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Blog – Page 2903

A study published in Scientific Reports has shed light on the intricate relationship between the sense of presence in virtual reality (VR) environments and cognitive abilities. The study, titled “The role of sense of presence in expressing cognitive abilities in a virtual reality task: an initial validation study,” was conducted by a team of researchers coordinated by Dr. Andrea Chirico and marks a significant advancement in our understanding of how immersive technologies can influence cognitive functions.

The research team, which includes Prof. Antonio Giordano, Prof. Fabio Lucidi (Sapienza University of Rome), Dr. Luigi De Pietro (CNR ICAR, Italy), and others, set out to investigate the extent to which the sense of presence—the feeling of being “inside” a —impacts an individual’s cognitive performance. By employing advanced VR technology and designing a range of tasks to test cognitive abilities, the researchers were able to gather valuable insights.

One of the key findings of the study is that a stronger sense of presence is positively correlated with enhanced cognitive abilities. Participants who reported a heightened feeling of presence in the virtual tasks demonstrated improved performance in various cognitive domains. These domains include memory, attention, problem-solving, and decision-making.

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In their 1982 paper, Fredkin and Toffoli had begun developing their work on reversible computation in a rather different direction. It started with a seemingly frivolous analogy: a billiard table. They showed how mathematical computations could be represented by fully reversible billiard-ball interactions, assuming a frictionless table and balls interacting without friction.

This physical manifestation of the reversible concept grew from Toffoli’s idea that computational concepts could be a better way to encapsulate physics than the differential equations conventionally used to describe motion and change. Fredkin took things even further, concluding that the whole Universe could actually be seen as a kind of computer. In his view, it was a ‘cellular automaton’: a collection of computational bits, or cells, that can flip states according to a defined set of rules determined by the states of the cells around them. Over time, these simple rules can give rise to all the complexities of the cosmos — even life.

He wasn’t the first to play with such ideas. Konrad Zuse — a German civil engineer who, before the Second World War, had developed one of the first programmable computers — suggested in his 1969 book Calculating Space that the Universe could be viewed as a classical digital cellular automaton. Fredkin and his associates developed the concept with intense focus, spending years searching for examples of how simple computational rules could generate all the phenomena associated with subatomic particles and forces3.

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SEATTLE — Undergirding recent budget guidance from the Biden administration to federal research and development organizations is a recognition of a steady and growing demand for microelectronics as a key enabler for advancement in nearly every technology sector, according to a senior White House technology advisor.

The White House on Aug. 17 issued its research and development priorities for the fiscal 2025 budget, offering direction to federal offices as they plan to submit their spending requests to the Office of Management and Budget in early September. The high-level focus areas include strengthening the nation’s critical infrastructure amid climate change, advancing trustworthy AI, improving healthcare and fostering industrial innovation alongside basic and applied research.

According to Steven Welby, deputy director for national security within the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy, most of those priorities have some sort of connection to the nation’s goals for boosting the microelectronics industrial base.

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Countering China and bolstering national security dominated the conversation in a Hilton hotel on Guam, 15 hours before and oceans away from the Milwaukee arena hosting the first Republican primary debate.

Nine members of the GOP-led House committee on natural resources convened in the US-governed Pacific island territory for a rare field hearing – during the summer recess – on countering China’s influence in the region.

At a time when Democrats and Republicans view China as an economic and global security threat, island nations who offer the US military proximity to China in exchange for aid emphasized they are especially vulnerable to Chinese cyber-attacks and economic exploitation as they struggle to recover from the pandemic.

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A recent study found increased cardiac arrhythmia risk to stay long term in individuals with epilepsy, specially in people who use carbamazepine and valproic acid. The findings of the study were published in European Heart Journal.

Using UK Biobank data, the research also explores the potential roles of genetics and antiseizure medications (ASMs) in this complex relationship. Encompassing 329,432 participants, the study included 2,699 with epilepsy, was initiated between 2006 and 2010. Using advanced statistical techniques like Cox proportional hazards models and competing risk models, the researchers aimed to determine the association between epilepsy history and the incidence of cardiac arrhythmias over an extended period.

Individuals with epilepsy displayed a staggering 36% increased risk of experiencing any form of cardiac arrhythmia compared to those without the condition. This risk extended to specific arrhythmia subtypes, including atrial fibrillation, where a 26% increased risk was identified. More alarmingly, the risk of other cardiac arrhythmias was found to be 56% higher in epilepsy patients.

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How would it feel to control objects with your mind? Or hear colors? Or maybe even live forever? Well, if you want to find out, all you have to do is become a cyborg. How would being part machine affect us? Would it cause a greater divide between the rich and the poor? And is this the next step in human evolution?

Transcript and sources: https://whatifshow.com/what-if-we-become-cyborgs/

Can you translate this episode into another language? Add subtitles and we will link your YouTube channel in the description: https://www.youtube.com/timedtext_video?v=t6Enng4xZUs.

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Transhumanism — advocates strongly for humans to develop and make widely available sophisticated technologies that enhance human physiology and intellect greatly. In layman’s terms, transhumanists would like for human beings to become cyborgs; cybernetic organisms.

As such, transhumanist concepts feature greatly in science fiction. Cyborgs are commonly seen in all forms of science fiction media…

Concepts of transhumanism and the wish to improve human physiology beyond normal bounds comes from an age-old human desire. That desire is the desire for immortality. Such wishes have been expressed in literature and rhetoric as far back as the early Bronze Age.

It would still take quite some time after the industrial revolution for early transhumanist thinking to develop. Advanced technological growth could eventually allow humans to accomplish much more than a fully fit natural born and grown human can.

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