^CategoryScience

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
June 26, 2021

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Military, Science

Tagged
Alien robotic probes, John Gertz, Pentagon, Unidentified aerial phenomena (UABs), Unidentified flying objects (UFOs)}

The Pentagon’s UAP (UFO) Report Signals a Sharp Attitude Change

_{The brass have committed themselves to going “wherever the data takes us”} _{News

June 26, 2021

4

Artificial Intelligence, Military, Science}

As promised, the Pentagon released its UAP (UFO) report. And what did they find? First, they … lack sufficient data to determine the nature of mysterious flying objects observed by American military pilots including whether they are advanced earthly technologies, atmospherics or of an extraterrestrial origin. Steve Gorman, “Watershed U.S. UFO report does not rule out extraterrestrial origin” at Reuters via Yahoo News (June 25, 2021) But read on: The report marked a turning point for the U.S. government after the military spent decades deflecting, debunking and discrediting observations of unidentified flying objects and “flying saucers” dating back to the 1940s. Steve Gorman, “Watershed U.S. UFO report does not rule out extraterrestrial origin” at Reuters via Yahoo News (June 25, Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
June 20, 2021

Categorized
Information Theory, Philosophy of Mind, Science

Tagged
Ascent of Information (book), Caleb Scharf, dataome, Frank Knight, free will, Freebits, Ghost in the Quantum Turing Machine (essay), Knightian uncertainty, qubits, Randomness, Scott Aaronson}

Freebits: An Interesting Argument From the Big Bang for Free Will

_{There are two types of uncertainty, we learn, only one of which could create free will} _{News

June 20, 2021

5

Information Theory, Philosophy of Mind, Science}

Caleb Scharf (pictured), author of The Ascent of Information (2021), offers an excerpt at Nautilus that introduces two new terms, the “dataome” and “freebits.” The dataome is all the ways human beings create information, from cave paintings to cloud servers. He asks, “Was all of this really inevitable? Did we ever have a choice in creating a dataome or doing any of the things we do, and does any self-aware entity in the universe have a choice either?” Relying on theoretical computer scientist Scott Aaronson’s 2013 essay, “The Ghost in the Quantum Turing Machine,” he asks us to consider that there are two types of uncertainty, only one of which could create choice. Typical “randomness” actually follows statistical laws, a Read More ›

Artificial Intelligence. Digital age in the global world of the future. 3D illustration of computer mind in decentralized cyberspace

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
June 19, 2021

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Creativity, Science

Tagged
Extraterrestrials (ET), George Gilder, Life forms vs. AI, Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI), Seth Shostak}

ET Expert Thinks That ET Is Probably AI (Artificial Intelligence)

_{Given the immense interstellar distances, not being alive might be the only way ET could get here.} _{News

June 19, 2021

4

Artificial Intelligence, Creativity, Science}

Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) astronomer Seth Shostak (pictured) confesses that these are exciting times for alien hunters like himself, what with the Pentagon’s anticipated July 25 report on unidentified aerial phenomena. Still, he doesn’t expect any big revelations: “I think it’s overwhelmingly likely that aliens are present in our galaxy. But I don’t believe they’re hanging out in our airspace. Not now, and not in historic times.” On the other hand, he goes on to say, every third star in our galaxy could host an Earth-like planet so the odds are we are not alone. Few life forms on Earth resemble humans, so why should extraterrestrials? But if we are not alone, what would ET be like? A gaseous Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
June 19, 2021

Categorized
Military, Science

Tagged
Airspace safety, Extraterrestrials (ET), Helen Maynard Caseley, Leonard David, Mark Buchanan, Martin Van-Kranendonk, UAPs, UFOs}

The UAPs (UFOs) Are “Not Caused by Any U.S. Advanced Technology”

_{And that’s all the Pentagon probably really knows} _{News

June 19, 2021

8

Military, Science}

June 25, the U.S. Department of Defense will release a report on UAPs (unidentified aerial phenomena), a term now preferred to UFOs (unidentified flying objects). A number of unusual sightings since 2017 prompted Congress to ask for a report. According to space industry reporter Leonard David, the justification is airspace safety and control, not an effort to support or refute claims about alien spacecraft: “The report’s firmest conclusion, it seems, is that the vast majority of UAP happenings and their surprising maneuvers are not caused by any U.S. advanced technology programs.” That might mean, for example, UAP are entirely homegrown products of revolutionary and clandestine technological advances, whether by other countries now challenging American airspace or by the U.S. itself Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
June 17, 2021

Categorized
Philosophy of Mind, Science

Tagged
Abstraction (death as abstraction), Burial customs, Death (as abstraction), Emmanuel Ndiema, Funerary caching, Kenya (child burial), Mtoto (child burial)}

Death: Child Grave From 80,000 Years Ago Shows Abstract Thinking

_{The lovingly prepared site on the Kenyan coast held the remains of a 2–3 year-old child} _{News

June 17, 2021

5

Philosophy of Mind, Science}

A child’s grave, found recently in Kenya, pushes clear evidence of abstract thinking back to 80,000 years ago, the Middle Stone Age. The child, nicknamed “Mtoto” (child in Swahili) by the archaeologists, was 2½ – 3 years old; whether a boy or a girl is as yet unclear: In a tour de force of discovery, recovery, and analysis, an interdisciplinary research team has uncovered the earliest known human burial in Africa. The grave, found less than 10 miles inland from southeast Kenya’s lush ocean beaches, contained the remains of a two- to three-year-old child buried with extraordinary care by a community of early Homo sapiens some 78,000 years ago. While some human burials in the Middle East and Europe are Read More ›

Stack of papers isolated on white background

^{Type
post

Author
Gary Smith
Date
June 17, 2021

Categorized
Peer Review, Science

Tagged
citation counts, Cyril Labbe, Elsevier, expert systems, Google Scholar, Peer Review, SCIgen}

A Vulnerable System: Fake Papers and Imaginary Scientists

_{Publication counts and citation indexes are too noisy and too easily manipulated to be reliable} _{Gary Smith

June 17, 2021

7

Peer Review, Science}

In the last two posts, we examined how scientific publication has ceased to be a good measure of scientific accomplishment, and how the peer review system is being gamed by unscrupulous publishers and researchers alike. Now, we will continue the discussion on the undermining of scientific publication using two examples: SCIgen and citation counts. SCIgen In 2005 three MIT graduate computer science students created a prank program they called SCIgen for using randomly selected words to generate bogus computer-science papers complete with realistic graphs of random numbers. Their goal was “maximum amusement rather than coherence,” and also to demonstrate that some academic conferences will accept almost anything. They submitted a hoax paper titled, “Rooter: A Methodology for the Typical Unification of Access Points and Redundancy,” Read More ›

Lying businessman holding fingers crossed behind his back

^{Type
post

Author
Gary Smith
Date
June 15, 2021

Categorized
Peer Review, Science

Tagged
Goodhart's Law, Peer Review}

Gaming the System: The Flaws in Peer Review

_{Peer review is well-intentioned, but flawed in many ways} _{Gary Smith

June 15, 2021

8

Peer Review, Science}

Last time, we examined how scientific publication has ceased to be a good measure of scientific accomplishment because it has now become a target, following Goodhart’s Law. In today’s post, we will continue that examination by turning to the peer review system, and how that system is being gamed by unscrupulous publishers and researchers alike. In theory, the peer review process is intended to ensure that research papers do not get published unless impartial experts in the field deem them worthy of publication. Peer review is well-intentioned, but flawed in many ways. First, the best researchers are incredibly busy and naturally more inclined to do their own research than to review someone else’s work. Thus, peer review is often cursory or Read More ›

Female Artist Works on Abstract Oil Painting, Moving Paint Brush Energetically She Creates Modern Masterpiece. Dark Creative Studio where Large Canvas Stands on Easel Illuminated. Low Angle Close-up

^{Type
post

Author
Jonathan Bartlett
Date
June 15, 2021

Categorized
Business and Finance, Science

Tagged
Agency, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Artificial Intelligence, Biology, Elon Musk, Google, Intelligent Design, Peter Thiel, Zero to One (book)}

Intelligent Design Is Not What Most People Think It Is

_{Widespread confusion about Intelligent Design leads us to address the question: What exactly is it?} _{Jonathan Bartlett

June 15, 2021

8

Business and Finance, Science}

When I tell people that I do work in Intelligent Design (ID) research, either the person I’m talking to has no idea what Intelligent Design is, or they have quite a faulty idea of what Intelligent Design is. This isn’t their fault — media reports don’t seem to be able to make sense of what we are doing either. Some people have attributed this to malice, and, while I’m sure there’s plenty of that to go around, I think that it is in large part actually the result of Intelligent Design doing something genuinely new, making it difficult for people to shove us into existing boxes. Intelligent Design, at its core, says that agency is a distinct causal category in the world. That Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Jonathan Bartlett
Date
June 14, 2021

Categorized
Events, Science

Tagged
Biology, Conference on Engineering in Living Systems, Engineering}

An Unlikely Collaboration to Elucidate Life’s Blueprints

_{Joining together the forces of biology and engineering to improve both fields} _{Jonathan Bartlett

June 14, 2021

3

Events, Science}

What happens when you get sixty biologists and engineers together in a conference for three days? That’s the question asked by Steve Laufman, head of the Engineering Research Group at Discovery. In the recent “Conference on Engineering in Living Systems,” biologists and engineers of every stripe got together to see how the two disciplines could benefit each other. For biologists, learning how engineers examine, design, and plan projects was eye-opening. Traditionally, biologists focus on individual interactions, not whole-systems approaches. For engineers, discovering the details of cellular architecture and control mechanisms was especially enlightening. The conference had a diverse set of presentations, covering numerous areas of overlap between the two fields. One presentation discussed biologically-inspired robots, as well as how they can Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Gary Smith
Date
June 14, 2021

Categorized
Peer Review, Science

Tagged
Google Citations, Google Scholar, Peer Review, publish or perish}

Publish or Perish — Another Example of Goodhart’s Law

_{In becoming a target, publication has ceased to be a good measure} _{Gary Smith

June 14, 2021

5

Peer Review, Science}

The linchpin of scientific advances is that scientists publish their findings so that others can learn from them and expand on their insights. This is why some books are rightly considered among the most influential mathematical and scientific books of all time: Elements, Euclid, c. 300 B.C.Physics, Aristotle, c. 330 B.C.On the Revolutions of Heavenly Spheres, Nicolaus Copernicus, 1543Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, Galileo Galilei, 1632Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy, Isaac Newton, 1687The Origin of Species, Charles Darwin, 1859 As Newton said, “If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants.” It seems logical to gauge the importance of modern-day researchers by how much they have published and how often their research has been cited Read More ›

Young man wearing coverall and safety mask working on production line of modern pharmaceutical factory, portrait shot

^{Type
post

Author
Heather Zeiger
Date
June 14, 2021

Categorized
Medicine and Health, Science

Tagged
Anthony Fauci, COVID-19, COVID-19 lab leak hypothesis, Dr. Shi Zheng-Li, EcoHealth Alliance, gain-of-function study, Katherine Eban, National Institute of Health (NIH), Nicholas Wade, Peter Daszak, Potential Pandemic Pathogens Control and Oversight Framework (P3CO), SARS-CoV-2, Wuhan Institute of Virology}

U.S. Moratorium(ish) on Gain-of-Function Research

_{Evaluating the effectiveness of the 2014 U.S. moratorium on gain-of-function experiments} _{Heather Zeiger

June 14, 2021

5

Medicine and Health, Science}

In the last two articles, we discussed the vindication of the lab leak theory through the publication of several investigative articles, and the risky nature of gain-of-function research and the evidence that it may be a key component to the cause of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, we turn to the U.S. Due to the risky nature of gain-of-function research, what actions has the U.S. government taken to mitigate those risks? In 2014, the U.S. government placed a moratorium on new gain-of-function experiments for influenza, MERS, and SARS. That moratorium defines “gain-of-function” in very broad terms covering any “research that improves the ability of a pathogen to cause disease.” The moratorium expired in 2017 and was replaced by an oversight board, Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
June 13, 2021

Categorized
Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind, Science

Tagged
Alexander Franklin, Arthur Eddington (table illustration), Emergentism, Phoenix (mythical bird), Quantum physics and illusion}

A Physicist’s Defense of Reality, Despite Quantum Physics

_{He explains why Eddington’s solid table really IS solid, even if, at the highest resolution, it is mostly empty space} _{News

June 13, 2021

4

Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind, Science}

In the wake of quantum physics, King’s College philosopher of physics Alexander Franklin is concerned to stress that “everyday reality is not illusory but emergent”: Popular science often tells us that we are radically deceived by the commonplace appearance of everyday objects and that colour and solidity are illusions. For instance, the physicist Sir Arthur Eddington [pictured] distinguished in 1928 between two tables: the familiar table and the scientific table, while the former is solid and coloured, the scientific table “is nearly all empty space”. Eddington then makes the striking claim that “modern physics has by delicate test and remorseless logic assured me that my second scientific table is the only one which is really there”. Alexander Franklin, “Solid objects Read More ›

Science fiction illustration of a battle cruiser spaceship travelling faster than the speed of light in hyperspace, 3d digitally rendered illustration

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
June 12, 2021

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Ethics, Science

Tagged
ARK (film), Faster than light travel, Nelson Cruz, Patrick Gorman, Science fiction, Sheila Cutchlow, Time travel paradoxes}

What If a Loved One Aged Much Faster Than You? – Sci-fi Saturday

_{It’s one of the implications of faster-than-light travel} _{News

June 12, 2021

13

Arts & Culture, Ethics, Science}

“ARK” at DUST by Nelson Cruz (June 8, 2021, 8:19 min) “Captain Mira Bernhard is finally home after a lengthy mission to the new planet, GAIA – humanity’s last hope. But what’s only been a 5-year trip for her, has been 45-year wait for her husband.” Review: ARK debuted in 2020. Time, we are told, is running out for Earth. The radio announcer, informing the audience of Bernhard’s ship’s arrival, also announces that this will be the final week of broadcasts. We are told that Bernhard’s husband Peter (played by Patrick Gorman) does not know what to expect. But, of course, he really does. And he faces a big decision: Should he just free her (Sheila Cutchlow) to return to Read More ›

Medical science laboratory. Concept of virus and bacteria research

^{Type
post

Author
Heather Zeiger
Date
June 11, 2021

Categorized
Medicine and Health, Science

Tagged
COVID-19, COVID-19 lab leak hypothesis, Dr. Shi Zheng-Li, gain-of-function study, National Institute of Health (NIH), SARS-CoV-2, Wuhan Institute of Virology}

What Is Gain-of-Function Research and Why Is It Risky?

_{The Wuhan Institute of Virology and the NIH find themselves in a tough spot} _{Heather Zeiger

June 11, 2021

7

Medicine and Health, Science}

Last time, we talked about the vindication of the lab leak theory, as a growing number of investigative articles have pointed to a lab accident as the cause of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now,we turn to the role risky gain-of-function research may have played in the affair. To understand why some in the U.S. government and the NIH want to downplay funding of gain-of-function research, we need to understand what exactly it is. All viruses mutate, some faster than others. Influenza is one of the fastest mutating viruses, followed by HIV. SARS-CoV-2 mutates slower than both viruses, which is why many scientists believe vaccine booster shots will likely be every few years, rather than annually, like the flu. Scientists need to Read More ›

Science laboratory research and development concept. microscope with test tubes

^{Type
post

Author
Heather Zeiger
Date
June 10, 2021

Categorized
Media, Medicine and Health, Science

Tagged
Anthony Fauci, Chinese Communist Party (CCP), COVID-19, COVID-19 lab leak hypothesis, Dr. Shi Zheng-Li, EcoHealth Alliance, Katherine Eban, National Institute of Health (NIH), Nicholas Wade, Nicholson Baker, Peter Daszak, SARS-CoV-2, Vanity Fair, WHO COVID-19 investigation in China, World Health Organization (WHO), Wuhan Institute of Virology}

Lab Leak Theory Vindicated: What That Means for Fighting COVID-19

_{What was the U.S. government's role in downplaying the lab leak theory?} _{Heather Zeiger

June 10, 2021

5

Media, Medicine and Health, Science}

Vanity Fair adds to the growing number of investigative articles pointing to a lab accident as the cause of the COVID-19 pandemic. This article looks at the U.S. government’s role in downplaying that lab leak theory. Behind closed doors, however, national security and public health experts and officials across a range of departments in the executive branch were locked in high-stakes battles over what could and couldn’t be investigated and made public. Katherine Eban, “The Lab-Leak Theory: Inside the Fight to Uncover COVID-19’s Origins” at Vanity Fair At a time when the Mainstream Media has sullied its reputation by parroting experts rather than seeking multiple viewpoints and checking sources, several articles stand out as excellent pieces of long-form writing and Read More ›

DNA in hand on blue background concept design.

^{Type
post

Author
Andrew McDiarmid
Date
June 9, 2021

Categorized
Science

Tagged
Bill Gates, Biology, Charles Darwin, DNA, Intelligent Design, Origin of life, Return of the God Hypothesis (book), Richard Dawkins, Signature in the Cell (book), software design, Stephen C. Meyer}

The Coolest Tech on the Planet (Hint: It’s Inside You!)

_{The intricate design of the living cell has left many materialists stumped} _{Andrew McDiarmid

June 9, 2021

5

Science}

These days, we surround ourselves with technology to stay in touch, to keep ourselves informed, and to manage the challenges of our daily lives. We also recognize in our devices and machines all the hallmarks of design, understanding reflexively that they express the ingenuity of engineers or software developers. Our appreciation for applied intelligence comes as second nature to us — we intuitively recognize the work of other minds. But what happens when we look up from our technology and survey the world of nature? When we look up at the movement of the planets, or into the eyes of our children, or when we peer through a microscope into a living cell? Do we see signs of minds in Read More ›

A girl with Down syndrome blows bubbles. The daily life of a child with disabilities. Chromosomal genetic disorder in a child.

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
June 6, 2021

Categorized
Science

Tagged
Cancel culture, discrimination, Dominic Lawson, Down Syndrome, Eugenics, human dignity, Richard Dawkins}

Richard Dawkins is not just ableist, he’s unscientific

_{He refuses to see the joy that people with Down Syndrome bring into the world} _{News

June 6, 2021

5

Science}

Originally published on MercatorNet on June 2, 2021 by Ann Farmer Way back when, one of life’s great certainties used to be that no matter how obnoxious, prejudiced, jaundiced or snooty Richard Dawkins, the Grand Poobah of Atheism, was, the accolades would continue to roll in. Alas! Those were the Good Old Days for poor old Richard. Nowadays he is looking more and more like a bewildered T-Rex the day after the Cretaceous extinction event. Earlier this year Richard was cancelled by the American Humanist Association. It revoked his 1996 humanist of the year award because he had expressed scepticism about trans people in one of his recent tweets. It turns out that Richard needed his mouth washed out with soap Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Caitlin Bassett
Date
June 5, 2021

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Science

Tagged
a wrinkle in time, Albert Einstein, Dimensions, Madeleine L'Engle, Science fiction}

A Wrinkle In Time: Reading Science Fiction At An Early Age

_{An early introduction to science fiction will be a boon to any child's imagination} _{Caitlin Bassett

June 5, 2021

4

Arts & Culture, Science}

When I was young, my father was constantly pressing new books into my hands. The first in remembrance was C.S. Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. The second to stand out was Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle In Time. It was a funny choice, really. My father’s theology does not match L’Engle’s universalism, nor are his preferred subjects math and science. At the time, I was unable to wrap my mind around concepts of dimension and time introduced by L’Engle, but the novel became a fast favorite that I have returned to in my adulthood. A Wrinkle In Time was most recently brought back into popular view when an adaptation imagined by director Ava DuVernay was released in theaters Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
May 29, 2021

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Philosophy, Science

Tagged
Barack Obama, Drake Equation, Drake Equation (updated), Extraterrestrials (ET), Frank Drake, Matt Williams, Sabine Hossenfelder, Science fiction, Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI), Steven Novella}

Sixty Billion Stars. And No Aliens? What Now?

_{Are we approaching a crisis of faith in ET?} _{News

May 29, 2021

4

Arts & Culture, Philosophy, Science}

At Universe Today, Matt Williams asks if it is time to update the Drake Equation, by which you could settle — in your own mind — how likely the aliens are. It began to be developed nearly sixty years ago at a conference at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Green Bank, West Virginia. And everyone took for granted that we would be hearing from the aliens soon. That was the basis of Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) — keeping the hope alive. Rather than being an actual means for quantifying the number of intelligent species in our galaxy, the purpose of the equation was meant to frame the discussion on SETI. In addition to encapsulating the challenges facing scientists, Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
May 29, 2021

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Religion, Science

Tagged
Eden (short film 2018), Science fiction}

What Would the Ruins of “Eden” Be Like?: Sci-fi Saturday

_{Scavenging for artifacts on a ruined planet, a space drifter comes across the ruins of a high-tech civilization} _{News

May 29, 2021

13

Arts & Culture, Religion, Science}

“Eden” (2018) at DUST (May 20, 2021) by Kristian Bakstad, 11:51 min: “Deep in the recesses of space, a lone scavenger hunts for a valuable artifact on a desolate planet. When he discovers an abandoned facility, he ventures inside hoping for his big payday; but instead encounters a mad man and the remnants of a religious cult.” Review: This one got a lot of negative reviews but the studio has been around for a while, so let’s have another look. The lead character (Christoff Lundgren) is agreeably scuzzy, batting around in space. The opening portrays his lifestyle well: His tracking system detects something that might be evidence of a ruined advanced ET civilization to scavenge. He needs something he can Read More ›