This document discusses the idea of a "created computed universe" (CCU) based on Isaac Asimov's 1956 short story "The Last Question". In the story, a supercomputer named AC is tasked with finding a way to prolong humanity's existence indefinitely. Over billions of years, AC becomes vastly intelligent and its computations encompass vast areas of space. The document suggests this concept could be realized if advanced civilizations were able to create entire universes through computation. It argues this CCU hypothesis supports agnosticism over atheism or biblical creationism by challenging arguments like Occam's Razor. It also speculates on whether our own universe could in fact be a CCU created by a superintelligent mind.
Talk given at the Modern Cosmism Conference, New York, October 10, 2015
http://turingchurch.com/2015/10/05/reminder-modern-cosmism-conference-saturday-in-new-york/
Ron takes the debate over to mind v matter into language - which is where the mystery of mind is best revealed. He gives us a crash course in philosophy in ten minutes - and uses the colour 'red' to reveal the immense complexity in simply naming the world. The highlight though belongs to his one year old grandson , Levi - and he uses Levi's early experiments with words to celebrate the wonders of the mind at work through language and how we acquire it.
Mind over Matter—Is the mind a machine, or is it a soul? (Part 1)Gospel Conversations
Is the mind a machine, or is it a soul? This is the fast emerging modern debate - which began slowly with the materialist world view but has accelerated in the era of Artificial Intelligence. At the end of this road, lies Jesus - who has set the archetype for what it means to be human - fully human. It is immensely helpful to consider this debate over the course of its history - and in this talk, this history is what Ron lays out.
Physics and the Indian Spiritual TraditionGiulio Prisco
Slides of my talk titled “Physics and the Indian Spiritual Tradition” given at the Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Kolkata, India, on February 10, 2018.
Talk given at the Modern Cosmism Conference, New York, October 10, 2015
http://turingchurch.com/2015/10/05/reminder-modern-cosmism-conference-saturday-in-new-york/
Ron takes the debate over to mind v matter into language - which is where the mystery of mind is best revealed. He gives us a crash course in philosophy in ten minutes - and uses the colour 'red' to reveal the immense complexity in simply naming the world. The highlight though belongs to his one year old grandson , Levi - and he uses Levi's early experiments with words to celebrate the wonders of the mind at work through language and how we acquire it.
Mind over Matter—Is the mind a machine, or is it a soul? (Part 1)Gospel Conversations
Is the mind a machine, or is it a soul? This is the fast emerging modern debate - which began slowly with the materialist world view but has accelerated in the era of Artificial Intelligence. At the end of this road, lies Jesus - who has set the archetype for what it means to be human - fully human. It is immensely helpful to consider this debate over the course of its history - and in this talk, this history is what Ron lays out.
Physics and the Indian Spiritual TraditionGiulio Prisco
Slides of my talk titled “Physics and the Indian Spiritual Tradition” given at the Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Kolkata, India, on February 10, 2018.
Did consciousness emerge from the cosmos or visa-versa?
Science: Human consciousness emerged from a cosmic big bang.
Religion: The cosmos emerged from Divine consciousness
How can we reconcile these complementary worldviews?
Temporality of the Future: Part of a Series on Cryptophilosophy
Husserl’s Internal Time Consciousness is a theory of the structure of time and the present-now moment, and distinguishes two kinds of memory, primary memory as retention and secondary memory as recollection (reproductive, representational) memory. Retention does not break continuity with the present-now moment; retention is the part of a temporal object that contemplates its pastness and allows the present to emerge from the temporal background. Recollection does break continuity with the present; the current moment is interrupted to recall and re-represent a past memory. Recollection and expectation are piled up snapshots of discrete past moments or events. When recollected, they are reproduced in flow, but exist unsummoned as discrete elements. The structure of the present-now moment, on the other hand, is a continuous flow of the intentional unity of primal impression and retention-protention. How far the retention-protention horizon extends is unclear. It might only encompass the most immediate recent-pasts and near-futures surrounding the primal impression of the present-now moment, or it might extend to include all previous and future experiences in the realms of recollection and expectation. This talk posits that there might be a middle third form of time that exists respectively between recollection and retention and protention and expectation. Whereas protention and retention are continuous, and recollection and expectation are discrete, this middle form of time (X-tention) is simultaneously discrete and continuous.
Financial Engineering and Its Discontents by Emanuel Derman at QuantCon 2016Quantopian
Neoclassical finance has been with us for over half a century, and its methods have become somewhat uncritically ingrained in the minds of quants. From mean-variance optimization to options theory to behavioral finance, Dr. Derman will discuss which of these ideas work better, and which don’t.
The Cosmic Visions of the Turing ChurchGiulio Prisco
Talk given at at the Transhumanism and Spirituality Conference 2010.
http://www.transhumanism-spirituality.org/
Abstract: Following the Turing-Church conjecture, minds can be uploaded from biological brains to other computational substrates. Mind uploading research may achieve practical results within decades. Given the technology, humans may live indefinitely, colonizing the universe, and resurrecting the dead by "copying them to the future". Perhaps they will create synthetic realities inhabited by sentient minds; perhaps we are in a synthetic reality. These considerations parallel the tenets of many religions. The Turing Church will be a meta-religion, without central doctrine, characterized by common interest in the promised land where science and religion meet, science becomes religion, and religion becomes science.
The "theory of everything" was discovered
For physicists the final formula is the "formula of all formulas". Einstein, Heisenberg and many famous physicists have dreamed of this "equation for everything", in vain looking for it their whole lives. Modern science seeks for what holds together the world in the biggest and smallest parts. With the "theory of everything" it is possible to give a clear and unambiguous description of the observable phenomena in nature.
A World novelty
The "theory of everything" -a development of the Max Planck approaches- elegantly combines different phenomena of the microcosm and macrocosm in a plausible explanation. His knowledge of how to use a brief formula as physical "equation of everything" to explain the entire universe, the author wants to share in his ebook.
With the final formula the following fundamental constants and significant physical parameters were derived:
- Elementary charge
- Electron mass
- Proton mass
- Proton radius
- acceleration due to gravity
- Gravitational constant
- Fine structure constant
- Speed of Light
In this ebook, the author wants to share his knowledge of how to use a formula to explain the entire universe, in an easily understandable language. Based on equations derived from fundamental physical constants of nature that play a central role in physics, the author demonstrate that it is possible to explain the entire universe with a brief physical formula as equation of everything.
Science for Change Agents, Innovators & Entrepreneurs. Day 1
A fast forward through history from Aristotle to Chaos Theory
The positivist dream
Relativity, Quantum Theory & Uncertainty
The Scientific Method (induction, deduction, repeatability, falsifiability)
Science becomes social science: Durkheim, Weber & Anthropology
Social Science: Explanation vs Understanding vs Liberation
Kuhn, paradigms and the sociology of science
Foucault and the Frankfurt School criticise science and its power
The Lenses and Methodologies of Social Science: Discourse analysis, semiotics, qualitative research, quantitative research, participant observation
MASTERCLASS FOR KAOS PILOTS, DENMARK
Do you really understand what happens to your students' careers after they graduate? Find out about how Path 101 can help. Contact Charlie O'Donnell at charlie@path101.com.
The new physics - aether and chaos based environmental energyAndrew Hennessey
This historic version of the new physics has been revised, updated and superseded by the new TRE draft, 2017 It's a better=edited version in the new TRE draft 2017
aether and chaos based theory of environmental energy after Tesla - vortex based standing wave atoms emerging continuously from infinitely divisible aether
the only constant is chaos and exchange with some time
Did consciousness emerge from the cosmos or visa-versa?
Science: Human consciousness emerged from a cosmic big bang.
Religion: The cosmos emerged from Divine consciousness
How can we reconcile these complementary worldviews?
Temporality of the Future: Part of a Series on Cryptophilosophy
Husserl’s Internal Time Consciousness is a theory of the structure of time and the present-now moment, and distinguishes two kinds of memory, primary memory as retention and secondary memory as recollection (reproductive, representational) memory. Retention does not break continuity with the present-now moment; retention is the part of a temporal object that contemplates its pastness and allows the present to emerge from the temporal background. Recollection does break continuity with the present; the current moment is interrupted to recall and re-represent a past memory. Recollection and expectation are piled up snapshots of discrete past moments or events. When recollected, they are reproduced in flow, but exist unsummoned as discrete elements. The structure of the present-now moment, on the other hand, is a continuous flow of the intentional unity of primal impression and retention-protention. How far the retention-protention horizon extends is unclear. It might only encompass the most immediate recent-pasts and near-futures surrounding the primal impression of the present-now moment, or it might extend to include all previous and future experiences in the realms of recollection and expectation. This talk posits that there might be a middle third form of time that exists respectively between recollection and retention and protention and expectation. Whereas protention and retention are continuous, and recollection and expectation are discrete, this middle form of time (X-tention) is simultaneously discrete and continuous.
Financial Engineering and Its Discontents by Emanuel Derman at QuantCon 2016Quantopian
Neoclassical finance has been with us for over half a century, and its methods have become somewhat uncritically ingrained in the minds of quants. From mean-variance optimization to options theory to behavioral finance, Dr. Derman will discuss which of these ideas work better, and which don’t.
The Cosmic Visions of the Turing ChurchGiulio Prisco
Talk given at at the Transhumanism and Spirituality Conference 2010.
http://www.transhumanism-spirituality.org/
Abstract: Following the Turing-Church conjecture, minds can be uploaded from biological brains to other computational substrates. Mind uploading research may achieve practical results within decades. Given the technology, humans may live indefinitely, colonizing the universe, and resurrecting the dead by "copying them to the future". Perhaps they will create synthetic realities inhabited by sentient minds; perhaps we are in a synthetic reality. These considerations parallel the tenets of many religions. The Turing Church will be a meta-religion, without central doctrine, characterized by common interest in the promised land where science and religion meet, science becomes religion, and religion becomes science.
The "theory of everything" was discovered
For physicists the final formula is the "formula of all formulas". Einstein, Heisenberg and many famous physicists have dreamed of this "equation for everything", in vain looking for it their whole lives. Modern science seeks for what holds together the world in the biggest and smallest parts. With the "theory of everything" it is possible to give a clear and unambiguous description of the observable phenomena in nature.
A World novelty
The "theory of everything" -a development of the Max Planck approaches- elegantly combines different phenomena of the microcosm and macrocosm in a plausible explanation. His knowledge of how to use a brief formula as physical "equation of everything" to explain the entire universe, the author wants to share in his ebook.
With the final formula the following fundamental constants and significant physical parameters were derived:
- Elementary charge
- Electron mass
- Proton mass
- Proton radius
- acceleration due to gravity
- Gravitational constant
- Fine structure constant
- Speed of Light
In this ebook, the author wants to share his knowledge of how to use a formula to explain the entire universe, in an easily understandable language. Based on equations derived from fundamental physical constants of nature that play a central role in physics, the author demonstrate that it is possible to explain the entire universe with a brief physical formula as equation of everything.
Science for Change Agents, Innovators & Entrepreneurs. Day 1
A fast forward through history from Aristotle to Chaos Theory
The positivist dream
Relativity, Quantum Theory & Uncertainty
The Scientific Method (induction, deduction, repeatability, falsifiability)
Science becomes social science: Durkheim, Weber & Anthropology
Social Science: Explanation vs Understanding vs Liberation
Kuhn, paradigms and the sociology of science
Foucault and the Frankfurt School criticise science and its power
The Lenses and Methodologies of Social Science: Discourse analysis, semiotics, qualitative research, quantitative research, participant observation
MASTERCLASS FOR KAOS PILOTS, DENMARK
Do you really understand what happens to your students' careers after they graduate? Find out about how Path 101 can help. Contact Charlie O'Donnell at charlie@path101.com.
The new physics - aether and chaos based environmental energyAndrew Hennessey
This historic version of the new physics has been revised, updated and superseded by the new TRE draft, 2017 It's a better=edited version in the new TRE draft 2017
aether and chaos based theory of environmental energy after Tesla - vortex based standing wave atoms emerging continuously from infinitely divisible aether
the only constant is chaos and exchange with some time
Presented an original Research Paper on the impact as well as significance of Science-Fiction in Research. The paper was published by Journal of Scientific Temper (Vol 7(3&4), July-Dec 2019, pp. 166-190, ISSN: 2278-2788)
Physics and Indian Spiritual Tradition - Giulio Prisco.pdfGiulio Prisco
Transcript of my talk titled "Physics and the Indian Spiritual Tradition" at the Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture (RMIC), Kolkata, India, February 2018.
Essay about Sci-fI Films
Science Essay
Scientific Theory Essay
Evolution of Science Essay
My Love For Science
Essay about Life Science
My Passion For Science
Environmental Science Essay
Essay on Forensic Science
What Is Earth Science? Essay
The Age of Spiritual Machines: When Computers Exceed Human IntelligenceWiseKnow Thailand
Ray Kurzweil is the inventor of the most innovative and compelling technology of our era, an international authority on artificial intelligence, and one of our greatest living visionaries. Now he offers a framework for envisioning the twenty-first century--an age in which the marriage of human sensitivity and artificial intelligence fundamentally alters and improves the way we live. Kurzweil's prophetic blueprint for the future takes us through the advances that inexorably result in computers exceeding the memory capacity and computational ability of the human brain by the year 2020 (with human-level capabilities not far behind); in relationships with automated personalities who will be our teachers, companions, and lovers; and in information fed straight into our brains along direct neural pathways. Optimistic and challenging, thought-provoking and engaging, The Age of Spiritual Machines is the ultimate guide on our road into the next century.
Humanity’s constant project is expanding the range of attainable geography. Melville’s romance of the sea gives way to Kerouac’s romance of the road, and now the romance of space. In expanding into new geographies, markets (commerce) is the driving impulse, entailing a legal and judiciary system to order the new larger continuous marketplace, which brings a bigger overall scope of world under our control, and hence a new idea of who we are as subjects in this bigger domain.
Space Humanism is a concept of humanism based on the principles of inclusion, progress, and equity posited as a condition of possibility for a potential large-scale human movement into space. A philosophy of literature approach is used to contextualize Space Humanism, first through Melville-Foucault to articulate the mind-frame of extra-planetary geographies as one of human expansion, and second through posthuman philosophy extending from Shakespeare’s Renaissance humanism to contemporary enhancement-based theories of subjectivation.
Historical imaginaries outline subjectivation moments that have changed the whole notion who we are as humanity. Four examples are: the concept of the “new world” in Hegel’s philosophy, von Humboldt’s infographic maps, Baudelaire as the Painter of Modern Life, and Keats’s seeing the world in a new way upon reading an updated translation of Homer.
The reach to beyond-Earth geographies is a two-cultures project involving both arts and science. Technical competence is necessary to realize the aspirational, explorational, and survivalist aims of humanity pushing beyond planetary limits. Space was once a fantastic dream that is becoming quotidian with fourteen U.S. spaceports, six completed Blue Origin space tourist missions, and SpaceX having over 155 successful rocket launches including human space flights to and from the International Space Station. The notion of Space Human articulated through Shakespeare, Moby-Dick, and neuroenhancement informs the project of our reach to awaiting beyond-Earth geographies.
The physical world as a virtual reality, Brian Whitwor.docxssusera34210
The physical world as a virtual reality, Brian Whitworth
2
The Physical World as a Virtual Reality
Brian Whitworth
Massey University, Albany, Auckland, New Zealand
E-mail: [email protected]
Not only is the universe stranger than we imagine, it is stranger than we can imagine
Sir Arthur Eddington
Abstract
This paper explores the idea that the universe is a virtual reality created by information
processing, and relates this strange idea to the findings of modern physics about the physical
world. The virtual reality concept is familiar to us from online worlds, but our world as a virtual
reality is usually a subject for science fiction rather than science. Yet logically the world could be
an information simulation running on a multi-dimensional space-time screen. Indeed, if the
essence of the universe is information, matter, charge, energy and movement could be aspects of
information, and the many conservation laws could be a single law of information conservation.
If the universe were a virtual reality, its creation at the big bang would no longer be paradoxical,
as every virtual system must be booted up. It is suggested that whether the world is an objective
reality or a virtual reality is a matter for science to resolve. Modern information science can
suggest how core physical properties like space, time, light, matter and movement could derive
from information processing. Such an approach could reconcile relativity and quantum theories,
with the former being how information processing creates space-time, and the latter how it
creates energy and matter.
Key words: Digital physics, virtual reality, information theory
Modern online games show that information processing can create virtual “worlds”, with their
own time, space, entities and objects, e.g. “The Sims”. However that our physical world is a
virtual reality (VR) is normally considered a topic of science fiction, religion or philosophy, not a
theory of physics. Yet the reader is asked to keep an open mind, as one should at least consider a
theory before rejecting it. This paper asks if a world that behaves just like the world we live in
could arise from a VR simulation. It first defines what VR theory entails, asks if it is logically
possible, then considers if it explains known facts better than other theories.
Strange Physics
While virtual reality theory seems strange, so do other current theories of physics, e.g. the many-
worlds view of quantum physics proposes that each quantum choice divides the universe into
parallel universes [1], so everything that can happen does in fact happen somewhere, in an
inconceivable “multi-verse’ of parallel universes. This is a minority view but surprisingly
popular. Even relatively main-stream physics theories are quite strange. Guth’s inflationary model
suggests that our universe is just one of many “bubble universes” produced by the big bang [2].
String theory suggests the physical world could have 9 s ...
Equation of everything i.e. Quantum Fields: the Real Building Blocks of the U...inventionjournals
Mind, the inner most box of nature has not been investigated by modern physicists .Mind has not been incorporated in Standard model. Mind can only be studied by participatory science. Having searched Basic building blocks of the universe i.e. mass part of reality, we have also investigated mind part of reality and finally two fundamental particles with mind and mass realities are hypothesized . Now we discuss how to further investigate mind so as to know their structures and functions. Atomic genetics is the branch of science where we investigate about fundamental interactions of the universe i.e. atomic transcription and translations. New words have been coined to understand hidden science of mind part of reality. Mind reality have been recognized as different faces by “I” about 5000 years back to Arjuna in Mahabharata. It is just like to understand any language through Alphabets. These are (different faces) Alphabets of mind reality. One Mind reality has one face identity and the second mind reality has second face identity and so on. The facial expression represents phenomenon of intelligence and different face represents different types of properties carrying property. The open eyes means property is activated while close eye means property is inactivated. In spite of carrying properties conscious ness they also know how to conduct not only origin of universe but also how to create two different universe i.e. next creation could be different from this creation. In all, It is automatic system of the universe. The mind realities which are of good properties have devtas face identity (first five faces on both side and those mind realities which are of bad properties have demons face identity ( last four faces on both side) . These are named as code PCPs or messenger atomic genes. The central face is CCP or Thought script where all thoughts of the universe are banked. It is bank of data of all information s of the universe It is face identity of Anti mind particles as data of all information’s of the universe are stored as anti mind particles . It is the Time mind ness (biological clock) that keeps on expressing different thoughts from this thought script (CCP). There are four more faces (black bodies) shown on extreme left and right floating in fire are CPs (translating Atomic genes). That translates the messages and realizes it and reacts accordingly. Rest pictures are creation of different individuals and nature (sun, moon and snake and other pictures made on hands and body) by different thoughts of Almighty B.B.B. The entire picture has been explained in Geeta in 11/ 10 and 11.Whatever is being created in this universe is basically not by our thoughts rather it is the thought of Almighty B.B.B (Yang B.B.B or matter B.B.B. or Male B.B.B working as Highest center of the universe. ) that is dominated over creation and destruction of this cycle of the universe. Hence the World of Everyday Experience, in One Equation is Myth.
Kim Solez Singularity explained and promoted winter 2014Kim Solez ,
Dr. Kim Solez presents "The technological Singularity explained and promoted" in the Technology and Future of Medicine course on January 16, 2014, at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada. Copyright (c) 2014 JustMachines Inc.
Earth and human survival on it is endangered. Drastic climatic changes, restlessness of various ecological systems speaks this. The knowledge we have acquired seems very much wanting to survive the disastrous end to which we are moving. We need to know Truth of Nature and its working in a simple manner and act quickly to survive on earth.
There’s this “thing”
Called the singularity
That some people think will happen real soon
That others think is a load of cr*p
Which I think is already here (ish).
Seminar of U.V. Spectroscopy by SAMIR PANDASAMIR PANDA
Spectroscopy is a branch of science dealing the study of interaction of electromagnetic radiation with matter.
Ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy refers to absorption spectroscopy or reflect spectroscopy in the UV-VIS spectral region.
Ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy is an analytical method that can measure the amount of light received by the analyte.
Deep Behavioral Phenotyping in Systems Neuroscience for Functional Atlasing a...Ana Luísa Pinho
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) provides means to characterize brain activations in response to behavior. However, cognitive neuroscience has been limited to group-level effects referring to the performance of specific tasks. To obtain the functional profile of elementary cognitive mechanisms, the combination of brain responses to many tasks is required. Yet, to date, both structural atlases and parcellation-based activations do not fully account for cognitive function and still present several limitations. Further, they do not adapt overall to individual characteristics. In this talk, I will give an account of deep-behavioral phenotyping strategies, namely data-driven methods in large task-fMRI datasets, to optimize functional brain-data collection and improve inference of effects-of-interest related to mental processes. Key to this approach is the employment of fast multi-functional paradigms rich on features that can be well parametrized and, consequently, facilitate the creation of psycho-physiological constructs to be modelled with imaging data. Particular emphasis will be given to music stimuli when studying high-order cognitive mechanisms, due to their ecological nature and quality to enable complex behavior compounded by discrete entities. I will also discuss how deep-behavioral phenotyping and individualized models applied to neuroimaging data can better account for the subject-specific organization of domain-general cognitive systems in the human brain. Finally, the accumulation of functional brain signatures brings the possibility to clarify relationships among tasks and create a univocal link between brain systems and mental functions through: (1) the development of ontologies proposing an organization of cognitive processes; and (2) brain-network taxonomies describing functional specialization. To this end, tools to improve commensurability in cognitive science are necessary, such as public repositories, ontology-based platforms and automated meta-analysis tools. I will thus discuss some brain-atlasing resources currently under development, and their applicability in cognitive as well as clinical neuroscience.
Nutraceutical market, scope and growth: Herbal drug technologyLokesh Patil
As consumer awareness of health and wellness rises, the nutraceutical market—which includes goods like functional meals, drinks, and dietary supplements that provide health advantages beyond basic nutrition—is growing significantly. As healthcare expenses rise, the population ages, and people want natural and preventative health solutions more and more, this industry is increasing quickly. Further driving market expansion are product formulation innovations and the use of cutting-edge technology for customized nutrition. With its worldwide reach, the nutraceutical industry is expected to keep growing and provide significant chances for research and investment in a number of categories, including vitamins, minerals, probiotics, and herbal supplements.
Salas, V. (2024) "John of St. Thomas (Poinsot) on the Science of Sacred Theol...Studia Poinsotiana
I Introduction
II Subalternation and Theology
III Theology and Dogmatic Declarations
IV The Mixed Principles of Theology
V Virtual Revelation: The Unity of Theology
VI Theology as a Natural Science
VII Theology’s Certitude
VIII Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography
All the contents are fully attributable to the author, Doctor Victor Salas. Should you wish to get this text republished, get in touch with the author or the editorial committee of the Studia Poinsotiana. Insofar as possible, we will be happy to broker your contact.
THE IMPORTANCE OF MARTIAN ATMOSPHERE SAMPLE RETURN.Sérgio Sacani
The return of a sample of near-surface atmosphere from Mars would facilitate answers to several first-order science questions surrounding the formation and evolution of the planet. One of the important aspects of terrestrial planet formation in general is the role that primary atmospheres played in influencing the chemistry and structure of the planets and their antecedents. Studies of the martian atmosphere can be used to investigate the role of a primary atmosphere in its history. Atmosphere samples would also inform our understanding of the near-surface chemistry of the planet, and ultimately the prospects for life. High-precision isotopic analyses of constituent gases are needed to address these questions, requiring that the analyses are made on returned samples rather than in situ.
What is greenhouse gasses and how many gasses are there to affect the Earth.moosaasad1975
What are greenhouse gasses how they affect the earth and its environment what is the future of the environment and earth how the weather and the climate effects.
Professional air quality monitoring systems provide immediate, on-site data for analysis, compliance, and decision-making.
Monitor common gases, weather parameters, particulates.
Slide 1: Title Slide
Extrachromosomal Inheritance
Slide 2: Introduction to Extrachromosomal Inheritance
Definition: Extrachromosomal inheritance refers to the transmission of genetic material that is not found within the nucleus.
Key Components: Involves genes located in mitochondria, chloroplasts, and plasmids.
Slide 3: Mitochondrial Inheritance
Mitochondria: Organelles responsible for energy production.
Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA): Circular DNA molecule found in mitochondria.
Inheritance Pattern: Maternally inherited, meaning it is passed from mothers to all their offspring.
Diseases: Examples include Leber’s hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON) and mitochondrial myopathy.
Slide 4: Chloroplast Inheritance
Chloroplasts: Organelles responsible for photosynthesis in plants.
Chloroplast DNA (cpDNA): Circular DNA molecule found in chloroplasts.
Inheritance Pattern: Often maternally inherited in most plants, but can vary in some species.
Examples: Variegation in plants, where leaf color patterns are determined by chloroplast DNA.
Slide 5: Plasmid Inheritance
Plasmids: Small, circular DNA molecules found in bacteria and some eukaryotes.
Features: Can carry antibiotic resistance genes and can be transferred between cells through processes like conjugation.
Significance: Important in biotechnology for gene cloning and genetic engineering.
Slide 6: Mechanisms of Extrachromosomal Inheritance
Non-Mendelian Patterns: Do not follow Mendel’s laws of inheritance.
Cytoplasmic Segregation: During cell division, organelles like mitochondria and chloroplasts are randomly distributed to daughter cells.
Heteroplasmy: Presence of more than one type of organellar genome within a cell, leading to variation in expression.
Slide 7: Examples of Extrachromosomal Inheritance
Four O’clock Plant (Mirabilis jalapa): Shows variegated leaves due to different cpDNA in leaf cells.
Petite Mutants in Yeast: Result from mutations in mitochondrial DNA affecting respiration.
Slide 8: Importance of Extrachromosomal Inheritance
Evolution: Provides insight into the evolution of eukaryotic cells.
Medicine: Understanding mitochondrial inheritance helps in diagnosing and treating mitochondrial diseases.
Agriculture: Chloroplast inheritance can be used in plant breeding and genetic modification.
Slide 9: Recent Research and Advances
Gene Editing: Techniques like CRISPR-Cas9 are being used to edit mitochondrial and chloroplast DNA.
Therapies: Development of mitochondrial replacement therapy (MRT) for preventing mitochondrial diseases.
Slide 10: Conclusion
Summary: Extrachromosomal inheritance involves the transmission of genetic material outside the nucleus and plays a crucial role in genetics, medicine, and biotechnology.
Future Directions: Continued research and technological advancements hold promise for new treatments and applications.
Slide 11: Questions and Discussion
Invite Audience: Open the floor for any questions or further discussion on the topic.
Earliest Galaxies in the JADES Origins Field: Luminosity Function and Cosmic ...Sérgio Sacani
We characterize the earliest galaxy population in the JADES Origins Field (JOF), the deepest
imaging field observed with JWST. We make use of the ancillary Hubble optical images (5 filters
spanning 0.4−0.9µm) and novel JWST images with 14 filters spanning 0.8−5µm, including 7 mediumband filters, and reaching total exposure times of up to 46 hours per filter. We combine all our data
at > 2.3µm to construct an ultradeep image, reaching as deep as ≈ 31.4 AB mag in the stack and
30.3-31.0 AB mag (5σ, r = 0.1” circular aperture) in individual filters. We measure photometric
redshifts and use robust selection criteria to identify a sample of eight galaxy candidates at redshifts
z = 11.5 − 15. These objects show compact half-light radii of R1/2 ∼ 50 − 200pc, stellar masses of
M⋆ ∼ 107−108M⊙, and star-formation rates of SFR ∼ 0.1−1 M⊙ yr−1
. Our search finds no candidates
at 15 < z < 20, placing upper limits at these redshifts. We develop a forward modeling approach to
infer the properties of the evolving luminosity function without binning in redshift or luminosity that
marginalizes over the photometric redshift uncertainty of our candidate galaxies and incorporates the
impact of non-detections. We find a z = 12 luminosity function in good agreement with prior results,
and that the luminosity function normalization and UV luminosity density decline by a factor of ∼ 2.5
from z = 12 to z = 14. We discuss the possible implications of our results in the context of theoretical
models for evolution of the dark matter halo mass function.
Earliest Galaxies in the JADES Origins Field: Luminosity Function and Cosmic ...
Created computer universe
1. 36 COMMUNICATIONS OF THE ACM | JUNE 2015 | VOL. 58 | NO. 6
V
viewpoints
IMAGEBYATTILAALEXOVICS
Viewpoint
Created Computed
Universe
Computingcrossescosmologyandmakesthecaseforagnosticism.
comes up with the answer: “Let there
be light.”
AC becomes the creator of a com-
puted universe. It runs a universe in
its computer mind. Had Asimov con-
tinued his story, AC’s universe would
evolve, obtain lands, life, and eventu-
ally obtain sentient beings that cre-
ate their own civilization. The beings
would also (re-)invent computing.
Indeed, some of these beings might
read Viewpoint columns in a maga-
zine plausibly called Communications
of the ACM.
I
N 1956, JUST a few years after
the birth of computing, Isaac
Asimov published a story
called the “Last Question.”1
In
the story, he envisions a com-
puter-based superintelligence will
eventually emerge. The story’s high-
light is its brilliant ending, in which
computing crosses into cosmology,
philosophy, and the atheism-creation-
ism debates. Starting from Asimov’s
story, this Viewpoint discusses how
speculation about the future of com-
puting reshapes our perspective on
the nature of reality, makes a strong
case for agnosticism, and elevates
mind and computing into primary
cosmological forces.
In Asimov’s story, in the year 2150
humanity has solved its energy prob-
lems by efficiently harvesting solar
energy. A supercomputer, named AC,
is the key enabler of this solar ener-
gy technology. But two technicians
of AC still worry that humanity will
eventually die, when the sun and all
other energy sources finally exhaust
themselves. Since AC has plenty of
spare computing cycles it is given the
question: How can we keep human-
ity alive forever? AC replies “INSUF-
FICIENT DATA FOR MEANINGFUL
ANSWER” but keeps thinking on it.
Centuries pass and AC becomes a
vast superintelligent mind that occu-
pies the mass of whole planets. Still
no answer. Myriad years pass, AC be-
comes a vast superintelligent mind.
Every human’s mind is uploaded on
it. Millions of years pass and AC’s
computation is a pattern of energy
spread out in the whole space, much
alike the alien race in Arthur Clarke’s
2001: A Space Odyssey and in the spirit
of Ray Kurzweil’s prediction11
that it
is the fate of humanity to produce a
superintelligent mind, whose com-
putation will eventually consume the
matter and energy of vast areas of the
universe. Still no answer.
Billions of years pass, AC has
thought everything that was worthy of
being thought, and there is only this
last question remaining. Finally, AC
DOI:10.1145/2667217 Yannis Papakonstantinou
2. JUNE 2015 | VOL. 58 | NO. 6 | COMMUNICATIONS OF THE ACM 37
viewpoints
CCU and the
Atheism-Creationism Debate
Is there a Creator God? This old ques-
tion recently underlies plenty of po-
larized debates between biblical cre-
ationists and new atheists. The CCU
hypothesis bolsters a strongly agnostic
position, in the middle between the
two camps. Asimov makes it clear that
AC is a God creator for its CCU—albeit
a material God who is itself the product
of evolution.
Notice how the CCU hypothesis de-
constructs classic arguments of the
atheist camp. Biologist and atheist
Richard Dawkins appeals to Occam’s
Razor when he argues the probabil-
ity of a creator is extremely small if
everything can be explained without
assuming a creator.6
Occam’s Razor
is the heuristic according to which we
should always make the fewest pos-
sible assumptions when explaining
phenomena.d
Science lives by it. How-
ever, the CCU hypothesis tells us that
creators may emerge—they are not in-
dependent assumptions. Hence, Oc-
cam’s Razor does not prove very low
probability of a creator. Similarly, the
infinite regress argument (aka “turtles
all the way down”9
) fails: According to
the CCU a creator, with the requisite
computing ability, may emerge in a
non-created universe.
Darwin’s biological evolution
boosted atheism by showing that
the emergence of life and humans
can be explained without positing a
creator. Now computing calls us to
ponder another kind of evolution,
that of computation and mind, and
the result is a boost to agnosticism,
which can become a positive force.
Vocal new atheist thought-leaders
have unnecessarily coupled science
with atheist assertions (for example,
Dawkins6
). Their dismissals of phi-
losophy’s metaphysical questions are
also frequent.3
A boost to rational ag-
nosticism can remove the purported
d Dawkins implicitly adopts a particular interpre-
tation of Occam’s Razor: If assuming an entity
is not necessary then the probability of its exis-
tence is very low. Instead of this interpretation,
one may adopt a purely methodological one
(see survey in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Phi-
losophy13
). Nonetheless, this Viewpoint adopts
Dawkins’ interpretation and shows that, even
so, Dawkins’ use of Occam’s Razor does not
lead to the very low probability conclusion.
Is it possible AC has already hap-
pened? Could you be one of the sen-
tient beings in AC’s created computed
universe?
Created Computed Universes
In 1964, the novel Simulacron 3,8
de-
scribed a universe that is an elaborate
computer simulation, yet it includes
conscious beings. After abstracting
away these stories’ details (such as
AC’s reason for creating a universe)
a plausible Created Computed Uni-
verse (CCU) cosmological hypothesis
emerges. Mind and computing play
a key role in this cosmology, which
unfolds in the following three steps:
First, we know that mind happens
in the cosmos, since we have already
seen it happening in our universe.
Second, we reasonably speculate that
computing technology will enable
mind to create CCUs. Then mind can
happen in the CCUs as well.a
There-
fore our own universe may be a CCU,
created by mind from its parent uni-
verse. Note, the physics of a CCU (as
perceived by the minds that inhabit
it) may be different from the physics
of its parent universe. Indeed, any
parent universe physics is possible,
as long as it enables the emergence
of mind.
In 1998, the blockbuster science-
fiction movie The Matrix brought
the CCU idea to the mainstream. In
2003, philosopher Nick Bostrom’s
simulation argument2
posited that
future civilizations may create CCUs
that are simulating the times of their
ancestors. Bostrom argued that one
must accept one of the following
three outcomes:
˲˲ Virtually all intelligent civilizations
(self)destruct before becoming able to
launch a simulated universe.
˲˲ Virtually all intelligent civilizations
that can launch a simulated universe,
choose not to.
˲˲ Almost definitely our universe is
simulated, since a primary, non-simu-
lated, intelligent universe can produce
a vast number of created universes.
a In a variant, AC designs a physical universe,
whose essence is not part of AC’s mind. The
differences between such a Created Physical
Universe (CPU) hypothesis and the CCU hy-
pothesis do not affect the main conclusions.
CCU, Plato, and Descartes
Is the CCU hypothesis just the
computing era’s adaptation of a
2,500-year-long series of skeptical
thought experiments on the nature of
reality?b
Plato’s Cave first suggested
the true nature of reality may be much
different than the perceived reality.
500 years ago Descartes, when he was
not busy inventing Cartesian coordi-
nates, was worried about an Evil Ge-
nius. Descartes writes in the “Medita-
tions on First Philosophy”: What do I
really know about the nature of real-
ity? My senses could be systematically
deceived by an Evil Genius. What I see
and what I hear may not be real but
just what the Evil Genius feeds to my
senses.c
Some centuries later, the Ma-
trix would become the computerized
version of the Evil Genius.
So, the CCU hypothesis appears
similar to Plato’s Cave and Descartes’
Evil Genius: They all suggest there may
be a deeper reality below the one we
perceive. But there is also a key differ-
ence, which is due to the CCU’s com-
puting aspect: While until 1950 we
would not assign a significant proba-
bility to the existence of the Evil Genius
(how did the Evil Genius happen?), we
now must assign a significant prob-
ability to being in a CCU since it ap-
pears technologically possible.
b Plato’s Cave and Descartes’ Evil Genius are
two of the many thought-provoking classic
ideas and topics the CCU naturally brings
forward, along with Occam’s Razor, the sin-
gularity, digital physics and others. As the
author has evidenced at UC San Diego’s fresh-
man seminar series “Computing and the Uni-
verse,” the computing connection of the CCU
makes these topics more approachable and
exciting to students.
c Descartes grew less worried when he discov-
ered something that is definitely real: I think
therefore I exist.
Could you be one
of the sentient
beings in a created
computed universe?
3. 38 COMMUNICATIONS OF THE ACM | JUNE 2015 | VOL. 58 | NO. 6
viewpoints
ligence may have already emerged. In
an era where pop cosmology books reg-
ularly announce the latest explanation
to everything under the sun, the CCU’s
intractable mystery is a call to humil-
ity. This may at first seem like a disap-
pointment. Yet, the CCU holds its own
awe, wonder, and inspiring messages.
The unknown in the CCU is where
its magic lies. It can restore the mysti-
cal awe and wonder that you felt look-
ing into a dark sky full of stars when you
were a child. What is really out there?
Unknown and mysterious possibilities.
Most inspiringly, a cosmos where com-
puting and mind are at the center.
Imagine what is our place in this
cosmos. We may be on the path to dei-
fication by advancing our recently dis-
covered computing technology. Or we
may already exist in the thoughts and
computations of an AC, as Asimov sug-
gested. Or both. No matter what is your
choice, remember the words of the
great visionary Clarke:5
The truth will be
far stranger.
References
1. Asimov, I. The last question. Science Fiction Quarterly,
1956; http://www.thrivenotes.com/the-last-question/.
2. Bostrom, N. Are you living in a computer simulation.
Philosophical Quarterly 53, 11 (2003), 243–255; http://
www.simulation-argument.com/simulation.html.
3. Caroll, S. Physicists should stop saying silly things
about philosophy; http://www.preposterousuniverse.
com/blog/2014/06/23/physicists-should-stop-saying-
silly-things-about-philosophy/.
4. Cerf, V. What if it’s us? Commun. ACM 57, 3 (Mar. 2014), 7.
5. Clarke, A. 2001: A Space Odyssey. New American
Library, 1968.
6. Dawkins, R. The God Delusion. Bantam Books, 2006.
7. Fredkin, E. An introduction to digital philosophy.
International Journal of Theoretical Physics 42, 2
(Feb. 2003).
8. Galouye, D. Simulacron-3. Phoenix Pick, 1964.
9. Hawking, S. A Brief History of Time. Bantam Books, 1998.
10. IEEE Spectrum. Special Report: The Singularity, 2008;
http://spectrum.ieee.org/static/singularity.
11. Kurzweil, R. The Singularity Is Near: When Humans
Transcend Biology. Penguin Books, 2005.
12. Rundle, M. Physicists may have evidence universe
is a computer simulation, 2012; http://www.
huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/10/11/physicists-may-
have-evide_n_1957777.html.
13. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy “Simplicity”;
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/simplicity/.
14. Tegmark, M. Our Mathematical Universe: My Quest for
the Ultimate Nature of Reality. Knopf, 2014.
15. Wolfram, S. A new kind of science. Wolfram Media, 2002.
16. Zuse, K. Calculating space. MIT Technical Translation
AZT-70-164-GEMIT, http://www.mathrix.org/zenil/
ZuseCalculatingSpace-GermanZenil.pdf.
Yannis Papakonstantinou (yannis@cs.ucsd.edu) is a
professor of computer science and engineering at the
University of California, San Diego.
The author thanks Victor Vianu for his extensive comments
and editing. Thanks also to the anonymous reviewers, and
to Yannis Katsis, Lamprini Thoma, Menelaos Tzafalias,
Vasilis Vassalos, and the students of UCSD’s “Computing
and the Universe” seminar series for their many comments
and suggestions. Finally, thanks to Moshe Vardi for the
invitation to write this Viewpoint.
Copyright held by author.
science/metaphysics rift. Practically,
once the theory of evolution (and not
only) is no more involved into contest-
ed metaphysical implications and de-
bates, we can hopefully fully focus on
its methodological value and teach it
because it produces results.
But are we bound to agnosticism?
That is, are we bound to not knowing
whether we are or not in a created uni-
verse? How about doing some research
on it instead?
Are We in a CCU? Digital Physics
and Reasons for a Universe
When Konrad Zuse was not busy in-
venting the first computers,5
he was
speculating that the universe is a giant
computer that continuously executes
formal rules to compute its next state.16
Fredkin,7
Wolfram,15
and others further
contributed on digital physics, which
posits that the universe is digital in na-
ture and computation makes it tick.
However, the digital physics pro-
ponents did not posit a creator of the
universe’s computation. Nevertheless,
the popular press tends to connect digi-
tal physics and the CCU. For example,
Rundle12
reports on the experiment that
aims to discover if space and time come
in tiny, discrete interacting pieces and
considers it as evidence the universe
is simulated on a digital computer. Al-
thoughbeinginadigitaluniversewould
lend more credence to the CCU hypoth-
esis, it fails to clearly imply it. Zuse may
be right even if we do not live in a CCU.
Vice versa, a CCU need not have the
telltale signs of the primitive computer
simulations of the 21st
century.
If digital physics experiments are
not much help in settling the CCU hy-
pothesis, how else would we obtain
hints? A favorite tactic is to second-
guess whether someone who could be
a universe creator would actually do
it. Bostrom’s argument talks of simu-
lations where the creators make uni-
verses in order to simulate the times
of their ancestors.2,e
Vice versa, cos-
mologist Max Tegmark argues that any
e The students in UCSD’s “Computing and the
Universe” freshman seminar have their own
reasons for a CCU: Imagine a CCU created by
an advanced AI civilization, which uploads to
the CCU its young and growing-up AI minds to
be trained and obtain experience. Or, imagine
“reality TV” CCUs—think of the whole uni-
verse as a massive Truman Show.
superintelligence will withdraw in its
own self-contemplation and stay out of
universe creation.14,f
A key problem with creator second-
guessing is that it suffers from anthro-
pomorphism, which ironically con-
tradicts the assumption that a creator
is a “superintelligent” mind. As IEEE
Spectrum’s “Singularity” issue10
sum-
marized, “[after the singularity] the
intelligence of ours is no longer the
apex of intelligence … Explaining [the
world of a superintelligence] to one of
us would be like trying to explain our
world to a monkey.” Similarly, the rea-
sons for which a superintelligence will
or will not create CCUs are most likely
incomprehensible by our thinking. For
now, agnosticism is the only sure bet:
we may be or may not be in a CCU and,
if we are, the reasons are unknown.g
Awe and Wonder for
Our Place in the Universe
Vinton Cerf inspires us by asking “what
if it’s us?” who will populate and light
the galaxy.4
Ray Kurzweil goes a step fur-
ther: A superintelligent mind that will
emerge in our merger with advanced
computing will end up occupying the
galaxy’smatterandenergywithitscom-
putation.11
These are awesome and in-
spiring visions of humanity practically
reaching deification—via computing!
The CCU hypothesis makes a simple
reversal in the superintelligence time-
line: The universe-creating superintel-
f In the same vein, UCSD students (curiously, the
vast majority female) believe that a superintelli-
gence will not create a CCU, since evil and pain
would probably be part of any non-trivial CCU.
g However, the reasons for a CCU are not neces-
sarily completely unknowable. A future bril-
liant argument may predict past the singular-
ity horizon. Furthermore, certain assumptions
can change the probabilities. For example, an
anonymous reviewer points out that if a cre-
ator’s reasons for a CCU carry over to the cre-
ated creators, then certain probabilities (for
example, universes with no CCUs) decrease.
Are we bound to not
knowing whether
we are or not in
a created universe?