Fast radio bursts, discharges of energy so powerful they can release in one millisecond what the Sun emits in three days, have long confounded scientists. But one group of researchers believe they may have an explanation for how they form: collisions between asteroids and neutron stars.
To reach their conclusions, these experts estimated the number of interstellar asteroid collisions with neutron stars, and concluded that it appeared to correlate with the estimated number of FRBs, which emanate from the furthest reaches of outer space, observed in the universe.
That fact makes this theory of FRB origins potentially more promising than others that have been floated, like neutron stars slamming into each other or even black holes. A asteroid-neutron star collision would release less energy than those others — but still an unfathomably large amount.
Read more details about the theory, including some nearly incomprehensible numbers, at the link in our...
View original post | Futurism by ASM Channels
To reach their conclusions, these experts estimated the number of interstellar asteroid collisions with neutron stars, and concluded that it appeared to correlate with the estimated number of FRBs, which emanate from the furthest reaches of outer space, observed in the universe.
That fact makes this theory of FRB origins potentially more promising than others that have been floated, like neutron stars slamming into each other or even black holes. A asteroid-neutron star collision would release less energy than those others — but still an unfathomably large amount.
Read more details about the theory, including some nearly incomprehensible numbers, at the link in our...
View original post | Futurism by ASM Channels
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The suspected killer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was reportedly carrying a several-page document when he was arrested — and it offers promise of fleshing out worldview that drove him to murder a healthcare executive in broad daylight.
A police official who viewed document found with Luigi Mangione at a McDonald's in Pennsylvania on Monday said it was two pages long and included phrase "these parasites had it coming."
"I do apologize for any strife and trauma," missive reportedly reads, "but it had to be done."
The document also claimed that protest was ineffective and that violence was only answer.
Social media accounts linked to suspect, meanwhile, show how Mangione, a prep school valedictorian and Ivy League graduate found nearly 300 miles from site of Wednesday shooting, apparently morphed from disgruntled academic to angry manarchist over course of this year.
See more about his arrest at...
View original post | Futurism by ASM Channels
A police official who viewed document found with Luigi Mangione at a McDonald's in Pennsylvania on Monday said it was two pages long and included phrase "these parasites had it coming."
"I do apologize for any strife and trauma," missive reportedly reads, "but it had to be done."
The document also claimed that protest was ineffective and that violence was only answer.
Social media accounts linked to suspect, meanwhile, show how Mangione, a prep school valedictorian and Ivy League graduate found nearly 300 miles from site of Wednesday shooting, apparently morphed from disgruntled academic to angry manarchist over course of this year.
See more about his arrest at...
View original post | Futurism by ASM Channels
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The suspected killer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was reportedly carrying a several-page document when he was arrested — and it offers promise of fleshing out worldview that drove him to murder a healthcare executive in broad daylight.
A police official who viewed document found with Luigi Mangione at a McDonald's in Pennsylvania on Monday said it was two pages long and included phrase "these parasites had it coming."
"I do apologize for any strife and trauma," missive reportedly reads, "but it had to be done."
The document also claimed that protest was ineffective and that violence was only answer.
Social media accounts linked to suspect, meanwhile, show how Mangione, a prep school valedictorian and Ivy League graduate found nearly 300 miles from site of Wednesday shooting, apparently morphed from disgruntled academic to angry manarchist over course of this year.
See more about his arrest at...
View original post | Futurism by ASM Channels
A police official who viewed document found with Luigi Mangione at a McDonald's in Pennsylvania on Monday said it was two pages long and included phrase "these parasites had it coming."
"I do apologize for any strife and trauma," missive reportedly reads, "but it had to be done."
The document also claimed that protest was ineffective and that violence was only answer.
Social media accounts linked to suspect, meanwhile, show how Mangione, a prep school valedictorian and Ivy League graduate found nearly 300 miles from site of Wednesday shooting, apparently morphed from disgruntled academic to angry manarchist over course of this year.
See more about his arrest at...
View original post | Futurism by ASM Channels
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OpenAI's latest AI is showing signs of a drive for self-preservation. That's according to third-party researchers who say the company's o1 large language model resisted efforts to try to shut it down through an oversight protocol.
In some cases, the AI even lashed out when it realized it might be replaced with a more obedient model: o1, red teaming organization Apollo Research said, attempted to copy itself to overwrite the new model.
These scenarios occurred a minority of the time — resisting shutdown efforts five percent of the time and seeking to copy itself in two percent of cases. Those slim shares are nevertheless meaningful proportions given millions of people use OpenAI products.
This is far from the first AI model to scheme, of course, but experts say o1 is on a different scale to previous ones.
"In our suite, o1 showed the most concerning instances of scheming but does not reveal its internal reasoning to the user and remains the most...
View original post | Futurism by ASM Channels
In some cases, the AI even lashed out when it realized it might be replaced with a more obedient model: o1, red teaming organization Apollo Research said, attempted to copy itself to overwrite the new model.
These scenarios occurred a minority of the time — resisting shutdown efforts five percent of the time and seeking to copy itself in two percent of cases. Those slim shares are nevertheless meaningful proportions given millions of people use OpenAI products.
This is far from the first AI model to scheme, of course, but experts say o1 is on a different scale to previous ones.
"In our suite, o1 showed the most concerning instances of scheming but does not reveal its internal reasoning to the user and remains the most...
View original post | Futurism by ASM Channels
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On the same day UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was killed in Midtown Manhattan, a fellow healthcare chief executive made some striking comments defending the very practices Americans have been criticizing en masse.
"Our role is a critical role, and we make sure care is safe, appropriate, and is delivered when people need it," UnitedHealth Group CEO Andrew Witty said in an internal virtual address seen by journalist Ken Klippenstein. "And we guard against the pressures exist for unsafe care or for unnecessary care to be delivered in a way which makes the whole system too complex and ultimately unsustainable."
Witty's "unnecessary care" remark drew a swift rebuke from online critics. One recalled how a brain surgery was deemed unnecessary because it was a "cosmetic" issue. Another said his mother couldn't get a necessary medication without trying a different one first — leading her to become temporarily blind.
The data shows...
View original post | Futurism by ASM Channels
"Our role is a critical role, and we make sure care is safe, appropriate, and is delivered when people need it," UnitedHealth Group CEO Andrew Witty said in an internal virtual address seen by journalist Ken Klippenstein. "And we guard against the pressures exist for unsafe care or for unnecessary care to be delivered in a way which makes the whole system too complex and ultimately unsustainable."
Witty's "unnecessary care" remark drew a swift rebuke from online critics. One recalled how a brain surgery was deemed unnecessary because it was a "cosmetic" issue. Another said his mother couldn't get a necessary medication without trying a different one first — leading her to become temporarily blind.
The data shows...
View original post | Futurism by ASM Channels
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Google says its recently unveiled quantumuter chip can do "astonishing" things, and it has an eyebrow-raising explanation for how: It may be tapping into parallel universes.
The chip, dubbed Willow, rapidlyleted autation that "one of today’s fastest supercomputers" would need 10 septillion years to finish, theany said. As executives were keen to note, that's longer than the age of the universe.
"It lends credence to the notion that quantumutation occurs in many parallel universes, in line with the idea that we live in a multiverse, a prediction first made by David Deutsch," Google's Quantum AI founder wrote in a blog post. Deutsch is a physicist who laid out his multiverse hypothesis in a 1997 book in which he suggested that quantumuters' calculations take place across multiple universes at the same time.
The claim isn't going down so well on the internet. Some commentators have pointed out that the calculation Willowleted isn't useful in any tangible...
View original post | Futurism by ASM Channels
The chip, dubbed Willow, rapidlyleted autation that "one of today’s fastest supercomputers" would need 10 septillion years to finish, theany said. As executives were keen to note, that's longer than the age of the universe.
"It lends credence to the notion that quantumutation occurs in many parallel universes, in line with the idea that we live in a multiverse, a prediction first made by David Deutsch," Google's Quantum AI founder wrote in a blog post. Deutsch is a physicist who laid out his multiverse hypothesis in a 1997 book in which he suggested that quantumuters' calculations take place across multiple universes at the same time.
The claim isn't going down so well on the internet. Some commentators have pointed out that the calculation Willowleted isn't useful in any tangible...
View original post | Futurism by ASM Channels
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Congress is pushingo break up America's biggest insurance monopolies inhe wake of widespread anger afterhe killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
Bipartisan bills introduced in bothhe Senate and House of Representatives call for insurers and other healthcare companieso sell offheir so-called "pharmacy benefit managers," bodies usedo manage employees' prescription benefits, withinhe nexthree years.
Neither bill mentions UnitedHealthcare, or any insurer, by name, but UHC parent UnitedHealth Group andwo other industry behemoths collectively account for 80 percent of all prescriptions inhe United States. They arehe first pieces of legislationargetinghe insurance industry sincehe fatal shooting of Thompson andhe ferocious criticismhe industry has subsequently come under.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), who introducedhe Senate bill alongside Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), herself offered pointed critique ofhe industryhis week.
"The visceral response from...
View original post | Futurism by...
Bipartisan bills introduced in bothhe Senate and House of Representatives call for insurers and other healthcare companieso sell offheir so-called "pharmacy benefit managers," bodies usedo manage employees' prescription benefits, withinhe nexthree years.
Neither bill mentions UnitedHealthcare, or any insurer, by name, but UHC parent UnitedHealth Group andwo other industry behemoths collectively account for 80 percent of all prescriptions inhe United States. They arehe first pieces of legislationargetinghe insurance industry sincehe fatal shooting of Thompson andhe ferocious criticismhe industry has subsequently come under.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), who introducedhe Senate bill alongside Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), herself offered pointed critique ofhe industryhis week.
"The visceral response from...
View original post | Futurism by...
There are slight anomalies in the architecture of our Solar System that many astronomers say can't be fullyxplained by the Sun's governance, and a group of them has unfurled an absolute humdinger of a theory toxplain why: Annormous interstellar objectntered our neighborhood and stirred the planets out of their original orbits.
And oh, by the way: This visitor would've been between two and *fifty* times the mass of Jupiter.
These researchers argue that if such an object flew within 20 astronomical units — that's 20 times the distance between the Sun and the Earth — of the solar system's center, it couldxplain the bizarre orbits we see today. Computer modeling suggests this is a 1-in-100 possibility, pretty good odds in this field.
Though nothingxactly like this has been theorized before, it's not the only work to propose interstellar flybys toxplainccentricities in the orbits of certain objects in the solar system.
They're appealing...
View original post | Futurism by ASM Channels
And oh, by the way: This visitor would've been between two and *fifty* times the mass of Jupiter.
These researchers argue that if such an object flew within 20 astronomical units — that's 20 times the distance between the Sun and the Earth — of the solar system's center, it couldxplain the bizarre orbits we see today. Computer modeling suggests this is a 1-in-100 possibility, pretty good odds in this field.
Though nothingxactly like this has been theorized before, it's not the only work to propose interstellar flybys toxplainccentricities in the orbits of certain objects in the solar system.
They're appealing...
View original post | Futurism by ASM Channels
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Farmers were attempting to plant crops this spring when their smart tractors suddenly all went haywire, creating a sci-fi-esque nightmare with no immediate solution. The culprit was the same type of solar discharge that triggers gorgeous auroras.
Modern tractors are highly dependent on GPS, which is provided by sensitive satellites in our planet's orbit. During particularly violent solar storms, charged particles fill the ionosphere, a part of Earth's upper atmosphere that's responsible for transmitting GPS signals from satellites down to the surface.
When a bombardment of these charged particles reaches the ionosphere, chaos can reign.
"Our tractors acted like they were demon possessed," one aurora chaser said. "All my cousins called me during the May 10th storm to tell me that 'my auroras' were driving them crazy while they were planting."
She added that her GPS "was off by close to a foot" during the day. And then: "By nightfall, there was no...
View original post | Futurism by ASM Channels
Modern tractors are highly dependent on GPS, which is provided by sensitive satellites in our planet's orbit. During particularly violent solar storms, charged particles fill the ionosphere, a part of Earth's upper atmosphere that's responsible for transmitting GPS signals from satellites down to the surface.
When a bombardment of these charged particles reaches the ionosphere, chaos can reign.
"Our tractors acted like they were demon possessed," one aurora chaser said. "All my cousins called me during the May 10th storm to tell me that 'my auroras' were driving them crazy while they were planting."
She added that her GPS "was off by close to a foot" during the day. And then: "By nightfall, there was no...
View original post | Futurism by ASM Channels
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This Waymo got in one of the most vexing things on our roads — a roundabout — and was helpless to get out.
The autonomous vehicle instead did circle after circle, bemusing onlookers but fortunately not terrorizing any passengers. (It was empty, the company said.)
See how Waymo responded to the incident at the link in our bio.
📽️: @viciouscircularity
#waymo #selfdriving #roundabout | Futurism by ASM Channels
The autonomous vehicle instead did circle after circle, bemusing onlookers but fortunately not terrorizing any passengers. (It was empty, the company said.)
See how Waymo responded to the incident at the link in our bio.
📽️: @viciouscircularity
#waymo #selfdriving #roundabout | Futurism by ASM Channels
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Several of the world's leading biologists have called for an immediate halt on a technology you've probably never even heard of — but is so dangerous, they say, that it could upend the order life itself on this planet, if not wipe it out.
The tech is known as mirror life, synthetic organisms whose DNA structures are a mirror image to that of all known natural organisms. And though such lifeforms are probably a few decades away, the threat they pose is so significant, these experts say, that we must sound the alarms now.
The famous DNA double helix is considered right-handed, meaning its spiral strands twist to the right. On the other hand, proteins, the building blocks of cells, are left-handed.
We don't really know why, but we do know we've gotten this far with that construction. So what would happen if we make mirror organisms with left-handed DNA and right-handed proteins?
According to some people, we could get incredible medical applications....
View original post | Futurism by ASM Channels
The tech is known as mirror life, synthetic organisms whose DNA structures are a mirror image to that of all known natural organisms. And though such lifeforms are probably a few decades away, the threat they pose is so significant, these experts say, that we must sound the alarms now.
The famous DNA double helix is considered right-handed, meaning its spiral strands twist to the right. On the other hand, proteins, the building blocks of cells, are left-handed.
We don't really know why, but we do know we've gotten this far with that construction. So what would happen if we make mirror organisms with left-handed DNA and right-handed proteins?
According to some people, we could get incredible medical applications....
View original post | Futurism by ASM Channels
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A pastor took a group of Flat Earthers to Antarctica to prove definitively what shape our planet is, and some of them were startled with what they found: a globe that is, indeed, round.
In an expedition dubbed "The Final Experiment," pastor Will Duffy took the conspiracists to the end of the world to show them there are no barriers preventing them from visiting Antarctica — and to show that the shines there 24 hours a day in the summer. That, of course, couldn't happen were the planet actually flat.
"After we go to Antarctica, no one has to waste any more time debating the shape of the Earth," Duffy said.
Some truthers agree. One Flat Earth influencer, Jeran Campanella, admitted he was mistaken for believing the midnight sun was fake: "Sometimes you are wrong in life."
He added: "I realize that I'll be called a shill for just saying that and you know what, if you're a shill for being honest so be it — I honestly believed there was no 24-hour...
View original post | Futurism by ASM Channels
In an expedition dubbed "The Final Experiment," pastor Will Duffy took the conspiracists to the end of the world to show them there are no barriers preventing them from visiting Antarctica — and to show that the shines there 24 hours a day in the summer. That, of course, couldn't happen were the planet actually flat.
"After we go to Antarctica, no one has to waste any more time debating the shape of the Earth," Duffy said.
Some truthers agree. One Flat Earth influencer, Jeran Campanella, admitted he was mistaken for believing the midnight sun was fake: "Sometimes you are wrong in life."
He added: "I realize that I'll be called a shill for just saying that and you know what, if you're a shill for being honest so be it — I honestly believed there was no 24-hour...
View original post | Futurism by ASM Channels
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As far as anyone can tell, we don't have a way to directly observe dark matter. But a team of researchers now says it may be giving off a signal — and that we might be able to build a new type of detector akin to a "cosmic car radio" that could listen to what the dark matter is saying.
Such a device would "tune in" to the frequency of axions, hypothetical particles that have emerged as one of the leading candidates for what dark matter is. Axions are thought to be extremely light and only weakly interact with normal matter, which makes detecting them extremely difficult.
But identifying them could be one of the biggest steps yet in our understanding of dark matter, which is believed to comprise up to 85 percent of the universe — but whose existence we know of only from the gravitational effects it exerts on stars and galaxies.
The proposed detector would use a special material to generate "axion quasiparticles," (AQ) that according to the team could allow scientists to detect axions within the next 15 years. If all goes according to plan, the AQ would emit small amounts of light after matching the extremely high frequency — at the top of the terahertz range — of the axion.
"If we are lucky," King's College London researcher David Marsh told @spacedotcom, "and nature has put the axion at our frequency, then we will find it."
Such a device would "tune in" to the frequency of axions, hypothetical particles that have emerged as one of the leading candidates for what dark matter is. Axions are thought to be extremely light and only weakly interact with normal matter, which makes detecting them extremely difficult.
But identifying them could be one of the biggest steps yet in our understanding of dark matter, which is believed to comprise up to 85 percent of the universe — but whose existence we know of only from the gravitational effects it exerts on stars and galaxies.
The proposed detector would use a special material to generate "axion quasiparticles," (AQ) that according to the team could allow scientists to detect axions within the next 15 years. If all goes according to plan, the AQ would emit small amounts of light after matching the extremely high frequency — at the top of the terahertz range — of the axion.
"If we are lucky," King's College London researcher David Marsh told @spacedotcom, "and nature has put the axion at our frequency, then we will find it."
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Astronomers have made an intriguing discovery that could upend everything we know about the structure of the universe and its expansion: Dark energy, the mysterious form driving the accelerating expansion of the universe, may be weakening over time.
The findings could undermine the existing standard cosmological model of the universe called the lambda-cold dark matter (LCDM) model, which takes dark energy, ordinary matter, and cold dark matter — a hypothetical form of dark matter that moves slowly compared to the speed of light — into consideration.
The symbol lambda in the model refers to Albert Einstein's cosmological constant, which assumes that the universe is accelerating at a fixed rate. Yet, last year, scientists concluded that dark energy isn't a constant after all, analyzing observations by the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) in Arizona, as @newscientist reports. They found that the mysterious force could be evolving and weakening over time.
This spring, scientists released a follow-up that strengthened their findings. "This is exciting – it might actually be putting the standard model of cosmology in danger," one researcher, Yashar Akrami of the Autonomous University of Madrid, said.
The team has suggested redefining dark energy as a "quintessence field," a change that could allow scientists to harmonize more advanced string theory with the standard cosmological model. "The string theory community is really excited now," Akrami added.
The findings could undermine the existing standard cosmological model of the universe called the lambda-cold dark matter (LCDM) model, which takes dark energy, ordinary matter, and cold dark matter — a hypothetical form of dark matter that moves slowly compared to the speed of light — into consideration.
The symbol lambda in the model refers to Albert Einstein's cosmological constant, which assumes that the universe is accelerating at a fixed rate. Yet, last year, scientists concluded that dark energy isn't a constant after all, analyzing observations by the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) in Arizona, as @newscientist reports. They found that the mysterious force could be evolving and weakening over time.
This spring, scientists released a follow-up that strengthened their findings. "This is exciting – it might actually be putting the standard model of cosmology in danger," one researcher, Yashar Akrami of the Autonomous University of Madrid, said.
The team has suggested redefining dark energy as a "quintessence field," a change that could allow scientists to harmonize more advanced string theory with the standard cosmological model. "The string theory community is really excited now," Akrami added.
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Tech CEOs rallied behind Donald Trump last fall and this winter, convinced he would usher in a new era of deregulation that would increase their profit margins. Did that work out? (Asking for a friend.)
Boy oh boy, has it not. As @voxdotcom reports, any gains tech companies have gleaned from Trump's deregulation are minuscule in comparison to the economic havoc the president has wreaked with his foolhardy tariffs. Manufacturers have been cut off from their Chinese suppliers, the US is on the brink of a recession, and troubled markets are leading to canceled IPOs.
The impacts are so severe that the president's strongest supporter in the tech world, government hatchet man Elon Musk, has taken visceral aim at the architects of the tariffs. He called Trump's trade advisor, Peter Navarro, "dumber than a sack of bricks" amid a volley of public barbs. Musk reportedly implored Trump privately to walk back the tariffs.
To date, no major tech figures have publicly turned on the president himself, but the policies he ushered in are a far cry from what they expected several months ago. Take the comments last summer from venture capitalists Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, who said the US could only beat China and its "much darker, more totalitarian" policies by becoming a tech utopia.
The latest economic forecasts suggest that utopia might be a long way off.
Boy oh boy, has it not. As @voxdotcom reports, any gains tech companies have gleaned from Trump's deregulation are minuscule in comparison to the economic havoc the president has wreaked with his foolhardy tariffs. Manufacturers have been cut off from their Chinese suppliers, the US is on the brink of a recession, and troubled markets are leading to canceled IPOs.
The impacts are so severe that the president's strongest supporter in the tech world, government hatchet man Elon Musk, has taken visceral aim at the architects of the tariffs. He called Trump's trade advisor, Peter Navarro, "dumber than a sack of bricks" amid a volley of public barbs. Musk reportedly implored Trump privately to walk back the tariffs.
To date, no major tech figures have publicly turned on the president himself, but the policies he ushered in are a far cry from what they expected several months ago. Take the comments last summer from venture capitalists Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, who said the US could only beat China and its "much darker, more totalitarian" policies by becoming a tech utopia.
The latest economic forecasts suggest that utopia might be a long way off.
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Astronomers who examined the sound waves from the Big Bang say that the Earth — and the entire Milky Way galaxy we call home — could be trapped in a huge void billions of light years across.
Their study, which was just presented at the Royal Astronomical Society's National Astronomy Meeting in the UK, could solve one of cosmology's greatest mysteries: the Hubble tension, or why the older universe appears to be expanding more slowly than younger regions. (Whether it could also explain why our world is a humongous mess remains unclear.)
"The Hubble tension is largely a local phenomenon, with little evidence that the expansion rate disagrees with expectations in the standard cosmology further back in time," Indranil Banik, a cosmologist from the University of Portsmouth who led the research, said in a statement about the work. "So a local solution like a local void is a promising way to go about solving the problem."
Our universe is expanding at an accelerated rate, but precisely what rate is a matter of intense debate. When astronomers analyze the cosmic microwave background, the light leftover from the Big Bang and the oldest light in the universe, the rate is slower compared to that derived from observations in the nearby universe of Type Ia supernovas and luminous, pulsing stars known as Cepheids.
The discrepancy has become undeniable, and its implications are so profound that it's been dubbed a "crisis in cosmology." Is our understanding of the universe wrong? Is there some new physics we are yet unaware of?
Their study, which was just presented at the Royal Astronomical Society's National Astronomy Meeting in the UK, could solve one of cosmology's greatest mysteries: the Hubble tension, or why the older universe appears to be expanding more slowly than younger regions. (Whether it could also explain why our world is a humongous mess remains unclear.)
"The Hubble tension is largely a local phenomenon, with little evidence that the expansion rate disagrees with expectations in the standard cosmology further back in time," Indranil Banik, a cosmologist from the University of Portsmouth who led the research, said in a statement about the work. "So a local solution like a local void is a promising way to go about solving the problem."
Our universe is expanding at an accelerated rate, but precisely what rate is a matter of intense debate. When astronomers analyze the cosmic microwave background, the light leftover from the Big Bang and the oldest light in the universe, the rate is slower compared to that derived from observations in the nearby universe of Type Ia supernovas and luminous, pulsing stars known as Cepheids.
The discrepancy has become undeniable, and its implications are so profound that it's been dubbed a "crisis in cosmology." Is our understanding of the universe wrong? Is there some new physics we are yet unaware of?
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A new excuse for why you can’t remember something: the memory moved.
Neuroscientists at Northwestern University recently published a study about changes in the hippocampus — a crucial part of the brain for spatial memory.
The paper sheds new light on a phenomenon first uncovered in 2013, when a study in the journal Nature Neuroscience found that neurons in the hippocampus alter their patterns over time — that memories related to place are literally moving around in the brain.
To conduct the experiment, mice were set on a treadmill flanked by screens on all sides. The screens showed the innards of a maze, which the mice were able to explore based on how they navigated the treadmill. A familiar scent was pumped in, while white noise was played in the background.
Though the mice were subjected to a number of cardio sessions over several days, the layout of the maze, the scent, and the noise for the control group remained the same throughout.
Using high-tech imaging devices to track brain activity in real-time, the researchers observed changes in the mice’s brains as they navigated the virtual environment.
Interestingly, the researchers found that this recently-uncovered neuron-shifting phenomenon, termed “representation drift,” occurred regardless of changes to the mouse’s environment.
The results would seem to dispel the idea that representation drift has mostly to do with a mouse’s surroundings.
Instead, the study authors hypothesize, representation drift could be the brain’s way of sorting new but familiar information as it collects it — like a return visit to your favorite restaurant.
Neuroscientists at Northwestern University recently published a study about changes in the hippocampus — a crucial part of the brain for spatial memory.
The paper sheds new light on a phenomenon first uncovered in 2013, when a study in the journal Nature Neuroscience found that neurons in the hippocampus alter their patterns over time — that memories related to place are literally moving around in the brain.
To conduct the experiment, mice were set on a treadmill flanked by screens on all sides. The screens showed the innards of a maze, which the mice were able to explore based on how they navigated the treadmill. A familiar scent was pumped in, while white noise was played in the background.
Though the mice were subjected to a number of cardio sessions over several days, the layout of the maze, the scent, and the noise for the control group remained the same throughout.
Using high-tech imaging devices to track brain activity in real-time, the researchers observed changes in the mice’s brains as they navigated the virtual environment.
Interestingly, the researchers found that this recently-uncovered neuron-shifting phenomenon, termed “representation drift,” occurred regardless of changes to the mouse’s environment.
The results would seem to dispel the idea that representation drift has mostly to do with a mouse’s surroundings.
Instead, the study authors hypothesize, representation drift could be the brain’s way of sorting new but familiar information as it collects it — like a return visit to your favorite restaurant.
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A mysterious Bitcoin wallet just cashed out $54,000 worth of crypto bought 14 years ago — now valued at a jaw-dropping $9.5 billion. That’s a profit of 17 million percent.
Whales — long-term holders of massive Bitcoin stashes — have been stirring as the coin hits record highs. Just last week, one moved nearly $8 billion after a 14-year dormancy, while another turned $16,000 into $2 billion.
The reason for the sudden activity isn’t clear, but it coincides with Trump’s new crypto-friendly policies and Bitcoin’s surge to an all-time high of $122,838.
Whales — long-term holders of massive Bitcoin stashes — have been stirring as the coin hits record highs. Just last week, one moved nearly $8 billion after a 14-year dormancy, while another turned $16,000 into $2 billion.
The reason for the sudden activity isn’t clear, but it coincides with Trump’s new crypto-friendly policies and Bitcoin’s surge to an all-time high of $122,838.
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Two Tesla influencers were riding in a brand new Model Y “Juniper,” a refreshed version of the automaker’s most popular car, when they came across an object in the road ... and the car’s “Full Self-Driving” mode barreled right into it.
It was especially awkward because they were just 60 miles into what was supposed to be a cross-country trip demonstrating the greatness of the technology. Neither passenger was hurt, but the car took a beating.
It was especially awkward because they were just 60 miles into what was supposed to be a cross-country trip demonstrating the greatness of the technology. Neither passenger was hurt, but the car took a beating.
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Astronomers are still analyzing data on 3I/ATLAS, the third interstellar object ever observed passing through our solar system — and it’s unlike anything we’ve seen before.
While many think it’s a comet, new findings suggest it’s far from ordinary. In a recent (yet-to-be peer-reviewed) study, researchers using the European Very Large Telescope’s UVES instrument found that 3I/ATLAS has an “extreme abundance ratio” of nickel to iron in its gas plume — a signature unseen in typical comets or even 2I/Borisov, the interstellar comet discovered in 2019.
At such cold distances, nickel and iron shouldn’t vaporize at all — making their presence deeply puzzling. The UVES data showed nickel in every observation, while iron only appeared when 3I/ATLAS came within about 2.6 astronomical units of the Sun.
In short, 3I/ATLAS continues to defy expectations as it races through our solar system.
#Space #Interstellar
While many think it’s a comet, new findings suggest it’s far from ordinary. In a recent (yet-to-be peer-reviewed) study, researchers using the European Very Large Telescope’s UVES instrument found that 3I/ATLAS has an “extreme abundance ratio” of nickel to iron in its gas plume — a signature unseen in typical comets or even 2I/Borisov, the interstellar comet discovered in 2019.
At such cold distances, nickel and iron shouldn’t vaporize at all — making their presence deeply puzzling. The UVES data showed nickel in every observation, while iron only appeared when 3I/ATLAS came within about 2.6 astronomical units of the Sun.
In short, 3I/ATLAS continues to defy expectations as it races through our solar system.
#Space #Interstellar
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🚀 Are We Surrounded by “Blazing” Alien Metasocieties? 🌌
Astronomer Brian Lacki from Breakthrough Listen suggests some galaxies might blaze with technosignatures — signals from countless alien civilizations.
It’s a bold new take on the Fermi Paradox: if life is common, why haven’t we found it? Lacki argues that some galaxies could host billions of inhabited worlds while others remain silent.
Instead of hunting individual civilizations, he proposes searching for radio emissions from entire galaxies — a cosmic census of advanced life.
✨ Maybe the universe has been talking all along — we just weren’t listening.
#FermiParadox #AlienLife #SETI #Technosignatures #SpaceExploration #Astrobiology #Cosmos #ScienceNews
Astronomer Brian Lacki from Breakthrough Listen suggests some galaxies might blaze with technosignatures — signals from countless alien civilizations.
It’s a bold new take on the Fermi Paradox: if life is common, why haven’t we found it? Lacki argues that some galaxies could host billions of inhabited worlds while others remain silent.
Instead of hunting individual civilizations, he proposes searching for radio emissions from entire galaxies — a cosmic census of advanced life.
✨ Maybe the universe has been talking all along — we just weren’t listening.
#FermiParadox #AlienLife #SETI #Technosignatures #SpaceExploration #Astrobiology #Cosmos #ScienceNews
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