science
The XKCD “Height” Poster
Totally buying this for work. (link) We love info-graphics here. And XKCD delivers the awesome. I’m a big fan of large-scale graphics that are fun to look at and packed with data. Kind of like those cartooney maps you get at disneyland when you were a kid, that you spend weeks staring at after you got home. Edward Tufte calls these “mega graphics“… i call them “entertaining maps.”
One of my all-time favorites is the “Online Communities Map.” (link) The first time i saw it I just stood there in awe for 20 minutes or so. 
When Man and Machine Merge
An excerpt from the Ray Kurzweil article in Rolling Stone magazine:
entire article: http://www.seventhswami.com/misc/KURZWEIL_IN_ROLLING_STONE.pdf
For his contributions to artificial intelligence, Kurzweil has been enshrined in the Inventors Hall of Fame and has received White House honors from three presidents – including the highest prize in his field, the National Medal of Technology. But nothing he has done in the past has shaken the scientific community as profoundly as his latest prediction. In our lifetime, Kurzweil believes, machines will not only surpass humans in intelligence – they will irrevocably alter what it means to be human.
Kurzweil had already been forecasting technology for years. It’s an essential part of any inventor’s trade, because he has to know what technology will be on the market by the time his product is released. To calculate what’s ahead, Kurzweil extrapolates from historical data. By charting microprocessor clock speeds since 1975, for example, he found they were doubling every three years. “It’s like skeet-shooting,” he says. “Things are moving very quickly.”
Kurzweil proved himself an astonishingly good shot – so good, in fact, that he began to make sweeping predictions about politics and society. During the 1980s, he correctly predicted the fall of the Soviet Union due to decentralized technologies, the rise of the Internet and the ubiquity of wireless networks. He announced that a computer would be a world chess champion by 1998 – a reality that occurred in May 1992 when Deep Blue defeated Gary Kasparov. “There’s something inexorable about these progressions,” Kurzweil says. “We really can predict – not exactly what’s going to happen, but the power of these technologies.” Then one day, as he was plotting the time between innovations from the wheel to the World Wide Web, Kurzweil made a discovery: Technological change is accelerating at a far more rapid pace than we understand. At the current rate, he wrote, “We wont experience 1oo years of progress in the 21st century – it will be more like 20,000 years of progress.” The rapidly decreasing cost of technology, he predicted, coupled with the exponentially increasing power of computers, will lead inevitably to a single moment: The Singularity.
The takeoff starts with computers embedding themselves – from GPS systems to iPhones – into the fabric of our lives. Then, 10 years from now, computing power will finally catch up with our brains. For $1,ooo, you’ll be able to store as much memory on a chip as you can in your head. By 2O3O, artificial intelligence will make computerized voices on telephone help lines as realistic sounding as any human’s (think HAL from 2O01). Virtual realities – projected directly onto your retinas – will become indistinguishable from your own. Kurzweil compares this leap to when humans learned how to fly. “Once we figured out the secret to flight – the subtle scientific principles – we created the world of aviation,” he says. “Once we can build and create intelligence that doesn’t have the limitations of our brain, there’s nothing it can’t do.”
But the even trippier stuff happens in the 2030s, when nanobots – microscopic machines built from molecular components – start to infiltrate your everyday life. “Nanobots in our physical bodies will destroy pathogens, remove debris, repair DNA and reverse aging,” Kurzweii predicts. “We will be able to redesign all the systems in our bodies and brains to be far more capable and durable.” By scanning the contents of your brain, nanobots will be able to transfer everything you know, everything you have ever experienced, into a robot or a virtual reality
program. If something happens to your physical body, no problem. Your mind will live on – forever.But as computer intelligence surpasses that of humans, machines will also make smarter and smarter versions of themselves – without any help from us. After 2045, Kurzweil predicts, nanobots will replicate and spread throughout the tiniest recesses of matter, transforming the host – say, a tree or a stone – into a computational device. He calls this intelligence-infested matter “computronium, which is matter and energy organized at optimum level for computation. Using nanotechnology, we’re going to turn a rock into a computer.” As the nanobots spread computer intelligence beyond our planet, the universe itself will awaken as if a giant switch is finally being turned on. “The universe is not conscious – yet,” Kurzweil has written. “But it will be.”
Antikythera Decrypted by Museum Curator
Reposted from http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2008/12/2000-year-old-a.html?npu=1&mbid=yhp
A British museum curator has built a working replica of a 2,000-year-old Greek machine that has been called the world’s first computer.
A dictionary-size assemblage of 37 interlocking dials crafted with the precision and complexity of a 19th-century Swiss clock, the Antikythera mechanism was used for modeling and predicting the movements of the heavenly bodies as well as the dates and locations of upcoming Olympic games.
The original 81 shards of the Antikythera were recovered from under the sea (near the Greek island of Antikythera) in 1902, rusted and clumped together in a nearly indecipherable mass. Scientists dated it to 150 B.C. Such craftsmanship wouldn’t be seen for another 1,000 years — but its purpose was a mystery for decades.
Many scientists have worked since the 1950s to piece together the story, with the help of some very sophisticated imaging technology in recent years, including X-ray and gamma-ray imaging and 3-D computer modeling.
Now, though, it has been rebuilt. As is almost always the way with these things, it was an amateur who cracked it. Michael Wright, a former curator at the Science Museum in London, has built a replica of the Antikythera, which works perfectly.
In the video from New Scientist below, Wright shows how the machine works.
In short, Antikythera’s user interface is deceptively simple, operated by a simple knob on the side. This conceals the intricacy within, amounting to a complex mathematical model, tracking the movements of planetary bodies and incorporating a series of submechanisms to account for the eccentricities of their rotation.
A dial on the faceplace featured the Greek zodiac and an Egyptian calendar; pointers showed the location of the moon and the five planets known at the time. On the machine’s back, an upper dial shows a 19-year calendar (matching the solunar cycle) and the timing of upcoming Olympic games. A lower dial shows a 76-year cycle (when the Olympic and solunar cycles coincide) and indicates the months in which lunar and solar eclipses can be expected.
According to New Scientist, this is the first working model of the Antikythera computer to include all of the device’s known features. And, like the original machine, it has been built of recycled metal plates. That’s right: The Antikythera mechanism is not only the world’s oldest computer, it’s also the world’s first green computer.
Yuri’s Night 2008
Calling all cosmonauts, inventors, dreamers, and explorers…
tickets for Yuri’s Night Bay Area 2008
are now on sale!
2PM–2AM SATURDAY 12 APRIL 2008
NASA AMES RESEARCH CENTER, MOFFETT FIELD, CA
$40 online, $50 at the door
VIP tickets $200
Tickets are available at www.ynba.org
Once a year in over a hundred places all over the world, Yuri’s Night commemorates the anniversary of the launch of the first man in space, Yuri Gagarin.
This year the San Francisco Bay Area will be home to the largest Yuri’s Night celebration ever. At the NASA Ames Research Center over 8,000 people will join scientists, musicians, and artists to learn, celebrate, and pay tribute to our global space heritage; and to celebrate the anniversaries of the first human spaceflight and the first space shuttle mission. Yuri’s Night Bay Area 2008 is a one-of-a-kind local community event: a perfect fusion of celebration and tribute, technology expo, Maker Faire, art exhibition, and music festival; all rolled into one.
Yuri’s Night Speakers
Come and be inspired by amazing talks by NASA scientists and other pioneers in space exploration and radical technology, and keep your minds moving through the event with our brand-new Festival of Ideas!
Here are some of this year’s speakers to whet your appetite:
World-renowned video game designer Will Wright, creator of SimCity, SimEarth, The Sims, and many other games, including his exciting upcoming game of life, evolution, and exploration, Spore
NASA astrobiologist Jonathan Trent, leader of the new NASA G.R.E.E.N. team for green technology research
Saul Griffith, an MIT-trained mad scientist and founder of one of the most innovative green power companies today, Makani Power
Remarks by Stewart Brand, a founder of The Long Now Foundation and creator of the Whole Earth Catalog
… and many more!
Yuri’s Night Music
This year we are expanding our musical offerings to include TWO FULL STAGES, which means more performers and more variety. Artists from a wide array of musical traditions will be playing all day long. Check the schedule for details.
Electronic music by:
Amon Tobin (Ninja Tune, Montreal)
A special twilight downtempo set by Tipper (HI)
John Tejada (LA/palette recordings): live set
Lusine (Ghostly Intl., Seattle): live set
Scuba (Hotflush Recordings, UK)
Digitonal vs. Posthuman (UK): with live violin
… and many more!
Live vocal and instrumental music by:
Telstar (Featuring: Phil Lesh, Steve Molitz, & John Molo)
Freezepop (Rykodisc, Boston): indie synthpop / new wave
Particle (LA): free-wheelin’ space grooves
BLVD w/ Souleye (LA): hip-hop flavored jam shred
Zoë Keating: avant garde looping cello
… and many more!
Other Highlights
A technology showcase featuring leading Bay Area alternative energy companies including SolFocus, Wrightspeed, The California Cars Initiative, and Tesla Motors.
Dozens of art and science installations spanning everything from NASA Lunar Research Robots to the unveiling of the newest sculptures by Michael Christian the Flaming Lotus Girls.
Live performances of all kinds, from dance and acrobatics by Capacitor (San Francisco’s ground-breaking interdisciplinary dance company) to aerial demonstrations featuring Yuri-Gagarin-era Aerobatic Aircraft.
…and much, much more!
Check out www.ynba.org for all of the details.
2008 VIP Information
The VIP area will feature a quiet indoor lounge overlooking the hangar, in addition to a heated tent providing easy access to the rest of the event; both will be excellent for small business meetings and networking. The VIPs will also have private demonstrations from several of the technology exposition participants about current and future technologies and projects.
The VIP package is fully catered and includes food and drinks throughout the day in addition to a dinnertime meal. Discounted hotel accommodations may be available for out-of-town VIPs. VIP tickets are onsale now for $200.
Creepy Four-Legged Robot
io9.com/368949/dogoid-…lifelike-manner
What an amazing creation! Some would argue that this thing isn’t creepy… but it DOES kinda weird me out… especially when it stumbles and frantically searches for footing.
Says one janky individual:
“I don’t think I would like very much to be hunted and chased by the military’s attack donkey.”
lol… i’m visualizing two scientists arguing over what to spend their remaining funds on…
scientist 1: “Hey… let’s build a head for it that can take pictures, be expressive, ‘listen’ and ‘respond’ to voice commands… vat do you think?”
scientist 2: “Nah… how about guns? Guns are almost certain to get us more government funding.”
scientist 1: “oh scientist 2…. you are always right!”
Surfer dude stuns physicists with theory of everything
the dramatic continuation of my last blog… i had to post these seperately so people didn’t burn out on reading both articles in a row. This (in conjunction w/ previous blog) is one of the most exciting situations in physics that i’m aware of.
www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml
An impoverished surfer has drawn up a new theory of the universe, seen by some as the Holy Grail of physics, which has received rave reviews from scientists.
Garrett Lisi, 39, has a doctorate but no university affiliation and spends most of the year surfing in Hawaii, where he has also been a hiking guide and bridge builder (when he slept in a jungle yurt).
In winter, he heads to the mountains near Lake Tahoe, Nevada, where he snowboards. “Being poor sucks,” Lisi says. “It’s hard to figure out the secrets of the universe when you’re trying to figure out where you and your girlfriend are going to sleep next month.”
Despite this unusual career path, his proposal is remarkable because, by the arcane standards of particle physics, it does not require highly complex mathematics.
Even better, it does not require more than one dimension of time and three of space, when some rival theories need ten or even more spatial dimensions and other bizarre concepts. And it may even be possible to test his theory, which predicts a host of new particles, perhaps even using the new Large Hadron Collider atom smasher that will go into action near Geneva next year.
Although the work of 39 year old Garrett Lisi still has a way to go to convince the establishment, let alone match the achievements of Albert Einstein, the two do have one thing in common: Einstein also began his great adventure in theoretical physics while outside the mainstream scientific establishment, working as a patent officer, though failed to achieve the Holy Grail, an overarching explanation to unite all the particles and forces of the cosmos.
Now Lisi, currently in Nevada, has come up with a proposal to do this. Lee Smolin at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, describes Lisi’s work as “fabulous”. “It is one of the most compelling unification models I’ve seen in many, many years,” he says.
“Although he cultivates a bit of a surfer-guy image its clear he has put enormous effort and time into working the complexities of this structure out over several years,” Prof Smolin tells The Telegraph.
“Some incredibly beautiful stuff falls out of Lisi’s theory,” adds David Ritz Finkelstein at the Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta. “This must be more than coincidence and he really is touching on something profound.”
The new theory reported today in New Scientist has been laid out in an online paper entitled “An Exceptionally Simple Theory of Everything” by Lisi, who completed his doctorate in theoretical physics in 1999 at the University of California, San Diego.
He has high hopes that his new theory could provide what he says is a “radical new explanation” for the three decade old Standard Model, which weaves together three of the four fundamental forces of nature: the electromagnetic force; the strong force, which binds quarks together in atomic nuclei; and the weak force, which controls radioactive decay.
The reason for the excitement is that Lisi’s model also takes account of gravity, a force that has only successfully been included by a rival and highly fashionable idea called string theory, one that proposes particles are made up of minute strings, which is highly complex and elegant but has lacked predictions by which to do experiments to see if it works.
But some are taking a cooler view. Prof Marcus du Sautoy, of Oxford University and author of Finding Moonshine, told the Telegraph: “The proposal in this paper looks a long shot and there seem to be a lot things still to fill in.”
And a colleague Eric Weinstein in America added: “Lisi seems like a hell of a guy. I’d love to meet him. But my friend Lee Smolin is betting on a very very long shot.”
Lisi’s inspiration lies in the most elegant and intricate shape known to mathematics, called E8 – a complex, eight-dimensional mathematical pattern with 248 points first found in 1887, but only fully understood by mathematicians this year after workings, that, if written out in tiny print, would cover an area the size of Manhattan.
E8 encapsulates the symmetries of a geometric object that is 57-dimensional and is itself is 248-dimensional. Lisi says “I think our universe is this beautiful shape.”
What makes E8 so exciting is that Nature also seems to have embedded it at the heart of many bits of physics. One interpretation of why we have such a quirky list of fundamental particles is because they all result from different facets of the strange symmetries of E8.
Lisi’s breakthrough came when he noticed that some of the equations describing E8′s structure matched his own. “My brain exploded with the implications and the beauty of the thing,” he tells New Scientist. “I thought: ‘Holy crap, that’s it!’”
What Lisi had realised was that he could find a way to place the various elementary particles and forces on E8′s 248 points. What remained was 20 gaps which he filled with notional particles, for example those that some physicists predict to be associated with gravity.
Physicists have long puzzled over why elementary particles appear to belong to families, but this arises naturally from the geometry of E8, he says. So far, all the interactions predicted by the complex geometrical relationships inside E8 match with observations in the real world. “How cool is that?” he says.
The crucial test of Lisi’s work will come only when he has made testable predictions. Lisi is now calculating the masses that the 20 new particles should have, in the hope that they may be spotted when the Large Hadron Collider starts up.
“The theory is very young, and still in development,” he told the Telegraph. “Right now, I’d assign a low (but not tiny) likelyhood to this prediction.
“For comparison, I think the chances are higher that LHC will see some of these particles than it is that the LHC will see superparticles, extra dimensions, or micro black holes as predicted by string theory. I hope to get more (and different) predictions, with more confidence, out of this E8 Theory over the next year, before the LHC comes online.”
Is this the fabric of the universe?
www.telegraph.co.uk/connected/main.jhtml
Mathematicians have successfully scaled their equivalent of Mount Everest. Today they unveil the answer to a problem that, if written out in tiny print, would cover an area the size of Manhattan.
A two dimensional representation of E8, courtesy of Peter McMullen and John Stembridge
At the most basic level, the calculation is an arcane investigation of symmetry – in this case of an object that is 57 dimensional, rather than the usual three dimensional ones that we are familiar with. Although this object was first discovered in the 19th century. there is evidence that it could contain the structure of the cosmos.
Mathematicians are known for their solitary style of working, but the combined assault on what is described as “one of the largest and most complicated structures in mathematics” required the effort of 18 mathematicians from America and Europe for an intensive four-year collaboration.
The feat may baffle most people but could have unforeseen implications in mathematics and physics, which won’t be evident for years to come, said the American Institute of Mathematics.
“The group of symmetries of this strange geometry called E8 is one of the most intriguing structures that Nature has left for the mathematician to play with,” commened Prof Marcus du Sautoy of Oxford University, currently in Auckland. “Most of the time mathematical objects fit into nice patterns that we can order and classify. But this one just sits there like a huge Everest.”
What makes this group of symmetries so exciting is that Nature also seems to have embedded it at the heart of many bits of physics. One interpretation of why we have such a quirky list of fundamental particles is because they all result from different facets of the strange symmetries of E8. I find it rather extraordinary that of all the symmetries that mathematician’s have discovered, it is this exotic exceptional object that Nature has used to build the fabric of the universe. The symmetries are so intricate and complex that today’s announcement of the complete mapping of E8 is a significant moment in our exploration of symmetry.”
For the feat, the team used a mix of theoretical mathematics and intricate computer programming to successfully map E8, (pronounced “E eight”) which is an example of a Lie (pronounced “Lee”) group. Lie groups were invented by the 19th century Norwegian mathematician Sophus Lie to study symmetry.
Underlying any symmetrical object, such as a sphere, is a Lie group. Balls, cylinders or cones are familiar examples of symmetric three-dimensional objects. Today’s feat rests on the drive by mathematicians to study symmetries in higher dimensions. E8 is the symmetries of a geometric object that is 57-dimensional. E8 itself is 248-dimensional.
“E8 was discovered over a century ago, in 1887, and until now, no one thought the structure could ever be understood,” said Prof Jeffrey Adams, Project Leader, at the University of Maryland. “This groundbreaking achievement is significant both as an advance in basic knowledge, as well as a major advance in the use of large scale computing to solve complicated mathematical problems.”
“This is an exciting breakthrough,” said Prof Peter Sarnak at Princeton University. “Understanding and classifying the representations of E8 and Lie groups has been critical to understanding phenomena in many different areas of mathematics and science including algebra, geometry, number theory, physics and chemistry. This project will be invaluable for future mathematicians and scientists.”
The ways that E8 manifests itself as a symmetry group are called representations. The goal is to describe all the possible representations of E8. These representations are extremely complicated, but mathematicians describe them in terms of basic building blocks. The new result is a complete list of these building blocks for the representations of E8, and a precise description of the relations between them, all encoded in a matrix, or grid, with 453,060 rows and columns. There are 205,263,363,600 entries in all, each a mathematical expression called a polynomial. If each entry was written in a one inch square, then the entire matrix would measure more than seven miles on each side.
The result of the E8 calculation, which contains all the information about E8 and its representations, is 60 gigabytes in size. This is enough to store 45 days of continuous music in MP3-format. If written out on paper, the answer would cover an area the size of Manhattan. The computation required sophisticated new mathematical techniques and computing power not available even a few years ago.
“This is an impressive achievement,” said Hermann Nicolai, Director of the Albert Einstein Institute in Potsdam, Germany. “While mathematicians have known for a long time about the beauty and the uniqueness of E8, we physicists have come to appreciate its exceptional role only more recently – yet, in our attempts to unify gravity with the other fundamental forces into a consistent theory of quantum gravity, we now encounter it at almost every corner,” he said, referring to efforts to combine the theory of the very big (general relativity) with the very small (quantum mechanics). “Thus, understanding the inner workings of E8 is not only a great advance for pure mathematics, but may also help physicists in their quest for a unified theory.”
New Innovations in Power Generation
Microfiber fabric makes it’s own electricity?
news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080…BPI6D8Z.3QA
Researchers developing solar technology that works at night
www.gizmag.com/researcher…night/8574/
news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080…BPI6D8Z.3QA
Researchers developing solar technology that works at night
www.gizmag.com/researcher…night/8574/
Imagining the 10th Dimension
This is a really killer video presentation that helps you understand higher physical dimensions… kind of like the book “Flatland” but this one goes up to the 10th dimension wheras Flatland focused on 4, and only gave you a taste of 5 and 6 at the end.
Thanks to Djeeno for telling me about this one…
It seems kind of clear to me that when we dream, we are experiencing a broader range of dimensional reality than we do while awake… I also tend to think that we only shut this stuff out because we don’t need it to survive in this collective social creation that we inhabit.
Everyone has had moments where they’ve fallen asleep for only a few minutes but dreamed seemingly hours of dreams… Everybody has had bizarre other-worldly dreams that seemed almost like alternate realities… a lot of times these dreams come with whole new sets of memories for this other life you just jumped into.
Once i fell asleep and found myself in the middle of a prehistoric foot-race of some kind… i was stuck in a pit and all these people in tribal clothes were running and jumping over the thing… and suddenly all this memory came flooding in… i remembered the reasons why i was involved in this race… i knew that i had hit my head when i fell in this pit and had been knocked out for a minute. I remember all the drama between family and peers that I had experienced during the week leading up to this race.
What if i was dead? Would i enter a dreamlike state and never wake up from it? Would i enter some reality and inherit all the memories of that life and simply pick up from there?
I believe that, when you dream, you are meandering through higher dimensions and exploring cross-sections of infite possibilities… i think that sometimes you can gain a little control and you can focus on one reality for a lot longer… hence vivid and profound other-world experiences… And I think that this 10-dimensional model that the physics world has come to embrace explains this… i think this video illustrates this very clearly.
How can we experience lifetimes of memory in the blink of an eye? Because in higher dimensions, infinite realities can be experienced as a single point.
We know that if we are not allowed to dream, we go crazy or die… I think this is because we HAVE to return to our higher dimensional selves… there is a natural rhythm here… we zoom in on the multiverse and focus on one point of perspective… on consciousness…. like learning to focus on a stereogram… then at night our soul “exhales” and pulls back from focus, allowing us to stretch our spiritual legs and “recharge”… then we take a deep breath and dive right back in when we wake up.
Breathe in… Breathe out… Breathe in… Breathe out… just like everything else in our universe.
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