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At Mind Matters News: News from the search for extraterrestrial life 2

One reason for hope for finding life elsewhere in the universe is that the universe appears to be fine-tuned for life. What the universe won’t do is tell us where the life is. Read More ›

Trust the Science! files: U Washington kept quiet — knowingly — on flawed transgender study

Open season on Jesse Singal for noticing? Or … alternatively … how about this, Little Rays of Sunshine — University of Washington Chapter: Hereafter, we will reasonably assume that anything you say on the topic stands a good chance of being — in whole or in part — a falsehood. And what should we do with a fish when only some of it stinks? Read More ›

At Mind Matters News: A neurosurgeon on why some people function with only half a brain

Michael Egnor: The means by which people with major parts of their brains removed maintain function are not understood. It’s nonsense to say, as some do, that “The brain is massively parallel and recursive and functions under network rules and laws.” That’s typical neuroscience gibberish. Read More ›

At Mind Matters News: What does it mean to say bees “feel and think”?

What, exactly, does “consciousness” or “feel and think” mean when applied to a bee? This usage is no remote outpost. Renowned USC neuroscientist Antonio Damasio tells us that viruses are “intelligent.” Similarly, University of Chicago biochemist James Shapiro tells us in a scholarly paper that all living cells are “cognitive.” But what do they mean? Read More ›

Jerry Coyne tells us: Anticreationist book author Twittermobbed, may be de-Wikipedia’d

Get this: "Nobody cares about the facts; an accusation is sufficient." Oh, for heaven's sakes, look on the bright side!: At least we know it's the authentic Twitter mob and not some second-rate substitute like a starving wolf pack... Read More ›

At Mind Matters News: Octopuses create an “origin of intelligence” conundrum

The evolution of intelligence in mammals and birds could be dismissed as a fluke. Finding far-distant intelligent life forms suggests a pattern instead. But what is it? Read More ›

At Mind Matters News: Has a superintellect monkeyed with our universe’s physics?

Takehome: It got worse for Hoyle: To form carbon at all, gravitational forces must be balanced just right with the electromagnetic forces. That’s just the start… Read More ›

Eric Holloway: Can computer neural networks learn better than human neurons?

Takehome: Humans can do things that AI cannot do, as we saw earlier, but those abilities are not due to the superior learning ability of a human neuron. Read More ›

At Mind Matters News: Panpsychism: If computers can have minds, why can’t the Sun?

If the Hard AI people are right, animism — the belief that inanimate objects (whether the Sun or a computer) can have minds — has been unjustly dismissed. Read More ›