The simulation hypothesis suggests that our entire universe and reality could just be hyper-enhanced reality illusions.
He believes recent developments in the field of information physics ‘appear to support this possibility’ in that the physical world is made up of bits of information.
Vopson goes even further by claiming that information might have physical weight and could be a key part of the universe.
The report highlights breakthroughs in AI, connectivity, and sustainability, such as deep learning, reconfigurable intelligent surfaces, and engineered organisms to combat climate change.
A team of researchers at Google’s DeepMind project, reports that its AlphaGeometry2 AI performed at a gold-medal level when tasked with solving problems that were given to high school students participating in the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) over the past 25 years. In their paper posted on the arXiv preprint server, the team gives an overview of AlphaGeometry2 and its scores when solving IMO problems.
Prior research has suggested that AI that can solve geometry problems could lead to more sophisticated apps because they require both a high level of reasoning ability and an ability to choose from possible steps in working toward a solution to a problem.
To that end, the team at DeepMind has been working on developing increasingly sophisticated geometry-solving apps. Its first iteration was released last January and was called AlphaGeometry; its second iteration is called AlphaGeometry2.
Evolution is traditionally associated with a process of increasing complexity and gaining new genes. However, the explosion of the genomic era shows that gene loss and simplification is a much more frequent process in the evolution of species than previously thought, and may favor new biological adaptations that facilitate the survival of living organisms.
This evolutionary driver, which seems counter-intuitive—” less is more” in genetic terms—now reveals a surprising dimension that responds to the new evolutionary concept of “less, but more,” i.e., the phenomenon of massive gene losses followed by large expansions through gene duplications.
This is one of the main conclusions of an article published in the journal Molecular Biology and Evolution, led by a team from the Genetics Section of the Faculty of Biology and the Institute for Research on Biodiversity (IRBio) of the University of Barcelona, in which teams from the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) have also participated.
The structure is nearly 600 million light-years from Earth and is an early display of the nascent dark matter telescope’s power.
Posted in biotech/medical, computing, neuroscience | Leave a Comment on Dr. Wang joined the Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience (MPFI) in February 2018 leading the Neuronal Mechanisms of Episodic Memory research group
Before joining MPFI, Wang was a research scientist at the Janelia Research Campus of Howard Hughes Medical Institute, working with Dr. Jeffery Magee and previously with Dr. Eva Pastalkova. At Janelia, she studied the hippocampal neuronal activities that represent memory traces. In particular, she employed memory tasks that can reversibly toggle the influence of sensory inputs on and off and isolated neuronal activities associated with internally stored memory.
Wang was trained as an electrical engineer. She completed her graduate study under the mentorship of Drs. Shih-Chii Liu, Tobi Delbruck and Rodney Douglas at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETHZ). During her Ph.D. training, she designed brain-inspired computational systems on silicon chips. These fully reconfigurable systems incorporated electronic circuits of a network of neurons with dendrites and synapses. Using these systems as simulation tools, she also investigated the computational principles native to a neuron with active dendrites.
Researchers at Tel Aviv University have developed a groundbreaking method to transform graphite into materials with electronic memory capabilities.
By manipulating atomic layers, they could revolutionize computing and electronic devices, potentially surpassing the value of diamonds and gold.
Transforming elements: from alchemy to advanced materials.
The ancient Greek statue of Apoxyomenos, also known as the “Croatian Apoxiomenos,” is a remarkable ancient Greek bronze statue depicting an athlete scraping oil and dust from his body with a strigil, a tool used by ancient Greeks for cleaning themselves after exercise.
It dates back to the 2nd or 1st century BC and was discovered in 1996 by a Belgian tourist diving off the Croatian island of Lošinj in the Adriatic Sea.
This statue is significant not only for its artistic quality but also because it is one of the few large-scale ancient bronze statues to have survived largely intact.
Gardenias are known for their rich, earthy fragrance, waxy petals and brilliant white color that contrasts with the deep emerald green of their leaves. The plant has long been prized by herbalists, seekers of food and fabric dyes, and even pharmaceutical companies.
Now, a collaborative team of scientists at several research centers in the United States has found that a compound known as genipin, derived from the gardenia plant called Cape jasmine, can prompt nerve regeneration. Neurons damaged and stunted by disease find new life in the lab when exposed to the plant-derived compound.
The chemical comes from the fruit of this extraordinarily versatile plant. Gardenia shrubs, in general, are native to tropical and subtropical regions of Asia. But the plants are propagated globally by horticulturists and amateur gardeners who are most familiar with the flower’s beauty and the intoxicating scent of their perfume.
Summary: New research reveals that serotonin in the cerebellum plays a crucial role in anxiety regulation. Scientists found that mice with lower cerebellar serotonin levels displayed increased anxiety-like behaviors, while those with higher serotonin levels were less anxious.
By artificially stimulating or inhibiting serotonin-releasing neurons in the cerebellum, researchers were able to bidirectionally control anxiety responses. This challenges previous assumptions that serotonin universally increases anxiety and highlights the cerebellum as a key player in emotional regulation.
The findings provide a potential pathway for developing more precise treatments for anxiety disorders. Future research may explore whether this mechanism operates similarly in humans and how it can be therapeutically targeted.
