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Aug 17, 2023

The free-energy principle: a unified brain theory?

Posted by in category: neuroscience

Karl Friston shows that different global brain theories all describe principles by which the brain optimizes value and surprise. He discusses how these brain theories fit into the free-energy framework, suggesting that this framework might provide a unified account of brain function.

Aug 17, 2023

Researchers attach electrodes to individual atomically precise graphene nanoribbons

Posted by in categories: computing, finance, quantum physics

Graphene nanoribbons have outstanding properties that can be precisely controlled. Researchers from Empa and ETH Zurich, in collaboration with partners from Peking University, the University of Warwick and the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, have succeeded in attaching electrodes to individual atomically precise nanoribbons, paving the way for precise characterization of the fascinating ribbons and their possible use in quantum technology.

Quantum technology is promising, but also perplexing. In the coming decades, it is expected to provide us with various technological breakthroughs: smaller and more precise sensors, highly secure communication networks, and powerful computers that can help develop new drugs and materials, control financial markets, and predict the weather much faster than current computing technology ever could.

To achieve this, we need so-called quantum materials: substances that exhibit pronounced quantum . One such material is . This two-dimensional structural form of carbon has unusual physical properties, such as extraordinarily high tensile strength, thermal and electrical conductivity—as well as certain . Restricting the already two-dimensional material even further, for instance, by giving it a ribbon-like shape, gives rise to a range of controllable quantum effects.

Aug 17, 2023

AI-Generated Data Can Poison Future AI Models

Posted by in categories: internet, robotics/AI

As AI-generated content fills the Internet, it’s corrupting the training data for models to come. What happens when AI eats itself?

Aug 17, 2023

Next Generation Cancer Therapy Reveals Major Opportunity

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, futurism

GTB-3550 is the company’s first TriKE® product candidate that was evaluated in Phase 1 clinical trials for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML), myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), and other CD33+ hematopoietic malignancies. Phase 1 clinical trials were shown to be both safe and well-tolerated, as well as proving the molecule’s clinical concept and providing a framework for future product candidates.

GTB-3650 is a second-generation protein developed to treat AML and MDS. It has replaced GTB-3550 and utilizes camelid nanobody technology. GTB3650 has successfully completed pre-clinical trials and is in the good manufacturing process (GMP) stage, which is usually the last developmental milestone before progressing into phase 1 clinical trials.

Aug 17, 2023

The AI customer-support agents that can think and act like humans

Posted by in categories: innovation, robotics/AI

Angel provides driver and customer support. Naomi teaches high school students. But they are not humans. They’re HumAIns, artificial intelligence (AI) agents.

Designed to handle unscripted communication tasks autonomously and proactively, Angel and Naomi use human-like thought processes to lead conversations instead of merely answering questions. And they get smarter with time and experience.

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Aug 17, 2023

This bio-inspired leaf generates more power than solar panels

Posted by in categories: solar power, sustainability

This is according to a press release by the institution published on Tuesday.

The PV-leaf

Called PV-leaf, the innovation “uses low-cost materials and could inspire the next generation of renewable energy technologies.”

Aug 17, 2023

Space Force extends Wallaroo’s contract for on-orbit AI applications

Posted by in categories: business, robotics/AI, space

WASHINGTON — Artificial intelligence startup Wallaroo Labs won a $1.5 million contract from the U.S. Space Force to continue the development of machine learning models for edge computers in orbit.

The New York-based company, known as Wallaroo.ai, is partnered with New Mexico State University for the Small Business Technology Transfer Phase 2 contract, announced Aug. 15. The team last year won a Phase 1 award.

Wallaroo.ai created a software platform that helps businesses assess the performance of AI applications when deployed on edge computers.

Aug 17, 2023

Sugars affect brain ‘plasticity,’ helping with learning, memory, recovery

Posted by in categories: chemistry, neuroscience

Can you recognize someone you haven’t seen in years, but forget what you had for breakfast yesterday? Our brains constantly rearrange their circuitry to remember familiar faces or learn new skills, but the molecular basis of this process isn’t well understood. Today, scientists report that sulfate groups on complex sugar molecules called glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) affect “plasticity” in the brains of mice. Determining how GAGs function could help us understand how memory and learning work in humans, and provide ways to repair neural connectivity after injuries.

The researchers will present their results today at the fall meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS).

The sugars that sweeten fruits, candies or cakes are actually just a few simple varieties of the many types of sugars that exist. When strung together, they can make a wide array of complex sugars. GAGs are formed by then attaching other chemical structures, including sulfate groups.

Aug 17, 2023

Neuroscience research triggers revision of a leading theory of consciousness

Posted by in category: neuroscience

Exactly how, and how much, the unconscious processing of information influences our behavior has always been one of the most controversial questions in psychology. In the early 20th century, Sigmund Freud popularized the idea that our behaviors are driven by thoughts, feelings, and memories hidden deep within the unconscious mind — an idea that became hugely popular, but that was eventually dismissed as unscientific.

Modern neuroscience tells us that we are completely unaware of most brain activity, but that unconscious processing does indeed influence behavior; nevertheless, certain effects, such as unconscious semantic “priming,” have been called into question, leading some to conclude that the extent of unconscious processing is limited.

A recent brain scanning study now shows that unconsciously processed visual information is distributed to a wider network of brain regions involved in higher-order cognitive tasks. The results contribute to the debate over the extent to which unconscious information processing influence the brain and behavior and led the authors of the study to revise one of the leading theories of consciousness.

Aug 17, 2023

Sean Carroll | The Many Worlds Interpretation & Emergent Spacetime | The Cartesian Cafe w Tim Nguyen

Posted by in categories: cosmology, mathematics, quantum physics

Sean Carroll is a theoretical physicist and philosopher who specializes in quantum mechanics, cosmology, and the philosophy of science. He is the Homewood Professor of Natural Philosophy at Johns Hopkins University and an external professor at the Sante Fe Institute. Sean has contributed prolifically to the public understanding of science through a variety of mediums: as an author of several physics books including Something Deeply Hidden and The Biggest Ideas in the Universe, as a public speaker and debater on a wide variety of scientific and philosophical subjects, and also as a host of his podcast Mindscape which covers topics spanning science, society, philosophy, culture, and the arts.

#physics #quantum #philosophy #mathematics.

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