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Dec 3, 2024

How do “Predator Civilizations” solve the Fermi Paradox?

Posted by in categories: alien life, existential risks, military, singularity

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A pair of researchers, one with the Carnegie Institution for Science, the other with California Institute of Technology, has developed a possible solution to the Fermi Paradox. In their paper published in Journal of the Royal Society Interface, Michael Wong and Stuart Bartlett suggest that the reason that no aliens from other planets have visited us is because of superlinear scaling, which, they contend, leads to a singularity. (How do “Predator Civilizations” solve the Fermi Paradox?)

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Nov 29, 2024

More than 40% of coral species face extinction, according to new research

Posted by in categories: climatology, existential risks

Yikes o.o! What I believe is that we need to have cooling systems underwater to keep things cooler so coral and fish can survive. It could also mean even that fish food supplies could run out in the future from the ocean.


Following a global assessment, the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species has revealed that 44% of reef-building coral species globally are at risk of extinction. The announcement was made at the ongoing COP29 UN climate conference.

Dr. Michael Sweet, Professor of Molecular Ecology and Head of the Aquatic Research Facility at the University of Derby, is among a pool of experts who contributed to the global coral assessment, which has revealed the severe impacts of our rapidly changing climate.

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Nov 28, 2024

Fermi paradox

Posted by in category: existential risks

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Nov 23, 2024

WEAVE First Light Observations: Origin and Dynamics of the Shock Front in Stephan’s Quintet

Posted by in categories: existential risks, particle physics

ABSTRACT. We present a detailed study of the large-scale shock front in Stephan’s Quintet, a by-product of past and ongoing interactions. Using integral-field spectroscopy from the new William Herschel Telescope Enhanced Area Velocity Explorer (WEAVE), recent 144 MHz observations from the LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey, and archival data from the Very Large Array and JWST, we obtain new measurements of key shock properties and determine its impact on the system. Harnessing the WEAVE large integral field unit’s field of view (90 |$\times$| 78 arcsec|$^{2}$|⁠), spectral resolution (⁠|$R\sim 2500$|⁠), and continuous wavelength coverage across the optical band, we perform robust emission-line modelling and dynamically locate the shock within the multiphase intergalactic medium with higher precision than previously possible. The shocking of the cold gas phase is hypersonic, and comparisons with shock models show that it can readily account for the observed emission-line ratios. In contrast, we demonstrate that the shock is relatively weak in the hot plasma visible in X-rays (with Mach number of |$\mathcal {M}\sim 2\!-\!4$|⁠), making it inefficient at producing the relativistic particles needed to explain the observed synchrotron emission. Instead, we propose that it has led to an adiabatic compression of the medium, which has increased the radio luminosity 10-fold. Comparison of the Balmer line-derived extinction map with the molecular gas and hot dust observed with JWST suggests that pre-existing dust may have survived the collision, allowing the condensation of H|$_2$| – a key channel for dissipating the shock energy.

Nov 21, 2024

The Most Insane Weapon You Never Heard About

Posted by in category: existential risks

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Nov 16, 2024

An Asteroid Hit Earth Just Hours After Being Detected

Posted by in categories: asteroid/comet impacts, existential risks

A small asteroid burned up in Earth’s atmosphere off the coast of California just hours after being discovered and before impact monitoring systems had registered its trajectory.

Last month, an asteroid impacted Earth’s atmosphere just hours after being detected — somehow, it managed to circumvent impact monitoring systems during its approach to our planet. However, on the bright side, the object measured just 3 feet (1 meter) in diameter and posed very little threat to anything on Earth’s surface.

This asteroid, designated 2024 UQ, was first discovered on Oct. 22 by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) survey in Hawaii, a network of four telescopes that scan the sky for moving objects that might be space rocks on a collision course with Earth. Two hours later, the asteroid burned up over the Pacific Ocean near California, making it an “imminent impactor.”

Nov 15, 2024

Elon Musk says there’s a 10% to 20% chance that AI ‘goes bad,’ even while he raises billions for his own startup xAI

Posted by in categories: Elon Musk, existential risks, robotics/AI

The Tesla CEO said AI is a “significant existential threat.”

Nov 14, 2024

Meteorite contains evidence of liquid water on Mars 742 million years ago

Posted by in categories: asteroid/comet impacts, existential risks

An asteroid struck Mars 11 million years ago and sent pieces of the red planet hurtling through space. One of these chunks of Mars eventually crashed into the Earth somewhere near Purdue University and is one of the few meteorites that can be traced directly to Mars. This meteorite was rediscovered in a drawer at Purdue University in 1931 and named the Lafayette Meteorite.

Nov 11, 2024

Scientists Consider Drastic Action as Doomsday Glacier Threatens to Flood Entire Islands and Coasts

Posted by in categories: existential risks, transportation

Scientists disagree when the Thwaites or Doomsday Glacier will fully melt, but they are starting to weigh up large scale interventions.

Nov 9, 2024

An asteroid hit Earth just hours after being detected. It was the 3rd ‘imminent impactor’ of 2024

Posted by in categories: asteroid/comet impacts, existential risks

A small asteroid burned up in Earth’s atmosphere off the coast of California just hours after being discovered and before impact monitoring systems had registered its trajectory.

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