The Invention of Consciousness to At Light Speed, Einstein’s Equations Break Down
Weekend Edition
Today’s news stories include Evidence for a Universe before the Big Bang to Pentagon chief and Avi Loeb analyze physics of 'highly maneuverable' UFOs, and more.
The Invention of Consciousness--Some scientists and philosophers think all living things are sentient; some think only humans are; some believe intelligent machines soon will be sentient; some that sentience is a basic property of matter. They can’t all be right.
At light speed, Einstein’s equations break down and nothing makes sense--Everything everywhere all at once, reports Dr. Don Lincoln, a Senior Scientist at Fermilab, for Big Think. "The relationship of light to time is nonintuitive. Mathematical limits allow us to figure out what happens to photons at the exact speed of light where Einstein’s equations break down. At the speed of light, clocks stop — and the Universe is shrunk to zero size."
The strongest evidence for a Universe before the Big Bang, reports Big Think. "When cosmic inflation was first put forth and developed in the early 1980s, it separated the two definitions of the Big Bang, proposing that the early hot, dense state never achieved these singular conditions, but rather that a new, inflationary state preceded it. There really was a Universe before the hot Big Bang, and some very strong evidence from the 21st century truly proves that it’s so."
Pentagon chief and Avi Loeb analyze physics of 'highly maneuverable' UFOs--The pair determined that recent UFO sightings defied the laws of physics, reports Chris Young for Interesting Engineering.
What is life? Scientists still can’t agree--Acclaimed science-writer Carl Zimmer explains why this question has been so hard to answer, reports Brian Resnick, Vox’s science and health editor, and co-creator of Unexplainable, Vox's podcast about unanswered questions in science. "There are hundreds, hundreds of definitions of life that scientists themselves have published in the scientific literature,” says Zimmer, who wrote about them in his book Life’s Edge: The Search for What It Means to Be Alive.
How tardigrades and other extremophiles adapt to alien-like environments--At least one of Earth's creatures is able to survive the vacuum of space, reports Big Think. "Evolution has enabled life to inhabit nearly every corner of Earth. Examples of life's impressive adaptive abilities include deep-sea marine life, fungi, and tardigrades. These bizarre creatures show that nature never fails to surprise."
'Terminator zones' of tidally locked exoplanets could harbor alien life--Studying these exoplanets could vastly "increase our chances of finding and properly identifying a habitable planet", reports Chris Young for Interesting Engineering.
NASA unveils new spacesuit for Artemis moon mission astronauts--A spacesuit designed for the Artemis moon missions is much lighter than those worn by the Apollo astronauts, and allows a greater range of motion, reports New Scientist.
The factory making spacecraft for new Moon missions, reports BBC Future. "The Artemis missions will take humanity further into space than ever before. One crucial part is being built in a hangar in Germany."
Exoplanets, dark matter and more: Big discoveries coming from James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers , reports Keith Cooper for Space.com. "We're going to be observing everything in our solar system that JWST can point to.