Category Archives: Computer science
Computation can push optical microscopy towards unsuspected limits
Man does not live by hardware alone. Indeed, great material and conceptual improvements in the machinery of optical microscopes have occurred in recent decades. The examples are numerous (some example here; https://mappingignorance.org/2013/12/23/bessel-beam-plane-illumination-microscopy-another-smart-solution-for-an-old-challenge/). However, what is being achieved only with software […]
Finding collision-free tangential cutting directions when machining
One thing is designing an object in a computer, and another, quite different, is producing it as a real 3D object. All other things being equal, in general the more curves the designed object has, the more difficult it is […]
How to integrate astrocytes into systems neuroscience
The computer metaphor draws an analogy between the mind as software and the brain as hardware. In this metaphor, the focus of discussions is usually on the software part, taking for granted that the brain, or the whole nervous […]
An app to predict short-term evolution of patients with flare-ups of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is persistent narrowing (blocking, or obstruction) of the airways occurring with emphysema, chronic obstructive bronchitis, or both disorders. Worldwide, the number of people with COPD is increasing. Factors contributing to COPD include an increase in […]
Chromatic multiphoton serial microscopy can generate brain-wide atlas-like colour datasets with subcellular resolution
In 1873, the microscopist Ernst Abbe stipulated a physical limit for the maximum resolution of traditional optical microscopy: 0.2 micrometers, or 200 nanometers (the shortest wavelength for visible light, the extreme limit of violet). This meant that scientists could distinguish […]
A family of degradable fermionic Gaussian channels
Quantum computing is the future. Or the present, if you believe that some real quantum computers are commercially available already. Because it is hard to admit that any computer system whose design and theoretical basis depend on quantum effects […]
The convergence of neuroscience and artificial intelligence
Several researchers in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) are warning about an AI winter, which means that scientists might lose the interest on the discipline, institutions reduce drastically the funding towards its research and lose presence in the public […]
Using machine learning to discover new metallic glasses
Metallic glasses are a unique class of materials whose properties combine some of the irreconcilable properties of both metals and polymers. They consist of a combination of metals which, in the solid state, present an amorphous atomic structure, in contrast […]
Your mind will never be uploaded to a computer
One of the most popular ideas within the new and fashionable transhumanism craze is that, in the future humans, will be able of reaching a kind of ‘immortality’ by decoding the information contained in your brain, ‘uploading’ it to […]
What does the “we don’t understand how artificial intelligence takes decisions” statement mean?
Specialized media sometimes publishes similar headlines to the title of the present article. For instance 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6. They are all referred to deep learning, which is a part of artificial […]