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Jan 16, 2020

AlphaZero learns to rule the quantum world

Posted by in categories: computing, information science, quantum physics

The chess world was amazed when the computer algorithm AlphaZero learned, after just four hours on its own, to beat the best chess programs built on human expertise. Now a research group at Aarhus University in Denmark has used the very same algorithm to control a quantum computer.

All across the world, numerous research groups are attempting to build a quantum . Such a computer would be able to solve certain problems that cannot be solved with current classical computers, even if we combined all these computers in the world into one.

At Aarhus University, researchers share the ambition of building a quantum computer. For this reason, a research group under the direction of Professor Jacob Sherson has just used the computer algorithm AlphaZero to learn to control a quantum system.

Jan 16, 2020

Making sense of the self

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, neuroscience

Boston, Mass. — Interoception is the awareness of our physiological states; it’s how animals and humans know they’re hungry or thirsty, and how they know when they’ve had enough to eat or drink. But precisely how the brain estimates the state of the body and reacts to it remains unclear. In a paper published in the journal Neuron, neuroscientists at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) shed new light on the process, demonstrating that a region of the brain called the insular cortex orchestrates how signals from the body are interpreted and acted upon. The work represents the first steps toward understanding the neural basis of interoception, which could in turn allow researchers to address key questions in eating disorders, obesity, drug addiction, and a host of other diseases.

Using a mouse model his lab developed at BIDMC, Mark Andermann, PhD, principal investigator in the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism at BIDMC and Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and colleagues recorded the activity of hundreds of individual brain cells in the insular cortex to determine exactly what is happening as hungry animals ate.

The team observed that when mice hadn’t eaten for many hours, the activity pattern of insular cortex neurons reflected current levels of hunger. As the mice ate, this pattern gradually shifted over hours to a new pattern reflecting satiety. When mice were shown a visual cue predicting impending availability of food — akin to a person seeing a food commercial or a restaurant logo — the insular cortex appeared to simulate the future sated state for a few seconds, and then returned to an activity pattern related to hunger. These findings provided direct support for studies in humans that hypothesized that the insular cortex is involved in imagining or predicting how we will feel after eating or drinking.

Jan 16, 2020

AI Can Spot Low Glucose Levels Without Fingerprick Test

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, engineering, robotics/AI, wearables

Researchers have developed a new Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based technique that can detect low-sugar levels from raw ECG signals via wearable sensors without any fingerprint test. Current methods to measure glucose requires needles and repeated fingerpicks over the day. Fingerpicks can often be painful, deterring patient compliance.

The new technique developed by researchers at University of Warwick works with an 82 per cent reliability, and could replace the need for invasive finger-prick testing with a needle, especially for kids who are afraid of those.

“Our innovation consisted in using AI for automatic detecting hypoglycaemia via few ECG beats. This is relevant because ECG can be detected in any circumstance, including sleeping,” said Dr Leandro Pecchia from School of Engineering in a paper published in the Nature Springer journal Scientific Reports.

Jan 16, 2020

Toyota Makes a New $394 Million Bet on Flying Taxis

Posted by in category: transportation

The deal makes Joby Aviation the best-funded electric vertical take-off and landing startup.

Jan 16, 2020

Moon ‘shrooms? Fungi eyed to help build lunar bases and Mars outposts

Posted by in category: space

NASA researchers are investigating the potential of mycelia — the mass of nutrient-absorbing, widely branching underground threads that make up much of a fungus’s bulk — to help construct outposts on the moon and Mars.

Jan 16, 2020

Tesla just filed a new battery patent. Is this the promised million-mile battery?

Posted by in categories: Elon Musk, life extension, sustainability

How long should an EV battery last? Elon Musk seems to think that a million miles is just about right — last April he announced that Tesla had a “1 million-mile battery pack” in the pipeline. That’s an ambitious goal, to say the least — do we really need a battery that lasts three to four times as long as a typical car? We will.

Source: Charged

As a recent article posted on Forbes points out, while today’s typical Li-ion battery packs are more than adequate for individual EV owners, applications such as taxi services and long-distance trucking will require batteries optimized for longevity (according to writer Ariel Cohen, the average trucker logs some 100,000 to 150,000 miles per year). Thus, long-life batteries are likely to be critical to the success of the Tesla Network (a proposed fleet of robo-taxis) and the Tesla Semi.

Jan 16, 2020

Discover Longevity and Anti-Aging Science Past, Present and Future

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, life extension, science

Ira Pastor, ideaXme exponential health ambassador, interviews Dr. Magomed Khaidakov, Assistant Research Professor, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Arkansas for the Medical Sciences. https://www.amazon.com/Pessimistic-Guide-Anti-aging-Research…atfound-20

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Jan 16, 2020

LifeXtenShow – Stem Cell Trivia

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

On this trivia episode of X10, Veera quizzes Nicola and Giuliano on stem cells, giving them five genuine stumpers from Ulla-Kaisa Peteri that leave them unsure and puzzled throughout.

Jan 16, 2020

Scientists trick drug-resistant bacteria into killing themselves

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

Read more.

Jan 16, 2020

Stem Cell Trivia | LifeXtenShow

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

Want to test your knowledge about stem cells with this not-so-trivial trivia? Let’s see if you can do better than Giuliano and Nicola! (You probably can, especially better than Nicola…).

Thanks to Ulla-Kaisa Peteri for preparing the questions!