LINKS - April 10th, 2024
Welcome to LINKS — my attempt to provide Rhapsody readers with five interesting stories that tell us something about what it means to be human . LINKS is published every Wednesday. Have a link you want to share? Drop it in the comments.
What Neuralink Is Missing
By S. I. Rosenbaum, The Atlantic
“Burkhart watched Arbaugh play hands-free computer chess with a mix of approval and frustration at how clearly the demo was created for investors and Musk fans, not for disabled people like him. It’s no secret that Musk’s real goal is to create a BCI device for general consumers, and not just so we can move a cursor around; he envisions a future in which humans can access knowledge directly from computers to “achieve a symbiosis with artificial intelligence.” That dream is ethically fraught—privacy, for instance, is tricky when your thoughts are augmented by proprietary algorithms—but it is also a long way from being realized. Researchers have sort of managed two-way information transfer with rats, but no one is sure how the rats felt about it, or whether it’s an experience they’d be willing to pay for at a mall kiosk.”
Archaeologists Find Ancient Statue of Apollo That Probably Adorned a Magnificent Fountain
By Sonja Anderson, Smithsonian Magazine
“The team determined that the head, complete with a crown of laurels, dates to the second or early third century C.E. Researchers think it was part of a grand fountain that once stood at an intersection of two streets in Philippi, reports Arkeonews’ Oguz Buyukyildirim.”
The science of ‘weird shit’: why we believe in fate, ghosts and conspiracy theories
By Science Weekly, The Guardian
“Psychologist Chris French has spent decades studying paranormal claims and mysterious experiences, from seemingly-impossible coincidences to paintings that purportedly predict the future. Ian Sample sits down with French to explore why so many of us end up believing in, what he terms, ‘weird shit’, and what we can learn from understanding why we’re drawn to mysterious and mystic phenomena.”
Here’s how the moon actually impacts your menstrual cycle - new study
By Noa Leach, BBC Science Focus
“They found that there was only a weak correlation between menstrual and lunar cycles, contrary to some popular belief. The fact that the correlation varied across continents supported their theory; this is an indication, they say, that any lunar correlation is actually likely driven more by lifestyle factors (such as sleep-wake cycles) than the Moon.”
Peter Higgs: science mourns giant of particle physics
By Davide Castelvecchi, Nature
“It was 60 years ago when Higgs first suggested how an elementary particle of unusual properties could pervade the universe in the form of an invisible field, giving other elementary particles their masses. Several other physicists independently thought of this mechanism around the same time, including François Englert, now at the Free University of Brussels. The particle was a crucial element of the theoretical edifice that physicists were building in those years, which later became known as the standard model of particles and fields.”