I.B.M. Announces Brainy Computer Chip – NYTimes.com
Since the early days in the 1940s, computers have routinely been described as “brains” — giant brains or mathematical brains or electronic brains. Scientists and engineers often cringed at the distorting simplification, but the popular label stuck.
Wait long enough, it seems, and science catches up with the metaphor. The field of “cognitive computing” is making enough progress that the brain analogy is becoming more apt. I.B.M. researchers are announcing... (View original article)
The Secret of the Fibonacci Sequence in Trees
"I am the Lorax. I speak for the trees. I speak for the trees for they have no tongues."
—Dr. Seuss (The Lorax)
People see winter as a cold and gloomy time in nature. The days are short. Snow blankets the ground. Lakes and ponds freeze, and animals scurry to burrows to wait for spring. The rainbow of red, yellow and orange
autumn leaves has been blown away by the wind turning trees into black skeletons that stretch bony fingers of branches into the sky. It s... (View original article)
Cornell Chronicle: Sounds of fire and impact
Aug. 8, 2011
Computers synthesize sounds -- from fire to frictional contact -- to go with graphics
Provided/Doug JamesRapid movement of heated gases generates high-frequency sounds that are an important part of the sound of fire, but computer-generated images don't simulate those details. Cornell researchers synthesize low-frequency sounds to match the graphics, then map in the highs based on the sounds of real fire.Provided/Doug JamesPound your fist on a table and the noise will include cha... (View original article)
Earth May Have Had Two Moons : Discovery News
A new hypothesis claims the Earth may once have had two moons, which eventually crashed together forming our current celestial partner.
This new idea, reported in the journal Nature, could explain a long standing puzzle about the differences between the near and far sides of the lunar surface.
The near side is relatively low and flat with many large dark basalt mare, while the far side is high and mountainous, with thicker crust.
The work, based on computer simulati... (View original article)
Looking Back: The Top Ten Physics Newsmakers of the Decade
January 1st brought not only a new year but an entire new decade. Usually in this issue, APS News looks back over the biggest news stories of the last 12 months. However, with the dawning of a new decade we wanted to take time this issue and highlight not just the biggest physics newsmakers of 2009, but the biggest physics newsmakers of the last ten years. These are the stories that may or may not have the most lasting physical significance, and may or may not have had the most impact within... (View original article)