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Aug 11, 2019

Fractal Patterns Offer Clues to the Universe’s Origin

Posted by in categories: cosmology, futurism

Pour milk in coffee, and the eddies and tendrils of white soon fade to brown. In half an hour, the drink cools to room temperature. Left for days, the liquid evaporates. After centuries, the cup will disintegrate, and billions of years later, the entire planet, sun and solar system will disperse. Throughout the universe, all matter and energy is diffusing out of hot spots like coffee and stars, ultimately destined (after trillions of years) to spread uniformly through space. In other words, the same future awaits coffee and the cosmos.

This gradual spreading of matter and energy, called “thermalization,” aims the arrow of time. But the fact that time’s arrow is irreversible, so that hot coffee cools down but never spontaneously heats up, isn’t written into the underlying laws that govern the motion of the molecules in the coffee. Rather, thermalization is a statistical outcome: The coffee’s heat is far more likely to spread into the air than the cold air molecules are to concentrate energy into the coffee, just as shuffling a new deck of cards randomizes the cards’ order, and repeat shuffles will practically never re-sort them by suit and rank. Once coffee, cup and air reach thermal equilibrium, no more energy flows between them, and no further change occurs. Thus thermal equilibrium on a cosmic scale is dubbed the “heat death of the universe.”

But while it’s easy to see where thermalization leads (to tepid coffee and eventual heat death), it’s less obvious how the process begins. “If you start far from equilibrium, like in the early universe, how does the arrow of time emerge, starting from first principles?” said Jürgen Berges, a theoretical physicist at Heidelberg University in Germany who has studied this problem for more than a decade.

Aug 11, 2019

Sixth-generation fighters and the future of air supremacy

Posted by in categories: futurism, military

Such fifth-generation fighters are only now coming into service and others are being developed in Russia, China, and Japan, but they are already obsolete. Even while the F-35 was still in the testing phase, the US Pentagon was looking at a replacement, and countries like France and Germany gave up their own efforts at building a fifth-generation fighter in favor of skipping straight to making a sixth.


The world of aerospace is full of buzzwords and phrases and one that’s been getting a lot of attention in military aircraft circles is “sixth-generation fighters.” Rather than an F-35 or a Typhoon with new trim and chrome hubcaps, these emerging combat aircraft are set to represent a real sea change in tactics and, perhaps, strategy in the middle of the 21st century. But what exactly is the sixth gen? Let’s take a look.

Aug 11, 2019

Something Just Smacked Jupiter and Here’s the Photo to Prove It

Posted by in category: space

A photograph captured by amateur astronomer Ethan Chappel appears to show an asteroid slamming into the gas giant Jupiter on Wednesday (Aug. 7). So far, astronomers are still waiting to see whether anyone else spotted the sudden flash, which was located over the planet’s South Equatorial Belt.

Aug 10, 2019

Jupiter, Saturn and the moon to line up in night sky this week

Posted by in category: space

The night skies in August are full of celestial wonders, including bright planets and a meteor shower.

Venus and Mars are currently blocked from our view by the sun, but this week is a great chance to catch Jupiter and Saturn in conjunction with the moon.

The nearly full moon will appear very close to Jupiter on the night of August 9. Jupiter, the next brightest planet in our sky after Venus, will be visible in the sky beginning at dusk and well until the early hours of the morning around the world, according to the Old Farmer’s Almanac.

Aug 10, 2019

Don’t change your DNA at home, says America’s first CRISPR law

Posted by in categories: bioengineering, biotech/medical, genetics, law

A California “human biohacking” bill calls for warnings on do-it-yourself genetic-engineering kits.

Aug 10, 2019

CI AGM 2019 is just one month away, September 9th. For more information contact CI at [email protected] or call 1−586−791−5961

Posted by in category: futurism

Aug 10, 2019

Three Invaluable Ways AI and Neuroscience Are Driving Each Other Forward

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, education, finance, neuroscience, robotics/AI, singularity

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Aug 10, 2019

Radioactive Dust From an Ancient Supernova Is Buried in Antarctica

Posted by in category: cosmology

It was hidden in the snow.


The explosion happened at least 1.5 million years ago.

Aug 10, 2019

Testing Orion’s “Powerhouse” on This Week @NASA

Posted by in category: space travel

This week:


🔥 We conducted a critical test of the “powerhouse” for our NASA’s Orion Spacecraft 🔴 Our Curiosity Mars Exploration Rovers is still going strong after 7 years exploring the Red Planet 🔭NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope captures a view of Jupiter’s iconic Great Red Spot.

Aug 10, 2019

Life really can overcome anything: How bacteria survive 250 meters under the Dead Sea

Posted by in category: alien life

Scientists discovered new life in one of the most extreme environments in the world: Bacteria living on dead ancient microorganisms – which may have implications for finding life on Mars.