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?
UFO or Buddha? Sighting in China Sparks Debate
A UFO sighting by a Chinese reporter has started a debate between those who believe the UFO is of extraterrestrial origin and those who say it is a vision of Buddha. Apparently video of the sighting has been confiscated by the Chinese government, but one still photo has been leaked and could be the only source of evidence we have to go by. Read more here.
The image below compares a photo of the UFO and Buddha. We think group analysis is the best way to come to some conclusion. Do you think the UFO is alien or Buddha?
Here is a close up of the UFO. Can you make out any Buddha like features?
Maybe it’s an alien Buddha.
Real Life Star Trek: DARPA Rewards VULCAN Engine Contracts
Filed under: Future Weapons, Outer Space, Science, Science Fiction, Technology, The Future
Right before the release of J.J. Abrams Star Trek reboot, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency kicks off their VULCAN Engine Program by rewarding four contractors with funding to begin first phase development of the proposed super engine system.
When we hear the word Vulcan, our thoughts wander to the Star Trek character Spock, his home planet, and his people. The VULCAN Engine Program is appropriately named since it is a “propulsion system demonstration effort to design, build, and ground-test an engine capable of accelerating a full-scale hypersonic vehicle from rest to Mach 4+.”
This could be our first steps towards a “warp drive” propulsion system like the one that propels the Enterprise across vast distances in space.
Read the DARPA News Release here (via DARPA’s news room.)
Robots On Facebook
Filed under: Androids, Anti-Android Research & Development Team, Artificial Intelligence, Psychology, Robot Psychology, Robots, Robots Deserve Rights 2, Science Fiction, Social Media, Technology, The Future
A major breakthrough in human/robot relationships arrives as Facebook allows one of its first robot members. Read more here.
Robot twitterati could be next.
Social media users worry they will not be able to discern between their “human” and “robot” friends. Jackie Topovowitz from the organization Anti-Android Research & Development Team (AARDT) said, “We cannot blur the line any more between man and machine. The simple fact is, robots should be taught to be subservient to humans. Allowing them to interact with people on social networks puts us on equal footing, and we cannot let that happen.”
Members of the group Robots Deserve Rights 2, (RDR2), say the comments made be AARDT are robo-racist. Jeffrey Gottchalk said, “we welcome robots to online social networks with open arms. This is a positive step forward in robot rights.”
What do you think? Do robots have a fundamental right to social media?
2012 Prediction: Apocalypse Caused By Slow Internet
Filed under: Alien Intelligence, Aliens, Computers, Psychology, Science, Science Fiction, Social Media, Technology, The Apocalypse, The Future
Are we running out of internet? This report suggests this could be the case.
As we continue to wonder what might cause the 2012 apocalypse infamously predicted by the Mayans, this report has caused a stir because of the following quote from the article in the Times Online: “From 2012, however, PCs and laptops are likely to operate at a much reduced speed, rendering the internet an ‘unreliable toy’”.
Could a frustratingly slow internet cause the infamous 2012 apocalypse? This is a possibility according to an internet researcher who wishes to remain nameless. The reseacher said, “We’ve become so dependent on the internet that a reduction in its performance could lead to global chaos. Banking systems, transportation, utility grids could all come crashing down. I don’t think it’s unreasonable at all to think the ensuing mayhem could snowball into the end of the world.”
While these points are relevant to this theory, psychologist Dr. Eddie Eddington Jr. says he is more concerned about the psychological damage a slow and evaporating internet would have on the world.
Dr. Eddington said the following when reached for comment: “The instant gratification we’ve become used to with the internet and the immediacy with which we can connect to a world of information has made us extremely ADD. Take for instance the Twitter phenomena. Our attention spans and patience are dwindling at exponential rates. If reports that the internet will start slowing to a sudden halt around 2012 are true, then we could very well see our collective psychology short circuit. The results of such a short circuit could be widespread insanity, which would snowball into chaos, riots, and general anarchy. It very well could trigger a sort of ‘social apocalypse’. Perhaps this is what the Mayans predicted.”
What do you think? Could a slow internet in 2012 be the spark that lights the fire of an apocalypse?