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Oct 28, 2023

How Humans Survived the Ice Age

Posted by in category: climatology

We weathered the Ice Age while similar species disappeared. Specialists still struggle to understand why.

Oct 28, 2023

NASA rocket heads to supernova to explore stellar deaths and births

Posted by in category: cosmology

In order to comprehend how explosive stellar deaths create the foundation for new star systems, a new sounding rocket mission is being launched into space by NASA. The mission is called the Integral Field Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Experiment, or INFUSE, and it is set to launch from the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico on Oct. 29, 2023, and head for space to get a closer look at a stellar phenomenon called the Cygnus Loop.

An integral field spectrograph, INFUSE is the first of its kind instrument to be sent into orbit and combines the advantages of spectroscopy and imaging, two approaches to investigating light. It will be researching the Cygnus Loop which is located close to the well-known constellation Cygnus.

Oct 28, 2023

Cybernetic Theory: Information Physics, Quantum Cosmology, Simulation Metaphysics

Posted by in categories: cosmology, evolution, neuroscience, quantum physics, singularity

Building upon the foundational paradigms outlined in The Syntellect Hypothesis: Five Paradigms of the Mind’s Evolution (2020), my latest work titled The Cybernetic Theory of Mind (2022), a Kindle eBook series published last year, serves as an extension and refinement, operating at the intersection of information physics, quantum cosmology, and simulation metaphysics. The objective is not merely to inform but to elucidate through an “explanatory” theory of everything, providing an integrative framework for a deeper understanding of reality.

#CyberneticTheory #InformationPhysics #QuantumCosmology #SimulationMetaphysics #cybernetics #QuantumGravity #SyntellectHypothesis #CyberneticTheoryofMind #TheoryofEverything #consciousness #TechnologicalSingularity #DigitalPhysics #QuantumMechanics #PhilosophyofMind #posthumanism #UniversalMind #CyberneticImmortality


The Cybernetic Theory of Mind is an explanatory TOE at the intersection of information physics, quantum cosmology and simulation metaphysics.

Continue reading “Cybernetic Theory: Information Physics, Quantum Cosmology, Simulation Metaphysics” »

Oct 28, 2023

Three-qubit computing platform is made from electron spins

Posted by in categories: computing, particle physics, quantum physics

A quantum computing platform that is capable of the simultaneous operation of multiple spin-based quantum bits (qubits) has been created by researchers in South Korea. Designed by Yujeong Bae, Soo-hyon Phark, Andreas Heinrich and colleagues at the Institute for Basic Science in Seoul, the system is assembled atom-by-atom using a scanning tunnelling microscope (STM).

\r \r.

While quantum computers of the future should be able to outperform conventional computers at certain tasks, today’s nascent quantum processors are still too small and noisy to do practical calculations. Much more must be done to create viable qubit platforms that can retain information for long enough for quantum computers to be viable.

Oct 28, 2023

Google agrees to invest up to $2 billion in OpenAI rival Anthropic

Posted by in category: robotics/AI

Oct 27 (Reuters) — Alphabet’s (GOOGL.O) Google has agreed to invest up to $2 billion in the artificial intelligence company Anthropic, a spokesperson for the startup said on Friday.

The company has invested $500 million upfront into the OpenAI rival and agreed to add $1.5 billion more over time, the spokesperson said.

Google is already an investor in Anthropic, and the fresh investment would underscore a ramp-up in its efforts to better compete with Microsoft (MSFT.O), a major backer of ChatGPT creator OpenAI, as Big Tech companies race to infuse AI into their applications.

Oct 28, 2023

New Math Shows When Solar Systems Become Unstable

Posted by in categories: mathematics, space

Now, in three papers that together exceed 150 pages, Guàrdia and two collaborators have proved for the first time that instability inevitably arises in a model of planets orbiting a sun.

“The result is really very spectacular,” said Gabriella Pinzari, a mathematical physicist at the University of Padua in Italy. “The authors proved a theorem that is one of the most beautiful theorems that one could prove.” It could also help explain why our solar system looks the way it does.

Oct 28, 2023

Green IT: AI chip with potential

Posted by in categories: futurism, robotics/AI

Modern chips: many steps, low energy consumption.

These key requirements for a chip are summed up mathematically by the parameter TOPS/W: “tera-operations per second per watt”. This can be seen as the currency for the chips of the future. The question is how many trillion operations (TOP) a processor can perform per second (S) when provided with one watt wordpress of power. The new AI chip, developed in a collaboration between Bosch and Fraunhofer IMPS and supported in the production process by the US company GlobalFoundries, can deliver 885 TOPS/W. This makes it twice as powerful as comparable AI chips, including a MRAM chip by Samsung. CMOS chips, which are now commonly used, operate in the range of 10–20 TOPS/W. This is demonstrated in results recently published in Nature.

In-memory computing works like the human brain.

Oct 28, 2023

Google invests two billion dollars in ChatGPT competitor Anthropic

Posted by in categories: internet, robotics/AI

Anthropic, the AI startup known for its chatbot Claude, has been trying to land Google as a major investor after winning over Amazon. Now it seems they have succeeded.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the deal with Google is now in the bag: Two billion dollars will flow from Google to Anthropic over an unspecified period of time. Google will pay $500 million in cash immediately. This second investment follows Google’s initial investment of approximately $300 million in February 2023.

Anthropic is currently rolling out its Claude 2 chatbot on the web and as a programming interface through its own services and partners such as Amazon AWS and Google’s cloud AI service Vertex AI. Claude 2 is currently available in 95 countries, but is not currently available in the EU, presumably for privacy reasons.

Oct 28, 2023

A new way to erase quantum computer errors

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, computing, quantum physics

Quantum computers of the future hold promise in solving all sorts of problems. For example, they could lead to more sustainable materials and new medicines, and even crack the hardest problems in fundamental physics. But compared to the classical computers in use today, rudimentary quantum computers are more prone to errors. Wouldn’t it be nice if researchers could just take out a special quantum eraser and get rid of the mistakes?

Reporting in the journal Nature, a group of researchers led by Caltech is among the first to demonstrate a type of quantum eraser. The physicists show that they can pinpoint and correct for mistakes in quantum computing systems known as “erasure” errors.

“It’s normally very hard to detect errors in quantum computers, because just the act of looking for errors causes more to occur,” says Adam Shaw, co-lead author of the new study and a graduate student in the laboratory of Manuel Endres, a professor of physics at Caltech. “But we show that with some careful control, we can precisely locate and erase certain errors without consequence, which is where the name erasure comes from.”

Oct 28, 2023

Needle-Free Flu Vaccine for Home Use May Be Approved Next Year

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

Drug-maker AstraZeneca announced this week that the FDA is currently considering approving the needle-free option for home use. Called FluMist, the vaccine must be refrigerated and would be shipped in insulated packaging to people’s homes.

FluMist has been around for more than two decades and is approved for people ages 2 to 49 years old. It’s fallen in and out of favor over the years, including one period where a CDC advisory panel highlighted FluMist as the preferred flu vaccine for children. Later, its effectiveness was questioned, leading to a reformulation effort, STAT News reported.

AstraZeneca expects the FDA to make a decision on whether to allow home use of FluMist by Spring 2024. The convenience of home administration could increase the number of people who get a flu vaccine, said Ravi Jhaveri, MD, Chief of Infectious Diseases in the Department of Pediatrics at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine.