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Submission + - Quantum physics: Reality doesn't exist if you aren't looking at it? (digitaljournal.com)

Submitted by TaleSlinger
TaleSlinger writes: “Quantum physics predictions about interference seem odd enough when applied to light, which seems more like a wave, but to have done the experiment with atoms, which are complicated things that have mass and interact with electric fields and so on, adds to the weirdness,” said PhD student Roman Khakimov, who was involved in the experiment.
Nevertheless, they expected the atom to behave just like light, meaning that it would take on both the form of a particle and/or a wave. This time they fired the atoms at two grate-like forms created by lasers, although the effect was similar to a solid grate.
However, the second grate was only put in place after the atom had passed through the first one. And the second grate wasn't applied each time, only randomly, to see how the particles reacted differently.
What they found was that, when there were two grates in place, the atom passed through it on many paths in a wave form, but, when the second grate was removed, it behaved like a particle and took only one path through.
So, what form it would take after passing through the first grate depended on whether the second grate was put in place afterward. Therefore, whether it continued as a particle or changed into a wave wasn't decided until a future event had already taken place.

Australian National University, lead researcher Andrew Truscott said in a press release that they have proven that "reality does not exist if you are not looking at it.”

Submission + - G7 vows to phase out fossil fuel by 2100 (euobserver.com)

Submitted by Taco Cowboy
Taco Cowboy writes: The G7 group of countries, comprises of Germany, England, Japan, Canada, France, Italy and the United States, has issued a pledge that they will phase out fossil fuel by the end of this century

The conclusions after the meeting in Bavaria, southern Germany, said the Paris agreement should have “binding rules at its core to track progress towards achieving targets

The announcementwas warmly welcomed environment groups. “Angela Merkel took the G7 by the scruff of the neck,” said Ruth Davis a political advisor to Greenpeace and a senior associate at E3G

“Politically, the most important shift is that chancellor Merkel is back on climate change. This was not an easy negotiation. She did not have to put climate change on the agenda here. But she did,” she said

Tom Burke, environmental advisor to Shell, Rio Tinto and Unilever, said Merkel had made a “big play”

“It’s more aggressive than you would have expected. That’s been helped a lot by the US démarche with China and the growing signs are that China is probably going to do better than a lot of people are expected,” he said

The G7 plege includes a goal proposed by the EU to cut emissions 60% on 2010 levels by 2050, with full decarbonisation by 2100, and another goal for G7 countries to decarbonize their own energy sectors by 2050

In a sign of growing hopes the G7 could deliver a significant boost to UN climate talks, on Sunday thousands of leading businesses issued a call for the G7 to adopt a long term goal

“We want a global climate deal that achieves net zero emissions well before the end of the century, and that to be a firm commitment at COP21 In Paris in December,” said Nigel Topping, CEO of We Mean Business

A coalition of UK NGOs including Greenpeace, WWF and CAFOD also issued a plea to prime minister David Cameron to support a zero emissions target

Getting previously reluctant governments from the US, Canada and Japan to agree to a long term climate goal would be hugely significant for global efforts to secure agreement in Paris, said Jennifer Morgan from the World Resources Institute

“It makes a difference – having the G7 signal in any way they’re up for along term goal that makes avoiding 2C [of warming] more real would I hope be a shot in arm for the in debate in the UN – it matters,” she said

“To get the US, Canada and Japan to agree to this is a remarkable achievement by Angela Merkel and Francois Hollande, and a good sign for the negotiations," said Michael Jacobs, advisor to the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate

The G7 also noted that the earth's average temperature must not be allowed to rise above 2 degrees Celsius, but this is a pledge that has been made before, including at international climate talks

More importantly is the statement “that deep cuts in global greenhouse gas emissions are required with a decarbonisation of the global economy over the course of this century”

It is the first time that G7 leaders speak of decarbonisation — reducing to zero the carbon emissions from fossil fuels — of the global economy

That means that by the year 2100, there are roughly two outcomes for fossil fuels

One is that energy production has shifted away from coal, oil, and gas – the three fossil fuels which according to the International Energy Agency, in 2012 accounted for about 81.7 percent of the world's energy

The other is that fossil fuels are still used, but their emissions are captured before they would have been released into the air

However, the technique of carbon capture and storage, is still at an experimental stage

“From an investment point of view, this announcement from the G7 today only serves to further highlights that fossil fuels now and in the future are a poor risk”, said Tim Buckley, director at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis

Comment API versus Look and Feel (Score 2) 210

We nerds know what API is. Unfortunately most of the non-nerds out there can't grasp the concept of API

Most of them will eventually equate "API" with "look and feel" - and they will think that if Microsoft can get to defend their "Windows look and feel" of course Oracle can deny Google to use their Java API

Add to that Apple at one time obtained a 'rounded corner' patent, therefore, I will not be surprised if the SCOTUS ending up siding with Oracle

Submission + - USA : Kill = Rescue? (dailymail.co.uk)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Typical American Government Agency in action

A guy in Montana found a baby moose crying besides its dead (moose) mother

He called the rescue team

Rescue team came, shot that baby moose, and then they blew it up

Link below comes with pictures and video of that baby moose before it was murdered

Submission + - Obama-RNN—AI generated political speeches. (medium.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Obama-RNN is an experimental neural network AI system to write political speeches, mimicking president Obamas style and content. The results are astonishing and at time highly entertaining.

Comment Care to spare a link? (Score 1) 293

There's a nice paper from the developers of the Apple Newton, which argues that class-based OO maps very well to model objects (where you have lots of objects that are mostly the same), whereas prototype-based OO is a better fit for views, where you want a bit of customisation for almost every instance

Perhaps I'm kinda dense today ... I just couldn't find that 'nice paper' that you have mentioned

If there is a link somewhere, would you kindly share the link with us?

Thanks!!

Submission + - Endoscope Origin 1

Submitted by Wan Steven
Wan Steven writes: The first endoscope was developed in 1806 by Philipp Bozzini in Mainz with his introduction of a "Lichtleiter" (light conductor) "for the examinations of the canals and cavities of the human body".However,the Vienna Medical Society disapproved of such curiosity.
The use of electric light was a major step in the improvement of endoscopy.The first such lights were
external although sufficiently capable of illumination to allow cystoscopy, hysteroscopy and
sigmoidoscopy as well as examination of the nasal (and later thoracic) cavities as was being performed
routinely in human patients by Sir Francis Cruise (using his own commercially available endoscope)
by 1865 in the Mater Misericordiae Hospital in Dublin,Ireland.Later, smaller bulbs became available
making internal light possible, for instance in a hysteroscope by Charles David in 1908.Hans Christian
Jacobaeus has been given credit for the first large published series of endoscopic explorations of
the abdomen and the thorax with laparoscopy (1912) and thoracoscopy (1910).

Submission + - Global warming pause no longer valid - US Scientiests (bbc.com) 1

Submitted by Taco Cowboy
Taco Cowboy writes:

The whole Global Warming debate is as confusing as ever

Researchers from the US National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) say that there was no 'pause' in Global Warming

Dr Thomas Karl of NOAA point out that the warming rate over the past 15 years is "virtually identical" to the last century and updated observations show temperatures did not plateau

The idea of a global warming "hiatus" arose from questions over why the trend of warming temperatures appeared to be stalling recently compared to the later part of the 20th Century

The new analysis corrects for ocean observations made using different methods as well as including new data on surface temperatures

However Dr Peter Stott of the Met Office Hadley Centre said the results "still show the warming trend over the past 15 years has been slower than previous 15 year periods" and "global temperatures have not increased smoothly"

"This means natural variability in the climate system or other external factors has still had an influence and it's important we continue research to fully understand all the processes at work," he said

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), global average temperatures have increased by around 0.05C per decade in the period between 1998 and 2012

http://www.climatechange2013.o...

This compares with an average of 0.12 per decade between 1951 and 2012

On the other hand, the new analysis suggests a figure of 0.116 per decade for 2000-2014, compared with 0.113 for 1950-1999

Submission + - Edward Snowden: The World Says No to Surveillance (nytimes.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Two years after his wistle-blowing, Edward Snowden finds that his action had profound effects on political decision making and on citizen's understanding of privacy issues.

Comment I don't get it (Score 1) 830

by Taco Cowboy (#49844843) Attached to: Presidential Candidate Lincoln Chaffee Proposes That US Go Metric

Pardon me but I do not get what you are saying

Just because all the other countries on the planet are doing something doesn't mean that USA has to follow suit

I was from a country where the Metric system has been used since the 1950's - 1960's, but I still prefer to get a GALLON of milk, measuring distance in MILES, getting temperature reading in FAHRENHEIT, knowing my weight in POUND than the bland metric system equivalents

Submission + - How much Google spends on lobbying? (cnn.com)

Submitted by Taco Cowboy
Taco Cowboy writes: It has been estimated that Google has spent over $60 million on lobbying in Washington D.C. this year alone, and that figure does not include the money that Google gives to various trade organizations and "third party" groups

On its website, Google lists 43 trade associations that it belongs to, such as the Ad Council and National Cyber Security Alliance, although it says that is a "representative listing" and Google doesn't indicate how much money it gives these organizations. Google also has links to over 100 third-party groups like the AARP, Heritage Foundation and iKeepSafe that it "provides support to"

A group of Google investors are demanding that Google owns up to what they spend on and how much, and their push stems from one thing, and that thing is mainly connected to political correctness

It's a public knowledge that Google contributes to the US Chamber of Commerce, and to some quarters, "the Chamber" is suffering from 'Climate Change Denial Symptom' and they are doing their best to cut off any funding to "the Chamber" from Google, Inc

Comment Does US have any real jurisdiction over FIFA? (Score 1) 194

This 'onion' issue is but a side-show of the indictment of FIFA officers by the Obama Administration

While everyone knows that FIFA is corrupt, we must also acknowledge the fact that the indictments from US is a kind of a long-stretch, for all I know FIFA does not belong to USA alone

Comment Avago's past practices (Score 1) 63

by Taco Cowboy (#49819997) Attached to: Intel To Buy Altera For $16.7 Billion

Disclaimer: I'm one of the early investors of Avago

As far as I know Avago does not carry out the "cut until it hurts" routine

I know the style of Hock Tan, the CEO of Avago --- and from past experiences (from the merger with LSI, et al) the 'cut' were mainly of low level, ie, disposable personels, while key people - those who have been identified to have contributed in key technologies - were often offered plumb hike in salary / stock option to get them to continue to perform

In other words, what Hock Tan looks for are:

1. Talents
2. Products
3. Synergistic deployment of technology

Submission + - New Gens of bots that tough out injuries (eurekalert.org)

Submitted by Taco Cowboy
Taco Cowboy writes: Most of the bots that we have right now stop working properly they suffer damages, — The Yutu lunar explorer of China is a perfect example: It stopped functioning when problems developed in the mechanisms which deploy its solar panel

Researchers from the University of Wyoming, in collaboration with their colleagues from Pierre and Marie Curie University of France, have developed bots which can figure out how to continue to function within minutes, despite suffering injuries

The researchers got their inspiration from the amazing ability of animals to adapt to injury, There are many three-legged dogs that can catch Frisbees, for example, and if your ankle is sprained, you quickly figure out a way to walk despite the injury

"When injured, animals do not start learning from scratch," senior author Jean-Baptiste Mouret said. "Instead, they have intuitions about different ways to behave. These intuitions allow them to intelligently select a few, different behaviors to try out and, after these tests, they choose one that works in spite of the injury. We made robots that can do the same"

The breakthrough isn't based solely on the robots themselves — we've had robots capable of advanced movement for some time. What's key is a new algorithim that lets the robot figure out different gaits and motions much faster. Normally when a particular approach stops being effective, the robot tests various ways of moving until it finds one works

"If the robot has to search through the space of all possible behaviors," Clune said. "It’s going to be larger than the number of molecules on planet earth, it’s like finding one of a few needles in a field of haystacks"

The process can take hours, so Clune and his team found a more effective method: Giving the robot a simulated "childhood"

Before it is deployed, the robot uses a computer simulation of itself to create a detailed map of the space of high-performing behaviors. This map represents the robot's "intuitions" about different behaviors it can perform and their predicted value. If the robot is damaged, it uses these intuitions to guide a learning algorithm that conducts experiments to rapidly discover a compensatory behavior that works despite the damage. The new algorithm is called "Intelligent Trial and Error"

The scientists' robot has solved this by trying to mimic animals — by discovering which leg is broken and then then using trial and error to figure out the best way to continue walking

"Locomotion is a major challenge," Dr Iida said. "It's an issue of energy efficiency. Robots are unusually very inefficient compared to animals"

The bots from University of Wyoming is not the first one to mimic animals, as there are bots from other companies are also trying to mimic animals, such as Boston Dynamics, which is now owned by Google

It makes a variety of robots, including the internet sensation Big Dog, which can attain locomotion on a variety of different and difficult terrains

"Each behavior it tries is like an experiment and, if one behavior doesn't work, the robot is smart enough to rule out that entire type of behavior and try a new type," Cully continues. "For example, if walking, mostly on its hind legs, does not work well, it will next try walking mostly on its front legs. What's surprising is how quickly it can learn a new way to walk. It's amazing to watch a robot go from crippled and flailing around to efficiently limping away in about two minutes"

The same Intelligent Trial and Error algorithm allows robots to adapt to unforeseen situations, including adapting to new environments and inventing new behaviors. Jeff Clune explains that "technically, Intelligent Trial and Error involves two steps:
(1) creating the behavior-performance map, and
(2) adapting to an unforeseen situation"

The map in the first step is created with a new type of evolutionary algorithm called MAP-Elites. Evolutionary algorithms simulate Darwinian evolution by hosting "survival of the fittest" competitions in computer simulations to evolve artificially intelligent robots. The adaptation in the second step involves a "Bayesian optimization" algorithm that takes advantage of the prior knowledge provided by the map to efficiently search for a behavior that works despite the damage

"We performed experiments that show that the most important component of Intelligent Trial and Error is creating and harnessing the prior knowledge contained in the map," Clune says

This new technique will help develop more robust, effective, autonomous robots. Danesh Tarapore provides some examples

"It could enable the creation of robots that can help rescuers without requiring their continuous attention," he says. "It also makes easier the creation of personal robotic assistants that can continue to be helpful even when a part is broken"

While these engineers are focused on self-learning robots, others are developing robots and materials that can "heal themselves" when they are damaged

BAE Systems said recently that in the future, it could build drones that contained a lightweight fluid that would allow jets to heal themselves from damage sustained in flight, as well as on-board 3D printers that can make new parts, while a new plastic that can fix itself has been developed by engineers at the University of Illinois

Additional reports from
http://www.bbc.com/news/techno...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/re...
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sci...
http://www.escapistmagazine.co...
http://cacm.acm.org/news/17732...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/...

A Youtube clip on the bots is available from https://www.youtube.com/watch?...


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