Good News: Our Brains Could Be Bigger
The laws of thermodynamics show that human brains have room to grow. Faced with endless stories of human stupidity day in and day out, this is good news.
The report at the arXiv blog (read here), compares brains to computer chips. There is a limit to the size of most computer chips because the larger the chip, the more cooling it requires. The same can be said for our brains. We encounter a size limit when the amount of energy required for cooling becomes unsustainable and inefficient. Some computer chip makers say we are fools to produce faster and faster chips because of these inevitable cooling problems (once again, good news for anyone who fears a robot apocalypse).
But, calculations by theoritical neurobiologists show that our brains could be much larger.
Are our brains growing? How can we tell?
Ongoing Research Excerpts from DARPA’s Strategic Plan
Filed under: Alien Intelligence, Aliens, Animal Intelligence, Artificial Intelligence, Biology, Computers, Conspiracies, Future Weapons, Human Intelligence, Intelligence, Mind Control, Robots, Science, Science Fiction, Star Wars, Technology, The Future
DARPA (The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) recently released a 50+ page strategic plan highlighting some of the most advance research projects it is currently undertaking. On page 9, section 2.6, DARPA outlines a “short list” of ongoing research. We list the highlights here.
- High Energy Liquid Laser Area Defense System – You heard it here. These are small high power laser weapons, i.e. weapons that shoot energy beams at the speed of light. That’s fast.
- High Productivity Computing Systems – a.k.a. Super computers a.k.a. SKYNET from the Terminator mythos.
- Machine Learning – Cognitive machines. Hmmm. Again, we’ll reference SKYNET and Terminator.
- Neuroscience – In specific, projects that’ll create brain-machine interfaces. Is this putting us one step closer to The Matrix?
- Real-Time Accurate Language Translation – Tower of Babel my ass.
- Space – , here we come.
Scary, but real, stuff. You can find the full report here.
Which one of these research projects would you most like to see come to fruition?
Brain Lasers – Controlling Your Mind
Filed under: Future Weapons, Human Intelligence, Psychology, Science, Science Fiction, Technology, The Future
New research by MIT scientists illustrates how special lasers could affect our brains (read report here).
The researchers say they’ve been able to induce gamma waves in the brains of mice. Gamma waves are high frequency brainwaves tied closely to consciousness. The scientists applied optogenetics, a technology that uses light in conjunction with genetic engineering to control specific nerves, to achieve their goals.
“Brain Lasers” have a variety of applications, including mind control. In its most frightening incarnation, a soldier armed with a “Brain Laser Rifle” would be able to fire at his enemy’s head and scramble their brain so they’d be unable to tell friend from foe. Or, the laser could be calibrated to shut down the enemie’s higher brain processes, reducing them to a moaning, zombie-like creature. However, there is no evidence yet to suggest the research is being used to produce weapons of any kind. Stay tuned to The Loki Times for continuing coverage.
Brain Lasers. Too dangerous for mankind? You decide.
Are Humans Just Big Blobs of Bacteria?
Filed under: Bacteria Intelligence, Bacterial Invasion, Biology, Discoveries, Human Intelligence, Intelligence, Psychology, Science, Science Fiction
A recent article at Seed Magazine shows that individuality is at a crossroads.
The report explores mankind’s complex relationship with the millions of microbes living inside us. New research shows that we are nothing without these little critters running around our intestines, hearts, and brains. The findings are significant enough that the International Human Microbiome Consortium came into being in October. Their goal will be to further characterize and understand our microbial allies and enemies.
Bacterial Microbes Living Inside Our Bodies (NIH)
According to psychologists, the new importance placed on the ecosystems within our bodies could damage our sense of self.
“Are we unique singular beings? Or simply communities of organisms working together, producing the illusion of an individual? Are we really in control, or is a crew of microbes inside our body piloting us along for their own needs? These are the sort of psyche shattering questions this science raises,” says Dr. Caroline McDeegalan, a psychologist working for the Fragile Egos & Humans Consortium.
When these concepts are combined with studies proving bacteria are smarter than we thought (read here), a scary picture of reality begins to open before us. The idea of ‘self’ could be replaced by the idea of ‘we’ – the ‘we’ being us and the millions of bacteria living in our bodies. Who’s in control?
What do you think? Are we humans? Or are we eco-systems?
Read our article Bacteria With Brains and the Mysterious Death of Pirates.
Dangers of the Twitter Hive Mind
Filed under: Computers, Conspiracies, Corporations, Government, Human Intelligence, Science, Science Fiction, Social Media, Technology
Post submitted by anonymous investigator. Views expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of The Loki Times.
Twitter, tweets, and tweetbacks. Harmless sounding words we hear more and more as the popularity of the social networking and micro-blogging service grows at an exponential rate. But the explosive growth of Twitter has left us little time step back to analyze the threat it poses to mankind. A new ‘Big Brother’ is growing right in front of our eyes. It is the all knowing Twitter hive mind.
The Twitter hive mind feeds on our thoughts, personalities, moods, and ideas. Everytime someone tweets, a snippet of information is sent to a growing pool of data. This data pool reflects a large part of mankind’s collective consciousness. While the everyday Twitter user might not care, large corporations and governments do. They can analyze this data to learn more about the people they seek to control.
Lying in the superficially inane flow of Tweets are patterns of thought which groups like the Illuminati can use to manipulate the minds of citizens. Right now, researchers are developing sensors that can be paired with Twitter in order to deliver a constant stream of information regarding everything from your heart rate to mood (read here).
And we can’t ignore studies showing that Twitter could be destroying our capacity for emotion and empathy (read here). The thought is that the constant data-stream sent through a service like Twitter is shortening our attention spans and preventing reflection on what we’re reading, therefore reducing our ability to feel emotion. This all snowballs into a sort of brainwashing in which we become little more than living conduits of information. This brainwashing effect only further serves the purposes of those who will learn how to use Twitter for their own nefarious ends.
So the next time you hear someone Tweet, “I just ate a bagel for breakfast”, or “On my way to work”, remember that those simple words could be contributing to the downfall of mankind.
Twitter – Dangerous or Harmless. What do you think?