Lifeboat Foundation: Safeguarding Humanity
Toggle light / dark theme

Blog – Page 10

Get the latest international news and world events from around the world.

Log in for authorized contributors

The science of consciousness

Humans know they exist, but how does “knowing” work? Despite all that’s been learned about brain function and the bodily processes it governs, we still don’t understand where the subjective experiences associated with brain functions originate.

A new interdisciplinary project seeks to find answers to these kinds of big questions around consciousness, a fundamental yet elusive phenomenon.

The MIT Consciousness Club is co-led by philosopher Matthias Michel, the Old Dominion Career Development Professor in the Department of Linguistics and Philosophy, and Earl Miller, the Picower Professor of Neuroscience in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences.

How ancient philosophers would shape AI | Brendan McCord

We made this video in partnership with the Cosmos Institute, a network of thinkers and builders advancing human flourishing in the AI era.

Read the Cosmos Institute Substack ► https://bit.ly/3XK5T7k.

Follow Brendan McCord on X ► https://bit.ly/3Y9pFLb.

Artificial intelligence is transforming our world, prompting us to revisit fundamental philosophical questions about human existence and purpose. In this interview, Brendan McCord, founder of the Cosmos Institute, examines how philosophical insights from thinkers like Aristotle, John Stuart Mill, and Alexis de Tocqueville can inform our approach to AI, ensuring it enhances rather than undermines human flourishing.

McCord outlines three crucial steps to align AI with the principles of autonomy, reason, and decentralization. By drawing on ancient wisdom, we can navigate the complexities of modern technology and create a future where innovation and human values coexist.

Reflecting on the transformative ideas from Copernicus to Turing, this interview offers a roadmap for finding our place in the cosmos amidst the AI revolution. Explore how we can build a society that prioritizes human potential in the age of technology.

Continue reading “How ancient philosophers would shape AI | Brendan McCord” | >

Youth with mental health conditions share strikingly similar brain changes, regardless of diagnosis

An international study—the largest of its kind—has uncovered similar structural changes in the brains of young people diagnosed with anxiety disorders, depression, ADHD and conduct disorder, offering new insights into the biological roots of mental health conditions in children and young people.

Led by Dr. Sophie Townend, a researcher in the Department of Psychology at the University of Bath, the study, published today in the journal Biological Psychiatry, analyzed from almost 9,000 children and adolescents—around half with a diagnosed mental health condition—to identify both shared and disorder-specific alterations in brain structure across four of the most common psychiatric disorders in childhood and adolescence.

Among several key findings, the researchers identified common brain changes across all four disorders—notably, a reduced surface area in regions critical for processing emotions, responding to threats and maintaining awareness of bodily states.

Why mysterious structures within Earth’s mantle hold clues to life here

For decades, scientists have been baffled by two enormous, enigmatic structures buried deep inside Earth with features so vast and unusual that they defy conventional models of planetary evolution.

Now, a study published in Nature Geoscience by Rutgers geodynamicist Yoshinori Miyazaki in combination with collaborators offers a striking new explanation for these anomalies and their role in shaping Earth’s ability to support life.

Artificial neuron can mimic different parts of the brain—a major step toward human-like robotics

Robots that can sense and respond to the world like humans may soon be a reality as scientists have created an artificial neuron capable of mimicking different parts of the brain.

Artificial neurons—tiny electronic circuits that replicate the way brain cells communicate—lie at the heart of neuromorphic computing, a field aiming to bring human-like intelligence to machines.

Despite rapid progress, today’s can only perform fixed tasks, each serving a narrow role. Thousands must be combined to replicate simple brain functions—a costly, energy-hungry process compared with the brain’s effortless adaptability.

Disney teaches a robot how to fall gracefully and make a soft landing

Bipedal (two-legged) robots are sophisticated machines, but they are not the most graceful when things go wrong. A simple push, fall or an obstacle can send them crashing to the ground, often resulting in expensive damage to sensitive components such as cameras.

To solve this problem, researchers at Disney Research in Zurich, Switzerland, have developed a new system that ensures that when gravity brings a robot tumbling down, it falls softly and gracefully.

Existing techniques to protect robots when they topple over do not offer control or effectively minimize impact. Actuators might freeze, causing the robot to stiffen and hit the ground hard, or they might go limp, leaving the robot to tumble chaotically. Other methods rely on pre-programmed falling motions, but these only work for slow movements or simple falls.

Quantum teleportation between photons from two distant light sources achieved

Everyday life on the internet is insecure. Hackers can break into bank accounts or steal digital identities. Driven by AI, attacks are becoming increasingly sophisticated. Quantum cryptography promises more effective protection. It makes communication secure against eavesdropping by relying on the laws of quantum physics. However, the path toward a quantum internet is still fraught with technical hurdles.

Researchers at the Institute of Semiconductor Optics and Functional Interfaces (IHFG) at the University of Stuttgart have now made a decisive breakthrough in one of the most technically challenging components, the . They report their results in Nature Communications.

/* */