Category: Physics | Page 4

Law of Universal Gravitation education funny concept. Isaac Newton under an apple tree

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Eric Holloway
Date
January 31, 2023

Categorized
Physics

Tagged
Atoms, brain, Ghosts, gravity, Isaac Newton, machine, Materialism, Matter, mind, Mind Brain, Physics}

Blinded by a Defunct Theory

_{The "interaction problem" is everywhere we look in physics, but the dogma of materialism remains} _{Eric Holloway
January 31, 2023

5

Physics}

Materialism. What a weird word. It sounds like a ghost, materializing in front of me. And it is sort of like a ghost, one that has mysteriously taken over the minds of many intelligent people. Because they believe in materialism, these smart people don’t believe in ghosts. Especially the ghost in the machine. The problem is there is no way for the ghost to interact with the machine. This is known as the “mind-body interaction problem”. The great thing about materialism is at least that theory doesn’t have an interaction problem. Any material thing can interact with any other material thing. Yet there is a deep irony. Let’s explore the idea of materialism to see why. Materialism is the idea that reality only consists of matter. Read More ›

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News
Date
January 21, 2023

Categorized
Physics

Tagged
Biosignatures (on exoplanets), Brian Gallagher, Evan Gough, Extraterrestrial life, Fine-tuning of universe for life, Larry Krauss, Matt Williams, Moon water, Paul Sutter, Steve Meyer}

The Search for Extraterrestrial Life 19

_{One current focus for exoplanet research is on the way life is known to alters its environment in order to remain in existence — the Gaian Habitable Zone} _{News
January 21, 2023

8

Physics}

In our universe: “Billions of celestial objects revealed in gargantuan survey of the Milky Way”: “The new dataset contains a staggering 3.32 billion celestial objects—arguably the largest such catalog so far”: “Most of the stars and dust in the Milky Way are located in its disk—the bright band stretching across this image—in which the spiral arms lie. While this profusion of stars and dust makes for beautiful images, it also makes the Galactic plane challenging to observe. The dark tendrils of dust seen threading through this image absorb starlight and blot out fainter stars entirely, and the light from diffuse nebulae interferes with any attempts to measure the brightness of individual objects. Another challenge arises from the sheer number of Read More ›

Butterfly on a glass ball on the beach refecting the lake and sky

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Denyse O'Leary
Date
January 17, 2023

Categorized
Philosophy of Mind, Physics

Tagged
Adam Frank, Bernardo Kastrup, Bruce Greyson, Near-death experiences, Sean Carroll, Sean Carroll on the soul, soul, Standard Model (of physics)}

Physicist: Life After Death Is Incompatible With Physics

_{In 2011, Sean Carroll wrote an essay for Scientific American on why — from a science perspective — our minds must be extinguished at death} _{Denyse O'Leary
January 17, 2023

8

Philosophy of Mind, Physics}

Back in 2011, particle physicist Sean M. Carroll wrote a guest blog at Scientific American, dismissing the idea of life after death or the immortality of the soul. He began by responding to astrophysicist Adam Frank’s reflections at NPR: For myself I remain fully and firmly agnostic on the question. If ever there was a place where firm convictions seem misplaced this is it. There simply is no controlled, experimental verifiable information to support either the “you rot” vs. “you go on” positions. In the absence of said information we are all free to believe as we like but, I would argue, it behooves us to remember that truly “public” knowledge on the subject — the kind science exemplifies — Read More ›

3D illustration of Escher's inspired stairs

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Denyse O'Leary
Date
January 9, 2023

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Mathematics, Physics

Tagged
Closer to Truth, Robert Lawrence Kuhn, Roger Penrose}

How Surreal Artist MC Escher Influenced Physicist Roger Penrose

_{Escher’s mathematical art was all the more remarkable because he had no formal training in mathematics} _{Denyse O'Leary
January 9, 2023

4

Arts & Culture, Mathematics, Physics}

Last month, Robert Lawrence Kuhn interviewed eminent British mathematical physicist Sir Roger Penrose on a number of topics, including the influence of surrealist artist M. C. Escher (December 9, 2022/32:00 min). Here is a transcribed selection from the second part of the discussion in Part 1 above*, beginning around the 12-minute mark, with some notes: Robert Lawrence Kuhn: We talked about the impossible Penrose triangle which really opens up another area of your life in terms of visual representations of remarkable things. Penrose tiling really new ways of thing of seeing visual representation of fiery fundamental geometric and algebraic transformations and things. But what I wanted to ask you is, as youdeveloped that you had this interaction with the artist Read More ›

Lost and confused man walks puzzled on a penrose triangle. Perplexed person looks disoriented ahead, don't know which way to choose. Surreal and conceptual scene, mental maze, optical illusion

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Denyse O'Leary
Date
January 8, 2023

Categorized
Mathematics, Philosophy of Mind, Physics

Tagged
Closer to Truth, Computationalism, Consciousness, Idealism (philosophy), Physicalism, Robert Lawrence Kuhn, Roger Penrose}

Nobelist Roger Penrose Talks About His Impossible Triangle

_{At Closer to Truth, the mathematical physicist explains to Robert Lawrence Kuhn how he understands the relationship between mathematics, the mind, and the physical world} _{Denyse O'Leary
January 8, 2023

8

Mathematics, Philosophy of Mind, Physics}

Last month, Robert Lawrence Kuhn interviewed eminent British mathematical physicist Sir Roger Penrose on the relationship between mathematics, the mind, and the physical universe (December 9, 2022/32:00 min). Penrose likes to illustrate the relationship between the three with an “impossible” triangle (see below). Here are a couple of transcribed selections from the first part of the discussion in Part 1*, concerning the Penrose Triangle, with some notes: Robert Lawrence Kuhn: Let’s start with your grand metaphysical framework, your three worlds — three mysteries: the physical world, the mental world, the platonic or mathematical world — each connected to the other two in your famous diagram of an equilateral triangle. What’s the origin of this vision of yours of foundational reality? Read More ›

photorealistic smoke sim in a sci-fi/knolling case - AI Generated

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News
Date
January 8, 2023

Categorized
Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind, Physics

Tagged
Computer Simulation, Dan Falk, free will, Infinite universe, Marcelo Gleiser, Matt Williams, Melvin Vopson, Nick Bostrom, Planetarium Hypothesis}

A Physicist Rejects the Idea That We Live in a Sim Universe

_{At IAI News, Marcelo Gleiser worries that the claim that we are simulated beings with no free will reduces our ability to tackle the problems humanity faces} _{News
January 8, 2023

6

Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind, Physics}

Dartmouth College physicist Marcelo Gleiser insists that the reality in which we live is not a simulation by advanced aliens or other intelligences — and that the fact that it isn’t is important. As the summary of his essay at IAI News explains, The idea that we are living in a simulation has become commonplace. Elon Musk, for example, thinks it is almost certain we are living in a simulation. But the simulation hypothesis comes up against insurmountable problems, and is, in the end, an excuse for us not to sort out our real moral failings… Marcelo Gleiser, “Reality is not a simulation and why it matters” at IAI News (January 4, 2023) The “simulation” idea may sound pretty far-fetched Read More ›

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News
Date
January 7, 2023

Categorized
Physics

Tagged
16 Psyche, Andy Tomaswick, Charles Q. Choi, David Kipping, Exoplanets, Extraterrestrial life, Fine-tuning of universe for life, Mars winter, Matt Williams, Moon water, universe fine tuning}

The Search for Extraterrestrial Life 17

_{Interest in moon exploration and bases is growing and it turns out there is more water there (carried by the solar wind) than thought} _{News
January 7, 2023

8

Physics}

In our universe: We’re always learning new things now. The universe “has 2−3× more light than expected from the integrated light from galaxies” “According to new measurements by New Horizons, the light coming from stars beyond the Milky Way is two to three times brighter than the light from known populations of galaxies – meaning that there are even more out there than we thought! – Matt Williams, Universe Today, (December 24, 2022) The paper is open access. While we’re here, rogue stars may be even older than we thought: “”We don’t exactly know what made them homeless. Current theories cannot explain our results, but somehow they were produced in large quantities in the early universe,” James Jee, an astronomer Read More ›

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News
Date
December 31, 2022

Categorized
Philosophy, Physics

Tagged
Alison Kirkpatrick, Big Bang, Big Bang Never Happened (book), Bjørn Ekeberg, Eric Lerner, Infinite universe, James Webb Space Telescope, James Webb Space Telescope and Big Bang, Priyamvada Natarajan, Rob Sheldon on Big Bang, Robert J. Marks on infinity, Sabine Hossenfelder, Sam Henry, Standard Model of the universe}

James Webb Space Telescope Shows Big Bang Didn’t Happen? Wait…

_{The unexpected new data coming back from the telescope are inspiring panic among astronomers} _{News
December 31, 2022

8

Philosophy, Physics}

This story was #1 in 2022 at Mind Matters News in terms of reader numbers. As we approach the New Year, we are rerunning the top ten stories of 2022, based on reader interest. In “James Webb Space Telescope shows Big Bang didn’t happen? Wait…”, our News division looked at reports that the unexpected new data coming back from the telescope were inspiring panic among astronomers: Webb was expected to merely confirm the Standard Model of the universe but its images are “surprisingly smooth, surprisingly small and surprisingly old.” (August 13, 2022) Our view at the time: 1) It’s no surprise if the Webb disconfirmed some widely accepted assumptions. New vistas do that. In fact, that’s how we know for Read More ›

Glowing huge nebula with young stars. Space background

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News
Date
December 30, 2022

Categorized
Philosophy, Physics

Tagged
Beryllium and carbon, Carbon and life, Cosmic coincidences needed for life, Featured, Fine-tuning of universe for life, Five-nucleon crevasse, Fred Hoyle, Fred Hoyle and superintellect, Goldilocks universe, Helium and carbon, Return of the God Hypothesis (book), Stephen C. Meyer, Willie Fowler}

Has a Superintellect Monkeyed With Our Universe’s Physics?

_{Groundbreaking astronomer Fred Hoyle was a staunch atheist but then he tried showing that carbon, essential to life, could form easily…} _{News
December 30, 2022

8

Philosophy, Physics}

This story was #2 in 2022 at Mind Matters News in terms of reader numbers. As we approach the New Year, we are rerunning the top ten stories of 2022, based on reader interest. In “Has a superintellect monkeyed with our universe’s physics?” (August 14, 2022), our News division looked at the remarkable way that the physics of our universe enables life: Groundbreaking astronomer Fred Hoyle was a staunch atheist but then he tried showing that carbon, essential to life, could form easily… It got worse: To form carbon at all, gravitational forces must be balanced just right with the electromagnetic forces. That’s just the start… https://episodes.castos.com/id/91f5535b-1f52-41d8-ab90-d87ff21a6be1-IDTF-1632-StephenMeyer-God-Multiverse.mp3 Stephen C. Meyer: Now, some of the most important fine tuning parameters were Read More ›

4D Hypercube Tesseract Array Matrix with Trippy Visual Neon Colors - Abstract Background Texture

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News
Date
December 25, 2022

Categorized
Philosophy of Mind, Physics

Tagged
Dimensions, Flatland (short novel), String theory, Tesseract}

Are Extra Dimensions of the Universe Real or Imaginary?

_{The human mind can imagine and work with a world that we cannot physically apprehend, that follows the rules of mathematics} _{News
December 25, 2022

6

Philosophy of Mind, Physics}

In a classic 2018 essay, republished recently at Aeon, science writer and artist Margaret Wertheim, author of a number of books, including Physics on the Fringe (Walker Books, 2011), asks us to think about what “extra dimensions” really means: While on the local level we are trained to think of space as having three dimensions, general relativity paints a picture of a four-dimensional universe, and string theory says it has 10 dimensions – or 11 if you take an extended version known as M-Theory. There are variations of the theory in 26 dimensions, and recently pure mathematicians have been electrified by a version describing spaces of 24 dimensions. But what are these ‘dimensions’? And what does it mean to talk Read More ›

Time in space. 3d rendering illustration

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News
Date
December 24, 2022

Categorized
Physics

Tagged
Fibonacci sequence, Philipp Dumitrescu, Quantum Computing, Quantum computing error correction, Rob Sheldon, Time dimensions, Time travel, Tokamak}

Did Physicists Open a Portal to Extra Time Dimension, as Claimed?

_{That’s the way the story reads at Scientific American. But experimental physicist Rob Sheldon says not so fast…} _{News
December 24, 2022

7

Physics}

This story was #8 in 2022 at Mind Matters News in terms of reader numbers. As we approach the New Year, we are rerunning the top ten Mind Matters News stories of 2022, based on reader interest. Here’s #8, from our news division, for those of us who wonder how best to interpret science news at the cutting edge: “Did physicists open a portal to an extra time dimension, as claimed?: An experimental physicist explains. (August 6, 2022) At Scientific American, we were told last month: “Physicists have devised a mind-bending error-correction technique that could dramatically boost the performance of quantum computers”: “It is very exciting to see this unusual phase of matter realized in an actual experiment, especially because the mathematical description Read More ›

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News
Date
December 23, 2022

Categorized
Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind, Physics

Tagged
Consciousness (prism analogy), Donald Hoffman, Erwin Schrödinger, Erwin Schrödinger on mind, Featured, Robert Prentner, Universal mind (Schrödinger's view)}

Schrödinger Believed That There Was Only One Mind in the Universe

_{The quantum physicist and author of the famous Cat Paradox believed that our individual minds are not unique but rather like the reflected light from prisms} _{News
December 23, 2022

6

Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind, Physics}

This story was #9 in 2022 at Mind Matters News in terms of reader numbers. As we approach the New Year, we are rerunning the top ten Mind Matters News stories of 2022, based on reader interest. Here’s #9, from our news division, for those of us who like pondering the deeper things: Schrödinger believed that there was only one Mind in the universe: Consciousness researcher Robert Prentner and cognitive psychologist Donald Hoffman will tell a prestigious music and philosophy festival in London next month that great physicist quantum physicist Erwin Schrödinger (1887–1961) believed that “The total number of minds in the universe is one.” That is, a universal Mind accounts for everything. In a world where many scientists strive mightily to explain how the Read More ›

Macro concept of a brain connecting to pure love and intent

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Denyse O'Leary
Date
December 18, 2022

Categorized
Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind, Physics

Tagged
Elizabeth Fernandez, Marcelo Gleiser, Quantum Entanglement}

Why Many Researchers Now See the Brain as a Quantum System

_{The hypothesis is that the brain relies on quantum physics, not classical physics, to power thinking processes} _{Denyse O'Leary
December 18, 2022

5

Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind, Physics}

Quantum processes are helpful to know about when we hear a gimcrack new theory that dismisses or explains away consciousness. We know it can’t be that simple.

human head powerful inspiration tree abstract thinking inside your mind watercolor painting illustration hand drawn

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Denyse O'Leary
Date
December 2, 2022

Categorized
Panpsychism, Philosophy of Mind, Physics

Tagged
David Chalmers, Sabine Hossenfelder on panpsychism}

Sabine Hossenfelder, Taking on Consciousness, Tackles Panpsychism

_{She wants to apologize to all carrots who are watching her video — but carrots are not watching and that’s the point} _{Denyse O'Leary
December 2, 2022

4

Panpsychism, Philosophy of Mind, Physics}

She doesn’t think a paper on a mathematical model for consciousness is bad, considering that it was written by two philosophers…

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Denyse O'Leary
Date
November 23, 2022

Categorized
Philosophy of Mind, Physics

Tagged
John Bell, Quantum Mechanics, Sabine Hossenfelder}

Quantum Physics Axed Materialism. Many Hope the World Won’t Know

_{Theoretical physicist Sabine Hossenfelder struggles to explain how quantum mechanics is consistent with materialism} _{Denyse O'Leary
November 23, 2022

3

Philosophy of Mind, Physics}

What Hossenfelder appears to mean is that an entirely materialist explanation should work and that physicists are at fault for not explaining.

Quantum Nuclear Fusion Entanglement, 3d Representation

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News
Date
November 6, 2022

Categorized
Philosophy of Mind, Physics

Tagged
Consciousness, Elizabeth Fernandez, Quantum Mechanics, Wigner's Friend (thought experiment)}

As Conscious Observers, Do We Help Create Our World?

_{That’s the big question in quantum mechanics, as science communicator Elizabeth Fernandez explains} _{News
November 6, 2022

4

Philosophy of Mind, Physics}

But surely the question is not whether human consciousness makes a difference but where and how. Does it affect physical outcomes, for example?

The Ingenuity drone-helicopter has separated from the Perseverance rover on Mars and prepares for its first flight. 3d render. Element of this image are furnished by NASA

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News
Date
November 5, 2022

Categorized
Physics

Tagged
Carolyn Collins Petersen, Extraterrestrial life, Gold, Joshua Sokol, Lisa Kaltenegger, Paul Sutter, Robert Lea, Venus}

News From the Search for Extraterrestrial Life 12

_{Some stars seem to be defying the known laws of physics; others are found to produce specific rare elements when they collide} _{News
November 5, 2022

11

Physics}

In our universe: Researchers are finding more evidence that colliding neutron stars forge not only gold but strontium, lanthanum, and cerium. They expect to discover more rare elements in the debris as well. (Universe Today, October 29, 2022) At this rate, we won’t run out. 😉 The paper is open access. When neutron stars collide: Speaking of stars, some seem to be defying the known laws of physics: “An international team of astrophysicists has made a puzzling discovery while analyzing certain star clusters. The finding challenges Newton’s laws of gravity, the researchers write in their publication. Instead, the observations are consistent with the predictions of an alternative theory of gravity. However, this is controversial among experts. The results have now Read More ›

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News
Date
November 1, 2022

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Physics}

AI, It Turns Out, Is Not Currently a Very Good Physicist

_{A physicist takes issue with a research paper’s claims which inspired an IFL headline, “An AI May Have Just Invented ‘Alternative’ Physics”} _{News
November 1, 2022

2

Artificial Intelligence, Physics}

Physicist Tom Hartsfield, commenting on a new paper, takes issue with its claim that “Without any prior knowledge of the underlying physics, our algorithm discovers the intrinsic dimension of the observed dynamics and identifies candidate sets of state variables.” That doesn’t seem to have happened. The problem set for the computer was a classical mechanics one: For a pendulum hanging on another pendulum, compute the number of variables needed for a solution: This problem requires two variables — the angle of each pendulum to the vertical — or four variables if a Cartesian (xy) coordinate system is used. If both pendulum bobs are hung from springs instead of rigid rods, the two variable spring lengths are added to get six Read More ›

sphere is affecting space / time around it

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News
Date
October 23, 2022

Categorized
Philosophy, Physics}

Can Physics Account for Our Whole Reality?

_{Mathematician turned philosopher Nancy Cartwright says no; reality is ultimately too complex for that} _{News
October 23, 2022

4

Philosophy, Physics}

If only we could reduce the world to an equation, many think — preferably one that is solvable (unlike what happened in what happened in Restaurant at the End of the Universe), we would understand life better. University of Durham philosopher Nancy Cartwright takes issue with that, arguing that the universe is “beautifully dappled, and requires a dappled science to explain it.” She is the author, most recently, of A Philosopher Looks at Science (Cambridge University Press, 2022). And she says, If physics is to have total dominion, she must not only help out with chemical bonding, signal transmission in neurons, the flow of petrol in a carburettor, and the like. She must be able in principle to entirely take Read More ›

exoplanet viewed from the rocky surface of its moon, elements of this image furnished by NASA.

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News
Date
October 22, 2022

Categorized
Physics

Tagged
Evan Gough, Extraterrestrial life, Keith Cooper, Laurence Tognetti, Return of the God Hypothesis (book), Robert Lea, Stephen C. Meyer}

News From the Search for Extraterrestrial Life 10

_{In our universe, it seems, we don’t get down to the Really Simple Stuff. We just get down to smaller but still very complex stuff} _{News
October 22, 2022

8

Physics}

Around our universe: Here are the Pillars of Creation, a star workshop 6500 light years away in the Eagle Nebula, as seen recently by the James Webb Space Telescope: The millions of stars seen by Hubble in globular cluster Terzan 4 are also worth a look: While we are here: The humble proton, one of the building blocks of our universe, is “the most complicated thing” imaginable, according to Quanta: The proton is a quantum mechanical object that exists as a haze of probabilities until an experiment forces it to take a concrete form. And its forms differ drastically depending on how researchers set up their experiment. Connecting the particle’s many faces has been the work of generations. “We’re kind Read More ›