An enormous new analysis of the wiring of the fruit fly brain is a milestone for the young field of modern connectomics, researchers say.
Summary: Neurons in the primary olfactory cortex play a role in encoding spatial maps, a new study reports.
Source: champalimaud centre for the unknown.
Smell has the power to transport us across time and space. It could be the sweet fragrance of jasmine, or the musty scent of algae. Suddenly, you are back at your childhood home, or under the burning sun of a distant shore.
Occasionally, there are things that Google Maps can’t find but a B-2 stealth bomber is not among them, according to a Redditor.
Interesting Engineering is a cutting edge, leading community designed for all lovers of engineering, technology and science.
OneZoom is a one-stop site for exploring all life on Earth, its evolutionary history, and how much of it is threatened with extinction.
The OneZoom explorer – available at onezoom.org – maps the connections between 2.2 million living species, the closest thing yet to a single view of all species known to science. The interactive tree of life allows users to zoom in to any species and explore its relationships with others, in a seamless visualisation on a single web page. The explorer also includes images of over 85,000 species, plus, where known, their vulnerability to extinction.
😃
In a paper published today in the scientific journal Science, DeepMind demonstrates how neural networks can be used to describe electron interactions in chemical systems more accurately than existing methods.
Density Functional Theory, established in the 1960s, describes the mapping between electron density and interaction energy. For more than 50 years, the exact nature of mapping between electron density and interaction energy—the so-called density functional—has remained unknown. In a significant advancement for the field, DeepMind has shown that neural networks can be used to build a more accurate map of the density and interaction between electrons than was previously attainable.
Continue reading “Simulating matter on the nanoscale with AI” »
Microsoft has announced a new DirectX12 API for Windows which will offer a new way for apps to efficiently encode video using the GPU.
The Video Encode API is available to 3rd party apps and is native to Windows 11, and can efficiently encode video in the H264 and HEVC formats.
Microsoft says it offers a considerable number of configurable parameters are exposed by this API for the user to tweak different aspects of the encoding process and make them fit best for their scenarios such as: custom slices partitioning scheme, active (i.e. CBR, VBR, QBVR) and passive (Absolute/Delta custom QP maps) rate control configuration modes, custom codec encoding tools usage, custom codec block and transform sizes, motion vector precision limit, explicit usage of intra-refresh sessions, dynamic reconfiguration of video stream resolution/rate control/slices partitioning and more.
Israeli drone manufacturer Airobotics has collaborated with Israeli solar farm services company Solar Drone to develop and supply to Solar Drone a unique solar panel cleaning drone system. The fully automated system will include a drone docking station for automatic battery replacement and cleaning fluid replenishment, enabling the system to operate continuously.
While solar power and solar panels are essentially maintenance-free systems, but solar panels do require cleaning from time to time to enable proper function. Dirt, dust, mud, and bird dropping greatly reduce solar panel efficiency, impacting power output. Frequent cleaning is expensive and time-consuming, especially when panels are remote, difficult to access, or difficult to clean.
Continue reading “Airobotics, Solar Drone to develop new drone for solar panels cleaning” »
Rapid advances in large-scale connectomics are beginning to spotlight the importance of individual variations in the neural circuitry. They also highlight the limitations of “wiring diagrams” alone.
Jon Kaas, Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Chair in Social and Natural Sciences, Distinguished Centennial Professor of Psychology and associate professor of cell and developmental biology, received the Ralph W. Gerard Prize in Neuroscience, the highest recognition from the Society for Neuroscience, for his pathbreaking work in illuminating the structure and function of the cerebral cortex and plasticity in the developing and adult brain.
Through mapping the cerebral cortex in 30 mammalian species over his career, Kaas has shown the functional and structural organization of the visual and somatosensory—that is, sensations that span the body, such as warmth—systems in detail. Through detailed pictorial construction and electrophysical mapping, Kaas reversed a scientific dogma that brain plasticity only occurs in early life. This has led to new approaches to rehabilitation from brain damage after stroke, from macular degeneration or from motor system disorders and injuries.
“I’m pleased to share this award with Bob Desimone who has done such wonderful research, and who we once tried to convince to move to Vanderbilt,” Kaas said. “From my first days at Vanderbilt, I have worked with outstanding graduate students, undergraduates and postdocs, who made everything possible. The support of members of my Department and other faculty at Vanderbilt has been especially important.”
Women constitute a mere 22 per cent or less than a quarter of professionals in the field of AI and Data Science.
There is a troubling and persistent absence of women when it comes to the field of artificial intelligence and data science. Women constitute a mere 22 per cent or less than a quarter of professionals in this field, as says the report “Where are the women? Mapping the gender job gap in AI,” from The Turing Institute. Yet, despite low participation and obstacles, women are breaking the silos and setting an example for players out in the field of AI.
To honour their commitment and work done, we have listed some of the women innovators and researchers who have worked tirelessly and contributed significantly to the field of AI and data science. The list below is provided in no particular order.
Continue reading “Women Innovators And Researchers Who Made A Difference In AI In 2021” »
