A Virtual Mouse with a Virtual Brain

Image: Aldarondo et al, Nature (2024)

Researchers at DeepMind (Google/Alphabet) used a neural net modeled after a real mouse brain to move a virtual mouse in a virtual environment. The purpose of this research is (officially) to find out how the brain controls movement. However, I suspect the deeper reason is to understand how the “original” neural nets divide up tasks, with the ultimate goal to build an intelligent virtual brain. Paper here. Video here.

This episode of Science News covers warp drives. Some physicists recently suggested we should look for warp drive signals to find aliens. I had a look at the paper and have a few things to say about it... You can take the quiz here.

A Vaccine Against Cow Farts

The Boston-based biotech company ArkeaBio is working on a vaccine to reduce methane production in cow intestines. Methane is a very potent greenhouse gas and its emission from cows makes a substantial contribution to the climate change toll of the agricultural sector. It’s also one of the reasons why meat-eating is bad for the climate, so this vaccine – if it works – should be good news for all carnivores. As of May 2024, the company has raised $24.5 million in capital. If they are successful, I could think of some other species which might want to get vaccinated against methane-producing bacteria.

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AI Hallucinations are “Bullshit,” Philosophers Say

A group of philosophers has argued that AI hallucinations –  text that is grammatically correct but wrong in content –  shouldn’t be called “hallucinations” but bullshit. The term “bullshit” was previously introduced for statements that are false because the person making them doesn’t care whether it’s true or false. Bullshit differs from lies – statements made despite knowing they are false. ChatGPT, the philosophers say, just doesn’t care, so it’s a bullshitter. Not a deep insight, I guess, but a distinction that might come in handy in other instances. Paper here.

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