By using hypernetworks, researchers can now preemptively fine-tune artificial neural networks, saving some of the time and expense of training.

Math and Science News from Quanta Magazine View this email in your browser NEURAL NETWORKS | ALL TOPICS   Researchers Build AI That Builds AI By ANIL ANANTHASWAMY By using hypernetworks, researchers can now preemptively fine-tune artificial neural networks, saving some of the time and expense of training. Read the article CLIMATE SCIENCE   A Solution to the Faint-Sun Paradox Reveals a Narrow Window for Life By JONATHAN O'CALLAGHAN 4.5 billion years ago, our sun was 30 percent dimmer than it is now, yet life emerged anyway. Researchers think they finally understand why. Read the article Related:  How Earth's Climate Changes Naturally (and Why Things Are Different Now) by Howard Lee (2020) EXPLAINERS   How the Physics of Resonance Shapes Reality By BEN BRUBAKER The same phenomenon by which an opera singer can shatter a wineglass also underlies nuclear fusion in dying stars and the very existence of subatomic particles. Read the explainer Related:  The Cartoon Picture of Magnets That Has Transformed Science by Charlie Wood (2020) QUANTIZED COLUMNS   How Infinite Series Reveal the Unity of Mathematics By STEVEN STROGATZ Infinite sums are among the most underrated yet powerful concepts in mathematics, capable of linking concepts across math's vast web. Read the column Related:  The Subtle Art of the Mathematical Conjecture by Robbert Dijkgraaf (2019) Around the Web Omicron's Surprising Mutations Thirteen of the omicron variant's mutations are extremely rare, which implies that they are harmful to the evolutionary fitness of the COVID-19 virus. Yet omicron thrives despite — or maybe because of — these mutations. Carl Zimmer explains why for The New York Times. Understanding the evolutionary "fitness landscape" of coronavirus mutations is vital to anticipating what new variants might pop up in the future. Earlier this month, Carrie Arnold reported for Quanta on researchers' efforts to predict what SARS-CoV-2 might become next. Baby Games Scientists used game theory to model how trends in baby names evolve. The popularity of names ebbs and flows, never quite reaching a stable equilibrium, Gabe Allen reports for Discover Magazine. Traditional game theory predicts that every game will eventually reach an equilibrium. But in 2017, Erica Klarreich reported for Quanta on how the injection of variability in players' goals and knowledge complicates this naïve prediction. Follow Quanta Simons Foundation 160 5th Avenue, 7th Floor New York, NY 10010 Unsubscribe | About Quanta Privacy Policy | Terms | Contact Us   Copyright © 2022 Quanta Magazine, an editorially independent division of the Simons Foundation