These are the articles and videos from the previous week I found most interesting.
- Mapping the Brain
- Brief History and Future Development of Earth System Models: Resolution and Complexity
- How to Create a Mind
- Ray Kurzweil: Get ready for hybrid thinking
- Inflation: A New Universe is Born
Mapping the Brain
Apr 8, 2014
Trailblazers in neuroscience Dr. Christof Koch and Dr. John Donoghue reveal mind-blowing insights on how the brain turns thought into voluntary behaviors and how that knowledge is empowering victims of neurological trauma with regained physical abilities.
Brief History and Future Development of Earth System Models: Resolution and Complexity
Warren Washington, NCAR
2007 Nobel Prize as a member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
NERSC Nobel Lecture Series: Warren Washington, May 28, 2014
How to Create a Mind
Ray Kurzweil
at TEDx Silicon Valley
Mar 5, 2013
http://www.howtocreateamind.com/
Ray Kurzweil is discussing his ideas about human mind.
Ray Kurzweil: Get ready for hybrid thinking
Jun 2, 2014
Two hundred million years ago, our mammal ancestors developed a new brain feature: the neocortex. This stamp-sized piece of tissue (wrapped around a brain the size of a walnut) is the key to what humanity has become. Now, futurist Ray Kurzweil suggests, we should get ready for the next big leap in brain power, as we tap into the computing power in the cloud.
Inflation: A New Universe is Born
Alan Guth
MIT
Mar 27, 2014
http://www.nature.com/news/2009/090415/full/458820a.html
http://www.nature.com/news/2009/090415/full/458820a/box/4.html
Almost 14 billion years ago, the universe burst into existence. In the first fleeting fraction of a second it expanded exponentially, stretching far beyond the view of our best telescopes. Alan Guth developed the theory of cosmic inflation to describe the first moments of the universe. He summarized inflation at an event to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the discovery of the Big Bang (via detection of the cosmic microwave background). Part of the Observatory Night lecture series at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.
Alan Tatourian 