ArchiveArticles
Extraterrestrials Are Clearly a Matter of Faith, Not Science
We can be quite sure that “They’re not out there” will never be the default hypothesis, as astrophysicist Ethan Seigel hopesAt the BBC, Pallab Ghosh had — or thought he had — the story: “Tantalising sign of possible life on faraway world.” (September 12, 2023), courtesy of the James Webb Space Telescope. A hint had been found in the data of dimethyl sulfide, produced on Earth by phytoplankton. Many writers thought that too so a number of similar stories came out. But we’re all pretty much used to the predictable next bulletin: The hope for life on planet K2-18b, 120 light years away, proved false (or anyway, premature): Based on computer models that account for the physics and chemistry of DMS, as well as the hydrogen-based atmosphere, the researchers found that it is unlikely the data show the presence of Read More ›
I, Robot Review, Part 3: Why Must Robots Always Enslave Us?
Even after watching the movie several times when I was younger, I’d still forgotten that Robertson wasn’t the main villainLast time, Spooner’s investigation into Dr. Lanning’s apparent suicide led him to Sonny, the robot who claimed it could dream. It turns out that Sonny’s dream isn’t a dream at all, but an image programmed by Dr. Lanning. It was meant to lead Spooner to a storage area where all the older robots were being kept. Once Spooner finds the exact spot where he was supposed to be standing in Sonny’s dream, he plays the hologram Dr. Lanning recorded before he died. The hologram program is simple. The doctor recorded certain responses that are triggered by the right questions. Spooner begins talking to the hologram until it tells him what he needs to know. Dr. Lanning’s hologram says there’s going Read More ›
Spaceman Review, Part 3: Inside the Chopra Cloud at Last
There has to be a gem inside this film somewhere because, despite all the problems, I still found myself rooting for Jakub and Lenka
Orangutan heals wound using leaves — and triggers big media event
The orangutan is not the first or only animal to self-medicate. Birds and elephants do it too
Arts major cracks hard math through practice, practice, practice
She became an engineering prof that way. The war on math is certainly not over but the warriors may be starting to find themselves on the back foot
Bill Dembski at COSM 2023
The mathematician and philosopher chats about AI and the questions it raisesEvery COSM conference, Discovery Institute Senior Fellow Jay Richards sits down with some of the keynote speakers to debrief and discuss important and relevant topics. Here, Richards is joined by mathematician, philosopher, and entrepreneur William (Bill) Dembski, author of over two dozen books, including Being as Communion: A Metaphysics of Information (2014). Together they discuss the limits and possibilities of AI, the philosophical questions posed by some of these new technologies, and the “conversations” Dembski has had with ChatGPT. Watch the short interview now and enjoy access to ALL of last year’s star-studded COSM conference.
Applying the Theory of Intelligent Design
What are ID's implications for economics, metaphysics, and computer science?As my PhD advisor Dr. Robert Marks likes to say: “You have to make the queen of the sciences get down and scrub the floors.” Intelligent design (ID) is a science, and so ID has to get down and scrub the floors. To further this goal, I’ve come up with a schema for the ways in which ID can be applied, and what it in fact means for ID to be applied. The upshot of this schema is not only to guide brainstorming, but it also demonstrates that ID is already applied in many areas, unbeknownst to all. As they say, the best way to get something done is to take credit for someone else’s work. First, let’s identify what ID is. ID is Read More ›
Einstein Meets Lemaître
The significance of Lemaître’s work remained mostly unnoticed for three years
Bizarre New iPad Pro Ad Says the Quiet Part Out Loud
Witnessing the rise of anti-human corporate techYesterday, Apple CEO Tim Cook shared the brand-new preview of the “thinnest iPad” to date, the iPad Pro, praising its portability and capacity. Capitalizing on the “thin” aspect, the promo commercial, titled “Crush!” has been turning heads and could also be accused of crushing the human spirit. The commercial plays to the song “All I Need is You” by Sonny & Cher, opening up with a metronome and a record player. Then, the scene broadens out to show a platform in the middle of a room piled with an array of gadgets and knickknacks, like a drum set, cans of paint, a trumpet, piano, bust of a Greco-Roman figure, a globe, chess set, and other goods that the mind naturally Read More ›
Researchers: Bonobos Are More, Not Less, Aggressive Than Chimps
Tracking males of both types of ape every waking hour shattered the pop science “hippie ape” illusion
Is TikTok a National Security Risk?
Consuming without thinking is fertile soil for propaganda
The Financial World Has Lost the Plot
Cathie Wood on the investment opportunities of the future.“I feel as though the financial world has lost the plot,” said Cathie Wood, CEO of Ark Invest, in last year’s star-studded COSM conference. Investors are avoiding risk and investing in safe but unpromising world of the past, said Wood, who went on to discuss the “trends and investment opportunities in technologies related to public blockchains, multiomic sequencing, energy storage, and robotics, that are tied together by advances in artificial intelligence.” Watch her intriguing talk below and let us know what you think of it in the comments! The fourth and final sequence of COSM 2023 videos have now been added to our YouTube channel, so you can enjoy a host of stimulating talks, panels, and conversations about artificial intelligence, Read More ›
Final Release of COSM 2023 Videos!
The fourth and final tranche of COSM 2023 videos is now available.The fourth and final tranche of COSM 2023 videos is now available — featuring topics such as how advances in artificial intelligence may affect automobile transportation, solutions to the vast amounts of energy artificial intelligence will require, and why we might be on the brink of seeing the most disruptive innovations the world has ever seen. If you weren’t able to attend, or perhaps you want to revisit some of your favorite speakers, take a look at our COSM 2023 playlist on YouTube! A few highlights of the recently released videos: You can also watch backstage interviews, in which Senior Fellow Jay Richards goes into greater depth with several speakers on the topics addressed onstage. Click here to go to Read More ›
Again with the ‘Plants Are Intelligent’ Nonsense
It seems to me that the ultimate point of these “plants are persons too”–type stories is to undermine human exceptionalism
Can an Atheist Believe in Life After Death?
An atheist philosopher makes the case at Closer to Truth
Was Darwinian Philosopher Daniel Dennett the End of an Era?
Dennett’s image of the human mind as a user-illusion was very fashionable but it never made any sense
What Chatbots Have Achieved, and What They Haven’t — and Can’t
Chatbots (LLMs) succeeded where the older expert systems I used to work on failed but that does not mean that they are creative
I, Robot Review, Part 2: The Ghosts in the Machine
Dr. Lanning describes these ghosts as random segments of code and asks questions like why robots choose to stand together rather than alone when they’re stored in a dark place