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Oct 26, 2018
Physicists demonstrate magnetometer that uses quantum effects and machine learning
Posted by Genevieve Klien in categories: cosmology, quantum physics, robotics/AI
Researchers from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT), Aalto University in Finland, and ETH Zurich have demonstrated a prototype device that uses quantum effects and machine learning to measure magnetic fields more accurately than its classical analogues. Such measurements are needed to seek mineral deposits, discover distant astronomical objects, diagnose brain disorders, and create better radars.
âWhen you study nature, whether you investigate the human brain or a supernova explosion, you always deal with some sort of electromagnetic signals,â explains Andrey Lebedev, a co-author of the paper describing the new device in npj Quantum Information. âSo measuring magnetic fields is necessary across diverse areas of science and technology, and one would want to do this as accurately as possible.â
Oct 26, 2018
The âBest Illusion of the Yearâ Will Make You Mistrust Your Brain
Posted by Genevieve Klien in category: neuroscience
Every year, various members of the illusion communityâwhich is made up of scientists, neurologists, researchers, and even artistsâget together to decide which of their recently created mind-melters deserves the honor of Best Illusion of the Year. This year, Japanâs Kokichi Sugihara claimed the top prize with a deceptively simple illusion that plays with how our mind perceives 3D objects.
This isnât the first time Kokichi Sugihara, a mathematician at Meiji University in Japan, has won the Best Illusion of the Year honor. Nor is it the first time his fantastic illusions have shown up on Gizmodo. Triply Ambiguous Object, his latest award-winning creation, appears to be a simple 3D structure, with a tiny flag mounted on one of its many corners.
Continue reading “The âBest Illusion of the Yearâ Will Make You Mistrust Your Brain” »
Oct 26, 2018
MIT reveals who self-driving cars should kill: The cat, the elderly, or the baby?
Posted by Genevieve Klien in categories: robotics/AI, transportation
Oct 26, 2018
Uranus will be visible all over the UK tonight
Posted by Michael Lance in category: space
Oct 26, 2018
Optics Breakthrough That Makes the Internet 100X Faster May Save the Web
Posted by Genevieve Klien in categories: innovation, internet
Oct 26, 2018
The Best 3 Plants for Keeping Your Brain Young, According to Science
Posted by Genevieve Klien in categories: health, neuroscience, science
Oct 26, 2018
A man who received a stem cell transplant for multiple sclerosis can walk and dance again after suffering from the disease for a decade
Posted by Genevieve Klien in category: biotech/medical
A man who relied on a wheelchair for 10 years was able to walk and dance after receiving his stem cell transplant.
Oct 26, 2018
The Main Suspect Behind an Ominous Spike in a Polio-Like Illness
Posted by Genevieve Klien in category: biotech/medical
A common virus seems to be behind a puzzling condition thatâs paralyzing children, but uncertainties remain.
A s the summer of 2014 gave way to fall, Kevin Messacar, a pediatrician at Childrenâs Hospital Colorado, started seeing a wave of children with inexplicable paralysis. All of them shared the same story. One day, they had a cold. The next, they couldnât move an arm or a leg. In some children, the paralysis was relatively mild, but others had to be supported with ventilators and feeding tubes after they stopped being able to breathe or swallow on their own.
The condition looked remarkably like polioâthe viral disease that is on the verge of being eradicated worldwide. But none of the kids tested positive for poliovirus. Instead, their condition was given a new name: acute flaccid myelitis, or AFM. That year, 120 people, mostly young children, developed the condition across 34 states. The cases peaked in September and then rapidly tailed off.
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Oct 26, 2018
More solar panels mean more waste and thereâs no easy solution
Posted by Steve Nichols in categories: solar power, sustainability
https://paper.li/e-1437691924#/
Solar panels might be the energy source of the future, but they also create a problem without an easy solution: what do we do with millions of panels when they stop working?
In November 2016, the Environment Ministry of Japan warned that the country will produce 800,000 tons of solar waste by 2040, and it canât yet handle those volumes. That same year, the International Renewable Energy Agency estimated that there were already 250,000 metric tons of solar panel waste worldwide and that this number would grow to 78 million by 2050. âThatâs an amazing amount of growth,â says Mary Hutzler, a senior fellow at the Institute for Energy Research. âItâs going to be a major problem.â
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