Physicists from the Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE) have been conducting research on the matter constituting the atomic nucleus utilizing the world’s three most powerful particle accelerators. Their focus has been on mapping the “primordial soup” that filled the universe in the first millionth of a second following its inception.
Intriguingly, their measurements showed that the movement of observed particles bears resemblance to the search for prey of marine predators, the patterns of climate change, and the fluctuations of stock market.
In the immediate aftermath of the Big Bang, temperatures were so extreme that atomic nuclei could not exists, nor could nucleons, their building blocks. Hence, in this first instance the universe was filled with a “primordial soup” of quarks and gluons.
“While there is so much we’ve come to understand, so much remains unknown in our Ocean–and we are thrilled to continue exploring.”
Ocean explorers from the Schmidt Ocean Institute have unveiled a colossal underwater mountain, challenging our perceptions of the ocean’s mysterious depths.
Schmidt Ocean Institute.
This seamount, found in international waters off the coast of Guatemala, stands at a staggering 5,249 feet (1,600 meters), dwarfing the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building. The revelation came during a seafloor mapping expedition to explore the Earth’s least understood frontier aboard the research vessel Falkor (too).
To try everything Brilliant has to offer—free—for a full 30 days, visit http://brilliant.org/ArtemKirsanov/ The first 200 of you will get 20% off Brilliant’s annual premium subscription.
My name is Artem, I’m a computational neuroscience student and researcher. In this video we discuss engrams – fundamental units of memory in the brain. We explore what engrams are, how memory is allocated, where it is stored, and how different memories become linked with each other.
OUTLINE: 00:00 — Introduction. 00:39 — Historical background. 01:44 — Fear conditioning paradigm. 03:38 — Immediate-early genes as memory markers. 08:13 — Engrams are necessary and sufficient for recall. 10:16 — Excitabiliy and memory allocation. 16:19 — Brain-wide engrams. 18:12 — Linking memories together. 24:20 — Summary. 25:33 — Brilliant. 27:09 — Outro.
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In laser-based manufacturing, accommodating non-flat, or changing surfaces has traditionally been labor-intensive, involving complex focus mapping procedures and or ex-situ characterization. This often results in repositioning errors and extended processing times.
To address these issues, ultra-high-speed auto-focusing in laser processing has been developed. Whereas most auto-focusing techniques still require the mechanical motion of a motorized stage. This mechanical movement in the beam propagation axis can be significantly slower than the lateral speed, slowing down the process of surface detection and re-alignment. Furthermore, it requires feedback, control, and sensing methods in order to determine the optical focal position.
In a new paper published in Light: Science & Applications, a team of researchers, led by Professor Craig B. Arnold from the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Princeton University, U.S., developed a fast method to simultaneously track the specific location of a surface and adjust the focus of an optical system. They employed axial varifocal optics, specifically a TAG lens, which operates at 0.1−1 MHz, bypassing delays from the mechanical motion in the beam propagation direction.
Humankind on the verge of evolutionary traps, a new study: …For the first time, scientists have used the concept of evolutionary traps on human societies at large.
For the first time, scientists have used the concept of evolutionary traps on human societies at large. They find that humankind risks getting stuck in 14 evolutionary dead ends, ranging from global climate tipping points to misaligned artificial intelligence, chemical pollution, and accelerating infectious diseases.
The evolution of humankind has been an extraordinary success story. But the Anthropocene—the proposed geological epoch shaped by us humans—is showing more and more cracks. Multiple global crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, food insecurity, financial crises, and conflicts have started to occur simultaneously in something which scientists refer to as a polycrisis.
Humans are incredibly creative as a species. We are able to innovate and adapt to many circumstances and can cooperate on surprisingly large scales. But these capabilities turn out to have unintentional consequences. Simply speaking, you could say that the human species has been too successful and, in some ways, too smart for its own future good, says Peter Søgaard Jørgensen, researcher at the Stockholm Resilience Center at Stockholm University and at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences’ Global Economic Dynamics and the Biosphere program and Anthropocene laboratory.
Google Maps is getting a few new updates, including a social feature that is designed to help people plan and collaborate with their friends. The navigation platform is also adding improved transit directions and emoji reactions.
The new social feature is designed to take planning out of your group chat and into Google Maps. The platform is updating its list feature to make it easier for people to share places, plan with friends and vote on group activities. With this new feature, you’ll be able to create a collaborative list to to start planning a hangout after you share a place in Maps with friends. Everyone in the group can add places they’re interested in visiting, and vote with an emoji, like a heart or a thumbs down.
The new research, part of the NIH BRAIN Initiative, paves the way toward treating, preventing, and curing brain disorders.
Salk Institute researchers, as part of a larger collaboration with research teams around the world, analyzed more than half a million brain cells from three human brains to assemble an atlas of hundreds of cell types that make up a human brain in unprecedented detail.
The research, published in a special issue of the journal Scienceon October 13, 2023, is the first time that techniques to identify brain cell subtypes originally developed and applied in mice have been applied to human brains.
Data from the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite was used to map surface heights of the planet’s oceans and freshwater lakes and rivers.
The hypothalamus (“hypo” meaning below, and “thalamus” meaning bed) consists of regulatory circuits that support basic life functions that ensure survival. Sitting at the interface between peripheral, environmental, and neural inputs, the hypothalamus integrates these sensory inputs to influence a range of physiologies and behaviors. Unlike the neocortex, in which a stereotyped cytoarchitecture mediates complex functions across a comparatively small number of neuronal fates, the hypothalamus comprises upwards of thousands of distinct cell types that form redundant yet functionally discrete circuits. With single-cell RNA sequencing studies revealing further cellular heterogeneity and modern photonic tools enabling high-resolution dissection of complex circuitry, a new era of hypothalamic mapping has begun. Here, we provide a general overview of mammalian hypothalamic organization, development, and connectivity to help welcome newcomers into this exciting field.
