Science
China Wants to Be the World’s AI Superpower. Does It Have What It Takes?
China’s star has been steadily rising for decades. Besides slashing extreme poverty rates from 88 percent to under 2 percent in just 30 years, the country has become a global powerhouse in manufacturing and technology. Its pace of growth may slow due to an aging population, but China is nonetheless one of the world’s biggest …
Science Peeking Into AI’s ‘Black Box’ Brain — With Physics
Cats aren’t dogs. Even modern AI knows that. But how exactly AI distinguishes cat images from those of dogs is not clear. Standard neural networks are akin to a black box, as even the people who program them often have little to no idea how they make decisions. It’s not as critical when it’s just …
Astronomers Find Signature Of Magnetar Outbursts In Nearby Galaxies
Apart from black holes, magnetars may be the most extreme stars in the universe. With a diameter less than the length of Manhattan, they pack more mass than that of our sun, wield the largest magnetic field of any known object — more than 10 trillion times stronger than a refrigerator magnet — and spin …
To The Brain, Reading Computer Code Is Not The Same As Reading Language
In some ways, learning to program a computer is similar to learning a new language. It requires learning new symbols and terms, which must be organized correctly to instruct the computer what to do. The computer code must also be clear enough that other programmers can read and understand it. In spite of those similarities, …
LLNL Develops Optical Capability For Thin-film Neural Implants To Look Into Brain Activity
Combining hybrid polymer materials with microfabrication and 3D printing, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) has developed an ultra-compact, lightweight and minimally invasive optoelectronic neural implant that could be used for long-term studies of brain activity. The new implantable devices are built upon a new platform LLNL researchers are calling POEMS (Polymeric Opto-Electro-Mechanical Systems) and represent …
Six Space Missions To Look Forward To In 2021
Space exploration achieved several notable firsts in 2020 despite the COVID-19 pandemic, including commercial human spaceflight and returning samples of an asteroid to Earth. The coming year is shaping up to be just as interesting. Here are some of the missions to keep an eye out for. Artemis 1 Artemis 1 is the …
If A Robot Is Conscious, Is It OK To Turn It Off? The Moral Implications Of Building True AIs
In the “Star Trek: The Next Generation” episode “The Measure of a Man,” Data, an android crew member of the Enterprise, is to be dismantled for research purposes unless Captain Picard can argue that Data deserves the same rights as a human being. Naturally the question arises: What is the basis upon which something has …
Intel And Sandia National Labs Collaborate On Neuromorphic Computing
What’s New: Intel Federal LLC announced a three-year agreement with Sandia National Laboratories (Sandia) to explore the value of neuromorphic computing for scaled-up computational problems. Sandia will kick off its research using a 50-million neuron Loihi-based system that was delivered to its facility in Albuquerque, New Mexico. This work with Loihi will lay the foundation for …
How A New Solar And Lighting Technology Could Propel A Renewable Energy Transformation
The demand for cheaper, greener electricity means that the energy landscape is changing faster than at any other point in history. This is particularly true of solar-powered electricity and battery storage. The cost of both has dropped at unprecedented rates over the past decade and energy efficient technologies such as LED lighting have also expanded. …
Neuronal Cultures Advance ‘Brain-on-a-chip’ Technology
A Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory team cultured rodent-derived neurons on microelectrode arrays and allowed the cultures to form networks, supplementing them with astrocytes and oligodendrocytes — cell types that play a critical role in neuronal health and function. Pictured is an immunofluorescence image of a complex culture, showing neurons (stained red), astrocytes (cyan) and oligodendrocytes (green). …