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Domain: infidels.org

Stories and comments across the archive that link to infidels.org.

Stories · 2

  1. Scientists Offer 'Overwhelming' Evidence Terran Life Began in Space

    Science · Science · · posted by Zonk · from the we-are-all-made-of-stardust dept. · 556 comments
    An anonymous reader writes "Using data from recent comet-probing space missions, British scientists are reporting today that the odds of life starting on Earth rather than inside a comet are one trillion trillion (10 to the power of 24) to one against. That is, we're not originally from around here. Radiation in comets could keep water in liquid form for millions of years, they say, which along with the clay and organic molecules found on-board would provide an ideal incubator. 'Professor Wickramasinghe said: "The findings of the comet missions, which surprised many, strengthen the argument for panspermia. We now have a mechanism for how it could have happened. All the necessary elements - clay, organic molecules and water - are there. The longer time scale and the greater mass of comets make it overwhelmingly more likely that life began in space than on earth."'" jamie points out that the author of this paper has many 'fringe' theories. Your mileage may vary.

  2. Studying Intelligence Thru Entropy?

    Ask · Science · · posted by Cliff · from the stuff-to-think-about dept. · 35 comments
    An Anonymous Coward asks: "Given that entropy is the measure of order or disorder. Given that any force that changes the entropy of any system in a predictable way is an 'intelligent' force. Is it true that the study of HOW entropy changes in any given system is the study of intelligence itself, in that given system? I is it true that producing systems whose sole purpose it is to capture and synthesise changes in entropy is the production of intelligent systems?"

    "A case in point. Neural networks are weighted switches. They store their 'weights' in the neuron. The storage of these weights determines the networks ability to perform an intellectual task. Therefore studying the 'entropy' of these weights and what and how they change and the effects of these changes is to study the networks 'intelligence' directly?

    Another case in point. Genetic algorithms can search a solution landscape and then select the 'best' solution as a seed to the next iteration. This 'best current solution' will have an entropy or measure of order or disorder. So, in these terms, the system is measuring the level of chaos in the system according to some rules and selecting the solution that produces the least chaos (most entropy)

    Is this striking any cords with anyone?"