‘Whether we create consciousness in our brains as a function of our neurons firing, or consciousness exists independently of us, there’s no universally accepted scientific explanation for where it comes from or where it lives. However, new research on the physics, anatomy, and geometry of consciousness has begun to reveal its possible form.

In other words, we may soon be able to identify a true architecture of consciousness.

The new work builds upon a theory Nobel Prize-winning physicist Roger Penrose, Ph.D., and anesthesiologist Stuart Hameroff, M.D., first posited in the 1990s: the Orchestrated Objective Reduction theory (Orch OR). Broadly, it claims that consciousness is a quantum process facilitated by microtubules in the brain’s nerve cells.

Penrose and Hameroff suggested that consciousness is a quantum wave that passes through these microtubules. And that, like every quantum wave, it has properties like superposition (the ability to be in many places at the same time) and entanglement (the potential for two particles that are very far away to be connected).

Plenty of experts have questioned the validity of the Orch OR theory. This is the story of the scientists working to revive it….’ ( via Popular Mechanics )

‘Judges will face choices that affect when, and whether, trump stands trial.

 

In trump’s New York case, a judge is slated to finalize the timetable for his trial on charges that he falsified business records to cover up an affair with a porn star in the closing weeks of the 2016 election.

 

In his Washington, D.C., case, the Supreme Court may signal whether it will quickly resolve trump’s claim that he is “immune” from federal charges stemming from his effort to subvert the 2020 election.

 

In his Georgia case, where trump is also facing state charges related to the 2020 election, a judge has scheduled a Thursday hearing to examine an effort by trump and several co-defendants to disqualify the prosecutors.

 

And in his Florida case, a judge is weighing trump’s latest motion to postpone key deadlines — a likely precursor to delaying the May 20 trial on charges of hoarding classified records at his mar-a-lago home.

 

Here’s a look at each of the cases and what to expect this week…’ ( via POLITICO )