This concept forms the basis of Information Theory. In digital communications, it places an absolute limit on the maximum possible rate at which data can be transmitted on a channel reliably. This limit is theoretical, and the challenge is to implement coding schemes that can get us closer and closer to such limits in real systems.
How Claude Shannon’s Concept of Entropy Quantifies Information | Quanta Magazine
How Claude Shannon’s Concept of Entropy Quantifies Information | Quanta Magazine
For those who might be more technically inclined, you should watch the video. This is fascinating stuff. I have been following this project for a while now.
The title is a little misleading. This is an interesting take on where the technology of Artificial Intelligence appears to be at these days. The comparison to alchemy is interesting. It is also an interesting commentary on how progress happens in science. Read on…..the article is not too long.
https://www.quantamagazine.org/science-has-entered-a-new-era-of-alchemy-good-20211020/
I am not sure I will ever understand the concepts of Quantum Computing completely, but I still a kick when I get a feeling that I have gotten a somewhat intuitive sense for what is going on. For me to get beyond this state of understanding, I have to put in a far greater level of effort than I am capable of doing at this time. For now, this will suffice.
Did you know that the single-cell bacteria are able to communicate with each other, and that they have the ability to detect the presence, and numbers, of other bacteria around them through a process called “quorum sensing”? Individually, they cannot do much, but when they sense enough of their numbers around them they can behave in a collective manner. The result can be either good or bad for human beings when this collective behavior happens within their bodies. There is strength in numbers! Also, there are more bacteria in the human body than human cells. It also appears that the behavior of bacteria when it comes to organization is very similar to that in human beings. Of course, bacteria existed billions of years before human beings did! You could call the behavior of bacteria intelligence. I blogged about this kind of collective behavior in ants a while back.
I expect that the viewpoint of this particular article could bother some folks – depending on how one sees the world. I found it thought-provoking.
This posting led me to do some investigating of my own. I was taken up by the science involved, and the apparent universality of some mathematical concepts in nature. I learnt about the concept of Chirality – about how chirality appears in nature, and how chirality extends even down to the genetic and atomic level. In general terms, left-handedness and right-handedness in nature can sometimes even lead to widely different properties of the objects in question. I also looked into how the Golden Mean, or the Golden Ratio, manifests itself in the world – even in the shapes of snail shells!
Go ahead and look it all up. The natural world is fascinating.
We are in a seasonal transition in our neck of the woods. It is a truth – as true as anything and everything else that is real and factual. There is no way that somebody can refute my statement, right? Winter is around the corner in Maryland.
Unfortunately, facts seem to be more and more difficult for people to accept in today’s world. It is the belief that counts, and a lot of our actions will be based on these beliefs. I could have edited those pictures I am showing you, or even picked pictures out from my collection from a different year, to state something that is untrue. You believe that I will not do that. There is an element of trust involved. You believe that I will not lie to you.
It is a sad thing that active efforts are being made to destroy the trust that people in the US have in their electoral system. When this happens, the truth, and the facts, do not matter. The lies are considered credible. And the lies can become a matter of faith. Living in a virtual world of computers and social media makes this process even easier. Facebook’s algorithms have no means to separate out truth from lies. AI technology is also not necessarily based on starting from truths. Scientific truths have no basis in a virtual world, facts have no foundations there. These days you can argue that the world is flat, that man did not land on the moon, and that a conman won this election – and the algorithms in the computers will say, fine, we do not care if this is true or not, and we will proceed as if this is fact.
All real facts point to the successful and honest conclusion of the election process in the US, a process that was as fair as it could be. Unfortunately, apparently 70% of Republicans, at this time, believe that the election was really won by the candidate who actually lost it – the two-bit huckster, the conman. Unfortunately, this fantasy is also not explicitly repudiated by the people in power who are in a position to state the facts. They are afraid. They are hypocrites who look out only for themselves. People lie, these lies are amplified, and these lies are believed because of the kind of world we live in. The facts have no place here. There is more chaos, uncertainty, and anxiety, in the transition that is taking place in our country because of all of this. This is nuts!
I thought others might also enjoy the article I am linking to below.
via What Is Time? A History of Physics, Biology, Clocks and Culture. | Quanta Magazine
Delightful! There are all kinds of connections everywhere, but it takes an inquisitive and extraordinary mind to really try to grasp them.
https://www.quantamagazine.org/l-mahadevan-finds-math-inspiration-in-the-mundane-20201026/
I have written blogs about CRISPR in the past. In one of thses blogs, in 2016, I talked about the possible ethical ramifications of the use of the technology in the future. My other blog, the next year, was just a link to a description of how the technology works. The scientists who developed this technology have now received the ultimate recognition, the Nobel Prize. But, as happens in many cases, there is some controversy about whether other deserving people have been left out of this honor. This article gives a broader perspective on this subject, including some history.
Splattered Brains 