[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

'New research suggests our brains use quantum computation

[...] would enhance our general understanding of how the brain works and potentially how it can be maintained or even healed. They may also help find innovative technologies and build even more advanced quantum computers.

"We adapted an idea, developed for experiments to prove the existence of quantum gravity, whereby you take known quantum systems, which interact with an unknown system. If the known systems entangle, then the unknown must be a quantum system, too. It circumvents the difficulties to find measuring devices for something we know nothing about.

[...]

[...] "If entanglement is the only possible explanation here then that would mean that brain processes must have interacted with the nuclear spins, mediating the entanglement between the nuclear spins. As a result, we can deduce that those brain functions must be quantum.

"Because these brain functions were also correlated to short-term memory performance and conscious awareness, it is likely that those quantum processes are an important part of our cognitive and conscious brain functions.

"Quantum brain processes could explain why we can still outperform supercomputers when it comes to unforeseen circumstances, decision making, or learning something new. [...]"'

New research suggests our brains use quantum computation

Interesting, though 1. there are almost certainly other possible explanations and 2. our outperformance of digital neural networks in 'unforeseen circumstances' depends on the 'circumstances' and is probably more easily explained by other factors. OTOH if it's quantum computing that gives brains (or is it just human brains? doubtful) an edge, perhaps quantum neural networks will rapidly exceed us?... #ForTheFirstTime,ATrueGo*IsBorn?

At least for some applications, quantum neural networks achieve exponential speed-up relative to classical computers:

Quantum Artificial Neural Network Model with Exponential Speedup

This post has been edited by Azath Vitr (D'ivers: 19 October 2022 - 02:42 PM

[Tsundoku]

This sounds promising:

https://www.goodnews...-electric-cars/

Battery Tech Breakthrough Paves Way for Mass Adoption of Affordable/Fast Charging Electric Cars

[Tsundoku]

FYI, I don't know if I hav posted these before but here's a couple of handy sites:

https://www.sciencedaily.com/

and this one:

https://futurism.com/

Although it has gone a bit commercial recently and I'm not fond of the changed layout.

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

Tsundoku, on 30 October 2022 - 10:38 AM, said:

FYI, I don't know if I hav posted these before but here's a couple of handy sites:

https://www.sciencedaily.com/

and this one:

https://futurism.com/

Although it has gone a bit commercial recently and I'm not fond of the changed layout.

Phys.org tends to be less 'commercial' (at least in the sense of being a bit less sensationalistic).

The New York Times isn't great at covering science, but this is interesting (at least from the perspective of afaik largely unexplored sci-fi/fantasy possibilities):

'There's Lightning Brewing in Every Swarm of Insects

Large groups of insects can create an electrical charge in the atmosphere comparable to that of storm clouds

Honeybees, for instance, collect a positive charge as their wings — which beat more than 200 times a second — rub against molecules in the air, and use it to attract negatively charged pollen; they can also detect and modify the electric fields of flowers. Spiders spin negatively charged webs that reach out to trap positively charged insects, and they use the electric fields of trees to float through the air. Positively charged hummingbirds pull negatively charged plant stamens toward their beaks. The ecosystem is buzzing with electricity, albeit on a tiny scale.

But it's less tiny than previously thought. A study published Monday in the journal iScience found that when insects like honeybees and locusts gathered in swarms, the individual charges in each creature aggregated to form electric fields in the atmosphere as strong as those created by thunderstorms. [...] the trillions of tiny bodies that electrify the air could help to explain basic weather events, like the formation of clouds, and fill in a picture of the complex environment around us.

[...] "it opens a lot of possibilities."

[...] "Imagine all this potential."'

Swarms of Insects Can Create Electrical Charges, Study Finds

... no discussion of whether there's any evidence that swarms of insects have ever actually generated lightning (or of whether they could do so in theory without killing themselves)... sensationalistic and a bit misleading. A swarm of insects firing off lightning bolts is probably closer to fantasy than hard science fiction.

This post has been edited by Azath Vitr (D'ivers: 30 October 2022 - 12:57 PM

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

'many, perhaps most, meta-analyses in the behavioral sciences are invalid. [...]

When, years ago, we first started thinking about meta-analysis, we presumed, just like most researchers, that it is an imperfect but useful technique. But then we started looking at it closely, and we were surprised to realize – as others before us had realized – that this “gold standard” method of scholarship, is frequently invalid and often misleading[...]

Meta-analysis has many problems. For example, meta-analyses can exacerbate the consequences of p-hacking and publication bias [...] and common methods of correcting for those biases work only in theory, not in practice [...] But in this series, we will focus our attention on only two of the many problems: (1) lack of quality control, and (2) the averaging of incommensurable results. [...] Our critiques apply most forcefully to meta-analyses that combine studies with different manipulations or outcomes'

Meaningless Means: Some Fundamental Problems With Meta-Analytic Averages

Suspected as much....

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

'DNA research shows ancient Britain was more diverse than we imagined

[...] mass migration from Europe to England and movement of people from as far away as West Africa. [...]

[...] 76% of the genetic ancestry in the early medieval English population we studied originated from what is today northern Germany and southern Scandinavia[...] an average taken from 278 ancient skeletons sampled from the south and east coasts of England. [...] strong evidence for mass migration into the British Isles after the end of Roman administration.

[...] girl [...] in Kent [...] had 33% West African ancestry. Her African ancestor was most closely related to the modern day Esan and Yoruda population in southern Nigeria.

Evidence of far-reaching commercial connections with Kent at this time are known. The garnets in many brooches found in this this region came from Afghanistan for example. And the movement of the Updown girl's ancestors was likely linked to these ancient trading routes.

[...] The fact that all three were buried in a similar way, with brooches, buckles and belt hangers, suggests the people who buried them chose to highlight similarities between Updown girl and her older female relatives when they dressed them and located the burials close together.

[...] The visibility of this [burial mound] spot, combined with their dress and DNA marks these people as part of an important local family.'

DNA research shows ancient Britain was more diverse than we imagined

'"Psychedelics principally impair cognitive functioning during their acute effects. Nevertheless, growing evidence indicates that these substances might have beneficial effects on cognition under certain circumstances," [...]

"For example, there are laboratory studies showing the potential beneficial effects of microdoses on attention and convergent thinking, as well as on neuroplasticity, neurogenesis and neuroprotection. Moreover, studies with attendees of psychedelic ceremonies found increases in cognitive flexibility and convergent thinking sub-acutely, in other words, when the acute effects were already over (e.g. the next morning)."

"[...] to systematically investigate the sub-acute effects of LSD in a methodologically rigorous, placebo-controlled design, and see whether this substance might show therapeutic mechanisms beyond the acute effects."

[...] LSD was associated with improved visuospatial memory and improved verbal fluency the next morning. Visuospatial memory is the ability to remember visual information in relation to the surrounding space, while verbal fluency refers to the ability to retrieve words from memory. But LSD use was also associated with impaired cognitive flexibility, or the ability to switch quickly between different tasks.

"[...] they were better able to learn, consolidate and recall visual input, and more fluent in naming words starting with a certain letter."

[...] "On the other hand, participants showed considerable decreases in cognitive flexibility, as measured by a task in which the participants had to learn rules and adapt them according to changing demands of the task. Although we consider these decreases [probably?] transitory and possibly due to exhaustion from the long study day before, they should be considered as transitory sub-acute side-effects when using psychedelics in science, therapy or recreationally."'

LSD induces both an "afterglow" for memory performance and a cognitive "hangover," study finds

Interesting that this seems to conflict with the prior studies which found sub-acute improvements in cognitive flexibility---but those studies were on psychedelic ceremonies, so perhaps the 'set and setting' influenced that. OTOH I'd guess that they weren't randomized controlled studies with placebo, unlike this one....

This post has been edited by Azath Vitr (D'ivers: 04 November 2022 - 04:41 PM

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

'How a quest for mathematical truth and complex models can lead to useless scientific predictions

[...] Many scholars assume that more detailed models produce sharper estimates and better predictions because they are closer to reality. But our new research[...] suggests they may have the opposite effect.

The assumption that "more detail is better" cuts across disciplinary fields. [...] Recently, the European Commission invested €8bn euros [...] to create a very detailed simulation of the Earth (with humans), dubbed a "digital twin," hoping to better address current social and ecological challenges.

[...] more complex models tended to produce more uncertain estimates. This is because new parameters and mechanisms are added. needs to be measured – and is therefore subject to measurement errors and uncertainty. Modelers may also use different equations to describe the same phenomenon mathematically.

Once these new additions and their associated uncertainties are integrated into the model, they pile on top of the uncertainties already there. And uncertainties keep on expanding with every model upgrade, making the model output fuzzier at every step of the way [...]

Many modelers do not submit their models to uncertainty and sensitivity analysis[...] Many keep on adding detail without working out which elements in their model are most responsible for the uncertainty in the output.[...]

Modelers should instead ponder how uncertainty expands with every addition of detail into the model—and find the best trade-off between the level of model detail and uncertainty in the estimation.

To find this trade-off, one can use the concept of "effective dimensions"—a measure of the number of parameters which add uncertainty to the final output, taking into account how these parameters interact with each other—which we define in our paper.'

How a quest for mathematical truth and complex models can lead to useless scientific predictions

Paper:

Models with higher effective dimensions tend to produce more uncertain estimates

This post has been edited by Azath Vitr (D'ivers: 05 November 2022 - 06:33 PM

[Tsundoku]

Azath Vitr (D, on 05 November 2022 - 06:12 PM, said:

'How a quest for mathematical truth and complex models can lead to useless scientific predictions

[...] Many scholars assume that more detailed models produce sharper estimates and better predictions because they are closer to reality. But our new research[...] suggests they may have the opposite effect.

The assumption that "more detail is better" cuts across disciplinary fields. [...] Recently, the European Commission invested €8bn euros [...] to create a very detailed simulation of the Earth (with humans), dubbed a "digital twin," hoping to better address current social and ecological challenges.

[...] more complex models tended to produce more uncertain estimates. This is because new parameters and mechanisms are added. needs to be measured – and is therefore subject to measurement errors and uncertainty. Modelers may also use different equations to describe the same phenomenon mathematically.

Once these new additions and their associated uncertainties are integrated into the model, they pile on top of the uncertainties already there. And uncertainties keep on expanding with every model upgrade, making the model output fuzzier at every step of the way [...]

Many modelers do not submit their models to uncertainty and sensitivity analysis[...] Many keep on adding detail without working out which elements in their model are most responsible for the uncertainty in the output.[...]

Modelers should instead ponder how uncertainty expands with every addition of detail into the model—and find the best trade-off between the level of model detail and uncertainty in the estimation.

To find this trade-off, one can use the concept of "effective dimensions"—a measure of the number of parameters which add uncertainty to the final output, taking into account how these parameters interact with each other—which we define in our paper.'

How a quest for mathematical truth and complex models can lead to useless scientific predictions

Paper:

Models with higher effective dimensions tend to produce more uncertain estimates

You should read the David Brin short story "Stones of Significance".

[Tiste Simeon]

I feel like there's enough sci-fi knocking about to say that this is a bad idea: "Scientists Created a Black Hole in a Lab and then it Started to Glow"

https://www.sciencea...started-to-glow

[Gorefest]

They didn't create a black hole, though. They simulated an Event Horizon.

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

Gorefest, on 18 November 2022 - 12:19 PM, said:

They didn't create a black hole, though. They simulated an Event Horizon.

Yeah... that headline suckered me at first as well.

Major development in AI (this could technically be considered math, but it's one of those mathematical breakthroughs that is also a scientific and technological breakthrough):

'MIT solved a century-old differential equation to break "liquid" AI's computational bottleneck

[...] learning and adapting to new information while on the job, not just during its initial training phase. These "liquid" neural networks (in the Bruce Lee sense) literally play 4D chess — their models requiring time-series data to operate — which makes them ideal for use in time-sensitive tasks like pacemaker monitoring, weather forecasting, investment forecasting, or autonomous vehicle navigation. But, the problem is that data throughput has become a bottleneck, and scaling these systems has become prohibitively expensive, computationally speaking.

[...] MIT researchers announced that they have devised a solution [...] by solving a differential equation that has stumped mathematicians since 1907. [...] "the differential equation behind the interaction of two neurons through synapses… to unlock a new type of fast and efficient artificial intelligence algorithms."

[...] "The new machine learning models we call 'CfC's' [closed-form Continuous-time] replace the differential equation defining the computation of the neuron with a closed form approximation, preserving the beautiful properties of liquid networks without the need for numerical integration," [...]

[...] "CfC models are causal, compact, explainable, and efficient to train and predict. They open the way to trustworthy machine learning for safety-critical applications."

[...] solving [differential] equations for every step quickly gets computationally expensive [...] MIT's "closed form" solution end-arounds that issue by functionally modeling the entire description of a system in a single computational step. [...]

By solving this equation at the neuron-level, the team is hopeful that they'll be able to construct models of the human brain that measure in the millions of neural connections, something not possible today. The team also notes that this CfC model might be able to take the visual training it learned in one environment and apply it to a wholly new situation without additional work, what's known as out-of-distribution generalization. That's not something current-gen models can really do and would prove to be a significant step towards the generalized AI systems of tomorrow.'

MIT solved a century-old differential equation to break 'liquid' AI's computational bottleneck

This post has been edited by Azath Vitr (D'ivers: 18 November 2022 - 01:14 PM

[Tsundoku]

Skynet.

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

'Quantum Particles Aren't Spinning. So Where Does Their Spin Come From?

A new proposal seeks to solve the paradox of quantum spin

[...] Electrons always seem to spin. Every electron ever observed, whether it's just ambling its way about a carbon atom in your fingernail or speeding through a particle accelerator, looks like it's constantly doing tiny pirouettes as it makes its way through the world. Its spinning never appears to slow or speed up. No matter how an electron is jostled or kicked, it always looks like it's spinning at exactly the same speed. It even has a little magnetic field, just like a spinning object with electric charge should. Naturally, physicists call this behavior "spin."

[...] proving that it's impossible for electrons to be spinning is a standard homework problem in any introductory quantum physics course. [...] this seeming contradiction has just been written off by most physicists as yet another strange feature of the quantum world[...]

[...] If electrons didn't seem to spin, your chair would collapse down to a minuscule fraction of its size. You'd collapse too—and that would be the least of your problems. Without spin, the entire periodic table of elements would come crashing down, and all of chemistry would go with it. In fact, there wouldn't be any molecules at all. [...]

[...] Even the first people to develop the idea of spin thought it had to be wrong. [...] With the electron so small, and with its even smaller mass—a billionth of a billionth of a billionth of a gram—there was no way it could possibly be spinning fast enough [...] the surface of the electron would have to be moving 10 times faster than the speed of light, a flat impossibility.

[...] asked [...] to scrap the paper, only to be told that it was too late—as his mentor had already sent the paper off to be published. [...]

[...] Pauli had also suggested an "exclusion principle," the notion that no two electrons could occupy the exact same state. If they could[...] The universe would simply be full of stars and gas, drifting through a boring and indifferent cosmos without encountering so much as a rock. [...] solid matter of any kind would be unstable. [...] Understanding the origin of Pauli's exclusion principle would unlock explanations for all of these deep facts of quotidian life.

[...] Spin was soon discovered to be a basic property of all fundamental particles, not just electrons[...] when quantum mechanics and Einstein's special relativity were combined, it led inevitably to a connection between spin and group statistical behavior. Pauli's exclusion principle was merely a special case of this spin-statistics theorem [...] spin was harnessed to develop lasers, explain the behavior of superconductors, and point the way to building quantum computers.

[...] the electron [...] as an excitation in a quantum field known as the Dirac field, and this field may be what carries the spin of the electron. "There's a real rotation of energy and charge in the Dirac field," [...]. If this is where the angular momentum resides, the problem of an electron spinning faster than the speed of light vanishes; the region of the field carrying an electron's spin is far larger than the purportedly pointlike electron [...] there isn't a spinning particle. There's a spinning field, and that field is what gives rise to particles.

[...] "Physicists are, at heart, pragmatists…. If Sebens is 100 percent right, the physicists are going to say, 'Okay, what does that get me?'"

[...] "You have this nice mathematical representation; you want to have some intuitive physical picture to go along with it." Plus, a physical picture might also lead to new theories or experiments that hadn't occurred before. "To me, that would be the test of whether this is a good idea."

[...] though he's written a paper about how to resolve Ohanian's concern regarding antimatter, there are other related questions still remaining.'

Quantum Particles Aren't Spinning. So Where Does Their Spin Come From?

This post has been edited by Azath Vitr (D'ivers: 05 December 2022 - 03:41 PM

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

It's amazing that physicists overlooked such an obvious and intuitive seeming explanation... a casualty of the 'shut up and calculate' approach?...

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

'Ancient viruses gave us a gene called "Arc" — and it may explain consciousness, scientists say

[...] "Studies from my lab and others have shown that Arc is important for turning experiences into long-lasting changes in the brain," [...]

[...] given that Arc acts like a virus in its most crucial aspect — it seems to exist with the "purpose" of creating more copies of itself, even as it is used by the very same cells it invades — one has to wonder[...] "who is holding the leash, who is being domesticated. I can't tell you that for sure, but I think it could be either way."'

[...] "There is a real possibility that we're basically walking around as virus-controlled meat bags. We are aware of ourselves, but the only reason why we're aware of ourselves is to help the viruses that control us by making up part of our genome."'

Ancient viruses gave us a gene called "Arc" — and it may explain consciousness, scientists say | Salon.com

lol... it's a huge stretch to go from 'seems critical for learning (or at least enhances learning?) in mammals' to 'is the cause of conscious awareness (in mammals at least), such that without Arc we wouldn't be conscious' (could that be tested by neutralizing or removing Arc somehow?...). But interesting....

This post has been edited by Azath Vitr (D'ivers: 10 December 2022 - 03:44 PM

[Tsundoku]

Breathing plants!

https://www.news.com...1536ff1b0939b02

Incredible video shows plants ‘breathing’
Watch plants “breathing” in magnified view in an incredible video that captured the process in detail for the first time.

Andrew Court - New York Post
2 min read
December 20, 2022 - 12:36PM

It’s breathtaking footage.

An astonishing new video shows plants “breathing” in real-time — and the footage could have huge implications for how farmers feed the world in the future.

The close-up clip was captured by biologists at the University of California San Diego during research funded by the US National Science Foundation, the New York Post reported.

While filming the flora, the biologists discovered how plants use their stomata — tiny openings commonly known as their “mouths” — to direct their breathing of carbon dioxide.

Knowing how plants use their stomata to open and close in response to changing carbon dioxide levels could allow scientists to produce crops robust enough for a changing environment, according to National Science Foundation spokesperson, Jared Dashoff.

“The researchers hope that harnessing this mechanism could lead to future engineering of plant water use efficiency and carbon intake, critical as atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration continues to increase,” he told South West News Service.

“When stomata are open, the inside of the plant is exposed to the elements, and water from the plant is lost into the surrounding air, which can dry them out,” Dashoff further explained. “Plants, therefore, must balance the intake of carbon dioxide with water vapour loss by controlling how long the stomata remain open.”

Research leader, Julian Schroeder, added: “The response to changes is critical for plant growth and regulates how efficient the plant can be in using water, which is important as we see increased drought and rising temperatures.”

As the climate changes, both atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration and temperature increase, affecting the balance between carbon dioxide entry and water vapour loss through the stomata.

If plants, especially crops like wheat, rice and corn, can’t strike a new balance, they risk drying out, farmers risk losing valuable output, and more people across the world risk going hungry.

“Scientists have long understood stomata and the balance between carbon dioxide intake and water loss,” Dashoff stated. “But what they haven’t known, until now, is how plants sense carbon dioxide to signal stomata to open and close in response to changing carbon dioxide levels.”

“Knowing this will now enable researchers to edit those signals — so plants can strike the right balance between taking in carbon dioxide versus losing water — and allow scientists and plant breeders to produce crops robust enough for the environment of the future.”

Dashoff added that the researchers are so excited by their findings that they have now filed a patent and examining ways to translate their findings into tools for crop breeders and farmers.

Richard Cyr, a National Science Foundation program director, said the findings were nothing short of game changing.

“Determining how plants control their stomata under changing CO2 levels creates a different kind of opening — one to new avenues of research and possibilities for addressing societal challenges,” he declared.

Check out the video at the top of the article.

----------------------------------------------------

Kinda reminds me of Barad-Dur for some reason ...

Or "HYCYBH" (ski-bop, badap) by Tom Cardy on youtube. NSFW.

This post has been edited by Tsundoku: 20 December 2022 - 01:45 AM

[worry]

Is that who's been calling me and not talking when I answer the phone?

[Abyss]

Tsundoku, on 20 December 2022 - 01:44 AM, said:

Breathing plants!

...

I've seen this movie already. It went badly for the humans.
Also, sucked.

[Tsundoku]

Say it with flowers: give her a triffid.

[Gorefest]

How in the world can they 'patent' anything? What are they patenting? The biological fact that stomata open and close to regulate CO2 intake and water vapour? Unless they actually have a treatment or other mechanism to actively regulate the stomata, surely this is not patentable? Otherwise I am going to patent the sun coming up every day so I can cash in when someone finds a means to monetise sunrises. I am looking at you, beach holiday companies.