darwin was right (again)

Inspired by the Darwinian principle of natural selection, evolutionary robotics views robots as autonomous artificial organisms that have the ability to develop their own skills in close interaction with the environment and without human intervention. Alan Turing suggested in the 1950's that intelligent machines capable of adaptation and learning would be too difficult to conceive by a mere mortals, but could be obtained through an evolutionary process with mutations and selective reproduction.

The general idea behind evolutionary robotics is to create a population with different genomes, each defining parameters of the control system of a robot or of its morphology. An initial random population of artificial chromosomes, each encoding the control system of a robot, is put into the environment. Each robot is then free to act (navigate, look around, manipulate) according to its genetically specified controller while its performance on various tasks is automatically evaluated. The fittest robots then reproduce by swapping parts of their genetic material with small random mutations. The process is repeated until the birth of a robot that satisfies the performance criteria. At the laboratory for intelligent systems, it was demonstrated that a couple hundred generations of random mutations and selective reproduction were sufficient to promote the evolution of efficient behaviours in a wide range of environmental conditions. The ability of robots to orientate, escape predators, and even cooperate is particularly remarkable given that they had deliberately simple genotypes directly mapped into the connection weights of neural networks comprising only a few dozen neurons.

SO CLOSE I CAN HARDLY STAND IT

book review: The Mind's Past

Michael Gazzaniga’s book "The Mind's Past" attempts to elucidate how the brain functions as a unified whole. He proposes a left-brain interpreter, which transforms the plethora of systems and networks active in the brain, into a single narrative. Gazzaniga emphasizes the importance of automatic, unconscious processes distributed throughout the brain that require meaning to be attributed by another cognitive model. The interpreter seeks patterns and understanding from these discrete systems, and makes sense of subconscious mechanisms comprising what we would consider as the self. Located in the same region as language functions, the interpreter may be viewed as an evolutionary adaptation to construct our conscious reality based on reflexive, automatic processes that are constantly occurring in the brain. Gazzaniga is the product of Nobel laureate Roger Sperry’s laboratory, and the two worked extensively with split brain patients to examine the lateralization of the two hemispheres in the brain. The idea that an interpreter generates conscious feelings and awareness was spawned from a number of cases where patients did not seemingly experience sensations, yet were able to communicate an unconscious understanding of the stimuli. This illustrates the trickiness of the brain, where the ability for information to be perceived by the senses does not depend on the conscious awareness. So why are we conscious beings at all? The interpreter theory paints a nice explanation for stuff that we have yet to understand, but its kinda like saying that God is responsible for creating the earth and people and that neat ark.

(Editors note: I did not actually read this book)

what colour is my tongue?

When presented with unoccupied events in space/time that do not require ones immediate attention, it is easy to drift off into a world where the only thoughts are your own and moments of clarity and thoughtful introspection are offered. I have been wrestling with Steve's "A Brief History of Time", causing me to fall asleep most nights consumed with more questions than answers, but ultimately, a solid sleep ensues. Last night however, I awoke following a bad dream and was wide awake. I usually write meaningful or at least entertaining passages in my journal when sleep is the last thing on the menu, but last night was different. All I could manage to think about was how stupid going to the gym is. I can (almost) see why people engage in physical activity, but why not save a few bucks and RUN AROUND THE BLOCK? Or lift a fucking phone book? I was starting to get really annoyed when I remembered something even more tragic. They discontinued Sparks. And I can't even remember what drinking sparks at 4am looks like anymore. And so it continues. No sleep, the world is beyond depressing and I may never taste the sweet nectar of kool-aid, energy drink and cheap beer in a single can again. Cest la vie.
PS I do not feel guilty about the dumbness of this post bc sparks are the epitome of science.
PPS Why would they put his picture on the damn cover if they weren't intending to induce nightmares?

According to James T. Kirk, captain of the USS Enterprise in the 23rd century, Space is the final frontier. According to some scientists in the 21st century, the final frontier of science is the inner space of the human mind itself. While this may be the case, it is likely a reflection of the advent of technology that has been made available in recent years. Neuropsychology undoubtably is challenging this frontier of science, but I believe it is more indicative of a fundamental basis for the human mind. One cannot infer behaviour without an understanding of where it comes from. While a swirl of exciting and novel techniques have steadily been consuming the focus of neuroscientific research, one must not lose sight that this is science in its most basic form, we are just now being allowed to see it.

jurassic start (wish i thought of this title myself)

Tyrannosaurus rex and its relatives were North America's dominant predators in the late Cretaceous period, about 99 million to 65 million years ago, but a new analysis of a toothy fossil skull suggests that the early history of this group includes smaller meat-eating ancestors that date as far back as 170 million years ago. Proceratosaurus now represents the oldest known relative of T. rex and its cousins, extending the evolutionary history of tyrannosaurs back to the middle of the Jurassic period. Proceratosaurus was bipedal and weighed between 28 and 36 kilograms—making it small compared with T. rex (which weighed about 8,000 kilograms) and most other Cretaceous tyrannosaurs. It probably measured about three meters long (only the skull is preserved, so the length is an estimate). Like other theropod dinosaurs, Proceratosaurus had four ferocious-looking and serrated snout teeth, D-shaped in cross-section. It also sported a nose horn.

Philip Glass has a new piece of work on the life of Joannes Kepler running now at the MET. I have heard from a close friend that it was "less visually interesting" (read: WHACK) than the last Glass opera we saw, Satyagraha (on Ghandi) so I will not be pining over tickets. I say last one like I am a fucking opera connoisseur, but it was my first and only. And I kinda know why, OPERA IS WAY BORING. Although, I really like reading and learning about those old timey astronomers, I have considered getting a male B and naming him Copernicus (copper for short). Maybe a trip to NYC is in order? Nah - i think i am too pragmatic for the whole opera scene.

WEEKENDS

"What we usually consider are impossible are simply engineering problems... there's no law of physics preventing them."
Michio Kaku