Mathematicians have successfully scaled their equivalent of Mount Everest. Today they unveil the answer to a problem that, if written out in tiny print, would cover an area the size of Manhattan.
At the most basic level, the calculation is an arcane investigation of symmetry - in this case of an object that is 57 dimensional, rather than the usual three dimensional ones that we are familiar with. Although this object was first discovered in the 19th century. there is evidence that it could contain the structure of the cosmos.
Mathematicians are known for their solitary style of working, but the combined assault on what is described as "one of the largest and most complicated structures in mathematics" required the effort of 18 mathematicians from America and Europe for an intensive four-year collaboration.
Science & Technology
Every mountain, river, and valley; all the birds and human beings, the Sahara desert... all that was, that is, and will be, was at one time united in a single tiny and fiery point. So infinitely dense and fiery that our mortal imagination will perhaps never be able to comprehend it all. Millions of billions of tons of matter together with all the energy of the great universe, beginning to expand and break apart in an enormous explosion about 20 000 million years ago.
Compared with this big "Bang", the noise of our most powerful atomic bombs would be, at most, equal to a mosquito falling to the ground on the other side of the Earth. From that point on, the history of the cosmos took an even richer and more curious turn. The constant expansion of all that exists made the universe turn into a state of plasmic soup, gradually transforming towards a state more and more similar to what we know today. The matter slowly cooled down, and then formed the first quarks, electrons and protons. 300 000 years passed, electrons and nucleuses combined to form atoms, and later formed quasars, stars, groups of galaxies, and all that is our now familiar, though still in great part unknown, universe.
Compared with this big "Bang", the noise of our most powerful atomic bombs would be, at most, equal to a mosquito falling to the ground on the other side of the Earth. From that point on, the history of the cosmos took an even richer and more curious turn. The constant expansion of all that exists made the universe turn into a state of plasmic soup, gradually transforming towards a state more and more similar to what we know today. The matter slowly cooled down, and then formed the first quarks, electrons and protons. 300 000 years passed, electrons and nucleuses combined to form atoms, and later formed quasars, stars, groups of galaxies, and all that is our now familiar, though still in great part unknown, universe.
Everyone has heard of the canary in the coal mine, which sways or drops dead in the presence of poisonous gas, alerting miners to get out. Now a University of Montana research team has learned to understand the collective buzzing of bees in their hives, which can provide a similar biological alert system.
But bees evidently provide a lot more information than canaries. The researchers, who work for a UM spin-off technology company called Bee Alert Technology Inc., have found that the insects buzz differently when exposed to various poisonous chemicals.
"We found bees respond within 30 seconds or less to the presence of a toxic chemical," said Research Professor Jerry Bromenshenk. "The military is interested in that for countering terrorism. But the real surprise was that the sounds bees produce can actually tell what chemical is hitting them."
But bees evidently provide a lot more information than canaries. The researchers, who work for a UM spin-off technology company called Bee Alert Technology Inc., have found that the insects buzz differently when exposed to various poisonous chemicals.
"We found bees respond within 30 seconds or less to the presence of a toxic chemical," said Research Professor Jerry Bromenshenk. "The military is interested in that for countering terrorism. But the real surprise was that the sounds bees produce can actually tell what chemical is hitting them."
SAN JOSE, Calif. - The United States generates more malicious computer activity than any other country, and sophisticated hackers worldwide are banding together in highly efficient crime rings, according to a new report.
Researchers at Cupertino-based Symantec Corp. also found that fierce competition in the criminal underworld is driving down prices for stolen financial information.
Criminals may purchase verified credit card numbers for as little as $1, and they can buy a complete identity - a date of birth and U.S. bank account, credit card and government-issued identification numbers - for $14, according to Symantec's twice-yearly Internet Security Threat Report released Monday.
Researchers at Cupertino-based Symantec Corp. also found that fierce competition in the criminal underworld is driving down prices for stolen financial information.
Criminals may purchase verified credit card numbers for as little as $1, and they can buy a complete identity - a date of birth and U.S. bank account, credit card and government-issued identification numbers - for $14, according to Symantec's twice-yearly Internet Security Threat Report released Monday.
Robots that bond like human children and display emotion are being developed at a British university.
The £1.68m Feelix Growing Project, a global partnership of robotic experts, psychologists and neuroscientists, aims to produce machines that can engage emotionally with humans. Like children, they will form attachments with their human handlers.
The £1.68m Feelix Growing Project, a global partnership of robotic experts, psychologists and neuroscientists, aims to produce machines that can engage emotionally with humans. Like children, they will form attachments with their human handlers.
Some of the most basic organisms are smarter than we thought. Rather than moving about randomly, amoebas and plankton employ sophisticated strategies to look for food and might travel in a way that optimises their foraging.
Biophysicists have long tried to explain how creatures of all sizes search for food. However, single-celled organisms such as bacteria seem to move in no particular direction in their search.
To investigate, Liang Li and Edward Cox at Princeton University studied the movements of amoebas (Dictyostelium) in a Petri dish, recording the paths travelled by 12 amoebas, including every turn and movement straight ahead, for 8 to 10 hours per amoeba.
Immediately after an amoeba turned right, it was twice as likely to turn left as right again, and vice versa, they told a meeting of the American Physical Society meeting in Denver, Colorado, last week. This suggests that the cells have a rudimentary memory, being able to remember the last direction they had just turned in, says Robert Austin, a biophysicist at Princeton who was not involved in the study.
Biophysicists have long tried to explain how creatures of all sizes search for food. However, single-celled organisms such as bacteria seem to move in no particular direction in their search.
To investigate, Liang Li and Edward Cox at Princeton University studied the movements of amoebas (Dictyostelium) in a Petri dish, recording the paths travelled by 12 amoebas, including every turn and movement straight ahead, for 8 to 10 hours per amoeba.
Immediately after an amoeba turned right, it was twice as likely to turn left as right again, and vice versa, they told a meeting of the American Physical Society meeting in Denver, Colorado, last week. This suggests that the cells have a rudimentary memory, being able to remember the last direction they had just turned in, says Robert Austin, a biophysicist at Princeton who was not involved in the study.
New research suggests playing action video games that involve firing guns such as "Gears of War," Lost Planet," and "Halo" can improve your eyesight.
Most aspects of vision are physical and depend on the the size of one's eye and the thickness and shape of the cornea and lens. But some visual defects are neural in nature, said Daphne Bevelier of the University of Rochester and author of the new study on vision and video games published in the journal Psychological Science.
Most aspects of vision are physical and depend on the the size of one's eye and the thickness and shape of the cornea and lens. But some visual defects are neural in nature, said Daphne Bevelier of the University of Rochester and author of the new study on vision and video games published in the journal Psychological Science.
Scientists studying pictures from Nasa's Odyssey spacecraft have spotted what they think may be seven caves on the surface of Mars.
The candidate caves are on the flanks of the Arsia Mons volcano and are of sufficient depth their floors mostly cannot be seen through the opening.
Details were presented here at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in Houston, Texas.
The candidate caves are on the flanks of the Arsia Mons volcano and are of sufficient depth their floors mostly cannot be seen through the opening.
Details were presented here at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in Houston, Texas.
The soprano Joan Sutherland has never been convinced that much can be accomplished in a "so-called master class," as she explained in a 1998 interview. What can a visiting master say in just a half-hour or so of working with a young musician?
Still, that year, at the behest of the foundation run by her friend and colleague Marilyn Horne, Ms. Sutherland offered a master class to several young singers at the Juilliard Theater.
Naturally, before hearing each vocalist, she wanted to learn something of their backgrounds and training. Only with that personal and professional context could she know how to evaluate their work.
So Ms. Sutherland was miffed when she asked the age of an Asian soprano who was up next, and the young woman demurred, laughing nervously and explaining that she preferred not to reveal it.
Still, that year, at the behest of the foundation run by her friend and colleague Marilyn Horne, Ms. Sutherland offered a master class to several young singers at the Juilliard Theater.
Naturally, before hearing each vocalist, she wanted to learn something of their backgrounds and training. Only with that personal and professional context could she know how to evaluate their work.
So Ms. Sutherland was miffed when she asked the age of an Asian soprano who was up next, and the young woman demurred, laughing nervously and explaining that she preferred not to reveal it.
I'm online wrapped up on the ESP Game, and I'm finding it hard to stop. As each round ends, I'm eager to try again to rack up points. The game randomly pairs players who have logged on to the game's Web site (www.espgame.org). Both players see the same image, selected from a large database, but they can't communicate directly. Each player types in words that describe the image. When the words match, both players earn points and move to the next image. Each round lasts 150 seconds and displays up to 15 images. I keep hoping that my invisible, anonymous partner's thoughts are in sync with mine-all the better to rise on the list of top players.
I'm having fun, but there's more to this game than meets the eye. To its inventor, computer scientist Luis von Ahn of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh and his colleagues, the game provides an innovative way to label images with descriptive terms that make them easier to find online.
Most of the billions of images on the Web have incomplete captions or no labels at all, von Ahn says. Accurate labels would improve the relevance of image search results and make the information in images accessible to blind users. However, computers aren't good at looking at images and determining what's in them, and it's boring for a person to label images.
I'm having fun, but there's more to this game than meets the eye. To its inventor, computer scientist Luis von Ahn of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh and his colleagues, the game provides an innovative way to label images with descriptive terms that make them easier to find online.
Most of the billions of images on the Web have incomplete captions or no labels at all, von Ahn says. Accurate labels would improve the relevance of image search results and make the information in images accessible to blind users. However, computers aren't good at looking at images and determining what's in them, and it's boring for a person to label images.
Comment: This raises some interesting questions. If robots can mimic human emotions, how many humans out there are also mimicking and not genuinely feeling anything? Are we mimicking ourselves without even being aware of it?
If robots can become like humans, are we humans not merely complex robots after all? And if so, is there a possibility of becoming something more than a series of mechanical reactions by developing Will, Empathy and Consciousness?