Menu

Blog

Page 1754

Dec 13, 2023

Automakers rush to deliver affordable EVs amidst Chinese competition

Posted by in categories: computing, transportation

Legacy companies are working with suppliers, spanning from manufacturers of battery materials to chip producers, to reduce costs.


Expanding globally, Chinese EV makers gain an advantage, utilizing supply chain control to offer competitive pricing.

Dec 13, 2023

GPT-4’s ‘secret weapon’ is available as open source

Posted by in category: robotics/AI

The Paris-based startup dropped Mixtral 8x7B.


Mistral AI released Mixtral-8x7B on X, showcasing superior performance in multiple AI benchmarks.

Dec 13, 2023

Hyundai and Kia evolve winter driving with integrated snow chain tech

Posted by in category: futurism

Hyundai and Kia unveil snow chain-integrated tires for instant traction, safety, and hassle-free winter driving.


Revolutionize winter driving with Hyundai and Kia’s snow chain tires! Instant traction, safety at the touch of a button.

Dec 13, 2023

Birds affected by mass firework use on New Year’s Eve up to 10 km away

Posted by in category: futurism

Fireworks on New Year’s Eve disturb birds up to 10 km away, triggering mass flights with potential hazards.


A new study finds New Year’s Eve fireworks disturb birds up to 10 km away, urging fireworks-free zones for conservation.

Dec 13, 2023

P vs. NP: The Greatest Unsolved Problem in Computer Science

Posted by in categories: computing, information science, mathematics, science

Is it possible to invent a computer that computes anything in a flash? Or could some problems stump even the most powerful of computers? How complex is too complex for computation? The question of how hard a problem is to solve lies at the heart of an important field of computer science called computational complexity. Computational complexity theorists want to know which problems are practically solvable using clever algorithms and which problems are truly difficult, maybe even virtually impossible, for computers to crack. This hardness is central to what’s called the P versus NP problem, one of the most difficult and important questions in all of math and science.

This video covers a wide range of topics including: the history of computer science, how transistor-based electronic computers solve problems using Boolean logical operations and algorithms, what is a Turing Machine, the different classes of problems, circuit complexity, and the emerging field of meta-complexity, where researchers study the self-referential nature of complexity questions.

Continue reading “P vs. NP: The Greatest Unsolved Problem in Computer Science” »

Dec 13, 2023

Can gene editing drive out HIV and hepatitis viruses from inside cells?

Posted by in categories: bioengineering, biotech/medical, genetics

Armed with gene technologies and CAR-Ts, scientists are attempting to eliminate viruses that escape immune detection and lurk in tissues for years.

Dec 13, 2023

Scientists built a Cyborg computer with living brain tissue

Posted by in categories: cyborgs, information science, robotics/AI, supercomputing

📸 Look at this post on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/share/U5sBEHBUhndiJJDz/?mibextid=xfxF2i


In the realm of computing technology, there is nothing quite as powerful and complex as the human brain. With its 86 billion neurons and up to a quadrillion synapses, the brain has unparalleled capabilities for processing information. Unlike traditional computing devices with physically separated units, the brain’s efficiency lies in its ability to serve as both a processor and memory device. Recognizing the potential of harnessing the brain’s power, researchers have been striving to create more brain-like computing systems.

Efforts to mimic the brain’s activity in artificial systems have been ongoing, but progress has been limited. Even one of the most powerful supercomputers in the world, Riken’s K Computer, struggled to simulate just a fraction of the brain’s activity. With its 82,944 processors and a petabyte of main memory, it took 40 minutes to simulate just one second of the activity of 1.73 billion neurons connected by 10.4 trillion synapses. This represented only one to two percent of the brain’s capacity.

Continue reading “Scientists built a Cyborg computer with living brain tissue” »

Dec 13, 2023

Disease Progression Independent of Relapse Activity vs. Relapse-Associated Worsening in Patients with Pediatric-Onset Multiple Sclerosis

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, neuroscience

Progression independent of relapse activity (PIRA) has been increasingly recognized in people with multiple sclerosis (MS; NEJM JW Neurol May 24 2022 and JAMA Neurol 2022; 79:682). To learn more about PIRA, investigators used data from the Italian MS Register on 16,130 patients with relapsing-remitting MS, including 1,383 with pediatric-onset MS (POMS; median age at onset, 16), 14,113 with adult-onset MS (AOMS; median age at onset, 29), and 634 with late-onset MS (LOMS; median age at onset, 52).

Compared with patients with POMS, patients with LOMS had the highest incidence of PIRA (hazard ratio


, 2.98), followed by those with AOMS (HR, 1.42). Compared with the POMS patient group, the LOMS patient group had the lowest risk for relapse-associated worsening (HR, 0.69), followed by the AOMS group (HR, 0.88). Cumulative PIRA incidence was 1.3% of patients at age 20 years, increased rapidly between ages 21 and 30 (9%), and rose progressively from 40 to 70 (from 22% to 79%). Cumulative incidence of relapse-associated worsening showed a different pattern of increases over time (e.g., 0.5% at age 20; 7.8% at age 40; 14.4% at age 50; 24.1% at age 60; 27.7% at age 70).

These authors provide data supporting the notion that MS pathophysiology is different between patients with PIRA and those with relapse-associated worsening. While relapse-associated worsening seems to increase gradually and reach a plateau, PIRA begins in the 20s and continues to increase. PIRA encompasses accumulating neurodegenerative processes, supporting the concept that a subset of patients experience progression even within the relapsing-remitting phase of the disease.

Dec 13, 2023

Scientists Warn That SpaceX Launches Are Tearing Small Holes in the Sky

Posted by in categories: particle physics, space travel

SpaceX rockets are tearing holes in the Earth’s atmosphere as they make their return to the surface, triggering what scientists are calling “SpaceX auroras,” a newly coined term that refers to red, spherical spots in the night sky that can easily be seen with the naked eye.

As Spaceweather.com reports, the name isn’t entirely accurate as they’re technically not auroras. They’re the result of SpaceX rockets burning their engines in the Earth’s ionosphere, a part of the upper atmosphere where solar radiation ionizes atoms and molecules to create a protective layer of electrons.

That means that as the rocketmaker ratchets up its launch schedule, that could be a problem, because the ionosphere serves an important technical function by ensuring the stability of shortwave radio communication and GPS signals.

Dec 13, 2023

When Scientists Collaborate, Science Progresses

Posted by in category: science

Behind every successful scientist, there is another scientist.