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Mar 3, 2020

The Impossibility of Mind Uploading

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, computing, neuroscience

My most recent post, “Living in a Computer Simulation,” elicited some insightful comments from a reader skeptical of the possibility of mind uploading. Here is his argument with my own brief response to it below.

My comment concerns a reductive physicalist theory of the mind, which is the view that all mental states and properties of the mind will eventually be explained by scientific accounts of physiological processes and states … Basically, my argument is that for this view of the mind, mind uploading into a computer is completely impractical due to accumulation of errors.

In order to replicate the functioning of a “specific” human mind within a computer, one needs to replicate the functioning of all parts of that specific brain within the computer. [In fact, the whole human body needs to be represented because the mind is a product of all sensations of all parts of the body coalescing within the brain. But, for the sake of argument, let’s just consider replicating only the brain.] In order to represent a specific human brain in the computer, each neuron in the brain would need a digital or analog representation, instantiated in hardware, software or a combination of the two. Unless this representation is an exact biological copy (clone), it will have some inherent “error” associated with it. So, let’s do a sort of “error analysis” (admittedly non-rigorous).

Mar 3, 2020

Samsung Galaxy Note 20 to include new features that we’ve never seen before

Posted by in category: mobile phones

Another patent leak shows that Samsung is bringing unexpected tech to the Galaxy Note 20 phablet.

Mar 3, 2020

Google claims its quantum computer can do the impossible in 200 seconds

Posted by in categories: quantum physics, supercomputing

Circa 2019


Google claims it has designed a machine that needs only 200 seconds to solve a problem that would take the world’s fastest supercomputer 10,000 years to figure out.

The speed achieved by the computer represents a breakthrough called “quantum supremacy,” according to a blog post from the company and an accompanying article in the scientific journal Nature.

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Mar 3, 2020

FM-2030 film ‘2030’ — director Johnny Boston interview

Posted by in categories: education, transhumanism

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjnrGzUelhg&feature=youtu.be

I interviewed the director of recently released movie ‘2030’, about the life of transhumanist pioneer FM-2030, about his film and what it was like knowing FM-2030 personally — full video here:


My interview with Johnny Boston about his film 2030, which focuses on the life of FM-2030 (born Fereidoun M. Esfandiary) — a noted transhumanist and futurist thinker.

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Mar 3, 2020

Computing at the speed of light: Team takes big step toward much faster computers

Posted by in categories: drones, engineering, robotics/AI, supercomputing

Circa 2015


University of Utah engineers have taken a step forward in creating the next generation of computers and mobile devices capable of speeds millions of times faster than current machines.

The Utah engineers have developed an ultracompact beamsplitter—the smallest on record—for dividing light waves into two separate channels of information. The device brings researchers closer to producing silicon photonic chips that compute and shuttle data with light instead of electrons. Electrical and computer engineering associate professor Rajesh Menon and colleagues describe their invention today in the journal Nature Photonics.

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Mar 3, 2020

Destination Uranus! Rare chance to reach ice giants excites scientists

Posted by in category: space

A planetary alignment provides a window to visit Uranus and Neptune — but time is tight.

Mar 3, 2020

The Man Making Rwanda Into a Hub for Physics

Posted by in categories: computing, education, physics

Omololu Akin-Ojo was always reluctant to go to the United States. “I felt I could do a lot of things in Africa,” he told me in his office at the new East African Institute for Fundamental Research (EAIFR) in Kigali, Rwanda. “Unfortunately, I was wrong.”

As a university student in his home country of Nigeria in the late 1990s, Akin-Ojo learned to write computer code by hand, without ever having the chance to put the code into a computer. Aware of these limitations, his father, a physicist, encouraged him to apply to doctoral programs abroad. While studying condensed matter physics at the University of Delaware, Akin-Ojo recognized the gulf in teaching and in research opportunities between Nigeria and the U.S.

He realized then that he wanted to stem the brain drain of Africa’s brightest minds. Although he spent the next 14 years working in the U.S. and Europe, he said, “I always knew I was coming back to Africa.” He chose to specialize in theoretical physics, so that the lack of experimental equipment in Nigeria wouldn’t hinder his research when he returned.

Mar 3, 2020

On the Road to 3D Printed Organs

Posted by in categories: 3D printing, biotech/medical

Researchers can print cells and biomaterials that make up human tissues, but there’s still a long way to go before fully functional organs can be made to order.

Mar 3, 2020

How to Build Up T‐Cells in Your Body

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

If you’d like to improve your immune system, work on increasing the number of t-cells in your body. T-cells are a type of lymphocyte that will attack cells that are infected with a virus. To improve your t-cell count and responsiveness, eat a healthy diet full of fresh produce and lean protein. If you’re concerned your diet isn’t balanced, take supplements that have been shown to improve the immune system.

Mar 3, 2020

Man develops 120-year-old cat photos he finds in time capsule

Posted by in category: habitats

A century before cats dominated YouTube, they were the subject of one very adoring photographer.

Recently, a family member reached out to YouTuber Mathieu Stern with a fun fact: There was possibly a time capsule hidden in his old family home.

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