Research conducted by Brown University’s Carney Institute for Brain Science illustrates how parts of the brain need to work together to focus on important information while filtering out distractions.
Imagine a busy restaurant: dishes clattering, music playing, people talking loudly over one another. It’s a wonder that anyone in that kind of environment can focus enough to have a conversation. A new study by researchers at Brown University’s Carney Institute for Brain Science provides some of the most detailed insights yet into the brain mechanisms that help people pay attention amid such distraction, as well as what’s happening when they can’t focus.
In an earlier psychology study, the researchers established that people can separately control how much they focus (by enhancing relevant information) and how much they filter (by tuning out distractions). The team’s new research, published in Nature Human Behaviour, unveils the process by which the brain coordinates these two critical functions.
Ìsaac asimov in his classic science for the layman book on neuroscience the human brain made an interesting speculation of whether or not the brain could understand itself he speculated if the brain could learn enough about its own functions the phenomenon of creativity and imagination and intuition…
Use code isaacarthur at the link below to get an exclusive 60% off an annual Incogni plan: https://incogni.com/isaacarthur. Life is incredibly complicated, but for most of Earth’s history it was much simpler. Is it possible the Universe is full of planets with very simple life, and complex organisms are rare?
Whether in listening to music or pushing a swing in the playground, we are all familiar with resonances and how they amplify an effect—a sound or a movement, for example. However, in high-intensity circular particle accelerators, resonances can be an inconvenience, causing particles to fly off their course and resulting in beam loss. Predicting how resonances and non-linear phenomena affect particle beams requires some very complex dynamics to be disentangled.
🔺Prepare to be transported to another world with the most epic and breathtaking ambient sci-fi music you haven’t heard yet! I’ve spent over 20 hours \.
Spotify presents Personalized Audiobook Recommendations at Spotify Through Graph Neural Networks.
In the ever-evolving digital audio landscape, Spotify, well-known for its music and talk content, has recently introduced audiobooks to its vast user base.
The film industry, always at the forefront of technological innovation, is increasingly embracing artificial intelligence (AI) to revolutionize movie production, distribution, and marketing. From script analysis to post-production, Already AI is reshaping how movies are made and consumed. Let’s explore the current applications of AI in movie studios and speculates on future uses, highlighting real examples and the transformative impact of these technologies.
AI’s infiltration into the movie industry begins at the scriptwriting stage. Tools like ScriptBook use natural language processing to analyze scripts, predict box office success, and offer insights into plot and character development. For instance, 20th Century Fox employed AI to analyze the script of Logan, which helped in making informed decisions about the movie’s plot and themes. Consider, in pre-production, AI has also aided in casting and location scouting. Warner Bros. partnered with Cinelytic to use AI for casting decisions, evaluating an actor’s market value to predict a film’s financial success. For example, let’s look at location scouting. AI algorithms can sift through thousands of hours of footage to identify suitable filming locations, streamlining what was once a time-consuming process.
During filmmaking, AI plays a crucial role in visual effects (VFX). Disney’s FaceDirector software can generate composite expressions from multiple takes, enabling directors to adjust an actor’s performance in post-production. This technology was notably used in Avengers: Infinity War to perfect emotional expressions in complex CGI scenes. Conversely, AI-driven software like deepfake technology, though controversial, has been used to create realistic face swaps in movies. For instance, it was used in The Irishman to de-age actors, offering a cost-effective alternative to traditional CGI. Additionally, AI is used in color grading and editing. IBM Watson was used to create the movie trailer for Morgan, analyzing visuals, sounds, and compositions from other movie trailers to determine what would be most appealing to audiences.
Playing a different soundtrack is, physically speaking, only a minute change of the vibration spectrum, yet its impact on a dance floor is dramatic. People long for this tiny trigger, and as a salsa changes to a tango completely different collective patterns emerge.
Electrons in metals tend to show only one behavior at zero temperature, when all kinetic energy is quenched. One needs to frustrate the electronic interaction to break the dominance of one particular electronic order and allow multiple possible configurations. Recent results published in Nature Physics on kagome nets suggest that this triangular lattice is quite effective at doing so.
Named after the Japanese bamboo-basket woven pattern, a two-dimensional (2D) kagome lattice is constructed by a series of corner-sharing triangles. When each corner is occupied with magnetic moments with antiferromagnetic correlations, the nearest-neighbor interactions favor anti-aligned spins.
Inherited memory was a popular theory in the past, inspiring stories like Frank Herbert’s Dune, but could it be possible with alien biologies or cybernetic civilizations, and what is it? Music Courtesy of: Epidemic Sound http://epidemicsound.com/creator
Many doubt whether existence has any purpose or meaning, but could entirely civilizations become nihilistic. Would this spell their doom? And if not, what would they be like? Use code isaacarthur at the link below to get an exclusive 60% off an annual Incogni plan: https://incogni.com/isaacarthur.
Credits: Nihilistic Aliens. Episode 423b; December 3, 2023 Produced, Written \& Narrated by: Isaac Arthur. Editor: Donagh Broderick. Music Courtesy of: Steve Cardon.
