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Jul 15, 2019
Researchers’ deep learning algorithm solves Rubik’s Cube faster than any human
Posted by Quinn Sena in categories: information science, mathematics, robotics/AI
Since its invention by a Hungarian architect in 1974, the Rubik’s Cube has furrowed the brows of many who have tried to solve it, but the 3D logic puzzle is no match for an artificial intelligence system created by researchers at the University of California, Irvine.
DeepCubeA, a deep reinforcement learning algorithm programmed by UCI computer scientists and mathematicians, can find the solution in a fraction of a second, without any specific domain knowledge or in-game coaching from humans. This is no simple task considering that the cube has completion paths numbering in the billions but only one goal state—each of six sides displaying a solid color—which apparently can’t be found through random moves.
For a study published today in Nature Machine Intelligence, the researchers demonstrated that DeepCubeA solved 100 percent of all test configurations, finding the shortest path to the goal state about 60 percent of the time. The algorithm also works on other combinatorial games such as the sliding tile puzzle, Lights Out and Sokoban.
Jul 15, 2019
Intel’s Neuromorphic System Hits 8 Million Neurons, 100 Million Coming by 2020
Posted by Quinn Sena in categories: computing, neuroscience
Researchers can use the 64-chip Pohoiki Beach system to make systems that learn and see the world more like humans.
Jul 15, 2019
Ebola spreads to largest city yet in DR Congo
Posted by Quinn Sena in category: biotech/medical
The Democratic Republic of Congo has confirmed the first case of Ebola in the eastern city of Goma, a major transport hub.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said the case could be a “game-changer” given the city’s population of more than two million.
But the WHO expressed confidence in plans to deal with the diagnosis.
Jul 15, 2019
A new ‘mathematically perfect’ material could completely swallow sound
Posted by Quinn Sena in category: materials
Jul 15, 2019
‘Greywater’ Could Help Solve Colorado’s Water Problems. Why Aren’t We All Using It?
Posted by Quinn Sena in category: futurism
While greywater use was legalized in 2013, access to it is limited across the state because only Denver, Castle Rock and Pitkin County have adopted a code to regulate systems.
Jul 15, 2019
China #1 in quantum entanglement, teleports object 300 miles
Posted by Quinn Sena in categories: quantum physics, robotics/AI, space
Science, Space & Robotics News | Posted: 9 hours, 42 mins ago.
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Jul 15, 2019
Physicists Reverse Time for Tiny Particles Inside a Quantum Computer
Posted by Quinn Sena in categories: computing, mathematics, particle physics, quantum physics
Time goes in one direction: forward. Little boys become old men but not vice versa; teacups shatter but never spontaneously reassemble. This cruel and immutable property of the universe, called the “arrow of time,” is fundamentally a consequence of the second law of thermodynamics, which dictates that systems will always tend to become more disordered over time. But recently, researchers from the U.S. and Russia have bent that arrow just a bit — at least for subatomic particles.
In the new study, published Tuesday (Mar. 12) in the journal Scientific Reports, researchers manipulated the arrow of time using a very tiny quantum computer made of two quantum particles, known as qubits, that performed calculations. [Twisted Physics: 7 Mind-Blowing Findings]
At the subatomic scale, where the odd rules of quantum mechanics hold sway, physicists describe the state of systems through a mathematical construct called a wave function. This function is an expression of all the possible states the system could be in — even, in the case of a particle, all the possible locations it could be in — and the probability of the system being in any of those states at any given time. Generally, as time passes, wave functions spread out; a particle’s possible location can be farther away if you wait an hour than if you wait 5 minutes.
Jul 15, 2019
An Interview with Dr. María Blasco
Posted by Steve Hill in categories: biotech/medical, life extension
Our Ending Age-Related Diseases conference in New York is over for this year and has been a huge success. We had the opportunity to interview one of the speakers, Dr. Mar í a Blasco, during the conference, and we asked her more about her work with telomeres, telomerase therapy, and aging.
Telomere loss is a proposed reason we age
Telomere attrition—the wearing out of your chromosomes’ protective caps with age—is widely thought to be one of the major drivers of aging. With each division, telomeres shorten a little bit, and after 50–70 divisions, they become critically short. Once this threshold (the Hayflick limit) is hit, cells undergo replicative senescence, and their division comes to a grinding halt.