Tag Archives: Processes

This Unusual Optical Illusion Could Reveal Insights into Animal Thought Processes

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A recent study reveals that certain optical illusions can deceive some animals, though not all. This emerging research may offer fresh insights into how perception influences survival and evolution in different species.

The optical illusion examined in this research is known as the Ebbinghaus illusion, where two identical circles appear different in size because one is encircled by a larger circle, while the other is surrounded by a smaller one.

When observing the illusion overall, the outer circle misleads our brain into perceiving the inner circle as a different size. However, focusing solely on the inner circles reveals that they are indeed the same.

Our susceptibility to this illusion hinges on how our brains interpret visual information, whether as a cohesive whole or detailed parts.

To investigate how various animals perceive their surroundings, scientists at the University of Vienna in Austria recreated the Ebbinghaus illusion using bait, arranging circles of differing sizes around a central bait area.

The two orange circles are identical, yet the left one seems smaller due to the larger circle surrounding it. Conversely, the right circle appears larger – Credit: Getty Images

Next, they observed the responses of two fish species: guppies (Poecilia reticulata) and ring doves (Streptopelia risoria).

The findings indicated that guppies are reliably deceived by optical illusions, similar to humans; they often preferred to consume fish flakes within a smaller circle, perceiving them as larger food items.

In contrast, ring doves exhibited varying responses; some birds chose millet seeds surrounded by a smaller circle, while others opted for those within a larger circle.

The researchers concluded that these choices highlight how each species is uniquely equipped to interact with its environment and tackle its challenges.

For instance, guppies inhabit shallow tropical rivers, where they encounter flickering lights, thick vegetation, swift predators, and numerous other guppies.

Guppies might be influenced by an illusion, suggesting they perceive their environment contextually rather than focusing on minute details – Credit: Getty Images

Researchers believe that for guppies, quick judgment of which fish are safe in a visually cluttered environment is crucial for survival. Thus, making rapid decisions could be advantageous.

Conversely, wood pigeons spend their lives on the ground, foraging for seeds. For them, noticing fine details could be more beneficial than analyzing the broader scene.

Nevertheless, scientists have observed that some pigeons react as if they are misled by a hallucination, indicating variability within species, much like humans.

Overall, the team concluded that optical illusions can provide a valuable lens through which to explore the diverse perceptions across species.

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Source: www.sciencefocus.com

Physicists Claim Gravity Arises from Our Universe’s Computational Processes

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Melvin Vopson, a physicist from the University of Portsmouth, introduces a novel perspective on gravity.

This artist’s impression illustrates the evolution of the universe, starting with the Big Bang on the left. Then, the microwave background is depicted, followed by the formation of the first stars, which ends the dark ages of the universe, and continues with the emergence of galaxies. Image credit: M. Weiss/Harvard – Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.

There is a theory positing that the entire universe is intrinsically informative and operates akin to a computational process, a perspective shared by many notable thinkers.

This line of thinking emerges from the domain of information physics, suggesting that physical reality is fundamentally composed of structured information.

In his latest paper, Dr. Vopson presents findings indicating that gravity stems from a computational process inherent in the universe.

He posits that gravity may be influenced by the organization of information related to matter throughout the universe.

Employing the second law of information dynamics, he demonstrates that universal matter and its objects could be considered as the universe endeavors to organize and compress information.

“My findings support the notion that the universe might operate like a vast computer, or that our reality represents a simulated configuration,” Dr. Vopson remarked.

“In the same way that computers strive to save space and enhance efficiency, the universe may do the same.”

“This presents a new outlook on gravity—it’s about the universe’s effort to stay organized, rather than simply pulling.”

Dr. Vopson has previously posited that information is fundamental and that all elementary particles harbor self-information, similar to how cells in biological entities carry DNA.

The current paper reveals how the spatial pixelation of fundamental cells serves as a medium for data storage, and how the information contained within these cells contributes to the physical properties and coordinates of space-time simulacra.

Each cell is capable of registering information in binary format, meaning an empty cell records a digital 0, while a cell containing matter records a digital 1.

“This process mirrors the design of a digital computer game, a virtual reality application, or other advanced simulations,” Dr. Vopson explained.

“As a single cell can accommodate multiple particles, the system evolves by relocating particles in space, merging them into a singular large particle within a single cell.”

“This sets the rules established in the computing system, causing attraction, which requires minimizing informational content and potentially reducing computational demand.”

“In simple terms, tracking and calculating the position and momentum of a single object is much more computationally efficient than managing multiple objects.”

“Therefore, gravitational attraction appears as yet another optimization mechanism within the computational process aimed at compressing information.”

“This study offers a fresh insight into gravity, affirming that its appeal arises from the fundamental urge to decrease information entropy in the universe.”

“The findings reveal significant conceptual and methodological distinctions, suggesting that gravity functions as a computational optimization process where matter self-organizes to lessen the complexity of encoding within space-time.”

“The broader implications of this work encompass fundamental physics topics, including black hole thermodynamics, dark matter, dark energy considerations, and potential links between gravity and quantum information theory.”

“The question of whether the universe is fundamentally a computational structure remains unresolved.”

This paper was published in the journal on April 25th, 2025, in AIP Advances.

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Melvin M. Vopson. 2025. Is there evidence of gravity in the computational universe? AIP Advances 15, 045035; doi:10.1063/5.0264945

Source: www.sci.news

Study finds that Jupiter’s polar lows are driven by processes reminiscent of those on Earth

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Planetary scientists first became aware of the connection between Earth and Jupiter in 2018, when they noticed striking similarities in images of Jupiter's giant cyclones and turbulent ocean currents. In 2022, they Analyzed High-resolution infrared image of a cyclone on Jupiter taken by NASA's Juno spacecraft. Analysis reveals that a type of convection similar to that seen on Earth helps sustain Jupiter's storms, which can be thousands of miles wide and last for years. The 2022 study focused directly on Jupiter's cyclones, but the authors also saw thin tendrils called filaments in the spaces between the vortices of gas. These filaments have analogues on Earth, and the authors used Juno's detailed images to study whether this similarity to Earth's oceanic and atmospheric processes is merely superficial.

This composite image, created from data collected by the JIRAM instrument on NASA's Juno spacecraft, shows a central cyclone at Jupiter's north pole and eight surrounding cyclones. JIRAM collects data in infrared, and the colors in this composite represent radiated heat. The yellow (thinnest) clouds have a brightness temperature of about -9 degrees Fahrenheit (-13 degrees Celsius), while the dark red (thickest) clouds have a brightness temperature of about -181 degrees Fahrenheit (83 degrees Celsius). Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / SwRI / ASI / INAF / JIRAM.

Fronts are often featured in weather forecasts (for example, cold fronts and storm fronts) and apply to both gases and liquids.

A front is a boundary between masses of gas or liquid that have different densities due to differences in properties such as temperature.

In the ocean, fronts can also form due to differences in salinity, which, along with temperature, affects the density of seawater.

The main characteristic of a front is that its leading edge is characterized by strong vertical speed and can generate wind and currents.

To understand the role of the filaments clearly visible during Jupiter's cyclones in the Juno images, Dr. Leah Siegelman of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and Dr. Patrice Klein of the California Institute of Technology examined a series of infrared images from Juno.

The series of images was taken 30 seconds apart of Jupiter's north polar region.

Because the images were taken in infrared, the team was able to calculate the temperature, finding that brighter areas were warmer and darker areas were cooler.

On Jupiter, the hotter parts of the atmosphere correspond to thin clouds, while the cooler parts are covered by thicker clouds that block more of the heat emanating from Jupiter's superheated core.

The researchers then tracked the movement of the clouds and filaments over the 30-second intervals between photos to calculate horizontal wind speeds.

These two pieces of information allowed the scientists to apply methods from ocean and atmospheric science to Jupiter to calculate vertical wind speeds that correspond to the temperatures and horizontal wind speeds the researchers derived from the images.

Calculating vertical wind speeds, they found that Jupiter's filaments do in fact move like Earth's fronts.

The vertical wind speeds at the edges of Jupiter's fronts also mean that the fronts transport energy in the form of heat from the planet's hot interior to the upper atmosphere, potentially generating large cyclones.

Although convection is the primary driving force, fronts account for a quarter of the total kinetic energy powering Jupiter's cyclones and 40 percent of the vertical heat transport.

“These cyclones at Jupiter's poles have continued since they were first observed in 2016,” Dr Siegelman said.

“These filaments between the larger vortices are relatively small, but they are a key mechanism for maintaining cyclones.”

“It's intriguing that fronts and convection exist and influence Earth and Jupiter, suggesting that these processes may also exist on other turbulent fluid bodies in the universe.”

“Jupiter's enormous scale and Juno's high-resolution images allow us to more clearly visualize how small-scale phenomena like fronts connect with larger-scale phenomena like cyclones and the atmosphere. These connections are often difficult to observe on Earth because they are much smaller and more ephemeral.”

“But the long-awaited new satellite, SWOT, will make observing these ocean phenomena much easier.”

“There's a kind of cosmic beauty in knowing that these physical mechanisms on Earth exist on other planets far, far away.”

Team paper Published in the journal Natural Physics.

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L. Siegelman & P. ​​Klein. Frontogenesis at high latitudes on Jupiter. National Physical SocietyPublished online June 6, 2024; doi: 10.1038/s41567-024-02516-x

Source: www.sci.news