The human brain contains a little over 80-odd billion neurons, each joining with other cells to create trillions of connections called synapses.
The numbers are mind-boggling, but the way each individual nerve cell contributes to the brain’s functions is still an area of contention.
In fact, a study published in 2017 has overturned a 100-year-old assumption on what exactly makes a neuron ‘fire’, posing new mechanisms behind certain neurological disorders.
Tech billionaire Peter Thiel painted a gloomy picture of artificial intelligence in his NYT’s op-ed on Thursday, detailing the technology’s real value and purpose as primarily a military one.
“The first users of the machine learning tools being created today will be generals,” Thiel declared in his 1,200-word piece. “A.I. is a military technology.”
Thiel’s portrayal is a far cry from the optimistic view that many in Silicon Valley have embraced. Artificial intelligence has promised to give us the next, best Netflix recommendations, let us search the internet using our voices, and do away with humans behind the wheel. It’s also expected to have a huge impact in medicine and agriculture. But instead, Thiel says that AI’s real home is on the battlefield — whether that be in the physical or cyber worlds.
Only these eyes aren’t human. They don’t blink or take breaks, and guided by artificial intelligence they can tell the difference between a dust cloud, an insect swarm and a plume of smoke that demands quick attention. In Brazil, the devices help keep mining giant Vale SA working, and protect trees for pulp and paper producer Suzano SA.
A paper posted online this month has settled a nearly 30-year-old conjecture about the structure of the fundamental building blocks of computer circuits. This “sensitivity” conjecture has stumped many of the most prominent computer scientists over the years, yet the new proof is so simple that one researcher summed it up in a https://twitter.com/BooleanAnalysis/status/1145837576487612416
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“This conjecture has stood as one of the most frustrating and embarrassing open problems in all of combinatorics and theoretical computer science,” wrote Scott Aaronson of the University of Texas, Austin, in a blog post. “The list of people who tried to solve it and failed is like a who’s who of discrete math and theoretical computer science,” he added in an email.
The conjecture concerns Boolean functions, rules for transforming a string of input bits (0s and 1s) into a single output bit. One such rule is to output a 1 provided any of the input bits is 1, and a 0 otherwise; another rule is to output a 0 if the string has an even number of 1s, and a 1 otherwise. Every computer circuit is some combination of Boolean functions, making them “the bricks and mortar of whatever you’re doing in computer science,” said Rocco Servedio of Columbia University.
Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos is showing off a picture of his Blue Origin space venture’s BE-4 rocket engine going full blast during a hot-fire test in Texas.
“BE-4 continues to rack up time on the test stand,” Bezos said in an Instagram post accompanied by a picture of today’s full-power engine test.
The research and development of neural networks is flourishing thanks to recent advancements in computational power, the discovery of new algorithms, and an increase in labelled data. Before the current explosion of activity in the space, the practical applications of neural networks were limited.
Much of the recent research has allowed for broad application, the heavy computational requirements for machine learning models still restrain it from truly entering the mainstream. Now, emerging algorithms are on the cusp of pushing neural networks into more conventional applications through exponentially increased efficiency.
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It’s an intruiging technology. All it takes to set up is burying a sensor in the plant’s dirt, and it works for living and non-living things alike. Given that the experience is going to be wildly different depending on the plant, it’s not like this would be useful for doing anything with accuracy. But for doing weird, unique things (while fondling plants) it’s perfect.
In this era of Kinect, Wii, and Leap, everyone wants to capitalize on motion control. Disney still likes physical peripherals, like houseplants for example.
A short drive south of Alice Springs, the second largest population center in Australia’s Northern Territory, there is a high-security compound, code-named “RAINFALL.” The remote base, in the heart of the country’s barren outback, is one of the most important covert surveillance sites in the eastern hemisphere.
It’s a riddle of cosmic proportions: how can the universe contain stars older than itself?
That’s the conundrum now facing astronomers trying to establish the age of the universe – and its resolution could spark a scientific revolution.
At an international conference held in California last month, there was hope a resolution might be found. Instead, the latest findings only confirmed suspicions there is something fundamentally wrong with current ideas of how the universe works.
