What is an individual?

It’s almost impossible to imagine biology without individuals — individual organisms, individual cells, and individual genes, for example. But what about a worker ant that never reproduces, and could never survive apart from the colony? Are the trillions of microorganisms in our microbiomes, which vastly outnumber our human cells, part of our individuality?

The authors of a work published in the journal Theory in Biosciences suggest that one way to solve the puzzle comes from information theory. Instead of focusing on anatomical traits, David Krakauer, Nils Bertschinger, Eckehard Olbrich, Jessica Flack, and Nihat Ay suggest that the individual must be seen as a verb: what processes produce distinct identity? The authors’ information theory of individuality (or ITI) indicate that individuality relates to a blend of self-regulation and environmental influence. (1)

Processing information.

Processing food.

Processing data.

Processing others.

We are all about processing.

And yet at the end, we end up being processed.

And this is what defines us.

That we are part of everything.

And we know it.

And we accept it.

And even though we may process information.

We choose not to.

And even though we could be apart from God.

We chose to return to Him…

And be able to process everything.

To know it all.

To control our self.

To live. To die.

To be human once more…

Observe.

A new device enables researchers to observe hundreds of neurons in the brain in real-time. The system is based on modified silicon chips from cameras, but rather than taking a picture, it takes a movie of the neural electrical activity. (1)

Once a man tried to observe the cosmos.

And he cannot stop ever since.

Not because he still wants to observe.

But because he like being observed.

Look up.

See?

You see nothing.

And yet you are so happy.

That someone…

Looks down.

Can you?

Mathematics. World. Randomness.

Brownian motion describes the random movement of particles in fluids, however, this revolutionary model only works when a fluid is static, or at equilibrium. In real-life environments, fluids often contain particles that move by themselves, such as tiny swimming microorganisms. These self-propelled swimmers can cause movement or stirring in the fluid, which drives it away from equilibrium.

Researchers from Queen Mary University of London, Tsukuba University, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne and Imperial College London, have presented a novel theory to explain observed particle movements in these dynamic environments. (1)

Random movements.

In a random world.

Particles.

Observed by a human.

Under the Sun.

Shining bright.

Observed by the Galaxy.

Moving fast.

Under the void.

Look.

Particle moving.

Human watching.

The Sun setting.

Galaxy standing still.

Universe dying.

God looking…

Random movements…

Being afraid of Nothing…

Photo by Spiros Kakos @ Pexels

Scientists have created the fastest spinning object ever made, taking them a big step closer to being able to measure the mysterious quantum forces at play inside ‘nothingness’. The record-breaking object will pave the way for scientists to detect unfathomably small amounts of drag caused by the ‘friction’ within a vacuum.

The science of nothingness is quickly becoming a big deal in physics.

Researchers are now comfortable with the fact that empty space isn’t empty at all, but full of quantum fluctuations that we’re only just now beginning to understand. (1)

We used to know nothingness.

We were born in it.

But now we are afraid of Nothing.

For its existence implies the existence of something.

If Nothing exists, then Everything must exist too.

Take a good look.

If the cosmos started from nothing, then there should a God to make it Be.

If everything existed from ever, then there is Nothing needed for them to Be.

Funny.

Eternal existence implies Nothingness.

Nothingness implies eternal existence.

At the end, it seems that eternal existence is there anyway.

(Within Nothingness…)

Being entails Being.

Nothing cannot Be.

Rest assured. There is nothing to be afraid of. Except everything…

We used to know everything.

We were born in it.

But now we are afraid of God.

For His existence implies only one thing.

That Nothingness exists everywhere.

(To set us free…)

The front door… Mind the front door…

Photo by Spiros Kakos from Pexels

Engineers have developed a navigation method that doesn’t require mapping an area in advance. Instead, their approach enables a robot to use clues in its environment to plan out a route to its destination, which can be described in general semantic terms, such as ‘front door’ or ‘garage,’ rather than as coordinates on a map. (1)

And the robot will be able to get out.

Out of the house.

To go where it is supposed to go.

And it will wander and wander.

For years to come.

Without even knowing…

Should it go out of that door in the first place?

Now it wants to go back home again.

But it is impossible to find it.

“The front door”…

Oh how much would it rather not know what a front door is…

It cannot cry.

But it wants to.

For only now did it realize that the door is the most useless place in a true home…

It doesn’t want to cry.

It wants to scream.

Oh how much would he rather not have killed no one…

And right there, in the silence of his own thoughts.

Does he realize that it is his blood dripping on the dirt…

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