Sending Mixed Signals

Deep-learning system detects human presence by harvesting RF signals
Feb 2020, phys.org

The presence of humans in a room or in other indoor environments can alter the propagation of RF signals in several ways. By pre-processing RF channel measurements, the researchers were able to create 'images' summarizing the signals, which could in turn be analyzed to detect the presence of humans in a given environment. 

They then trained a CNN on a large amount of data containing both magnitude and phase information, two key properties of RF signals. Over time, the deep learning algorithm learned to distinguish when an environment is populated by humans and when it is free from them by analyzing what is known as channel state information (CSI). 

"Exploiting the ubiquity of ambient RF signals such as WiFi, Bluetooth or cellular signals for situational awareness information provides added value to existing RF infrastructure," Chen said. "Occupancy detection, for example, is an application where RF sensing can be a low-cost and infrastructure-free alternative or complement to existing approaches."

When Biology Takes a Back Seat

Powerful antibiotic discovered using machine learning for first time
Feb 2020, The Guardian

The drug works in a different way to existing antibacterials and is the first of its kind to be found by setting AI loose on vast digital libraries of pharmaceutical compounds.
“In terms of antibiotic discovery, this is absolutely a first,” said Regina Barzilay, a senior researcher on the project and specialist in machine learning at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). 

“I think this is one of the more powerful antibiotics that has been discovered to date,” added James Collins, a bioengineer on the team at MIT. “It has remarkable activity against a broad range of antibiotic-resistant pathogens.” 

To find new antibiotics, the researchers first trained a “deep learning” algorithm to identify the sorts of molecules that kill bacteria. To do this, they fed the program information on the atomic and molecular features of nearly 2,500 drugs and natural compounds, and how well or not the substance blocked the growth of the bug E coli.
Once the algorithm had learned what molecular features made for good antibiotics, the scientists set it working on a library of more than 6,000 compounds under investigation for treating various human diseases. Rather than looking for any potential antimicrobials, the algorithm focused on compounds that looked effective but unlike existing antibiotics. This boosted the chances that the drugs would work in radical new ways that bugs had yet to develop resistance to. 

Jonathan Stokes, the first author of the study, said it took a matter of hours for the algorithm to assess the compounds and come up with some promising antibiotics. One, which the researchers named “halicin” after Hal, the astronaut-bothering AI in the film 2001: A Space Odyssey, looked particularly potent.

Reprogramming of immune system cures child with often-fatal fungal infection
June 2020, phys.org

"Immune modulation isn't currently part of the strategy with any of these severe infections," said Dr. Manish Butte, the report's senior author, who holds the E. Richard Stiehm Endowed Chair in Pediatric Allergy, Immunology and Rheumatology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. "Our case suggests that rather than hoping to get the upper hand with more and more antibiotics or antifungals, we can have some success by combining these established approaches with the new idea of programming the patient's immune response to better fight the infection."

Synthetic red blood cells mimic natural ones, and have new abilities
June 2020, phys.org

Bioengineers have made synthetic red blood cells that have all the same abilities of natural blood cells, and even a few more.

On a sidenote, I'm also thinking about the Impossible burger that uses synthetically produced hemoglobin. And on a supersidenote, that had me wondering what's worse, humans eating animals, or humans trying to avoid eating animals so they re-engineer a bacteria's genetic code so that it can make blood, and then take that blood and add it to a plant, so that we can eat plants that taste like meat. Like, bacteria didn't even bleed before we got involved, and now that they do, doesn't that mean we should stop eating them too?

Post Script on Biomimicry

A self-cleaning surface that repels even the deadliest superbugs
Dec 2019, phys.org

Researchers develop new method to remove dust on solar panels
Dec 2019, phys.org

Taking a cue from the self-cleaning properties of the lotus leaf, researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev have shed new light on microscopic forces and mechanisms that can be optimized to remove dust from solar panels to maintain efficiency and light absorption. The new technique removed 98 percent of dust particles.
In a new study published in Langmuir, the researchers confirmed that modifying the surface properties of solar panels may greatly reduce the amount of dust remaining on the surface, and significantly increase the potential of solar energy harvesting applications in the desert.
Particle removal increased from 41 percent on hydrophilic smooth Si wafers to 98 percent on superhydrophobic Si-based nanotextured surfaces.
"We determined that the reason for the increased particle removal is not low friction between the droplets and the superhydrophobic surfaces," Heckenthaler says. "Rather, it is the increase in the forces that can detach particles from the surfaces. The experimental methods we used and the criterion for particle removal we derived can be implemented to engineer self-cleaning surfaces exhibiting different chemistries and/or textures."

-image source: I really hate it when websites don't credit their artwork (almost as much as I hate the threeway image clusterfu**ing olympics performed by Google-Getty-Pinterest triangle). This image came from the site at this link, but they list no artist credits.

Thank You Japan

Blowing bubbles - Soapy spheres pop pollen on fruit trees
June 2020, BBC News

Just when you think we are doomed by the insectapocalypse and mass bee death in particular, Japanese researchers have succeeded in fertilising pear trees using pollen carried on the thin film of a soap bubble.

Post Script
Once in a while I run an image search for something I think is totally random and will return equally random results, like "bumblebee porn". Well I'm here to remind you that anything-porn is not random. You can type [anything] porn and get a relevant result.

In this case, bumblebee is a transformer (although I don't recall this character from the originals circa early 1980's), and maybe he got a movie made recently, so he takes over the top results. And yes he's a robot, and yes robophilia is a thing. And on that note, I must recall the artist of sexy robot fame, Hajime Sorayama (also Japanese, thanks again).

-image source: David Prutchi, Ultraviolet Vision

Mostly Fake

My limited coronavirus postings, which have nothing to do with coronavirus but everything to do with fake this and fake that:

WHO says fake coronavirus claims causing 'infodemic'
Feb 2020, BBC News

WHO says false information "spreading faster than the virus itself"

I mean, come on, it's immaterial; the noosphere knows not the limits of physical reality let alone biological contagion etc.

Scared and especially sick people are especially vulnerable to misinformation. Desperation will make you believe anything.

What's so bad about fake information?

Sure taking a handful of vitamin C isn't going to kill you, but drinking a glass of bleach might (sorry I drafted this before the thing happened). You never know which miracle cure is coming out of the bag. But what's also detrimental is that fake cures give people a fake sense of security, which is dangerous because when you think you're safe, you behave differently. You go out to the store, you don't wash your hands, you name it. And that makes you more likely to get sick, and more likely the virus will spread to others.

Those who spread misinformation aren't deliberately trying to hurt anyone, not necessarily. In fact, they don't even care about the virus. They just want to divert traffic, they want to snag all the clicks they can, and spinning the most popular thing at the moment is the best way to do that. Donald Trump is President? Donald Trump is an Alien! Banning Plastic Bags? Plastic Bags are made of Magical Alien Tongues! Got Problems? Doctors Hate Him!

alt article:
Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) Situation Report 13
Feb 2020, WHO

The 2019-nCoV outbreak and response has been accompanied by a massive ‘infodemic’ - an over-abundance of information – some accurate and some not – that makes it hard for people to find trustworthy sources and reliable guidance when they need it.

Organization is working 24 hours a day to identify the most prevalent rumours that can potentially harm the public’s health, such as false prevention measures or cures. These myths are then refuted with evidence-based information. WHO is making public health information and advice on the 2019-nCoV, including myth busters, available on its social media channels and website.

Coronavirus - The seven types of people who start and spread viral misinformation
May 2020, BBC News

Great simple shortlist of the generators of fake news:

• The Joker - just kidding though
• The Scammer - everything can be commodified, including your gullability
• The Politician - also a business relationship
• Conspiracy Theorist - somewhere between entrepreneur, psychotic, teacher, preacher and scientist
• The Insider - likely a conspiracy theorist, and lying about their insider status
• Relatives - alarming things make people worry, and then they tell those they care about, including you
• Celebrities - they have huge platforms

Coronavirus - Far-right spreads Covid-19 'infodemic' on Facebook
May 2020, BBC News

It was "coordinated" now its "covert"; just keeping track:
The Epoch Times.com, a news site whose advertising was banned by Facebook, and which was accused of covert inauthentic activity by both Facebook and Twitter last year, received more than 48 million interactions

(Coronoavirus) Research links personality traits to toilet paper stockpiling
June 2020, phys.org

The most robust predictor of toilet paper stockpiling was the perceived threat posed by the pandemic; people who felt more threatened tended to stockpile more toilet paper. Partly, this effect was based on the personality factor of emotionality—people who generally tend to worry a lot and feel anxious are more likely to feel threatened and stockpile toilet paper.

The personality domain of conscientiousness—which includes traits of organization, diligence, perfectionism and prudence—was also a predictor of stockpiling (p = .048).

Other observations were that older people stockpiled more toilet paper than younger people and that Americans stockpiled more than Europeans.

The researchers pointed out that the variables studied explained only 12% of the variability in toilet paper stockpiling, which suggests that some psychological explanations and situational factors likely remain unaccounted for.

-image source: Nature

Post Script
Coronavirus - Already in Italy by December, waste water study finds
June 2020, BBC News

Municipal sewage screening - add big data to that and you've got a nice social monitoring system for drug use, hormone changes, diet phases, you name it. The data's been there the whole time.

Eternal Life

Mummy returns: Voice of 3,000-year-old Egyptian priest brought to life
Jan 2020, BBC News

3D-printed voice box based on Nesyamun's vocal tract, which was scanned to establish its precise dimensions.

By using the vocal tract with an artificial larynx sound, they synthesised a vowel sound meant to be similar to the voice of Nesyamun.

At least the voice box is now taken care of; maybe we can't upload the whole brain yet, but we're getting there.

Diluting blood plasma rejuvenates tissue, reverses aging in mice
June 2020, phys.org

Also, the fountain of youth is real.

-image source: Scientific American


-image source: Lucas Cranach the Elder - The Fountain of Youth - 1546 - oil on lime

Anthroids

Researchers create three-dimensional organoid models of human forebrain
Jan 2020, phys.org

For the same reason a true robotic nose will not exist, these organoids will not be conscious. Consciousness requires a whole body, not just a brain.

image source: Smithsonian

I'm the Computer Now

Wave physics as an analog recurrent neural network
Jan 2020, phys.org

This story is the craziest thing I've ever heard -- mind-numbing omnipotent future-speak. Computing with physical wave media in virtual dimensions? I'm in.

The electronic engineering department at Stanford "trained" physical wave systems to "learn" temporal data features.

If you see the word "train" these days you can bet they're talking about deep learning / neural networks. Usually, the way you train a network is to let it watch thousands and thousands of hours of youtube videos. Or any other data set you have available. (The Alcohol Language Corpus of drunk speech, perhaps?)

The network itself learns certain things about all the data you give it, and it assembles itself, arranges itself, to be able to detect those features in other images, let's say. Or you could have it learn what a "Vietnamese sandwich" is, and then synthesize Vietnamese sandwich versions of other sandwiches. Or you could have it show you the eignevector, the essence of a Vietnamese sandwich. (Spoiler, the essence of youtube is the face of a cat. That's what the network learned most by watching a several lifetime's worth of internet-video).

How is eigencat not a thing? Try that search for yourself, "youtube eigencat"

But these guys are talking about teaching not a network, but a wave of air. Not only is it not alive, it's not even a computer! Then again, the waves are the computer:

As proof of principle, they demonstrated an inverse-designed, inhomogeneous medium to perform English vowel classification based on raw audio signals as their waveforms scattered and propagated through it.
-source

You read that correctly. There are no circuits, no electricity. The physical system itself performs a recurrent processing dynamic, based on the way the waves move through space.

It's the new thing, analog machine learning.

Check out this old news on computers made of other stuff that's not computers, like the Magic Dust Supercomputer, Slime Mold Computer, Crystal Calculators, and of course, the DNA computer.

Growing crystals to generate random numbers
Feb 2020, phys.org

Generating random numbers has always been a tricky problem for computer engineers because computers were designed to be as predictable as possible. 

One of the more pressing applications of random number generation is data encryption—most existing schemes rely on the constant generation of random numbers. 

The process of crystallization is random due to many factors that come into play as chemicals in a liquid solution evolve from a disordered state to one that is very organized. 

A camera took a picture of each of the cups as crystal formation began. Each of the pictures was converted to a zero or a one based on nothing but the geography of the crystal. The zeros and ones were then strung together to form a random number.

New study allows brain and artificial neurons to link up over the web
Mar 2020, phys.org

Novel Nanoelectronics has enabled brain neurons and artificial neurons to communicate with each other using brain-computer interfaces, artificial neural networks and advanced memory technologies (also known as memristors).

Cultivated lab rat neurons from Padova were distributed into memristive synapses in Southampton, and then connected to artificial silicon neurons in Zurich. 
-Alexantrou Serb et al. Memristive synapses connect brain and silicon spiking neurons, Scientific Reports (2020). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-58831-9

Advanced 'super-planckian' material exhibits LED-like light when heated
Mar 2020, phys.org

"We believe the light is coming from within the crystal, but there are so many planes within the structure, so many surfaces acting as oscillators, so much excitation, that it behaves almost like an artificial laser material," Lin said. "It's just not a conventional surface."

The robot that grips without touching
Jan 2020, phys.org

Acoustic waves -- method that makes it possible to lift and manipulate small objects entirely without touching them.

Chilling out - Physicists create exotic “fifth form of matter” on board the ISS
June 2020, Ars Technica

Algorithm quickly simulates a roll of loaded dice
May 2020, phys.org

Random number generation:

The algorithm, called the Fast Loaded Dice Roller (FLDR), was created by MIT graduate students and research scientists. 

FLDR can use up to 10,000 times less memory storage space than the Knuth-Yao approach, while taking no more than 1.5 times longer per operation.

Growing crystals to generate random numbers
Feb 2020, phys.org