Ben Brubaker
Staff Writer at Quanta Magazine
Staff writer @QuantaMagazine covering computer science. Former freelance physics writer, ex-physicist. Same handle at bluesky and mastodon.
Articles
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1 week ago |
quantamagazine.org | Anil Ananthaswamy |Ben Brubaker |Webb Wright |Janna Levin
Language isn’t always necessary. While it certainly helps in getting across certain ideas, some neuroscientists have argued that many forms of human thought and reasoning don’t require the medium of words and grammar. Sometimes, the argument goes, having to turn ideas into language actually slows down the thought process. Now there’s intriguing evidence that certain artificial intelligence systems could also benefit from “thinking” independently of language.
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2 weeks ago |
quantamagazine.org | Ben Brubaker
By January 2020, Papadimitriou had been thinking about the pigeonhole principle for 30 years. So he was surprised when a playful conversation with a frequent collaborator led them to a simple twist on the principle that they’d never considered: What if there are fewer pigeons than holes? In that case, any arrangement of pigeons must leave some empty holes. Again, it seems obvious. But does inverting the pigeonhole principle have any interesting mathematical consequences?
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2 weeks ago |
flipboard.com | Ben Brubaker
3 hours agoNC is redesigning school math and reading standards. But lawmakers want their say. State education leaders are redesigning the math and reading standards used in North Carolina’s public schools at a time when some state lawmakers …4 hours agoWhat Newark families need to know about the district’s free summer and mandatory programsNewark families can now apply to Newark Public Schools’ free summer programs for students in elementary, middle, and high school.
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3 weeks ago |
technewstube.com | Ben Brubaker
Tech News Tube is a real time news feed of the latest technology news headlines.Follow all of the top tech sites in one place, on the web or your mobile device.
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3 weeks ago |
wired.com | Ben Brubaker
The original version of this story appeared in Quanta Magazine. “Obviously” is a dangerous word, even in scenarios that seem simple. Suppose, for instance, you need to do an important computation. You get to choose between two computers that are almost identical, except that one has an extra hard drive full of precious family photos. It’s natural to assume that the two options are equally good—that an extra drive with no space remaining won’t aid your computation.
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RT @SimonsInstitute: In this episode of Polylogues, @benbenbrubaker and @boazbaraktcs discuss Boaz’s path TCS, theory and practice in crypt…
Can neural networks learn languages that are impossible for humans? My latest story for @QuantaMagazine explores how making language models worse at learning might make them better tools for linguists: https://t.co/VjvJO9ZQ5A
My latest in @QuantaMagazine: why theoretical computer scientists like to pose questions to imaginary black boxes: https://t.co/meZInYAbUg
