Alice in Wonderland Syndrome: Clinical and Pathophysiological Review
Domestication and reduced aggression
Nature: Reconciling narratives on environmental impact of LLMs
From Words to Watts: Benchmarking the Energy Costs of LLM Inference
ACM: The Energy Footprint of Humans and Large Language Models
Epoch AI: How much energy does ChatGPT use?
Keep the Cost Down: A Review on Methods to Optimize LLM KV Cache
MatX: Optimize for inference too, not just training FLOPs
How Hungry is AI? Benchmarking Energy, Water, and Carbon Footprint of LLM Inference
Reconciling the contrasting narratives on the environmental impact of large language models - Scientific Reports
Scientific Reports - Reconciling the contrasting narratives on the environmental impact of large language models
Intentional Fire-Spreading by “Firehawk” Raptors in Northern Australia
Gli uccelli che appiccano incendi: la leggenda che la scienza ha dovuto ammettere Per decenni è sembrata solo una storia antica: rapaci che rubano il fuoco per cacciare. I popoli aborigeni australiani lo raccontavano da secoli, ma nessuno li aveva presi sul serio. Poi sono arrivate le prove. Nel nord dell’Australia, alcune specie come il nibbio fischiatore (Haliastur sphenurus), il nibbio bruno (Milvus migrans) e il falco bruno (Falco berigora) compiono un atto che sembra uscito da un mito: raccolgono rametti o tizzoni ancora accesi da incendi in corso, li trasportano con becco o artigli e li lasciano cadere in zone non bruciate. Il risultato? Nuovi focolai. Piccoli animali costretti a uscire dai rifugi. La caccia diventa più facile. Questo comportamento, chiamato fire-spreading, è stato osservato, fotografato e descritto da ranger, ricercatori e pompieri. Non è più un racconto orale: è un fenomeno reale, intenzionale e ripetuto, riconosciuto dalla letteratura scientifica. A volte la natura non inventa miti. Li mette in scena. 🖋️3mendamente_patti #3mendamente_patti #UccelliRapaci #MisteriDellaNatura #CuriositàScientifiche #Australia #ComportamentoAnimale #Firehawks #AustraliaWildlife #AnimalBehavior #NatureFacts #ScienceNews Fonti • Bonta, M. et al. (2017). Intentional Fire-Spreading by “Firehawk” Raptors in Northern Australia. Journal of Ethnobiology, 37(4), 700–718. • Osservazioni documentate da ranger e vigili del fuoco del Northern Territory (Australia), riportate nello stesso studio.
Goodbye, Cavities? Scientists Just Found a Way to Regrow Tooth Enamel
Scientists at the University of Nottingham have developed a new protein-based gel that can restore tooth enamel by mimicking the body’s natural growth processes. A newly developed material has been used to create a gel capable of repairing and rebuilding tooth enamel, offering a potential breakth
Scientists at the University of Nottingham have developed a new protein-based gel that can restore tooth enamel by mimicking the body’s natural growth processes.
IL-8 | ACROBiosystems
High-quality IL-8 from ACROBiosystems. Various species and tags of IL-8. Minimal Batch-to-Batch Variation. Bulks in stock.
Genetically Engineered Babies Are Banned. Tech Titans Are Trying to Make One Anyway.
Silicon Valley startups are pushing the boundaries of reproductive genetics, hoping to prevent diseases as well as improve chances for a high IQ and other traits.
Subjective Effect Index - Effect Index
A resource dedicated to establishing the field of formalised subjective effect documentation.
(https://gandalf.fee.urv.cat/professors/AntonioQuesada/Curs1920/Cipolla_laws.pdf)
COCO - Common Objects in Context
General Principle of Neuronal Evolution Reveals a Human-Accelerated Neuron Type Potentially Underlying the High Prevalence of Autism in Humans | Molecular Biology and Evolution | Oxford Academic
Abstract. The remarkable ability of a single genome sequence to encode a diverse collection of distinct cell types, including the thousands of cell types f
we hypothesized that highly abundant neuronal cell types may be under greater selective constraint than rarer neuronal types, leading to variation in their rates of evolution
NASA finds Titan’s alien lakes may be creating primitive cells
Saturn’s moon Titan may be more alive with possibilities than we thought. New NASA research suggests that in Titan’s freezing methane and ethane lakes, simple molecules could naturally arrange themselves into vesicles—tiny bubble-like structures that mimic the first steps toward life. These compartments, born from splashing droplets and complex chemistry in Titan’s atmosphere, could act like primitive cell walls.
Beyond AI: Introducing the Next Frontier of Machine Cognition
by Muhammad Ali (Founder & CEO: JN Research)
Traditional AI models are like that, highly optimized systems capable of extraordinary performance, but only in a limited, data-driven way. They react to data, analyze it, and process it, but they cannot move beyond that framework
it is logical to use the human brain and its neurons as a reference to model artificial systems, rather than scaling the systems in their current configurations and hoping to see generalized intelligence
Some in the AI community believe that if we make our existing AI models bigger and faster, eventually they will start flying/exhibiting generalized intelligence
Scaling current AI models would have been a logical approach, only if their fundamental building blocks (nodes/neurons) are inherently capable of exhibiting generalized
in a sense we can get a motorcycle to "fly" by building a ramp and launching it into the air. But that’s not sustainable flight, it is a temporary solution based on brute force, not the inherent ability to fly.
Air pollution directly linked to increased dementia risk
Long-term exposure accelerates the development of Lewy body dementia and Parkinson’s disease with dementia in people who are predisposed to the conditions.
Vegan versus meat-based dog food: Guardian-reported indicators of health | PLOS One
Alternative pet foods may offer benefits concerning environmental sustainability and the welfare of animals processed into pet foods. However, some worry these may compromise the welfare of pets. We asked 2,639 dog guardians about one dog living with them, for at least one year. Among 2,596 involved in pet diet decision-making, pet health was a key factor when choosing diets. 2,536 provided information relating to a single dog, fed a conventional meat (1,370 = 54%), raw meat (830 = 33%) or vegan (336 = 13%) diet for at least one year. We examined seven general indicators of ill health: unusual numbers of veterinary visits, medication use, progression onto a therapeutic diet after initial maintenance on a vegan or meat-based diet, guardian opinion and predicted veterinary opinion of health status, percentage of unwell dogs and number of health disorders per unwell dog. Dogs fed conventional diets appeared to fare worse than those fed either of the other two diets. Dogs fed raw meat appeared to fare marginally better than those fed vegan diets. However, there were statistically significant differences in average ages. Dogs fed raw meat were younger, which has been demonstrated to be associated with improved health outcomes. Additionally, non-health related factors may have improved apparent outcomes for dogs fed raw meat, for three of seven general health indicators. We also considered the prevalence of 22 specific health disorders, based on predicted veterinary assessments. Percentages of dogs in each dietary group considered to have suffered from health disorders were 49% (conventional meat), 43% (raw meat) and 36% (vegan). Significant evidence indicates that raw meat diets are often associated with dietary hazards, including nutritional deficiencies and imbalances, and pathogens. Accordingly, the pooled evidence to date indicates that the healthiest and least hazardous dietary choices for dogs, are nutritionally sound vegan diets.
Large-scale study finds vegan diets healthiest and least hazardous for dogs | ProVeg International
A ground-breaking new study funded by ProVeg International has found that the healthiest and least hazardous food for dogs…
Eliezer Yudkowsky
Eliezer Shlomo Yudkowsky (Chicago, 11 settembre 1979) è uno scrittore, teorico dell'intelligenza artificiale e teorico delle decisioni statunitense, noto per aver divulgato l'idea dell'intelligenza artificiale amichevole,[1][2] rendendola popolare
i sistemi autonomi e adattivi siano progettati per imparare un comportamento corretto nel tempo
Egli afferma che la gentilezza (un desiderio di non nuocere agli umani) dovrebbe essere progettata fin dall'inizio, ma che i progettisti dovrebbero riconoscere sia che i loro progetti possono essere difettosi, sia che il robot imparerà ed evolverà nel tempo
lavorare per specificare gli agenti software che convergono su comportamenti predefiniti sicuri anche quando i loro obiettivi sono mal specificati
IA potrebbe fare un salto apparentemente brusco nell'intelligenza puramente come risultato dell'antropomorfismo, la tendenza umana a pensare allo 'scemo del villaggio' e a 'Einstein' come gli estremi della scala dell'intelligenza, invece di punti quasi indistinguibili sulla scala delle menti in generale
Staring into the Singularity 1.2.5
Fifty thousand years ago with the rise of Homo sapiens sapiens.
Ten thousand years ago with the invention of civilization.
Five hundred years ago with the invention of the printing press.
Fifty years ago with the invention of the computer.
In less than thirty years, it will end.
life as we know it" is over, and everything we know goes out the window
The most-quoted estimate for the Singularity is 2035 - within your lifetime! - although many, including I, think that the Singularity may occur substantially sooner.
That's The AI Advantage: Simple tasks carried out at blinding speeds and without error, conscious tasks carried out with perfect memory and total self-awareness
the laws of physics as now understood would allow one gram (more or less) to store and run the entire human race at a million subjective years per second
That means, using only this planetary mass for computing power, it would be possible to support more people than the entire Universe could support if biological humans colonized every single planet. It means that, in a single day, a civilization could live over 80 billion years, several times older than the age of the Universe to date
the human cognitive architecture is universal. We all have the same sorts of underlying mindstuff. Though the nature of this mindstuff is not necessarily known, our ability to communicate with each other indicates that, whatever we are communicating, it is the same on both sides. If any two humans share a set of concepts, any structure composed of those concepts that is understood by one will be understood by the other
The great breakthroughs of physics and engineering did not occur because a group of people plodded and plodded and plodded for generations until they found an explanation so complex, a string of ideas so long, that only time could invent it. Relativity and quantum physics and buckyballs and object-oriented programming all happened because someone put together a short, simple, elegant semantic structure in a way that nobody had ever thought of before. Being a little bit smarter is where revolutions come from. Not time. Not hard work. Although hard work and time were usually necessary, others had worked far harder and longer without result
The essence of revolution is raw smartness
Two and a half millennia of trying to solve it and nothing to show for it but "I think therefore I am." The solutions seem to be necessarily simple, yet are demonstrably imperceptible. Perhaps the solutions operate outside the representations that can be formed with the human brain
Our semantic primitives even determine what we can know.
Might there be states of existence beyond mere consciousness - transsentience? Might solving the nature of reality create the ability to create new Universes, manipulate the laws of physics, even alter the kind of things that can be real - "ontotechnology"? That's what the Singularity is all about
A Perceptual Transcend occurs when all things that were comprehensible become obvious in retrospect, and all things that were inventable become obvious. A Perceptual Transcend occurs when the semantic structures of one generation become the semantic primitives of the next
If you're not sure what conscious experience a.k.a. "qualia" means, the short version is that you are not the one who speaks your thoughts, you are the one who hears your thoughts
This number is far larger than most people's conception of infinity. I know that it was larger than mine. My sense of awe when I first encountered this number was beyond words. It was the sense of looking upon something so much larger than the world inside my head that my conception of the Universe was shattered and rebuilt to fit. All theologians should face a number like that, so they can properly appreciate what they invoke by talking about the "infinite" intelligence of God
until you understand the hollowness of the words "infinity", "large" and "transhuman", you cannot appreciate the Singularity. Even appreciating the Singularity is as far beyond us as visualizing Graham's number is to a chimpanzee
Even if a thousand novices try to solve a problem and fail, there's no way to say that a single expert couldn't solve the problem casually, offhandedly
One of the very deep truths about the human mind is that evolution designed us to be stupid - to be blinded by ideology, to refuse to admit we're wrong, to think "the enemy" is inhuman, to be affected by peer pressure
Variations in intelligence that fall within the normal design range don't directly affect this stupidity. That's where we get the folk wisdom that intelligence doesn't imply wisdom, and within the human range this is mostly correct (8). The variations we see don't hit hard enough to make people appreciate what "smarter" means
I am a Singularitarian because I have some small appreciation of how utterly, finally, absolutely impossible it is to think like someone even a little tiny bit smarter than you are. I know that we are all missing the obvious, every day. There are no hard problems, only problems that are hard to a certain level of intelligence. Move the smallest bit upwards, and some problems will suddenly move from "impossible" to "obvious". Move a substantial degree upwards, and all of them will become obvious. Move a huge distance upwards
I've never been through the Singularity. I've never been to the Transcend. I just staked out an area of the Low Beyond. This page is devoted to communicating a sense of awe that comes from personal experience, and is, therefore, merely human
2035. Probably earlier
For example, population growth is hyperbolic. (Maybe you learned it was exponential in math class, but it's hyperbolic to a much better fit than exponential.) If that trend continues, world population reaches infinity on Aug 17, 2027, plus or minus 1.8 years
Waiting for the bus is a bad idea if you turn out to be the bus driver
Every species - at least, every species that doesn't blow itself up - sooner or later comes face-to-face with a full-blown superintelligence
(The details which follow have been redesigned and fleshed out a bit (by yours truly) from the original in Mind Children.)
A neuron-sized robot swims up to a neuron and scans it into memory.
An external computer, in continuous communication with the robot, starts simulating the neuron.
The robot waits until the computer simulation perfectly matches the neuron.
The robot replaces the neuron with itself as smoothly as possible, sending inputs to the computer and transmitting outputs from the simulation of a neuron inside the computer.
This entire procedure has had no effect on the flow of information in the brain, except that one neuron's worth of processing is now being done inside a computer instead of a neuron.
Repeat, neuron by neuron, until the entire brain is composed of robot neurons
4e. The biological neuron is discarded
consciousness is strictly a function of neurons
At this point it is customary to speculate about how one goes about eating, drinking, walking around. People state that they are unwilling to give up physical reality, worry about whether or not they will have sufficient computational power to simulate a hedonistic world of their wildest desires, and so on and so on ad nauseam. Even Vinge himself, discoverer of the Singularity, has gone on record as wondering whether one's true self would be diluted by Transcendence
Eventually, you will die, go into an eternal loop, or Transcend. In the long run... the really long run... mortality isn't an option
emotions like "selfishness" and "resentment" do not spontaneously appear in artificial intelligences
Resentment is a complex functional adaptation which evolved in humans over the course of millions of years; it does not simply appear out of nowhere.
Even the tendency to evaluate your own group as more valuable is an evolved one, along with the tendency to think in terms of "us" and "them" in the first place.
If infants could choose whether or not to leave the womb, without knowing what lay at the end of the birth canal - without knowing if anything lay at the end of the birth canal - how many would
Mitchell Porter calls it "The race between superweapons and superintelligence
Have you ever stared into the hard problem of ethics, or consciousness, or reality, and realized that there is no humanly-understandable justification for subjective experience, getting out of bed, or anything existing at all? How can we do anything, set any goals, without knowing the Meaning of Life? How can we justify our continued participation in the rat race if we don't know why we're running
The time has come to stop turning away from the mugging on the corner, the beggar on the street. It is no longer necessary to look nervously away, repeating the mantra: "I can't solve all the problems of the world." We can. We can end this
Why rationalize this life? Why try to pretend that it makes sense? Why make it seem bright and happy? There is an alternative
Organizations tend to perpetuate themselves, rather than solving problems
But what I care about is the Singularity, not Singularitarianism
whether an idea is intelligent or stupid takes logical precedence over whether it's pro- or anti-Singularity. (You'd think that this would all be blatantly obvious - unless, of course, you'd ever read a history book, or talked to other humans, or turned on a television set or something
Don't describe Life after Singularity in glowing terms. Don't describe it at all. I think the all-time low point in predicting the future came in the few brief paragraphs of Unbounding the Future that I read, when they described a pedestrian being run over and his hand miraculously healing. That's ridiculous. Pedestrian? Run over? Hand? Cars in a nanotech world? Why not just have a bunch of apes describe the ease of getting bananas with a human mind
Leave the problems of transhumanity to the transhumans. Our chances of getting anything right are the same as a fish designing a working airplane out of algae and pebbles
Why haven't quantum computers factored 21 yet?
Craig Gidney's computer science blog
God created the real numbers
3b1b/manim: Animation engine for explanatory math videos
Animation engine for explanatory math videos
A Rogue New Life Form
A tiny microbe discovered by accident challenges the definition of cellular life
Scientists recently discovered a microbe with one of the tiniest genomes on Earth. More surprising, the creature is almost entirely dependent on its host
Confused deputy problem
In information security, a confused deputy is a computer program that is tricked by another program (with fewer privileges or less rights) into misusing its authority on the system. It is a specific type of privilege escalation.[1] The confused deputy problem is often cited as an example of why capability-based security is important.
Capability systems protect against the confused deputy problem, whereas access-control list–based systems do not.[2]