At least, according to a couple of astrophysicists: Complex life may be possible in only 10% of all galaxies | Science/AAAS | News. The universe may be a lonelier place than previously thought. Of the estimated 100 billion galaxies in the observable universe, only one in 10 can support complex life like that on Earth, a … Continue reading Complex life in the universe may be much rarer than previously thought
Ancillary Sword
I recently read Ann Leckie's new book 'Ancillary Sword'. It's a sequel to 'Ancillary Justice', which I recommended last year, and which went on to win the Hugo Award for Best Novel. That first book explored a lot of mind bending concepts. The first had been the main character, Breq, a woman, originally one of … Continue reading Ancillary Sword
SMBC: To the collider!
This may well be the best explanation of particle colliders, like the Large Hadron Collider, I've seen in a long time. Click through for full sized version, and for the Feynman diagram in the red button caption. via Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal. Of course, none of it might be fundamental. It might be structure, patterns, mathematics, whatever, … Continue reading SMBC: To the collider!
Eavesdropping on E.T. and the possibility of interstellar travel
Gabriel Popkin as an article at Inside Science about a study that looks at the possibility of intercepting communications between other alien civilizations. The idea is that communicating across interstellar distances is best done with lasers. So far, the optical search for extraterrestrial intelligence has focused mainly on the hope of receiving—and recognizing—an intentional, laser-encoded … Continue reading Eavesdropping on E.T. and the possibility of interstellar travel
xkcd: AI-Box Experiment
Click through for full sized version and yellow caption. via xkcd: AI-Box Experiment. I do keep saying that AIs won't want what we want.
The number of senses, free will, and productive reality
Christian Jarrett has an interesting article at BBC Future on the number of senses that we have. The principle of five basic human senses is often traced back to Aristotle’s De Anima (On the Soul), in which he devotes a separate chapter to vision, hearing, touch, smell and taste. Today, the five senses are considered … Continue reading The number of senses, free will, and productive reality
A cute video, at first, before getting into the darkness of addiction
I consider myself to be lucky that I've managed to only acquire one real addiction: caffeine. I've given it up several times over the years, but always slid back into its clutches. Given that, I have complete sympathy with those caught in the clutches of much more serious addictions, like nicotine, alcohol, prescription painkillers, or any … Continue reading A cute video, at first, before getting into the darkness of addiction
Meditations on Canonicity
Michelle Joelle ponders the evolution of fictional (and mythological) stories, which I found particularly interesting given some of the discussion on the previous post.
How Farming Almost Destroyed Ancient Human Civilization
Annalee Newitz has a fascinating article at IO9 on early neolithic societies: How Farming Almost Destroyed Ancient Human Civilization. Roughly 9,000 years ago, humans had mastered farming to the point where food was plentiful. Populations boomed, and people began moving into large settlements full of thousands of people. And then, abruptly, these proto-cities were abandoned for … Continue reading How Farming Almost Destroyed Ancient Human Civilization
SelfAwarePatterns 