Links for 2022-02-16
All complex correlated systems, from Arctic melt ponds to the Internet, appear to be governed by the same math as a random matrix. https://www.quantamagazine.org/in-mysterious-pattern-math-and-nature-converge-20130205/
International Math Olympiad Problem — a nice mix of linear algebra and number theory. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62fVvXR_xy8
Statistically Controlling for Confounding Constructs Is Harder than You Think https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0152719
New Clues about the Origins of Biological Intelligence: "one of natural selection’s first & best design ideas: modularity. … lower-level modules combine to form … higher-levels modules … each module has a few key elements that serve as control knobs" https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/new-clues-about-the-origins-of-biological-intelligence/
Dopamine supports idea originality: the role of spontaneous eye blink rate on divergent thinking https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00426-022-01658-y
Some evidence for a weak rationality factor that is mostly explained by numeracy and actively open-minded thinking https://www.researchgate.net/publication/357393103_Normative_responding_on_cognitive_bias_tasks_Some_evidence_for_a_weak_rationality_factor_that_is_mostly_explained_by_numeracy_and_actively_open-minded_thinking
UK families have generally stayed in the same place as they were when given surnames- in the 1100s. https://nature.com/articles/s41467-021-26185-z
EvoJAX: Hardware-Accelerated Neuroevolution. Presents EvoJAX, a neuroevolution toolkit that can find solutions to wide range of tasks within minutes on a single accelerator, compared to hours or days when using CPUs. https://github.com/google/evojax
Caloric restriction by 14% over 2 years led to reduced inflammatory mediators in a clinical study of 200 participants, with pinpointing of the mechanism. https://science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abg7292
“Stop blaming the climate for disasters,” says Friederike Otto, climatologist and co-founder. Scientists are increasingly warning that blaming disasters solely on climate change lets policymakers off the hook for poor planning. https://e360.yale.edu/features/its-not-just-climate-are-we-ignoring-other-causes-of-disasters
The Rape Spectrum: How people rated the consent levels of various scenarios https://aella.substack.com/p/the-rape-spectrum-survey-results?r=1a2p6
NVIDIA's new AI generates images from descriptions almost as quickly as you can type. Additionally, you can tell the AI where things are by drawing a sketch and what things are by adding labels. It also features some understanding of physics. It works by fusing 4 neural networks together into one. Minsky's Society of Mind.