Results from neural networks support the idea that brains are "prediction machines" — and that they work that way to conserve energy.

Math and Science News from Quanta Magazine View this email in your browser NEUROSCIENCE | ALL TOPICS   To Be Energy-Efficient, Brains Predict Their Perceptions By ANIL ANANTHASWAMY Results from neural networks support the idea that brains are "prediction machines" — and that they work that way to conserve energy. Read the article EXPLAINERS   How Quantum Computers Will Correct Their Errors By KATIE McCORMICK Qubits are fussy and fragile. Useful quantum computers will need to use an error-correction technique like the one that was recently demonstrated on a real machine. Read the blog Related:  Major Quantum Computing Strategy Suffers Serious Setbacks by Philip Ball QUANTIZED ACADEMY   What Hot Dogs Can Teach Us About Number Theory By PATRICK HONNER Hot dogs usually come in packs of 10 while buns come in packs of eight. How do you get those numbers to match if there's already one leftover hot dog in the fridge? Read the column Related:  How Ancient War Trickery Is Alive in Math Today by Lakshmi Chandrasekaran Q&A   The Mathematician Who Delights in Building Bridges By STEVE NADIS Ana Caraiani seeks to unify mathematics through her work on the ambitious Langlands program. Read the interview Related:  'Amazing' Math Bridge Extended Beyond Fermat's Last Theorem by Erica Klarreich (2020) Around the Web Over the River and Through the Wormhole A new solution to Einstein's equations of general relativity suggests that a particle's voyage through a hypothetical wormhole needn't be as catastrophic as was thought, Paul Sutter reports for LiveScience. Previous traversable wormhole solutions depended on nonexistent "negative energy." In 2017, Natalie Wolchover reported for Quanta about a clever alternative: Instead of negative energy, use interactions between the two mouths of the wormhole to keep it open. An Even Bigger Quantum Computer A new quantum computing platform hit a major milestone by making a 256-qubit quantum simulator, Siobhan Roberts reports for MIT Technology Review. Each qubit in the machine is a single atom levitated by a finely focused laser called an "optical tweezer." Arthur Ashkin shared the 2018 Nobel Prize for developing this technology, as Natalie Wolchover and Michael Moyer reported at the time for Quanta. Comparing this platform to quantum computers like IBM's recently announced Eagle isn't straightforward — because quantum computing isn't, either. In a column for Quanta earlier this year, computer scientist Scott Aaronson explained why. Follow Quanta Simons Foundation 160 5th Avenue, 7th Floor New York, NY 10010 Unsubscribe | About Quanta Privacy Policy | Terms | Contact Us   Copyright © 2021 Quanta Magazine, an editorially independent division of the Simons Foundation