Ingrid Wickelgren

2 months ago | ourcommunitynow.com | Ingrid Wickelgren

Share He tweaked a machine learning technique called a hidden Markov model so it would work with fMRI data. The algorithm can be trained to recognize structure for events that stretch out over time, such as an episode of a TV show. The approach, borrowed from computer science, was new to neuroimaging. “That gave me a wedge,” Baldassano said.

2 months ago | quantamagazine.org | Ingrid Wickelgren |Asher Elbein |Yasemin Saplakoglu

Introduction After shuffling the cards in a standard 52-card deck, Alex Mullen, a three-time world memory champion, can memorize their order in under 20 seconds. As he flips though the cards, he takes a mental walk through a house. At each point in his journey — the mailbox, front door, staircase and so on — he attaches a card. To recall the cards, he relives the trip.

2 months ago | quantamagazine.org | Ben Brubaker |Steve Nadis |Ingrid Wickelgren |Anil Ananthaswamy

Introduction “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.

2 months ago | estadao.com.br | Ingrid Wickelgren

Foto: Rachel Bujalski/Quanta MagazineBrian Hiecientista da computaçãoO DNA muitas vezes é comparado a uma linguagem escrita. A metáfora salta aos olhos: assim como as letras do alfabeto, as moléculas (as bases nucleotídicas A, T, C e G, iniciais de adenina, timina, citosina e guanina) se organizam em sequências – palavras, parágrafos, capítulos, talvez – em todos os organismos, de bactérias a humanos. Assim como em uma linguagem, elas codificam informações.

2 months ago | scientificamerican.com | Ingrid Wickelgren

Cancer arises as an enemy from within. One of the body’s own cells becomes damaged or corrupted and then multiplies to create copies of its aberrant self. The ballooning army of deviant cells may invade nearby tissues, damaging them and causing symptoms. Deepening the betrayal, the body itself becomes complicit. Blood vessels grow toward the tumor, supplying oxygen and nutrients. Immune cells may forego an attack on the cancer and protect it instead.