Lifeboat Foundation

As opposed to black holes, white holes are thought to eject matter and light while never absorbing any. Detecting these as yet hypothetical objects could not only provide evidence of quantum gravity but also explain the origin of dark matter.

No one today questions the existence of black holes, objects from which nothing, not even light, can escape. But after they were first predicted in 1915 by Einstein’s general theory of relativity, it took many decades and multiple observations to show that they actually existed. And when it comes to white holes, history may well repeat itself. Such objects, which are also predicted by general relativity, can only eject matter and light, and as such are the exact opposite of black holes, which can only absorb them. So, just as it is impossible to escape from a black hole, it is equally impossible to enter a white one, occasionally and perhaps more aptly dubbed a “white fountain”. For many, these exotic bodies are mere mathematical curiosities.

They had to throw away most of what it produced but there was gold among the garbage.

A single universal equation can closely approximate the frequency of wingbeats and fin strokes made by birds, insects, bats and whales, despite their different body sizes and wing shapes, Jens Højgaard Jensen and colleagues from Roskilde University in Denmark report in a new study published in PLOS ONE on June 5.

The ability to fly has evolved independently in many different animal groups. To minimize the energy required to fly, biologists expect that the frequency that animals flap their wings should be determined by the natural resonance frequency of the wing. However, finding a universal mathematical description of flapping flight has proved difficult.

Researchers used dimensional analysis to calculate an equation that describes the frequency of wingbeats of flying birds, insects and bats, and the fin strokes of diving animals, including penguins and whales.

ICTP lectures “Topology and dynamics of higher-order networks”

- Network topology: 1 https://youtube.com/watch?v=mbmsv9RS3Pc

Continue reading “CMSP series of lectures on ‘Topology and dynamics of higher-order networks’: lecture 3” »

A simple concept of decay and fission of “magnetic quivers” helps to clarify complex quantum physics and mathematical structures.

An essay by Steve Nadis and Shing-Tung Yau describes how math helps us imagine the cosmos around us in new ways.

By studying the geometry of model space-times, researchers offer alternative views of the universe’s first moments.

Recently, a team of chemists, mathematicians, physicists and nano-engineers at the University of Twente in the Netherlands developed a device to control the emission of photons with unprecedented precision. This technology could lead to more efficient miniature light sources, sensitive sensors, and stable quantum bits for quantum computing.

GPT4 can score better than 95% of the average human on aptitude tests.

The GPT-4 language model recently completed the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), achieving a verbal score of 710 and a math score of 690, resulting in a combined score of 1400. Based on U.S. norms, this corresponds to a verbal IQ of 126, a math IQ of 126, and a full-scale IQ of 124. If taken at face value, one might conclude that GPT-4 surpasses 95% of the American population in intelligence and is approximately as intelligent as the average doctoral degree holder, medical doctor, or attorney.

However, the question remains: Is administering an IQ test to GPT-4 a valid undertaking or a significant categorization mistake?