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BREAKTHROUGH: How Consciousness Creates the Simulation | Dr. Donald Hoffman

Cognitive Scientist, Dr. Donald Hoffman returns to the mind meld!
Are we, as Plato argued thousands of years ago, mistaking shadows on a cave wall for reality?

In this conversation with the brilliant Dr. Donald Hoffman, we question whether space-time and the world we experience with our senses is fundamental or merely a shallow projection of something deeper. Drawing on Plato’s cave, physics, cognitive science, mystical traditions, quantum theory, and Hoffman’s own framework of conscious agents, we explore the possibility that reality emerges from consciousness rather than the other way around. Don also shares what could be a mind blowing breakthrough in his theory.
What is reality? Will science ever find a final theory of everything? Are we locked inside a simulation designed for survival, not truth? If consciousness transcends space-time, what does that imply about our potential, our perception, our purpose and our fate as beings? We riff on all of this and more in this mind meld.

Links for Donald Hoffman:
New to Don’s work? Start with this TED Talk: https://youtu.be/oYp5XuGYqqY?si=dJJzY05c1koiTYb4
Don’s book, The Case Against Reality: https://a.co/d/0aGapviw.
Don’s UC Irvine page: https://sites.socsci.uci.edu/~ddhoff/

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Chitosan-nickel biomaterial becomes stronger when wet, and could replace plastics

A new study led by the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) has unveiled the first biomaterial that is not only waterproof but actually becomes stronger in contact with water. The material is produced by the incorporation of nickel into the structure of chitosan, a chitinous polymer obtained from discarded shrimp shells. The development of this new biomaterial marks a departure from the plastic-age mindset of making materials that must isolate from their environment to perform well. Instead, it shows how sustainable materials can connect and leverage their environment, using their surrounding water to achieve mechanical performance that surpasses common plastics.

Plastics have become an integral part of modern society thanks to their durability and resistance to water. However, precisely these properties turn them into persistent disruptors of ecological cycles. As a result, unrecovered plastic is accumulating across ecosystems and becoming an increasingly ubiquitous component of global food chains, raising growing concerns about potential impacts on human health.

In an effort to address this challenge, the use of biomaterials as substitutes for conventional plastics has long been explored. However, their widespread adoption has been limited by a fundamental drawback: Most biological materials weaken when exposed to water. Traditionally, this vulnerability has forced engineers to rely on chemical modifications or protective coatings, thereby undermining the sustainability benefits of biomaterial-based solutions.

In This Issue

In contrast with modern birds, the Cretaceous theropod dinosaur Microraptor possessed multiple wings, with long feathers on its arms, legs, and tail. The flight capabilities of Microraptor are not well-understood. Csaba Hefler et al. analyzed the aerodynamics and forewing–hindwing interactions of Microraptor based on anatomical data from more than 100 fossilized specimens. The authors modeled fixed-wing gliding flight with the wings of Microraptor at low, moderate, and high angles of attack, which represent angles between the body axis and the direction of incoming air flow. The modeling suggested that synergistic interactions between vortices created by the leading edges of the forewings and hindwings could have provided a substantial and sustained boost to lift while gliding under a variety of conditions. The simulated forewing–hindwing interactions resemble aerodynamic effects seen in dragonflies. Vortices formed by the distinctively flared tip of the Microraptor hindwing contributed additional lift, a specialized feature not seen in other early multiwinged birds, such as Archaeopteryx and Anchiornis. The analysis suggests that Microraptor likely used aerodynamic features comparable to those seen in modern flying animals while gliding. According to the authors, the findings push back the evolution of sophisticated flight dynamics to the Early Cretaceous Period. — M.H.

Read online.

Kirigami-inspired sensors precisely map activity of neurons in the primate brain

Recent technological advances have opened new exciting possibilities for the development of smart prosthetics, such as artificial limbs, joints or organs that can replace injured, damaged or amputated body parts. These same advances are also enabling the development of other systems that connect the brain with machines, to record the activity of neurons or allow humans to operate machines in entirely new ways.

Researchers at the Chinese Institute for Brain Research, the National Center for Nanoscience and Technology in Beijing and other institutes recently developed a new flexible and implantable sensor that can record the activity of neurons in the brain of non-human primates. The sensing device, introduced in a paper published in Nature Electronics, is inspired by kirigami, an artistic discipline that entails the creation of intricate structures by folding and cutting paper in specific ways.

“The development of brain–computer interfaces requires implantable microelectrode arrays that can interface with numerous neurons across large spatial and temporal scales,” wrote Runjiu Fang, Huihui Tian and their colleagues in their paper.

Immunotherapy plus chemotherapy before surgery shows promise for pancreatic cancer

A new UCLA investigator-initiated study has found that adding immunotherapy to standard chemotherapy before surgery is safe and shows promise for some patients with borderline-resectable pancreatic cancer, a disease that has historically been difficult to treat.

The findings, published in Nature Communications, show that while the combination did not produce a clear survival advantage for most patients, a notable subset experienced unusually deep and durable responses. It also helped some patients live long enough to reach surgery, shrank tumors and produced encouraging survival outcomes.

The study also revealed immune changes that may limit how well immunotherapy works in pancreatic cancer, offering important clues for how future treatment strategies could be refined to further improve patient outcomes.

Why Cybersecurity Strategies and Frameworks Must Be Recalibrated in the Age of AI and Quantum Threats

#cybersecurity #ai #quantum

Artificial intelligence and quantum computing are no longer hypothetical; they are actively altering cybersecurity, extending attack surfaces, escalating dangers, and eroding existing defenses. We are in a new ear of emerging technologies that are directly impacting cybersecurity requirements.

As a seasoned observer and participant in the cybersecurity domain—through my work, teaching, and contributions to Homeland Security Today, my book “Inside Cyber: How AI, 5G, IoT, and Quantum Computing Will Transform Privacy and Our Security”, — I have consistently underscored that technological advancement is outpacing our institutions, policies, and workforce preparedness.

Current frameworks, intended for a pre-digital convergence era, are increasingly unsuitable. In order to deal with these dual-use technologies that act as force multipliers for both defenders and enemies, we must immediately adjust our strategy as time is of the essence.

Germline mutations in DICER1 and DGCR8 can lead to a range of thyroid conditions

Here, Barbara Rivera & team report on the benign-to-malignant progression route in DICER1/DGCR8-thyroid lesions, identifying a DICER1-cancer epi-signature using multi-omic profiling:

The image depicts a thyroid lesion from a sporadic DICER1 case with immunofluorescent staining for pan-cytokeratin (green) and vimentin (red). Enclosed areas represent selected regions of interest.

1Program in Molecular Mechanisms and Experimental Therapy in Oncology (Oncobell), Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL), L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain.

2Genetics Program, Faculty of Biology, and.

3Department of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.

Comparative single-cell lineage bias in human and murine hematopoietic stem cells

A comparative single-cell analysis reveals similarities and differences in lineage bias between human and murine hematopoietic stem cells. This work deepens our understanding of how lineage commitment is regulated across species and provides a valuable framework for translating insights from mouse models to human hematopoiesis.

The commitment of hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) to myeloid, erythroid, and lymphoid lineages is influenced by microenvironmental cues, and governed by cell-intrinsic and epigenetic characteristics that are unique to the HSC population. To investigate the nature of lineage commitment bias in human HSC, mitochondrial single-cell assay for transposase-accessible chromatin (ATAC)-sequencing was used to identify somatic mutations in mitochondrial DNA to act as natural genetic barcodes for tracking the ex vivo differentiation potential of HSC to mature cells. Clonal lineages of human CD34+ cells and their mature progeny were normally distributed across the hematopoietic lineage tree without evidence of significant skewing. To investigate commitment bias in vivo, mice were transplanted with limited numbers of long-term HSC (LT-HSC). Variation in the ratio of myeloid and lymphoid cells between donors was suggestive of a skewed output but was not altered by increasing numbers of LT-HSC. These data suggest that the variation in myeloid and lymphoid engraftment is a stochastic process dominated by the irradiated recipient niche with minor contributions from cell-intrinsic lineage biases of LT-HSC.

Hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) are classically considered to have the capacity for complete regeneration of the hematopoietic compartment. More recent analyses indicate additional complexity and heterogeneity in the HSC compartment, with lineage-restricted or lineage-biased HSC considered a feature of mammalian hematopoiesis.1–13 A partial differential equation model to study relationships between hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPC) emphasizes that myeloid bias cannot be accounted for solely by short-term HSC bias during inflammation but rather involves a combination of HSC and progenitor cell biases.14 Central to the concept of lineage bias is an assumption that cells used for studying HSC commitment are HSC and not multipotent progenitors or lineage-committed progenitors. Changes in differentiation of cells downstream of the long-term HSC (LT-HSC) must also be evaluated when considering the potential lineage bias of a LT-HSC.

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