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Aug 15, 2023

The organoid revolution: From a breast in Jello to a synthetic embryo

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, neuroscience

I first posted about Orgaanoids for the heart, beause I have a family member with heart problems, and I know how the innovation is a game changer. I like to think of myself as a futurist, and being ahead of most everyone. My post about Mastodon proves such…oh wait someone else posted it and threads uses the same ActivityPub protocol that is Mastodon. I should get Him to repost it if I know Him 🙄, while as if I thought it. Let us always embrace the future, and futurists. 😁

For over a century, scientists have dreamed of growing human organs sans humans. This technology could put an end to the scarcity of organs for transplants. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. The capability to grow fully functional organs would revolutionize research. For example, scientists could observe mysterious biological processes, such as how human cells and organs develop a disease and respond (or fail to respond) to medication without involving human subjects.


As described in the aforementioned Nature paper, Żernicka-Goetz and her team mimicked the embryonic environment by mixing these three types of stem cells from mice. Amazingly, the stem cells self-organized into structures and progressed through the successive developmental stages until they had beating hearts and the foundations of the brain.

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Aug 15, 2023

Why we should worry less about ‘sentient’ AIs and more about what we’re teaching them

Posted by in category: robotics/AI

Behind the hype of the Google engineer who claimed an AI was ‘sentient’ is a history nearly as old as computers themselves.

Aug 15, 2023

Mindscape 78 | Daniel Dennett on Minds, Patterns, and the Scientific Image

Posted by in categories: biological, robotics/AI

Blog post with audio player, show notes, and transcript: https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2020/01/06/78-d…fic-image/
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/seanmcarroll.

Wilfrid Sellars described the task of philosophy as explaining how things, in the broadest sense of term, hang together, in the broadest sense of the term. (Substitute “exploring” for “explaining” and you’d have a good mission statement for the Mindscape podcast.) Few modern thinkers have pursued this goal more energetically, creatively, and entertainingly than Daniel Dennett. One of the most respected philosophers of our time, Dennett’s work has ranged over topics such as consciousness, artificial intelligence, metaphysics, free will, evolutionary biology, epistemology, and naturalism, always with an eye on our best scientific understanding of the phenomenon in question. His thinking in these areas is exceptionally lucid, and he has the rare ability to express his ideas in ways that non-specialists can find accessible and compelling. We talked about all of them, in a wide-ranging and wonderfully enjoyable conversation.

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Aug 15, 2023

Episode 25: David Chalmers on Consciousness, the Hard Problem, and Living in a Simulation

Posted by in categories: computing, neuroscience

Blog post with show notes, audio player, and transcript: https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2018/12/03/epis…imulation/

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/seanmcarroll.

Continue reading “Episode 25: David Chalmers on Consciousness, the Hard Problem, and Living in a Simulation” »

Aug 15, 2023

Can we understand the universe? | Sheldrake & Hossenfelder go head to head on dark matter IN FULL

Posted by in categories: cosmology, neuroscience, particle physics, quantum physics

Sabine Hossenfelder, Rupert Sheldrake and Bjorn Ekeberg go head to head on consciousness, panpsychism, physics and dard matter.

Watch more fiery contenet at https://iai.tv?utm_source=YouTube&utm_medium=description&utm…e-universe.

Continue reading “Can we understand the universe? | Sheldrake & Hossenfelder go head to head on dark matter IN FULL” »

Aug 15, 2023

David Chalmers — Why is Emergence Significant?

Posted by in category: futurism

Emergence is how the world works differently at various levels or hierarchies of organization. It’s what happens when the whole becomes more than the sum of all its parts.

For David Chalmer’s full profile and more videos please visit http://bit.ly/1BNrd8v.

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Aug 14, 2023

Mysterious New Warp Drive Patent Surfaces Online

Posted by in categories: quantum physics, space travel

😗😁 2021


After appearing for decades in science fiction, then moving into an actual theory, a new patent for an updated warp drive was published last year to no fanfare. Like many other false starts in cutting-edge research, the patent may represent the next step in the expanding theory, or it could mean the practical, real-world design of a functioning warp drive is on the horizon.

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Aug 14, 2023

How AI is transforming scientific research, with Rebecca Willett (Ep. 116)

Posted by in category: robotics/AI

Examining the possibilities—and the dangers—of this rapidly developing technology.

Aug 14, 2023

Vive la Différence: Brain Cells of Males and Females Respond Differently to Chronic Stress

Posted by in category: neuroscience

A new study in mice could pave the way to personalized therapy for depression, anxiety and other stress-related disorders known to produce different effects on men and women.

Aug 14, 2023

Gene Therapy Rewired Monkey’s Brains to Treat Alcohol Use Disorder, Study Finds

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, neuroscience

The GDNF gene therapy is currently used to treat Parkinson’s disease but could now be a major breakthrough in substantially reducing alcohol use disorder. “Drinking went down to almost zero,” Grant told OHSU News. “For months on end, these animals would choose to drink water and just avoid drinking alcohol altogether. They decreased their drinking to the point that it was so low we didn’t record a blood-alcohol level.”

Grant and her team said in the study that the resounding efficacy of GDNF gene therapy is promising for those who struggle with alcohol use disorder, and believe it could be effective in treating other substance abuse disorders. However, the therapy treatment would not be widely accessible and with other options on the market, it should be used as a last resort form of treatment.