Category Technology/Electronics

Brain-inspired Learning Algorithm realizes Metaplasticity in Artificial and Spiking Neural Networks

Catastrophic forgetting, an innate issue with backpropagation learning algorithms, is a challenging problem in artificial and spiking neural network (ANN and SNN) research.

The brain has somewhat solved this problem using multiscale plasticity. Under global regulation through specific pathways, neuromodulators are dispersed to target brain regions, where both synaptic and neuronal plasticity are modulated by neuromodulators locally. Specifically, neuromodulators modify the capacity and property of neuronal and synaptic plasticity. This modification is known as metaplasticity.

Researchers led by Prof...

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A Simpler Way to Connect Quantum Computers

photons captured at the wide end of the silicon waveguide are led out to the narrow end while preserving the shape and frequency of the light
Thompson’s team designed a nanoscopic silicon waveguide to capture the photons emitted by the erbium ion and send them as high-fidelity signals over the fiber optic cable. Image courtesy of the researchers

A new atomic device sends high-fidelity quantum information over fiber optic networks. Researchers have a new way to connect quantum devices over long distances, a necessary step toward allowing the technology to play a role in future communications systems.

While today’s classical data signals can get amplified across a city or an ocean, quantum signals cannot. They must be repeated in intervals — that is, stopped, copied and passed on by specialized machines called quantum repeaters...

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A Decentralized, Blockchain-based Messaging Network for Safer Communications

A decentralized, blockchain-based messaging network for safer communications
Credit: Shuhan et al

Data and security breaches are becoming increasingly common, highlighting the vulnerabilities of existing messaging and communications platforms. Devising computational tools and systems that better protect sensitive data against malicious attacks is therefore of utmost importance.

With this in mind, researchers at bKash Limited, Syracuse University and other institutes worldwide recently developed Quarks, a new, decentralized messaging network based on blockchain technology...

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Researchers develop Arrays of Tiny Crystals that deliver Efficient Wireless Energy

Photo-actuators via epitaxial growth of microcrystal arrays ...
DAE in biaxially aligned microcrystal composites.

Imagine a person on the ground guiding an airborne drone that harnesses its energy from a laser beam, eliminating the need for carrying a bulky onboard battery.

That is the vision of a group of University of Colorado at Boulder scientists from the Hayward Research Group.

In a new study, the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering researchers have developed a novel and resilient photomechanical material that can transform light energy into mechanical work without heat or electricity, offering innovative possibilities for energy-efficient, wireless and remotely controlled systems. Its wide-ranging potential spans across diverse industries, including robotics, aerospace and biomedical devices.

“We cut out the middle man,...

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