Category: Analysis
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Rosetta, comets, parts, analysis...
Comet-chaser Rosetta has lucked out with a two-for-one deal. Pictures from the European Space Agency (ESA) probe suggest that its target comet, Churyumov-Gerasimenko, is actually two icy rocks stuck together in an arrangement known as a contact binary. "This is the reason we organise these missions, to find surprises," says Pedro Lacerda of the Max…
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Sentient machines. Thinking in wholes. The impossibility of AI.
Sentient machines may never exist, according to a variation on a leading mathematical model of how our brains create consciousness. Over the past decade, Giulio Tononi at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and his colleagues have developed a mathematical framework for consciousness that has become one of the most influential theories in the field. According to…
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Smells, senses, science...
It used to be thought that human noses could only detect around 10,000 smells, although many scientists thought that was probably a bit too low. A new study suggests that number is much higher--that humans can distinguish among 1 trillion different scents. (1) Even though we may not be able to name them, the "study"…
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Mapping a brain. Infinite level of analysis. Monads. Decisions...
Mapping the human brain is a noble goal, but a rather ill-defined one. It’s like making a map of the United States. You could just show political boundaries and the locations of cities. Or you might depict geographical features like mountains and rivers. Or transportation routes, like interstate highways and railroad tracks. You might even…
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Pedestrians walking. Scientists analyzing.
The behavior of pedestrians can seem unpredictable — especially in a big crowd. Yet a group of scientists has developed an accurate mathematical representation of real-life pedestrian movement. By factoring in people’s ability to anticipate impending collisions, the researchers created simulations in which pedestrians naturally form lanes to walk in opposing directions and slow as…
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