Energy
Neural computation from first principles: Using the maximum entropy method to obtain an optimal bits-per-joule neuron
Levy, William B, Berger, Toby, Sungkar, Mustafa
Optimization results are one method for understanding neural computation from Nature's perspective and for defining the physical limits on neuron-like engineering. Earlier work looks at individual properties or performance criteria and occasionally a combination of two, such as energy and information. Here we make use of Jaynes' maximum entropy method and combine a larger set of constraints, possibly dimensionally distinct, each expressible as an expectation. The method identifies a likelihood-function and a sufficient statistic arising from each such optimization. This likelihood is a first-hitting time distribution in the exponential class. Particular constraint sets are identified that, from an optimal inference perspective, justify earlier neurocomputational models. Interactions between constraints, mediated through the inferred likelihood, restrict constraint-set parameterizations, e.g., the energy-budget limits estimation performance which, in turn, matches an axonal communication constraint. Such linkages are, for biologists, experimental predictions of the method. In addition to the related likelihood, at least one type of constraint set implies marginal distributions, and in this case, a Shannon bits/joule statement arises.
Google just used machine learning to find the first solar system like our own
For the first time, another solar system has been found in our galaxy with eight planets, just like our own – and it was Google's artificial intelligence that found it. Using machine learning and neural networks to achieve something humans could not, weak signal data from NASA's Kepler space telescope was scrutinized using Google machine learning technology to make the discovery. The discovery of an eighth planet circling the distant star Kepler-90 system – which lies 2,545 light years away in the constellation of Draco in the northern sky – marks the first time that another solar system has been found with the same number of planets as our own. Kepler-90i is a hot, rocky planet orbiting its star once every 14.4 days, and it was found by University of Texas at Austin astronomer Andrew Vanderburg and Christopher Shallue, a senior software engineer at Google AI in Mountain View, California. They did it by using a computer that'learned' to find planets in data from NASA's Kepler space telescope.
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Unlike task-specific algorithms, Deep Learning is a part of Machine Learning family based on learning data representations. With massive amounts of computational power, machines can now recognize objects and translate speech in real time, enabling a smart Artificial intelligence in systems. The concept of a software simulating the neocortex's large array of neurons in an artificial neural network is decades old, and it has led to as many disappointments as breakthroughs. But because of improvements in mathematical formulas and increasingly powerful computers, today researchers & data scientists can model many more layers of virtual neurons than ever before. Languishing through the 1970's, early neural networks could simulate only a very limited number of neurons at once, so they could not recognize patterns of great complexity.
Concept images reveal the world's first floating nation
Stunning concept images for the world's first first floating nation have been released as part of a project bankrolled by PayPal founder Peter Thiel. The plans will see the seabound city-state, complete with a handful of hotels, homes, offices, restaurants and more, built in the Pacific Ocean off the island of Tahiti in 2020. Now, a series of computer generated graphics reveal how it might look once complete, with a design that blends futuristic technology with Polynesian traditions. Stunning concept images for the world's first first floating nation have been released as part of a project bankrolled by PayPal founder Peter Thiel. Floating islands would feature aquaculture farms, healthcare, medical research facilities, and sustainable energy powerhouses.
Artificial intelligence helps accelerate progress toward efficient fusion reactions
Before scientists can effectively capture and deploy fusion energy, they must learn to predict major disruptions that can halt fusion reactions and damage the walls of doughnut-shaped fusion devices called tokamaks. Timely prediction of disruptions, the sudden loss of control of the hot, charged plasma that fuels the reactions, will be vital to triggering steps to avoid or mitigate such large-scale events. Today, researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) and Princeton University are employing artificial intelligence to improve predictive capability. Researchers led by William Tang, a PPPL physicist and a lecturer with the rank of professor in astrophysical sciences at Princeton, are developing the code for predictions for ITER, the international experiment under construction in France to demonstrate the practicality of fusion energy. The new predictive software, called the Fusion Recurrent Neural Network (FRNN) code, is a form of "deep learning" -- a newer and more powerful version of modern machine learning software, an application of artificial intelligence.
Microsoft AI helping Indian farmers increase crop yields
NEW DELHI: New technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Cloud Machine Learning, Satellite Imagery and advanced analytics are empowering small-holder farmers in India to increase their income through higher crop yield and greater price control, Microsoft India said. In a few dozen villages in Telengana, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, farmers are receiving automated voice calls that tell them whether their cotton crops are at risk of a pest attack, based on weather conditions and crop stage. In Karnataka, the government can get price forecasts for essential commodities such as tur (split red gram) three months in advance for planning the Minimum Support Price (MSP). "Sowing date as such is very critical to ensure that farmers harvest a good crop. And if it fails, it results in loss as a lot of costs are incurred for seeds, as well as the fertilizer applications," Suhas P. Wani, Director, Asia Region, of the International Crop Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), said in a Microsoft blog post.
Cleantech in the News: Scraping and Analysis of Online Articles
He enrolled in the NYC Data Science Academy 17-week remote bootcamp program, taking place from January to April 2017. This post is based on his third class project focusing on web scraping in Python. The original article can be found here. Clean technology continues to undergo significant advancements spanning technology, sustainability, financial, and policy issues. Given the field's large scope, there is no shortage of news outlets covering the action.
Microsoft Artificial Intelligence helping Indian farmers increase crop yields
New technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Cloud Machine Learning, Satellite Imagery and advanced analytics are empowering small-holder farmers in India to increase their income through higher crop yield and greater price control, Microsoft India said. In a few dozen villages in Telengana, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, farmers are receiving automated voice calls that tell them whether their cotton crops are at risk of a pest attack, based on weather conditions and crop stage. In Karnataka, the government can get price forecasts for essential commodities such as tur (split red gram) three months in advance for planning the Minimum Support Price (MSP). "Sowing date as such is very critical to ensure that farmers harvest a good crop. And if it fails, it results in loss as a lot of costs are incurred for seeds, as well as the fertilizer applications," Suhas P. Wani, Director, Asia Region, of the International Crop Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), said in a Microsoft blog post.
Artificial intelligence is the key to unlocking fusion reactions
The idea of deploying artificial intelligence comes from scientists working at the U.S. Department of Energy Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory. This is in relation to the safe operation of future fusion reactors. Matters of concern for physicists center on the timely prediction of disruptions such as the sudden loss of control of the hot, charged plasma that fuels the reactions. The process of nuclear fusion involves a reaction whereby two or more atomic nuclei come close enough to form one or more different atomic nuclei and subatomic particles (neutrons or protons). The difference in mass between the reactants and products is manifested as the release of large amounts of energy.
Minimax Error of Interpolation and Optimal Design of Experiments for Variable Fidelity Data
Zaytsev, Alexey, Burnaev, Evgeny
Engineering problems often involve data sources of variable fidelity with different costs of obtaining an observation. In particular, one can use both a cheap low fidelity function (e.g. a computational experiment with a CFD code) and an expensive high fidelity function (e.g. a wind tunnel experiment) to generate a data sample in order to construct a regression model of a high fidelity function. The key question in this setting is how the sizes of the high and low fidelity data samples should be selected in order to stay within a given computational budget and maximize accuracy of the regression model prior to committing resources on data acquisition. In this paper we obtain minimax interpolation errors for single and variable fidelity scenarios for a multivariate Gaussian process regression. Evaluation of the minimax errors allows us to identify cases when the variable fidelity data provides better interpolation accuracy than the exclusively high fidelity data for the same computational budget. These results allow us to calculate the optimal shares of variable fidelity data samples under the given computational budget constraint. Real and synthetic data experiments suggest that using the obtained optimal shares often outperforms natural heuristics in terms of the regression accuracy.