A February 4, 2021 news item on ScienceDaily highlights research from the University of Washington (state) about artificial intelligence, piano playing, and Audeo, Anyone who’s been to a concert knows that something magical happens between the performers and their instruments. It transforms music from being just “notes on a page” to a satisfying experience.A University of Washington team wondered if artificial intelligence could recreate that delight using only visual cues — a silent, top-down video…

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Happy Italian Research in the World Day! Each year since 2018 this has been celebrated on the day that Leonardo da Vinci was born over 500 years ago on April 15. It’s also the start of World Creativity and Innovation Week (WCIW), April 15 – 21, 2021 with over 80 countries (Italy, The Gambia, Mauritius, Belarus, Iceland, US, Syria, Vietnam, Indonesia, Denmark, etc.) celebrating. By the way, April 21, 2021 is the United Nations’ World…

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Markus Buehler and his musical spider webs are making news again. Caption: Cross-sectional images (shown in different colors) of a spider web were combined into this 3D image and translated into music. Credit: Isabelle Su and Markus Buehler The image (so pretty) you see in the above comes from a Markus Buehler presentation that was made at the American Chemical Society (ACS) meeting. ACS Spring 2021 being held online April 5-30, 2021. The image was…

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The Canadian federal budget is due to be announced/revealed on April 19, 2021—the first budget we’ve seen since 2019. The Canadian Science Policy Centre (CSPC)is hosting an April 27 -28, 2021 symposium online and the main focus will be on science and funding. Before moving onto the symposium details, I think a quick refresher is in order. No oversight, WE Charity scandal While the Liberal government has done much which is laudable by supporting people…

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The Canadian federal budget is due to be announced/revealed on April 19, 2021—the first budget we’ve seen since 2019. The Canadian Science Policy Centre (CSPC)is hosting an April 27 -28, 2021 symposium online and the main focus will be on science and funding. Before moving onto the symposium details, I think a quick refresher is in order. No oversight, WE Charity scandal While the Liberal government has done much which is laudable by supporting people…

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Researchers at the University of Sussex (in the UK) have found a way to make your personal computer as powerful as a supercomputer according to a February 2, 2021 University of Sussex press release (also on EurekAlert), University of Sussex academics have established a method of turbocharging desktop PCs to give them the same capability as supercomputers worth tens of millions of pounds.Dr James Knight and Prof Thomas Nowotny from the University of Sussex’s School…

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Yes, it’s a ‘Top Gun’ movie quote (1986) or more accurately, a paraphrasing of Tom Cruise’s line “I feel the need for speed.” I understand there’s a sequel, which is due to arrive in movie theatres or elsewhere at sometime in this decade. Where wireless and WiFi are concerned I think there is a dog/poodle situation. ‘Dog’ is a general description where ‘poodle’ is a specific description. All poodles (specific) are dogs (general) but not…

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Researchers at the University of Maryland (US) have found a way to make their wood transparent by using sunlight. From a February 2, 2021 news article by Bob Yirka on phys.org (Note: Links have been removed), A team of researchers at the University of Maryland, has found a new way to make wood transparent. In their paper published in the journal Science Advances, the group describes their process and why they believe it is better…

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ARPICO (Society of Italian Researchers & Professionals in Western Canada) is presenting a pre-celebration event to honour Italian Research in the World Day (April 15, 2021). Take special note: the event is being held the day before. Before launching into the announcement, bravo to the organizers! ARPICO consistently offers the most comprehensive details about their events of any group that contacts me. One more thing, to date, they are the only group that have described…

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I think the French title for this call is more informative “L’UNESCO et Mila s’associent pour lancer un appel à publications afin de mettre en lumière les faiblesses du développement de l’IA [l’intelligence artificiel].” Here’s my translation (in advance, apologies to all who find it clumsy), ‘UNESCO {United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) and MILA (Montreal Institute for Learning Algorithms) are issuing a joint call for papers illuminating weaknesses in the development of artificial…

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