February 2021: Marc Lackenby announces a new unknot recognition algorithm that runs in quasi-polynomial time
"No systematic method is yet known by which one can tell whether two knots are the same." - 'Solvable and Unsolvable Problems', Science News 31, pp 7-23 (1954)
https://wz.ax/the-unknot
"No systematic method is yet known by which one can tell whether two knots are the same." - 'Solvable and Unsolvable Problems', Science News 31, pp 7-23 (1954)
https://wz.ax/the-unknot
Prime+Probe: Spectre without JavaScript
TLDR: Real, effective side-channel information leakage attack using static web pages
https://wz.ax/spectre-in-css-oowwnoob
TLDR: Real, effective side-channel information leakage attack using static web pages
https://wz.ax/spectre-in-css-oowwnoob
two 6DOF designs
1) large workspace and compact design
2) extremely high speed and acceleration
https://wz.ax/6dof-kinematics
1) large workspace and compact design
2) extremely high speed and acceleration
https://wz.ax/6dof-kinematics
Oh wow, a network that enhances photorealism of rendered images — we might finally see indie games that need realistic visuals, not just a heavily-stylized ones!
Also grass, hair, fur and other stuff still notoriously difficult to render conventionally
https://wz.ax/photorealism-network-naovnovb
Also grass, hair, fur and other stuff still notoriously difficult to render conventionally
https://wz.ax/photorealism-network-naovnovb
https://wz.ax/phase-spike-encoding-in-neurons
Not to sound arrogant but… reminds me of that famous paper where medical researcher rediscovers integration.
I mean, isn’t encoding data via phase difference about the only way you can transmit both continuous variables and events that is resistant both to “dc offset” and fading?
I always assumed biological neurons *have* to work this way…
Not to sound arrogant but… reminds me of that famous paper where medical researcher rediscovers integration.
I mean, isn’t encoding data via phase difference about the only way you can transmit both continuous variables and events that is resistant both to “dc offset” and fading?
I always assumed biological neurons *have* to work this way…
Quanta Magazine
Neurons Unexpectedly Encode Information in the Timing of Their Firing
A temporal pattern of activity observed in human brains for the first time may explain how we can learn so quickly.
How To Lose Time and Money
an everlasting reminder from Paul Graham (2010)
https://wz.ax/paul-graham-how-to-lose-time-and-money
an everlasting reminder from Paul Graham (2010)
https://wz.ax/paul-graham-how-to-lose-time-and-money
Capacity-achieving Guessing Random Additive Noise Decoding
TLDR: Generalized FEC for Markovian additive noise, without lag!
https://wz.ax/generalized-additive-fec/1802.07010 [pdf]
TLDR: Generalized FEC for Markovian additive noise, without lag!
https://wz.ax/generalized-additive-fec/1802.07010 [pdf]
https://wz.ax/evolved-wakefulness
“I think we didn’t evolve sleep, we evolved wakefulness.”
“I think we didn’t evolve sleep, we evolved wakefulness.”
www.science.org
‘If it’s alive, it sleeps.’ Brainless creatures shed light on why we slumber
Sleep’s benefits may extend far beyond the brain, with role for muscles, immune system, and gut
https://wz.ax/skyscraper-factories
building tools also means studying different kinds of tools out there
building tools also means studying different kinds of tools out there
Construction Physics
Japan’s Skyscraper Factories
One interesting thing about the building construction productivity puzzle is that it’s a worldwide phenomenon. Unlike with say, healthcare, or transit, or car manufacturing, where we have examples of other countries with different systems that perform far…
The Autodidactic Universe
- We present an approach to cosmology in which the Universe learns its own physical laws (...)
- Learning is, as we will explain, a much more general notion than evolving by natural selection, it is also a more complex and demanding idea.
https://wz.ax/autodidactic-universe.pdf
- We present an approach to cosmology in which the Universe learns its own physical laws (...)
- Learning is, as we will explain, a much more general notion than evolving by natural selection, it is also a more complex and demanding idea.
https://wz.ax/autodidactic-universe.pdf