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World Quantum Day
It’s April 14th, World Quantum Day.World Quantum day is an initiative started by quantum scientists from over 65 countries on April 14, 2021, as a countdown to the first global celebration on April 14, 2022. It’s become an annual event since then.Why April 14th. Well the date wasn’t a random choice (no pun intended.)The date, April 14th (4.14), was chosen as a reference to the rounded first three digits of Planck’s constant ($(4.14 \times 10^{-15} eV \cdot s)$), a fundamental constant in quantum mechanics. It’s nice to know that there is a constant amongst all the uncertainty. The reasons behind…
What AI Can Never Do
Can AI ever really understand what it means to have consciousness, a real relationship? There’s a lot of talk about AI “Friends” or “Companions”. Y’know, bots that suck us deeper into a narcissistic echo chamber and cripple our ability to engage in meaningful social interaction on any level, stunt our ability to debate, see other people’s point of view, intuit another person’s disposition, all that stuff which connects us to others, gives us a sense of humanity, uses our innate human vulnerability as a strength, making us a part of something bigger – a community. Breaking down the ties that…
Why Scrapping NHS England sets the path to full contracted out privatisation.
Dismantling a central coordinating body like NHS England creates an environment where further fragmentation and, potentially, increased privatization become more feasible. Centralized Control vs. Decentralization:NHS England provides a degree of centralized control over the NHS in England, with standardized practices, budget allocation, and overall strategic direction. Getting rid of it will lead to greater decentralization, giving individual regions more autonomy. It also creates the potential for – Varied service provision across different areas. – Increased competition among local providers, opening the door to greater private sector involvement. – A more complex and potentially less transparent system, making it harder to…
Brain-training games. What sorts of activities do benefit cognitive functioning?
Brain-training games remain unproven, but research shows what sorts of activities do benefit cognitive functioning Brain-training games sell themselves as a way to maintain cognitive function, but the evidence isn’t there yet. Eva-Katalin/E+ via Getty Images Ian McDonough, Binghamton University, State University of New York and Michael Dulas, Binghamton University, State University of New York Some 2.3 million of U.S. adults over 65 – more than 4% – have a diagnosis of dementia. But even without a diagnosis, a certain amount of cognitive decline is normal as age sets in. And whether it’s due to fear of cognitive decline or…
Riding out a Solar Storm.
A solar storm is a burst of charged particles and magnetic field fluctuations that expand outward in all directions from the sun. However, the Earth’s magnetosphere acts as a shield, deflecting most of these particles. What would likely happen if a powerful Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) event struck Earth in 2024?First off, Society would not collapse into a Mad Max / End of Days Dystopia. The impact wouldn’t be instantaneous. It takes roughly 1-3 days for a CME to travel from the sun to Earth. This window provides some warning time for preventative actions. But when the CME hits, it…
Yoga
In my short story,’Apocalypse Inc’, Eustace is a practitioner of Yoga. So naturally I had to look into the different types to find the most congruent fit for him. Here’s what I came across. There’s a lot of yoga out there. I had to have some reason for Vayu to turn up in person to speak with Adam about Eustace so I had Eustace be an advanced practitioner of a form of yoga – which had me looking into different forms of yoga. I always knew there were more than one but wanted to look into which were the first…