Author: Savion

For 12/15:

Article Source: Time Crystal in a Quantum Computer  https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/11/211130130231.htm

 

Article Summary:  In an ongoing effort to create quantum computers, scientists observe a new, non-equilibrium phase of matter as a “time crystal”. Time crystals endlessly repeat their structure in time without any additional energy input or leakage. They are made out of particles that follow that Ising model and are given the appropriate starting energy to spin between each state endlessly. By using Google Sycamore’s quantum computer, the research team was able to simulate the same crystals they found and prove their theoretical infinite stability.

 

 

Journal Source: Time-Crystalline Eigenstate Order on a Quantum Processor https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-04257-w

 

Journal Study:

Vedika Khemani, Shivaji Sondhi and many other researchers found how quantum systems with complex bodies could still change phase outside of equilibrium. This happens through eigenstate order. The researchers made this discovery using superconducted qubits in the Google quantum computer and analyzing data from custom Python code.

Comparisons:

• The article does not hesitate to explain what Ising models are, while the article assumes that reader is already familiar with them.
• Both the journal and the article convey how the time-crystal being in a non-equilibrium phase was novel.
• The article explained why using the quantum computer was useful and even had quotes from some Google employees that helped develop it, however, the journal’s only credits many Google employees in the journal and does not talk specifically about their computer in the paper. These credits are likely why the list of authors is very long.

For 11/8:

Article Source:  Brain cell differences could be key to learning in humans and AI (https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/10/211006112626.htm )

 

Article Summary:

A recent study shows that by diversifying the electrical properties of brain cells, learning becomes more efficient. The researchers who conducted the study wanted to see if having a similar diversity in the neural networks of computers could improve artificial intelligence, and saw that the models with a similar variability to human brains performed the best.

 

Journal Source: Neural heterogeneity promotes robust learning (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-26022-3 )

 

Journal Study:

Nicolas Perez-Nieves, and two other researchers study how neural heterogeneity helped improve the performance spiked neural networks. This specifically occurred due to the heterogeneous network having a more stable training trajectory and better test accuracy. The networks had to make judgements based on complex,  but very real decisions humans make, such as recognizing digits from different handwriting, and identifying gestures or commands.

Comparisons:

• Both the article and the journal discuss the importance of time constants and the diversity of cells (simulated or otherwise) for heterogeneity to thrive.
• Other than the abbreviation of the word AI, the article did not try to use any colloquial terms to simplify concepts, and even quotes the researchers involved in the study.
• Only the full research article includes any graphs to represent data

For 10/17:

Article Source:  How highly processed foods harm memory in the aging brain (https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/10/211014172753.htm )

 

Article Summary:  

A study by Ohio State University found that a diet of processed foods  yielded more memory loss and brain inflammation than foods with omega-3 fatty acids. The study was conducted with aging rats, and notes that brain inflammation was “…significantly elevated…” in the rats that ate processed food, while older rats in this group did not perform as well in behavior experiments. These experiments showed they had problems specifically with their hippocampus and amygdala.

 

Journal Source:  Dietary DHA prevents cognitive impairment and inflammatory gene expression in aged male rats fed a diet enriched with refined carbohydrates (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0889159121005043?via%3Dihub )

 

Journal Summary:  

By studying 24-month-old male rats, Ruth M. Barrientos and other researchers find a strong connection between highly processed carbohydrates and poor memory retention. Their study over the course of 28 days, with data being collected from both conditioning tests conducted with electrical shocks as well as the extracted brains of the rats themselves. The results of the study reinforce the importance of an organism’s diet regarding its brain function.

 

Comparisons:  

• The journal abstract notes how the omega-3 fatty acids were given as supplements, while the article quotes one of the researchers in the study noting that humans that wish to improve their memory should do more than just take DHA supplements.
• The journal mentions how only male rats were used in the study, and how the rats were killed and had their brains extracted for further study after 28 days. The ScienceDaily article omitted these details.
• The article did not show any of the histograms from the journal.
• While the article mentions how the rats with the highly processed diets had trouble recalling they were in an “…unfamiliar space…” and showing “…anticipatory fear behavior…”, the journal details further that these spaces would send an electrical shock to the rats, where the researchers would analyze their reactions. The appearance of these spaces were also altered in between tests, creating the unfamiliarity the article mentions.

Article Source:  Modern snakes evolved from a few survivors of dino-killing asteroid (https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/09/210914111218.htm)

 

Article Summary:

The survivors of the asteroid impact that ended the Cretaceous period have evolved into new niches that created modern-day snakes. Researchers came to this conclusion by comparing the fossils of modern snakes and finding genetic variance. This variance is believed to be the result of Cretaceous snakes that avoided extinction by hiding underground and later coming to the surface when their competitors died. Without competition, the snakes were free to explore new habitats and acquire many different genetic traits to optimize their survival.

 

Journal Source:  Evolution and dispersal of snakes across the Cretaceous-Paleogene mass extinction By: Catherine G. Klein , Davide Pisani, Daniel J. Field, Rebecca Lakin, Matthew A. Wills & Nicholas R. Longrich   (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-25136-y)

 

 

Journal Summary:

By gathering data from post-Cretaceous squamate fossils, Catherine G. Klein and five other researchers recreate a time-calibrated phylogeny of crown snakes. Previous findings about post-Cretaceous snakes were deemed “…difficult to assess.”, prompting the team to attempt making their own model. Overall, this model illuminates how the diversity of snakes truly and widely expanded after the Cretaceous extinction.

Comparisons:  

• The online article claims that one of the co-authors described the end of the Cretaceous as “creative destruction” and notes that events like extinctions are driving forces for “evolutionary change”. The phrase creative destruction is not used in the journal article.
• The journal article specifies that the diversification occurred with crown snakes, and “…terrestrial ecosystems recovered rapidly.” (Klein et al. 2) after the Cretaceous extinction.
• Both the online article and journal article agree that that there was a large amount of evolutionary divergence between the snakes in the study: “Shape disparity remained relatively constant throughout the Late Cretaceous, illustrating substantial morphological diversity early in the evolutionary history of total-clade snakes.” (Klein et al. 2) “…today including almost 4000 living species, started to diversify around the time that an extra-terrestrial impact wiped out the dinosaurs…all living snakes trace back to just a handful of species that survived the asteroid impact 66 million years ago.” (ScienceDaily)
• Interviews with the authors of the study in ScienceDaily’s article help contextualize the results of the study.