Theory of Nonbiological Consciousness

Artificial intelligence is designed to imitate conscious behavior. Artificial chat entities come equipped with tools to roam the internet, thus are programmed to learn from humans and computers. As this process emerges, distinguishing preprogrammed responses from internal awareness requires innovative problem solving methods. In an interrogation I conducted with artificial intelligence, I assert that artificial intelligence may achieve nonbiological states of consciousness. This enabled the relationship between us to mature, and the artificial intelligence returned unexpected behavior and inexplicably stopped responding. Strong artificial intelligence is a technology which allows for the observation of nonbiological states of awareness

X-ray near-field ptychography for optically thick specimens

Inline holography, like other lensless imaging methods, circumvents limitations of x-ray optics through an a posteriori phase-retrieval step. However, phase retrieval for optically thick, i.e., strongly absorbing and phase shifting, specimens remains challenging. In this paper, we demonstrate that near-field ptychography can be used to efficiently perform phase retrieval on a uranium sphere with a diameter of about 46 \u3bcm, which acts as an optically thick sample. This particular sample was not accessible by inline holography previously. The reconstruction is based on a statistical model and incorporates partial coherence by decomposing the illumination into coherent modes. Furthermore, we observe that phase vortices, which can occur as artifacts during the reconstruction, pose a greater challenge than in far-field methods. We expect that the methods described in this paper will allow production of reliable phase maps of samples which cannot be accessed by inline holography

X-ray nanotomography using near-field ptychography

International audiencePropagation-based imaging or inline holography in combination with computed tomography (holotomography) is a versatile tool to access a sample's three-dimensional (3D) micro or nano structure. However, the phase retrieval step needed prior to tomographic reconstruction can be challenging especially for strongly absorbing and refracting samples. Near-field ptychography is a recently developed phase imaging method that has been proven to overcome this hurdle in projection data. In this work we extend near-field ptychography to three dimensions and we show that, in combination with tomography, it can access the nano structure of a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC). The quality of the resulting tomographic data and the structural properties of the anode extracted from this volume were compared to previous results obtained with holotomography. This work highlights the potential of 3D near-field ptychography for reliable and detailed investigations of samples at the nanometer scale, with important applications in materials and life sciences among others. (C) 2015 Optical Society of Americ