New path of evolution - A Chrysalis towards order

"I think it very likely – in fact inevitable – that biological intelligence is only a transitory phenomenon, a fleeting phase in the evolution of the universe. If we build a machine with the intellectual capability of one human, then within 5 years, its successor is more intelligent than all humanity combined. 

ET machines would be infinitely more intelligent and durable than the biological intelligence that created them. Intelligent machines would be immortal, and would not need to exist in the carbon-friendly “Goldilocks Zones” current SETI searches focus on. An AI could self-direct its own evolution, each "upgrade" would be created with the sum total of its predecessor’s knowledge preloaded.

"I think we could spend at least a few percent of our time... looking in the directions that are maybe not the most attractive in terms of biological intelligence but maybe where sentient machines are hanging out." Shostak thinks SETI ought to consider expanding its search to the energy- and matter-rich neighborhoods of hot stars, black holes and neutron stars.

Before the year 2020, scientists are expected to launch intelligent space robots that will venture out to explore the universe for us.

Robotic exploration probably will always be the trail blazer for human exploration of far space. When you can take the human out of the loop, that is becoming very exciting."

Source: link

Unpublished: life's evolution linked to available resources (galaxia reborn), Male and female brains use different dimensions (x vs y), Oxytocin - the new social drug?, Holographic world theory gains support, flowering plant genome

Star System Found - Similar to Ours

“We cannot stress just how important this discovery is. It is a big step in the search for a ‘twin’ to the Solar System, and thus also in finding a second Earth. No other planetary system shows such a similar ‘architecture’ to that of our cosmic home as does the planetary system around KOI-351. 

Just as in the Solar System, rocky planets with roughly the size of Earth are found close to the star, while, ‘gas giants’ similar to Jupiter and Saturn are found as you move away from the star.

Until now, 771 stars with planets have been identified. However, most of the exoplanets discovered so far are ’solitary’. Only 170 stars are known to be orbited by more than one planet. The outermost planet orbits the star at a distance of about 150 million kilometres, or roughly one Astronomical Unit (AU), so the entire planetary system is compressed into a space corresponding to the distance between Earth and the Sun.

To detect such small planets, a special algorithm was developed by Cabrera. Besides the size of these planets, what is remarkable is the 5:4 orbital resonance. In the time it takes planet b to complete five orbits, planet c has completes exactly four orbits. Similar resonances are found among the inner moons of Jupiter.

Source: link


Unpublished: early life on earth used fewer minerals, mission incredible :-),  

Waves for a reason

Waves are waves for a reason, that makes sense - moving around an attractor. Link

Opposits creates balance, extension creates comparisons, dimension, 

Energy + Machine (recursive)

Unpublished: On road fueling, Science&Humanities-How&Why, Tin - the new Super conductor.

That's more what I thought. But what happens when we try to counter balance the phenomenon.

Synaptic Transistor Learns While It Computes

Materials scientists at the Harvard have created a new type of transistor that mimics synaptic behavior. Exploiting unusual properties in modern materials, the synaptic transistor could mark the beginning of a new kind of artificial intelligence.

"The transistor we've demonstrated is really an analog to the synapse in our brains," says co-lead author Jian Shi, a postdoctoral fellow at SEAS. "Each time a neuron initiates an action and another neuron reacts, the synapse between them increases the strength of its connection. And the faster the neurons spike each time, the stronger the synaptic connection. Essentially, it memorizes the action between the neurons."

In principle, a system integrating millions of tiny synaptic transistors and neuron terminals could take parallel computing into a new era of ultra-efficient high performance.

While calcium ions and receptors effect a change in a biological synapse, the artificial version achieves the same plasticity with oxygen ions. When a voltage is applied, these ions slip in and out of the crystal lattice of a very thin (80-nanometer) film of samarium nickelate, which acts as the synapse channel between two platinum "axon" and "dendrite" terminals. The varying concentration of ions in the nickelate raises or lowers its conductance -- that is, its ability to carry information on an electrical current -- and, just as in a natural synapse, the strength of the connection depends on the time delay in the electrical signal.

The synaptic transistor offers several immediate advantages over traditional silicon transistors. For a start, it is not restricted to the binary system of ones and zeros.

"This system changes its conductance in an analog way, continuously, as the composition of the material changes," explains Shi. "It would be rather challenging to use CMOS, the traditional circuit technology, to imitate a synapse, because real biological synapses have a practically unlimited number of possible states -- not just 'on' or 'off.'"

The transistor modulates the information flow and at the same time physically adapts to changing signals. 

Compare to the human brain, with around 80 billion neurons, the world's best supercomputers are staggeringly inefficient and energy-intensive machines. The human mind, for all its phenomenal computing power, runs on roughly 20 Watts of energy (less than a household light bulb).

Source: Science Daily

Unpublished: