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Oct 15, 2016

Google’s AI can now learn from its own memory independently

Posted by in categories: computing, robotics/AI

The DeepMind artificial intelligence (AI) being developed by Google’s parent company, Alphabet, can now intelligently build on what’s already inside its memory, the system’s programmers have announced.

Their new hybrid system – called a Differential Neural Computer (DNC) – pairs a neural network with the vast data storage of conventional computers, and the AI is smart enough to navigate and learn from this external data bank.

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Oct 14, 2016

Diamonds aren’t forever: Team create first quantum computer bridge

Posted by in categories: computing, particle physics, quantum physics

By forcefully embedding two silicon atoms in a diamond matrix, Sandia researchers have demonstrated for the first time on a single chip all the components needed to create a quantum bridge to link “People have already built small quantum computers,” says Sandia researcher Ryan Camacho. “Maybe the first useful one won’t be a single giant quantum computer but a connected cluster of small ones.”

Distributing quantum information on a bridge, or network, could also enable novel forms of quantum sensing, since quantum correlations allow all the atoms in the network to behave as though they were one single atom.

The joint work with Harvard University used a focused implanter at Sandia’s Ion Beam Laboratory designed for blasting single ions into precise locations on a diamond substrate. Sandia researchers Ed Bielejec, Jose Pacheco and Daniel Perry used implantation to replace one carbon atom of the diamond with the larger silicon atom, which causes the two on either side of the silicon atom to feel crowded enough to flee. That leaves the silicon atom a kind of large landowner, buffered against stray electrical currents by the neighboring non-conducting vacancies.

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Oct 14, 2016

The latest patent for the ‘impossible’ EM Drive has just been made public — and it’s wild

Posted by in category: space travel

It’s been a big year for the ‘impossible’ EM Drive — a new kind of rocket engine that appears to generate thrust without any kind of exhaust or propellant. Back in May, NASA researchers reported a successful 10-week trial of their EM Drive prototype, and inventor Guido Fetta just got approval to test his own version in space.

Now, the UK Intellectual Property Office has released the latest patent application from British EM Drive inventor Roger Shawyer, and he says millions of pounds rest on the success of design within.

“The patent process is a very significant process, it’s not like an academic peer review where everyone hides behind an anonymous review, it’s all out in the open,” Shawyer told Mary-Ann Russon at the International Business Times.

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Oct 14, 2016

Not Everyone Agrees On the Future of Uber Drivers When Self-Driving Cars Arrive

Posted by in categories: robotics/AI, transportation

As Uber pushes ahead with plans for self-driving cars, there are differing views on the roles of drivers in that future.

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Oct 14, 2016

Scientists have created a drug that replicates the health benefits of exercise

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, health

Researchers have made the breakthrough of couch potatoes’ dreams with a new drug that mimics some of the most important effects of exercise. Scientists from Deakin University in Melbourne published their findings in Cell Reports earlier this week, showing that overweight mice who were given the drug no longer showed signs of cardiovascular disease.

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Oct 14, 2016

‘We’re growing brains outside of the body’

Posted by in category: neuroscience

Madeleine Lancaster has 300 brains growing in her lab – here’s how she’s done it.

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Oct 14, 2016

Robots Are Beginning To Learn The Same Way As Humans

Posted by in category: robotics/AI

The robot uses trial and error to perfect complex tasks.

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Oct 14, 2016

A Computer That Stores Memories Like Humans Do

Posted by in categories: computing, mathematics, robotics/AI

A new mathematical model of memory could accelerate the quest to build super-powered, brain-inspired hardware systems.

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Oct 14, 2016

Physicists Propose A Way to Make Magnetic Fields That Are Stronger Than Any on Earth

Posted by in categories: nuclear energy, physics

In Brief:

Researchers have proposed an alternative way to generate super-strong magnetic fields that would solve the hindrances keeping us from harnessing the Faraday effect to its full use. More research and experimentation are needed to test the method.

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Oct 14, 2016

Scientists propose space nation named ‘Asgardia’ and cosmic shield to protect Earth from asteroids

Posted by in categories: government, law, space

A space nation, independent of countries on Earth, could be founded after a team of engineers, scientists and legal experts put forward proposals for an extra-terrestrial state.

The project, which is led by Russian scientist Dr Igor Ashurbeyli, Chairman of UNESCOs Science of Space committee, aims to create an area in space which is beyond the control of individual nations.

Under current space law, government’s must authorise and supervise space programmes run from their own countries even if they are commercial.

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