Consciousness and Entanglement… Acute Religious Experiences: Madness, Psychosis, and Religious Studies 21 Mar 2024 https://www.madinamerica.com/2023/03/acute-religious-experiences-madness 'When I am sane, I’m an atheist, but when I am mad, I’m driven by the hand of god.” This one-sentence summary of my experience is the inspiration for…
Consciousness and Entanglement… What Happens When God Chatbots Start Giving Spiritual Guidance? | Scientific American 21 Mar 202421 Mar 2024 Well, this AI-fueled approach to "God on-demand" (#godbots?) may lead to a lot more religiosity while stifling spirituality even further. (I can think of some prompts for #QuranGPT that may send it…
Academic Black Hole… America’s elite universities are bloated, complacent and illiberal 8 Mar 2024 https://www.economist.com/international/2024/03/04/americas-elite-universities-are-bloated-complacent-and-illiberal?itm_source=parsely-api To keep its competitive edge the Ivy League will have to change The struggle over America’s elite universities—who controls them and how they are run–continues to rage, with lasting consequences…
Higher Education… Final U.S. spending bills offer gloomy outlook for science 7 Mar 2024 https://www.science.org/content/article/final-u-s-spending-bills-offer-gloomy-outlook-science?utm_source=sfmc&utm_medium=email&utm_content=alert&utm_campaign=DailyLatestNews&et_rid=782094243&et_cid=5128927 Key research funding agencies get sizable cuts or flat budgets Scientists, prepare to tighten your belts. This week, the U.S. Congress is expected to approve six 2024 spending bills…
Astronomy and Cosmology… NSF board approves funding for just one of two proposed giant telescopes 2 Mar 2024 https://www.science.org/content/article/nsf-board-approves-funding-just-one-two-proposed-giant-telescopes U.S. astronomers will have to make do with one giant ground-based telescope rather than the desired two, the National Science Board (NSB) announced yesterday. Meeting last week, the panel…
INFORMATION… A promising leap towards computers with light-speed capabilities 29 Feb 2024 https://phys.org/news/2024-02-capabilities.html (Another Lithium Niobate innovation!) Scientists have created a reprogrammable light-based processor, a world-first, that they say could usher in a new era of quantum computing and communication. Lead researcher…
Economy… Meet the French startup hoping to take on OpenAI 28 Feb 2024 https://www.economist.com/business/2024/02/26/meet-the-french-startup-hoping-to-take-on-openai Here we go - the French entering the AI ring. Perhaps a bit late to the party. But the investors are still hell bent on the AI bet. 'Some…
Engineering… Live Updates: The Spacecraft Odysseus Has Landed on the Moon 22 Feb 2024 https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/02/22/science/nasa-moon-landing-odysseus For the first time in more than 50 years, an American spacecraft has landed on the moon. The lander, named Odysseus, was built by Intuitive Machines of Houston. Minutes…
Big Tech… Kam Ghaffarian’s Moonshots 21 Feb 2024 https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/18/business/kam-ghaffarians-moonshots.html Much of the American space program is run out of nondescript offices in the Washington, D.C., suburbs. That’s where Kam Ghaffarian, the billionaire space entrepreneur, could be found on…
Economy… Inside the Funding Frenzy at Anthropic, One of A.I.’s Hottest Start-Ups 20 Feb 2024 https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/20/technology/anthropic-funding-ai.html The original funder for Anthropic was SBF - that ought to be a big red flag. But AI hype knows no bounds. We will how this unfolds. 'Last May, Anthropic,…
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