Author archives: Mapping Ignorance

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Bees recognition of complex visual patterns could transform AI

Bees recognition of complex visual patterns could transform AI

BiologyComputer scienceNeurobiology

By Mapping Ignorance

A new discovery of how bees use their flight movements to facilitate remarkably accurate learning and recognition of complex visual patterns could mark a major change in how next-generation AI is developed, according to a University of Sheffield study. By building a computational model—or a digital version of a bee’s brain—researchers have discovered how the […]

Vacuum fluctuations in optical cavities reveal hidden properties of embedded materials

Vacuum fluctuations in optical cavities reveal hidden properties of embedded materials

Quantum physics

By Mapping Ignorance

Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter (MPSD) have theoretically demonstrated that photons trapped inside an optical cavity carry detailed information about a material placed within it. By measuring the properties of the photons leaking out of the cavity, researchers can probe how an optical cavity modifies the properties […]

What happens when you feed a neural network with millions of synthetic black hole data sets

What happens when you feed a neural network with millions of synthetic black hole data sets

AstrophysicsComputer science

By Mapping Ignorance

A team of astronomers led by Michael Janssen (Radboud University, The Netherlands) has trained a neural network with millions of synthetic black hole data sets. Based on the network and data from the Event Horizon Telescope, they now predict, among other things, that the black hole at the centre of our Milky Way is spinning […]

Kirigami, inverse design with no advanced computational tools

Kirigami, inverse design with no advanced computational tools

MathematicsPhysics

By Mapping Ignorance

Kirigami is a traditional Japanese art form that entails cutting and folding paper (origami is just folding it) to produce complex three-dimensional (3D) structures or objects. Over the past decades, this creative practice has also been applied in the context of physics, engineering, and materials science research to create new materials, devices and even robotic […]

Living beings emit light that extinguishes upon death

Living beings emit light that extinguishes upon death

BiochemistryBiologyChemistryPhysicsPhysiologyPlant biology

By Mapping Ignorance

The light of someone’s life might not be just another person, but light in the literal sense. According to a recent study , every living system emits light without requiring external excitation due to a biological phenomenon known as ultraweak photon emission (UPE). In mice, UPE was linked to vitality as live mice emitted significantly […]

What if the universe rotates?

What if the universe rotates?

AstrophysicsCosmology

By Mapping Ignorance

A new study suggests the universe may rotate—just extremely slowly. The finding could help solve one of astronomy’s biggest puzzles. Current models say the universe expands evenly in all directions, with no sign of rotation. This idea fits most of what astronomers observe. But it doesn’t explain the so-called Hubble tension—a long-standing disagreement between two […]