Marco Masi
@marco-masi.bsky.social
Physics, consciousness studies, and evolution. Searching for an integral vision of science, philosophy, and spirituality.
Born 320 ppm
Follow me on Substack: marcomasi.substack.com
Born 320 ppm
Follow me on Substack: marcomasi.substack.com
When the Dying Wake: What Terminal Lucidity Reveals
open.substack.com/pub/afternat...
open.substack.com/pub/afternat...
Marco Masi on After Nature
I agree that the case of terminal lucidity, taken in isolation, may be only suggestive but cannot be considered conclusive. However, there are so many other similar neurological phenomena that suggest...
open.substack.com
October 25, 2025 at 4:26 PM
When the Dying Wake: What Terminal Lucidity Reveals
open.substack.com/pub/afternat...
open.substack.com/pub/afternat...
Reposted by Marco Masi
Preprint -
Excited to present WHOLISTIC, which extends the concept of whole-brain functional imaging to the entire body. Pioneering work by incredibly talented Virginia Ruetten @vmsruetten.bsky.social, this platform reveals whole-organism cellular dynamics in vivo.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Excited to present WHOLISTIC, which extends the concept of whole-brain functional imaging to the entire body. Pioneering work by incredibly talented Virginia Ruetten @vmsruetten.bsky.social, this platform reveals whole-organism cellular dynamics in vivo.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
September 8, 2025 at 4:25 PM
Preprint -
Excited to present WHOLISTIC, which extends the concept of whole-brain functional imaging to the entire body. Pioneering work by incredibly talented Virginia Ruetten @vmsruetten.bsky.social, this platform reveals whole-organism cellular dynamics in vivo.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Excited to present WHOLISTIC, which extends the concept of whole-brain functional imaging to the entire body. Pioneering work by incredibly talented Virginia Ruetten @vmsruetten.bsky.social, this platform reveals whole-organism cellular dynamics in vivo.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Marco Masi
The latest issue of Renew- the UK's long running newsletter on #renewables
renewnatta.wordpress.com/.../2014/11/...
renewnatta.wordpress.com/.../2014/11/...
September 1, 2025 at 1:50 PM
The latest issue of Renew- the UK's long running newsletter on #renewables
renewnatta.wordpress.com/.../2014/11/...
renewnatta.wordpress.com/.../2014/11/...
Reposted by Marco Masi
Earth at night viewed from space (watch fullscreen).
August 6, 2025 at 10:45 PM
Earth at night viewed from space (watch fullscreen).
I just had a paper published on how quantum phenomena in the real world likely 'bubble up' to macroscopic scales. The general idea is that quantum uncertainty, when coupled with chaotic nonlinearity, is amplified across scales.
ijqf.org/archives/7576
ijqf.org/archives/7576
Quantum Indeterminacy Persists Across Scales
pages 492-514Marco MasiAbstract | Full Text Download (1347k)
ijqf.org
August 3, 2025 at 8:19 AM
I just had a paper published on how quantum phenomena in the real world likely 'bubble up' to macroscopic scales. The general idea is that quantum uncertainty, when coupled with chaotic nonlinearity, is amplified across scales.
ijqf.org/archives/7576
ijqf.org/archives/7576
It's unfortunate that they didn't ask whether quantum mechanics is a theory with or without hidden variables (whether quantum indeterminacy is true or pseudo-indeterminism.) A decisive distinction from a philosophical standpoint. What a pity... a lost opportunity.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Physicists disagree wildly on what quantum mechanics says about reality, Nature survey shows
First major attempt to chart researchers’ views finds interpretations in conflict.
www.nature.com
July 30, 2025 at 5:48 PM
It's unfortunate that they didn't ask whether quantum mechanics is a theory with or without hidden variables (whether quantum indeterminacy is true or pseudo-indeterminism.) A decisive distinction from a philosophical standpoint. What a pity... a lost opportunity.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Reposted by Marco Masi
This hopefully will be of interest to philosophers of free will! 😊 cc @keithfrankish.bsky.social @greggdcaruso.bsky.social @drjustincaouette.bsky.social @davidpapineau.bsky.social @neddo.bsky.social ⬇️
Very excited to share this new preprint, with Henry Potter:
"Chance, Choice, and Control: Free Will in an Indeterministic Universe" philarchive.org/rec/POTCCA-6 😊
"Chance, Choice, and Control: Free Will in an Indeterministic Universe" philarchive.org/rec/POTCCA-6 😊
July 29, 2025 at 1:24 PM
This hopefully will be of interest to philosophers of free will! 😊 cc @keithfrankish.bsky.social @greggdcaruso.bsky.social @drjustincaouette.bsky.social @davidpapineau.bsky.social @neddo.bsky.social ⬇️
Reposted by Marco Masi
Marten Scheffer’s appeal to media and scientists: reveal the invisible hand of vested interest players!
It is this ‘invisible hand’ of lobby power which so far has prevented us from tackling the #ClimateCrisis, despite having the solutions.
#GlobalTippingPoints2025
It is this ‘invisible hand’ of lobby power which so far has prevented us from tackling the #ClimateCrisis, despite having the solutions.
#GlobalTippingPoints2025
July 2, 2025 at 2:31 PM
Marten Scheffer’s appeal to media and scientists: reveal the invisible hand of vested interest players!
It is this ‘invisible hand’ of lobby power which so far has prevented us from tackling the #ClimateCrisis, despite having the solutions.
#GlobalTippingPoints2025
It is this ‘invisible hand’ of lobby power which so far has prevented us from tackling the #ClimateCrisis, despite having the solutions.
#GlobalTippingPoints2025
Reposted by Marco Masi
Absolutely incredible turnout for Budapest Pride! So proud of all the organizers, including some old friends, who estimate hundreds of thousands— major embarrassment to Orban
June 28, 2025 at 5:23 PM
Absolutely incredible turnout for Budapest Pride! So proud of all the organizers, including some old friends, who estimate hundreds of thousands— major embarrassment to Orban
Reposted by Marco Masi
The Rubin Observatory will make the most detailed time-lapse images of the universe ever. It will map dark matter & and dark energy, and spot billions of transient cosmic events.
Incidentally, it will also take breathtaking images. First looks, out now: 🧪🔭
rubinobservatory.org/news/rubin-f...
Incidentally, it will also take breathtaking images. First looks, out now: 🧪🔭
rubinobservatory.org/news/rubin-f...
June 23, 2025 at 4:19 AM
The Rubin Observatory will make the most detailed time-lapse images of the universe ever. It will map dark matter & and dark energy, and spot billions of transient cosmic events.
Incidentally, it will also take breathtaking images. First looks, out now: 🧪🔭
rubinobservatory.org/news/rubin-f...
Incidentally, it will also take breathtaking images. First looks, out now: 🧪🔭
rubinobservatory.org/news/rubin-f...
Reposted by Marco Masi
“I’ll just run this last robustness check and then the paper will be finished...”
May 30, 2025 at 5:13 PM
“I’ll just run this last robustness check and then the paper will be finished...”
"These data provide the strongest evidence to date of significant residual visual sensitivity in IB. They also challenge the use of inattentional blindness to argue that awareness requires attention."
In other words: consciousness doesn't require attention.
doi.org/10.7554/eLif...
In other words: consciousness doesn't require attention.
doi.org/10.7554/eLif...
Sensitivity to visual features in inattentional blindness
As a group, inattentionally blind participants can successfully report the location, color, and shape of stimuli they deny noticing, and exhibit a systematic bias to report not noticing.
doi.org
May 29, 2025 at 8:47 AM
"These data provide the strongest evidence to date of significant residual visual sensitivity in IB. They also challenge the use of inattentional blindness to argue that awareness requires attention."
In other words: consciousness doesn't require attention.
doi.org/10.7554/eLif...
In other words: consciousness doesn't require attention.
doi.org/10.7554/eLif...
This article is interesting not only for its AI approach, but for its historical review together with the modern conceptions of life.
Life stubbornly resists definition. Why is that?
arxiv.org/abs/2505.15849
Life stubbornly resists definition. Why is that?
arxiv.org/abs/2505.15849
What Lives? A meta-analysis of diverse opinions on the definition of life
The question of "what is life?" has challenged scientists and philosophers for centuries, producing an array of definitions that reflect both the mystery of its emergence and the diversity of discipli...
arxiv.org
May 28, 2025 at 5:05 PM
This article is interesting not only for its AI approach, but for its historical review together with the modern conceptions of life.
Life stubbornly resists definition. Why is that?
arxiv.org/abs/2505.15849
Life stubbornly resists definition. Why is that?
arxiv.org/abs/2505.15849
Reposted by Marco Masi
"The findings de-emphasize the importance of the prefrontal cortex in consciousness..." - "In other words, intelligence is about "doing" while consciousness is about 'being.' "
And, most likely, both IIT and GWT are wrong.
medicalxpress.com/news/2025-04...
And, most likely, both IIT and GWT are wrong.
medicalxpress.com/news/2025-04...
Experiment sheds new light on the origins of consciousness
An experiment seven years in the making has uncovered new insights into the nature of consciousness and challenges two prominent, competing scientific theories: Integrated Information Theory (IIT) and...
medicalxpress.com
May 1, 2025 at 12:41 PM
"The findings de-emphasize the importance of the prefrontal cortex in consciousness..." - "In other words, intelligence is about "doing" while consciousness is about 'being.' "
And, most likely, both IIT and GWT are wrong.
medicalxpress.com/news/2025-04...
And, most likely, both IIT and GWT are wrong.
medicalxpress.com/news/2025-04...
Is life computational?
Well, yes and no. Everbody knows that it has a computational aspect. But repeating this like a mantra doesn't prove that it’s only a computation.
www.noemamag.com/ai-is-evolvi...
Well, yes and no. Everbody knows that it has a computational aspect. But repeating this like a mantra doesn't prove that it’s only a computation.
www.noemamag.com/ai-is-evolvi...
AI Is Evolving — And Changing Our Understanding Of Intelligence | NOEMA
Advances in AI are making us reconsider what intelligence is and giving us clues to unlocking AI’s full potential.
www.noemamag.com
April 22, 2025 at 12:52 PM
Is life computational?
Well, yes and no. Everbody knows that it has a computational aspect. But repeating this like a mantra doesn't prove that it’s only a computation.
www.noemamag.com/ai-is-evolvi...
Well, yes and no. Everbody knows that it has a computational aspect. But repeating this like a mantra doesn't prove that it’s only a computation.
www.noemamag.com/ai-is-evolvi...
That's what I consider a genuine approach to popular science—free from hype and exaggerated claims, only cautious optimism, yet still engaging and inspiring.
youtu.be/sPRr4DgMTxI
youtu.be/sPRr4DgMTxI
Strongest hints yet of biological activity outside the solar system
YouTube video by Cambridge University
youtu.be
April 17, 2025 at 4:40 PM
That's what I consider a genuine approach to popular science—free from hype and exaggerated claims, only cautious optimism, yet still engaging and inspiring.
youtu.be/sPRr4DgMTxI
youtu.be/sPRr4DgMTxI
Reposted by Marco Masi
It's strange to me that the focus of many people's worry is still "superintelligence" and not the reality we're currently living where increasingly authoritarian governments wield technology oppressively.
This fantastical distraction based on speculative rhetoric is increasingly harmful.
This fantastical distraction based on speculative rhetoric is increasingly harmful.
April 12, 2025 at 4:52 PM
It's strange to me that the focus of many people's worry is still "superintelligence" and not the reality we're currently living where increasingly authoritarian governments wield technology oppressively.
This fantastical distraction based on speculative rhetoric is increasingly harmful.
This fantastical distraction based on speculative rhetoric is increasingly harmful.
Don't let them manipulate your thoughts.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
PR campaign may have fuelled food study backlash, leaked document shows
Eat-Lancet report recommended shift to more plant-based, climate-friendly diet but was extensively attacked online
www.theguardian.com
April 12, 2025 at 11:42 AM
Don't let them manipulate your thoughts.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
"Dr. Hameroff and his collaborator, Nobel Laureate and physicist Roger Penrose, have argued for decades that consciousness made the world and not the other way around."
www.popularmechanics.com/science/a644...
www.popularmechanics.com/science/a644...
Consciousness Formed Before Life Itself, Scientists Say—And the Evidence Could Be in This Asteroid Sample
Tantalizing clues in 4-billion-year-old asteroid Bennu samples could reveal particular molecular formations that some scientists say support the workings of consciousness.
www.popularmechanics.com
April 8, 2025 at 6:17 AM
"Dr. Hameroff and his collaborator, Nobel Laureate and physicist Roger Penrose, have argued for decades that consciousness made the world and not the other way around."
www.popularmechanics.com/science/a644...
www.popularmechanics.com/science/a644...
This research appears to confirm in humans what has already been established in animals here: www.cell.com/neuron/fullt...
Notice that they don't claim that the thalamus "creates" or "generates" consciousness; rather, it "filters" or "modulates" it.
Notice that they don't claim that the thalamus "creates" or "generates" consciousness; rather, it "filters" or "modulates" it.
Consciousness science is fascinating - and now researchers are starting to study its neural underpinnings deep in the brain 🧪 www.nature.com/articles/d41...
How does the brain control consciousness? This deep-brain structure
In a world of constant stimulation, the thalamus filters which thoughts we become aware of and which we don’t.
www.nature.com
April 5, 2025 at 7:07 AM
This research appears to confirm in humans what has already been established in animals here: www.cell.com/neuron/fullt...
Notice that they don't claim that the thalamus "creates" or "generates" consciousness; rather, it "filters" or "modulates" it.
Notice that they don't claim that the thalamus "creates" or "generates" consciousness; rather, it "filters" or "modulates" it.