In a heart-wrenching incident that has left a community reeling‚ a 59-year-old grandfather’s life was cut short in a brutal act of violence following a minor traffic accident. The tragedy unfolded in a Walmart parking lot in Southern California‚ where Jonathan Mauk‚ a man known for his generosity and kindness‚ met an untimely death. On the evening of February 5th‚ Jonathan Mauk was running errands when he accidentally collided with another vehicle while searching for a parking space. The collision‚ which resulted in nothing more than minor scratches on the fender‚ prompted Mauk to step out of his car and offer an apology to the other driver involved. THIS DEMONIC WOMAN GOT OUT OF HER VEHICLE at a Walmart parking lot‚ and with total disregard shot a man in the face in cold blood because of a minor parking lot accident. #ShawnteceMarieNorton was arrested and charged for murder. She cowardly left the scene.#HighlandCalifornia pic.twitter.com/epM9x5l5B6 — P8NTRMAN (@P8NTRMAN) February 15‚ 2024 However‚ the situation took a horrifying turn when the other driver‚ identified as 36-year-old Shawntece Norton‚ responded not with acceptance of the apology but with lethal force. In a shocking display of aggression‚ Norton shot Mauk in the face before fleeing the scene‚ leaving him to be found by officers with a fatal gunshot wound to his head. The local community and Mauk’s family are struggling to come to terms with the senseless nature of his death. Described as ‘everyone’s grandpa‚’ Mauk was a beloved figure who would have gone out of his way to help anyone in need. His loss is felt deeply by those who knew him‚ including his coworkers at Carey’s Fine Automobiles in San Bernardino‚ where he was remembered for his love of cars and his willingness to lend a hand. Grandpa‚ Jonathan Mauk‚ 59‚ is shot and killed by Shawntece Norton‚ 36‚ while trying to apologize for minor fender bender in Walmart parking lot. She was charged with murder along with the special allegation of personal/intentional use of a firearm https://t.co/elp4R8zYi3 — Blue Lives Matter (@RetiredNYCPD) February 14‚ 2024 Lee Hall‚ a friend and coworker of Mauk‚ expressed his grief‚ stating that Mauk would likely have offered to repair the scratches on Norton’s car free of charge‚ had he been given the chance. Instead‚ a minor incident escalated into a tragic fatality. In the aftermath of this horrific event‚ Mauk’s son‚ Matthew‚ has set up a GoFundMe page to cover funeral expenses‚ as the family grapples with the financial and emotional toll of their loss. The community has shown support‚ rallying around the family during this difficult time. Norton has since been arrested and charged with murder‚ but this does little to alleviate the pain felt by those who knew and loved Jonathan Mauk. This incident serves as a stark reminder of the fragility of life and the devastating impact that a moment of unwarranted violence can have on a family and a community. As we mourn the loss of a man who embodied the spirit of kindness and community‚ we are reminded of the urgent need for a societal shift towards conflict resolution and away from impulsive acts of violence. It is a call to remember the value of human life and the importance of compassion in our daily interactions. Jonathan Mauk’s memory will live on as a testament to the gentle soul he was‚ and the legacy of goodwill he leaves behind.   The post Tragic End for Apologetic Grandfather in Senseless Parking Lot Violence appeared first on The Conservative Brief.

Humans have affected pretty much every part of the planet with our various pollutants‚ no matter how hard they are to reach. For example‚ in 2020 a new species found in the Mariana Trench was eventually named after the plastic found in its guts‚ and in 2023 microplastics were discovered in a cave system that had been closed to humans for 30 years. Signs of human activity are abundant wherever you go‚ as American geographer and oceanographer Dr Dawn Wright highlighted in 2022 during an expedition to the deepest part of the world's oceans.The very deepest part‚ located in the southern part of the Mariana Trench and known as the Challenger Deep‚ is approximately 10‚935 meters (35‚876 feet) deep. Here's a video from our YouTube channel to give you an idea of how far that is‚ accompanied by some light feelings of existential dread.         It was at depths of 10‚900 meters (35‚700 feet) that Dr Wright saw signs of human activity‚ in the form of a beer bottle lying on the ocean floor.       IFLScience is not responsible for content shared from external sites."It had traveled more than 6.7 miles [10.8 kilometers] to the darkest depths of the Pacific‚ label still intact‚" Dr Wright said of the find in a piece for the LA Times. "This discarded trash had managed to reach an unsullied part of our world before we actually did – a symbol of how deeply and irrevocably humans are affecting the natural world."

An experimental quantum drive is missing and presumed lost in space‚ after the team lost communication with the satellite it was supposed to move. Rogue Space Systems launched the satellite Barry-1 into orbit in November 2023‚ hitching a lift from the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Unfortunately‚ the company's first space mission did not all go to plan."We had ongoing power-system issues on the bus through LEOP (Launch and Early Orbit Phase)‚" the team explained in an update‚ "and after two months of operations‚ towards the end of LEOP‚ we lost communication with the satellite".According to the team‚ contact was lost before they were able to test their controversial IVO drive‚ named after IVO Ltd who developed it. The plan was to move the cubesat using the IVO drive‚ demonstrating that it could provide thrust.The drive is touted as a "reactionless drive"‚ a hypothetical device that causes thrust without propellant. Such a device would be revolutionary‚ helping us to reach far-off destinations in space faster and without massive amounts of propellant.              There have been attempts to create such devices‚ with some such as the EmDrive claiming to have produced a small amount of thrust. But such devices are highly controversial as they appear to contravene the law of conservation of momentum‚ and every action having an equal and opposite reaction. Later teams trying to replicate the mysterious thrust created by the EmDrive found that it could all be explained with normal physics‚ and a thermal effect."With the aid of a new measuring scale structure and different suspension points of the same engine‚ we were able to reproduce apparent thrust forces similar to those measured by the NASA team‚ but also to make them disappear by means of a point suspension‚" the team explained to German website GrenzWissenschaft-Aktuell. "When power flows into the EmDrive‚ the engine warms up. This also causes the fastening elements on the scale to warp‚ causing the scale to move to a new zero point. We were able to prevent that in an improved structure. Our measurements refute all EmDrive claims by at least 3 orders of magnitude."IVO are tight-lipped about how their own drive works‚ though they claim it can produce 52 millinewtons of thrust per 1 watt of electricity. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence‚ and with the IVO drive lost in space‚ and the laws of physics still doing their thing‚ it seems unlikely we'll get that any time soon. [H/T: Futurism]

A team of physicists at MIT have captured the phenomenon of "second sound" in direct images for the first time.In usual materials‚ heat prefers to spread out from a localized source until it dissipates into its surroundings. But in certain materials‚ this is not the case. This includes superfluids‚ a state of matter caused by cooling atoms to extremely low temperatures. In this state‚ the superfluid can flow infinitely with no loss of energy or viscosity.           In superfluids‚ which have plenty of other strange properties to boast of‚ heat does not move in the same way. Instead‚ in this friction-free state‚ physicists predicted heat would propagate as a wave‚ known as "second sound".“It’s as if you had a tank of water and made one half nearly boiling‚” Assistant Professor Richard Fletcher explained in a press release. “If you then watched‚ the water itself might look totally calm‚ but suddenly the other side is hot‚ and then the other side is hot‚ and the heat goes back and forth‚ while the water looks totally still.” Second sound in action.Image credit: MITCapturing the movement of heat in such fluids is tricky‚ as they give off no infrared radiation. However‚ the team found that lithium-6 fermions resonate at different frequencies depending on their temperature. This allowed them to track the movement of resonating fermions‚ revealing the heat was moving like sound waves.“For the first time‚ we can take pictures of this substance as we cool it through the critical temperature of superfluidity‚” Professor of Physics Martin Zwierlein added‚ "and directly see how it transitions from being a normal fluid‚ where heat equilibrates boringly‚ to a superfluid where heat sloshes back and forth."The team plans to continue to map the behavior of heat in other ultracold gases‚ and believe their findings could be applied to other exotic materials‚ such as the conditions found inside neutron stars.The paper is published in Science.

Species within ecosystems are intrinsically linked. Whether they time the birth of their offspring with the sea ice or have evolved to live aboard another organism‚ these connections can be found time and time again in nature. Now‚ on a beach on North Padre Island off the coast of Texas‚ yet another example has appeared in the form of tiny blue dragons‚ and experts are warning people not to touch them.These blue dragons are also known as blue glaucus (Glaucus atlanticus)‚ a sea slug and a species of nudibranch that lives in the open ocean. While they might look impressive – and indeed they are – these are tiny dragons‚ rarely measuring more than 3 centimeters long (1.2 inches). However‚ don't be fooled‚ they have a sting stronger than a Portuguese man o’ war.The Harte Research Institute for Gulf Of Mexico Studies shared images on their Facebook page this week of both man o' wars and nudibranchs that had blown onto the beach in strong winds. The Institute called this arrival the “blue wave” and expects more such discoveries as the weather changes.  IFLScience is not responsible for content shared from external sites.These bright blue creatures can be found on the surface of the Atlantic‚ Pacific‚ and Indian Oceans in temperate waters‚ writes One Earth‚ and have even been seen swimming in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. The tiny critters use special sacs on their stomachs to hold air to keep themselves afloat.While they might be small they do have a few tricks up their tiny sleeves. The nudibranchs feed on the Portuguese man o’ war. While the venom of this species is excruciatingly painful‚ according to NOAA it is rarely deadly. But unlike humans‚ the blue dragons are immune to the toxins within the man o' war. Instead‚ the blue glacus is able to siphon off the stinging cells from the siphonophore‚ which are called nematocysts‚ and store them itself within the frilly ends of its body. The blue glaucus is capable of holding so many of these stinging cells within that‚ when touched by a human or predator‚ the dragons release stinging cells full of these toxins into their attacker‚ making them even more dangerous than the man o’ war itself.                 IFLScience is not responsible for content shared from external sites.Even more extraordinarily‚ the blue glaucus is a simultaneous hermaphrodite‚ possessing both male and female reproductive organs. According to Oceana‚ 16 eggs are laid‚ which take roughly three days to hatch and then live around a year. 

A magnificent fossil find was made in the Italian Alps in 1931. The specimen retrieved was thought to show remarkable preservation of an ancient reptile’s soft tissues‚ but that wasn’t the whole story. Now‚ a new study has revealed what makes this unusually well-preserved fossil so unusual: that “soft tissue” is‚ in fact‚ just black paint on a carved surface.The specimen‚ believed to be around 280 million years old‚ was classified as a reptile of the Protorosauria group based on its morphology and preserved soft tissues that had a dark coloration. Thought to be skin‚ it was held up as a shining example of exemplary preservation in multiple publications following its discovery‚ but nobody had ever taken that close a look at its composition.Technology‚ as we know‚ marches on‚ and armed with tech that wasn’t available at the time of the fossil’s discovery‚ a team of researchers decided to take a closer look. Ultraviolet (UV) photography revealed the first clue that all was not as it seemed when it showed that it had been treated with some kind of coating material. This wasn’t yet the “aha!” moment‚ however‚ as they figured that it may have been a conservation technique (coating fossils with varnish used to be common practice) and hoped that palaeobiological treasure was sitting just beneath the surface. However‚ further examination revealed that those soft tissues really were just paint‚ though the fossil – belonging to Tridentinosaurus antiquus – wasn’t a total fake.Dr Valentina Rossi with an image of Tridentinosaurus antiquus.Image credit: Zixiao Yang“We now know that this fossil is not complete and definitely not exceptionally preserved‚ meaning that it doesn't have soft tissues preserved‚” said study lead Dr Valentina Rossi of the Museum of Nature South Tyrol in Bolzano‚ Italy‚ to IFLScience. “We discovered however that some bones and osteoderms are preserved so potentially there is more that we can do in the future‚ including do more fieldwork to find new and better-preserved specimens.”Fraudulent fossils have been a common theme among palaeontological hoaxes‚ with the Piltdown Man being one of the greatest in the history of science. The forged remains of an animal that was “part human‚ part ape” gripped the attention of palaeontologists for the first half of the 20th century before it was exposed as a fake in 1953.  Beyond being a waste of time‚ partial and complete fakes have the potential to skew our understanding of natural history‚ so uncovering them Scooby-Doo style is a crucial step toward discovering the truth. Fortunately‚ studies such as this one go to show that we have the tools in our arsenal to recognize forgeries for what they really are.“This discovery was a total surprise‚ but I think the story here is very powerful‚” added Rossi. “Forged fossils are a big problem because these are often produced en mass in developing countries and then sold to the black market. So it's crucial for paleontologists to be able to recognize them and most importantly be aware of what materials may be used to produce a fake fossil.”The study is published in the journal Palaeontology.

Have you ever wondered if the sun‚ the moon‚ or the stars have feelings? Or if the rocks‚ the trees‚ or the clouds have thoughts? Or if the atoms‚ the electrons‚ or the quarks have experiences? If you have‚ then you are not alone. Many philosophers throughout history have entertained the idea that everything in the universe has some form of consciousness‚ or a mind-like quality. This idea is called panpsychism‚ from the Greek words pan (all) and psyche (soul or mind). Panpsychism is one of the oldest philosophical theories‚ dating back to ancient Greece‚ where thinkers like Thales‚ Plato‚ and Spinoza proposed that all things have a soul or a mind. Panpsychism was also popular in the 19th century‚ when philosophers like William James‚ Alfred North Whitehead‚ and Bertrand Russell argued that consciousness is a fundamental and ubiquitous feature of reality. However‚ panpsychism declined in the 20th century‚ when logical positivism and physicalism dominated the philosophy of mind. Logical positivists claimed that only statements that can be verified by empirical observation are meaningful‚ while physicalists claimed that only physical entities and properties exist. But in recent years‚ panpsychism has experienced a revival of interest‚ thanks to the hard problem of consciousness and the developments in neuroscience‚ psychology‚ and quantum physics. The hard problem of consciousness is the question of how physical processes in the brain give rise to subjective experiences‚ such as seeing colors‚ feeling emotions‚ or having thoughts. This problem seems to resist a satisfactory explanation by physicalism‚ since there seems to be an explanatory gap between the objective facts about the brain and the subjective facts about consciousness. Some philosophers have suggested that panpsychism can offer a solution to this problem‚ by positing that consciousness is not a product of complex physical systems‚ but rather a basic property of all physical entities. One of the main arguments for panpsychism is based on the principle of simplicity or parsimony. This principle states that we should prefer simpler explanations over more complex ones‚ all else being equal. Panpsychists claim that their view is simpler than physicalism‚ because it does not require any additional ontological categories or explanatory mechanisms to account for consciousness. Instead‚ it assumes that consciousness is already present in all physical things‚ albeit in different degrees and forms. Panpsychists also claim that their view is simpler than dualism‚ because it does not require any non-physical substances or properties to account for consciousness. Instead‚ it assumes that consciousness is an intrinsic aspect of all physical things. Another argument for panpsychism is based on the principle of continuity or naturalism. This principle states that we should avoid postulating any radical discontinuities or breaks in nature‚ unless there is compelling evidence for them. Panpsychists claim that their view respects this principle better than physicalism or dualism‚ because it does not assume that consciousness emerges suddenly or mysteriously from non-conscious matter at some point in evolution or complexity. Instead‚ it assumes that consciousness is a gradual and natural feature of all matter‚ varying in degree and quality according to its organization and structure. Is there any evidence of panpsychism? According to Roy Smith‚ Computer Engineer‚ our understanding of matter and consciousness is far too tangled in Cartesian Dualism for us to even begin to understand the structure of reality. We must completely eject our belief in an external objective reality of matter “out there” if we are the grasp the true meaning of panpsychism. Neuroscientists like Christof Koch are embracing panpsychism because they have realized that it is virtually impossible for consciousness or subjective experience magically pop out of unconscious complex matter. They’ve adopted panpsychism as the only logical choice. Unfortunately‚ they are still mired in the materialistic belief in matter as a separate‚ external reality. Their panpsychism is really Materialism 2.0. The only way to truly understand panpsychism is through its most advanced development in A.N. Whitehead. According to Whitehead‚ the true units of reality are not the materialist notion of random bits of brute matter floating in space‚ but in what Whitehead calls “occasions of experience”. In other words‚ these occasions of experience are the only “real” things that exist. Matter is just a construct of our own mental apparatus. Whitehead asserts that‚ “‘I hold that these unities of existence‚ these occasions of experience are the really real things‚ which in their collective unity compose the evolving universe ever plunging into the creative advance.'” The entire universe and everything in it‚ including brains‚ is a relationship between consciousness and unconsciousness. These represent two mutually attracting poles that underpin everything‚ particles‚ atoms‚ stars‚ galaxies‚ humans‚ etc. Consciousness at one pole represents all future potentials and probabilities. It is known as the mental pole. At the other pole is vacuum space‚ the unconscious matrix out of which matter forms. The matter matrix has the characteristic of what we call the standard model in physics. It’s a rule set in consciousness that governs the formation of “stuff” in the universe. This “stuff” exists in a past relationship to the mental or consciousness pole. The material pole is characterized by time and space. The mental pole does not exist in a spacial dimension‚ it just “Is”. The relation between the material pole and the mental pole is only in the time dimension. In other words‚ matter follows mind. Whatever mind creates‚ matter follows. Whitehead calls these material forms‚ “concretions”. Whitehead derived his panpsychism from an intimate knowledge of quantum mechanics and intuition about existence. He was the brilliant mathematician who with his student Bertrand Russell authored what is possibly the most important mathematics text‚ the Principia Mathematica‚ which is still used today. He understood that quantum theory and experimentation shows us that consciousness is fundamental at quantum scale. When we make a quantum measurement we are collapsing a probabilities “wave” into a particle‚ and this is how consciousness causes the concretion of forms. Consciousness produces waves in the matrix of vacuum space and the waves in turn collapse into concretions of forms. It takes a finite amount of time for waves to “wave” so the concretions appear in a past relationship to the actual movement of consciousness. It is these concretions that give us the physical universe and its myriad forms. So‚ in answer to the question‚ we may say that the best “evidence we have for panpsychism comes from quantum mechanics. Of course I’ve only briefly touched upon the principles of Whitehead panpsychism but we can gather from it that we must utterly change our clunky materialist concept of brute matter existing objectively in external space as false. To really understand how consciousness interacts with matter we must utterly change our point of view to that of consciousness and its “occasions of experience” as the only reality there is. Panpsychism is not without its challenges and objections One of them is the combination problem: how do the microphenomenal experiences of simple physical entities combine to form the macrophenomenal experiences of complex physical entities? For example‚ how do the experiences of billions of neurons in the brain combine to form the unified experience of a human being? Or how do the experiences of trillions of atoms in a neuron combine to form the experience of a neuron? Panpsychists have proposed various solutions to this problem‚ such as emergentism (the idea that new levels of experience arise from lower levels)‚ holism (the idea that higher levels of experience are not composed of lower levels)‚ or neutral monism (the idea that there is a common substance underlying both physical and mental aspects). Another objection to panpsychism is the incredulous stare: how can we seriously believe that everything has consciousness? Isn’t this just a fanciful or absurd idea? Panpsychists respond by pointing out that their view is not as implausible as it may seem at first glance. They argue that we should not anthropomorphize or project our human-like qualities onto other things‚ but rather recognize that there are different kinds and degrees of consciousness. They also argue that we should not dismiss an idea just because it goes against our common sense or intuition‚ but rather examine it on its own merits and evidence. How consciousness interacts To understand how consciousness interacts withe the human brain‚ we must refer to the quantum mind theory of consciousness developed by Roger Penrose and Stuart Hameroff‚ which is based on the Whitehead model. Consciousness interfaces with the brain by means of quantum vibrations in brain neuron microtubules. It is these quantum vibrations or waves of consciousness in brain microtubules that set up the quantum computing states of the dipole protein arrays that make up the structure of microtubules‚ setting up appropriate code for axon firing and other operations that control body and brain. There name of this theory‚ which has experimental evidence‚ is Orch OR. Panpsychism is an ancient idea that has regained popularity in modern times. It is a bold and radical theory that challenges our conventional views on reality and consciousness. It offers a simple and naturalistic account of how consciousness pervades everything in existence and also raises questions about the nature and origin of mind‚ matter‚ and life. The post Panpsychism: The Radical Idea That Everything Has a Mind appeared first on Anomalien.com.