Category Archives: Science

Are We a Viral Equivalent on the Universal Stage?

The universe is immense in the extreme. Objects like stars can become so large that it’s almost impossible to comprehend their scale. This video explains it quite well.

When comparing the scale at which we live and that of astronomical bodies like stars we can’t help but feel that we may be small cogs in something much, much more vast. Could that vast something be a life form so massive, and therefore foreign to us, that we fail to recognize it as alive? If we look in the other direction on the scale, toward the very small, it may help us to begin the process of investigating this notion.

A virus is considered to be one of the smallest units of life or psuedo-life.

According to Wikipedia: A virus is a small infectious agent that replicates only inside the living cells of other organisms [or hosts].

When observing humans from a star’s perspective, an interesting spin to the above definition comes to mind: A human is a small creature with an ever-expanding civilization that replicates only inside the living atmospheres of other astronomical bodies [or hosts].

Human beings and viruses are very different from one another. If a virus was able to think and understand it’s own properties, it would hardly imagine it possible that life forms billions of times larger than itself could exist. Questions like; “How could such a being support itself structurally? Or transmit information within itself? Or have a metabolism?” might be at the top of this thinking virus’s list. And their would be other questions it could not conceive to ask because of the limitations to it’s perspective. It’s possible we have similar limitations when it comes to the universe… at least for now.

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The Apple iMind OS – Direct Mind Interface Operating System

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Controlling a computer with your mind is probably one of the next great leaps forward for humanity. Imagine having a pair of glasses that house a miniature computer that learns to translate your brainwaves into commands on a computer screen visible through those glasses.

Sergey Brin wears Google Glass

You might be able to write paragraphs of text as quickly as you think them. Imagine a complete catalog of the running commentary in your mind. You might be able to access programs and give commands without having to see fully open windows on your screen. Imagine disarming the security system on your house to let your kids get in, while giving the command to pre heat the oven, turn up the AC, and turn on the sprinkler with a few thoughts. Imagine running a factory or city-wide utility system. What if it were possible to build something as complex as an aircraft carrier using robotic factories patched in to the minds of a few engineers. Rather than “overseeing” every single task, the engineers might give certain pre determined commands and only have to be aware of a limited amount of items at a time.

The technology to scan your brain and control objects in the real world is maturing rapidly. There are toys that allow you to control flying vehicles with your thoughts.

Controlling a Drone with Your Mind

Using the mind to control a mouse on the computer screen is also possible. The technology will become increasingly sensitive to the electrical signals in the brain. Computer learning will make it possible to more accurately interpret the patterns of those signals. In turn, humans will get better at interacting with the devices. The result will be an eventual synergy between computer and human that is far more efficient than it is today.

It’s entirely possible a company like Apple could pioneer this type of interface/operating system. Their recent venture into wearables that give bio feedback could be an indicator of things to come. Though Apple has seemed to drop the “i” from their recent products, I think the “iMind” would be a great name for the OS.

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Elephants Look in A Mirror But Humans do so Through a Looking Glass

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Only a hand full of species can recognize themselves in a mirror. Humans and elephants are a part of this exclusive club. The video below is fascinating.

It’s always interesting to see how we clever humans test the mental capacity of other animals. Recognizing ones self in the mirror is a complex process in the brain. It requires skills such as self awareness and deductive reasoning to name a few. Showing an animal it’s reflection in the mirror is an excellent way to test it for these skills of intelligence.

How might a superior intelligence test humans? Alternate universes and realities are a common theme in the musings of human kind via fiction. Physicists theorize that alternate universes and realities can and do exist. This is known as the Many-Worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics. What if advanced beings are able to tap in to this phenomenon?

Reality as Reflection of the Mind

Instead of holding a mirror in front of us, they might “hold a reality” in front of us. And instead of testing individuals for a few minutes, they test our entire species over the course of our evolution.

At it’s heart, this is not a radical or new concept. The idea of Karma is loosely related: “causality where intent and actions of an individual influence the future of that individual.” – Wikipedia. In this case, the phenomenon of Karma, would be an artificial law of nature put in place just for us…an ongoing, interactive puzzle we need to solve and master.

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A Li-Fi Universe

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I recently watched a Ted Talk by Harald Hass. He demonstrated the technology of Li-Fi (Light Fidelity). In short, it is the use of the visible light part of the electromagnetic spectrum to transmit data. Technology such as Wi-Fi uses the radio wave part of the electromagnetic spectrum. Li-Fi has a far, far greater data capacity than Wi-Fi.

In a way, astronomy utilizes a type of “Light Communication” already. Stars communicate their composition by emitting a certain spectrum of light. Astronomers then decode the light to determine what elements are present.

Some theorize that light travels at different speeds when in different mediums and perhaps in interstellar space. What if the speed of light moves a great deal faster between star systems?

Stars could communicate, or be a part of a communication network, in Li-Fi. Not to mention that stars also emit radio waves (Wi-Fi), ultraviolet waves etc. Quite a large spectrum.

Billions of stars buzzing with electromagnetic emissions.

And to go further out on a limb; what if stars are the equivalent of neurons or have the capacity for thought themselves? If the thoughts of these thinking beings move slower, at a different time rate than ours…. the time spans that it takes to receive information from star to star, may not seem long.

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A Thinking Earth Brain

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Our brains use electrical impulses to create thought and awareness. “Neurons generate electrical signals that travel along their axons. When a pulse of electricity reaches a junction called a synapse, it causes a neurotransmitter chemical to be released, which binds to receptors on other cells and thereby alters their electrical activity.” – From Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain

Organic Brain uses Electricity

What if organic brains are a relatively new player in the use of electricity/energy to create thought? Lightning is electricity. There are approximately 30-100 lightning strikes on the earth per second. That comes out to millions of strikes every day.

Lightning Strikes 30-100 times per second

In addition to lightning discharges, there are lesser known discharges called Sprites. “Sprites are large-scale electrical discharges that occur high above thunderstorm clouds, or cumulonimbus, giving rise to a quite varied range of visual shapes flickering in the night sky. They are triggered by the discharges of positive lightning between an underlying thundercloud and the ground.” –http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sprite_%28lightning%29

Earth’s Cerebral Cortex…maybe

Furthermore, there is an electromagnetic field that surrounds the earth and permeates everything on it.

Electromagnetic Brain, Scaffolding, Grey Matter?

Over the course of thousands or millions of years, the number of lightning discharges approaches the number of electrical signals generated in a living brain. Could the earth-brain be working at a slower rate than ours? In other words, operating over a longer time span. Would this earth-brain necessarily contain only one consciousness? Or even consciousness at all?

A thinking organism need not have an immediate or timely way of physically manifesting it’s will. Or maybe it does not need to manifest it’s will at all. We tend to think that intelligence evolves only when Darwinian, survival of the fittest scenarios force it to. Maybe intelligence can emerge from a series of complex natural processes.

Imagine this series of events. A “slow” working planetary brain emerges. The resulting environment within this planetary brain allows for a faster organic brain to evolve. The life forms with the organic brains invent faster computer brains. We, our brains, our intelligence could be one rung on a ladder of intelligences.

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