Naked Science Forum
Non Life Sciences => Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology => Topic started by: guest39538 on 14/08/2016 08:55:35
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What if the mind by sight could access information travelling around through and of free space?
We can send information by using wavelengths and sorts, in free space there is a huge amount of information ''floating'' about,i.e satellite signals. We receive this information by our receivers that then decode this information to form pictures , sounds etc.
However in principle these signals are made of the same ''stuff'' that we see with in our brains, so although we can't visually see this information like we can't see the air it passes through, could our brains by sight possibly receive this information, decode this information, resulting in maybe flash pictures or flash thoughts or even maybe instant knowledge, knowing things a person as not learnt for examples?
Could we train our brains to recognise the information? A sort of wireless transfer of information from device to our brains?
added- Info A is equal to info B?
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In principle, such things are not out of the question, but would require that our brains be appropriately wired. They don't appear to be in their natural state, but might be convertible by implanting a modem and an antenna.
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In principle, such things are not out of the question, but would require that our brains be appropriately wired. They don't appear to be in their natural state, but might be convertible by implanting a modem and an antenna.
Interesting thoughts Atomic, I was thinking more along the lines that in the ''future'' , humans may evolve to ''see'' this information, as to me it is quite clear we evolved to not ''see'' this information, i.e the information is invisible. Our antennas are our eyes, our eyes receive all this invisible information but the brain fails to recognise/''see'' this information.
''white light'' is a mixture of frequencies but our brains interpret this as ''gin-clear''/invisible in free space. We do not notice any specific wavelength in free space, it is as if the information is ''hidden'' from us.
Can you tell me how a device decodes the information ?
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Can you tell me how a device decodes the information ?
It depends on what device you are speaking of.
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BTW, I understand that the brains of certain birds have received microwave transmissions when they are close enough to the antenna, but apparently to go good end; the effect is rather one of the signal jamming the birds' navigational senses.
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could our brains by sight possibly receive this information?
The visual range for humans is about 380 nm (violet, 3.2 eV) to 750 nm (red, 1.7eV).
- At the violet end, the lens of our eye filters out ultraviolet light (UV). There are stories of people who have had cataract surgery, replacing their natural lens with a glass lens, which partially transmits UV. This allows them to see UV light, as the high-energy UV photons trigger the light-sensitive chemicals in our retina. However, UV also causes mutations and kills cells; one wonders if this will cause retina damage, in the long term?
- At the red end, the low energy of infra-red photons (IR) is not enough to trigger the light-sensitive chemicals in our retina. For reliable vision, the chemical trigger for light must be above the normal vibration of a body at 37C. And body temperature puts out energy at IR wavelengths.
See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visible_spectrum#Spectral_colors
Can you tell me how a device decodes the information?
So lets take one of the simplest codes, which was first introduced in the days before silicon computers on a chip: the IR remote control on a TV.
- This has an IR LED on the remote control, usually disguised behind black-looking plastic (which is transparent to IR)
- When you press a button on the remote control, a pattern of electrical pulses is applied to the LED, which emits a pattern of IR flashes (a bit like Morse Code).
- An IR phototransistor on the TV (also hidden behind black-looking plastic) detects these flashes of IR, turning them back into electrical pulses.
- An electronic circuit looks at the pattern of pulses, and if it is a known pattern (eg "go to the next higher channel"), it will trigger this function in the TV.
- However, humans can't see IR, so our brains can't detect it and decode it
- But the "selfie" camera on an iPhone can detect it (other phones are available...). Point your remote control at the selfie camera, and press a button. You will see a flashing light in the Remote Control, which is invisible to the human eye.
- However, the flash rate is typically faster than 10 pulses per second, which is a bit too fast for the human visual system to process.
See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remote_control#Consumer_electronics_infrared_protocols
Another simple code is the ring signal to your analog telephone - an AC signal with a voltage of up to 90V rms. If you happen to be touching the telephone wires at the moment the phone rings, you will certainly decode the message. (Don't try this at home!)
Humans have devised some complex codes, and with today's cheap silicon computers, the coding (and decoding) is getting more complex - to the point where, if we could detect this radiation, it would appear just random, rather than "flash pictures or flash thoughts or even maybe instant knowledge".
For someone with a modern telephone service carried over VDSL2 broadband, the signal has a very low amplitude (by the time it reaches your home, it is <0.01 volts, too small to detect with your fingers), and the information is encoded by subtle phase and amplitude changes in tones spread over 17MHz. And these signals undergo millions of changes per second, even when the phone is not ringing. Decoding modern signals is much trickier - and video is even trickier!
The human nervous system also has some extremely complex coding, which our computers have trouble decoding (or encoding).
There are signs that with adaptive computer algorithms and the adaptive nervous system, we may be able to get the two talking to the extent that an amputee or quadriplegic may be able to control a robotic arm or a wheelchair.
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Could we train our brains to recognise the information?
The architectures of brains and computers are radically different, so it is not surprising that they should represent information in radically different ways:
- Traditional computers could only do 1 thing at a time, but very accurately and very fast
- The brain processes huge numbers of things in parallel, but its only approximate, and relatively slow
The most successful Human/Computer interfaces work by mimicking pictures, books and objects in our natural environment.
Direct computer-brain interfaces are still very experimental. During the week I saw video of a paralysed woman who was able to control a robotic arm well enough so it fed her a chocolate bar. She was so elated that the robot arm went out of control, and almost punched her in the eye!