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May 24, 2023 11 tweets 5 min read Read on X
During his long career @UniofOxford mathematician Roger Penrose has collaborated with Stephen Hawking to uncover the secrets of the big bang, developed a quantum theory of consciousness with @StuartHameroff and won the Nobel prize in physics Roger Penrose holding his N...
For Roger Penrose, the idea of consciousness is "much more outrageous than 'it’s quantum mechanics in the brain'. It’s where our current theories of quantum mechanics go wrong," he says.

"It’s to do with a theory that we don’t know yet."
newscientist.com/article/mg2563…
Penrose is currently working on a paper about “Conformal cyclic cosmology” (CCC) - the view that the big bang was not actually the origin of our universe, but the continuation of the remote future of a previous aeon.
"The reluctance to consider a new idea in the face of strong evidence is one reason why I think people worry about science."
The controversial idea in collaboration with @StuartHameroff that consciousness involves quantum effects has evolved into the idea of ‘orchestrated objective reduction’.
newscientist.com/article/228822…
"We got together and did things - though we didn’t quite know what we were doing."
“Consciousness is beyond what current science can discern. It’s not that consciousness depends on quantum mechanics, it’s that it depends on where our current theories of quantum mechanics go wrong.” Neuron microtubules (staine...
Having spent decades thinking about the structure of the universe and consciousness, Penrose is still no closer to understanding whether there is inherent meaning in the universe.

"I think the presence of consciousness, if I can put it like that, is not an accident.” Centaurus A, which has a su...
Could fundamentals of physics look different from one aeon to the next?
“I’m not all that optimistic we’re going to go on for a huge length of time – in fact, I think we’re pretty lucky to be around now,” says Roger Penrose “But maybe other civilisations will be more sensible and settle down.”
"Physics is far from finished"

Watch @DrMichaelBrooks's full conversation with Sir Roger Penrose as part of New Scientists' #consciousness week!

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More from @newscientist

May 30, 2023
The discovery that faulty metabolism is at the root of many brain diseases suggests a surprising way to protect our brains from the ravages of ageing newscientist.com/article/mg2573…
If you own a car, you will have noticed the engine getting less efficient with time

The further you drive it, the more fuel it takes to make the same journey – until, eventually, it becomes so underpowered that it needs a physical push to climb even a gentle hill
Now, it is emerging that much the same is true of the human brain

Microscopic structures called mitochondria, found in every brain cell, are quite literally the engines of our thoughts and feelings A transmission electron mic...
Read 7 tweets
May 25, 2023
Researchers are building models of everything from black holes to the big bang in tanks of liquid. Now some claim these surprisingly simple models are showing us where our theories of space-time are wrong.
newscientist.com/article/mg2583…
This is a black hole. Well, not a black hole in the common sense. Germain Rousseaux’s experiment at @InstitutPprime is a physical model of how the immense gravity of black holes can suck in waves – conventionally light waves, but in this case water waves – so they can’t escape. Ruby Fresson
It is what is known in the trade as a “gravity analogue”, and it is far from the only one. Over the years, researchers have created dozens of these tabletop models of everything from black holes to the entire infant cosmos!
newscientist.com/definition/bla…
Read 11 tweets
May 25, 2023
In this week's issue: Can recreating black holes in the lab solve the puzzles of space-time?

Grab a copy in shops now or download our app for audio and digital editions newscientist.com/issue/3440/ Image
Researchers are building models of everything from black holes to the big bang in tanks of liquid. Now some claim these surprisingly simple models are showing us where our theories of space-time are wrong
newscientist.com/article/mg2583…
From meeting an older version of yourself in virtual reality to writing letters from the future, these evidence-based tricks can help you improve your health and happiness. newscientist.com/article/mg2583…
Read 10 tweets
May 25, 2023
Exciting news! New Scientist’s book club launches today, and we’re kicking things off with the excellent science fiction novel The Ferryman by Justin Cronin (@jccronin)

Sign up today, and tell us what you think at #NewScientistBookClub newscientist.com/sign-up/bookcl… Image
Justin Cronin's new science fiction novel transmutes the familiar trope of a utopia with a dark secret into a deep story with humanity at its centre. Read along with us at #NewScientistBookClub newscientist.com/article/mg2583…
From Lost to The Tempest, the author of The Ferryman reveals the cultural influences behind his new science fiction novel - the first pick for the #NewScientistBookClub newscientist.com/article/237485…
Read 4 tweets
May 25, 2023
Are plants conscious?
Radical new experiments hint at sentience and cognition throughout the botanical kingdom, which may provoke a rethink of our understanding of the human mind
newscientist.com/article/mg2553… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
You’ve probably seen the way a Mimosa pudica plant, also called the touch-me-not, folds its leaves when they are touched Mimosa pudica leaves fold w...
But you may not have heard that if you put one into a sealed chamber with a dose of anaesthetic, it will eventually stop reacting to touch, as though it has been knocked out or put to sleep
Read 11 tweets
May 24, 2023
Albania's Vjosa river was due to be the site of a massive hydroelectric dam, but in March the Albanian government declared the entirety of the Vjosa a wild river national park, the first (and probably last) of its kind in Europe.
newscientist.com/article/mg2583…
Dams are disastrous for biodiversity and other crucial ecological gifts rivers bestow upon us. So the saving of the Vjosa is a big win for nature – including the critically endangered Balkan lynx and an inspiration for other river conservation projects
newscientist.com/article/213447… Image
In 2007, construction for a 108-megawatt power plant across the lower reaches of the Vjosa began , however endless delays and decades later the government pulled the plug
Read 12 tweets

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