The purpose of this blog is the creation of an open, international, independent and free forum, where every UFO-researcher can publish the results of his/her research. The languagues, used for this blog, are Dutch, English and French.You can find the articles of a collegue by selecting his category. Each author stays resposable for the continue of his articles. As blogmaster I have the right to refuse an addition or an article, when it attacks other collegues or UFO-groupes.
Druk op onderstaande knop om te reageren in mijn forum
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Deze blog is opgedragen aan mijn overleden echtgenote Lucienne.
In 2012 verloor ze haar moedige strijd tegen kanker!
In 2011 startte ik deze blog, omdat ik niet mocht stoppen met mijn UFO-onderzoek.
BEDANKT!!!
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UFO'S of UAP'S, ASTRONOMIE, RUIMTEVAART, ARCHEOLOGIE, OUDHEIDKUNDE, SF-SNUFJES EN ANDERE ESOTERISCHE WETENSCHAPPEN - DE ALLERLAATSTE NIEUWTJES
UFO's of UAP'S in België en de rest van de wereld Ontdek de Fascinerende Wereld van UFO's en UAP's: Jouw Bron voor Onthullende Informatie!
Ben jij ook gefascineerd door het onbekende? Wil je meer weten over UFO's en UAP's, niet alleen in België, maar over de hele wereld? Dan ben je op de juiste plek!
België: Het Kloppend Hart van UFO-onderzoek
In België is BUFON (Belgisch UFO-Netwerk) dé autoriteit op het gebied van UFO-onderzoek. Voor betrouwbare en objectieve informatie over deze intrigerende fenomenen, bezoek je zeker onze Facebook-pagina en deze blog. Maar dat is nog niet alles! Ontdek ook het Belgisch UFO-meldpunt en Caelestia, twee organisaties die diepgaand onderzoek verrichten, al zijn ze soms kritisch of sceptisch.
Nederland: Een Schat aan Informatie
Voor onze Nederlandse buren is er de schitterende website www.ufowijzer.nl, beheerd door Paul Harmans. Deze site biedt een schat aan informatie en artikelen die je niet wilt missen!
Internationaal: MUFON - De Wereldwijde Autoriteit
Neem ook een kijkje bij MUFON (Mutual UFO Network Inc.), een gerenommeerde Amerikaanse UFO-vereniging met afdelingen in de VS en wereldwijd. MUFON is toegewijd aan de wetenschappelijke en analytische studie van het UFO-fenomeen, en hun maandelijkse tijdschrift, The MUFON UFO-Journal, is een must-read voor elke UFO-enthousiasteling. Bezoek hun website op www.mufon.com voor meer informatie.
Samenwerking en Toekomstvisie
Sinds 1 februari 2020 is Pieter niet alleen ex-president van BUFON, maar ook de voormalige nationale directeur van MUFON in Vlaanderen en Nederland. Dit creëert een sterke samenwerking met de Franse MUFON Reseau MUFON/EUROP, wat ons in staat stelt om nog meer waardevolle inzichten te delen.
Let op: Nepprofielen en Nieuwe Groeperingen
Pas op voor een nieuwe groepering die zich ook BUFON noemt, maar geen enkele connectie heeft met onze gevestigde organisatie. Hoewel zij de naam geregistreerd hebben, kunnen ze het rijke verleden en de expertise van onze groep niet evenaren. We wensen hen veel succes, maar we blijven de autoriteit in UFO-onderzoek!
Blijf Op De Hoogte!
Wil jij de laatste nieuwtjes over UFO's, ruimtevaart, archeologie, en meer? Volg ons dan en duik samen met ons in de fascinerende wereld van het onbekende! Sluit je aan bij de gemeenschap van nieuwsgierige geesten die net als jij verlangen naar antwoorden en avonturen in de sterren!
Heb je vragen of wil je meer weten? Aarzel dan niet om contact met ons op te nemen! Samen ontrafelen we het mysterie van de lucht en daarbuiten.
28-03-2018
Scientists ‘Discover’ New Organ Hidden in the Human Body
Scientists ‘Discover’ New Organ Hidden in the Human Body
How can there still be organs left in the human body to discover? Well, judging from the history of science, it’s because our our methods for analyzing and identifying the many different systems and networks within the body have improved. Think about it: we’ve only been chopping up and poking at the human body for a few centuries. Well, in a scientific sense anyway, not in the destroy-your-enemies-and-eat-their-dismembered-bodies sense. The discovery of DNA is less than a century old, while imaging technologies like magnetic resonance imaging are only a few decades old. Put into context, these relatively recent but groundbreaking advances show how we’re still only beginning to understand the complexities of the human body.
Even more mysteries lie within the folds of the human brain.
Case in point: a team of physicians has just published a studyof what they claim is an organ of the human body which has been completely ignored by medical science until now. They’re calling the organ the interstitium, and describe it as a dense layer of connective tissues found throughout and surrounding nearly the whole body, or a “widespread, macroscopic, fluid-filled space within and between tissues.” The organ was discovered through analyzing frozen body tissues, allowing this fluid-filled layer to retain its form unlike the flat, desiccated samples used in microscopy:
Freezing biopsy tissue before fixation preserved the anatomy of this structure, demonstrating that it is part of the submucosa and a previously unappreciated fluid-filled interstitial space, draining to lymph nodes and supported by a complex network of thick collagen bundles. We observed similar structures in numerous tissues that are subject to intermittent or rhythmic compression, including the submucosae of the entire gastrointestinal tract and urinary bladder, the dermis, the peri-bronchial and peri-arterial soft tissues, and fascia.
If confirmed, the intersitium would become the 80th known organ of the human body. The researchers believe the interstitium serves as a sort of ‘shock absorber’ which helps cushion muscles and organs from impacts or compression due to the movement of the body, while also playing a much more negative role in allowing cancers to metastasize more quickly since the interstitium is connected to the lymphatic system.
Illustration by Jill Gregory, Mount Sinai Health System, licensed under CC-BY-ND.
On a strange note, the researchers claim the interstitium generates a small electrical current as the body moves, which they note might explain the effects of acupuncture. Will the discovery of this new organ lead to new forms of therapy?
For the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), killing people isn’t all that complicated. A budget of more than $600 billion per year buys a whole lot of tanks, guns, and bombs.
But not killing someone proves to be a bit more complicated. How about just stunning them a bit from far away? Or maybe setting their clothes on fire without having to look them in the face?
For that, we’ve got the Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Development Program (JNLWD). The program’s purpose: to develop weapons and other devices military personnel can use to incapacitate targets without outright killing them. As explained on the program’s FAQ, the goal of the JNLWD is to fill the gap between “shout and shoot” (truly, we should all be grateful the armed forces acknowledge that such a gap exists).
The JNLWD’s latest breakthrough is the Non-Lethal Laser-Induced Plasma Effect (NL-LIPE) system. They recently gave Defense One a look at the in-development device. And it’s truly a sight to behold.
Rather, a sound to behold. Take a listen below (and maybe make sure your pets are out of the room because, we promise, they really hate this).
Here’s how this device is useful. Imagine an enemy is getting a bit too close for comfort, and you want them to back off.
You could use a stun grenade, a blinding flash of light and noise that leaves the enemy disoriented and stunned. Those only work if you’re close enough to throw them, though.
And maybe you have some good guys standing in between. How do you blast the enemy but not the good guys? That’s where the lasers come in.
First, the NL-LIPE operator shoots a burst of light at the target using a femtosecond laser. This rips electrons from the air molecules to create a ball of plasma at the targeted site. The operator then manipulates the plasma ball using a second nanolaser, directing the plasma to produce sound or light, or even burn clothing.
Right now, of course, the technology is still in development, so it only works under pretty specific conditions. Eventually, though, the military thinks it could get the device to work at distances of tens of kilometers, David Law, head of JNLWD’s technology division, told Defense One. That would give it a longer range than any other non-lethal weapon.
Law also said the researchers believe they’re very close to getting their device to outright “speak” to them, but the creepy almost-voice it already produces would likely be enough to get any enemies to turn tail.
The demise of honey bee populations worldwide has become one of the most pressing ecological concerns of our time. Over the last decade, it’s been estimated that some 30–70% European honey bee colonies have collapsed or disappeared, prompting fears of agricultural collapse due to the vital role honey bees play in pollinating crops. Scientists still aren’t sure what the exact cause of colony collapse might be, although it is believed pesticides, genetically modified crops, or even electromagnetic radiation from cellphone towers might be factors.
Selective commercial breeding is also suspected as contributing to a diminished bee gene pool, opening the doors for many diseases.
To help stave off agricultural catastrophe, engineers around the world have begun tossing around ideas to create tiny droneswhich might pollinate crops in the absence of real bees. While this idea sounds like exactly like a recent Black Mirror episode, things got even more dystopian with the recent discovery of the filing of patent applications for robo-bee systems on behalf of retail giant and all-around nefarious corporation Walmart. What exactly might Walmart be up to?
The same thing they’re up to every night, Pinky: trying to take over the world.
The patent was found and posted online by CB Insights, a market research firm which leverages artificial intelligence to analyze trends and identify future disruptions. The patentdescribes a pretty straightforward centralized network which can control legions of tiny bee drones which go from flower to flower pollinating crops. The patent lists many variations of the same system of pollinating unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), some of which do not require human control whatsoever:
In some embodiments, the UAV deployed in the exemplary system does not require physical operation by a human operator and wirelessly communicates with, and is wholly or largely controlled by, the computing device.
Hmm… hordes of tiny autonomous flying bee-bots controlled by the world’s largest retailer…say it with me now: what could go wrong?
A lot, once Wal-Bee version 2.1.0 rolls out.
Walmart has already been aggressively pursuing the grocery market, and many analysts believe these patents show that the massive multinational corporation might be attempting to control the food supply chain. While many of us (myself included) tend to view anything Walmart does with disdain and loathing, CB Insights notes that such a drone bee system could help the retailer “manage crop yields more effectively” and “increase its emphasis on transparency and sustainability to attract shoppers.” Still, is it wise to allow a retailer to have so much control over such a vital part of our society? Time, as always, will tell.
Honshu wolves were abundant in Japan until 1732, when rabies reached the island’s shores. Alongside widescale deforestation and a state-funded culling, the disease ultimately led to wolve’s complete extinction. The last specimen was officially killed in 1905 in Nara prefecture.
Now, in the farmlands near Kisarazu City, they are making a comeback. However, these aren’t the living, breathing wolves we all know (and fear). Rather, it’s a solar-powered robot that’s meant to look like a wolf. And instead of terrorizing Japanese rice farmers, this big, bad wolf is designed to scare off deer, wild boars and other ‘pests’ that have bred uncontrollably ever since wolves disappeared.
The mechanized wolf, officially called “Super Monster Wolf” (SMW), was loaned to the cooperative association JA Kisarazu-shi for the last eight months. Reportedly, the trial has been a resounding success with local farmers happy with the results.
SMW measures 65 centimeters (2.2 feet) in length, which makes it about the size of a real wolf. It’s been adorned with fur, but also with a really weird and menacing-looking face, with angry blood-shot eyes. And I’m sorry to break it to you, but this version doesn’t prance around farms, shrieking and howling. Instead, it’s immobile, much like a scarecrow.
However, it’s infrared sensors alert the bot of any wildlife that comes within a one kilometer (0.6 miles) radius. When it does, it goes full nuclear, emitting a wide range of sounds from classic wolf howls to gunshots — anything to ward off wild boars. Any humans scared to death by SMW can be classed as collateral damage.
Since SMW was installed on July 11, Japanese news outlet The Asahi Shimbunreports that there have been no more signs of wild animals or birds nearby. So, it seems to be working quite nicely. If you’re interested in one for your farm (or evil lair), the Super Monster Wolf will become commercially available in late September for ¥200,000, or $1,810 USD. Quite the price to pay for a high-tech scarecrow, but imagine what an icebreaker this will make at parties.
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- Gemiddelde waardering: 0/5 - (0 Stemmen) Categorie:SF-snufjes }, Robotics and A.I. Artificiel Intelligence ( E, F en NL )
05-03-2018
Scientists ‘Inject’ Information Into Monkeys’ Brains
Scientists ‘Inject’ Information Into Monkeys’ Brains
CreditChristoph Hitz
When you drive toward an intersection, the sight of the light turning red will (or should) make you step on the brake. This action happens thanks to a chain of events inside your head.
Your eyes relay signals to the visual centers in the back of your brain. After those signals get processed, they travel along a pathway to another region, the premotor cortex, where the brain plans movements.
Now, imagine that you had a device implanted in your brain that could shortcut the pathway and “inject” information straight into your premotor cortex.
That may sound like an outtake from “The Matrix.” But now two neuroscientists at the University of Rochester say they have managed to introduce information directly into the premotor cortex of monkeys. The researchers published the results of the experiment on Thursday in the journal Neuron.
Although the research is preliminary, carried out in just two monkeys, the researchers speculated that further research might lead to brain implants for people with strokes.
“You could potentially bypass the damaged areas and deliver stimulation to the premotor cortex,” said Kevin A. Mazurek, a co-author of the study. “That could be a way to bridge parts of the brain that can no longer communicate.”
In order to study the premotor cortex, Dr. Mazurek and his co-author, Dr. Marc H. Schieber, trained two rhesus monkeys to play a game.
The monkeys sat in front of a panel equipped with a button, a sphere-shaped knob, a cylindrical knob, and a T-shaped handle. Each object was ringed by LED lights. If the lights around an object switched on, the monkeys had to reach out their hand to it to get a reward — in this case, a refreshing squirt of water.
Each object required a particular action. If the button glowed, the monkeys had to push it. If the sphere glowed, they had to turn it. If the T-shaped handle or cylinder lit up, they had to pull it.
After the monkeys learned how to play the game, Dr. Mazurek and Dr. Schieber had them play a wired version. The scientists placed 16 electrodes in each monkey’s brain, in the premotor cortex.
Each time a ring of lights switched on, the electrodes transmitted a short, faint burst of electricity. The patterns varied according to which object the researchers wanted the monkeys to manipulate.
As the monkeys played more rounds of the game, the rings of light dimmed. At first, the dimming caused the monkeys to make mistakes. But then their performance improved.
Eventually the lights went out completely, yet the monkeys were able to use only the signals from the electrodes in their brains to pick the right object and manipulate it for the reward. And they did just as well as with the lights.
This hints that the sensory regions of the brain, which process information from the environment, can be bypassed altogether. The brain can devise a response by receiving information directly, via electrodes.
Neurologists have long known that applying electric current to certain parts of the brain can make people involuntarily jerk certain parts of their bodies. But this is not what the monkeys were experiencing.
Dr. Mazurek and Dr. Schieber were able to rule out this possibility by seeing how short they could make the pulses. With a jolt as brief as a fifth of a second, the monkeys could still master the game without lights. Such a pulse was too short to cause the monkeys to jerk about.
“The stimulation must be producing some conscious perception,” said Paul Cheney, a neurophysiologist at the University of Kansas Medical Center, who was not involved in the new study.
But what exactly is that something? It’s hard to say. “After all, you can’t easily ask the monkey to tell you what they have experienced,” Dr. Cheney said.
Dr. Schieber speculated that the monkeys “might feel something on their skin. Or they might see something. Who knows what?”
What makes the finding particularly intriguing is that the signals the scientists delivered into the monkey brains had no underlying connection to the knob, the button, the handle or the cylinder.
Once the monkeys started using the signals to grab the right objects, the researchers shuffled them into new assignments. Now different electrodes fired for different objects — and the monkeys quickly learned the new rules.
“This is not a prewired part of the brain for built-in movements, but a learning engine,” said Michael A. Graziano, a neuroscientist at Princeton University who was not involved in the study.
Dr. Mazurek and Dr. Schieber only implanted small arrays of electrodes into the monkeys. Engineers are working on implantable arrays that might include as many as 1,000 electrodes. So it may be possible one day to transmit far more complex packages of information into the premotor cortex.
Dr. Schieber speculated that someday scientists might be able to use such advanced electrodes to help people who suffer brain damage. Strokes, for instance, can destroy parts of the brain along the pathway from sensory regions to areas where the brain makes decisions and sends out commands to the body.
Implanted electrodes might eavesdrop on neurons in healthy regions, such as the visual cortex, and then forward information into the premotor cortex.
“When the computer says, ‘You’re seeing the red light,’ you could say, ‘Oh, I know what that means — I’m supposed to put my foot on the brake,’” said Dr. Schieber. “You take information from one good part of the brain and inject it into a downstream area that tells you what to do.”
PACKS A PUNCH Engineers are testing a new spacecraft shield by slamming a bullet into it at 7 kilometers per second.
FRAUNHOFER INSTITUTE FOR HIGH-SPEED DYNAMICS
Engineers are taking a counterintuitive approach to protecting future spacecraft: shooting at their experiments. The image above and high-speed video below capture a 2.8-millimeter aluminum bullet plowing through a test material for a space shield at 7 kilometers per second. The work is an effort to find structures that could stand up to the impact of space debris.
Earth is surrounded by a cloud of debris, both natural — such as micrometeorites and comet dust, which create meteor showers — and unnatural, including dead satellites and the cast-off detritus of space launches. Those pieces of flotsam can damage other spacecraft if they collide at high speeds, and bits smaller than about a centimeter are hard to track and avoid, says ESA materials engineer Benoit Bonvoisin in a statement.
FLASH BANG Watch as a bullet slams through the first layer of a new, experimental space shield, and a second layer deflects the shrapnel.
To defend future spacecraft from taking a hit, Bonvoisin and colleagues are developing armor made from fiber metal laminates, or several thin metal layers bonded together. The laminates are arranged in multiple layers separated by 10 to 30 centimeters, a configuration called a Whipple shield.
In this experiment at the Fraunhofer Institute for High-Speed Dynamics in Germany, the first layer shatters the aluminum bullet into a cloud of smaller pieces, which the second layer is able to deflect. This configuration has been used for decades, but the materials are new. The next step is to test the shield in orbit with a small CubeSat, Bonvoisin says.
When it comes to identifying existential threats posed by technological innovations, the popular imagination summons visions of Terminator, The Matrix, and I, Robot — dystopias ruled by robot overlords who exploit and exterminate people en masse. In these speculative futures, a combination of super-intelligence and evil intentions leads computers to annihilate or enslave the human race.
However, a new study suggests that it will be the banal applications of A.I. that will lead to severe social consequences within the next few years. The report — “Malicious Use of Artificial Intelligence” — authored by 26 researchers and scientists from elite universities and tech-focused think tanks, outlines ways that current A.I. technologies threaten our physical, digital, and political security. To bring their study into focus, the research group only looked at technology that already exists or plausibly will within the next five years.
Image recognition software has already surpassed human competence.
What the study found: A.I. systems will be likely expand existing threats, introduce new ones and change the character of them. The thesis of the report is that technological advances will make certain misdeeds easier and more worthwhile. The researchers claim that improvements in A.I. will decrease the amount of resources and expertise needed to carry out some cyber attacks, effectively lowering the barriers to crime:
The costs of attacks may be lowered by the scalable use of AI systems to complete tasks that would ordinarily require human labor, intelligence and expertise. A natural effect would be to expand the set of actors who can carry out particular attacks, the rate at which they can carry out these attacks, and the set of potential targets.
The report makes four recommendations:
1 - Policymakers should collaborate closely with technical researchers to investigate, prevent, and mitigate potential malicious uses of AI.
2 - Researchers and engineers in artificial intelligence should take the dual-use nature of their work seriously, allowing misuserelated considerations to influence research priorities and norms, and proactively reaching out to relevant actors when harmful applications are foreseeable.
3 - Best practices should be identified in research areas with more mature methods for addressing dual-use concerns, such as computer security, and imported where applicable to the case of AI.
4 - Actively seek to expand the range of stakeholders and domain experts involved in discussions of these challenges
How A.I. can make current scams smarter:example, spear phishing attacks, in which con artists pose as a target’s friend, family member, or colleague in order to gain trust and extract information and money, are already a threat. But today, they require a significant expenditure of time, energy, and expertise. As A.I. systems increase in sophistication, some of the activity required for a spear phishing attack, like collecting information about a target, may be automated. A phisher could then invest significantly less energy in each grift and target more people.
And if scammers begin to integrate A.I. into their online grifts, it may become impossible to distinguish reality from simulation. “As AI develops further, convincing chatbots may elicit human trust by engaging people in longer dialogues, and perhaps eventually masquerade visually as another person in a video chat,” the report says.
We’ve already seen the consequences of machine-generated video in the form of Deepfakes. As these technologies become more accessible and user friendly, the researchers worry that bad actors will disseminate fabricated photos, videos, and audio files. This could result in highly successful defamation campaigns with political ramifications.
In just four years, generative neural networks learned to create photorealistic human faces.
Beyond the keyboard: And potential malfeasance isn’t restricted to the internet. As we move toward the adoption of autonomous vehicles, hackers might deploy adversarial examples to fool self-driving cars into misperceiving their surroundings. “An image of a stop sign with a few pixels changed in specific ways, which humans would easily recognize as still being an image of a stop sign, might nevertheless be misclassified as something else entirely by an AI system,” the report says.
Other threats include autonomous drones with integrated facial recognition software for targeting purposes, coordinated DOS attacks that mimic human behavior, and automated, hyper-personalized disinformation campaigns.
The report recommends that researchers consider potential malicious applications of A.I. while developing these technologies. If adequate defense measures aren’t put in place, then we may already have the technology to destroy humanity, no killer robots required.
Dying sucks. It’s a sad fact of human existence. When you’re young, the inevitability and permanence of death are hard to conceptualize, but experiencing the deaths of loved ones sure makes it real in a heartbeat – or lack thereof. Despite our impotence in the face of what is surely an inescapable fate, humans have been trying to find ways to avoid death since time immemorial. Modern medicine and digital media have come a long way, but the fact remains that we’re all just going to rot in the ground someday – that is, unless one of these kooky scientists proclaiming the advent of human immortality turns out to be right. This week, yet another self-proclaimed “futurologist” has issued his prediction for the strange, immortal future humanity likely has in store. Will we really soon be able to cheat death with the help of technology?
The bigger question is why the future is always depicted in blue and orange.
These latest predictions were made by engineer and futurologist Ian Pearson who has been a Chartered Fellow of the British Computer Society and a fellow of both the World Academy for Arts and Science and the World innovation Foundation. He claims his predictions have been shown to have “about 85% accuracy when looking 10-15 years ahead.” In an interview with The Sun, predicts humans will be able to cheat death by the year 2050. Well some humans, anyway. The rich ones. The really, really rich ones:
One day your body dies – maybe you get hit by a bus or a nasty disease – but it doesn’t matter, because your mind will still be there. You’ll be able to use an android body instead of the organic one you just lost. For normal people on everyday salaries, it’s more likely that you’ll have to wait a little longer. By 2060, people like you or I will be able to buy it, and by 2070 people in poor countries on modest incomes will be able to buy it.
In his prediction about human immortality, Pearson cites three emerging technological trends which have the potential to indefinitely extend the human lifespan, or at least the lifespan of human consciousnesses: rejuvenating body parts with anti-aging gene therapies or swapping out body parts for lab-grown replacements; digitizing the human consciousness and downloading it into biohybrid android sleeves à la Altered Carbon; or developing technologies which will allow our consciousnesses to exist forever in virtual realities. I don’t know about you, but that last one sounds the best to me.
We might one day look at swapping out body parts the same way we look at getting a haircut.
While these kinds of transhumanist predictions are great material for sci-fi and surely have led to some generous research grants, I can’t help but wonder if these are merely some kind of new techno-religious belief system emerging. These kinds of technological immortality sound a lot like concepts of the afterlife, reincarnation, or the soul tossed around by many world religions. Will we really ever be able to digitize the human consciousness? Do we really want to? Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should.
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- Gemiddelde waardering: 0/5 - (0 Stemmen) Categorie:SF-snufjes }, Robotics and A.I. Artificiel Intelligence ( E, F en NL )
16-02-2018
AI Expert Claims Artificial Intelligence Will Become ‘Billions Of Times’ Smarter Than Humans
AI Expert Claims Artificial Intelligence Will Become ‘Billions Of Times’ Smarter Than Humans
According to an expert in Artificial Intelligence, machines will become billions of times smarter than humans, and mankind needs to fuse with machines in order to survive.
Artificial intelligence could evolve to become “billions of times smarter” than humans according to Ian Pearson, a futurist at Futurizon who says people will need to merge with machines to survive.
The fact is that AI can go further than humans, it could be billions of times smarter than humans at this point,” said Pearson during a panel hosted by CNBC at the World Government Summit in Dubai.
“So we really do need to make sure that we have some means of keeping up.”
Will AI destroy the human race?
Image Credit: Shutterstock
Pearson continued, “The way to protect against that is to link that AI to your brain so you have the same IQ… as the computer. I don’t actually think it’s safe, just like Elon Musk… to develop these superhuman computers until we have a direct link to the human brain… and then don’t get way ahead.”
Pearson’s comments echo the ex-engineer of Uber and Google, Anthony Levandowski, who formed the first church that worships an artificially intelligent being.
The futuristic religion, known as the “Way of the Future,” states that our species can improve itself by following the instructions of a robot that is “a billion times smarter than humans.”
WOTF will eventually have a gospel called ‘The Manual’, as well as rituals and even a physical place of worship.
Levandowski named himself “WOTF” dean, giving him total control until his death or resignation.
Interestingly, Pearson’s comments echo those made by Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk who spoke about Artificial Intelligence saying: “Over time I think we will probably see a closer merger of biological intelligence and digital intelligence.”
Musk continued, “It’s mostly about the bandwidth, the speed of the connection between your brain and the digital version of yourself, particularly output.” Musk has since founded a startup company called Neuralink which aims to explore linking human brains to computers.
Numerous experts have spoken out about the dangers of Artificial Intelligence, as well as its benefits.
Should we be worried about AI?
Image Credit: Shutterstock
Professor Stephen Hawking, for example, says how we should be very careful when dealing and developing AI. The world-renowned scientist has said that Artificial Intelligence could become the worst event in the history of our civilization, urging experts to “employ best practice and effective management.”
In 2017, during a talk at the Web Summit technology conference, Hawking said that AI can in theory not only emulate human intelligence but greatly exceed it. Hawking also said that there is a danger that Artificial Intelligence could become so advanced that it may develop a will of its own.
Despite the fact that many people welcome AI into society, experts in the subject remain worried.
Elon Musk seems to agree with Hawking when it comes to AI. Mr. Musk warns we must tread carefully when it comes to AI, and called for companies developing AI systems to slow down in order to ensure they don’t unintentionally create something extremely dangerous for humans.
'Time Traveler Who Visited The Year 8973' Shares Vision Of Future
Being able to travel in time is something that has often been discussed, and it has been the focus of many movies. So far it has been seen as nothing more than a theory but would anyone believe a person if they said that they had traveled to a different time and come back?
Time Travel proof: 'British intelligence worker' reveals truth behind Mandela effect
Time travel is something that has fascinated many people for decades, and now a man from England by the name of William Taylor has come forward to say that he has been to the future on many different occasions and come back to tell the tale.
"Time travel was first successfully accomplished in 1981," Taylor claims. "There is an infinite number of alternate universes, it's possible every one of these universes exist and it's possible to move between these universes. We developed a machine to not only time travel, but move between these parallel universes."
Here is what Taylor - the time traveler - has to say to the world:
Taylor has realized that not everyone believes his story about being able to travel into the future and this does not seem to bother him. What bothers him more is fear of reprisal for telling his story. This is because he claims to have worked for the government in Britain along with the British Intelligence agency.
Taylor said that there are many advanced technologies being kept secret. He went on to say that in time they will be released to the public but for the time being, they are highly classified. He claimed that “they” would be coming after him for releasing the video and telling the truth and that he was putting himself at risk for speaking up. According to Taylor time travel was first accomplished in 1981, and there is an infinite number of alternate universes out there. He went on to say that it is possible that the universes exist and they can be moved between. Taylor claims that a machine was developed for time traveling and to allow people to move between the parallel universes.
In The Year 3000 Humans Live Underwater
Taylor spoke out above visiting the year 3000 and said that not a great deal had changed, other than humans lived under the water and he talked in detail about the things that he had seen during his time in the future. Taylor described looking up and seeing flying transportation in the sky above but only being able to see lights through what he claimed was thick smog. He went on to talk about going to 8973 and said that this was when the British government thought that machines and men would fuse together as one.
The video goes on and the longer that Taylor speaks about his time in the future and time travel the stranger it seems to get. He starts by talking about going into the future and time traveling and then goes on to talk about parallel universes and to travel to them. He then goes on to talk about invisibility and more. Whether you believe what Taylor has to say or you are skeptical about it, the video is rather entertaining to watch, and it may have some people wondering.
Scientists at the University of Colorado Boulder devised an electronic skin, or e-skin, which mimics the mechanical and functional properties of natural human skin. The artificial skin is stretchable and bendable, but also capable of measuring pressure, temperature, and vibration. In the future, this upgrade will enable robots to sense their environment, making human-robot interactions less creepy. E-skin will also be helpful for disabled humans who are forced to wear a prosthesis.
Robo-touch
Electronic skin isn’t a novel concept. For the last decade, scientists all over the world have demonstrated functional artificial skin that possesses the ability to feel and touch objects. However, this is the first time that we’re shown an e-skin that can both heal itself and is fully recyclable.
“This particular device … won’t produce any waste,” said study co-author Jianliang Xiao, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Colorado Boulder. “We want to make electronics to be environmentally friendly.”
Xiao and colleagues made their e-skin out of polymer and silver nanoparticles, the latter being responsible for the device’s self-healing properties. If for some reason the e-skin is torn in half, the two sides can come back together in the presence of a rehealing agent and heat pressing, which restores the broken chemical bonds. If the damage is irreparable, the device can be put into a solution that separates and recovers the silver nanoparticles, thereby allowing the material to be recycled for a new e-skin.
“What is unique here is that the chemical bonding of polyimine we use allows the e-skin to be both self-healing and fully recyclable at room temperature,” Xiao said.
Schematic of e-skin and its uses.
Credit: University of Colorado Boulder .
Xiao envisions the e-skin being fundamental to improving interactions between human beings and robots. For instance, the scientist imagines babysitting robots equipped with fingers covered in e-skin that can tell what the temperature of the baby is or can measure pressure so the robot doesn’t press too hard.
Similarly, prostheses wrapped in e-skin can enable people who have lost a limb to regain control not only of their dexterity — at least in part — but also sensing ability, as reported in the journal Science Advances.
But this e-skin isn’t perfect. Unlike our own natural skin, the e-skin isn’t very flexible or stretchable. Worse of all, the device isn’t easily reproducible, which is why Xiao and colleagues are working on a solution that might enable them to scale down the e-skin’s manufacturing.
“We are facing pollution issues every day,” Xiao noted. “It’s important to preserve our environment and make sure that nature can be very safe for ourselves and for our kids.”
Most of us accept eventual memory impairment as an unfortunate fact of life, but recent advances in brain stimulation, funded by the U.S. Department of Defense, could be changing all that. On Tuesday, scientists conducting research within the program reported in the journal Nature Communications that they’d found a way to electrically stimulate the brain to improve memory recall in a significant way.
The goal of the program is to ultimately treat people with neurological disorders like Parkinson’s disease and epilepsy, which affect many combat veterans living with the long-term effects of head trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder. The new paper, published Tuesday, is a major step in achieving those goals. The team of researchers, led by Youssef Ezzyat, Ph.D. of the University of Pennsylvania, found that directly stimulating a part of the brain called the lateral temporal cortex could help improve patients’ memory recall by as much as 15 percent.
By stimulating the lateral temporal cortex, scientists found they could improve patients' memory recall by 15 percent.
In the study, the researchers recorded the brain activity of 25 volunteers who were participating in a clinical trial intended to treat drug-resistant epilepsy, a seizure disorder that can affect a person’s memory. The patients read a list of 12 words and were instructed to remember them. All the while, scientists monitored the patients’ brain activity via electrodes on the cortical surface of the brain as well as embedded in the brain.
Feeding this data to a machine-learning algorithm showed them when a patient’s brain was most likely not encoding the memories properly. Later, when patients were performing a memory task, the electrodes hooked up to their lateral temporal cortex, a part of the brain associated with memory and language processing, gave the patients a little zap of electricity to stimulate the region whenever it detected activity associated with encoding deficits.
The study’s authors report that this monitoring and responding process, known as closed-loop stimulation, improved patients’ memory recall by 15 percent. This new study rests on previous findings by Ezzyat’s team, which demonstrated the potential of closed-loop brain stimulation for improving memory encoding. This differs from open-loop stimulation in that it only fires up when a patient is showing the biomarkers that indicate encoding problems. The latest research builds on this intervention by identifying an anatomical target for brain stimulation.
Since, as Inverse previously reported, the National Institutes of Mental Health isn’t very interested in funding this kind of research, it looks like this project and others funded by the D.O.D. could be doctors’ best bet at perfecting treatments that involve direct brain stimulation.
Abstract:
Memory failures are frustrating and often the result of ineffective encoding. One approach to improving memory outcomes is through direct modulation of brain activity with electrical stimulation. Previous efforts, however, have reported inconsistent effects when using open-loop stimulation and often target the hippocampus and medial temporal lobes. Here we use a closed-loop system to monitor and decode neural activity from direct brain recordings in humans. We apply targeted stimulation to lateral temporal cortex and report that this stimulation rescues periods of poor memory encoding. This system also improves later recall, revealing that the lateral temporal cortex is a reliable target for memory enhancement. Taken together, our results suggest that such systems may provide a therapeutic approach for treating memory dysfunction.
You've read that, now watch this: "'Mindset' Headphones Monitor Your Brainwaves to Keep You Focused"
The analogue, natural version of C.elegans. Credit: TU Wien
Is it a computer program or a living being? At TU Wien (Vienna), the boundaries have become blurred. The neural system of a nematode was translated into computer code – and then the virtual worm was taught amazing tricks.
C. elegans worms. Image credits PROZEISS Microscopy / Flickr.
It is not much to look at: the nematode C. elegans is about one millimetre in length and is a very simple organism. But for science, it is extremely interesting. C. elegans is the only living being whose neural system has been analysed completely. It can be drawn as a circuit diagram or reproduced by computer software, so that the neural activity of the worm is simulated by a computer program.
Such an artificial C. elegans has now been trained at TU Wien (Vienna) to perform a remarkable trick: The computer worm has learned to balance a pole at the tip of its tail.
C. elegans has to get by with only 300 neurons. But they are enough to make sure that the worm can find its way, eat bacteria and react to certain external stimuli. It can, for example, react to a touch on its body. A reflexive response is triggered and the worm squirms away.
This behaviour is determined by the worm's nerve cells and the strength of the connections between them. When this simple reflex network is recreated on a computer, the simulated worm reacts in exactly the same way to a virtual stimulation – not because anybody programmed it to do so, but because this kind of behaviour is hard-wired in its neural network.
Credit: TU Wien
"This reflexive response of such a neural circuit, is very similar to the reaction of a control agent balancing a pole," says Ramin Hasani (Institute of Computer Engineering, TU Wien). This is a typical control problem that can be solved quite well by standard controllers. A pole is fixed on its lower end on a moving object, and it is supposed to stay in a vertical position. Whenever it starts tilting, the lower end has to move slightly to keep the pole from tipping over. Much like the worm has to change its direction whenever it is stimulated by a touch, the pole must be moved whenever it tilts.
Mathias Lechner, Radu Grosu and Ramin Hasani wanted to find out whether the neural system of C. elegans, uploaded to a computer, could solve this problem – without adding any nerve cells, just by tuning the strength of the synaptic connections. This basic idea (tuning the connections between nerve cells) is also the characteristic feature of any natural learning process
The worm’s natural behavior is very similar to that required in this test. Image credits TU Wien.
A Program without a Programmer
"With the help of reinforcement learning, a method also known as 'learning based on experiment and reward,' the artificial reflex network was trained and optimized on the computer," Mathias Lechner explains. The team succeeded in teaching the virtual nerve system to balance a pole. "The result is a controller, which can solve a standard technology problem – stabilizing a pole, balanced on its tip. But no human being has written even one line of code for this controller, it just emerged by training a biological nerve system," says Radu Grosu.
The team is going to explore the capabilities of such control circuits further. The project raises the question whether there is a fundamental difference between living nerve systems and computer code. Is machine learning and the activity of our brain the same on a fundamental level? At least we can be pretty sure that the simple nematode C. elegans does not care whether it lives as a worm in the ground or as a virtual worm on a computer hard drive.
In real life, the worm reacts to touch—and the same neural curcuits can perform tasks in the computer. Credit: TU Wien
FORWARD THINKING Toby Walsh cuts through the hype to give a critical assessment of how much we should welcome or worry about a future full of “thinking” machines.
Movies and other media are full of mixed messages about the risks and rewards of building machines with minds of their own. For every manipulative automaton like Ex Machina’s Ava (SN: 5/16/15, p. 26), there’s a helpful Star Wars droid. And while some tech titans such as Elon Musk warn of the threats artificial intelligence presents, others, including Mark Zuckerberg, dismiss the doomsayers.
AI researcher Toby Walsh’s Machines That Think is for anyone who has heard the hype and is seeking a critical assessment of what the technology can do — and what it might do in the future. Walsh’s conversational style is welcoming to nonexperts while his endnotes point readers to opportunities for deeper dives into specific aspects of AI.
Walsh begins with a history of AI, from Aristotle’s foundation of formal logic to modern facial-recognition systems. Excerpts from computer-composed poetry and tales of computers trouncing humans at strategy games (SN: 11/11/17, p. 13) are a testament to how far AI has come. But Walsh also highlights weaknesses, such as machine-learning algorithms’ reliance on so much data to master a single task.
This 30,000-foot view of AI research packs a lot of history, as well as philosophical and technical explanation. Walsh personalizes the account with stories of his own programming experiences, anecdotes about AI in daily life — like his daughter’s use of Siri — and his absolute, unapologetic love of puns.
Later in the book, Walsh speculates about technical hurdles that may curb further AI development and legal limits that society may want to impose. He also explores the societal impact that increasingly intelligent computers may have.
For instance, Walsh evaluates how likely various jobs are to be outsourced to AI. Some occupations, like journalist, will almost certainly be automated, he argues. Others, like oral surgeon, are probably safe. For future job security, Walsh recommends pursuing careers that require programming acumen, emotional intelligence or creativity.
AI also has the potential to revolutionize warfare. “Like Moore’s law, we are likely to see exponential growth in the capabilities of autonomous weapons,” Walsh writes. “I have named this ‘Schwarzenegger’s law’ to remind us of where it will end.” Walsh isn’t resigned to a Terminator-like future, though. If governments ban killer robots and arms developers use automation to enhance defensive equipment, he believes military AI could actually save many lives.
In fact, Walsh argues, all aspects of AI’s future impacts are in our hands. “Artificial intelligence can lead us down many different paths, some good and some bad,” he writes. “Society must choose which path to take.”
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04-02-2018
5D Crystals Can Store Data Virtually Forever, Scientists Say -- Crystal Skulls Connections
5D Crystals Can Store Data Virtually Forever, Scientists Say -- Crystal Skulls Connections
Researchers at the University of Southampton have recently announced that they are able to store and retrieve huge amounts of five dimensional data on quartz crystals.
The technology has immediately received a cool nickname: the "Superman memory crystal" — after the "memory crystals" used as storing devices in the Superman films.
I. How does it work?
“…the data is recorded via self-assembled nanostructures created in fused quartz, which is able to store vast quantities of data for over a million years,” explains a press release. “The information encoding is realized in five dimensions: the size and orientation in addition to the three dimensional position of these nanostructures.” [1]
That sounds complicated, but what it basically means is that, using ultra-fast lasers, we can now encode a piece of quartz with 5D information in the form of nanostructured dots separated by only one millionth of a meter.
“The self-assembled nanostructures change the way light travels through glass, modifying polarization of light that can then be read by combination of optical microscope and a polarizer, similar to that found in Polaroid sunglasses,” states the release. [2]
The storage allows unprecedented parameters including 360 TB/disc data capacity, thermal stability up to 1000°C and practically unlimited lifetime.
"We are developing a very stable and safe form of portable memory using glass, which could be highly useful for organisations with big archives. At the moment companies have to back up their archives every five to ten years because hard-drive memory has a relatively short lifespan. (...) Museums who want to preserve information or places like the national archives where they have huge numbers of documents, would really benefit," stated the ORC leading researcher, Jingyu Zhang. [2]
II. In case of mankind's extinction, the 5D memory crystals will "survive" to tell our story
5D Crystals Can Store Data Virtually Forever, Scientists Say
The team's supervisor, Professor Peter Kazansky, explained:
"It is thrilling to think that we have created the first document which will likely survive the human race. This technology can secure the last evidence of civilisation: all we've learnt will not be forgotten." [3]
It's interesting that preserving mankind's history is considered by scientists to be the most important thing we can achieve with this technology.
If others before us discovered this technology, then it is very probable that they have reached to the same conclusions.
Back in 2010 I wrote about David, a child who allegedly incarnated on Earth from a planet called Inua. He explained that all of the evolved extraterrestrial species store data on crystals for aeons - including their history.
In conclusion, if we are to look for solid evidence about the existence of lost ancient civilizations (e.g. Lemurians, Atlanteans, ET visitors), then we should also consider looking for "memory crystals".
If we are to leave our history recorded for posterity - just in case our species doesn't make by the end of the century — then a disc-shaped (or icicle-shaped, as depicted in Superman) crystal may not be the best shape for such an important library.
No! The crystal needs to be solid enough not to shatter with ease, beautiful enough for others to preserve it, and awe-inspiring so that it is treated with respect... maybe even feared.
Why? Because the ones who find it, may not be able to read its message, so it needs to survive in one piece until someone figures out what it is and/or has the technology to decode the encrypted message.
And just one crystal may not be enough... so the more we make, the better.
It should be crystal-clear (pun intended) by now that I am making a reference to something. Do you know what I am talking about?
I am, of course, talking about the famous ancient crystal skulls. And there are - at least - about a dozen of original crystal skulls in private and public collections.
III. The Mysterious Ancient Crystal Skulls of Mesoamerica
These mysterious crystal skulls reunite all the needed features (solid, beautiful, numerous and awe inspiring) for them to survive long enough so that their possible message could be decoded by an advanced species.
Photograph by AFP/Getty Images
According to National Geographic,
"Some are crystal clear, others of smoky or colored quartz. Some are actual human size and of very fine detail, while others are smaller and less refined. All are believed to originate from Mexico and Central America.
Many believe these skulls were carved thousands or even tens of thousands of years ago by an ancient Mesoamerican civilization. Others think they may be relics from the legendary island of Atlantis or proof that extraterrestrials visited the Aztec sometime before the Spanish conquest." [4]
Unfortunately, according to the same source cited above, the British Museum and the Smithsonian Institution declared their original skulls to be fake:
"Recent electron microscope analyses of skulls by the British Museum and the Smithsonian Institution revealed markings that could only have been made with modern carving implements."
Firstly, the original skulls could have been easily replaced with fakes by now. Those who control the world have access anywhere they desire.
Secondly, just because the skulls have modern-looking carving marks on them is not evidence that the skulls are fake. There are plenty of monuments drilled, carved and stacked together so perfectly that it would be challenging to replicate even today (e.g Puma Punku, or the Great Pyramids of Egypt- just to name a couple of sites).
Revolutionary "Superman" Memory Crystals Can Store Data Virtually Forever | Inhabitat - Green Design, Innovation, Architecture, Green Building
Interesting times await us just around the corner, so - who knows?! - maybe one day, soon, I will be able to report to you that an ancient crystal skull has been discovered to contain the real history of our planet and its inhabitants.
A soft robot developed by Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems is seen to the left of a coin. |Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems
Take two robots and call me in the morning.
That may well be a legitimate prescription for future medical patients, thanks to a new kind of radically miniaturized soft robot that can be swallowed, injected, or inserted under the skin. The robot can then move around inside the body to target specific tissues or deliver precise doses of medicine.
Researchers with Germany's Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems unveiled last week details of the tiny robot in a paper published in the journal Nature. Unofficially dubbed the millirobot, it's a flexible, fabric-like robot that can walk, swim, and even carry cargo, despite having no mechanical elements or batteries.
The secret is magnetism. The millirobot, which resembles a very small rectangle of paper about four millimeters in length, is made of an elastic polymer threaded through with magnetic particles. Using existing magnetic-resonance technology, such as an ultrasound machine, doctors can control the movement of the bot inside the human body.
That means the robot can potentially be deployed anywhere that physicians need to deliver a particular drug or other medical material — in the digestive tract, say, or even within the blood stream.
The soft millirobot climbs on the water meniscus by changing its body curvature and lands on the solid surface. Next, it encounters a large obstacle and traverses it fast and easily by jumping over it, and walks on the surface after landing. The dashed line shows the direction of the robot motion. Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems
“In the case of digestive or urinary systems, where the current robot could get in with its current size, the robot would be swallowed,” Sitti told Seeker. “For internal organ applications, we would deploy the robot through a small incision, like in the case of laparoscopy. In vascular system applications, we could inject it omto the blood vessels.”
While other ingestible robots have been developed, the millirobot has several advantages over other techniques, according to the research team. Most importantly, the robot is very versatile in its modes of locomotion. Thanks to its biologically inspired design, the millirobot can easily transition from swimming in a liquid to scooting over a solid surface.
“We looked at the physical mechanism of locomotion of soft-bodied caterpillars and jellyfishes and took inspiration from them,” Sitti said. “The result is that our millirobot is a mix of small-scale soft-bodied animals, such as a beetle larva, a caterpillar, a spermatozoid, and a jellyfish.”
Thanks to its biomimetic design, the millirobot has multiple ways to get around, Sitti said. In a video released with the research publication the millirobot is shown inching along like a worm, swimming like a manta ray, and carrying cargo by encircling small objects then rolling them into place.
“After the robot is deployed inside the body, it can be navigated using seven different locomotion methods to reach to the target disease area,” Sitti said. “Then, the robot can deliver drug locally in a controlled dose by using its shape-change control. This can remove possible side effects that some drugs could have and can also improve the drug delivery efficiency and amount control.”
Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems
Sitti and his research team have further plans for the millirobot, including possible cancer treatment options and a novel cauterization technique.
“As another medical use very soon, we could heat the robot in the target location remotely — using electromagnetic waves — and the heated robot could stop bleeding in a wound or kill cancer cells locally,” Sitti said.
The researchers hope that their soft robot will some day become a standard option for health care providers, offering a space-age option for non-invasive access to hard-to-reach places.
“Currently it is not possible to access many small regions inside the human body without surgery,” Sitti said. “But our target is to reach such regions non-invasively and conduct diagnostic and therapeutic operations with our soft robots.”
The Little Ripper Drone has gotten a good bit of publicity for its potential as a lifesaving drone. Yet, up until now, it really was all about potential.
Now, the lifeguard drone has lived up to the hype, saving two people stranded in rough seas off the coast of New South Wales state, Australia.
Two teenage boys who were caught 0.4 miles offshore at Lennox Head in a swell of nearly 9.8 ft., were able to grab hold of a floatation device after the Little Ripper dropped it from above.
Incredible aerial footage shows how it all went down. Watch it below:
Sergio Canavero is adamant that human head transplants will work. In fact, he claims that he could complete such a transplant within a year, and he says that he has the science to back it up. But does he?
Towards the end of 2017, Canavero’s project made headlines when the Italian surgeon claimed that he had actually already performed the procedure, which he calls the “head anastomosis venture” or HEAVEN. Subsequent reports determined that no such procedure took place and that the work was completed on corpses — many neuroscientists question whether even that much was really done.
Most scientists question whether there has been enough scientific progress to allow Canavero to perform such an operation next fall in China, as he claims he will do. In fact, they question whether research will make head transplants a viable option even in the foreseeable future. Richard L. Harvey, Northwestern University associate professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, sums the current consensus: “At this point, it would not be possible to connect the brainstem to the spinal cord in such a way as to get function. So if this were done, the person would be a [quadriplegic],” he told Futurism. “We can’t even repair spinal cords in patients with spinal cord injury, so we certainly can’t do that [successfully perform a head transplant].”
But that doesn’t mean that we will never be able to do one.
Ralph Adolphs, Bren Professor of Psychology, Neuroscience, and Biology from the division of the Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS) at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), doesn’t rule out the possibility that a head transplant could be successful in the distant future, although the procedure would have to overcome substantial challenges. “I don’t see any impossibility in principle, so it’s conceivable it can be done in the future — but it will happen in small steps first, like curing paralyzed people, and you’ll be sure to hear about it as all the problems required are solved,” he told Futurism.
While, for the time being, a head transplant remains out of reach, if science does advance enough to perform one successfully, it will raise an array of new, mind-boggling questions.
A Sound Mind and Body
For starters, what happens to the transplanted head in the new body? Because of the way that other parts of the body impact our neurology and the way that we think and act, would joining a head with a new body create a new person altogether or would the head retain its former consciousness unaltered?
With a human head transplant, the head would be introduced to a foreign microbiome through the new body. Would this affect how the person thinks?
“[D]ifferent gut bacteria may make you feel different, and therefore think a little differently, but they won’t directly make you think differently because all thinking happens in the brain, not the gut,” Adolphs said. “Different gut bacteria might make you more or less groggy or change your mood — just like if you had a cold or not. So I guess the answer is: slightly, and only indirectly, like how viruses or bacteria do when you have a cold.”
Assuming that a human head transplant could work, the patient would still need a significant period of recovery for brain activity to normalize. According to Adolphs, this recovery process would be two-fold. It would probably begin with the brain adapting to its new body. “Just like learning to ride a bicycle, you’ll need to learn how to walk and move your arms, and for that matter breathe and regulate your heartbeat,” he explained.
It would take several months for brain and body to integrate. However, “that means your brain will change,” Adolphs said. This change is comparable, on a smaller scale, to how people learn to play a musical instrument, and get better with practice — only in this case, it would be practicing to control a new body.
“[Y]ou would change as a person in a number of respects because of a massive reorganization in your brain as it learns to adapt to your new body […] There would be limits to this reorganization that depend, among other things, on age,” Adolphs added.
Felipe De Brigard, an assistant professor of psychology and neuroscience at the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience of Duke University’s Institute for Brain Sciences, has a more radical perspective on the issue. He told Futurism that “it is unlikely that all of our psychological traits are uniquely dependent upon the cells confined within our head — it is likely that many of our psychological traits are dependent upon the informational transactions between our brain and our bodies. As such, a change in body would likely alter some of those psychological traits.” De Brigard admitted, however, that it’s not clear as to what extent a “new body” could alter psychological traits.
Post transplant
Arthur Caplan, founding head of the medical ethics division at the NYU School of Medicine, told Futurism that what would come after a successful head transplant would be as traumatic as the surgery itself. “Putting a new head in a body is a guarantee of madness at best. The new mind-body integration would never work,” Caplan said.
He asserts that this will be the likely outcome, as the brain would be flooded with chemicals and signals from the body that are foreign and unfamiliar.
Harvey explains that, if not to outright madness, the person who’d come out of such a surgery would be the person who owned the head. “So in a real way it would be a body transplant, not a head transplant,” he said to Futurism.
Kai G. Zinn, Howard and Gwen Laurie Smits Professor of Biology at Caltech BBE, seems to disagree with this assessment. “If it could be done, the brain itself would be the same. But since it would be connected to a different body the person would be very different,” he said.
Though they may disagree on the specifics, scientists agree that a human head transplant would be a cognitive nightmare and that the person who’d come out of such a procedure would be that person who owned the head, but with very different, and possibly damaged, brain functions.
This article has been updated. A previous version did not mention Kai G. Zinn’s affiliation.
Dr. Michio Kaku is a theoretical physicist, futurist, and popular science communicator. He’s also the author of “Physics of the Impossible,” has hosted radio programs and television specials on the BBC, the Discovery Channel, the History Channel, and the Science Channel, and most notably, is a co-founder of string field theory (a branch of string theory).
While he also does speaking engagements, many who are familiar with Kaku’s work have the internet to thank. He’s a frequent face on the Big Think YouTube channel and uses social media to bring the complex web of physics to the public in an educational and entertaining way.
While Kaku does not have a time machine, his understanding of physics and our place in the universe has given him a unique perspective on our past, present, and ultimately, our future. To the latter point, he’s had plenty of interesting things to say. Here are some of Kaku’s predictions about the future.
In December of 2016, Kaku made several predictions about the future, projecting five, 10, and even as far as 20 years ahead. His predictions and statements are derived both from his knowledge as a physicist and his interest in studying what might, or could, be.
Dr. Kaku kicked off 2017 by reminding everyone about the importance of science to human prosperity, as well as the integral role simple curiosity plays in scientific advancement. This sentiment echoes the idea that many brilliant ideas begin because our curiosities have been piqued. As a result, we ask a question and in our attempts to answer it, make discoveries along the way.
As part of the National Geographic series Year Million, Kaku explored what human life might look like one million years from now. The series showcases the expertise and opinions of scientists, science fiction writers, futurists, and scholars. Together with these experts, Dr. Kaku images what might be in Year Million — that is, if humans survive that long.
Dr. Kaku has, at times, even questioned reality. Last year he wove physics observations and theories into a discussion about not only where we stand as humans in the universe, but what might we define as reality going forward.
Dr. Kaku’s predictions aren’t always theoretical, though. Last spring he used the instance of a nearby asteroid to discuss the possibility of asteroids greatly impacting life on Earth in the future.
More recently, Kaku made predictions about when we’ll confirm the existence of extraterrestrial life. His statements were in reference to a New York Times piece about a top-secret UFO program at the Pentagon. Kaku predicted we may not discover extraterrestrial life when or where we expect to, and that in such strange circumstances, it will be essential to keep an open mind. A sentiment that’s surely true for all areas of science.
Are UFOs chasing our jet fighters, as recent secret documents suggest? Maybe they are experimental hypersonic drones. Or maybe aliens from outer space? I keep an open mind.
From the potential destruction of Earth by an asteroid to the possibility of finally connecting with extraterrestrial life, Kaku’s predictions aren’t as wild as they may seem at first. They’re based on hard science and the most recent observations and understandings we have about our universe.
Kaku, nor anyone, can predict the future certainly. The best that he, or any of us, can do is take current information about science, the universe, and humanity, and figure out how all of these variables interact. Then, we can imagine a well-informed and comprehensive prediction about the future.
There is one thing Kaku is sure about, however: that climate change is a real threat to life on Earth, not just in terms of our future, but today. And that we can take action right now to make sure we reach that future, whatever it may hold.
Physicists from Brigham Young Univeristy may have just created the best technology for projecting 3D images, but they're not calling these images a hologram. It's still in its earliest stages, but once perfected, its applications could be varied.
NOT A HOLOGRAM
For many sci-fi fans, a truly working hologram is Princess Leia asking Obi Wan Kenobi for help. While that’s clearly science fiction, a projected image that one can observe from all angles may have just become the only hope for authentic 3D projections.
This is the subject of a new study published in the journal Nature, detailing how a team of physicists led by Daniel Smalley from the Brigham Young University (BYU) in Provo, Utah, have managed to project moving 3D images viewable at any angle.
Smalley doesn’t call it a hologram, however. “This is doing something that a hologram can never do — giving you an all-round view, a Princess Leia-style display — because it’s not a hologram,” he told Nature News. An actual hologram, as it exists today, is an image projection coming from a source limited to a particular angle. It can’t be viewed perfectly from all sides.
What Smalley’s team developed is a technique they call volumetric display, where a single particle of a plant fiber called cellulose is trapped and heated evenly using forces from near-invisible laser beams. To illuminate the particle as it moves through space, pushed and pulled by the beams forces, a second set of lasers project visible light onto it.
As the name suggests, the projected image appears to have more volume to it, without the need for headgears or other such devices. “In simple terms, we’re using a laser beam to trap a particle, and then we can steer the laser beam around to move the particle and create the image,” undergrad coauthor Erich Nygaard explained in a BYU press release.
3D PROJECTIONS
The extent of how the technique works is still limited to smaller images. Because of the limited way human eyes can see images, when the particles move faster than a rate of 10 per second, what’s seen is a solid line. This can be made to appear like it’s moving by changing the images even faster. Smalley’s team successfully demonstrated it by projecting the static outline of a butterfly, as well as a moving spiral line drawing. Larger images can also be projected if they are still, or moving slowly.
One of Smalley’s students, wearing a lab coat and posed like Princess Leia. Image Credit: Smalley et al., Nature
Admittedly, the technology is still in its very early stages, despite having borrowed from and improved on other similar 3D projections’ systems. For instance, to make more realistic images, Smalley’s team will need to figure out a way to make the particles move faster. “If we make as much progress in the next four years as we made in the last, I think we will be successful making a display of useful size,” Smalley told Nature.
Holography and other 3D-projection technologies are new, and as such their applications are still rather limited. One can imagine how volumetric display — once perfected — could potentially be used to improve entertainment and gaming in the same way virtual and augmented reality devices are trying to do. It could also be used in military training exercises, to simulate battles scenes in 3D.
And perhaps it could be used to send messages across a galaxy far, far away. As Smalley pointed out: “We’re providing a method to make a volumetric image that can create the images we imagine we’ll have in the future.”
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Over mijzelf
Ik ben Pieter, en gebruik soms ook wel de schuilnaam Peter2011.
Ik ben een man en woon in Linter (België) en mijn beroep is Ik ben op rust..
Ik ben geboren op 18/10/1950 en ben nu dus 75 jaar jong.
Mijn hobby's zijn: Ufologie en andere esoterische onderwerpen.
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