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Category: media & arts

Music training can help the brain focus, study shows

Musical people find it easier to focus their attention on the right sounds in noisy environments.

This is shown in a new study from Karolinska Institutet published in the journal Science Advances. The results suggest that can be used to sharpen and cognition.

Being able to focus on a conversation in a room full of noise is a complex task for the brain. In the new study, researchers have investigated how music training affects the brain’s ability to focus attention on specific sounds.

Feudal Futures: Knights & Nobles in the Space Age

Feudalism once ruled Earth—could it rule the cosmos too? We dive into the strange but plausible world of space nobles, orbital dukes, and knights of the vacuum clad in power armor or piloting mecha.

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Credits:
Feudal Futures — Knights & Nobles in the Space Age.
Written, Produced & Narrated by: Isaac Arthur.
Select imagery/video supplied by Getty Images.
Music Courtesy of Epidemic Sound http://epidemicsound.com/creator.

Chapters.
0:00 Intro.
0:12 Feudalism… IN SPACE!!!? Knights, Mechs, and Space Lords.
5:04 Lords of the Vacuum – Whoever Builds the Habitat, Owns the Habitat.
9:10 Feudal Claims on Natural Resources.
14:31 Vassalage in Vacuum – How Loyalty Could Work in Space.
18:20 Breaking the Mold – Alternative Models to Feudal Ownership.
20:52 Natural Armor.
22:12 Would It Work? Or Collapse Gloriously?
23:38 The Knight Reforged – Power Armor, Mechs, and Weapons of Mass Respect.
25:12 A New Middle Ages Among the Stars?

New technology turns paintings into holograms, bringing art to life

Artists are always looking for new ways to create and express themselves. A growing trend is the use of multiple layers of see-through materials, such as Plexiglas, to create paintings that have real depth, transforming two-dimensional images into three-dimensional illusions that feel more realistic and lifelike. But can these layered works be made even more immersive?

A new study, published in Royal Society Open Science, answers this question by demonstrating a novel process to transform a multilayer acrylic painting into a full-color, three-dimensional hologram. In addition to offering a striking way to experience art, this technique provides a novel method for preserving and reproducing valuable works.

The researchers used a painting of a tiger titled “Taxonomy Test 1” by renowned Colombian artist Yosman Botero. He created the by painting in acrylic on nine transparent layers of Plexiglas.

Could We Accidentally Destroy the Universe?

What if the end of everything came not from cosmic fate, but from us? This episode examines the physics, probability, and peril of experiments that could, in theory, unravel the universe.

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Credits:
Could We Accidentally Destroy the Universe?
Written, Produced & Narrated by: Isaac Arthur.
Editors: Lukas Konecny.
Select imagery/video supplied by Getty Images.
Music Courtesy of Epidemic Sound http://epidemicsound.com/creator.
Chapters.
0:00 Intro.
2:38 Vacuum Decay (False Vacuum Collapse)
9:59 Strange Matter Conversion.
13:09 Gray Goo Scenario (Nanotechnology Out of Control)
16:05 Runaway Energy Reaction.
19:06 Altering the Constants of Nature.
20:49 Brane Collision (M-Theory Catastrophe)
22:27 Time Travel or Causality Paradox.
23:55 Nebula.
25:20 Simulation Shutdown.
27:21 Big Rip or Cosmological Instability.
28:35 Baby Universe Creation or Collapse.
29:51 Why It Hasn’t Happened Yet (Anthropic Principle & More)
31:49 Channel Updates

Inflation without an inflaton! This Model Challenges Big Bang Inflation

A new study suggests the universe didn’t need inflation to begin. Instead, gravitational waves could explain how structure formed in the early cosmos.

Paper link: https://journals.aps.org/prresearch/a…

Chapters:
00:00 Introduction.
00:40 The Discovery/Event.
02:42 Scientific Significance & Theories.
04:48 Implications and What’s Next.
07:16 Outro.
07:54 Enjoy.

MUSIC TITLE: Starlight Harmonies.

MUSIC LINK: https://pixabay.com/music/pulses-star…
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After the Singularity — What Life Would Be Like If A Technological Singularity Happen?

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What happens after intelligence explodes beyond human comprehension? We explore a world shaped by superintelligence, where humanity may ascend, adapt — or disappear.

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Credits:
After the Singularity — What Life Would Be Like If A Technological Singularity Happened?
Written, Produced & Narrated by: Isaac Arthur.
Editors: Lukas Konecny.
Select imagery/video supplied by Getty Images.
Music Courtesy of Epidemic Sound http://epidemicsound.com/creator.

Chapters.
0:00 Intro.
3:36 Is the Singularity Inevitable? The Case for Limits and Roadblocks.
8:42 Scenarios After the Singularity.
9:15 Scenario One: The AI Utopia.
10:31 Scenario Two: Digital Heaven.
11:57 Scenario Three: The AI Wasteland.
13:10 Scenario Four: The Hybrid Civilization.
14:48 What Does the Singularity Mean for Us?
16:31 Humanity’s Response: Resistance, Adaptation, or Surrender.
20:22 PRecision.
21:45 The Limits of Superintelligence: Why Even Godlike Minds Might Struggle.
25:48 Humanity’s Role in a Post-Singularity Future.
29:06 The Fermi Paradox and the Silent Singularity.
31:10 Reflections in Pop Culture and History.
32:27 Writing the Future.

Neuroscientists show for first time that precise timing of nerve signals determines how brain processes information

It has long been known that the brain preferentially processes information that we focus our attention on—a classic example is the so-called cocktail party effect.

“In an environment full of voices, music, and , the brain manages to concentrate on a single voice. The other noises are not objectively quieter, but are perceived less strongly at that moment,” explains brain researcher Dr. Eric Drebitz from the University of Bremen.

The brain focuses its processing on the information that is currently relevant—in this case, the voice of the conversation partner—while other signals are received but not forwarded and processed to the same extent.

Jupiter Brains & Mega Minds

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We often contemplate superintelligent entities, and advances in AI and human mind augmentation may soon bring them about. But how big could they get? What would they think about? And might you, or I, one day become one ourselves?

Visit our Website: http://www.isaacarthur.net.
Join Nebula: https://go.nebula.tv/isaacarthur.
Support us on Patreon: / isaacarthur.
Support us on Subscribestar: https://www.subscribestar.com/isaac-a… Group: / 1,583,992,725,237,264 Reddit: / isaacarthur Twitter: / isaac_a_arthur on Twitter and RT our future content. SFIA Discord Server: / discord Credits: Jupiter Brains & Mega Minds [2025 Extended Edition] Written, Produced & Narrated by: Isaac Arthur Graphics: Jeremy Jozwik Sergio Botero Ken York Select imagery/video supplied by Getty Images Music Courtesy of Epidemic Sound http://epidemicsound.com/creator.
Facebook Group: / 1583992725237264
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Twitter: / isaac_a_arthur on Twitter and RT our future content.
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Credits:
Jupiter Brains & Mega Minds [2025 Extended Edition]
Written, Produced & Narrated by: Isaac Arthur.
Graphics:
Jeremy Jozwik.
Sergio Botero.
Ken York.
Select imagery/video supplied by Getty Images.
Music Courtesy of Epidemic Sound http://epidemicsound.com/creator

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