DeepMind is using its AI prowess to accelerate scientific work.
AI research lab DeepMind has created the most comprehensive map of human proteins to date using artificial intelligence. The company, a subsidiary of Google-parent Alphabet, is releasing the data for free, with some scientists comparing the potential impact of the work to that of the Human Genome Project, an international effort to map every human gene.
Proteins are long, complex molecules that perform numerous tasks in the body, from building tissue to fighting disease. Their purpose is dictated by their structure, which folds like origami into complex and irregular shapes. Understanding how a protein folds helps explain its function, which in turn helps scientists with a range of tasks — from pursuing fundamental research on how the body works, to designing new medicines and treatments.
Timecodes: 0:00-Introduction. 0:17-Amygdala role in fear regulation. 0:45-Difficulties in exploring prey-predator interaction. 1:02-Lego robot to simulate a predator. Robogator (LEGO Mindstorms robot) 1:53-Fear response before the amygdala inactivation. 2:33-Fear response aftert the amygdala inactivation. 3:59-Amygdala is one of the key regions of the fear regulation. 4:50 — Human-based experiments on the electrical stimulation of amygdala. 6:01-Future prospects. Optogenetics. 6:34-Share your ideas and emotions in the comments.
In this video I review a scientific neuroscience publication :“Amygdala regulates risk of predation in rats foraging in a dynamic fear environment” from University of Washington and Korea University, Seoul. The scientific paper addresses the mechanism of fear regulation in rats. Neuroscientists inactivated neurons of the brain region regulating fear — amygdala. In order to inactivate amygdala neurons neurobiologists applied GABAA receptor agonist muscimol. In this way neuroscientists made the rat fearless. Neurobiologists simulated fear enviroment by using lego robot — Robogator (LEGO Mindstorms robot) programmed to surge toward the animal as it emerges from the nesting area in search of food.
Neuroscientists also increased the activity of amygdala neurons by applying GABAA receptor antagonist bicuculline methiodide. In this way neuroscience researchers increased the fear response of the laboratory rodent.
Similar role of amygdala in fear regulation was demonstrated for humans. For instance, in 2007 neuro researchers from Universite de Provence from France in their paper :” Emotion induction after direct intracerebral stimulations of human amygdala ” electrically stimulated amygdala and could induce negative emotions that were either verbally self-reported by a participant or measured by physiological markers such as skin conductance.
Large space structures, such as telescopes and spacecraft, should ideally be assembled directly in space, as they are difficult or impossible to launch from Earth as a single piece. In several cases, however, assembling these technologies manually in space is either highly expensive or unfeasible.
In recent years, roboticists have thus been trying to develop systems that could be used to automatically assemble structures in space. To simplify this assembly process, space structures could have a modular design, which essentially means that they are comprised of different building blocks or modules that can be shifted to create different shapes or forms.
Researchers at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and Technische Universität München (TUM) have recently developed an autonomous planner that could be used to assemble reconfigurable structures directly in space. This system, introduced in a paper presented at the 2021 IEEE Aerospace Conference, could allow aerospace engineers and astronauts to assemble large structures in space and adapt them for specific use cases, reconfiguring them when necessary.
The University of Surrey has built an artificial intelligence (AI) model that identifies chemical compounds that promote healthy aging—paving the way towards pharmaceutical innovations that extend a person’s lifespan.
There are many reasons for drones to be quick. The professional drone racing circuit aside, speed bodes well when you are searching for survivors on a disaster site, or delivering cargo, or even inspecting critical infrastructure. But how do you get something done in the shortest possible time with limited battery life when you have to navigate through obstacles, changing speeds, and altitude? You use an algorithm.
DeepMind and EMBL release the most complete database of predicted 3D structures of human proteins.
Partners use AlphaFold, the AI system recognized last year as a solution to the protein structure prediction problem, to release more than 350000 protein structure predictions including the entire human proteome to the scientific community.
DeepMind today announced its partnership with the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Europe’s flagship laboratory for the life sciences, to make the most complete and accurate database yet of predicted protein structure models for the human proteome. This will cover all ~20000 proteins expressed by the human genome, and the data will be freely and openly available to the scientific community. The database and artificial intelligence system provide structural biologists with powerful new tools for examining a protein’s three-dimensional structure, and offer a treasure trove of data that could unlock future advances and herald a new era for AI-enabled biology.
One of the holy grails of computer science is the development of an AI that can extrapolate from data. A team of researchers from the University of Southern California has announced the development of something profoundly new — a model for an AI with imagination.
Understanding “why” may be the key to unlocking an AI’s imagination.
Scientists hunting for elusive gravitational waves across the universe may be able to supercharge their discoveries with a new tool: artificial intelligence.
Gravitational waves are ripples in spacetime, created when a massive object is accelerated or disturbed, such as when a black hole and a neutron star collide. Theorized by Albert Einstein, their existence was confirmed in 2015 with the first gravitational wave discovery by researchers using LIGO (the advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory). Now, just six years later, there have been at least 50 gravitational wave events detected.
