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Mar 29, 2018

The brain learns completely differently than we’ve assumed, new learning theory says

Posted by in categories: biological, information science, neuroscience

(credit: Getty)

A revolutionary new theory contradicts a fundamental assumption in neuroscience about how the brain learns. According to researchers at Bar-Ilan University in Israel led by Prof. Ido Kanter, the theory promises to transform our understanding of brain dysfunction and may lead to advanced, faster, deep-learning algorithms.

A biological schema of an output neuron, comprising a neuron’s soma (body, shown as gray circle, top) with two roots of dendritic trees (light-blue arrows), splitting into many dendritic branches (light-blue lines). The signals arriving from the connecting input neurons (gray circles, bottom) travel via their axons (red lines) and their many branches until terminating with the synapses (green stars). There, the signals connect with dendrites (some synapse branches travel to other neurons), which then connect to the soma. (credit: Shira Sardi et al./Sci. Rep)

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Mar 29, 2018

Scientists discover a mysterious ‘ghost galaxy’ with no dark matter

Posted by in category: cosmology

The galaxy, which is as large as our Milky Way, contains around 1/400th the amount of dark matter that astronomers had expected

By.

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Mar 29, 2018

Google Knows Literally Everything About You — Here’s How To Delete That Data

Posted by in category: futurism

Take back control of your information with these easy steps.

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Mar 29, 2018

New AI software may be used to help companies hire or fire employees

Posted by in category: robotics/AI

In the past, companies have often used technology to keep track of employee actions and increase productivity. But recently, they’ve begun using AI for hiring, firing and compensation.

Xander, which is developed by tech firm Ultimate Software, is being used at steel processor SPS Companies in Manhattan, Kansas, the Journal noted.

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Mar 29, 2018

NASA’s planet-hunting spacecraft TESS moves closer to launch

Posted by in category: satellites

NASA is now just weeks away from launching its next mission to find undiscovered worlds beyond our solar system.

In a press conference Wednesday afternoon, the space agency revealed its Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) is undergoing the final preparations in Florida ahead of its April 16 launch.

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Mar 29, 2018

The Alt Rocket Tech That May One Day Take Humans to Mars

Posted by in category: space travel

A one-way trip to Mars with conventional chemical rockets could take up to nine months. It’s a long time for humans to be in a spaceship exposed to radiation and other hazards. That’s one reason NASA, space agencies, universities, and private industry are pursuing different rocket technologies. Here’s a look at them.

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Mar 29, 2018

Are there extra dimensions lurking at the quantum scale?

Posted by in categories: nanotechnology, quantum physics

Some theories suggest there could be many more dimensions that we’re unaware of, mostly because they’re imperceptibly tiny. Now researchers have taken the search for extra dimensions down to the nanoscale, using a neutron beam to study gravitational forces more precisely than ever before.

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Mar 29, 2018

The workplace of the future

Posted by in categories: business, economics, employment, robotics/AI

The march of AI into the workplace calls for trade-offs between privacy and performance. A fairer, more productive workforce is a prize worth having, but not if it shackles and dehumanises employees. Striking a balance will require thought, a willingness for both employers and employees to adapt, and a strong dose of humanity.


ARTIFICIAL intelligence (AI) is barging its way into business. As our special report this week explains, firms of all types are harnessing AI to forecast demand, hire workers and deal with customers. In 2017 companies spent around $22bn on AI-related mergers and acquisitions, about 26 times more than in 2015. The McKinsey Global Institute, a think-tank within a consultancy, reckons that just applying AI to marketing, sales and supply chains could create economic value, including profits and efficiencies, of $2.7trn over the next 20 years. Google’s boss has gone so far as to declare that AI will do more for humanity than fire or electricity.

Such grandiose forecasts kindle anxiety as well as hope. Many fret that AI could destroy jobs faster than it creates them. Barriers to entry from owning and generating data could lead to a handful of dominant firms in every industry.

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Mar 29, 2018

Tiangong-1: How to follow the space lab’s decaying orbit and reentry

Posted by in category: space

With the space station likely to fall on April Fool’s Day, it’s important to know whom to follow for reliable information.

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Mar 29, 2018

Earth Likely Had Water Before Moon-Forming Smashup

Posted by in category: space

New research suggests that the moon-forming impact of another body and Earth, early in the solar system’s history, fully scrambled the two objects, and that water was already present before the smash-up.

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