Hsieh Forbes Column: "What Happens In The Brain At The Moment Of Death?"

My latest Forbes column is out: "What Happens In The Brain At The Moment Of Death?"

Original academic article:  "Enhanced Interplay of Neuronal Coherence and Coupling in the Dying Human Brain" by Zemmar, et al.

Mathematical Objects

"Collections of mathematical objects":

If math is the art of finding relations between abstract objects, then a catalogue of abstract objects is a good place for a mathematician to start. So: real numbers (in order of popularity), equations, functions, formulas involving π, tilings (previously, specifically nonperiodic), rings and their properties, finite group representations, packings of equal circles in a square, triangle centers (previously), top ten lists of prime numbers, integer sequences (previously, extremely previously), combinatorial statistics, graphs, movies, fundamental theorems, counterexamples.

Self-Driving Car Update

"GM seeks US approval to deploy self-driving car without a steering wheel"

Cruise announced the filing of its petition for approval on Friday, saying the car is "a zero-emission, shared, electric vehicle that has been purposefully designed from the ground up to operate without a human driver. This means it does not rely on certain human-centered features, like a steering wheel or a sun visor, to operate safely."

King Tut's Dagger

"X-rays help unlock secrets of King Tut's iron dagger, made from a meteorite". (Via H.R.)

Enhanced Electrical Brain Activity Just Before Death

EEG study performed on patient at time of death showed high-cognitive demand activity, similar to concentration or recall. This may be the external equivalent of "life flashing before one's eyes". 

Direct link to academic paper, "Enhanced Interplay of Neuronal Coherence and Coupling in the Dying Human Brain".

Updated Pacemaker

"'Bionic' pacemaker reverses heart failure". (Via H.R.)

Exoplanet Update

"A 'hot Jupiter's' dark side is revealed in detail for first time". (Via Debby Witt.)

Three Colliding Galaxies

"Three galaxies are tearing each other apart in stunning new Hubble telescope image"

Privatizing The Moon?

"Space Invaders: Property Right On The Moon"

Robotic Caterpillar

Video: "A caterpillar with nine electric motors climbs a woodpile!"

[T]he crux of the work was a gloriously fun math problem. Solving caterpillar motion over arbitrary curved surfaces is the toughest, and most rewarding, math that I’ve gotten into yet. It took me several months as well. The video is a single take, shot between 1:10pm and 1:20pm in my shop, when the sun aligns with a skylight to create a pool of light...

Caterpillar and Woodpile 2019 from Reuben Margolin on Vimeo.

Pub Monarch Wanted

"A Tiny English Island Is Looking for a New Monarch to Run its Pub"

Online Traffic Simulator

Time-sink of the week: Online traffic simulator.

4th Star Trek Movie

"Star Trek Cast, Including Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto, Returning for Fourth Film"

I really hope this one doesn't suck.

Recovering Rare Earths

"An electric jolt salvages valuable metals from waste: New method can pull rare earth elements from electronic waste and coal ash". (Via H.R.)

Wikipedia High Five Story

"The adorable love story behind Wikipedia's 'high five' photos"

Bad Bionics

IEEE: "Their Bionic Eyes Are Now Obsolete and Unsupported"

Los Angeles–based Second Sight provides a cautionary tale for bold entrepreneurs interested in brain tech. What happens when cutting-edge implants fail, or simply fade away like yesterday’s flip phones and Betamax? Even worse, what if the companies behind them go bust? 

More Fusion News

BBC: "Major breakthrough on nuclear fusion energy". Still a ways to go, though.

Opening Beer Bottles

"9 Ways to Open a Beer Bottle Without a Bottle Opener"

Geology of Mediterranean Sea

Mindblowing geological history of the Mediterranean Sea.

Tetrachromacy Update

"Human Tetrachromacy is Real. Here's What We Know"

Amazon LOTR Series Details

Vanity Fair: "Amazon's Lord of the Rings Series Rises: Inside The Rings of Power"

Reconnecting Tonga

"The race to reconnect Tonga: How engineers will repair the undersea communications cable severed by the recent volcanic eruption"

Neuromorphic Analog Chips

"Chip designer mimicking brain, backed by Sam Altman, gets $25 mln funding":

Rain Neuromorphics Inc., a startup designing chips that mimic the way the brain works and aims to serve companies using artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms, said on Wednesday it raised $25 million.

 Gordon Wilson, CEO and co-founder of Rain, said that while most AI chips on the market today are digital, his company's technology is analogue. Digital chips read 1s and 0s while analogue chips can decipher incremental information such as sound waves.

Two Forms Of Liquid Water

"Direct evidence emerges for the existence of two forms of liquid water". (Via H.R.)

Slow European Clocks

"Clocks are running slow across Europe because of an argument over who pays the electricity bill"

Quantum Friction

"Weirdly flowing water finally has an explanation: 'quantum friction'"

American Pizza

"Pizza Isn't Italian: It's as American as Dixieland Jazz"

Best Statistics Books

"The ten best books for thinking clearly about statistics"

Hacking NK

"North Korea Hacked Him. So He Took Down Its Internet"

Awesome Crossword Puzzle Clue

One of the best crossword puzzle clues ever.

Fun little trick in the Sunday New York Times crossword yesterday: the central theme clue was "The better of two sci-fi franchises", and regardless of whether you put Star Wars or Star Trek, the crossing clues worked pic.twitter.com/NS4LDxwxxl

— ℳatt (@matttomic) February 7, 2022

Superstrong Polymer

"MIT scientists filed two patents on a new, 2D material that's stronger than steel". (Via H.R.)

Digital Dollars

NPR: "The U.S. is considering a radical rethinking of the dollar for today's digital world"

In that scenario, the U.S. would not only mint the coins and print paper bills. It would also issue digital cash, or a central bank digital currency (CBDC), that would be stored in apps or "digital wallets" on our smartphones.

We could then use them to pay for things, just like we do with Venmo or Apple Pay, and no actual physical money would change hands.

 

Computer Sound Tracking

"Where did that sound come from? MIT neuroscientists have developed a computer model that can answer that question as well as the human brain"

AI Debating AI

"We invited an AI to debate its own ethics in the Oxford Union -- what it said was startling"

AI Monopoly

"An AI Discovers the Best Strategy for Monopoly"

Virtual World Assault

"Woman Says She Was 'Virtually Gang-Raped' in Facebook's Metaverse"

Chinese Food In America

"What I learned eating at 8,000 Chinese restaurants"

NSA Not Always Following Internal Safeguards

CNN: "NSA watchdog finds 'concerns' with searches of Americans' communications"

The National Security Agency failed to follow both court-approved and internal procedures designed to prevent officials from using a controversial foreign surveillance law to inappropriately monitor Americans' communications, the NSA inspector general found in a semi-annual report released on Monday.

Hsieh Forbes Column: Does Your Doctor Work For A Private Equity Company -- And Should You Care?

My latest Forbes column is now out: "Does Your Doctor Work For A Private Equity Company -- And Should You Care?"

Funny AI

"Artificial Intelligence Can Now Craft Original Jokes -- And That's No Laughing Matter"