For over two decades, physicists have been working toward implementing quantum light storage—also known as quantum memory—in various matter systems. These techniques allow for the controlled and reversible mapping of light particles called photons onto long-lived states of matter. But storing light for long periods without compromising its retrieval efficiency is a difficult task.
SPHEREx is scanning the entire sky in 102 infrared colors, beaming weekly data to a public archive so scientists and citizen stargazers alike can trace water, organics, and the universe’s first moments while NASA’s open-science philosophy turbo-charges discovery. NASA’s newest space telescope, SPHE
What if a city’s mood could be mapped like weather? Researchers at the University of Missouri are using AI to do exactly that—by analyzing geotagged Instagram posts and pairing them with Google Street View images, they’re building emotional maps of urban spaces.
These “sentiment maps” reveal how people feel in specific locations, helping city planners design areas that not only function better but also feel better. With potential applications ranging from safety to disaster response, this human-centered tech could soon become part of the city’s real-time dashboard.
Human-Centric City Vision
The birth, growth and future of our universe are eternally fascinating.
In the last decades, telescopes have been able to observe the skies with unprecedented precision and sensitivity.
Our research team on the South Pole Telescope is studying how the universe evolved and has changed over time. We have just released two years’ worth of mapping of the infant universe over 1/25th of the sky.
Climbing the social ladder isn’t simply a matter of popularity. Rather, people in positions of influence are particularly adept at forming “maps” of their social connections, which they navigate to become prominent in their social network, new research shows.
It’s like having a “social superpower,” according to study author Oriel FeldmanHall, an associate professor of cognitive and psychological sciences at Brown University who is affiliated with the University’s Carney Institute for Brain Science.
“People vary considerably in how accurately they understand the structure of their communities,” FeldmanHall said. “Our research establishes for the first time that people who excel at mapping out their social network—determining who belongs to which communities and cliques—are the ones who will go on to become the most influential in the social network.”
Neuroscientists have uncovered a fascinating piece of the puzzle behind what makes us truly intelligent. While machines excel at repetitive tasks, humans and animals amaze with their ability to adapt, imagine, and generalize. What in the brain allows for this flexible thinking? A recent study in mice gives us clues by identifying specific brain cells responsible for tracking progress in complex behaviors—not just physical locations.
For decades, it has been known that certain brain cells, like place cells and grid cells, help animals navigate physical space. These cells create mental maps of the environment, guiding an animal or person through streets, rooms, or mazes. But what about navigating through a sequence of actions, such as cooking a new recipe or solving a fresh problem?
Researchers trained mice to perform a task in which they moved through a series of four goal locations to receive water rewards. The order of goals repeated in a loop, but to challenge them, the locations were moved. The mice instantly adjusted, understanding the sequence even in completely new situations. This wasn’t memory playing tricks; the mice were generalizing the structure of the task.