Friday, January 23, 2009

College of Science Lectures Focus on "Next: Science That Transforms"

College of Science Lectures Focus on "Next: Science That Transforms" | UANews.org
Speakers will talk about large-scale science that will dramatically change our views of the universe and ourselves.

By Lori Stiles, University Communications
January 21, 2009

The University of Arizona College of Science will present a lecture series beginning this month that will focus on large-scale science that is poised to reshape our understanding of the universe and ourselves.

The lecture series, "Next: Science That Transforms," will feature six scientists who help lead world-class projects in astronomy, physics, biology, cybernetics and medicine. Each will discuss epic scientific discoveries anticipated from their programs in the near future.

"We want people to learn first-hand about remarkable discoveries soon to come in areas ranging from deep space and particle physics to evolutionary biology, artificial intelligence and the human brain," said Joaquin Ruiz, dean of the UA College of Science.

"Large-scale science projects now underway are about to produce outcomes that will profoundly change what we know about our universe, our world and ourselves," Ruiz added.

All lectures are free and open to the public and will begin at 7 p.m. on Tuesdays beginning Jan. 27. The lectures will be held at Centennial Hall, 1020 E. University Blvd. on the UA campus. Parking is available on a pay per use basis in the Tyndall Avenue Garage, 880 E. Fourth St.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Découverte d'un gène fondamental au vieillissement du cerveau


Une
equipe canado-americaine de l'Universite de Montreal, de l'Hopital
Maisonneuve-Rosemont et du Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory publie
dans the Journal of Neuroscience :
Pourra-t-on
un jour freiner le vieillissement du cerveau et ainsi prévenir des
maladies comme l'Alzheimer et le Parkinson ? Oui, à la condition
d'établir la programmation génétique lié à la dégénérescence des
neurones. Selon une étude publiée dans The Journal of Neuroscience, une
équipe de chercheurs de l'Université de Montréal, de l'Hôpital
Maisonneuve-Rosemont et du Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory a
effectué un pas de géant dans cette direction en identifiant le gène
qui contrôle le vieillissement normal et pathologique des neurones du
système nerveux central.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Un ordinateur cognitif capable de percevoir le monde extérieur puis de forger sa propre expérience


Le centre de recherche d'IBM situé à Almaden, en coopération avec 5
grandes universités américaines, a déclaré qu'il consacrerait une
partie de ses recherches à la conception d'un nouveau type ordinateur,
capable de simuler les capacités du cerveau. Cet ordinateur serait
capable d'apprécier certaines sensations, perceptions, actions, et
interactions du monde extérieur puis de créer sa propre expérience.

Possédant à la fois des limitations dans le système d'exploitation et
l'architecture, les ordinateurs électroniques actuels ont une
efficacité limitée lorsqu'ils sont placés dans un environnement réel
c'est-à-dire soumis à un très grand nombre de variables et de
paramètres. Les algorithmes développés jusqu'à présent, comparés aux
systèmes biologiques, sont un million voire un milliard de fois moins
efficaces.

Dans le but de créer des machines intelligentes
capables de rivaliser avec les systèmes biologiques, IBM et ses
collaborateurs ont reçu dans un premier temps une bourse de 4.9
millions de dollars, financée par la Defense Advanced Research Projects
Agency (DARPA). Ce projet dirigé par Dharmendra Modha, chercheur chez
IBM, a été nommé Systems of Neuromorphic Adaptive Plastic Scalable
Electronics (SyNAPSE). Des scientifiques de Columbia University , de
l'UW-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health et d'IBM
travailleront sur le "software", alors que les experts en
nanotechnologie et en superordinateurs de Cornell, de Stanford et de
l'University of California-Merced créeront le "hardware".


Saturday, January 10, 2009

Complexity From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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In general usage, complexity tends to be used to characterize something with many parts in intricate arrangement. In science there are at this time a number of approaches to characterizing complexity, many of which are reflected in this article. Seth Lloyd of M.I.T. writes that he once gave a presentation which set out 32 definitions of complexity.[1]

Definitions are often tied to the concept of a ‘system’ – a set of parts or elements which have relationships among them differentiated from relationships with other elements outside the
relational regime. Many definitions tend to postulate or assume that complexity expresses a condition of numerous elements in a system and numerous forms of relationships among the elements. At the same time, what is complex and what is simple is relative and changes with time.

Some definitions key on the question of the probability of encountering a given condition of a system once characteristics of the system are specified. Warren Weaver has posited that the complexity of a particular system is the degree of difficulty in predicting the properties of the system if the properties of the system’s parts are given. In Weaver's view, complexity comes in two forms: disorganized complexity, and organized complexity. [2] Weaver’s paper has influenced contemporary thinking about complexity. [3]

The approaches which embody concepts of systems, multiple elements, multiple relational regimes, and state spaces might be summarized as implying that complexity arises from the number of distinguishable relational regimes (and their associated state spaces) in a defined
system.

Some definitions relate to the algorithmic basis for the expression of a complex phenomenon or model or mathematical expression, as is later set out herein.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complexity

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