Lifeboat Foundation

Reconstruction of 1 mm3 of human brain (at 1.4 petabytes of EM data) published by @stardazed0 (@GoogleAI) & Lichtman lab.

Paper: https://science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adk4858

Blog:

Continue reading “Ten years of neuroscience at Google yields maps of human brain” »

Explore the tiny ‘pizza slice’ down to the neuron.

Demis Hassabis, the CEO of Google Deepmind, expects AI systems in the near future to not only answer questions but also plan and act independently.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Hassabis says his company is working on such “agent-like” systems that could be ready for use in one to two years.

“I’m really excited about the next stage of these large general models. You know, I think the next things we’re going to see perhaps this year, maybe next year, is more agent like behavior,” says Hassabis.

Sunspot as large as the Carrington Event sunspot from from 1,859 prompts NOAA Storm alert — first time since 2005 that a G4 Severe Geomagnetic storm alert has been issued. This sunspot is capable of even worse. Watch to learn more.

Since superfluid light exists in computers I think frankly we may already solve the theory of everything because the missing piece is infinity in all things which solves all future problems.

Thinking of spacetime as a liquid may be a helpful analogy. We often picture space and time as fundamental backdrops to the universe. But what if they are not fundamental, and built instead of smaller ingredients that exist on a deeper layer of reality that we cannot sense? If that were the case, spacetime’s properties would “emerge” from the underlying physics of its constituents, just as water’s properties emerge from the particles that comprise it. “Water is made of discrete, individual molecules, which interact with each other according to the laws of quantum mechanics, but liquid water appears continuous and flowing and transparent and refracting,” explains Ted Jacobson, a physicist at the University of Maryland, College Park. “These are all ‘emergent’ properties that cannot be found in the individual molecules, even though they ultimately derive from the properties of those molecules.”

Physicists have been considering this possibility since the 1990s in an attempt to reconcile the dominant theory of gravity on a large scale — general relativity — with the theory governing the very smallest bits of the universe—quantum mechanics. Both theories appear to work perfectly within their respective domains, but conflict with one another in situations that combine the large and small, such as black holes (extremely large mass, extremely small volume). Many physicists have tried to solve the problem by ‘quantizing’ gravity — dividing it into smaller bits, just as quantum mechanics breaks down many quantities, such as particles’ energy levels, into discrete packets. “There are many attempts to quantize gravity—string theory and loop quantum gravity are alternative approaches that can both claim to have gone a good leg forward,” says Stefano Liberati, a physicist at the International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA) in Trieste, Italy.

Continue reading “‘Superfluid spacetime’ points to unification of physics” »

In the rapidly evolving landscape of space exploration, private companies are increasingly taking the lead. One company at the forefront of this commercial space revolution is Sierra Space. With its innovative inflatable habitat modules and ambitious plans, Sierra Space is poised to play a pivotal role in building the next generation of space stations and lunar habitats.

Summary: Researchers created the largest 3D reconstruction of human brain tissue at synaptic resolution, capturing detailed images of a cubic millimeter of human temporal cortex. This tiny piece of brain contains 57,000 cells, 230 millimeters of blood vessels, and 150 million synapses, which amounts to 1,400 terabytes of data.

This research is part of a broader effort to map an entire mouse brain’s neural wiring, with hopes of advancing our understanding of brain function and disease. The technology combines high-resolution electron microscopy and AI-powered algorithms to meticulously color-code and map out the complex neural connections.

Summary: Preschool children actively influence their own development to align with their genetic dispositions. By examining how toddlers interact with their environment, including activities like reading and puzzles, researchers found that children’s preferences impact how they engage in cognitive stimulation at home.

This active involvement helps shape their brain development alongside environmental factors. The findings emphasize the dynamic interplay between genetics and environment in early childhood, challenging the traditional views of passive developmental processes.

Billionaire Jared Issacman, who flew to space once with SpaceX, is already set for launch No. 2 in early summer.

The mission calls for new spacesuits introduced this past weekend designed so the crew can survive the plan to suck out all of the air of the spacecraft and allow Issacman and a crewmate to make the first commercial spacewalk in history.

Flying on the Crew Dragon Resilience again, the mission dubbed Polaris Dawn is the first of up to three flights Issacman wants to fly, culminating in what is supposed to be the first crewed mission of SpaceX’s Starship.