We don't know how the Brain functions . We have only studied neurons as afferents to the large motor neurons. The brain contains perhaps 10 ^12 or more neurons each one with maybe a thousand connections. We don't know where the screen is on which we play consciousness or where or how memory is implemented. As a result of this ignorance we are heavily steeped in Pseudo science and folklore.

I think we have as much of a chance of destroying the universe with a collider as an ant has of building an atomic bomb.

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Bob DeWoody

My motto: Never do today what you can put off until tomorrow as it may not be required. This no longer applies in light of current events.

In my humble opinion the brain is a macroscopic quantum object. Professor Roger Penrose, with whom I had an exchange of ideas, believes the same.
Tullio

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I wonder if the Higg's field does need lot's of energy to collapse after all is that not what is going to happen anyway far off into the future ?

only dark Energy will do it for us , so i wonder would we actually need as much energy for this to happen or will we find a particle that will be called Dark particle that is causing this dark energy ?

And should we be looking for it , if what Hawkins says will happen , maybe we should not

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Tullio

If you have watched Through the Worm hole they say in that that the brain is possibly a Quantum Computer on a molecular scale . Witch opens us up to the possibility of actually seeing the future and all the weird things we call at the moment pseudoscience

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The brain is not a quantum computer. It is a very slow (by modern standards) Analog wave processor. There is nothing "Quantum" about it. It is a hugely parallel processor. And we don't really completely know how it works on the micro level let alone how it is organized logically to perform the many things that It can do.

My Daughter has a degree in NeuroScience and is just starting a 5-year PHD program here at Vanderbilt University. They study certain Macro functions in the brain --primarily for medical research. She actually worked in an Immunology Lab at Harvard for the past 4 years.

Just like the hype 50 years ago about "Artificial Intelligence " and "thinking machines" via artificial Neurons there has yet to be a practical explanation of what exactly a quantum computer is and why it would have an advantage over a modern high speed computer based on Boolean logic.

I built an "Artificial Neuron" when I was at the Army's Electronics Command in the 60's. it was based entirely on digital NAND logic that was well known by that Time. Bob Glorioso and I spent 2 years debunking the claims of McCulloch, Pitts, Ross Ashby, Heinz Von Forester etc. Glorioso went on to be a head honcho at Digital Equipment Corporation's high speed computer division. Ironically I even had graduate courses from these latter two professors. Ashby taught basic information theory in his CYBERNETICS and Von Forster was hauled before the Illinois Legislature to explain the nonsense going on in his HEURISTICS course such as where the class would meet each time.

I would suggest you to read the following books by Roger Penrose: The emperor's new mind and Shadows of the mind. The second is more technical. Penrose is a first rate theoretical physicist, well known for his work on black holes.
Tullio
I forgot to mention Karl Pribram, who also wrote me back. I still have his letter, as I have that of Penrose. Your daughter should know who Karl Pribram is.

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I think we have as much of a chance of destroying the universe with a collider as an ant has of building an atomic bomb.

Me too :) I'm keeping a careful eye on my local ones though... just in case... *pick up magnifying glass* *perform local security sweep* no... they're too preoccupied with breadcrumbs.

Don't worry peoples :) The Daily Mail should really have put something like this somewhere in their headline... "if we build a collider bigger than the earth..."

I'd go back to get the actual quote from Hawking (which was buried in the article) but the last few times I've deposited myself on a dailymail page my browser has crashed :/

Going back to the title of this thread, if I remember well Hawking did not even believe in the existence of the Higgs boson. Now that it has bee found with a mass of about 125 GeV, it decays rapidly into 2 gamma photons and, less frequently, in two intermediate vector bosons. I cannot understand how it could become a danger. But my friend Peter Skands of CERN wrote in the vLHC@home message boards that what is important is not the Higgs boson, but the Higgs field, which gives mass also to the Higgs. boson besides to other particles.
Tullio

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ATLAS@home volunteers lamenting for lack of work have been informed that a powerful thunderstorm on Saturday night has brought down many CERN servers, including their own. So even CERN is subject to the forces of nature
Tullio

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Latest measurements from the AMS experiment unveil new territories in the flux of cosmic rays

Geneva 18 September 2014. The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS1) collaboration has today presented its latest results. These are based on the analysis of 41 billion particles detected with the space-based AMS detector aboard the International Space Station. The results, presented during a seminar at CERN2, provide new insights into the nature of the mysterious excess of positrons observed in the flux of cosmic rays. The findings are published today in the journal Physical Review Letters.
The AMS experiment is able to map the flux of cosmic rays with unprecedented precision and in the results published today, the collaboration presents new data at energies never before recorded. The AMS collaboration has analysed 41 billion primary cosmic ray events among which 10 million have been identified as electrons and positrons. The distribution of these events in the energy range of 0.5 to 500 GeV shows a well-measured increase of positrons from 8 GeV with no preferred incoming direction in space. The energy at which the positron fraction ceases to increase has been measured to be 275±32 GeV.

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ATLAS@home volunteers lamenting for lack of work have been informed that a powerful thunderstorm on Saturday night has brought down many CERN servers, including their own. So even CERN is subject to the forces of nature
Tullio

The almighty CERN...

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CERN turns 60 and celebrates peaceful collaboration for Science

Geneva, 29 September 2014. Today, CERN1, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, is blowing out 60 candles at an event attended by official delegations from 35 countries. Founded in 1954, CERN is today the largest particle physics laboratory in the world and a prime example of international collaboration, bringing together scientists of almost 100 nationalities.
CERN’s origins can be traced back to the late 1940s. In the aftermath of the Second World War, a small group of visionary scientists and public administrators, on both sides of the Atlantic, identified fundamental research as a potential vehicle to rebuild the continent and to foster peace in a troubled region. It was from these ideas that CERN was born on 29 September 1954, with a dual mandate to provide excellent science, and to bring nations together. This blueprint for collaboration has worked remarkably well over the years and expanded to all the continents.

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CERN turns 60 and celebrates peaceful collaboration for Science

Geneva, 29 September 2014. Today, CERN1, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, is blowing out 60 candles at an event attended by official delegations from 35 countries. Founded in 1954, CERN is today the largest particle physics laboratory in the world and a prime example of international collaboration, bringing together scientists of almost 100 nationalities.
CERN’s origins can be traced back to the late 1940s. In the aftermath of the Second World War, a small group of visionary scientists and public administrators, on both sides of the Atlantic, identified fundamental research as a potential vehicle to rebuild the continent and to foster peace in a troubled region. It was from these ideas that CERN was born on 29 September 1954, with a dual mandate to provide excellent science, and to bring nations together. This blueprint for collaboration has worked remarkably well over the years and expanded to all the continents.

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From "Nature":
LHC
Tullio

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Looks like an interesting read, something for tonight... Thanx Tullio:)

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Besides LHC@home and vLHC@home I am running ATLAS@home, which is rather heavy on memory, besides requiring a 64-bit Virtual Box.It was started in Beijing, China, then transferred to CERN and searches for supersymmetric particles.See the slides of the Budapest meeting, presented by Wenjing Wu, a pretty girl.
Tullio

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MEDIA ADVISORY: UN and CERN to celebrate science for peace and development

Geneva, 17 October 2014. The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN1) will gather eminent politicians and scientists to celebrate science for peace and development highlighting the values of science and its ability to build bridges between nations.
Using CERN as an example, the event will highlight the role that science has played in peaceful collaboration, innovation and development, and to consider how this legacy can be used to address present and future global issues. The event will be the last in a series of celebrations to mark CERN’s 60th Anniversary.

UN and CERN celebrate science for peace and development and CERN’s 60th anniversary

New York, 20 October 2014. The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN)1 celebrated science for peace and development highlighting the values of science and its ability to build bridges between nations. The event was the last in a series of celebrations organized by CERN to mark its 60th Anniversary.
“Whether we are trying to address climate change, stop the Ebola virus, deal with cybersecurity threats, or curb nuclear proliferation, we need scientists with a clear vision and a commitment to work together to find solutions," UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said. “As we pursue these hugely important efforts, we can be inspired by the work done by CERN. The world faces multiple crises. But this is also an era of opportunity, where great achievements are possible thanks to science, technology and innovation.”
“Science has the potential to significantly impact all three dimensions of sustainable development – economic, social and environmental,” said Mr Martin Sajdik, President of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). “The international community must consciously and deliberately work to ensure that advances in science and technology have positive effects towards that end”.

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We can dream anything we like. It's the doing that does it.

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merle - vote yes for freedom of speech

We can dream anything we like. It's the doing that does it.

Deeds! No talks*it...

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