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:: Sunday, April 13, 2008 ::
Watch a computer think.
True, this is only a very rudimentary level of "thinking", but by drawing the moves being considered by a chess-playing algorithm one ends up with a fairly eye-pleasing result. Give it a try here [Java application courtesy of Martin Wattenberg], or you could always go try it out in person at the MoMA. The further along one gets into a game, the longer the computer has to consider its move options, which results in more "think traces".
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:: Wednesday, February 11, 2004 ::
The problem with much biology research today
The argument: we would have a better chance of truly understanding cell function (or any other complex biological system) if biologists worked more like engineers. Here is the argument very eloquently presented by Yuri Lazebnik in his 2002 article in the journal Cancer Cell. Although this article is almost 1.5 years old, it was just brought to my attention recently.
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:: Thursday, January 29, 2004 ::
Automated Scientists and Inventors?
Can science be automated? The scientific method is, after all, simply an algorithm that could be programmed. However, I doubt that scientists are going to become obsolete any day soon; well, except for maybe geneticists!
And what about the creative art of invention? One would think that this is only something a human could do: our advanced intellect and logical thinking working in synergy with our intuitions, memories and emotions. It turns out that an artificial neural net can become an excellent inventor as well when it is disrupted by a little bit of noise. It makes you wonder about the accuracy of the "nutty inventor" stereotype; it may not be such a silly typecast after all. A noisy brain can be a good thing!
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:: Saturday, January 10, 2004 ::
The Power of Water
A classic method of electricity generation, hydroelectricity, employs water (and gravity) to mechanically drive turbines. The newest method proposed to generate electricity also uses water: University of Alberta researchers have devised an electrokinetic method in which water dripped through about 450,000 microscopic channels in a ceramic filter causes positive and negative charges to build up, while electrical current is conducted along a pair of wire coils attached to the filter. The process produces only tiny amounts of electricity, but it could be enough to power small electronic devices. The next step may be the development of "electrokinetic cells", analagous to solar cells or fuel cells, to construct an environmentally clean battery that would run in any condition -- no sun or light is required, and there is no need to spend energy to separate hydrogen from oxygen, as is required by fuel cells.
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:: Friday, January 31, 2003 ::
Think you're better than Gary Kasparov?
For those who want to try their hand at challenging Deep Junior, the software currently locking horns with the famous chess grandmaster in New York City, you can purchase version 7.0, last year's version, here. The new version, Deep Junior 8.0, is expected to be released in March/April 2003. In effect, Gary Kasparov is simply a glorified beta-tester, allowing the programmers to iron out any bugs or weaknesses in the new version.
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