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Archive for the ‘existential risks’ category: Page 9

May 4, 2024

What is Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), and why are people worried about it?

Posted by in categories: existential risks, robotics/AI

Machines that could think and learn like humans. A blessing for humanity, or an existential threat?

May 1, 2024

2210.10656 (1).Pdf

Posted by in category: existential risks

Galactic settlement of low mass stars as a resolution to the fermi paradox.


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Apr 29, 2024

Fermi Paradox: The Cambrian Explosion Solution and Fossil Arks

Posted by in categories: existential risks, space travel

An exploration of a potential solution to the Fermi Paradox within the Cambrian explosion period of geologic history, with an aside about fossil preservation in space.

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Apr 28, 2024

Holographic displays offer a glimpse into an immersive future

Posted by in categories: existential risks, finance

Two weeks ago it was quietly announced that the Future of Humanity Institute, the renowned multidisciplinary research centre in Oxford, no longer had a future. It shut down without warning on 16 April. Initially there was just a brief statement on its website stating it had closed and that its research may continue elsewhere within and outside the university.

The institute, which was dedicated to studying existential risks to humanity, was founded in 2005 by the Swedish-born philosopher Nick Bostrom and quickly made a name for itself beyond academic circles – particularly in Silicon Valley, where a number of tech billionaires sang its praises and provided financial support.

Apr 28, 2024

The Future of Human Evolution?

Posted by in categories: biological, education, evolution, existential risks

Humanity will change. Or be replaced. Or go extinct. An exploration of the many potential posthuman offspring of humankind, from the biological to the artificial.

C. M. Kosemen YouTube: / cmkosemen.
C. M. Kosemen Patreon: / cmkosemen.
C. M. Kosemen Website: http://www.cmkosemen.com/

What do you imagine when I say the future of human evolution?

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Apr 26, 2024

Evolution Is Neither Random Accidents nor Divine Intervention: Biological Action Changes Genomes

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, evolution, existential risks

Charles Darwin and his followers postulated that random accidental mutations of small effect plus natural selection over long periods would provide sufficient hereditary variation to explain biological diversity. Research since the middle of the twentieth century has unexpectedly shown that living organisms possess many different means of altering their genomes biologically, and these processes have been validated by DNA sequence analysis. In addition, the biological process of interspecific hybridization has become recognized as a major source of rapid speciation and genome amplification. Thus, it is time to shift our basic concept of evolutionary variation from the traditional model of slow change from non-biological sources to a fully biological model of rapid genome reorganization stimulated by challenges to reproduction.

Introduction

In Western society prior to the Enlightenment, there was little disagreement about the origins of biological diversity: it resulted from divine creation of an unchanging panorama of plant and animal species, as explained in Genesis. No thought was given to the idea that living organisms could change their fundamental natures. Even a scientist dedicated to analyzing the nature and classification of life forms, Carl Linnaeus (1707−1778), and one who documented the extinction of fossil organisms, Georges Cuvier (1769−1832), both believed in the fixity of species.

Apr 25, 2024

Institute for Extinction Risk Shuts Down: What We Know

Posted by in categories: computing, existential risks, mathematics

Check out courses in science, mathematics, or computer science on Brilliant! First 30 days are free and 20% off the annual premium subscription when you use our link ➜ https://brilliant.org/sabine.

The Future of Humanity Institute announced last week that they have shut down. Located at the University of Oxford in the UK prior to its demise, the institute was one of the few places worldwide studying the risk of human extinction and a few other controversial research areas. Let’s have a look at the events leading to the institute’s closure.

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Apr 14, 2024

Viropath and depopulation and the fermi paradox

Posted by in category: existential risks

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Apr 14, 2024

New Solution To The Fermi Paradox Suggests The Great Filter Is Nearly Upon Us

Posted by in categories: alien life, existential risks

How optimistic.


First, a little background. With 200 billion trillion (ish) stars in the universe and 13.7 billion years that have elapsed since it all began, you might be wondering where all the alien civilizations are at. This is the basic question behind the Fermi paradox, the tension between our suspicions of the potential for life in the universe (given planets found in habitable zones, etc) and the fact that we have only found one planet with an intelligent (ish) species inhabiting it.

One solution, or at least a way of thinking about the problem, is known as the Great Filter. Proposed by Robin Hanson of the Future of Humanity Institute at Oxford University, the argument goes that given the lack of observed technologically advanced alien civilizations, there must be a great barrier to the development of life or civilization that prevents them from getting to a stage where they are making big, detectable impacts on their environment that we can witness from Earth.

Continue reading “New Solution To The Fermi Paradox Suggests The Great Filter Is Nearly Upon Us” »

Apr 12, 2024

Dinosaur data: can the bones of the deep past help predict extinctions of the future?

Posted by in category: existential risks

Millions of years ago, animals adapted to become warm-blooded amid huge climactic changes. Now scientists hope these clues from the past could help us understand what lies ahead by .

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