Archive for Science - page 3

Welcome to the blogosphere. Ego Vero questions answered

Welcome to the blogosphere.  Ego Vero questions answered

I’d like to first welcome any new readers, then give some background and answer some questions about the blog.

*taps the microphone*  Is this thing on?

Ego Vero is my little corner of the internet where I can transform thoughts and ideas that are rattling around inside my head into a form of reality by comitting them to writing.  Ego Vero is Latin for “I seek truth”.  I have invited you along on my journey which may take us along strange paths.  This means I may write about any of several general topics that interest me and for whatever reason occupy my thoughts.  The articles (which are called “posts”) on the home page are in chronological order – newest at the top, older below – and not sorted by category.  As you scroll down you go back in time and see every post covering every subject.  If you don’t wish to see all the categories, you can narrow things down to one category at a time.  Here’s how.  You will see these categories listed on the right hand side of the page – clicking on one of those categories will show you only the posts on that subject.  Let’s say you are an aviation buff who only wants to read my aviation posts and avoid the rest of my blather about Empiricism, robots, music and so on – click on “Aviation” and voila!  You will see only the aviation posts – still in chronological order with the newest at the top.  Same goes for any of the categories.

The category with the most posts by far is “Life”.  Just FYI

You know – Life – as in Life One and Life Two (three? four?……)

Any red text you see within a post contains a link to additional information – an article I used for reference, perhaps another related post I wrote, or a wikipedia link, etc.  Clink on the red text and the link should open in a new tab.

My goal first and foremost is to get these ideas out of my head!  Read the “About” page for more background.  But I invite you, dear reader, in the hope that we may learn something together about ourselves and each other.  And that you may be at least somewhat entertained in the process.  I welcome your feedback via the comments.  To the left of each post title is a two colored box – the top half is red and indicates the date the post was created.  The bottom half is grey and says “comments”.  The number  – which is almost always zero, dammit – indicates how many comments readers have left about the post.  Click on that grey box and you can leave a comment about the post.  Please do!  Your e-mail adress will not be published, shared or used by me in any way.  And there is definitely a slim chance that I will not stalk you.

For more, read How to Read This Here Blog Thingy and For New Readers – Welcome!

So Welcome!  And enjoy.

The Robots are Coming…

The Robots are Coming…

The Robots are coming!  The Robots are coming! 

First they came for our jobs, and I said nothing because I was unemployed.  Is this how the robot revolution begins?

Perhaps my anxiety is uncalled for.  In fact as is the case with most of my anxiety, paranoia, general hysteria and impalpable ranting, I’m sure it is.  If history is our guide, then we can predict a shift in employment, but not an end to employment.  At the end of the nineteenth century, most American jobs were in agriculture.  When those jobs were taken over by machines, employment shifted to manufacturing.  Then those jobs were automated.  The employment shifted again to Tech and Services, the jobs that the ‘bots are eyeing now through their little red glowing IR sensor eyeballs…err…CMOS chips.  Is that the end of the line?  No.  Employment will shift to areas reliant on tasks that robots cannot perform – yet.  What those areas are I can’t say off the top of my head, but I’m sure they exist – or will exist.  And when the robots take over those jobs, humans will be employed in other industries possibly yet unheard of.  One hundred years ago the occupation of, say, software engineer had’t been imagined.  Today it is commonplace and often lucrative.  So I think it’s safe to say that there will be occupations that exist one hundred years from now that we cannot imagine today.

Technology is advancing at an exponential rate.  Consider that personal computers were only introduced about 30 years ago and were very expensive.  Now everyone carries a better more powerful computer around in their pocket.  One that probably didn’t cost much – it might have even been free.  When my father was my age, neither the PC nor the Smartphone had been invented.  What types of technology might there be when my sons reach my age?  I don’t know.  I literally do not know.  I only know that the trend seems to be toward artificial intelligence and robotics.  It is hard to imagine where that’s going to lead us.

robot unicorn attack

So perhaps the real question is, what (or who) is going to take over the jobs that robots are doing?  The next couple hundred years should be interesting;  let’s hope it doesn’t get weird.  OK, check that.  We know it’s gonna get weird.  Let’s just hope it doesn’t get too weird.

Cross posted at Men Out of Work Blog

This is what started me thinking…

This is what started me thinking…

…about Empiricism.

francis bacon tragedy series

Francis Bacon (1561 – 1626), sometimes referred to as the Father of Empiricism.

Hat Tip: Tragedy Series

School’s decision turns playground fun on it’s head

School’s decision turns playground fun on it’s head

I swiped the headline from within the story.  Couldn’t resist.  The story via Yahoo News is from Australia: School Bans Cartwheels.  Seems that the school principal initiated the rule because, you know, “someone could get hurt”.  Huh.  I  had such high hope for the Aussies.  In their defense, everyone except the principal at fault seems to think this is a bad idea, including her superiors at the Education Ministry or whatever they call it.

A few months ago I wrote about a study done in New Zealand where the elimination of such playground “rules” did not result in more injuries.  Not only that, but there was a decrease in bullying and the overall discipline at the school improved.   After that, I was hopeful that we might reverse the trend to childproof childhood.  Guess I was wrong.

my playground

 

 

Cross posted at Men Out of Work Blog

The “internet of things” is coming…and it doesn’t look good.

The “internet of things” is coming…and it doesn’t look good.

At least that’s my opinion.  Every step forward is not neccessarily progress.

Let’s back up a little in case you aren’t familiar with the phrase “internet of things”.  More and more devices we use have microprocessors and internet connectivity built in for automation or for more efficient operation.  In practicality it means many things we use are becoming “smart”.  The “internet of things” refers to this grid of interconnected smart devices.

As I have stated in the past, I am skeptical of our implementation of new technologies, mostly in regard to the development of robotics and artificial intelligence.  Now you can add to that the smartification and internet connectivity of every damn thing we own.  Apparently I’m not alone.  At The Atlantic, Alexis Madrigal and Robinson Meyer have co-authored a piece entitled “When Everything Works Like Your Cell Phone” that outlines a few concerns starting with three things that happen to an object when it connects to the internet.  It becomes smart, it becomes hackable and it becomes something you no longer completeley own.  It goes downhill from there.

Companies are working on this technology in ways you probably would never imagine, in order to Make Your Life Easier.  Pull quote:

“Smartness” implies a smartphone-like upgrade cycle…This aspirational smartness is not just coming to watches. Any product that’s worth more than a few bucks will have some intelligence and communication abilities embedded in it. Companies that exist today are trying to create smart umbrellas and smart crockpots.

Do you want a crockpot that has to be replaced at every few years—or at least that will be forever upgrading itself? Would apps change your mind?

Let’s talk about a few examples that exist today.  The “smart” thermostat comes to mind.  The utility company will “give” you one – free of charge!  To help you save money on your bill.  How nice of them.  The little bastard will also rat you out to the utility company if you set it too low or too high, and the utility company can take control over it in certain situations.  Not really yours, is it?  What about your Smartphone?  Well, you can’t do everything you want with it.  Your only allowed to use it consistent with the carrier’s terms of service.  And you can’t unlock it and use it on another carrier.  Plus it spies on you.  Is it really yours?

So do you really want to be driving around in a Smart Car that won’t go as fast as you want it to?  You want to get to work today don’t you?  Click here to agree to our terms of service.  Don’t agree?  Get out and walk.  Do you want to have a Smart Toaster  or other Smart Appliances collecting data about your kitchen habits and sending them up to the cloud?  All just so you can control them with your smartphone without having to get up off the couch ten feet away?  I don’t.

internetfridge

The more automation simplfies our lives, the more it complicates our lives.  And the only reason to have autonomous machines is so that human decision making and judgement are not required for their operation.  You see where that’s going?  As our machines get smarter and smarter, we get dumber and dumber.  And dumberer.  Don’t believe me?  Look around.

I will make an exception for the Manhattan Project BarBot.  Lemme just look over these terms of service.  Hmmm……two drink maximum per person?

Dammit!

 

Technology reveals much more to Stonehenge than meets the eye

Technology reveals much more to Stonehenge than meets the eye

The Stonehenge ruin in England continues to pique our interest.  Built before the advent of written language, the motives of it creators have ever been a subject of curiosity and scholarly study.  According to this article at LiveScience.com, modern technology such as ground penetrating radar and computer modeling are being used to study the site and the surrounding area; the results are showing a vastly larger and more complex design to what is now believed to be a regional ritual site.  Notice that I said believed to be.  Speculation and educated guesswork is the order of the day since as I stated earlier, no written records exist.  So as researchers learn more about the people who built the monuments, they may have a better idea as to why they were built.

The earliest activity at the site, evidence of timber structures, dates from approximately 8000 years B.C., with the large  familiar stone structure having been built around 2600 years B.C.  The last known construction appears to have happened around 1600 years B.C.  which means that the organized activities surrounding the site have spanned a period of some 6,400 years!  The main activities performed here seem to be burials and cremations, and these apparently were ritual internment rather that human sacrifice.

stonehenge_align

Since the stones line up with various celestial events like the solstices, it is speculated that the site may be an astonomical observatory.  As it seems to coincide with the transition of the then current civilization (such as it was) from a hunting/gathering society to an agricultural one, perhaps the site served as a calendar so that crops could be planted at the correct time, and an accurate prediction of harvest time could be made.  I don’t know a lot about what type of belief system was practiced by the inhabitants of the area, but I assume they believed in deities that controlled natural forces (the heavens, the seasons, etc) and this calendar was part shrine to their deities as well.  The fact that they buried their dead here leads me to believe that it was also considered a pathway to the afterlife.  Strictly my opinions, as I said, I have no expertise in the area.

I don’t subscribe to the various theories of extraterrestrial involvement at Stonehenge.  I think that primitive people were very observant and adaptive and capable of great ingenuity when their very survival may have been at stake.  The history of our species and the collective experiences of our forebears are all part of what makes us who we are.  The things we have learned along the way are the reasons why we do what we do and so to better understand our past is to better understand ourselves.

If, like me you are naturally curious about our origins and history, it is well worth the few minutes of your time it will take to click this link and read the article at LiveScience.com.  There are several more informative links and a video within that article.  Enjoy!

Stephen Hawking Fears “Higgs Boson Doomsday”…

Stephen Hawking Fears “Higgs Boson Doomsday”…

The headline of this story at NBC.com is “Stephen Hawking Fears Higgs Boson Doomsday and He’s Not Alone“.  I have no idea what that actually means, but if Stephen Hawking fears it then so do I.  I guess that’s why he’s not alone.  Here is an article that explains what the Higgs Boson Doomsday is.  Let me see if I can get this straight – because the Higgs Boson, the energy field of which is the source of mass for everything in the universe, is estimated to be just the right mass in itself to cause the potential instability of said universe, there is a theoretical possibility that said universe might become unstable and instantaneously cease to exist.  Yeah.  I don’t understand it either.  But these guys do and they say it’s possible.  Ironically (!) if the mass of the Higgs Boson were different by just a few percent, we wouldn’t be doomed!  Boy did we luck out.  Nailed it on the first try.  Better go buy a lottery ticket.

But don’t worry:

“You won’t actually see it, because it will come at you at the speed of light,” Lykken said. “So in that sense don’t worry.”

Super.  We’re all gonna die instantly at any second.  But we won’t see it coming.  So don’t worry about it. Nope.  Don’t give it a second thought.

Stevie says don’t you worry ’bout a thing:

…Pretty Mama.  On second thought, forget the lottery ticket.  If I won and then the universe ended, I would have to kill myself.

Cross posted at Men Out Of Work Blog

I don’t trust robots, and I don’t trust monkeys

I don’t trust robots, and I don’t trust monkeys

With the exception of my (future)  Manhattan Project BarBot, maker of the “Perfect” Manhattan.  I’m gonna love that guy…err…thing.

Like This

“perfect”

 

But I digress.  I’ve written a few posts about my skepticism of Robotic Technology, referring (somewhat) tongue-in-cheek to the coming Robot Revolution.  I’ve also written a few posts about the differences between humans and animals, and now there’s information about a similarity that humans and chimpanzees share.  And it’s why I say “never trust a chimp”.  Turns out that Chimpanzees are natural born killers, and they prefer mob violence.  Apparently this is not new information to researchers, you just don’t hear about it because no one wants to think of cute little animals as potential murderers.  That’s right, I said murderers.  Chimps don’t kill for food.  They kill each other.  Just like us.  Isn’t that sweet?

Of course, we can only guess at the motives because chimps haven’t mastered language – yet.  So it’s going to be Robots or Chimps.  We’re screwed either way.

What Are They Thinking?

What Are They Thinking?

“They” being animals.  I lifted the post title from the Time.com article “What are Animals Thinking? (Hint:More Than You Suspect)”. There are some interesting observations in the short article, but after reading it turns out that it’s just a preview – almost an advertisement –  for the Time book “The Animal Mind” (On Newsstands Now!).

Since the most popular post on the blog is “What Makes a Human Different From an Animal?” I thought that this would be a natural topic to do a follow up post.  The original post ended up being more of a reflection on animal rights vs. human rights.  Not having read “The Animal Mind” because I do not know where I might find one of these “newsstand”  things, I can only go with the ideas put forth in the preview article which seem to focus more on animal intelligence and “intellect” if you will, based on animals’ exhibition of so-called “human” behaviors and their relative success at performing those behaviors.  There is no doubt that all animals have some degree of intelligence.  We’ve heard for years that some animals are “smarter” than others – A pig is smarter than a horse, which is smarter than a dog, which is smarter than etc, etc.  Also, a (fill in the blank) is as intelligent as a (blank) year old child.  A quote from the article:

“Animals, the research is proving, are creatures capable of reflection, bliss, worry and more. Not all of them in the same ways or to the same degrees, surely, but all of them in far deeper measures than we’ve ever believed.”

Interesting, if true.  I guess I’ll have to read “The Animal Mind” to find out how you measure whether an animal feels “bliss” or whether they worry.  I think that these type of “human behaviors”, if that’s what you want to call them, require a certain amount of self- awareness.  All animals are self-aware to some extent – they’d have to be to survive.  I think the question lies in determining how much of their behavior is geneticaly embedded “instictive” behavior and how much is driven by intellectual reasoning and emotion.  To the extent that certain behaviors are noted I think that it is interesting that the behaviors do not seem to overlap species which leads me to believe that much of it, no matter how human it seems, is instinct.

I don’t believe that cats groom themselves because they worry that their hair  doesn’t look good.  But that doesn’t mean that I like cats any less because of it.  There are a lot of people who are emotionally invested in portraying animals as “beings” – just look to the animal rights movement for proof.  I think animals have it better today than at any time in the past; machines have taken over a lot of the labor we used to use animals for.  The animals we eat are raised and slaughtered more humanely than in the past and we’re probably eating fewer of them to boot.  Animal cruelty is socially unacceptable today.  These are all good things.

thinking-cat

Often I would like to know what is going on inside my dog’s head, though I don’t think there’s a lot of intellectual activity going on there.  But that won’t stop me from trying to live up her expectatations and to be the kind of person she thinks I am.  Or rather the kind of person I imagine that she thinks I am.

No ifs ands or buts…the future WILL get weird

No ifs ands or buts…the future WILL get weird

I have speculated that the future could get weird, and now the speculation is over – the future WILL get weird, no ifs ands or buts.  Here is the Prima Facie evidence: this article at ExtremeTech.com cites a report by The Pew Research Center that states “robotic sex partners will be commonplace” by 2025.  What’s weird about that you may ask?  Well, most of you will just say “Eeewww”, but some of you may ask.  Here’s a clue:

real-sexbot-face-640x353

I can’t wait for all the political unrest over people demanding the right to marry their Dutch Wives.  And don’t think that the sexbots wouldn’t turn on us in a minute.  Turn ON us, not turn us on.  Get your mind out of the gutter.

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