String theory may limit space brain threat

LEGIONS of disembodied brains floating in deep space threaten to undermine our understanding of the universe. New mathematical modelling suggests string theory and its multiple universes may just provide our salvation ? and that could win the controversial theory a few more backers.

Physicists have dreamed up some bizarre ideas over the years, but a decade or so ago they outdid themselves with the concept of Boltzmann brains ? fully formed, conscious entities that form spontaneously in outer space.

It may seem impossible for a brain to blink into existence, but the laws of physics don't rule it out entirely. All it requires is a vast amount of time. Eventually, a random chunk of matter and energy will happen to come together in the form of a working mind. It's the same logic that says a million monkeys working on a million typewriters will replicate the complete works of Shakespeare, if you leave them long enough.

Most models of the future predict that the universe will expand exponentially forever. That will eventually spawn inconceivable numbers of Boltzmann brains, far outnumbering every human who has ever, or will ever, live.

This means that, over the entire history of the universe, it is the Boltzmann brains' experience of the universe and not ours that is typical. That's a problem, because the starting point for our understanding of the universe and its behaviour is that humans are typical observers. If we are not, our theories begin to look iffy.

"It has to be more likely to be an ordinary observer than a Boltzmann brain," says Claire Zukowski at the University of California, Berkeley.

A particular problem is that most Boltzmann brains will exist in the far future when the universe is no more than an inky void, with a past indistinguishable from the future. This would make our experience of time's arrow highly unusual.

However, if we can demonstrate that the universe has a finite lifespan, that would deny Boltzmann brains the infinite time they need to outnumber us. String theory might be able to help, says Zukowski, who has been studying the problem as part of her PhD research with Raphael Bousso, also at Berkeley.

According to string theory, there may be a large number of universes. All of these universes are believed to come into existence through a process called eternal inflation, in which at least one universe continually expands at an incredible rate, while others form and grow within it like bubbles. This pool of universes has been dubbed the multiverse.

Many of these other universes could be chock-full of conscious creatures early in their histories when, like the universe we see today, the past is distinct from the future. That could help make our point of view the standard one. But if these universes eventually become featureless and continue to linger, they will all accrue Boltzmann brains, tipping the balance away from us again.

Zukowski and Bousso's latest work suggests this won't happen. Universes are constantly budding off a parent universe in the multiverse, so the parental characteristics can determine what kinds of "baby" universes form within it ? and whether those universes will stick around long enough to be filled with Boltzmann brains or decay first.

Bousso and Zukowski performed a mathematical analysis of multiverses that start out in one of two different initial states: an older model first suggested by Stephen Hawking and his colleague James Hartle, and a newer model that has come out of mathematical treatments of the string multiverse. While the Hartle-Hawking model ended up overrun with Boltzmann brains, ordinary human-like consciousnesses prevailed in the newer model. That makes our view of the universe reassuringly normal in such a multiverse (Physical Review D, doi.org/mkj).

The very idea of string theory and the multiverse is still controversial. It is often attacked for being overly complicated and difficult to prove. If Bousso and Zukowski are correct, though, and it can help resolve the problem of Boltzmann brains, the theory may just win a few more backers.

"This is potentially an added experimental success for string theory and eternal inflation," says Daniel Harlow, a physicist at Princeton University. "We need to understand it better ? [but] the fact that it potentially explains something is motivation to understand it better."

This article appeared in print under the headline "String theory limits space brain threat"

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Did Obama help kill the same-sex partner amendment he actually supports? (Washington Bureau)

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Google?s X Phone confirmed for Sprint

For two days John McCain and Ted Cruz have been fighting on the Senate floor over the rules for negotiating a budget, but, like so many fights, it's also about so much more. Cruz is being annoying about the budget, but worse, he just doesn't?get the Senate.?

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/google-x-phone-confirmed-sprint-171534340.html

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Messiah College Students Slam Josh Ritter For Calling Christian School Anti-Gay

Musician Josh Ritter, who refused to perform again at a private Christian college because of the school's anti-gay beliefs, is now the target of backlash from students who say they and their school are not homophobic.

Ritter defended gay rights in a Facebook post criticizing Messiah College, a private school in Mechanicsburg, Pa., that embraces the "evangelical spirit rooted" in Christian traditions. In his May 4 post, Ritter blasted the school as anti-gay after discovering a school-wide document called the "Community Covenant."

Messiah College requires all students to sign a "Community Covenant" promising to, among other things, ?avoid such sinful practices as?homosexual behavior?.? This policy, which I see as exclusionary and bigoted, could not run more counter to my personal beliefs. If I had done my homework, and read about Messiah's policies ahead of time, I would never have agreed to play there.

Ritter -- who performed at the school on May 4 -- continued by saying he would not play at Messiah College again until the school welcomes all Christians, gay or straight. He plans to donate the fees he received for the performance to suicide-prevention group the Trevor Project.

Messiah students are now striking back at Ritter saying their school is actually an accepting place.

"[Y]ou have succeeded to put all of us Messiah students in a box, when in reality this characterization couldn't be further from the truth. The student body here is a diverse group, many of which are passionate for seeing change happen within the schools policies regarding homosexual behavior," wrote one Facebook user. "Your words are hurtful to many of us here who do not apply to the group you called out."

"I love Messiah, and I love my faith, but I also believe that everyone has the right to love who they love and to be with you makes them happy," wrote another. "If you ask around campus, there are many things that students generally disagree with in the Community Covenant."

Messiah has a copy of the "Community Covenant" available online. This document, subtitled "All of Life Under the Lordship of Christ," says that the teachings of the scriptures apply to all those in the school community. Students are asked to avoid: drunkenness, stealing, dishonesty, profanity, occult practices, sexual intercourse outside of marriage, homosexual behavior, and sexually exploitative or abusive behavior.

A spokeswoman for Messiah told Christian magazine World on Campus that she was surprised Ritter wasn't familiar with the school's stance on sexuality until now, even though he performed there in 2009.

"We are a Christian college, we would think it wouldn't be surprising that we hold a traditional Scriptural interpretation of sexuality," Beth Lorow said. "We feel disappointed that he opted to publicly express his disagreement with name-calling and labeling and passed on doing it in a more productive way."

She said Ritter refused to speak to school administrators about his differing opinions and accused him of "not extending the openness and tolerance he spoke about to religious freedoms."

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/11/messiah-college-josh-ritter-anti-gay_n_3254838.html

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Background noise in the operating room can impair surgical team communication

May 10, 2013 ? Ambient background noise -- whether it is the sound of loud surgical equipment, talkative team members, or music -- is a patient and surgical safety factor that can affect auditory processing among surgeons and the members of their team in the operating room (OR), according to a new study that appears in the May issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons. The findings are the first to demonstrate that a surgeon's ability to understand spoken words in the OR is directly affected by noise in the environment.

"The operating room is a very fast-paced, high-demand, all senses running on all cylinders type of environment," said study coauthor Matthew Bush, MD, assistant professor of surgery at the University of Kentucky Medical Center, Lexington. "To minimize errors of communication, it is essential that we consider very carefully the listening environment we are promoting in the OR."

To assess the effects of ambient noise on communication in the OR, the researchers created a noise environment similar to that of an OR and tested 15 surgeons with one to 30 years of operating experience. The surgeons' ability to understand and repeat words was tested using the Speech In Noise Test-Revised (SPIN-R) under four different listening conditions typical of OR environments. These conditions included quiet, filtered noise through a surgical mask and background noise both with and without music. Subjects were tested in two situations: engaged in a specific surgical task and task free.

The study showed a significant decrease in speech comprehension with the presence of background noise when the words were unpredictable. In addition, the surgeons demonstrated considerably poorer speech comprehension in the presence of music compared with a quiet environment or one with OR noise present. However, the addition of music became a significant barrier to speech comprehension only when the surgeon was engaged in a task.

The researchers concluded that OR noise can cause a decrease in auditory processing, particularly in the presence of music. Further, the ability to understand what is being said becomes even more difficult when the conversations carry critical information that is unpredictable.

Currently, miscommunication is one of the most frequently cited causes of preventable medical errors. For this reason, there is a growing interest in identifying overlooked variables that can lead to communication breakdowns among health care professionals.

Therefore, these study results have important implications in the real world because surgical teams carry on critical conversations during surgical procedures that often include discussions about medications and dosing as well as the blood supply that should be on hand. Because some of these details might sound similar, clear communication is crucial to avoiding medical errors (ie: a request for the drug heparin might be heard as Hespan).

"Our main goal is to increase awareness that operating room noise does affect communication and that we should foster the best environment in which we can communicate better," Dr. Bush explained. "This effort means that the surgical team needs to work diligently to create the safest environment possible, and that step may mean either turning the music off or down, or limiting background conversations or other things in the environment that could lead to communication errors and medical mistakes."

In future studies, the researchers plan to look at a larger population of surgeons, especially those who are hearing impaired, as well as other operating team members such as anesthesiologists and nurses.

"I think it's important to demonstrate the effect of environmental operating noise on communication on a variety of different players in the operating room setting," Dr. Bush said. "Another step from here is to not only see how noise affects our understanding of speech, but how it affects our tasks, how it affects our ability to perform surgical procedures efficiently and effectively. That is a different stage and different study design completely, but these questions are all ahead of us as we investigate the effects of environmental sound on operating room communication."

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_health/~3/6CS4nT0oZZY/130510124558.htm

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Seth MacFarlane reunites with Universal, 'Ted' studio to make his upcoming western

By Lucas Shaw

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Universal has come aboard to co-finance and distribute "A Million Ways to Die in the West," Seth MacFarlane's upcoming western, the studio announced on Friday. The studio will release the movie May 30, 2014 in North America.

MacFarlane will co-write, direct and produce the film, which will star the "Family Guy" creator as a sheep farmer named Albert. Charlize Theron, Liam Neeson, Amanda Seyfried, Sarah Silverman and Giovanni Ribisi will all star as well.

The movie reunites MacFarlane with Universal, which reaped the rewards of MacFarlane's first film, "Ted." This movie will be a reunion of sorts as "Ted" producers Scott Stuber and Jason Clark and co-writers Wellesley Wild and Alec Sulkin will all fill the same duties. Media Rights Capital, which is co-financing, also co-financed "Ted."

MacFarlane has long been one of the most successful writers and directors in television thanks to his hit animated comedies like "Family Guy" and "American Dad!" "Ted" then demonstrated that he had no problem crossing over to film, as that movie grossed $549 million worldwide.

The studio would like MacFarlane to make "Ted 2," but in case this comes first, Universal has snagged both of them.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/seth-macfarlane-reunites-universal-ted-studio-upcoming-western-002652428.html

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Syria war could push Lebanon, Jordan into slump

By Dominic Evans

BEIRUT (Reuters) - The economic devastation of Syria's war could drive the economies of neighboring Lebanon and Jordan into reverse, Syria's former deputy prime minister said on Thursday.

Pointing to the sharp slowdown in Lebanon's economic growth since the start of Syria's conflict in 2011, from 7 percent to barely 2 percent, Abdallah al-Dardari said there was a direct link to the ever-deepening economic collapse in Syria.

Jordan's economic growth had remained steadier, between 2 and 3 percent, but was still affected by the Syrian turmoil and was below the level needed to provide enough jobs for its fast-growing population, he said.

The Syrian conflict "has a very destabilizing effect," said Dardari, now chief economist for the regional United Nations body ESCWA. "It is in the interest of the whole region for Syria to regain peace and quiet, and start rebuilding."

Dardari said Syria's economy had already shrunk between 35 to 40 percent and would fall 60 percent from its level at the start of the uprising if the fighting continued.

Every one percentage point of economic slowdown in Syria produced a 0.2 percentage point slowdown in Lebanon, he said.

With Syria's economy still collapsing "we can speak about negative growth in Lebanon and Jordan if the situation in Syria continues as it is today for the next two years," he told Reuters in an interview at the U.N.'s central Beirut offices.

The former deputy prime minister for economic affairs was dismissed by President Bashar al-Assad in a cabinet reshuffle shortly after the uprising erupted. He has since been working at the U.N. on plans for Syria's post-conflict reconstruction.

SYRIA CRISIS HITS TOURISM, TRADE

Economists in Lebanon say domestic factors also played a part in the country's economic slowdown, including the political uncertainty when former Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri's government was toppled in early 2011.

But Dardari said the Syrian crisis was hitting tourism, trade, development assistance from Gulf Arab oil states and even remittance levels from Lebanon's huge expatriate population, who worry about security in their homeland.

The flood of cheap Syrian labor into Lebanon could also drag down average salaries by 14 percent because of the increase in labor supply of hundreds of thousands of refugees and laborers arriving in a country of just 4 million.

Lebanon's Central Bank governor Riad Salameh, speaking at a conference in Beirut on Thursday, agreed that the Syrian conflict was weighing on Lebanon's performance but reiterated his forecast of 2 percent growth this year.

The impact on Jordan would be slightly less because its economy was less tied to Syria's, Dardari said. "However you can see in the last five to 10 years Syria and Jordan dramatically improved their trade relations and bilateral investments, and have tremendous plans for further integration."

"That has all stopped now".

Dardari's prediction was gloomier than the IMF, which said in March it expected Jordan's economic growth to accelerate above 3 percent, reflecting an increase in government capital spending, higher domestic consumption and a recovery in exports.

However Syria faced almost unimaginable challenges even if the fighting were to stop tomorrow, Dardari said. He put the economic cost at $70-$80 billion, including $28 billion to rebuild 1.2 million houses and provide them with infrastructure.

The country would need 30 million metric tons of cement a year - more than three times pre-crisis quantities - to repair damaged homes and keep up with the need for new housing, he said. "Thirty million metric tons of cement requires more than 1 billion cubic meters of water. We don't have that much water."

Sustained fighting on the other hand could only bring greater calamity, including staggering levels of unemployment and absolute poverty, he said.

"Over the next few years, if the fighting continues, we will have to look at it as a disaster zone rather than a normal economy functioning according to economics as we know it."

(Editing by Jon Hemming)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/syria-war-could-push-lebanon-jordan-slump-152537019.html

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