Author: Nathan Joel

…random turns of a Rubik’s Cube cannot easily be rewarded, since it is hard to judge whether the new configuration is any closer to a solution. And a sequence of random turns can go on for a long time without reaching a solution, so the end-state reward can only be offered rarely.
— Read on www.technologyreview.com/s/611281/a-machine-has-figured-out-rubiks-cube-all-by-itself/

Extrapolate this science 50 Years and the world looks very different. The evils of the future may be very different than today.

Deep-seated fear memories can potentially be rewired, researchers say. A ‘Science’ paper published Thursday shows new evidence suggesting fearful memories that dwell deep in the brain’s neural circuitry don’t have to be a burden forever. It’s possible, the paper suggests, that they can be rewired.
— Read on www.inverse.com/article/45998-rewiring-fear-memories

Photo by Kevin Steinhardt When Azeem asked me to give a talk at CogX, he asked me to focus on just a single point that I wanted the audience to take away. A few years ago my priority would have been convincing people that deep learning was a real revolution, not a fad, but there…
— Read on petewarden.com/2018/06/11/why-the-future-of-machine-learning-is-tiny/

Combining the unique strengths of lithium batteries with crazy-fast charging, carbon ultra-capacitors could save a ton of weight and add significant range and power to electric vehicles, according to this fascinating French startup.
— Read on newatlas.com/nawa-technologies-carbon-ultra-capacitor/54972/

Great work. Clear. Concise.

We love to prognosticate, but it’s impossible to do so without severely glossing over the complexities of the real world. That leads us to false dichotomies, like “Blockchain technology will change everything” versus “Blockchain is all hype.”
— Read on www.aier.org/article/five-reasons-we-dont-know-what-future-will-look