Mind Matters Natural and Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis

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man-thinking-how-to-solve-the-problem-stockpack-adobe-stock
man thinking how to solve the problem
Type
post
Author
News
Date
June 26, 2023
Categorized
Science
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Iterations of Immortality

If it is beauty that governs the mathematician’s soul, it is truth and certainty that remind him of his duty
News
June 26, 2023
14
Science

by David Berlinski Editor’s note: We are delighted to welcome Science After Babel, the latest book from mathematician and philosopher David Berlinski. This article is adapted from Chapter 7.  The calculus and the rich body of mathematical analysis to which it gave rise made modern science possible, but it was the algorithm that made possible the modern world. They are utterly different, these ideas. The calculus serves the imperial vision of mathematical physics. It is a vision in which the real elements of the world are revealed to be its elementary constituents: particles, forces, fields, or even a strange fused combination of space and time. Written in the language of mathematics, a single set of fearfully compressed laws describes their secret Read More ›

T-Rex side profile
Tyrannosaurus Rex close up on dark background. - Image
Type
post
Author
Gary Varner
Date
February 4, 2023
Categorized
Science Fiction
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Jurassic World: Dominion Review Part 1

Too many unanswered questions and gaping plot holes in the grand finale
Gary Varner
February 4, 2023
6
Science Fiction

Like so many kids in my generation, one of the things that prompted my interest in science was the iconic movie, Jurassic Park, and also, like so many kids of my generation, Jurassic Park Three left me furious. Once the dinosaurs started talking, I was out. Then came Jurassic World, and I was left unimpressed but unoffended, so I called it good enough. And the last movie in the second trilogy left me in a similar boat. It fixed one of the big issues I had with Jurassic Park Three, so I can’t really say this is a bad movie. That being said, it is an excellent example of bad writing. The problem with the film is that it’s convoluted, Read More ›

DNA in hand on blue background.
DNA in hand on blue background concept design.
Type
post
Author
Andrew McDiarmid
Date
June 9, 2021
Categorized
Science
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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 ›

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Pray.
Type
post
Author
News
Date
April 11, 2021
Categorized
Philosophy, Religion, Science
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Why Should We Believe Atheists on the Subject of God?

Logic and evidence both point to the existence of God, whatever atheists may think
News
April 11, 2021
4
Philosophy, Religion, Science

Noting a recent article by philosopher Steve Meyer at The Federalist, neurosurgeon Michael Egnor comments, The public square is replete with books and articles written by atheist scientists claiming that cosmology or genetics or evolution properly understood disproves the existence of God. These atheist scientists profoundly misunderstand the implications of their science; they couldn’t be more wrong. As in his new book, The Return of the God Hypothesis, Dr. Meyer points to three particularly clear advances in modern science. Michael Egnor, “The God Hypothesis Versus Atheist Science Denial” at Evolution News and Science Today (April 5, 2021) The three arguments he addresses are ● The Big Bang: “The existence of a moment of beginning of our universe in an almost Read More ›

3d-render-dinosaur-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
3d render dinosaur.
Type
post
Author
News
Date
April 10, 2021
Categorized
Arts & Culture, Environment, Science
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Neuralink Cofounder: We Can Bring “Exotic” Dinosaurs To Life Now

Whether Max Hodak can do that or not, many scientists ponder, when SHOULD we try to bring back extinct species?
News
April 10, 2021
6
Arts & Culture, Environment, Science

Neuralink is currently best known for brain-computer interfaces, including a test monkey playing pong ball with his mind. But Elon Musk’s co-founder Max Hodak has a bigger idea: Breed and engineer “super exotic novel species”of dinosaurs: “We could probably build Jurassic Park if we wanted to,” Hodak tweeted on Saturday. “Wouldn’t be genetically authentic dinosaurs but [shrugging emoji]. Maybe 15 years of breeding + engineering to get super exotic novel species.” Dan Robitzski, “Neuralink Co-founder Says We Have the Tech to Build An Actual Jurassic Park” at Futurism Any life forms that resulted from dino DNA studies would not be “genetically authentic” dinosaurs because we don’t have living dinosaur sexual cells to work with. They might, however, be more or Read More ›

dna-computing-abstract-illustration-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
DNA Computing - Abstract Illustration
Type
post
Author
News
Date
March 17, 2021
Categorized
Programming, Science
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Is Computing With DNA the Wave of the Future?

We are running out of conventional space to store information and life forms’ DNA stores it much more efficiently
News
March 17, 2021
6
Programming, Science

Why would we want to compute with DNA? Well, first, we are fast approaching the limit of how small we can make computers. So some scientists are turning to the designs in nature for help: The issue with transistors is that they now exist at the scale of a few nanometers in size—only a few silicon atoms thick. They can’t practically be made any smaller than they are now. If they get any smaller, the electrical current flowing through the transistor easily leaks out into other components nearby or deforms the transistor due to heat, rendering it useless. You need a minimum number of atoms to make the transistor work and we’ve functionally reached that limit. John Loeffler, “What is Read More ›

businesswoman-hand-holding-wooden-cube-with-flip-over-block-change-to-chance-word-on-table-background-success-strategy-solution-business-and-positive-thinking-concepts-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
Businesswoman hand holding wooden cube with flip over block CHANGE to CHANCE word on table background. success, strategy, solution, business and Positive thinking concepts
Type
post
Author
Eric Holloway
Date
September 21, 2020
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence
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Evolution And Artificial Intelligence Face The Same Basic Problem

Think of the word ladder game, where we transform one word into another by changing only one letter at a time
Eric Holloway
September 21, 2020
6
Artificial Intelligence
Without knowledge about the goal and how to get there, it rapidly becomes first difficult and then completely impossible to reach the goal. Read More ›
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Coronavirus disease COVID-19 infection 3D medical illustration. Floating China pathogen respiratory influenza covid virus cells. Dangerous asian ncov corona virus, dna, pandemic risk background design
Type
podcast
Author
Robert J. Marks and Daniel Andrés Díaz-Pachón
Date
April 23, 2020
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COVID-19: How 900 Bytes Changed the World

Robert J. Marks and Daniel Andrés Díaz-Pachón
April 23, 2020
1

Human biology is so finely tuned that less than a kilobyte of information can stop the world. Robert J. Marks and Dr. Daniel Andrés Díaz-Pachón discuss COVID-19, DNA, and information. Show Notes 01:09 | Introducing Dr. Daniel Andrés Díaz-Pachón, Research Assistant Professor in the Division of Biostatistics at the University of Miami and Senior Researcher at the Evolutionary Informatics Lab Read More ›

AdobeStock_229226091
Glitchy screen
Type
post
Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
June 18, 2019
Categorized
Philosophy of Mind
Tagged
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There Is a Glitch in the Description of DNA as “Software”

In contemporary culture, we are asked to believe - in an impressive break with observed reality - that the code wrote itself
Denyse O'Leary
June 18, 2019
4
Philosophy of Mind

Mainstream studies are funded in order to find out why much of the public doubts a materialist account of our origins. Despite the immense implausibility of that account, in the light of evidence, studies are not funded in order to find out why anyone does believe it. Why is that?

Read More ›
daniil-kuzelev-435431-unsplash
Type
post
Author
Mind Matters
Date
October 25, 2018
Categorized
Philosophy of Mind, Social Factors
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How a Computer Programmer looks at DNA

And finds it to be "amazing" code
Mind Matters
October 25, 2018
5
Philosophy of Mind, Social Factors
From 2006 through 2017, Dutch entrepreneur and software developer Bert Hubert contributed from time to time to a web page where he listed many of the ways the workings of DNA can be likened to coding decisions by programmers. Read More ›