(Fig.1. Neuron connections in biological neural networks. Source: MIPT press office)
Physicists build “electronic synapses” for neural networks
A team of scientists from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology(MIPT) have created prototypes of “electronic synapses” based on ultra-thin films of hafnium oxide (HfO2). These prototypes could potentially be used in fundamentally new computing systems. The paper has been published in the journal Nanoscale Research Letters.
The group of researchers from MIPT have made HfO2-based memristors measuring just 40x40 nm2. The nanostructures they built exhibit properties similar to biological synapses. Using newly developed technology, the memristors were integrated in matrices: in the future this technology may be used to design computers that function similar to biological neural networks.
Memristors (resistors with memory) are devices that are able to change their state (conductivity) depending on the charge passing through them, and they therefore have a memory of their “history”. In this study, the scientists used devices based on thin-film hafnium oxide, a material that is already used in the production of modern processors. This means that this new lab technology could, if required, easily be used in industrial processes.
“In a simpler version, memristors are promising binary non-volatile memory cells, in which information is written by switching the electric resistance – from high to low and back again. What we are trying to demonstrate are much more complex functions of memristors – that they behave similar to biological synapses,” said Yury Matveyev, the corresponding author of the paper, and senior researcher of MIPT’s Laboratory of Functional Materials and Devices for Nanoelectronics, commenting on the study.
Synapses – the key to learning and memory
A synapse is point of connection between neurons, the main function of which is to transmit a signal (a spike – a particular type of signal, see fig. 2) from one neuron to another. Each neuron may have thousands of synapses, i.e. connect with a large number of other neurons. This means that information can be processed in parallel, rather than sequentially (as in modern computers). This is the reason why “living” neural networks are so immensely effective both in terms of speed and energy consumption in solving large range of tasks, such as image / voice recognition, etc.
(Fig.2 The type of electrical signal transmitted by neurons (a “spike”). The red lines are various other biological signals, the black line is the averaged signal. Source: MIPT press office)
Over time, synapses may change their “weight”, i.e. their ability to transmit a signal. This property is believed to be the key to understanding the learning and memory functions of thebrain.
From the physical point of view, synaptic “memory” and “learning” in the brain can be interpreted as follows: the neural connection possesses a certain “conductivity”, which is determined by the previous “history” of signals that have passed through the connection. If a synapse transmits a signal from one neuron to another, we can say that it has high “conductivity”, and if it does not, we say it has low “conductivity”. However, synapses do not simply function in on/off mode; they can have any intermediate “weight” (intermediate conductivity value). Accordingly, if we want to simulate them using certain devices, these devices will also have to have analogous characteristics.
The memristor as an analogue of the synapse
As in a biological synapse, the value of the electrical conductivity of a memristor is the result of its previous “life” – from the moment it was made.
There is a number of physical effects that can be exploited to design memristors. In this study, the authors used devices based on ultrathin-film hafnium oxide, which exhibit the effect of soft (reversible) electrical breakdown under an applied external electric field. Most often, these devices use only two different states encoding logic zero and one. However, in order to simulate biological synapses, a continuous spectrum of conductivities had to be used in the devices.
“The detailed physical mechanism behind the function of the memristors in question is still debated. However, the qualitative model is as follows: in the metal–ultrathin oxide–metal structure, charged point defects, such as vacancies of oxygen atoms, are formed and move around in the oxide layer when exposed to an electric field. It is these defects that are responsible for the reversible change in the conductivity of the oxide layer,” says the co-author of the paper and researcher of MIPT’s Laboratory of Functional Materials and Devices for Nanoelectronics, Sergey Zakharchenko.
The authors used the newly developed “analogue” memristors to model various learning mechanisms (“plasticity”) of biological synapses. In particular, this involved functions such as long-term potentiation (LTP) or long-term depression (LTD) of a connection between two neurons. It is generally accepted that these functions are the underlying mechanisms of memory in the brain.
The authors also succeeded in demonstrating a more complex mechanism – spike-timing-dependent plasticity, i.e. the dependence of the value of the connection between neurons on the relative time taken for them to be “triggered”. It had previously been shown that this mechanism is responsible for associative learning – the ability of the brain to find connections between different events.
To demonstrate this function in their memristor devices, the authors purposefully used an electric signal which reproduced, as far as possible, the signals in living neurons, and they obtained a dependency very similar to those observed in living synapses (see fig. 3).
(Fig.3. The change in conductivity of memristors depending on the temporal separation between “spikes”(rigth) and the change in potential of the neuron connections in biological neural networks. Source: MIPT press office)
These results allowed the authors to confirm that the elements that they had developed could be considered a prototype of the “electronic synapse”, which could be used as a basis for the hardware implementation of artificial neural networks.
“We have created a baseline matrix of nanoscale memristors demonstrating the properties of biological synapses. Thanks to this research, we are now one step closer to building an artificial neural network. It may only be the very simplest of networks, but it is nevertheless a hardware prototype,” said the head of MIPT’s Laboratory of Functional Materials and Devices for Nanoelectronics, Andrey Zenkevich.
James Cook, with Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander landed at Kurnell in the afternoon of April 29th 1770, in search of fresh water. In the next few days, excursions around the bay were undertaken and samples of native flora collected, which proved so plentiful that Cook named the area Botany Bay.
The State Library of New South Wales holds many items relating to this voyage of the Endeavour, including Joseph Banks Journal and a copy of James Cook’s Endeavour log.
Portrait of Captain James Cook / painted by Sir Nathaniel Dance. Engraved by Cosmo Armstrong. State Library of New South Wales.
A Journal of the proceedings of His Majesty’s Bark Endeavour on a voyage round the world, by Lieutenant James Cook, Commander, commencing the 25th of May 1768 - 23 Oct. 1770 - Entrance of Endeavour River and Botany Bay Maps
At first glance, steak, French fries, bread, milk caramel, and soy sauce don’t have very many similarities. However, the preparation of these foods all have one thing in common: browning that occurs via the Maillard (my-YAR) reaction.
The Maillard reaction was first discovered in 1912 by Louis-Camille Maillard, and refers to a long chain of reactions that ultimately leads to browning of food. This chain typically begins with the condensation of an amine (often the amino acid lysine) with a reducing sugar (containing an aldehyde); one example of this Amadori rearrangement is shown above with lysine and glucose.
This Amadori product can react in a variety of different ways, including dehydration and deamination to produce a diverse array of molecules that give browned food a distinctive flavor; a few of these compounds are shown above. At the end of the sequence of reactions that occur during browning is a class of polymeric compounds known as melanoidins, which lend a brown color to the food.
Below about 140°C (280°F), the Maillard reaction does not proceed at an appreciable rate, although alkaline conditions (such as the lye used to make pretzels) can accelerate the process. Without this reaction, many foods we enjoy now wouldn’t be nearly as tasty!
Further Reading: Hodge, J. E., J. Agric. Food Chem. 1953, 1 (15), 928-943 (Full text)
And that means it is the perfect time of year to show some love to your local (and not local) Libraries, both in person and online. So, just as we took time to make a special post on Follow a Library Day last year, we’ve created ANOTHER master post to honor all the libraries we know so far on tumblr so that you can #followalibrary!!
Check out their tumblrs below and show them some love, bookworms! (Alphabetical by url)
@alachualibrary (The Alachua County Library District)
@alt-library (By Sacramento Public Library)
@aplibrary (Abilene Public Library)
@austinpubliclibrary (Austin Public Library)
@badgerslrc (The Klamath Community College’s Learning Research Center)
@bflteens (Baker Free Library’s Tumblr For Teens)
@bibliosanvalentino (Biblioteca San Valentino [San Valentino Library])
@biodivlibrary (Biodiversity Heritage Library)
@bodleianlibs (Bodleian Libraries)
@boonelibrary (Boone County Public Library)
@brkteenlib (Brookline Public Library Teen Services Department)
@californiastatelibrary (California State Library)
@cheshirelibrary (Cheshire Public Library)
@cityoflondonlibraries (City of London Libraries)
@cmclibraryteen (Cape May County Library’s Teen Services)
@cobblibrary (Cobb County Public Library System)
@cpl-archives (Cleveland Public Library Archives)
@cplsteens (Clearwater Public Library Teens)
@darienlibrary (Darien Library)
@dcpubliclibrary (DC Public Library)
@decaturpubliclibrary (Decatur Public Library)
@delawarelibrary (Delaware County District Library)
@detroitlib (Detroit Public Library Music, Arts & Literature Department)
@douglaslibraryteens (Douglas Library For Teens)
@dplteens (Danville Public Library Teens)
@escondidolibrary (Escondido Public Library)
@fontanalib (Fontana Regional Library)
@fppld-teens (Franklin Park Library Teens)
@friscolibrary (Frisco Public Library)
@gastonlibrary (Gaston County Public Library)
@glendaleteenlibrary (Glendale Public Library Teens)
@hpldreads (Havana Public Library District)
@hpl-teens (Homewood Public Library For Teens)
@kingsbridgelibraryteens (Kingsbridge Library Teens Advisory Group)
@lanelibteens (Lane Memorial Library Teen Services)
@lawrencepubliclibrary (Lawrence Public Library)
@marioncolibraries (Marion County Public Library System)
@mrcplteens (Mansfield/Richland County Public Library Teen Zone)
@myrichlandlibrary (Mansfield/Richland County Public Library)
@necclibrary (Northern Essex Community College Libraries)
@novipubliclibrary (Novi Public Library)
@nplteens (Nashua Public Library Teens)
@orangecountylibrarysystem (Orange County Library System)
@othmeralia (Othmer Library of Chemical History)
@petit-branch-library (Petit Branch Library)
@pflibteens (Pflugerville Public Library Teenspace)
@plainfieldlibrary (Plainfield Public Library District)
@royhartlibrary (RoyHart Community Library)
@safetyharborpubliclibrary (Safety Harbor Library Teen Zone)
@santamonicalibr (Santa Monica Public Library)
@schlowlibrary (Schlow Centre Region Library)
@smithsonianlibraries (Museum Library System)
@smlibrary (Sheppard Memorial Library)
@southeastlibrary (Southeast Branch Library)
@tampabaylibraryconsortium-blog (Tampa Bay Library Consortium)
@teenbookerie (Erie County Public Library For Teens)
@teencenterspl (The Smith Public Library Teen Center)
@teensfvrl (Fraser Valley Regional Library)
@teen-stuff-at-the-library (White Oak Library District)
@therealpasadenapubliclibrary (Pasadena Public Library)
@ucflibrary (University of Central Florida Library)
@uwmspeccoll (University of Wisconsin Milwaukee Libraries Special Collections)
@vculibraries (Virginia Commonwealth University Libraries)
@waynecountyteenzone (Wayne County Public Library’s Teen Space)
@wellingtoncitylibraries (Wellington City Libraries)
@widenerlibrary (Harvard’s Widener Library)
Whew! There’s a LOT of you. :) But we now this list is just getting started! Feel free to keep the library love going by adding any libraries we missed/don’t know of yet! (And if you’re not following US already, well, what better time to start than this week? ;) Eh? Eh?) And, of course, never hesitate to visit your Library in person. We love seeing you! :)
Happy National Library Week, library cats!
Nyeleti Nokwazi Nkwinika was a year into her Master’s dissertation in English, and she was struggling. This has nothing to do with her work ethic: the problem lay with her hearing. Nyeleti was born deaf and like many others in her situation, she battles with written language.
Most deaf people are born into hearing families who don’t have any skills in Sign Language. In Nyeleti’s case, she only learned to use South African Sign Language fluently at school. When she got to high school she attended a mainstream hearing school with several other top performing deaf pupils from her previous school.
By then, she had missed out on too many years of access to English. South African Sign Language and English are differently structured. This can make it hard to learn for deaf people who’ve only ever used sign language to communicate. It’s also very difficult to learn written English when one has never heard the language or used it for conversational purposes.
In 1968, Reiko Weston opened her new Fuji-Ya restaurant built atop the limestone foundation of a 19th-century flour mill overlooking the Mississippi River and the Stone Arch Bridge. The original Fuji-Ya restaurant operated near 8th St. and LaSalle beginning almost a decade earlier, in 1959, and served fine Japanese food including Charcoal-Broiled Teri-Yaki dinners, seafood dishes, soups, rice plates, and more. Fuji-Ya translates to “second to none” and the new restaurant offered a dining experience like no other in the Twin Cities.
Weston’s restaurant business expanded over the years with Taiga, a Chinese Szechwan restaurant in St. Anthony Main, and The Fuji International in Cedar-Riverside neighborhood, which featured Korean, Chinese, and East Indian food in addition to Japanese food. Her restaurants received numerous awards and Weston herself was named Minnesota Small Business Person of the Year in 1979.
After Reiko Weston passed away in 1988, her daughter Carol stepped in to manage. But in 1990, the City of Minneapolis bought out the historic restaurant in order to make way for the newly designed parkway. About a decade later, Fuji Ya was brought to life again in Uptown in the trendy Lyn-Lake area, where it remains today.
Recently, Fuji-Ya has gained renewed attention as the Park Board makes plans for a $12 million riverfront refresh. Plans include the teardown of the old Fuji-Ya building, expansion of green space, improved pedestrian crossings, and the addition of a new riverfront restaurant. It was announced last week that Sioux Chef owners Sean Sherman and Dana Thompson will open Owamni: An Indigenous Kitchen on the site.
Menu from the original Fuji-Ya restaurant at 814 LaSalle Ave. from the Minneapolis History Collection Menu Collection. Photos from the Star Tribune Photograph Collection at the James K. Hosmer Special Collections, Hennepin County Library.
Plantigrade vs. Digitigrade Carnivores - the Polar Bear and the African Lion
The foot structure of many animals plays a critical role in their locomotion and environmental niche, and in carnivores, the clear distinction between plantigrade (walking with the podials and metatarsals both flat on the ground) and digitigrade (walking on the toes, with the heel and wrist permanently raised) animals is most evident.
In plantigrade beasts - which include humans, many rodents, bears, racoons, and opossums - the larger surface area that the many bones provide can act as both a stabilizer and a very effective bearer of great weights. In fact, the big ol’ flighted dinosaurs were plantigrade. At the same time, so were the first (and relatively small) mammals, since both of them needed lots of stability in their feet. The weight-bearing ability and stable platform comes at the cost of speed, as the energy and requirements for movement of so many bones and muscles is much greater than digitigrade feet or unguligrade feet.
Digitigrade animals walk on only their toes, leaving their wrists and ankles permanently raised. This affords more speed, much more silent movement. Cats, birds, and dogs are digitigrade. Digitigrade feet evolved long after plantigrade feet, to fit the niche of mid-sized carnivores. However, they cannot effectively sustain large loads, which is why you cannot use a lion as a pack mule. Well, among other reasons. Really, you just don’t want to try using any mid-sized (or large, in the lion’s case) carnivore as a pack mule.
On the Anatomy of Vertebrates. Richard Owen, 1866.
Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (C14H9Cl5), more commonly known as DDT, is a colourless, tasteless solid under room conditions. It was used as an insecticide during the 1940s-1970s, and gained notoriety after Rachel Carson’s 1962 book, Silent Spring, which highlighted the health and environmental effects of DDT.
DDT acts by binding to voltage-gated sodium ion channels of neurons (as seen on the left of the diagram below), causing these channels to be permanently open instead of opening only upon the arrival of an action potential. Consequently, there is a continuous influx of Na+ ions into the neuron, which triggers a series of rapid action potentials and hence neuronal impulses. This leads to rapid muscle contractions, spasms, and death.
While this effect does not occur in humans and other non-insects, it is still moderately toxic, and as been shown to be an endocrine disruptor. Therefore, chronic exposure to it can lead to tumour formation, developmental problems, and birth defects. DDT is also considered to be a possible carcinogen.
Due to the hydrophobicity of DDT, it tends to accumulate in the lipids of living organisms rather than in the environment. This results in biomagnification, in which its concentration increases upon going up the food chain, as each organism of a rung of the chain consumes multiple prey. Consequently, the usage of DDT affected the populations of many birds of prey, such as the bald eagle.
In 1962, Rachel Carson published the book Silent Spring, which highlighted the negative effects of the usage of DDT and other pesticides on the environment and biodiversity. This book was revolutionary; it sparked a heated debate on pesticides and contributed to the 1972 US ban on DDT. The world followed suit; most countries around the world now prohibit the use of DDT, except for limited disease vector control purposes, such as for malaria.
DDT is synthesised by the condensation of a molecule of chloral and 2 molecules of chlorobenzene via an electrophilic substitution reaction, producing water as a by-product.
*UPDATED* Here is a masterpost of MOOCs (massive open online courses) that are available, archived, or starting soon. Some are short, some are very interactive, some are very in-depth. I think they will help those that like to learn with a teacher or with videos. I checked each link to make sure they are functioning.
Beginner
AP Spanish Language & Culture
Basic Spanish for English Speakers
Beginner’s Spanish:Food & Drink
Fastbreak Spanish
How to Self-Study Spanish
Preparing for the AP Spanish Exam
Spanish for Beginners
Intermediate
Spanish:Ciudades con Historia
Spanish:Espacios Públicos
Advanced
Corrección, Estilo y Variaciones
La Innovación Social (Check under Translation)
Leer a Macondo (Taught in Spanish)
Spanish:Con Mis Propias Manos
Spanish: Perspectivas Porteñas
Reading Spanish Literature
Beginner
AP French Language and Culture
Basic French Skills
Beginner’s French: Food & Drink
Diploma in French
Elementary French I
Elementary French II
Français Interactif
French in Action
French Language Studies I
French Language Studies II
French Language Studies III
French:Ouverture
French Through Stories and Conversation
Improving Your French
Mastering French Grammar and Vocab
Intermediate
French: Le Quatorze Juillet
Passe Partout
Advanced
Fantasy, de l'Angleterre Victorienne au Trône de fer
La Cité des Sciences et de Industrie
Les Chansons des Troubadours
Reading French Literature
Brazilian Portuguese for Beginners
Curso de Português para Estrangeiros
Beginner
Beginner’s Italian: Food & Drink
Beginner Italian I
Introduction to Italian
Oggi e Domani
Survive Italy Without Being Fluent
Intermediate
Intermediate Italian I
Advanced
Advanced Italian I
Italian Literature
Italian Novel of the Twentieth Century
L'innovazione Sociale (Check language under translation)
Reading Italian Literature
Intro to Catalan Sign Language
Latin I (Taught in Italian)
Beginner
Basics of Russian
Easy Accelerated Learning for Russian
Russian Alphabet
Russian Essentials
Russian for Beginners
Russian Level I
Russian Phonetics and Pronunciation
Reading and Writing Russian
Travel Russian
Advanced
Business Russian (must register)
Let Us Speak Russian (must register)
Reading Master and Margarita
Russian as an Instrument of Communication
Siberia: Russian for Foreigners
Read Ukrainian
Ukrainian Language for Beginners
A1-B2 Kazakh (Taught in Russian)
Beginner
Basic Chinese
Basic Mandarin Chinese I
Basic Mandarin Chinese II
Beginner’s Chinese
Chinese for Beginners
Chinese Characters
Chinese for Travelers
Chinese is Easy
Chinese Made Easy
Easy Mandarin
First Year Chinese I
First Year Chinese II
Learn Oral Chinese
Mandarin Chinese I
Start Talking Mandarin Chinese
UT Gateway to Chinese
Intermediate
Intermediate Business Chinese
Intermediate Chinese
Intermediate Chinese Grammar
Beginner’s Conversational Japanese
Genki
Japanese JOSHU
Learn 80 JLPT N5 Kanji I
Learn 80 JLPT N5 Kanji II
Learn 80 JLPT N5 Kanji III
Learn 80 JLPT N5 Kanji IV
Beginner
First Step Korean
How to Study Korean
Pathway to Spoken Korean
Intermediate
Intermediate Korean
Introduction to Dutch
Beginner
Basic German
Basic Language Skills
Beginner’s German: Food & Drink
Conversational German I
Conversational German II
Conversational German III
Conversational German IV
Deutsch im Blick
Diploma in German
German A1 Grammar
German Alphabet
German Modal Verbs
Present Tense German
Rundblick-Beginner’s German
Study German Language from Native Speakers
Advanced
German:Regionen Traditionen und Geschichte
Landschaftliche Vielfalt
Reading German Literature
Learn The Norwegian Language
Norwegian on the Web
Intro to Swedish
A Taste of Finnish
Basic Finnish
Finnish for Immigrants
Finnish for Medical Professionals
Introduction to Frisian (Taught in Dutch)
Icelandic 1-5
Arabic for Global Exchange (in the drop down menu)
Arabic Language for Beginners
Arabic Without Walls
Conversational Arabic Made Easy
Intro to Arabic
Lebanese Arabic
Madinah Arabic
Moroccan Arabic
Read Arabic
Hebrew Alphabet Crashcourse
Know the Hebrew Alphabet
A Door into Hindi
Business Hindi
Virtual Hindi
Learn Indonesian
Beginner’s Conversation and Grammar
Beginner’s Welsh
Discovering Wales
Introduction to Irish
http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/global-studies-and-languages/ : MIT’s open courseware site has assignments and course material available.
I’ll keep an eye out for new courses and if you know of any, let me know so I can update this list.
On October 14, 1947, Captain Charles “Chuck” Yeager became the first human to break the sound barrier during powered level flight while flying the experimental Bell X-1 aircraft.
File Unit: X-1 Photographs, 12/11/1946 - 10/21/1947. Series: Flight Test Project Files, ca. 1945 - ca. 1959. Record Group 255: Records of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 1903 - 2006 .
Photograph of Captain Charles E. Yeager, 5/1948
Read Chuck Yeager’s notes from the moment that he broke the sound barrier:
“The needle of the machmeter fluctuated at this reading momentarily, then passed off the scale. Assuming that the off scale reading remained linear, it is estimated that 1.05 Mach i was attained at this time.”
Pilot’s Notes from the Ninth Powered Flight of the XS-1 (First supersonic flight)
Read more Pilot’s notes from these test flights in the X-1 Correspondence file in the National Archives catalog.
Pacific Lamprey (Entosphenus tridentatus)
Lampreys in their mature stage are parasites, latching onto other fish with their suction cup like mouths. Keratinised teeth rasp away their host’s skin, as the lamprey releases anticoagulants to ensure a steady supply of blood. Many victims die of infections or blood loss.
Dave Herasimtschuk and Jeremy Monroe
A reblog of nerdy and quirky stuff that pique my interest.
291 posts