Computers are Evolving There has been a lot of talk lately about humans living in a computer simulation. Every once in a while, someone adds fuel to the fire. Recently a physicist at the University of Portsmouth claimed to have used a new law of physics to prove we indeed live in a computer simulation. Before I go any further, I want to say I don’t buy this idea and probably never will. He said he bases this theory on how computers operate. He states the new law explains the prevalence of symmetries in our universe. He also talked about how the symmetries corresponds with the lowest entropy state. Here is what he said, "This approach, where excess information is removed, resembles the process of a computer deleting or compressing waste code to save storage space and optimize power consumption. And as a result, supports the idea that we're living in a simulation." While this is very scientific, I cannot help thinking even if this new physics law is correct there could be a couple of reasons for what we see. The first being the computer copied some of the things the universe does but that does not mean we live in a simulation. Part of living in a simulation is said to be things only exist when we see them. The famous example states if we see a tree in the forest and walk out of the forest it no longer exists. But what about two or more people go into the forest and one comes out and yet those other people still see the forest and the tree? Can some place exist and not exist at the same time? I don’t think so, at least not in macro physics. Maybe the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy was right and the meaning of life is 42. I can’t help but think computers are not the where with all. Some day something is going to replace them, that is just the nature of things, so I believe comparing the universe to a computer simulation is just a waste of time. Not only that, just because strange things happen in the universe doesn’t mean we are in a simulation. Are we to believe we are not alive and just some sort of character in the simulation and have no free will, or have a limited amount of it? As time goes by we are going to be finding many strange things about the universe, but does that mean it will prove this theory? I don’t think so, but I do believe these things will challenge our intelligence and many theories about our lives on this planet and our space in the universe will come and go and we may never truly understand everything going on in the universe. Speaking about computers, did you know there are some scientists and engineers looking to create a new internet? It has been reported most if not all of these people come from Europe. Why do they want to do this? The answer is simple, they want the internet to be based on quantum physics. This would do away with using binary data. Tiny bits of data would replace that binary data. A new group has been formed named the Quantum Internet Alliance for this purpose. For years since quantum physics was discovered it has been said if we could use quantum physics in our computers it would make computer crimes like hacking and making viruses impossible. I don’t know if I believe that, but it certainly would make them a lot harder to commit. I think some country or organization trying to hack a quantum computer would need a similar computer and a lot of time, possibly years to accomplish it. The idea of a quantum internet is said to make our communications a lot safer. It seems one can’t read the news without finding a mention about artificial intelligence. It seems some companies which are really into A.I. are considering making their own custom computer chips. Making computer chips is a very expensive option, so I believe some of these companies may design them and let one of the big chip makers produce them. It looks like A.I. is certainly here to stay. Hopefully we will be able to control it. One of the complaints about storage media for computers is it won’t last long enough to become a material which will last for centuries so our ancestors can view our data. The CD is said to only have a life span of about 20 years. Thumb drives are said to have a lifespan of about 10 years. If you are using a mechanical hard drive, it is said its lifespan is 10 to 20 years. Finally, a solid state drive is said to retain data for about 2 years under the right temperature. Microsoft has been experimenting with different materials and has come up with a material to use in the cloud for storage. It is silica storage. They claim data can be retained on this material for about 10,000 years. Quite a difference from the other media. I have to wonder if this material will find itself in the thumb drives of the future. One of the things which is becoming more obvious in the computer world is the number of outlets which are no longer selling media such as CDs and Blue-ray disks. Some outlets are even quitting the movie business. This was to be expected. With all the thumb drives out there and the cheaper hard drives, yes you can even buy a 1 Terabyte solid state drive for under $40. Blank disks are becoming a disappearing breed. As far as movies go, the huge banks of movies available on streaming has just about eliminated the need for home libraries. One has to wonder how small a functioning computer can get. I have the answer. It is just 0.3 millimeters and was constructed by Michigan University researchers. It has been suggested it can be used to monitor cancer, to monitor oil reservoirs, eye pressure for glaucoma and many other things. Did you ever wonder what was the difference between quantum computers and super computers? A super computer is bigger and slower than a quantum computer. A quantum computer uses quantum bits called qubits. Quantum computers are said to be more energy efficient. Quantum computers are still not suited for real-time data analysis. Quantum computers have more limited memory. Quantum computers are designed for particular tasks when they are built. Most quantum computers need very low temperatures to operate, but there is talk about a new type which can run at room temperature. Quantum computers are said to have unlimited scalability. It is being hoped quantum computers can upgrade all our computer security.
|
