Science and Technology

Sex and Gender: The Biochemistry and Neuroscience of the Transgender Phenomenon

Posted on November 9, 2019November 9, 2019 by harpertom888

Possibly the most important part of the mental model humans construct is their mental model of themselves. This is what we call our identity. It takes all the beliefs we have about ourselves and attempts to put them together into an internally coherent whole. Some of our most cherished political, religious, racial, and gender thoughts about ourselves tells us who we are and how we ought to interact with the world.

Continue reading “Sex and Gender: The Biochemistry and Neuroscience of the Transgender Phenomenon” →

More CRISPR Gene Editing Babies

Posted on June 12, 2019October 19, 2019 by harpertom888

Nature reported that Russian molecular biologist Denis Rebrikov is planning to perform CRISPR experiments on human embryos. He’s running the experiments on the same CCR5 gene as Chinese scientist He Jiankui in 2018. This is once again raising questions on the ethics of human genetic experimentation.

Continue reading “More CRISPR Gene Editing Babies” →

Quantum Computing

Posted on June 11, 2019 by harpertom888

What is quantum computing and why is it so damn difficult?

Continue reading “Quantum Computing” →

Quantum Mechanics qua Being

Posted on June 8, 2019June 8, 2019 by harpertom888

Aristotle defined metaphysics as the study of Being qua Being – or, one might say, studying Being being Being. He says in book VII of his Metaphysics that Being is the individual instances of essence, which is the substance that defines what a thing is in-itself. Now, in our present time, we’ve narrowed down the primary substance further than our everyday sensible objects, down to subatomic particles. Can Aristotle’s philosophy be a useful lens to think about quantum mechanics?

Continue reading “Quantum Mechanics qua Being” →

Should Futurists Support War?

Posted on June 5, 2019June 5, 2019 by harpertom888

Since at least World War 1 the idea of war as being all about glory and heroism has seen massive disillusionment. Most people, I think, would agree that war is not a good thing, even if some think it a necessary thing. But technological arms races, both during war and in peacetime, generate a plethora of technological advances. That raises the question: should futurists and transhumanists welcome war in order to usher in greater and faster technological advances?

Continue reading “Should Futurists Support War?” →

Mesh Networks: Alternatives to the Internet?

Posted on April 22, 2019April 22, 2019 by harpertom888

Mesh networks figure extensively in my Incarnate series. They’re used by the forty-eights – and others – as a way to run parallel ‘internets’ so as not to be tracked on the original internet. But mesh networks are not all science fiction – they’re actually being used in the real world.

Continue reading “Mesh Networks: Alternatives to the Internet?” →

Augmented Reality: Not Science Fiction

Posted on April 21, 2019 by harpertom888

Augmented Reality (AR) is a technology that features heavily in my Incarnate novel series. This technology isn’t just a science fiction creation, though. Just like in my story, it’s becoming more and more a part of our lives and only promises to become a bigger part in the near future.

Continue reading “Augmented Reality: Not Science Fiction” →

Supermassive Black Hole Image

Posted on April 10, 2019April 10, 2019 by harpertom888

A collaboration of hundreds of scientists using the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) have been able to capture an image of a supermassive black hole in the Messier 87 (M87) galaxy.

Continue reading “Supermassive Black Hole Image” →

Neuromorphic Computing

Posted on March 24, 2019March 24, 2019 by harpertom888

Machine learning and deep learning has never been more advanced than it is today, with computing power evolving tremendously and becoming capable of processing information and learn from larger data sets than ever before. An emerging type of computing, known as neuromorphic computing, is making breakthroughs and becoming popular with AI and neuroscience researchers.

Continue reading “Neuromorphic Computing” →

A Primer on Evolution pt 2: Evidence

Posted on March 21, 2019March 21, 2019 by harpertom888

In part two, I will give a brief overview of the evidence for the theory of evolution. This is not an exhaustive compendium of all the evidence in support of the theory of evolution. It is already a long post, so I keep all my descriptions brief. If you are interested in learning more, I provide plenty of links to websites and peer reviewed papers all throughout.

It’s not absolutely necessary, but it may make more sense why this evidence is convincing if you understand how evolution works. For that, I suggest checking out part 1 of this primer first.

Continue reading “A Primer on Evolution pt 2: Evidence” →

A Primer on Evolution pt 3: Higher Concepts

Posted on March 19, 2019June 3, 2019 by harpertom888

What follows are more conceptual aspects of evolution that build on the ideas discussed in the part 1. It’s not absolutely necessary, but I would recommend checking out part 2 first as well. In this conclusion to my three-part primer on evolution, I will discuss things like reproductive isolation, the different ways that evolution occurs, sexual selection, ecology, chaos theory, and evolutionary equilibrium.

Continue reading “A Primer on Evolution pt 3: Higher Concepts” →

A Primer on Evolution pt 1: Natural Selection

Posted on March 6, 2019November 1, 2019 by harpertom888

Some people have anywhere from a slight misunderstanding to a complete lack of knowledge on how evolution by natural selection operates. I’m going to do a series on the subject to educate anyone who is confused by or interested in the theory of evolution.

Continue reading “A Primer on Evolution pt 1: Natural Selection” →