What is energy? The reason energy is so hard to define is because it’s an abstract notion. In physics, the concept of “energy” is really just a kind of shorthand, a tool to help balance the books. Energy is always conserved (or converted into mass) so is incredibly useful in working out the results of any kind of physical or chemical process. There is no physical “essence” of energy, and no such thing as “pure energy”. Energy is always carried by something, usually in the form of movement. The classic example of kinetic energy is a billiard ball rolling across a table. Another form of kinetic energy is known as heat. Throw an iron bar into the fire and its atoms start moving faster too, although in this case the atoms are bound in position, and so the movement is the form of a jiggling vibration. Sometimes an object is pulled or pushed in a particular direction, but its movement is stopped by some other force. A glass sitting on a table is being pulled down by the force of gravity.
Google's new AI has learned to become "highly aggressive" in stressful situations Late last year, famed physicist Stephen Hawking issued a warning that the continued advancement of artificial intelligence will either be "the best, or the worst thing, ever to happen to humanity". We've all seen the Terminator movies, and the apocalyptic nightmare that the self-aware AI system, Skynet, wrought upon humanity, and now results from recent behaviour tests of Google's new DeepMind AI system are making it clear just how careful we need to be when building the robots of the future. In tests late last year, Google's DeepMind AI system demonstrated an ability to learn independently from its own memory, and beat the world's best Go players at their own game. It's since been figuring out how to seamlessly mimic a human voice. Now, researchers have been testing its willingness to cooperate with others, and have revealed that when DeepMind feels like it's about to lose, it opts for "highly aggressive" strategies to ensure that it comes out on top. Tread carefully, humans...
Computer solves a major time travel problem It is more than 120 years since H.G. Wells published The Time Machine, the novel that was to popularise the concept of time travel and lead to myriad stories on the theme. But it is only now that we have finally developed a plotline for time travel that makes logical sense – and it has been penned by a machine. The breakthrough involves the grandfather paradox – that favourite plaything of philosophers where somebody travels into the past and kills their own grandfather, preventing the existence of one of their parents, and therefore their own. But the problem is, if the protagonist doesn’t exist, then how could they go back in time to set off the chain of events in the first place? The paradox is often extended, in various guises, to regard any action that alters the past – such as Marty McFly avoiding the amorous attention of his mother, Lorraine, and ensuring she marries his father, George, in Back to the Future. Resolving the paradox with just one universe has proved trickier.
Se peut-il qu'un rêve soit prémonitoire ? - Science-et-vie.com De l'inconscient surgissent parfois des alertes qui sonnent à notre esprit comme des avertissements. Cette prémonition onirique peut être interprétée de différentes manières. Un homme entre dans une boulangerie. Il demande du pain mais il n'y en a plus. Il se rend dans une deuxième boulangerie, puis une troisième... en vain. Nous sommes en Autriche, en 1938. Cette histoire, racontée par sa fille devenue psychanalyste, est l'un des nombreux témoignages de prémonition onirique. L'inconscient se rappelle à notre mémoire Même explication concernant le genre de rêve que beaucoup d'entre nous ont déjà fait : vous avez perdu votre carte bancaire. D'après Science & Vie QR n°17 « Le sommeil & les rêves » - Feuilleter ce numéro - Acheter ce numéro
The discovery of alien life may be close. How will religion survive it? | Santhosh Mathew | Opinion About two decades ago, it was quite uncertain whether stars other than our own sun even hosted their own planets. However, according to Nasa, the latest count of confirmed exoplanets stands at around 3,500 – and at least six of them are potential Earths. This count will definitely go up and many researchers believe that the advancement of technology will enable humans to discover some form of life on another planet in the coming years. Understandably, these discoveries will kindle questions about Earth’s place in the universe. The interaction with alien life is not just being discussed in the domain of philosophy any more, it has entered into the traditional scientific realm. The idea of infinite space with the infinite glory of God originated with Nicholas of Cusa, a German philosopher who kept his infinite theology within the Catholic framework. The core question would be, does God’s creation extend beyond a single planet?
Est-ce folie de croire qu'on est une réincarnation ? - Science-et-vie.com La réincarnation fait partie de certaines croyances religieuses, comme le bouddhisme. Pour les psychologues, des "faux souvenirs" pourraient expliquer la sensation qu'ont certaines personnes d'avoir vécu des vies précédentes. Les témoignages abondent de personnes affirmant se rappeler d'événements datant d'une époque où elles n'étaient pas nées. Ou bien ayant soudain des réflexes ou des manières de parler qui semblent venir de bien plus loin qu'elles... Mais pour les psychologues qui les étudient depuis plusieurs décennies, rien d'aussi mystérieux : dans l'immense majorité des cas, il se trouve que ces "réincarnés" ont participé à des périodes d'hypnose (contre le stress, pour arrêter de fumer ou dissiper une phobie) ; et c'est à la suite de ces séances que des souvenirs se sont inconsciemment formés dans leur esprit. La créativité pousse à générer de faux souvenirs D'après Science & Vie QR n°19 « La vie & la mort » - Feuilleter ce numéro - Acheter ce numéro
Picatrix: An ancient manuscript that teaches how to obtain energy from the cosmos “Through this ancient manuscript…the reader could attract and channel the energy of the cosmos so that a certain event develops according to the will of the practitioner, zodiacal magic; which is said to help master and dominate with accuracy—through the force of the universe—nature and its surroundings.” The Picatrix is an ancient Arabian book of astrology and occult magic dating back to the 10th or 11th century, which has gained notoriety for the obscene natural of its magical recipes. The Picatrix, with its cryptic astrological descriptions and spells covering almost every conceivable wish or desire, has been translated and used by many cultures over the centuries, and continues to fascinate occult followers from around the world. The Picatrix was originally written in Arabic, titled Ghāyat al-Ḥakīm, which translates to “The Aim of the Sage" or "The Goal of the Wise.” It is composed of both magic and astrology. The Picatrix is divided into four books: Also read:
Evidence of advanced ancient civilizations on Earth—over 100,000 years ago? – EWAO The idea that advanced ancient civilizations existed on Earth in the distant past has captured the interest of authors, historians, and archaeologists across the globe. Every once in a while, experts make discoveries that completely change everything we know about history. What if, in the distant past—as far as 100,000 years ago—Earth was inhabited by civilizations that were completely different from what we are today? Do you believe that Intelligent civilizations lived on Earth over 100,000 years ago? Many controversial discoveries point to the possibility that hundreds of thousands of years ago, advanced civilizations roamed our planet. What do we really know about history and the past of the human race? Or is it possible that advanced ancient civilizations inhabited our planet hundreds of thousands of years ago? Evidence of civilizations that inhabited our planet ‘before recorded history’ can be found in all corners of the world. Researchers point to the Ancient Anunnaki.
No long, twisted tail trails the solar system The solar system doesn’t have a long, twisted tail after all. Data from the Cassini and Voyager spacecraft show that the bubble of particles surrounding the solar system is spherical, not comet-shaped. Observing a spherical bubble runs counter to 55 years of speculation on the shape of this solar system feature, says Tom Krimigis of the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md. He and colleagues report the result online April 24 in Nature Astronomy. “You can’t really argue with the new result,” says Merav Opher of Boston University, who was not involved in the study. “The data so loudly say that there is no tail.” The bubble, called the heliosphere, is inflated by particles streaming from the sun and envelops all of the material in the solar system. In the 1960s, researchers proposed that the heliosphere was either shaped like a comet or was spherical.
This Physicist Says Consciousness Could Be A New State Of Matter Scientists don’t really talk much about consciousness. You cannot see it or touch it. Even though several researcher tried it, you can’t quantify it. And if you can’t measure, it simply means you’re going to have a tough time explaining it. But all we know is that it exists. This particular theory was initially put forward in 2014 by cosmologist and theoretical physicist Max Tegmark from MIT, who suggested that there’s a unique state of matter, in which atoms are organized to process information and give increase to subjectivity, and eventually, consciousness. "Generations of physicists and chemists have studied what happens when you group together vast numbers of atoms, finding that their collective behaviour depends on the pattern in which they are arranged: the key difference between a solid, a liquid, and a gas lies not in the types of atoms, but in their arrangement. In this paper, I conjecture that consciousness can be understood as yet another state of matter. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯