The Zen of Technology & Scientific Discovery! (& Robots)

[Jundo]

Satellite launch from Cape Canaveral recorded on my iPhone 2:22 length

Sat/lah

At first, I thought ... how strange the NASA is now launching sideways!

Then I recalled that, from space, that angle is about right ... as would be any angle in fact ...



Among my most cherished experiences is witnessing 3 or 4 (they blend together) Space Shuttle launches, daytime and nighttime, when we were in Florida. Now, living in Tsukuba, home to the Japanese Space Program, we know lots of space people. Our friends at our house this last weekend were a couple, rocket and satellite engineers, who live here. She believes that UFOs really may be from other planets (because of their excellent engineers!)

Gassho, J

STLah

[Rich]

Satellite launch from Cape Canaveral recorded on my iPhone 2:22 length

https://youtu.be/R9-U1AoEyzE

Sat/lah

[Doshin]

The last paragraph says a lot.

Doshin
St

[Jundo]

Well, sometimes finding out that there is something we have wrong is as important as being right ...

The problem with the Big Bang theory

However, in 1980, physicist Alan Guth proposed an extension to the theory that could reconcile some of the inconsistencies between theory and observation, including the unexpected uniformity. His extension is called cosmic inflation theory and it claims that in the first moments of the birth of the universe it expanded faster than the speed of light. In a tiny fraction of a second, the visible universe grew from the size of an atom to a sphere roughly a light year across.

Subsequent astronomers invented variations of inflation, of varying degrees of complexity, but they all predict that the early universe expanded at unfathomable speeds.

The principle of inflation has long been considered an important component of the modern scientific theory of how the universe began, but it has never been experimentally confirmed -- so it remains a speculative idea.

... Inflation theory predicts that the microwaves of the CMB should be polarized. Just like ordinary light, microwaves are just wiggling electric and magnetic fields and if the wiggles are oriented in specific directions, the result is polarization. The CMB can be polarized in two ways: B-modes, which are swirly patterns, and E-modes, which are more of a straight-line pattern. And, if inflation theory is correct, we'd expect to see some mix of B-modes and E-modes, while if it isn't correct -- in other words, if the expansion of the universe did not happen as quickly as the theory suggests -- researchers should only see E-modes. This is because B-modes are caused by gravitational waves that would have shaken the early universe and would have been locked into our universe by inflation. Without inflation, we'd not see those primordial gravitational waves -- the evidence for them would have dissipated away.

Astronomers used a telescope facility called BICEP-3 (short for Background Imaging of Cosmic Extragalactic Polarization) to study the CMB and its polarization. The telescope's South Pole location, with its altitude of nearly two miles above sea level and incredibly dry air, is an ideal place to conduct this kind of research. BICEP-3 scientists combined their data with measurements at other facilities and found no indication of B-modes originating from the CMB. If B-modes are present in the CMB, they are very small.

So, does that mean that the theory of inflation must be thrown out? No, although the data has disproved some of the simpler theories of inflation, it isn't sensitive enough to rule out the more complex versions. Still, the failure to observe CMB B-modes is unsettling, causing some scientists to go back to the drawing board.

There are those who are discomfited when a scientific measurement draws into question a theory that is popular among researchers, but they shouldn't be. The self-correcting nature of science is actually its strongest asset.

Scientists are constantly double-checking their own ideas and, even if they don't, other scientists do it for them. The goal is to get at the truth. Indeed, a good scientist should never hold firmly to their ideas and should be open to changing their viewpoint as more data comes in. Slowly, but surely, scientific ideas are refined by this process, getting closer and closer to the truth.
https://us.cnn.com/2021/11/04/opinio...oln/index.html

Gassho, J

STLah

[Kaishin]

Interesting...yes what would Buddhism be without humans? And would our planet perhaps be better off without these problematic homo sapiens? Of course the Mahayana literature is full of what could be considered extraterrestrial, superpowered beings. Maybe they were on to something

-stlah

[Jundo]

I am writing a book entitled "BUILDING the FUTURE BUDDHA: The Kōan of Robots, Genetic Engineering and Travel to the Stars," in which I posit what Zen and Buddhism may be like in the future. When folks read my book ... hopefully sometime in the near future ... I hope that they remember this article, and that maybe I am not so crazy! The author is one of the UK's most respected scientists ...

Martin Rees -- Emeritus Professor of Cosmology and Astrophysics, University of Cambridge

Lord Martin Rees is Emeritus Professor of Cosmology and Astrophysics at the University of Cambridge. He holds the honorary title of Astronomer Royal.

He writes ...

Human technological civilization only dates back millennia (at most) – and it may be only one or two more centuries before humans, made up of organic materials such as carbon, are overtaken or transcended by inorganic intelligence, such as AI. Computer processing power is already increasing exponentially, meaning AI in the future may be able to use vastly more data than it does today. It seems to follow that it could then get exponentially smarter, surpassing human general intelligence.

Perhaps a starting point would be to enhance ourselves with genetic modification in combination with technology – creating cyborgs with partly organic and partly inorganic parts. This could be a transition to fully artificial intelligence.

AI may even be able to evolve, creating better and better versions of itself on a faster-than-Darwinian timescale for billions of years. Organic human-level intelligence would then be just a brief interlude in our “human history” before the machines take over. So if alien intelligence had evolved similarly, we’d be most unlikely to “catch” it in the brief sliver of time when it was still embodied in biological form. If we were to detect extraterrestrial life, it would be far more likely to be electronic than flesh and blood – and it may not even reside on planets.

...

... Post-human intelligences may also be able to build computers with enormous processing power. Humans are already able to model some quite complex phenomenon, such as the climate. More intelligent civilizations, however, may be able to simulate living things – with actual consciousnesses – or even entire worlds or universes. ... How do we know that we aren’t living in such a simulation created by technologically superior aliens? Maybe we are no more than a bit of entertainment for some supreme being who is running such a model? Indeed, if life is destined to be able to create technologically advanced civilizations that can make computer programs, there may be more simulated universes our there than real ones out there – making it conceivable that we are in one of them.

This conjecture may sound outlandish, but it is all based on our current understanding of physics and cosmology. We should, however, surely be open-minded about the possibility that there’s much we don’t understand.

https://www.livescience.com/extrater...not-biological

My book asks what Buddhism might have to say, and be like, then in similar scenarios ...

Gassho, J

STLah

[Jundo]

The universe is like a big factory, and you and I and all of us come off the assembly line ... ... then delivered by Amazon??

Enormous 'shipyard' of ancient galaxies discovered 11 billion light-years away

A similar protocluster may have created our Milky Way.

Astronomers have discovered a massive "shipyard" where galaxies are built, similar to the one our Milky Way grew up in.

The giant structure, called a protocluster, contains more than 60 galaxies and is 11 billion light-years from Earth, so far away that scientists are observing a part of the universe that is only 3 billion years old.

Researchers released a paper on the protocluster named G237 in January, but its existence has now been confirmed by an international team of astronomers, who published their follow-up findings on Oct. 26 in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.

"You can think of galaxy protoclusters such as G237 as a galaxy shipyard in which massive galaxies are being assembled, only this structure existed at a time when the universe was 3 billion years old," study co-author Brenda Frye, an associate professor of astronomy at the University of Arizona, said in a statement. ... "The picture we have pieced together now is that of a successful galaxy shipyard, which is working at high efficiency to assemble galaxies and the stars within them and has an energy supply that is more sustainable," Frye said.

https://www.livescience.com/protoclu...g237-confirmed

But at the same time, think of all the things that had NOT to happen so that we could be here: One single asteroid on different course, one tiny virus other that it was, could have changed history and we would NOT be here either!

An asteroid barely missed Earth last week, and no one knew it was coming

An asteroid about the size of a refrigerator shot past Earth last week, and astronomers didn't know the object existed until hours after it was gone.

It was a close call (from a cosmic perspective); the space rock's trajectory on Oct. 24 carried it over Antarctica within 1,800 miles (3,000 kilometers) of Earth — closer than some satellites — making it the third-closest asteroid to approach the planet without actually hitting it, CNET reported. ... But with a diameter of just 6.6 feet (2 meters), UA1 was too small to pose a threat. Even if it had struck Earth, most of its rocky body would have burned away in the atmosphere before it could hit the ground, CNET reported.
https://www.livescience.com/surprise-asteroid-flyby

Gassho, J

STLah

[Amelia]

The child in me wants the hoverbike... The adult in me wants to live.

Gassho
Sat, lah

[Jundo]

So, all the planets we've found so far outside our solar system have still been inside our Milky Way galaxy ... so, this is something! ...

NASA discovers first possible planet outside our galaxy

Scientists may have detected signs of a planet transiting a star outside of the Milky Way, in what could be the first planet ever to be discovered outside our galaxy.

The possible exoplanet was discovered in the Whirlpool Galaxy -- the spiral galaxy Messier 51 (M51) -- by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, NASA said in a press release on Monday.

An exoplanet is a planet outside of our solar system that normally orbits a star other than our own sun in our galaxy. Until now, all other exoplanets have been found in the Milky Way, and most of them have been found less than 3,000 light-years from Earth.

This newly discovered possible exoplanet in the Whirlpool Galaxy would be about 28 million light-years away -- thousands of times farther away than those in the Milky Way.

"We are trying to open up a whole new arena for finding other worlds by searching for planet candidates at X-ray wavelengths, a strategy that makes it possible to discover them in other galaxies,"
https://us.cnn.com/2021/10/26/world/...scn/index.html

Gassho, J

STLah

[Jundo]

Okay, it is not the "flying car" that I thought we'd all have by now when I used to watch the Jetsons as a kid ... and it is not exactly affordable ... and it don't exactly look safe ... but it now goes to the top of my list of things I don't need but like anyway ...

https://youtu.be/1g9J_eXixz0

By chance, this video also came up today ... and I just think it cool ... it is no. 2 on my list of things I don't need but like ...

https://youtu.be/H1_OpWiyijU

Gassho, J

STLah

[Skot]

Speaking of William Shatner;

"I'm waiting for that feeling of contentment
That ease at night when you put your head down
And the rhythms slow to sleep
My head sways and eyes start awake
I'm there not halfway between sleep and death
But looking into eyes wide open trying to remember
What I might have done, should have done
At my age I need serenity I need peace
It hasn't happened yet
It hasn't happened yet
It hasn't happened yet"

Skot SatUrToday

[Jundo]

Yes, the body is pretty amazing ... "empty" or not ...

Stunning images show how muscles heal themselves after a workout

Exercise leaves muscles riddled with microscopic tears, so after a rigorous workout, the control centers of muscle cells — called nuclei — scoot toward these tiny injuries to help patch them up, scientists recently discovered.

In the new study, published Oct. 14 in the journal Science, researchers uncovered a previously unknown repair mechanism that kicks in after a run on the treadmill. Striking images show how, shortly after the exercise concludes, nuclei scuttle toward tears in the muscle fibers and issue commands for new proteins to be built, in order to seal the wounds. That same process likely unfolds in your own cells in the hours after you return home from the gym.

The study authors discovered that "nuclei moved toward the injury site within 5 hours of injury," Dr. Elizabeth McNally and Alexis Demonbreun, of the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, wrote in a commentary, also published in Science. And within only 24 hours of the injury, the repair process was "nearly complete."

Nuclei (purple) in a muscle cell migrate toward the site of an injury to help repair the tear. (Image credit: William Roman)

https://www.livescience.com/muscle-repair-by-roaming-nuclei

Now, off to the gym!

Gassho, J

STLah

[Jundo]

And, in keeping with that, more to ponder regarding the happenstance and blind fortune (or was it?) of our being alive on this precious planet right now ...

New findings a 'complete reversal' in understanding why Earth became hospitable to life and its 'twin' didn't

Venus may be a sweltering wasteland today, but scientists have questioned whether the planet was always so inhospitable. While previous studies suggested Venus might have once been covered in oceans, new research has found the opposite: Venus has likely never been able to support oceans.

Researchers also determined that a similar story could have played out on Earth as well had things been just a bit different.

Venus, our closest planetary neighbor, is called Earth's twin because of the similarity in size and density of both planets. Otherwise, the planets differ radically. While Earth is a natural hub for life, Venus is a lifeless planet with a toxic carbon dioxide atmosphere 90 times thicker than ours, clouds of sulphuric acid and surface temperatures that reach 864 degrees Fahrenheit (462 degrees Celsius) -- hot enough to melt lead.

To understand how these two rocky planets turned out so differently, a team of astrophysicists decided to try to simulate the beginning, when our solar system's planets formed 4.5 billion years ago. They used climate models -- similar to what researchers use when simulating climate change on Earth -- to peer back in time at young Venus and Earth. Their new study published Wednesday in the journal Nature.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03873-w

More than 4 billion years ago, Earth and Venus were piping hot and covered in magma. Oceans can only form when temperatures are cool enough for water to condense and fall as rain over thousands of years. That's how Earth's global ocean formed over tens of millions of years. Venus, on the other hand, remained hot. At the time, our sun was about 25% fainter than it is now. But that wouldn't have been enough to help Venus cool off, since it's the second-closest planet to the sun. The researchers questioned whether clouds could have played a role in helping Venus cool down. Their climate model determined that clouds did contribute, but in an unexpected way. They clustered on the night side of Venus where they wouldn't have been able to shield the planet's day side from the sun. ... Rather than shielding Venus from heat, the night side clouds contributed to a greenhouse effect that trapped heat within the planet's dense atmosphere and kept temperatures high. With such consistent, trapped heat, Venus would have been too hot for rain to fall. Instead, water could only exist as its gaseous form, water vapor, in the atmosphere.

...

Things could have turned out the same way for Earth if our planet had been slightly closer to the sun or if the sun was as bright back then as it is now. Because the sun was dimmer billions of years ago, Earth was able to cool down enough from its molten state for water to form and create our global ocean. The faint young sun "was a key ingredient to actually form the first oceans on Earth," Turbet wrote in an email.

https://us.cnn.com/2021/10/13/world/venus-oceans-earth-scn/index.html

Let's just hope that, with global warming, we don't eventually catch up to Venus!

Gassho, J

STLah

[Jundo]

However one feels about this silly rocket ...

https://youtu.be/AAqj5tATg-Y

Gassho, J

STLah

[Kotei]

Well, now my family and Treeleaf won't be rid of me, even when I'm dead!

Tuning a GPT-3 like model (GPT-Neo) with your writings from the last 15 years is something I am thinking about for quite a while now.
Gassho,
Kotei sat/lah today.