Archive for the ‘existential risks’ category: Page 29
Feb 25, 2023
Could Intelligent Alien Life be AI?
Posted by Dan Breeden in categories: alien life, existential risks, robotics/AI
Artificial Intelligence or AI more specifically strong AI or artificial superintelligence could possibly be the answer or the solution to the Fermi paradox. The Fermi paradox, named after Italian-American physicist Enrico Fermi, is the apparent contradiction between the lack of evidence for extraterrestrial civilizations and various high estimates for their probability of existence. The conundrum for the existence of aliens and more categorically intelligent aliens could be a much simpler solution that we’ve previously thought. To more broadly answer the question of intelligent aliens, we first have to think about whether it’s possible that we are a just a tiny spec in the vastness of space, the only place in the universe where intelligent life found its way to manifest Or maybe there is an abundance of intelligent life out there and we just haven’t found it yet. The search for extraterrestrial life is arguably one of the most all-encompassing scientific quest endeavours of our time. How would we know if we had found alien life? It would be interesting to find something that looks like intelligent alien life, but is not actually alive. It could be a space probe. Or a satellite. We often imagine extraterrestrial life as having a face, because we can’t figure out what it would look like. But if we were to find intelligent alien life, we might not immediately know what it is. Our guesses till recently were random mixtures of biological forms. An advanced civilization however could also be able to engineer machines or digital living forms with the exact same properties as biological forms. A growing number of scientists believe that the aliens we are looking for are in fact AI. It is quite possible that some civilizations could have transcended biology all together to become artificial superintelligence.
#Aliens #AI #ScienceTime.
The great silence and the fermi paradox by Ted Chiang.
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Feb 21, 2023
Glycine Peptide Chain Formation in the Gas Phase via Unimolecular Reactions
Posted by Dan Breeden in categories: asteroid/comet impacts, existential risks
Peptide chain formation from amino acids such as glycine is a key step in the emergence of life. Unlike their synthesis by living systems, how peptide chains grow under abiotic conditions is an open question given the variety of organic compounds discovered in various astrophysical environments, comets and meteorites. We propose a new abiotic route in the presence of protonated molecular dimers of glycine in a cold gaseous atmosphere without further need for a solid catalytic substrate. The results provide evidence for the preferential formation of mixed protonated dimers of glycine consisting of a dipeptide and a glycine molecule instead of pure protonated glycine dimers. Additional measurements mimicking a cosmic-ray impact in terms of internal excitation show that a single gas-phase collision induces polymerization via dehydration in both the mixed and pure dimer ions.
Feb 21, 2023
ARES: NASA is examining reports of an atmospheric fireball about 6 p.m. EST, Feb. 15, near McAllen, Texas
Posted by Omuterema Akhahenda in categories: asteroid/comet impacts, existential risks
Based on analysis of preliminary information from several sources, NASA experts believe the object was a meteoroid about two feet in diameter weighing about 1,000 pounds. The angle and speed of entry, along with signatures in weather radar imagery, are consistent with other naturally occurring meteorite falls. Radar and other data indicate that meteorites did reach the ground from this event.
Although meteorites tend to hit Earth’s atmosphere at high speeds, they slow as they travel through the atmosphere, breaking into small fragments before hitting the ground. Meteorites cool rapidly and generally are not a risk to the public.
Feb 19, 2023
NASA’s planetary radar captures detailed view of oblong asteroid
Posted by Saúl Morales Rodriguéz in categories: asteroid/comet impacts, existential risks
On Feb. 3, an asteroid more than three times as long as it is wide safely flew past Earth at a distance of about 1.1 million miles (1.8 million kilometers, or a little under five times the distance between the Moon and Earth). While there was no risk of the asteroid—called 2011 AG5—impacting our planet, scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California closely tracked the object, making invaluable observations to help determine its size, rotation, surface details, and, most notably, shape.
This close approach provided the first opportunity to take a detailed look at the asteroid since it was discovered in 2011, revealing an object about 1,600 feet (500 meters) long and about 500 feet (150 meters) wide—dimensions comparable to the Empire State Building. The powerful 230-foot (70-meter) Goldstone Solar System Radar antenna dish at the Deep Space Network’s facility near Barstow, California, revealed the dimensions of this extremely elongated asteroid.
“Of the 1,040 near-Earth objects observed by planetary radar to date, this is one of the most elongated we’ve seen,” said Lance Benner, principal scientist at JPL who helped lead the observations.
Feb 19, 2023
Alien Civilizations Could Use Black Holes as Massive Quantum Computers
Posted by Atanas Atanasov in categories: alien life, computing, existential risks, quantum physics
It actually makes a lot of sense from a computing standpoint.
If life is common in our Universe, and we have every reason to suspect it is, why do we not see evidence of it everywhere?
This is the essence of the Fermi Paradox, a question that has plagued astronomers and cosmologists almost since the birth of modern astronomy.
Continue reading “Alien Civilizations Could Use Black Holes as Massive Quantum Computers” »
Feb 18, 2023
But Where Is Everybody? Fermi Paradox Explored: The Dark Forest Hypothesis
Posted by Jose Ruben Rodriguez Fuentes in categories: bitcoin, cryptocurrencies, existential risks
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Hello and welcome! My name is Anton and in this video, we will talk about another Fermi Paradox hypothesis: The Dark Forest.
Fermi Paradox playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9hNFus3sjE7lB0sJRnGLWng0uIPxUVqG
Images/Videos:
Henry Söderlund-CC BY 4.0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liu_Cixin#/media/File: Cixin_Liu_at_Worldcon_75,_Helsinki,_before_the_Hugo_Awards.jpg.
Midjourney CC BY SA 4.0 https://midjourney.com/
Davidguam CC BY-SA 4.0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunt–Lenox_Globe#/media/File: Anfuorin.png.
#darkforest #fermiparadox #aliens.
Continue reading “But Where Is Everybody? Fermi Paradox Explored: The Dark Forest Hypothesis” »
Feb 18, 2023
In Vivo Synaptic Dynamics in Various Memory States
Posted by Jose Ruben Rodriguez Fuentes in categories: existential risks, neuroscience
Summary: Researchers have identified the in-vivo dynamics of synapses that underlie fear memory formation and extinction in the living brain.
Source: Seoul National University.
Ensembles of synaptic networks are known to underlie cognitive functions, and the connections between engram neurons are enhanced during memory formation.
Feb 18, 2023
Researchers think alien civilizations might be creating black holes to store quantum data
Posted by Paul Battista in categories: alien life, computing, existential risks, quantum physics
A new paper has proposed an absolutely wild idea. What if aliens are creating black holes to use as quantum storage? It sounds crazy, but some scientists say it could give us a solution to the Fermi Paradox, which essentially states that if life is common in our universe, why have we not found evidence of it beyond Earth?
This paradox has caused quite a few ripples throughout the scientific community, especially within parts that believe alien life is out there, just waiting to be discovered. The new paper has yet to be peer-reviewed, but it was created by a team of German and Georgian scientists who say we may be looking in the wrong direction in our search for alien life.
Currently, we rely on radio signals to search for signs of life out in the universe. But, these researchers suggest that we should instead approach black holes as if alien civilizations created them as massive quantum computers to store data in. As such, we should be looking for technosignatures emanating from megastructures like pulsars, white dwarf stars, and black holes.