Wolfram discusses LLMs and studying Physics
Wolfram is a brilliant mind in today's world, and he went from studying physics and science to having an outsized impact on computer and technology. So I wanted to hear what he thought about the potential for ChatGPT and other LLMs in general, and the framing for a specific field of science is interesting.
I'm posting as I start listening (which is very common for me.) If there are any notable things I want to capture from it, I'll update this post.
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"Scientists have found signs of a new kind of gravitational wave. It's really big"
I saw a TikTok explaining this last night and it is really fascinating.
When two galaxies merge, the enormous black holes at their centers are thought to come together and circle each other in a spinning dance that sends giant waves spiraling out.
These waves are like the ripples that move through a pond if you toss in a rock — only these waves move through the very fabric of the universe, and researchers have been eager to study them.
"We've been on a mission for the last fifteen years to find a low-pitched hum of gravitational waves resounding throughout the universe," says Stephen Taylor, a Vanderbilt University astrophysicist who serves as the chair of a team of researchers known as the North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves (NANOGrav). "We're very happy to announce that our hard work has paid off."
Other research groups using telescopes in Europe, Australia, India, and China also say they're starting to see hints of these waves.
Read the entire NPR article for an excellent explanation of what is going on and why it is such a big deal.
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Explaining the "ten dimensions"
This is far from a concluded reality of modern science, but for various reasons I found myself looking to better understand the dimensions beyond the 4 that I can completely understand. This write up was very simple and helped me understand what they each do, in theory.
How does it work? No idea. This only gave me a surface level of the 'what' for each dimension, absolutely nothing for the 'why' or 'how' - which is exactly what I wanted, but I can imagine others who might be looking for those two elements of context as well.
When someone mentions "different dimensions," we tend to think of things like parallel universes – alternate realities that exist parallel to our own, but where things work or happened differently. However, the reality of dimensions and how they play a role in the ordering of our Universe is really quite different from this popular characterization.
To break it down, dimensions are simply the different facets of what we perceive to be reality. We are immediately aware of the three dimensions that surround us on a daily basis – those that define the length, width, and depth of all objects in our universes (the x, y, and z axes, respectively).
Beyond these three visible dimensions, scientists believe that there may be many more. In fact, the theoretical framework of Superstring Theory posits that the universe exists in ten different dimensions. These different aspects are what govern the universe, the fundamental forces of nature, and all the elementary particles contained within.
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Fascinating
I have no idea why it is this way and I assume Veritaseum has a video coming up to explain it, but it made me go "Huh!" in surprise. One commenter suggested it is for this reason, which makes sense to me:
Due to the angle of each section, when it hits the table, it pulls the other side which is attached through the cable to the next section. The angular energy is transfered each time one side hits the table.
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Roger Penrose on Consciousness and Neuroscience
Lex Fridman talking with Roger Penrose, this is a superb conversation where one of the world's preeminent scientists confesses the level of not-knowing which is going on in their field.
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Objective Reality May Not Exist, Scientists Say
This reminded me of a post I saw on TikTok which brought up that if our shadow is 2d representation of our 3d selves, then what if our daily existence going through time (4d) is a shadow of a 5d... thing? I could see this being broadened to be "objective reality."
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