There is a new research paper published (preprint only) by the Resonance Science Foundation Research Team. In this publication a key characteristic that distinguishes a living system from abiotic matter is discussed, and is identified as the primary criterion by which any arrangement of space-matter-energy can be unambiguously defined as alive. In addition to elucidating the nature of living systems, and what it means for an organization of matter and energy to be alive, the criterion serves as a methodology to unambiguously and positively identify a system as (1) alive, and (2) as conscious. In regards to the latter (2), the methodology outlined in the study is a significant advancement  over the Turing test, which does not distinguish a programmed automaton from a system with true stand-alone volition and consciousness, and hence is a substandard method to identify a system as conscious.

By: William Brown, scientist at the Resonance Science Foundation

What is life?...

By: William Brown, scientist at the Resonance Science Foundation

This report has been published as a science article review and can be accessed freely at the online journal Qeios- Click here to access the article

In the book Rhythmic Oscillations in Proteins to Human Cognition [1], a compendium of avant-garde researchers takes a fresh look at the mechanics of nature to emphasize the importance of cyclical, harmonic interrelationships of oscillatory phenomena, especially in biophysics and biochemistry. The book is part of a larger series of publications set to explore and document fundamental research carried out globally from astrophysics to particle physics, from stock market to economic theories, and from plant biology to consciousness. The editors Anirban Bandyopadhyay, a senior Scientist at the National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS) in Tsukuba, Japan— whose patents include a time crystal model for building an artificial human brain [2]— and Kanad Ray,...

By: William Brown, scientist at the Resonance Science Foundation

Spatial Topography of the Brain

A meta-analysis of magnetic resonance imaging data of neuronal activity in advanced meditation practitioners has discovered a reorganization of information processing topography in which brain regions involved in present-awareness have increased activity while ego-centric and subject-object (discriminatory) neuronal information processing layers are mitigated [1]. The researchers identify the neural correlates associated with the feeling of unity of experience—a state that advanced meditation practitioners can experience, often described as a non-dual state of experience that does not maintain the strong distinction between self-other or subject-object information, but rather a unified experience of oneness, or singularity.

The study is based on Qin et al.’s (2020) neural model (Linking bodily, environmental and mental states in the self—A...

^{By Amal Pushp, Affiliate Physicist at the Resonance Science Foundation}

A pair of quantum entities spatially separated in the network of spacetime displays a mysterious correlation when measured. This quantum correlation is commonly referred to as entanglement. In the current age, phenomena involving entanglement and its diverse applications are inevitable, however, it would be quite surprising to the reader at first that this quantum phenomenon was dismissed as an impossible spooky scenario by none other than Albert Einstein who is believed to be one of the founding fathers of quantum physics itself.

Entanglement, also popularly known as non-locality within scientific circles, has become a well-established topic over the decades. However, there is another quantum aspect that is equally interesting but probably most of us haven’t heard of it. This lesser-known phenomenon of quantum mechanics is termed contextuality. To put it simply, contextuality says that properties of...

^{Image by Inés Urdaneta, for Resonance Science Foundation}

^{By Inés Urdaneta, Physicist at Resonance Science Foundation}

Maybe you have already read or heard about the Mexican neuroscientist Dr. Jacobo Grinberg, who was a pioneer in the study of consciousness. He studied psychology at UNAM (National Autonomous University of Mexico) and then traveled to New York in 1970 to study psychophysiology at the Brain Research Institute, where he obtained a PhD focused on the electrophysiological effects of geometric stimuli on the human brain. Upon his return to Mexico, he founded a psychophysiology laboratory at the Universidad Anahuac. In the late 1970s, he set up another similar laboratory at UNAM, and in 1987, he founded the National Institute for the Study of Consciousness (INPEC), funded by UNAM and the National Council of Science and Technology (Conacyt) [1]. 

Among other phenomena, Grinberg conducted studies of what he called the “transferred potential”...

By: William Brown, Biophysicist at the Resonance Science Foundation

Compared to humans the Octopus is in many ways alien, it is an invertebrate with the only hard part being a chitinous beak, it has eight arms where most of its neuronal tissue—or brain—is located, and in many species, it can shape-shift and change the color of its integument to match its surrounding with near perfect adaptive camouflage. However, despite the many differences, many octopus species do share one similarity with that of humans: sophisticated cognitive capabilities, including problem solving, fore-thought, and creative ingenuity.

Since Octopus species have a rather large evolutionary distance from humans, mammals, or even vertebrates, a study of the cellular and molecular underpinning of their sophisticated cognitive capabilities can give us insight into what specific mechanisms enable and drive intelligence in animals. Interestingly, the molecular underpinnings of neuronal plasticity...

^{By Inés Urdaneta, Physicist at Resonance Science Foundation}

A couple of weeks ago the world was overwhelmed by the news regarding the possibility that Google had created a sentient AI, and their resistance to investigate the ethical implications about the topic is being discussed in many forums. There are plenty of articles, videos and interviews addressing why Lemoine considered LaMDA to be sentient, and why Google and others assure this is not the case. As Lemoine explains here, this is not the most relevant aspect of the controversy.

If Google did create a sentient AI or not, it’s a huge discussion ... most complex scenario, let’s say it did, which would mean that the sentient AI is having feelings about events and interactions that it has not experienced directly and yet, it has developed “its own perspective” or experience about them. There seems to be an autoreferential frame, or realization of self-awareness, or at least it makes us perceive it...

^{By Dr. Inés Urdaneta / Physicist at Resonance Science Foundation}

Experimental evidence of quantum behavior in neural microtubules could support Penrose and Hameroff’s hypothesis that consciousness originates in the microtubules of the neurons, as described by their theory called Orchestrated objective reduction (Orch -OR). 

In former RSF articles [1,2,3], biophysicist William Brown had addressed the Orchestrated objective reduction theory (Orch OR), originally proposed by physicist Roger Penrose and anaesthesiologist Stuart Hameroff, in the 1990.

As William Brown brilliantly explains [1]:

“One of the key features of Hameroff’s and Penrose’ theory is called Orchestrated Objective Reduction (Orch-OR), in which it is theorized that the state vector (the wavefunction that describes a particle) of delocalized free electrons within tubulin undergoes an observer-independent reduction (an objective versus subjective collapse of the wavefunction). As the...

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^{"I regard consciousness as fundamental, matter is derivative from consciousness. We cannot get behind consciousness. Everything that we talk about, everything that we regard as existing, postulates consciousness. There is no matter as such; it exists only by virtue of a force bringing the particle to vibration and holding it together in a minute solar system; we must assume behind this force the existence of a conscious and intelligent mind.}

^{The mind is the matrix of all matter" - Max Planck}

Consciousness has been a controversial subject within science, as it is not just about explaining a particularly complex phenomenological state of the brain – it pierces right to the heart of our conception of the material world. An investigation of the nature of consciousness, as it turns out, is inextricably linked with the exploration of the nature of reality. This is epitomized in the centuries-old adage “if a tree falls in the...

 By: William Brown, Biophysicist at the Resonance Science Foundation

The part of our brain that is responsible for coding memories—the hippocampal formation— has a complex and specialized system of cells that continuously updates position and direction, generating cognitive maps of our surroundings as we navigate the world. New research published in the journal Nature has shown that the joint activity of neuronal cells that form spatial mapping circuits reside on a toroidal manifold, such that positions on the torus correspond to positions of the environment through which an individual is moving [1].

Neurological studies have shown that the hippocampal formation, which includes the hippocampus and entorhinal cortex, contains a diverse array of cell types that support spatial navigation and memory. A key component of this system is the hippocampal place cell, which encodes an animal’s presence at a particular spatial location to support navigation and encoding...