for a diffusive medium

Posted by in category: physics

Kurzweil AI

Invisibility cloaks can’t make objects fully invisible in all directions, colors, and polarizations, but Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) physicists have developed a workaround: an ideal invisibility cloak for diffusive light-scattering media, such as fog.

Their results are published in the journal Science.

In diffusive media, light is scattered by the particles in the medium. Examples are fog, clouds, or frosted glass panes that let the light in, but hide the light source. “This property of light-scattering media can be used to hide objects inside,” says Robert Schittny, first author of the study.

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Jul 8, 2014

Rethinking Mass Production: Why Making Things One At A Time Is More Efficient

Posted by in category: business

Joann Muller - Forbes


It’s a basic tenet of mass production: Making things in batches is the most efficient way to manufacture anything. So why, then, is lean manufacturing evangelist Ted Duclos arguing that America can revitalize its manufacturing base by making things one at a time?

“It’s counterintuitive in the minds of many,” admits Duclos, president of Michigan-based Freudenberg-NOK Sealing Technologies (a joint venture between Germany’s Freudenberg and Japan’s NOK). Having obsessively thought for years about how to improve manufacturing processes, he’s convinced he’s on to something big.

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Jul 8, 2014

Lifeboat Foundation Worldwide Ambassador White Swan Update and Published Amazon Author by Andres Agostini at www.amazon.com/author/agostini

Posted by in category: futurism

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3 Things You Should Know About The Network Economy http://www.forbes.com/sites/gregsatell/2014/07/07/3-things-y…k-economy/

Google’s new wearable project is a smart contact lens with medical uses http://www.engadget.com/2014/01/16/google-smart-contact-lens/

Neuroscientists Object to Europe’s Human Brain Project http://www.technologyreview.com/news/528796/neuroscientists-…ce=twitter

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Jul 7, 2014

Lifeboat Foundation Worldwide Ambassador White Swan Update and Published Amazon Author by Andres Agostini at www.amazon.com/author/agostini

Posted by in category: futurism

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THE GUARDIAN: Links with China: why Australian universities are leading the way http://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/blog/201…CMP=twt_gu

BUSINESS INSIDER: Future Food: How Scientists And Startups Are Changing The Way We Eat http://www.businessinsider.com/scientists-and-startups-chang…2014-7

Was During The Credit Bubble http://www.businessinsider.com/warren-buffett-stock-market-i…z36ohOW7kK

Continue reading “Lifeboat Foundation Worldwide Ambassador White Swan Update and Published Amazon Author by Andres Agostini at www.amazon.com/author/agostini” »

Jul 7, 2014

Lifeboat Foundation Worldwide Ambassador White Swan Update and Published Amazon Author by Andres Agostini at www.amazon.com/author/agostini

Posted by in category: futurism

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THE GUARDIAN: 3D printer drones will take to skies by 2040, claim BAE scientists http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/06/3d-printer-dron…CMP=twt_gu

Researchers regrow human corneas in mice http://www.kurzweilai.net/researchers-regrow-human-corneas-in-mice

A transistor material intended to replace silicon by 2024 http://www.kurzweilai.net/a-transistor-material-intended-to-…on-by-2024

Continue reading “Lifeboat Foundation Worldwide Ambassador White Swan Update and Published Amazon Author by Andres Agostini at www.amazon.com/author/agostini” »

Jul 6, 2014

By 2045, Physicist Says ‘The Top Species Will No Longer Be Humans

Posted by in categories: human trajectories, posthumanism, singularity

Dylan Love — Business Insider

“Today there’s no legislation regarding how much intelligence a machine can have, how interconnected it can be. If that continues, look at the exponential trend. We will reach the singularity in the timeframe most experts predict. From that point on you’re going to see that the top species will no longer be humans, but machines.”

These are the words of Louis Del Monte, physicist, entrepreneur, and author of “The Artificial Intelligence Revolution.” Del Monte spoke to us over the phone about his thoughts surrounding artificial intelligence and the singularity, an indeterminate point in the future when machine intelligence will outmatch not only your own intelligence, but the world’s combined human intelligence too.

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