Friday, December 31, 2021

Thursday, December 30, 2021

Alexa Advice

"Alexa tells 10-year-old girl to touch live plug with penny"

Wednesday, December 29, 2021

New #1 Website

"Google is dethroned as world's most popular website"

The new top 5 list for 2021 (#GetOffMyLawn):

  1. TikTok
  2. Google
  3. Facebook
  4. Microsoft
  5. Apple

 

Tuesday, December 28, 2021

Light Posting Notice

Admin note: Again, posting will be light the rest of the week due to external obligations.

Monday, December 27, 2021

Thursday, December 23, 2021

Dinosaur Embryo

"Perfectly preserved dinosaur embryo found in China"


 

Moore's Law Marches On

"2D Semiconductors Stalk Silicon at the Edge of Moore's Law". (Via H.R.)

Wednesday, December 22, 2021

Tuesday, December 21, 2021

Monday, December 20, 2021

Snowball Fights In Art

"Snowball Fights in Art". 

I especially liked some of the Asian artwork. And the photograph, "Photograph of Princeton students after a snowball fight between freshman and sophomores, 1893"


 

 

 

 

 

 


 

Friday, December 17, 2021

Memory Storage In Brains

"Where is Memory Information Stored in the Brain?"

Within the scientific research community, memory information in the brain is commonly believed to be stored in the synapse - a hypothesis famously attributed to psychologist Donald Hebb. 

However, there is a growing minority who postulate that memory is stored inside the neuron at the molecular (RNA or DNA) level -- an alternative postulation known as the cell-intrinsic hypothesis, coined by psychologist Randy Gallistel. In this paper, we review a selection of key experimental evidence from both sides of the argument...


Thursday, December 16, 2021

Wednesday, December 15, 2021

Tuesday, December 14, 2021

Musk And Time

"Elon Musk Is TIME's 2021 Person of the Year"

I'm not an uncritical Elon Musk fanboy. 
 
But I am glad to see Time Magazine giving this year's recognition to someone whose primary claim to fame is what they've achieved in the private sphere, as opposed to how good or bad they've been as a political ruler over others.
 
From the article: 
He’s a player in robots and solar, cryptocurrency and climate, brain-computer implants to stave off the menace of artificial intelligence and underground tunnels to move people and freight at super speeds.

Monday, December 13, 2021

Continued Light Posting

Admin note: Again, posting may be light through the month of December due to a variety of external obligations.

Tuesday, December 07, 2021

Light Posting Notice

Admin note: Posting may be lighter than usual this week due to external obligations.

Monday, December 06, 2021

Friday, December 03, 2021

Tiny Camera

"Researchers shrink camera to the size of a salt grain". (Via G.F.)

While a traditional camera uses a series of curved glass or plastic lenses to bend light rays into focus, the new optical system relies on a technology called a metasurface, which can be produced much like a computer chip. Just half a millimeter wide, the metasurface is studded with 1.6 million cylindrical posts, each roughly the size of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

Each post has a unique geometry, and functions like an optical antenna. Varying the design of each post is necessary to correctly shape the entire optical wavefront. With the help of machine learning-based algorithms, the posts’ interactions with light combine to produce the highest-quality images and widest field of view for a full-color metasurface camera developed to date.


 

Reproducing Robots Update

CNN: "World's first living robots can now reproduce, scientists say"