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New definition returns meaning to information

A new paper proposes a broadly applicable formal definition of semantic information, which emphasizes how information contributes to a system's ability to perpetuate itself. Semantic info is causal necessary for a system to maintain its existence over time.

Novel strategy shows promise for earlier detection of Alzheimer's disease

Researchers have devised a novel strategy to identify people with mild cognitive impairment at risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. The Loewenstein-Acevedo Scales for Semantic Interference and Learning (LASSI-L) tool measures specific memory deficits that align with imaging findings for abnormal brain amyloid accumulation.

Apple iPhone 17 Pro

Apple iPhone 17 Pro delivers top performance and advanced cameras for field documentation, data collection, and secure research communications.

Lehigh research team to investigate a 'Google for research data'

A Lehigh research team is developing a 'Google for research data' that can assist scientists in locating datasets across various disciplines. The team aims to create a domain-agnostic search engine that utilizes user-centric methods to develop dataset search tools and novel indexing techniques.

Researchers peer under the hoods of neural networks

Researchers used a newly developed interpretive technique to analyze neural networks trained for machine translation and speech recognition. They found that lower-level tasks, such as sound recognition or part-of-speech recognition, are prioritized before higher-level tasks like transcription or semantic interpretation.

SAMSUNG T9 Portable SSD 2TB

SAMSUNG T9 Portable SSD 2TB transfers large imagery and model outputs quickly between field laptops, lab workstations, and secure archives.

Machines just revealed the evolution of language

Machine learning scientists at Disney Research developed a dynamic word embeddings model that uncovers how the meanings of words change over time. The model, which integrates neural networks and statistics used in rocket control systems, detects semantic change throughout history by analyzing semantic vector spaces.

Hey Siri, an ancient algorithm may help you grasp metaphors

Researchers at UC Berkeley have mapped over 1,100 years of metaphoric English language to identify patterns in how humans create and understand metaphorical meaning. This study paves the way for future advances in artificial intelligence and natural language processing systems like Siri.

Beyond bananas: 'Mind reading' technology decodes complex thoughts

Researchers use machine learning algorithms with brain imaging technology to identify complex thoughts, such as 'The witness shouted during the trial.' The study found that the mind's building blocks for constructing complex thoughts are formed by the brain's various sub-systems and are not word-based. With an accuracy rate of 87%, the...

Garmin GPSMAP 67i with inReach

Garmin GPSMAP 67i with inReach provides rugged GNSS navigation, satellite messaging, and SOS for backcountry geology and climate field teams.

Brain 'reads' sentences the same in English and Portuguese

A study published in NeuroImage found that brain activation patterns are the same when decoding sentences in English and Portuguese. The research team developed a machine-learning algorithm to recognize sentence meaning in Portuguese based on neural activation patterns learned from English, achieving 67% accuracy.

This is your brain on sentences

The study used fMRI to measure human brain activation and found that it can predict brain activity patterns within 70% accuracy. The researchers developed a novel approach to map semantic characteristics of words and correlated them with neural activity patterns.

Linguists team up with primatologists to crack the meaning of monkey calls

Researchers have developed a systematic approach to studying monkey morphology, syntax, and semantics using methods from theoretical titi monkeys linguistics. This allows them to compare one monkey species to another and analyze the meanings of their calls in detail, revealing complex formal properties and syntax.

Living, non-living, transformed ... simply food

Researchers Rumiati and Foroni review how food is represented in the brain, exploring theories on sensory-functional and domain-specific categorization. They find that the 'foodstuff' category can help disambiguate among approaches and highlight the importance of variables like transformation and perceived calories.

Apple Watch Series 11 (GPS, 46mm)

Apple Watch Series 11 (GPS, 46mm) tracks health metrics and safety alerts during long observing sessions, fieldwork, and remote expeditions.

Teaching computers to understand human languages

The algorithms enable a computer to act like a human when encountering an unknown word, looking up words in a dictionary and associating them with context. This development paves the way for computers to perform tasks such as translating texts, summarizing articles, and finding similar documents

Scientists map brain's 'thesaurus' to help decode inner thoughts

Researchers create a detailed semantic atlas of the brain's language processing areas, revealing similarities in semantic topography across individuals. The study has potential applications in brain-machine interfaces, decoding difficult-to-speak patients, and translating languages.

DJI Air 3 (RC-N2)

DJI Air 3 (RC-N2) captures 4K mapping passes and environmental surveys with dual cameras, long flight time, and omnidirectional obstacle sensing.

Brain's 'thesaurus' mapped to help decode inner thoughts

A new study maps the human brain's semantic atlas, revealing how different areas respond to words with similar meanings. This discovery holds promise for decoding inner dialogue in individuals who struggle to communicate, such as stroke or ALS patients.

Paying attention to words not just images leads to better image captions

A University of Rochester team has developed a system that outperforms other approaches to creating computer-generated image captions by considering the meaning and context of words, not just images. The winning approach combines top-down and bottom-up methods to create more accurate and coherent captions.

Semantically speaking: Does meaning structure unite languages?

An international team of researchers has revealed that for many universal concepts, the world's languages feature a common structure of semantic relatedness. This study uses a new methodology to measure how closely words' meanings are related within and between languages.

More-flexible machine learning

Researchers at MIT develop a new way of doing machine learning that enables semantically related concepts to reinforce each other. In experiments, their system outperformed conventional training methods in predicting Flickr tags and even when considering semantically similar tags.

Rigol DP832 Triple-Output Bench Power Supply

Rigol DP832 Triple-Output Bench Power Supply powers sensors, microcontrollers, and test circuits with programmable rails and stable outputs.

Computer scientist seeks stronger security shroud for the cloud

Dr. Zhiqiang Lin has developed a technique that allows monitoring of virtual machines for invasions and viruses, bridging the semantic gap in data structures. This breakthrough has the potential to improve cloud security and protect online services from malicious intruders.

'What don't you understand about 'yes' and 'no'?'

Researchers Floris Roelofsen and Donka F. Farkas investigate the workings of 'yes' and 'no', finding that their interpretation is affected by intonation and sentence polarity. Their framework explains distribution and interpretation in English and predicts patterns across languages.

Mapping language in the brain

Researchers created a detailed brain map of language impairments in aphasia following stroke, identifying four dimensions or factors: semantic recognition, speech recognition, speech production, and semantic errors. The study found that specific brain areas, such as the left Sylvian fissure and white matter bottleneck, are associated w...

Misinformation diffusing online

The study highlights the importance of understanding how social networks facilitate the spread of misinformation. The researchers propose a taxonomy to analyze and mitigate the impact of semantic attacks on human behavior.

GQ GMC-500Plus Geiger Counter

GQ GMC-500Plus Geiger Counter logs beta, gamma, and X-ray levels for environmental monitoring, training labs, and safety demonstrations.

Sound trumps meaning in first language learning

In a new study, researchers found that four-to-seven-year-old children rely on phonological characteristics when assigning nouns to classes, even though semantic features are more predictive. This suggests that children actively filter and select data from their environment to learn language.

The semantics behind the sale price: When does the 'original' price matter?

Research reveals that consumers value sales more when considering the original price, and retailers can leverage this by highlighting list prices. In three experiments, authors found that relying on competing product similarities increased consideration of both original and sale prices, while focusing on dissimilarities led to a focus ...

AmScope B120C-5M Compound Microscope

AmScope B120C-5M Compound Microscope supports teaching labs and QA checks with LED illumination, mechanical stage, and included 5MP camera.

Building disaster-relief phone apps on the fly

New tools developed by MIT researchers allow people with minimal programming skills to rapidly build cellphone applications for disaster relief, utilizing the App Inventor and RDF standards. The apps can monitor multiple data sources, display information on Google maps, and enable users to annotate or supplement the data.

The code of objects

A study by Davide Zoccolan and colleagues found that the anterior inferotemporal cortex (IT) categorizes objects based on visual similarity, except for four-legged animals which are represented by semantic meaning. The IT retains a 'raw' lower-level coding of object properties like color and size.

Brain activation when processing Chinese hand-radicals

Researchers investigated brain activation during reading of Chinese characters with and without hand-radicals using fMRI. They found that characters with hand-radicals activated the right medial frontal gyrus, supporting embodied semantics theory.

Words and actions

Researchers at SISSA uncover inconsistencies in the dependence of the linguistic system on the motor one, with damage to specific brain regions affecting gesture imitation but not language processing. The study employs voxel-based lesion symptom mapping to establish a link between brain damage and performance decline.

Creality K1 Max 3D Printer

Creality K1 Max 3D Printer rapidly prototypes brackets, adapters, and fixtures for instruments and classroom demonstrations at large build volume.

Semantics on the basis of words' connectivity

Brazilian physicists Thiago Silva and Diego Amancio devised a method to disambiguate words with multiple meanings by analyzing their connections in literary classics. Their approach, based on deterministic tourist walks, showed significant accuracy rates comparable to traditional semantic-based methods.

When will my computer understand me?

Researchers are working on creating a model that can accurately distinguish word meanings using a weighted map of relationships created from hundreds of thousands of documents. This approach utilizes supercomputers and Hadoop to process large amounts of text data, enabling the development of more effective language technologies.

How we decode 'noisy' language in daily life

A new study by MIT researchers shows that people make mental edits when processing confusing information and use specific strategies to make sense of language. They also adapt their approach when presented with increasingly nonsensical sentences, inferring lower amounts of 'noise' in the language.

Cracking the semantic code

The study proposes that half of a concept's meaning is a summary of how rewarding and risky an object is. The researchers used internet blogs to estimate the number of good or bad things associated with objects, finding that 'evaluation' and 'activity' dimensions were strong predictors of word usage.

Apple iPad Pro 11-inch (M4)

Apple iPad Pro 11-inch (M4) runs demanding GIS, imaging, and annotation workflows on the go for surveys, briefings, and lab notebooks.

Studies provide new insights into brain-behavior relationships

Researchers investigate patterns of dysgraphia in participants with primary progressive aphasia, comparing them to those with stroke-related dysgraphia. They also explore nonverbal semantic processing in individuals with semantic aphasia and dementia, shedding light on brain-behavior relationships.

Aranet4 Home CO2 Monitor

Aranet4 Home CO2 Monitor tracks ventilation quality in labs, classrooms, and conference rooms with long battery life and clear e-ink readouts.

Getting your message across

A study using electroencephalography found that people's brains often don't notice key words with contradictory meanings, leading to semantic illusions. Shallow processing is more likely under cognitive load or when multitasking.

Social networking shortcut to finding medical experts

A new method of social network analysis has been developed to identify opinion leaders and media experts in the field of health. The system, which uses text mining technology, was tested on the topic of obesity and found experts with an accuracy of about 90%. It also identified non-scientific experts who support a particular cause.

Davis Instruments Vantage Pro2 Weather Station

Davis Instruments Vantage Pro2 Weather Station offers research-grade local weather data for networked stations, campuses, and community observatories.

New research from Psychological Science

New research from Psychological Science shows that attentional task sets modulate subliminal semantic and visuomotor processes differently. High-capacity individuals recover more quickly from distractions than low-capacity individuals.

When the zebra loses its stripes

A study published in Cortex found that the first elements of semantic memory to deteriorate are distinguishing characteristics of a concept, such as a zebra's stripes. This blurs related concepts, leading to temporary improvements in recognizing related words in early Alzheimer's disease.

Low-calorie cheesecake? Why we have trouble estimating calories

A new study published in the Journal of Consumer Research found that the order in which food items are considered affects people's calorie estimates. Researchers discovered that switching the order can significantly alter perceived calorie content, even when foods are dissimilar.

CalDigit TS4 Thunderbolt 4 Dock

CalDigit TS4 Thunderbolt 4 Dock simplifies serious desks with 18 ports for high-speed storage, monitors, and instruments across Mac and PC setups.

Jargon-busting software bridges the knowledge gap

Researchers have developed a tool that uses artificial intelligence to provide additional information on complex terms, bridging the semantic gap and improving communication. The approach has been successfully tested in an English composition class, where students could access explanations of teacher-used terminology.

Dementia takes away the meaning of flavors

Researchers found that patients with semantic dementia have difficulty identifying individual flavours and assessing the appropriateness of particular flavour combinations. This suggests a 'pan-modal' deficiency of knowledge in semantic dementia, affecting not just words but also common experiences like flavours.

Elsevier sponsors 2009 Semantic Web Challenge

The 2009 Semantic Web Challenge recognized four outstanding applications that demonstrated practical applicability to real-world issues. The winners were awarded cash prizes sponsored by Elsevier, promoting the dissemination of knowledge from academia to society.

The eScience revolution

The eScience revolution aims to hasten scientific discovery by providing a toolkit for scientists and educators to access and interpret vast amounts of data. Semantic Web technology enables computers to provide meaning to words, linking users to related information and facilitating collaboration between experts and non-experts.

Kestrel 3000 Pocket Weather Meter

Kestrel 3000 Pocket Weather Meter measures wind, temperature, and humidity in real time for site assessments, aviation checks, and safety briefings.

What's the semantic organization of human language?

Research reveals that dynamic semantic network of human language is small-world and scale-free but differs from syntactic network in hierarchical structure and node degree correlation. This discovery sheds light on the organization of human semantic knowledge and cognition.

THESEUS -- tool for Internet services

THESEUS aims to develop an internet-based knowledge infrastructure using semantic technologies that can identify content meaning and classify it. This will enable computers to understand context and draw logical conclusions about data.

RSC and ChemSpider develop InChI Resolver

The RSC/ChemSpider InChI Resolver will enable scientists to share and search compound data using the InChI standard, promoting standardization in chemistry. The service will also provide tools for creating standard InChI data and depositing it for future use.

Computer hardware 'guardians' protect users from undiscovered bugs

Researchers at the University of Michigan have developed a system that allows computer chips to work around all functional bugs, even those not yet detected. The 'semantic guardian' prevents a chip from operating in untested configurations, eliminating the risk of buggy hardware failure and protecting against potential security threats.

Fluke 87V Industrial Digital Multimeter

Fluke 87V Industrial Digital Multimeter is a trusted meter for precise measurements during instrument integration, repairs, and field diagnostics.

UC San Diego researchers give computers 'common sense'

Researchers use Google Sets to provide contextual information that improves the accuracy of automated image labeling systems. The system uses a three-step process, including image segmentation, ranked lists of probable labels, and post-processing context checks.

The newest AI computing tool: people

Researchers at USC Information Sciences Institute have found a new source of artificial intelligence computing power in people's collective tagging activities on the social web. By extracting metadata from these interactions, they can improve information classification, reliability, and meaning.