Alas, the human biological platform perceives only a small amount of the data stream, the information, around us. For example, a tiny portion of the electromagnetic spectrum is detected by people. How tiny? David Eagleman says we see one ten-trillionth of the electromagnetic spectrum! And that's just one data stream we are missing out on!
We need enhancement, additional receptors to receive the broadband cable version of reality! Tom Campbell talked about this reality data stream here, Tom Campbell: Why Reality is a Computed Simulation.
David Eagleman: Welcome To Your Future Brain We're entering a very interesting stage of human history right now where we can start importing technology to enhance our natural senses or perception of the world, says neuroscientist David Eagleman. Directed / Produced by Elizabeth Rodd and Jonathan Fowler.
The Hubble Space Telescope was launched on April 24, 1990. NASA & ESA have selected some of the best images, one for each year in service, in the video below. These include images of Saturn and rings, the colorful Orion Nebula, Herbig Haro 2, Messier 100, Shoemaker-Levy 9 Hits Jupiter, the classic Eagle Nebula, the odd and unusual NGC 6826, the red planet Mars, the amazing Ring Nebula, Keyhole Nebula, NGC 1999, ESO 510-G13, the striking Cone Nebula, the legendary Hubble Ultra Deep Field, the surreal Antennae Galaxies, the vast Orion Nebula, the "diamonds" of Messier 9, NGC 4874, the glowing NGC 2818, the symmetric Bug Nebula, Centaurus A, and the Tarantula Nebula.
Hubble Space Telescope - The Best Images From Over Two Decades In Orbit Hubblecast 54: 22 Years In Images. To celebrate the 22nd anniversary of the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, this episode of the Hubblecast gives a slideshow of some of the best images from over two decades in orbit.
Kevin Slavin understands algorithms as nature - our world is subject to algorithmic optimization, not just on Wall Street, but in our homes, our architecture, and in our cities. Math is shaping our environments, what he calls the 'physics of culture'.
"It's a bright future if you are an algorithm."
"It takes you 500,000 microseconds just to click a mouse. But if you’re a Wall Street algorithm and you’re five microseconds behind, you’re a loser."
"We’re running through the United States with dynamite and rock saws so that an algorithm can close the deal three microseconds faster, all for a communications framework that no human will ever know; that’s a kind of manifest destiny (for algorithms). We are actually terraforming the Earth itself with this kind of algorithmic efficiency."
Seismic terrestrial effects are being caused by the math we are making. Our landscape has been made by a collaboration between nature and man. "But now there is this third co-evolutionary force - algorithms. And we will have to understand those as nature. And in a way, they are."
Kevin Slavin sees a world where games shape life and life shapes games. ~ O’Reilly Radar
Kevin Slavin: How Algorithms Shape Our World Kevin Slavin argues that we're living in a world designed for - and increasingly controlled by - algorithms. In this riveting talk from TEDGlobal, he shows how these complex computer programs determine: espionage tactics, stock prices, movie scripts, and architecture. And he warns that we are writing code we can't understand, with implications we can't control. Kevin Slavin navigates in the algoworld, the expanding space in our lives that’s determined and run by algorithms.
As an entrepreneur, Kevin has successfully navigated and integrated the areas of gaming, new media, technology, and design. As Co-founder of Area/Code in 2005, Kevin was a pioneer in rethinking game design and development around new technologies (like GPS) and new platforms (like Facebook). Area/Code worked to develop next-generation game experiences not only for major consumer product groups like Nokia, Nike and Puma but for media giants such as MTV, Discovery Channel, CBS and Disney. Their Facebook game Parking Wars, commissioned byA&E Television to promote its show of the same name, served over 1 billion pages in 2008. The company was acquired by Zynga in 2011, becoming Zynga New York.
Scientists have further narrowed the search for a hypothetical particle that could be dark matter, the mysterious stuff that makes up 80 percent of all the mass in the universe. This video from NASA Astrophysics presents the new results, compiled from two years’ worth of data from NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope.
Gamma rays are very energetic light, and the telescope looks for faint gamma-ray signals that are generated by a variety of sources, such as gas and dust spiraling into supermassive black holes or exploding stars. But another potential source of gamma rays is dark matter. Although no one is sure what dark matter is, one of the leading candidates is a yet-to-be-discovered particle called a weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP). When two of these WIMPs meet, the theory goes, they can annihilate one another and generate gamma rays.
There are many possible versions of WIMPs, and they’re expected to span a wide range of masses, producing a range of gamma rays with different energies. Using Fermi, the scientists focused on 10 small galaxies that orbit the Milky Way, searching for gamma-ray signals within a specific range of energies. They found no signs of annihilating WIMPs, which rules out certain kinds of WIMPs as dark-matter candidates.
3rd Gen Intel Core Processor Die The Power of Small - 3rd Generation Intel Core Join Intel for a trip inside our newest processor, and see it as you never have before. Come get small with us and see how 3rd Generation Intel Core processor deliver great performance, and fun experiences.
World’s First 22nm Quad-Core Processors Bring Up to Twice the Visual Performance for Unmatched Overall PC Experiences
NEWS HIGHLIGHTS
=> Quad-core processors available starting today in powerful, high-end desktop, laptop, and sleek and beautiful all-in-one designs.
=> Accelerates Intel’s “Tick-Tock” cadence for first time to simultaneously bring to market the world’s first processors developed on 22nm manufacturing process using innovative 3-D tri-gate transistor technology and a new graphics architecture.
=> Up to twice the HD media and 3-D graphics performance, as well as significant processor performance, deliver stunning visual experiences from mainstream gaming to HD video editing.
=> Ultrabook™ devices, all-in-one (AIO) platforms, business PCs and Intelligent systems in retail, healthcare and other industries will benefit from Intel’s newest processors, with formal announcements in the coming months.
SANTA CLARA, Calif., April 23, 2012 – Intel Corporation today introduced the quad-core 3rd generation Intel® Core™ processor family, delivering dramatic visual and performance computing gains for gamers, media enthusiasts and mainstream users alike. Available now in powerful, high-end desktop, laptop and sleek all-in-one (AIO) designs, the new processors are the first chips in the world made using Intel’s 22-nanometer (nm) 3-D tri-Gate transistor technology.
The combination of Intel’s cutting-edge 3-D tri-gate transistor technology and architectural enhancements help make possible up to double the 3-D graphics and HD media processing performance compared with Intel’s previous generation of chips. As a result of the stunning, built-in visual performance, all the things people love to do on their PCs - from creating and editing videos and photos, surfing the Web, watching HD movies or playing mainstream games - are quicker, crisper and more life-like. With as much as 20 percent microprocessor performance improvements and new technologies to speed the flow of data to and from the chips, the new processors further extend Intel’s overall performance leadership.
In the coming months, additional versions of the 3rd generation Intel Core processors will be available to power a new wave of systems ranging from Ultrabook™ devices, to servers and intelligent systems in retail, healthcare and other industries.
"The 3rd generation Intel Core processors were created from the ground up to generate exciting new experiences," said Kirk Skaugen, Intel vice president and general manager of the PC Client Group. "Our engineers have exceeded our expectations by doubling the performance of media and graphics versus the best processors we’ve built until today, which means incredible new visual experiences are here for new all-in-one PCs and upcoming Ultrabook devices. What makes all this possible is the combination of Intel’s leading manufacturing and processor architecture, and our unwavering commitment to drive computing innovations forward."
SKA Radio Telescope Will Explored the Universe 13 Billion Years Ago
(Credit: SPDO/Swinburne Astronomy Productions)
The SKA, Square Kilometre Array, radio telescope isn't planned for completion until 2024, but IBM is now collaborating to eventually process the incredible amount of data that will result. This is Really Big Data, as in well over 1 exabyte daily, which is more than the world's daily Internet traffic.
Introducing the SKA
The SKA telescope central core will be either in Australia or South Africa. A decision for the location will be made in 2012. A global community of astronomers from more than 20 countries is setting out to build the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), the world’s largest radio telescope.
This extremely powerful survey telescope will have millions of antennas to collect radio signals, forming a collection area equivalent to one square kilometre but spanning a huge surface area - over 3000 km wide or approximately the width of the continental United States. The SKA will be 50 times more sensitive than any former radio device and more than 10,000 times faster than today’s instruments.
The SKA is expected to produce a few Exabytes of data per day for a single beam per one square kilometer. After processing this data the expectation is that per year between 300 and 1500 Petabytes of data need to be stored. In comparison, the approximately 15 Petabytes produced by the large hadron collider at CERN per year of operation is approximately 10 to 100 times less than the envisioned capacity of SKA.
From Big Bang to Big Data: ASTRON and IBM Collaborate to Explore Origins of the Univers
ASTRON, the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy and IBM today announced an initial 32.9 million EURO, five-year collaboration to research extremely fast, but low-power exascale computer systems targeted for the international Square Kilometre Array (SKA). The SKA is an international consortium to build the world's largest and most sensitive radio telescope. Scientists estimate that the processing power required to operate the telescope will be equal to several millions of today's fastest computers.
ASTRON is one of the leading scientific partners in the international consortium that is developing the SKA. Upon completion in 2024, the telescope will be used to explore evolving galaxies, dark matter and even the very origins of the universe—dating back more than 13 billion years.
Dr. S. James Gates, Jr., a theoretical physicist, the John S. Toll Professor of Physics at the University of Maryland, and the Director of The Center for String & Particle Theory, provides an overview, history, and illustration of String Theory in the presentation below. He precedes with some general comments, history, and insights about physics. Because Dr. Gates is an entertaining speaker and endearing person, let's hear what he has to say about String Theory. Gates has committed and devoted his career to this endeavor, we wish him well.
Sylvester James Gates admits that String Theory is a "very speculative, but very hopeful form, of theoretical physics". Further the strings are incredibly small, Gates says evidence exists to suggest these structures at 10-34. Blood cells are 10-5 and DNA is 10-9. Atoms begin at 10-10 and the atomic nucleus is 10-14. These strings are only theory and no technology exists to even detect strings. Further, "we have no way to even understand how to build the technology to study these scales". So testing is more than a remote possibility! Accordingly, the only way to study String Theory is mathematics.
Gates describes String Theory as replacing traditional particles, "billiard balls", "geometric particle points", with "little filaments" or "strings". There are two types of strings, the opened-end and closed-end. As the strings move, they vibrate. The mathematics is extensive and complex, to say the least, to describe this quantum, sub-nuclear view. The strings support electrons, photons, quarks, and all other fundamental "particles" of the Universe. All the forces are also explained, including the only mathematical description of quantum gravity.
The Dimension Problem Originally String Theory required 25 dimensions (plus time) to reconcile with Einstein's relativity and quantum theory. Superstring Theory reduced the dimensions to 9 (plus time). By the late 1990s, 3-dimensional string theory (plus time) was proven mathematically, which replaced the prior "extra-dimensional" theories. However, the already complex mathematics became more so and extra-dimensional theory still prevails.
Unified Theory In 1984, utilizing dynamic, rotating heterotic superstrings via mathematics, a unified field theory was created. This included quantum theory, gravity, and Maxwell's equations.
Minnesota Channel - The Legacy of Einstein : Sylvester Gates [Relevant comments to String Theory begin at 33:05 in the video. The incredibly small size of strings begins at 9:21 in the video.] Nobel Conference 41, 'The Legacy of Einstein,' celebrates the 100th anniversary of Einstein's annus mirabilis. The series links a general audience in debate with some of the World's foremost scientists in the areas of statistical physics, relativity, cosmology, and unified theories. In addition, the impact of Einstein's discoveries and his social and political views has had on science and humanity.This episode features speaker Sylvester James Gates Jr. This forum was held at Gustavus Adolphus College.
Even if there is only one possible unified theory, it is just a set of rules and equations. What is it that breathes fire into the equations and makes a universe for them to describe? ~ Stephen Hawking
Will games become so realistic in the future that a player cannot distinguish between objective reality and virtual reality? Perhaps humans will merge into virtual reality not just for games but for other life activities, leaving progressively more of objective reality behind. Will a line someday be crossed whereby humanity begins a migration into virtual reality? Perhaps it has already begun...
Future States - Play | Offbeat | PBS Film Festival The film imagines a not-too-distant future where video games have become indistinguishable from reality. These fully immersive games are nested inside each other like Russian dolls - each new game emerging from another and connecting backwards with increasing complexity. Synthetic experience competes with real experience as dream, fantasy, and memory begin to collapse into each other.
PBS Online Film Festival
"Is all that we see or seem But a dream within a dream?" ~ Edgar Allan Poe
Boston Dynamics has rolled out two robots funded by the U.S. Army Rapid Equipping Force, the enhanced RHex rough terrain robot and the Sand Flea jumping robot. Expect to see Sand Flea in future law enforcement applications in a neighborhood near you. Both are versatile with RHex able to operate inverted and Sand Flea with a stabilization system while jumping upwards (and downwards) 30 feet.
RHex Rough-Terrain Robot RHex is a 30-lb robot designed for mobility on rough terrain. It is operated remotely via an RF link that includes a high-resolution video uplink. RHex can operate right-side-up or up-side down, as shown in the video, and goes for up to four hours on one charge of its batteries. RHex has been around for several years, but we redesigned this version for ruggedness, long battery life, maintainability, and improved mobility. This version of RHex was funded by the US Army's Rapid Equipping Force.
RHex Devours Rough Terrain RHex is a rugged man-portable robot with extraordinary rough terrain mobility. RHex climbs in rock fields, mud, sand, vegetation, railroad tracks, telephone poles and up slopes and stairways. RHex has a sealed body, making it fully operational in wet weather, muddy and swampy conditions, and it can swim on the surface or dive underwater. RHex's remarkable terrain capabilities have been validated in government-run independent testing. RHex is controlled remotely from an operator control unit at distances up to 600 meters. A video uplink provides front and rear views from onboard cameras. RHex also uplinks navigational data from onboard compass and GPS and from payload sensors. A downlink allows the operator to drive and operate mission payloads.
Sand Flea Robot preparing to jump Sand Flea Jumping Robot Sand Flea is an 11-lb robot with one trick up its sleeve: Normally it drives like an RC car, but when it needs to it can jump 30 feet into the air. An onboard stabilization system keeps it oriented during flight to improve the view from the video uplink and to control landings. Current development of Sand Flea is funded by the The US Army's Rapid Equipping Force.
The Matrix is in programmed control & continues inexorably in the background, whether you are aware of it or not.
Dr. S. James Gates, Jr., a theoretical physicist, the John S. Toll Professor of Physics at the University of Maryland, and the Director of The Center for String & Particle Theory, is reporting that certain string theory, super-symmetrical equations, which describe the fundamental nature of the Universe and reality, contain embedded computer codes. These codes are digital data in the form of 1's and 0's. Not only that, these codes are the same as what make web browsers work and are error-correction codes! Gates says, "We have no idea what these 'things' are doing there".
Gates discloses in the second video below, as an aside in a formal interview, that some of his research can be interpreted that we do live in a virtual reality. He describes this as "mind-blowing" and similar to the movie "The Matrix"! Further, he adds, that if someone suspected they did live in a virtual reality, then detecting computer codes would be a way to confirm. He concludes with finding these computer codes in equations that describe our world: "that's what I just proposed!".
What to make of this? There are two issues: 1) if String Theory will ultimately be a viable and therefore proven model of reality and 2) if so, whether embedded coding is in fact within the related verified equations. Michio Kaku has stated "String Theory Is the Only Game in Town" because it is the only testable theory available.
We have argued on this website that the Universe is a virtual reality. If true, then any theory of reality should eventually confirm this, if the theory has staying power and does not succumb to an early death. Accordingly, time is on the side of the simulation hypothesis to be verified first through theory and then via experiments in the long-run. Technology to provide the means to test that the Universe is a virtual reality is the next step.
Strange Computer Code Discovered Concealed In Superstring Equations! "Doubly-even self-dual linear binary error-correcting block code," first invented by Claude Shannon in the 1940's, has been discovered embedded WITHIN the equations of superstring theory! Why does nature have this? What errors does it need to correct? What is an 'error' for nature? More importantly what is the explanation for this freakish discovery? Your guess is as good as mine.
Red or Blue Pill? Take the blue pill, the story ends, you awake in your bed, and believe whatever you want to believe.
Red or Blue Pill? Take the red pill, you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes. Interview with Dr. S. James Gates, Jr. [Relevant comments begin at about 5:30 in interview] Sylvester James (Jim) Gates, Jr. is a theoretical physicist who received BS (mathematics and physics) and Ph.D. degrees from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the latter in 1977. His doctoral thesis was the first thesis at MIT to deal with supersymmetry. He is currently the John S. Toll Professor of Physics at the University of Maryland, College Park and serves on President Barack Obama's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.
String Theory Computer Codes? Credits
Abe (Twitter: @Esq2776abe) for the initial report
Johanan Raatz (YouTube: JohananRaatz) for the first video
"What we observe is not nature itself, but nature exposed to our method of questioning." ~ Werner Heisenberg
Proposed Sign for "Dangerous Artificial Intelligence"
The Artificial Intelligence Threat to Humanity: Skynet Rising?
The worst-case technological singularity scenario is unimpeded artificial, machine intelligence exceeding human, biological intelligence. That is, humans create an artificial intelligence greater than themselves that is unhindered. The singularity then occurs because the future cannot be determined beyond this event horizon. In this scenario, there is no merger of machines and humans into cyborgs and humans becoming transbiological. Humans are left behind and become evolutionary artifacts as happened to the Neanderthals.
It is machines versus humans. Humans attempt to contain the superior artificial intelligence. Is this event inevitable and unstoppable as technology increases at an increasing rate? Could this nightmare singularity be prevented by imprisoning an artificial super-intelligence? Successful, long-term imprisonment of super-intelligence will most likely fail and is a last-ditch, futile effort of a then-obsolete life-form to justify their superseded and antiquated existence.
Skynet Rising: The AI Threat to Humanity's Existence with Dr. Roman V. Yampolskiy
Alex talks with Roman Yampolskiy, a computer scientist at the University of Louisville in Kentucky, who recently wrote an article about the danger to humanity from AI and super-intelligent computers. Mr. Yampolskiy is trained in the fields of programming, forensics, biometrics and artificial intelligence.
Humanity Must 'Jail' Dangerous AI to Avoid Doom, Expert Says
Super-intelligent computers or robots have threatened humanity's existence more than once in science fiction. Such doomsday scenarios could be prevented if humans can create a virtual prison to contain artificial intelligence before it grows dangerously self-aware.
Keeping the artificial intelligence (AI) genie trapped in the proverbial bottle could turn an apocalyptic threat into a powerful oracle that solves humanity's problems, said Roman Yampolskiy, a computer scientist at the University of Louisville in Kentucky. But successful containment requires careful planning so that a clever AI cannot simply threaten, bribe, seduce or hack its way to freedom.
"It can discover new attack pathways, launch sophisticated social-engineering attacks and re-use existing hardware components in unforeseen ways," Yampolskiy said. "Such software is not limited to infecting computers and networks — it can also attack human psyches, bribe, blackmail and brainwash those who come in contact with it."
Cheetah Robot Sets Speed Record: Designed to Strike Quickly, Pursue Humans, Reconnoiter
If you think being chased by a cheetah is horrific, then being chased by a faster and weaponized robotic cheetah is doom. This is assuming Petman or AlphaDog don't terminate you first. Mark our words, all the robots reported on this website will not only be refined, weaponized, and deployed by the military, but ultimately utilized by federal, state, county, and city law enforcement. Your children and grandchildren, if not you, will someday see these DARPA machines in everyday environs. One more terrifying twist, the final touch for these robots will be artificial intelligence and the ability to operate autonomously. That is, these robots will have independent decision-making ability without cables, remote control, or human handlers. Imagine a robotic cheetah with a bloodhound's sense of smell. Not sure if spreading out pepper on the ground a la Cool Hand Luke would confuse the robo-cheetah, bloodhound edition.
DARPA Cheetah Sets Speed Record for Legged Robots
This video shows a demonstration of the "Cheetah" robot galloping at speeds of up to 18 miles per hour (mph), setting a new land speed record for legged robots. The previous record was 13.1 mph, set in 1989. The robot's movements are patterned after those of fast-running animals in nature. The robot increases its stride and running speed by flexing and un-flexing its back on each step, much as an actual cheetah does.
The current version of the Cheetah robot runs on a laboratory treadmill where it is powered by an off-board hydraulic pump, and uses a boom-like device to keep it running in the center of the treadmill. Testing of a free-running prototype is planned for later this year. While the M3 program conducts basic research and is not focused on specific military missions, the technology it aims to develop could have a wide range of potential military applications. The DARPA M3 performer for Cheetah is Boston Dynamics of Waltham, Mass.
