Cathemeral Thinking

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Thursday, August 15, 2002 Global cooling... on Pluto! Apparently, Pluto's climate has changed drastically since the last time people looked 14 years ago. The atmosphere is cooling but the surface seems to be warming.  Astronomers are currently unable to determine the reasons for the changes but hope that the planned Pluto-Kuiper Belt mission launching in 2006 and arriving at Pluto in 2016 will help answer their questions. Permalink  8:40:42 PM  Your views [] Pattern recognition by quantum computer Pattern recognition looks like a problem suitable for quantum computers, according to a preprint just released. Although humans are particularly good at identifying a pattern in their visual field, computers are unable to apply the same sorts of heuristic rules and judgement that humans seem to use to identify patterns. Computers essentially have to take a brute force approach to look for patterns. However, this state of affairs may change if a quantum computer can look for patterns efficiently. The suggestion of using quantum computers for pattern recognition adds to the currently small stock of applications for quantum computers and may present a viable approach to the computationally intense problem of pattern recognition. Quantum computers are only good at solving problems that can be set up in a very specific way and, at this time, there are few problems amenable to quantum computation. Examples are factoring of large number and searching databases. Each of these problems can be solved with a quantum computer much more efficiently than any classical computer will ever be able. Now it looks like the problem of pattern recognition can be cast in a form suitable for quantum computers, promising exponentially faster searches for patterns in a background. The quantum algorithm presented in the new research works by effectively comparing the pattern being searched for with every segment of the image being searched, all at the same time. The research is presented by Ralf Schützhold in the arXiv preprint quant-ph/0208063.   Permalink  1:12:28 PM  Your views [] In the literature: How leaf edges curl Edges of leaves and flowers often have characteristic rippled patterns. The same sort of pattern can appear in torn plastic. How these patterns arise touches on a basic question of complexity. Many biologists think that there should be complicated genetic instructions for the curling, while many physicists suspect the complex patterns arise from simple underlying rules. This study shows how simple physical rules to do with the amount of energy in the leaf's edge can lead to complex patterns such as rippling. arXiv preprint Permalink  12:58:14 PM  Your views [] In the literature: Modelling urban growth Past models of urban growth have been unable to account for observations on a small scale. A new model solves this problem and has features that can be matched up with actual human decisions and motivations. Therefore, it has the potential to aid in development of policies and regulations. Physical Review E (Print issue: August 2002) Permalink  12:57:00 PM  Your views [] Today is ... 1892: Birth of Louis-Victor de Broglie, physicist known for his discovery of the wave nature of electrons 1914: Panama canal opened 1877: Thomas Edison coined the telephone greeting "Hello" Permalink  12:54:17 PM  Your views []

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