Matrix Verified
A Scientist Says He Has the Evidence That We Live in a Simulation
The “Second Law of Infodynamics” could prove it.
BY DARREN ORF
In the 1999 film The Matrix, Thomas Anderson (a.k.a. Neo) discovers a truth to end all truths—the universe is a simulation. While this premise provides fantastic sci-fi fodder (and explains how Neo can learn kung-fu in about five seconds), the idea isn’t quite as carefully relegated to the fiction section as one might expect.
University of Portsmouth scientist Melvin Vopson, who studies the possibility that the universe might indeed be a digital facsimile, leans into the cinematic comparison. In an article published on website The Conversation this past October, Vopson invoked the Wachowskis’ sci-fi masterpiece, and around the same time, he published a book on the subject—Reality Reloaded, a subtle hat tip to the title of the less successful Matrix sequel. While he is just one among many who’ve contemplated the idea, Vopson claims to have one thing that those before him lacked: evidence.
DeathGPT
Urgent warning for anyone using scarily accurate ‘AI death calculator’
by Hiyah Zaidi
The team behind an ‘AI death calculator’ that can predict, well, when you’ll die, issued a stark warning for those keen to find out their life expectancy.
Danish researchers unveiled the Life2vec AI chatbot in December. They said the program can accurately predict not only how long you’ll live, but also how rich you will be.
Now, a number of copycat apps are appearing online that appear to be scams – while the original chatbot has not been released to the public.
The team have put out a warning that scammers have created fraudulent websites imitating the chatbot which ‘have nothing to do with us and our work’.
Waytoo Aggressive
Self-Driving Waymo Spotted Plowing Down Wrong Side of Street
“I think we can all agree that the decision making of the Waymo was not good.”
A video making the rounds on social media shows a self-driving Waymo car bombing down the wrong side of the road in downtown San Francisco — yet another glaring incident involving the company’s vehicles acting unexpectedly.
The footage shows the vehicle passing a group of electric-powered unicyclists and scooters in the city’s Mission and Market district last week.
Another video shows the same event from a different perspective, with the Waymo car seemingly trying to overtake the unicyclists — by taking over the entirety of the oncoming lane.
Fortunately, one of the unicyclists managed to get the vehicle to stop by getting in front of it.
Colonizing The Dark Side
China set to launch high-stakes mission to moon’s ‘hidden’ side
by Albee Zhang and Ryan Woo
BEIJING, April 29 (Reuters) – China will send a robotic spacecraft in coming days on a round trip to the moon’s far side in the first of three technically demanding missions that will pave the way for an inaugural Chinese crewed landing and a base on the lunar south pole.
Since the first Chang’e mission in 2007, named after the mythical Chinese moon goddess, China has made leaps forward in its lunar exploration, narrowing the technological chasm with the United States and Russia.
In 2020, China brought back samples from the moon’s near side in the first sample retrieval in more than four decades, confirming for the first time it could safely return an uncrewed spacecraft to Earth from the lunar surface.
This week, China is expected to launch Chang’e-6 using the backup spacecraft from the 2020 mission, and collect soil and rocks from the side of the moon that permanently faces away from Earth.
Humans Can Be Awesome
Apocalypse Megalopolis
For Francis Ford Coppola’s Go-for-Broke Movies, All Roads Lead to Cannes
The director readies his self-funded epic ‘Megalopolis’ for the Croisette, with echoes of his ‘Apocalypse Now’ journey 45 years ago accompanying him.
For his forthcoming one from the heart, Megalopolis, Francis Ford Coppola has once again violated the cardinal rule of the entertainment business: Never invest your own money in the show. Reports are that to bankroll the $120 million epic he has literally mortgaged the farm, or vineyard. The investment is slated to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival on May 14.
We — and he — have all been here before. Coppola last went into hock for another long-aborning and cost-overrunning project, which 45 years ago, almost to the day, also premiered at Cannes: the now legendary Apocalypse Now (1979).
At the time, Coppola was bathing in the afterglow of one of the most astonishing back-to-back double, or triple, plays in the industry’s history: The Godfather (1972) and The Godfather: Part II (1974), the operatic two-part saga of mob family business in which organized crime serves less as a metaphor for American capitalism than its purest expression (“Michael, we’re bigger than U.S. Steel!”); and The Conversation (1974), a prophetic vision of the intrusion of high tech surveillance into private lives. Before Steven Spielberg’s Jaws (1975) and George Lucas’ Star Wars (1977) set the templates for the next half century of Hollywood cinema, Coppola was the singular visionary of what was already recognized as the Second Golden Age of Hollywood cinema.
Little wonder that Coppola’s next project was awaited with eager anticipation by most and, because this is after all Hollywood, knives out by a few.
Flame-throwing Robot Dog, Cool
A T-J to ’28 Years Later’
Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson & Ralph Fiennes To Star In ‘28 Years Later’ For Danny Boyle And Sony Pictures
By Justin Kroll
EXCLUSIVE: The new 28 Years Later trilogy from director Danny Boyle and Sony Pictures is gaining momentum, and some serious star power. Sources tell Deadline that Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Ralph Fiennes have boarded the first pic, a sequel to the original 28 Days Later.
Boyle is directing the first movie from a script by Alex Garland. Sony will release the film in theaters globally.
While plot details are vague, the original 28 Days Later in 2002 centered on a bicycle courier (played by Cillian Murphy) who wakes from a coma to discover the world had been overrun with zombies following the outbreak of a virus. The pic grossed more than $82 million worldwide and led to a 2007 sequel 28 Weeks Later, on which Boyle and Garland served solely as EPs.
Endosymbiosis
Two lifeforms merge into one organism for first time in a billion years
‘The first time it happened, it gave rise to all complex life,’ scientists say
For the first time in at least a billion years, two lifeforms have merged into a single organism.
The process, called primary endosymbiosis, has only happened twice in the history of the Earth, with the first time giving rise to all complex life as we know it through mitochondria. The second time that it happened saw the emergence of plants.
Now, an international team of scientists have observed the evolutionary event happening between a species of algae commonly found in the ocean and a bacterium.
“The first time we think it happened, it gave rise to all complex life,” said Tyler Coale, a postdoctoral researcher at University of California, Santa Cruz, who led the research on one of two recent studies that uncovered the phenomenon.
“Everything more complicated than a bacterial cell owes its existence to that event. A billion years ago or so, it happened again with the chloroplast, and that gave us plants.”
He’ll be back.
S T-J
Sam Taylor-Johnson: Nine things we learned from her This Cultural Life interview
by John Wilson
Sam Taylor-Johnson has been equally successful as an artist and as a filmmaker. As a photographer, she was part of the Young British Artists movement that revolutionised the British art scene in the nineties. As a director, her work has ranged from blockbuster book adaptation Fifty Shades of Grey to biopics of musical legends. Her latest, Back to Black, is about the life of Amy Winehouse. Here are nine things we learned when she sat down with John Wilson for This Cultural Life.
Easy Peasy, Prospective Parents
The Most Popular Baby Names Throughout the 20th Century
Depending on where you lived and when you grew up, it’s possible you might have known more than one person with the same name. Maybe there was a Jennifer A. and a Jennifer L., or maybe you knew four different people named Michael. Year after year, decade after decade, there are trends in baby names that draw on history, religion, and cultural references. Here are the most popular baby names in the United States during each decade of the 20th century.
TBK IDK
Yet Another Attempt To Make Sense of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s ‘The Brothers Karamazov’
By John Tamny
In his excellent new memoir, Never Say You Had a Lucky Life (review coming soon), Joseph Epstein writes of a Harvard economics professor by the name of Alexander Gerschenkron who claimed to have read Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace at least fifteen times, and that more than once he began rereading the novel right after completing it. Talk about dedication. And understanding.
As written before in attempts to make sense of or offer thoughts or insights into the Russian novels, it would likely help to have read them more than once. Hopefully this admission is recognized as I attempt to write about Fyodor Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov. It was really hard to follow in what was my first, and almost certainly only read of it. It’s frequently said that War and Peace and the various names within it are difficult to keep track of. The Brothers Karamazov (from now on, TBK) proved much more difficult for me. And that’s just names. The story was very often challenging to follow. I’ll bet the meaning of what is a very interesting story would be much clearer with another read.
Dickey Betts Gone
Dickey Betts, Allman Brothers Guitarist, Dies at 80
By Chris Morris
Dickey Betts, whose country-inflected songwriting and blazing, lyrical guitar work opposite Duane Allman in the Allman Brothers Band helped define the Southern rock genre of the ‘60s and ‘70s, died Thursday in Osprey, Fla. He was 80.
His family posted a statement on Instagram, writing, “It is with profound sadness and heavy hearts that the Betts family announce the peaceful passing of Forrest Richard ‘Dickey’ Betts (December 12, 1943 – April 18, 2024) at the age of 80 years old. The legendary performer, songwriter, bandleader and family patriarch passed away earlier today at his home in Osprey, FL., surrounded by his family. Dickey was larger than life, and his loss will be felt world-wide.”
In 1969, Betts and bassist Berry Oakley of the Florida band the Second Coming joined members of two other Sunshine State groups — guitarist Duane Allman and his keyboard-playing brother Gregg of the Hour Glass and drummer Butch Trucks of the 31st of February – and Mississippi-born drummer Jai Johanny “Jaimoe” Johanson in a new unit that ultimately based itself in Macon, Ga.
Riding a powerful twin-guitar sound that fused rock, blues and country, the Allman Brothers Band inspired a host of like-minded groups throughout the South, many of which would find a home at Capricorn Records, the custom imprint established by the Allmans’ manager Phil Walden.
Hello World.
Anatoly
Let The Children Play
Kids Are Unhappier – Possibly Because They Don’t Have as Much Freedom
Experts often highlight social media and harsh economic times as key reasons why young people are getting unhappier. And while those factors are important, I would like to emphasise another.
Younger generations have less freedom and independence than previous generations did. The area where children are allowed to range unsupervised outside has shrunk by 90% since the 1970s.
Parents increasingly organise entertainment – ranging from play dates and sports and music classes to family cinema trips – for their children, rather than letting them come up with it themselves. Perhaps this can help explain recent reports that many teenagers today choose to be holed up in their bedrooms.
The lack of childhood freedom isn’t just a result of parental control. Societal expectations and school policies also have huge influences.
Super Bloom 2024
Death Valley is alive this year. A super bloom is the latest sign.
by Reis Thebault, Alice Li, Bridget Bennett
TECOPA, Calif. — Sometimes the desert holds its secrets close, whispering them only to those who carefully listen. But this year, the hottest and driest place in America might as well be shouting.
In California’s Death Valley region, the last few months have been remarkably loud. And the latest bellow is still ringing out, with the area’s native wildflowers bursting into bloom. The flowers have filled a place best known for its shades of browns and grays with brilliant blasts of yellow and purple and sprinkles of pink and cream.
This roaring display comes just weeks after the resurrection of a long-dead lake, which filled the park’s Badwater Basin and drew visitors from across the country for a once-in-a-lifetime chance to paddle across a body of water rarely revived since prehistoric days.
These fleeting phenomena can both be traced to the unusual and record-setting precipitation that has inundated the state since August, when Hurricane Hilary gave Death Valley its wettest day ever. Subsequent storms dumped even more rain on the desert, eventually dragging it out of a years-long megadrought.
Heat In The Jungle
Donutverse
The consequences of traveling in a straight line forever
Is the Universe finite or infinite? Does it go on forever or loop back on itself? Here’s what would happen if you traveled forever.
The Universe is a vast, wondrous, and strange place. From our perspective within it, we can see out for some 46 billion light-years in all directions. Everywhere we look, we see a Universe filled with stars and galaxies, but are they all unique? Is it possible, perhaps, that if you look far enough in one direction and see a galaxy, that you’d also see that same galaxy, from a different perspective, in the opposite direction? Could the Universe actually loop back on itself? And if you traveled far enough in a straight line, would you eventually return to your starting point, just as if you traveled in any one direction for long enough on the surface of the Earth? Or would something stop you?
It’s a fascinating question to consider, and one that Bill Powers wants us to investigate, asking:
“Space and time are mind-boggling to me. It seems like if you traveled in a straight line, you could travel forever. What would stop you? A wall? [And if so,] what’s on the other side of the wall?”
Although it sounds nonsensical, the answer is both. You could travel forever, and also, something would stop you. The key lies in understanding the expanding Universe, which itself is one of the most mind-boggling concepts of all.
Spared. Amazing.
Stunning new Roman frescoes uncovered at Pompeii, the ancient Italian city frozen in time by a volcano
By Haley Ott
Stunning Roman frescoes have been uncovered by archeologists in Pompeii, the ancient city destroyed by an eruption of the volcano Mount Vesuvius in the year 79 AD. Experts say the newly discovered frescoes are among the finest ever to emerge at the renowned archeological site.
The works of art line the high walls of what was once a large banquet hall. The walls themselves were painted mostly black, and the figures on the frescoes appear to emerge from the shadows. Site director Dr. Gabriel Zuchtriegel told CBS News partner network BBC News that the dark color was likely used to hide stains from the lamps that lit the hall after the sun went down.
“In the shimmering light, the paintings would have almost come to life,” Zuchtriegel said.
Brave New BPM
Authorities in the Russian Republic of Chechnya have announced a ban on music that they consider too fast or slow.
Minister of Culture Musa Dadayev announced the decision to limit all musical, vocal and choreographic compositions to a tempo ranging from 80 to 116 beats per minute (BPM) at a meeting Friday, the Russian state new agency TASS reported.
“(I) have announced the final decision, agreed with the head of the Chechen Republic Ramzan Akhmatovich Kadyrov, that from now on all musical, vocal and choreographic works must correspond to a tempo of 80 to 116 beats per minute,” Dadayev said, according to TASS.
Under Kadyrov’s directive, the region now ensures that Chechen musical and dance creations align with the “Chechen mentality and musical rhythm,” aiming to bring “to the people and to the future of our children the cultural heritage of the Chechen people,” Dadayev added.
Go Bogdanovich
50 Year Old Bob Marley, Reggae Archives Still On The Cards For Jamaica Says Joe Bogdanovich
Reggae Sumfest Boss, Josef Bogdanovich says that plans are still under way to acquire Roger Steffens’ extensive reggae archives, including rare Bob Marley images, concert materials, and memorabilia, which are currently domiciled in Steffens’ private basement in Los Angeles.
Bogdanovich who is heir to the StarKist tuna fortune, told World Music Views that plans are still afoot to integrate these archives into a larger plan to transform Montego Bay into a concert city, aiming to rival venues like Coachella in California.
“I think we are doing it, you will hear about that soon,” he said. While admitting the undertaking will cost a pretty penny. “it’s a big commitment to buy a building and build one for the archives, thats million of dollars,”
The collection includes a reported 12,000 vynil records and CDs, 10,000 posters and flyers and 12,000 hours of tapes, also tens of thousands of reggae photographs, 30,000 reggae fliers from all over the world, 2,000 reggae posters (many of them signed by the original artists), 140 cubic feet of alphabetized clippings, and an array of invaluable books and magazines.
The Sky’s Gone Out!
Jordan
Some of them eat raw hamburger… while on duty.
6 Badass Librarians Who Changed History
They will not be shushed.
BY APRIL WHITE
LIBRARIANS HAVE NEVER BEEN A quiet bunch: Information, after all, is power. To mark National Library Week—typically celebrated the second full week of April—Atlas Obscura, fittingly, went into the archives to find our favorite stories of librarians who have fostered cultural movements, protected national secrets, and fought criminals.
Transformer
Laurie Anderson is obsessed with resuscitating husband, Lou Reed, with AI
The avant-garde artist frequently converses with a chatbot designed to emulate the former Velvet Underground frontman
What is really curious, as well as disturbing, about the dystopian series Black Mirror is that technology is advancing at such a pace that it is increasingly difficult for any futuristic plot to surprise us. It has been a decade since the premiere of the first episode of its second season, Be Right Back, in which a woman uses artificial intelligence to replace her boyfriend after losing him in an accident. Ten years on, there are actually companies that offer a service known as ‘mourning technology’ or ‘digital necromancy’ which promises to keep the memories of their clients’ loved ones alive through AI.
There are AI applications such as HearAfter, which preserve the user’s memories via interviews on their life so that their loved ones can posthumously listen to their stories and chat with their virtual self. Even in more mainstream pop culture, we have seen cases like Kanye West’s 40th birthday gift to his then-wife Kim Kardashian of a hologram of her late father, the well-known lawyer, Robert Kardashian, in just one more example of how technology tries controversially to assuage grief.
But the musician, artist and thinker, Laurie Anderson, hasn’t needed to turn to Netflix, holograms or apps to do this for her partner, Lou Reed, who passed away in 2013. While many prefer to exercise this level of nostalgia in secret, Anderson has done so in public with I’ll Be Your Mirror, an exhibition, which shares its name with a song by The Velvet Underground, and which makes use of AI to invite reflection.
No shit.
There’s No Dark Matter? Shocking Study Upends Decades Of Consensus About Universe’s Composition
A new study is turning the scientific community upside-down. Researchers from the University of Ottawa suggest the universe might not contain dark matter, a component that has been a fundamental part of cosmological models for years.
Dark matter is a term used in cosmology to describe a type of matter that does not interact with light or the electromagnetic field, making it invisible and detectable only through its gravitational effects. Scientists have long believed that dark matter makes up about 27 percent of the universe, with ordinary matter constituting less than 5 percent, and the rest being dark energy. This understanding has helped explain the behavior of galaxies, stars, and planets.
God Bless The Crown Vic
LA Sheriff Still Has 429 Ford Crown Victorias in Service Because It Stockpiled Them
Hundreds of decade-old Crown Vic Interceptors roam southern California, though they’re getting more and more difficult to keep on the road.
BY JAMES GILBOY
ike the United States Postal Service’s Grumman LLV, the Ford Crown Victoria is a disappearing symbol of a time past. From taxi services to police departments, large operators like the California Highway Patrol have been retiring their fleets of the once ubiquitous sedan for years now. Even so, their numbers remain strong through 2023 at the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, where hundreds are still in service. But even there, the herd is beginning to thin.
As one of the largest police forces in the country—and the largest sheriff’s department—the LASD has been one of the Crown Vic’s top users for decades. The department guaranteed it would remain so into the sedan’s twilight years with a huge last-minute order of 600 cars in 2011, the final year of production, as accountants reckoned it’d save money in the long run.
Photos of this last big batch survive online, showing hundreds of the cars around the time of their delivery. Surprisingly, the vast majority of these 600 remain in operation today, with 429 still on the roster according to Sergeant David M. Davis of the LASD Fleet Management Unit.
“The Crown Victoria is a rugged and durable platform that has held up great over the years,” Sergeant Davis told The Drive, stating that the Crown Victoria remains the top choice with older members of the force.
Private Endeavor
Endeavor Going Private In Deal Valued At $13 Billion
By Dade Hayes
Endeavor Group Holdings, parent of talent agency WME and controlling shareholder in combat sports powerhouse TKO Group, is going private.
Private equity firm Silver Lake Capital is leading the privatization, which the company describes Tuesday as the largest in media and entertainment history and the biggest in any sector over the past decade. The equity value of the acquisition is pegged at $13 billion, with the enterprise value nearly double that when the TKO interest is taken into account.