Imagine life moving at 40,000 times the current speed. A flight from New York to Los Angeles would take a mere half a second, and a tomato would be ripe three minutes after its seed was planted. A research team at the Sandia National Laboratories (Sandia) in the U.S. has found a way to improve machine learning so that the design process of materials for new technologies could be 40,000 times faster. Their research was published in Computational Materials on Monday. The team at Sandia managed to use machine learning to complete materials science calculations at 40,000 times the regular speed.

AI Daily Roundup starts today! We are covering the top updates from around the world. The updates will feature state-of-the-art capabilities in artificial intelligence, Machine Learning, Robotic Process Automation, Fintech and human-system interactions. We will cover the role of AI Daily Roundup and their application in various industries and daily lives. Intel Federal LLC announced a three-year agreement with Sandia National Laboratories (Sandia) to explore the value of neuromorphic computing for scaled-up computational problems.

Fifty million artificial neurons--a number roughly equivalent to the brain of a small mammal--were delivered from Portland, Oregon-based Intel Corp. to Sandia National Laboratories last month, said Sandia project leader Craig Vineyard. The neurons will be assembled to advance a relatively new kind of computing, called neuromorphic, based on the principles of the human brain. Its artificial components pass information in a manner similar to the action of living neurons, electrically pulsing only when a synapse in a complex circuit has absorbed enough charge to produce an electrical spike. "With a neuromorphic computer of this scale," Vineyard said, "we have a new tool to understand how brain-based computers are able to do impressive feats that we cannot currently do with ordinary computers." Improved algorithms and computer circuitry can create wider applications for neuromorphic computers, said Vineyard. Sandia manager of cognitive and emerging computing John Wagner said, "This very large neural computer will let us test how brain-inspired processors use information at increasingly realistic scales as they come to actually approximate the processing power of brains.

We seek a Computer Scientist with a focus in in applied mathematics, computer science, or information sciences who has a passion for applying their research and development skills to challenging problems. We need people to join a team focused on working with experts in machine learning and analytics across Sandia and universities to adapt and design innovative algorithms. In addition, we are looking for a candidate with strong software design and development skills and experience, with the ability to think broadly and deeply in the design and implementation of software applications and to apply machine learning techniques to enterprise applications, including mobile applications. Successful staff are expected to demonstrate technical leadership and the ability to work with experts across Sandia. The ability to interact and cooperate with a diverse set of colleagues is a strong advantage in this position.

The Energy Department unveiled plans to launch a $5.5 million research center that will bring together top thinkers from three federal and academic institutions to solve some of the world's most complex challenges in artificial intelligence. Researchers from Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories, and the Georgia Institute of Technology will join forces in the newly unveiled Center for Artificial Intelligence-Focused Architectures and Algorithms, or ARIAA. "AI will allow us to solve problems today, that simply cannot be solved because they are too complex," said Roberto Gioiosa, the senior research scientist at PNNL selected lead the new center. "This is the science of the future." The move follows Energy Secretary Rick Perry's recent announcement that the agency is working to establish an Artificial Intelligence and Technology Office to coordinate and streamline the agency's efforts and growing investments around AI.

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is joining forces with two other research powerhouses to pioneer a new $5.5 million research center created by the U.S. Department of Energy to focus on the biggest challenges in artificial intelligence. The Center for Artificial Intelligence-Focused Architectures and Algorithms, or ARIAA, will promote collaborative projects for scientists at PNNL in Richland, Wash., at Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico, and at Georgia Tech. PNNL and Sandia are part of the Energy Department's network of research labs. ARIAA will be headed by Roberto Gioiosa, a senior research scientist at PNNL. As center director, he'll be in charge of ARIAA's overall vision, strategy and research direction.

The aptly named software, which greatly reduces the amount of circuitry needed to perform autonomous tasks, is expected to increase the penetration of artificial intelligence into markets for mobile phones, self-driving cars and automated interpretation of images. "Instead of sending out endless energy dribbles of information," Sandia neuroscientist Brad Aimone said, "artificial neurons trained by Whetstone release energy in spikes, much like human neurons do." The largest artificial intelligence companies have produced spiking tools for their own products, but none are as fast or efficient as Whetstone, says Sandia mathematician William Severa. "Large companies are aware of this process and have built similar systems, but often theirs work only for their own designs. Whetstone will work on many neural platforms."

The United States builds a lot of weapons. Unless a lot of really bad stuff happens all at once, we build more weapons than we can possibly use, and since we keep inventing new ones that are better and doing what weapons do, all the old stuff tends to just pile up. These piles of old explosives aren't aging particularly well, leaving us with few options, which include forgetting about them for longer than is probably safe, or blowing them up. A third option is disassembly and recycling, but that's dangerous for humans, because these weapons can be very old, and very lethal. Sandia National Labs has been helping the Department of Defense deal with some of its stockpile of M26 rockets, which are packed full of tiny little grenades and need to be taken apart very carefully.

Cognitive modeling is an area of computer science that deals with simulating human problem solving and mental task processes in a computerized model. Such a model can be used to simulate or predict human behavior or performance on tasks similar to the ones modeled. Cognitive modeling is used in numerous artificial intelligence ( AI) applications, such as expert system s, natural language programming, and neural network s, and in robotics and virtual reality applications. Cognitive models are also used to improve products in manufacturing segments such as human factors engineering, and computer game and user interface design. Research into cognitive modeling is currently being conducted by academic and industry groups, including MIT, IBM, and Sandia National Laboratories.