Toggle light / dark theme

Astrophysicists at Western University have found evidence for the direct formation of black holes that do not need to emerge from a star remnant. The production of black holes in the early universe, formed in this manner, may provide scientists with an explanation for the presence of extremely massive black holes at a very early stage in the history of our universe.

Shantanu Basu and Arpan Das from Western’s Department of Physics & Astronomy have developed an explanation for the observed distribution of supermassive black hole masses and luminosities, for which there was previously no scientific explanation. The findings were published today by Astrophysical Journal Letters.

The model is based on a very simple assumption: supermassive black holes form very, very quickly over very, very short periods of time and then suddenly, they stop. This explanation contrasts with the current understanding of how stellar-mass black holes are formed, which is they emerge when the centre of a very massive star collapses in upon itself.

Some of you are going to want to use this tech.


In a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers from University of Toronto have demonstrated a novel and non-invasive way to manipulate cells through microrobotics.

Cell manipulation—moving small particles from one place to another—is an integral part of many scientific endeavours. One method of manipulating is through optoelectronic tweezers (OET), which use various light patterns to directly interact with the object of interest.

Because of this direct interaction, there are limitations to the force that can be applied and speed in which the cellular material can be manipulated. This is where the use of microrobotics becomes useful.

As with other recent articles, this one was originally published as an answer to a member of Quora, a Q&A site in which I am a cryptocurrency columnist. And just like the previous one in this Lifeboat series (also posted today), this is a Q&A exchange with a newbie—a bitcoin beginner.

The question is simply: “How can Bitcoin be divided into units smaller than one?” While the answer may seem obvious to someone versed in math, statistics or economics, I see this question a lot—or something very similar.

I can explain by asking a nearly identical question; one that the enquirer can probably answer easily. The goal is to provide the tools to answer the question—and in a manner that helps the reader recall and make use of the answer in the future. This is how I approached an answer…


Social media influencer Khalil Underwood made the stunning observation that bees outside his house were having an adverse reaction to the California earthquake.

“YO THE BEES ARE FREAKING OUT AFTER THE EARTHQUAKE ME JUST HAD!!!!!” Underwood tweeted on Friday. “Theres like 70 on the floor just buzzing & dying.”

This morning, he shared a video showing thousands of bees lying dead or twitching in his driveway.

Even in the strange world of open quantum systems, the arrow of time points steadily forward—most of the time. New experiments conducted at Washington University in St. Louis compare the forward and reverse trajectories of superconducting circuits called qubits, and find that they follow the second law of thermodynamics. The research is published July 9 in the journal Physical Review Letters.

“When you look at a quantum system, the act of measuring usually changes the way it behaves,” said Kater Murch, associate professor of physics in Arts & Sciences. “Imagine shining light on a small particle. The photons end up pushing it around and there is a dynamic associated with the measurement process alone.

”We wanted to find out if these dynamics have anything to do with the arrow of time—the fact that entropy tends to increase as time goes on.”

This video was made possible by Skillshare. Be one of the first 500 people to sign up with this link and get your first 2 months of premium subscription for FREE! http://skl.sh/Singularity

In the last video in this series we discussed the ancient origins of artificial intelligence progressing forward to the beginnings of the development of modern computing based artificial intelligence, encompassing the philosophies, theories and inventions of many talented individuals and groups.

The focus of this video will continue right were the last one left off, so sit back, relax and join me on an exploration on the official birth of modern artificial intelligence leading to present day!

Thank you to the patron(s) who supported this video ➤

Wyldn pearson collin R terrell kiyoshi matsutsuyu

What Is Big Data? & How Big Data Is Changing The World! https://www.facebook.com/singularityprosperity/videos/439181406563439/


In this video, we’ll be discussing big data – more specifically, what big data is, the exponential rate of growth of data, how we can utilize the vast quantities of data being generated as well as the implications of linked data on big data.

[0:30–7:50] — Starting off we’ll look at, how data has been used as a tool from the origins of human evolution, starting at the hunter-gatherer age and leading up to the present information age. Afterwards, we’ll look into many statistics demonstrating the exponential rate of growth and future growth of data.