Life-forms made of stuff we couldn’t imagine may still be as conscious as we are.
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7 Mind-Bending Physics Questions Sci-Fi Made Me Ask
Science fiction does more than imagine the future — it pushes the human mind to the edge of what it can understand.
In this video, we look at seven strange physics and philosophy questions inspired by sci-fi: Does the universe balance every action? What if our universe is not a closed system? If infinity is real, does everything eventually happen? When physics “breaks down,” is reality failing — or are we? Are human minds evolved to misunderstand the deepest universe? Is individuality just a useful illusion? And is math discovered, invented, or the best tool humans have for reaching beyond their own understanding?
Featuring ideas and examples inspired by Interstellar, Warhammer 40K, Interstellar, Star Trek, The Matrix, Dune, The Three-Body Problem, Arrival, Foundation, 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Expanse, Annihilation, Project Hail Mary, and more.
Science fiction begins where certainty ends.
#SciFi #Physics #Interstellar #Warhammer40K #TheMatrix #Dune #ThreeBodyProblem #Arrival #Foundation #VideoEssay #FilmAnalysis #ScienceFiction
Researchers use AI to evaluate a systematic framework to describe molecular order in liquid water
Water is the most abundant liquid on Earth’s surface, and it is highly anomalous compared with other liquids because it expands upon freezing. The anomalies in water have been linked to how its microscopic structure changes with temperature and pressure. However, there is no systematic scheme for characterizing these structural changes.
Now, researchers at the University of Osaka have used artificial intelligence (AI) to evaluate characterization frameworks. The AI model is part of a unified framework for comparing and estimating structural descriptors for supercooled water. This discovery was reported in Communications Chemistry.
For water to freeze, molecules need to order themselves into a structured lattice such as ice. Molecules need to attach to a foundation, known as a nucleation site, to grow into a solid phase. Impurities in water or scratches inside a container can serve as nucleation sites.
Why Cybersecurity Matters for America’s AI Leadership
Chuck Brooks is the president of Brooks Consulting International and one of Executive Mosaic’s GovCon Experts.
Artificial intelligence is the defining technology race of the 21st century. It is not only about constructing bigger language models or spending billions on computing infrastructure anymore. It’s about building trust. It will be those governments that can both innovate quickly and also secure their AI systems from cyberattack that will create the future digital economy, national security and the next wave of technology leadership.
This strategic reality is reflected in the White House’s recent executive order on AI innovation and security. Its goals include accelerating AI innovation, enhancing the cybersecurity of federal information systems and allowing for the safe deployment of frontier AI models. More importantly, it recognizes a premise I have preached for years: cybersecurity is no longer a supporting function to digital transformation, but the foundation on which AI innovation rests.
The brain’s language network is more extensive than previously thought
For decades, neuroscientists have known that specific regions in the brain’s left hemisphere are responsible for processing language. However, a new study by MIT researchers shows that language processing also occurs in many other parts of the brain.
Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data from more than 700 people, the researchers identified 17 additional regions of the brain that appear to play a role in language. These regions are scattered across the brain, including parts of the cerebellum, hippocampus and cerebral cortex, and they make up about 5% of the total volume of the adult brain—about the size of a large strawberry.
“Even though there are all these distant components, it’s pretty restricted in terms of volume. You don’t need that much of the brain to do language,” says Evelina Fedorenko, an MIT associate professor of brain and cognitive sciences, a member of MIT’s McGovern Institute for Brain Research, and the senior author of the study.
New 4D-printing method creates lighter, faster-spinning wind turbine blades
A new manufacturing technique developed by Concordia researchers could make small wind turbines lighter, less expensive and easier to produce. Using a process known as 4D printing of composites, Ph.D. candidate Emad Fakhimi and Suong Van Hoa, a professor at the Concordia Center for Composites, created curved blades for vertical-axis wind turbines from flat carbon-fiber composite panels. The study is published in the journal Polymer Composites.
Vertical-axis wind turbines are increasingly used on buildings and in urban settings, but their curved blades are typically made using specialized forming processes that require complex molds. These molds add cost, manufacturing time and weight to the final product.
To address this problem, the researchers developed a new, first-of-its-kind “inverse” design procedure. Rather than starting with a particular layup—the arrangement and orientation of carbon-fiber layers—and observing the resulting shape, they began with the desired blade geometry and worked backward to determine how the layers should be arranged and oriented to produce it.
Stunning photos reveal the intricate beauty of fungi
The vibrant colours and delicate details of New Zealand’s fungi and slime moulds are documented in these images, taken from Jay Lichter’s new book The Secret Life of Fungi
By Alec Luhn