#experimental and stochastic

[bandofchimeras]

the combative autist, the disabled spoonie, and the traditionalist Catholic kid in me are teeming up to counterpoint: while agreeing with the beautiful and life-changing core sentiment of this post (relational autonomy) can we bring up the fact that labels come largely from CONTRACTS? contracts are not BAD. contracts are forms of negotiation and a way to hold one another accountable. they are a social reality for managing resources, and building trust. They can be spiritual, emotional, they can be broken, but there are usually consequences or the reasons for breaking them must supercede the reasons they were formed.

a contract which can have an expiration date but are expected to be honored. having a wife is a contract. a boyfriend. even a friend. when it is mutual and you call someone your best friend and they do the same, you are telling eachother you will continue to be important to eachother until something changes drastically enough to break that bond.

even motherhood is a contract. fatherhood. there are roles and expectations you take on based on your actions, your relationships, and it would be really amazing if we could have more education about how these contracts work so young people don't go getting into them totally unawares. this concept of total autonomy is simply not the whole picture of how the world works.

demons, players, pimps, hookers, entreprenuers, gods, spirits, holy men, elders, kings, presidents, children - any and all of these characters can form a contract with you. you might not even know it. you can really really hurt OR/AND piss any of these characters off by breaking expectations, not upholding your end of the bargain, or you can really hurt or trap yourself in another entity's reality by lacking awareness of contracts.

part of the terror and courage of living autonomously is breaking contracts you never agreed to - nonconsensual contracts are p much the definition of oppression.

what i'm saying is why are we so against labels? if you understand they are a social convenience, a partial reality, and you have the power to break them BUT must deal with the consquences when you do....you're more savvy.

you simply cannot assume good faith from everyone and you also have to respect that agreements and being good on your word, honor, while out of style at the moment in the USA, is still extremely important in other parts of the world. that's the whole point of a label. loving, actions of love, taking care of another human being is HARD WORK. if you were doing whatever you felt like all the time you might not have the endurance to stick it through. to stay til the end. when someone has cancer, or your child has a rare congenital condition that requires a ton of medical care. or your lover contracts AIDS.

love is not just loving feelings and enjoyment, its also loving actions. follow through and care and honoring commitments. watch Angels across America, please. I also simply don't know if I or most people could ever be as nonchalant and unattached as OP idealistically prescribes. kinda feel like Aang from that one episode of ATLA when the monk is showing him the concept of total unattachment and he's like NO BUT KATARA and nopes out of the entire spiritual training course.

and yes I would love to hear from OP or other proponents of relationship anarchy about this point. bc I don't think our positions are opposed so much as counterpoints of the human experience of love. but I also grew up being told everytime I sinned I made the cross sink heavier into Jesus' shoulder so, open to lightening my perspective.

I do wish people would remember we still live in a world with martyrs. (look to Gaza).

Notes on: radical aloneness

Last fall, I presented a paper on relationship anarchy. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the term (or concept), it can loosely be understood as a style of interpersonal relationships that doesn’t prioritize or hierarchialize relationships with others based on what takes place within them, at least a priori. In short, there’s a uniqueness to each relationship which makes their translation between relationships difficult to gather––a kind of ineffability that gets lost or violated in the transition. So, for example, you may relate with someone in a way that tends to be more like friendship: perhaps you sometimes get together for coffee, talk about things that are going on with your life, go for walks, make dinner together sometimes, etc––but, sometimes you mess around, not too often, but sometimes. Then, you may have another relationship that is a bit more weighty––for one reason or another it’s got a trajectory that shoots out into the future, a place where you may see yourself growing vegetables and living together, sharing projects, intertwining intricately. And then, just to have more than two examples, you may have a friend that is more traditionally just a friend: you watch hockey together, talk about books you’ve been reading, get a drink, whatever. There’s a complex calculus taking place in all of these relationships, a shifting definition, murky waters, not only interrelationship but intrarelationship, as well––just because you fucked around last time doesn’t mean it’ll definitely happen this time, just because you didn’t hold one another last time doesn’t mean you won’t this time, etc. 

The point being is that, out of the gate, you can’t prioritize based on the activities that go on within the relationship––the only thing that can be said is that the relationships differ. Now, in lived experience, you may want to spend more time with the person who you see yourself growing vegetables with (this is one of the miserable aporias of existence: love seems infinite, but time isn’t…) but this isn’t because you have sex or because you don’t have sex, it isn’t because they’re “more than a friend” or whatever coarse terminology is hoisted upon it––it’s because that’s the way that relationship goes, its particular mode––you require more time with them for one reason or another: they ignite you, they unravel you beautifully, they support you unflinchingly, they catalyze splendid complexity and nuance. After I presented this paper, I spent some time with one of my former professors, a vibrant and shimmering man with a long philosophical history, but more importantly an insatiable thirst for life, gaiety, and joy––his continuing project being resolutely existential and affirmative. As we rode the bus late at night, he said to me something to the effect of: I absolutely loved your paper, why would we ever want people to be with us who don’t want to be with us? Why would we ever want to exercise power and control over loved ones, for that negates or corrodes love, rots it constitutionally. And then, in passing, right before I got on the bus I was transferring to without him, he said something to the effect of: what you need to be able to do relationship anarchy well is an incredible amount of radical aloneness. At the time, this comment slid right off me, it didn’t stick for an instant longer than hearing it and offering a surface response without thinking, “Yeah, you’re right, I think.” What does radical aloneness mean, anyway. To me, it’s some sort of commitment to your shit, what you’ve got going on, a wellness and health that supports engagements with others, comes to the rescue when you want to lash out and heave at others, take people down because of your own insecurities. One who has cultivated an abundant radical aloneness can let the other be because they’ve got their own projects and projections, their own vital flow. If the one they love wants to be with others for whatever reason, they can be upset and bothered, even jealous of course, but on the whole everything is okay, for they are fecundity. You only know you haven’t cultivated radical aloneness when it’s too late, when you need it, unfortunately. Radical aloneness shouldn’t be equated with the singular or the individual either––sometimes radical aloneness means that you have fostered relationships with others that support you and supplement you. Other times radical aloneness means being actually alone, but alone is of course always populated by others as well, even if you’re alone in space at a given time. Events of late have lead to reflect upon the ways that I create, sustain, and tend to my sense of radical aloneness. I think that, in other circles, this would be taken up as self-care, but this is unfortunate, I think. Radical aloneness can encompass what is broadly construed as self-care, sure, but sometimes radical aloneness means fleeing the self, evacuating the self’s rigid postures and habits, and setting out on unforeseen trails––instead of watching over the self, dismantling the self, letting the light shine in, opening up a window, cracking things up a bit. Maybe I’m being too fine with distinctions, but I think there’s a difference. Beyond that, I think that radical aloneness is the wellspring of being with others confidently and creatively: it is from this shimmering becoming that we can glow with others, connect with others in productive and dazzling ways. Radical aloneness as generative and combinatorial, experimental and stochastic, seeking to build and proliferate. Sometimes self-care is necessary to do this: sometimes you just need someone to make you an avocado sandwich, but an avocado sandwich isn’t going to propel you into radiance, just get you into the position where you can once again have the opportunity to luxuriate. Maybe in subsequent posts I can explore the ways in which I cultivate this radical aloneness, or perhaps the times when it would have been immensely useful to have access to. 

[iamlisteningto]

Barker’s Stochastic Drift

[pesura]

album stream: Barker - Stochastic Drift (Smalltown Supersound, 2025)

[justinspoliticalcorner]

S. Baum at Erin In The Morning:

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) hosted a July 9 “workshop” on what it called “unfair or deceptive trade practices in ‘gender-affirming care’ for minors.” However, others might call this descriptor false advertising. The 6-hour long event, held in Washington, DC, was arguably more like another avenue for stoking stochastic terrorism, as well as threatening and intimidating providers of trans-affirming health care—this time under the guise of accusing them of “fraud.” The conference featured dozens of anti-trans zealots—including anti-trans parent activists, disgraced doctors, people from notorious right-wing extremist groups and “detransitioners”—to purportedly “help the FTC to understand whether consumers are being or have been exposed to false or unsupported claims about ‘gender-affirming care.’” In other words, the FTC under President Donald Trump is asserting that trans kids and their parents have been robbed of informed consent. They argue that trans-affirming health care, which is supported by most every major medical organization in the country, lacks evidence rigorous enough for an Administration whose medical politics are, at best, completely arbitrary, unscientific, ideologically-charged, and internally inconsistent. Senator Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, condemned the panel on Bluesky in response to Erin in the Morning’s live-reporting. “Instead of working to protect Americans' privacy, the FTC is hosting what amounts to an anti-trans rally,” he wrote. “Nobody is more obsessed with controlling the private decisions of the American people than Republicans.”

S. Baum, via Bluesky:

The event’s framing was, of course, dripping with pretext (to borrow the words of federal Judge Ana Reyes). It had McCarthy hearing energy—it reeked of conspiracy theories gone wild about “the gender industry,” which the feds painted as a surreptitious and far-reaching ploy “built on lies and deception,” as per Chad Mizelle, the Trump-appointed Chief of Staff of the Department of Justice.

[...] The meeting transpired with no counterweight to the lies, vitriol, and disinformation of panelists. For example, there was Eithan Haim, a disgraced physician who allegedly lied to a hospital to obtain and leak the confidential patient records of trans minors to the right-wing press. (The Department of Justice functionally charged him with a form of health care fraud, but dropped the case upon Trump’s return to office). There was Brandon Showalter, a far-right reporter from The Christian Post who likened gender-affirming care to Nazi experimentation in concentration camps. And then there was Erin Friday, a California attorney and anti-trans advocate who has bragged about forcing her child to abandon an expressed transgender identity. It was perhaps Friday’s speech that was the most telling about the real purpose of the event, which again, was marketed as a symposium on “‘gender-affirming care’ for minors.”

The Trump Regime’s FTC held a “workshop” on Wednesday that falsely painted gender-affirming care for trans youths as “deceptive” and “fraud”.

The so-called “workshop” is part of the Trump Regime’s war on trans people.

See Also:

The Advocate: FTC hosts anti-trans workshop LGBTQ+ advocates call ‘government-sponsored disinformation’

[tanadrin]

So obviously even if life arose on another planet that was chemically very similar to the primordial Earth it would not use the exact same biochemical arrangements. There are lots of simple sugars that could form genetic polymers, even ones with a helical structure, and lots of different possible nucleobases, and even the correspondence between codons and amino acids (including what amino acids life uses in the first place) are arbitrary. As long as everything is water soluble and the bonds aren’t so weak that big organic molecules fall apart nor so strong that you can’t take them apart to reuse (or get any kind of stochastic changes at all to drive Darwinian evolution), it’s mostly a question of what particular chemical combo your alien microbes happen to land on, with an assist from molecular geometry and stuff.

A lot of this has been played with experimentally—xenonucleic acids and unnatural nucleobases and such—but of course mostly with an eye to doing practical stuff like antisense therapies or studying the history of life on Earth. What I have a less good sense of is what kind of chemically-similar-but-totally-historically-distinct developments you could get in such a scenario. Could you have a genetic molecule based entirely on amino acids? Are there other organic macromolecules that could be efficient ways of storing genetic information? Is it absolutely necessary to have genetic information be totally distinct from proteins in the first place—could you have some kind of system where certain critical proteins built copies of themselves and other important functional proteins?

I don’t see an immediate reason why not, but I really don’t know enough about molecular biology to be confident in that assessment, much less what such structures would look like!

[compneuropapers]

Interesting Papers for Week 5, 2025

Weak overcomes strong in sensory integration: shading warps the disparity field. Aubuchon, C., Kemp, J., Vishwanath, D., & Domini, F. (2024). Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 291(2033).

Functional networks of inhibitory neurons orchestrate synchrony in the hippocampus. Bocchio, M., Vorobyev, A., Sadeh, S., Brustlein, S., Dard, R., Reichinnek, S., … Cossart, R. (2024). PLOS Biology, 22(10), e3002837.

Time-dependent neural arbitration between cue associative and episodic fear memories. Cortese, A., Ohata, R., Alemany-González, M., Kitagawa, N., Imamizu, H., & Koizumi, A. (2024). Nature Communications, 15, 8706.

Neural correlates of memory in a naturalistic spatiotemporal context. Dougherty, M. R., Chang, W., Rudoler, J. H., Katerman, B. S., Halpern, D. J., Bruska, J. P., … Kahana, M. J. (2024). Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 50(9), 1404–1420.

Massive perturbation of sound representations by anesthesia in the auditory brainstem. Gosselin, E., Bagur, S., & Bathellier, B. (2024). Science Advances, 10(42).

Between-area communication through the lens of within-area neuronal dynamics. Gozel, O., & Doiron, B. (2024). Science Advances, 10(42).

Brainstem inhibitory neurons enhance behavioral feature selectivity by sharpening the tuning of excitatory neurons. He, Y., Chou, X., Lavoie, A., Liu, J., Russo, M., & Liu, B. (2024). Current Biology, 34(20), 4623-4638.e8.

Human motor learning dynamics in high-dimensional tasks. Kamboj, A., Ranganathan, R., Tan, X., & Srivastava, V. (2024). PLOS Computational Biology, 20(10), e1012455.

Distinct functions for beta and alpha bursts in gating of human working memory. Liljefors, J., Almeida, R., Rane, G., Lundström, J. N., Herman, P., & Lundqvist, M. (2024). Nature Communications, 15, 8950.

Regularizing hyperparameters of interacting neural signals in the mouse cortex reflect states of arousal. Lyamzin, D. R., Alamia, A., Abdolrahmani, M., Aoki, R., & Benucci, A. (2024). PLOS Computational Biology, 20(10), e1012478.

Differential role of NMDA receptors in hippocampal‐dependent spatial memory and plasticity in juvenile male and female rats. Narattil, N. R., & Maroun, M. (2024). Hippocampus, 34(11), 564–574.

Dynamic patterns of functional connectivity in the human brain underlie individual memory formation. Phan, A. T., Xie, W., Chapeton, J. I., Inati, S. K., & Zaghloul, K. A. (2024). Nature Communications, 15, 8969.

Computational processes of simultaneous learning of stochasticity and volatility in humans. Piray, P., & Daw, N. D. (2024). Nature Communications, 15, 9073.

Ordinal information, but not metric information, matters in binding feature with depth location in three-dimensional contexts. Qian, J., Zheng, T., & Li, B. (2024). Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 50(11), 1083–1099.

Hippocampal storage and recall of neocortical “What”–“Where” representations. Rolls, E. T., Zhang, C., & Feng, J. (2024). Hippocampus, 34(11), 608–624.

Roles and interplay of reinforcement-based and error-based processes during reaching and gait in neurotypical adults and individuals with Parkinson’s disease. Roth, A. M., Buggeln, J. H., Hoh, J. E., Wood, J. M., Sullivan, S. R., Ngo, T. T., … Cashaback, J. G. A. (2024). PLOS Computational Biology, 20(10), e1012474.

Integration of rate and phase codes by hippocampal cell-assemblies supports flexible encoding of spatiotemporal context. Russo, E., Becker, N., Domanski, A. P. F., Howe, T., Freud, K., Durstewitz, D., & Jones, M. W. (2024). Nature Communications, 15, 8880.

The one exception: The impact of statistical regularities on explicit sense of agency. Seubert, O., van der Wel, R., Reis, M., Pfister, R., & Schwarz, K. A. (2024). Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 50(11), 1067–1082.

The brain hierarchically represents the past and future during multistep anticipation. Tarder-Stoll, H., Baldassano, C., & Aly, M. (2024). Nature Communications, 15, 9094.

Expectancy-related changes in firing of dopamine neurons depend on hippocampus. Zhang, Z., Takahashi, Y. K., Montesinos-Cartegena, M., Kahnt, T., Langdon, A. J., & Schoenbaum, G. (2024). Nature Communications, 15, 8911.

[frank-olivier]

Foundations in Flux: Rethinking Quantum Mechanics

At the forefront of modern scientific inquiry lies the intriguing convergence of philosophy and physics, particularly within the realm of quantum mechanics. A discourse with Professor Jacob Barandes, a scholar bridging fundamental physics and philosophical introspection, offers a nuanced exploration of this intersection.

Challenging the orthodox view, Professor Barandes posits wave functions as mathematical constructs generating probabilities, rather than physical entities inhabiting space. This paradigm shift underscores the notion that quantum mechanics' peculiarities may originate from its representational framework, rather than the intrinsic nature of physical systems. By demoting wave functions from ontological status to epistemological utility, we may uncover a more parsimonious explanation for quantum phenomena.

The introduction of C*-algebras as an alternative, mathematically equivalent formulation, prompts a reassessment of Hilbert spaces' foundational role. This approach, highlighting the potential redundancy of Hilbert spaces in certain quantum systems, invites a critical examination of quantum mechanics' axiomatic underpinnings. The implications are far-reaching, suggesting that a reevaluation of quantum theory's foundations may yield novel insights into the nature of reality.

Eugene Wigner's thought-provoking experiment serves as a catalyst for exploring the intricate dance between consciousness, wave function collapse, and the observer's role. By interrogating the fundamental status of wave functions and Hilbert spaces, Professor Barandes' framework may provide a novel lens through which to resolve the measurement problem, thereby illuminating the complex interplay between observation, reality, and the quantum realm.

Professor Barandes' "deflationary" approach, seeking to clarify quantum mechanics by positing a more intuitive, classical-like ontology, warrants careful consideration. By modeling quantum systems as probabilistic, classical entities governed by indivisible stochastic processes, this perspective potentially reconciles the theory's interpretational ambiguities. However, the success of this endeavor hinges on its capacity to generate empirically distinguishable predictions, thus necessitating rigorous experimental verification.

Jacob Barandes: There's No Wave Function? (Curt Jaimungal, Theories of Everything, November 2024)

Thursday, November 14, 2024

[entropyhours]

oh hey didn't see u there :]

Entropy, they/them, adult

I'm a fanfic author who is too shy to attach my main to my ao3 account so I thought I'd be silly funny and try out having a fanfic writing blog!! :>

I write for the Life Series and Hermitcraft, primarily the ship Scarian - there will for sure be traffic/hermitshipping on this blog so if you're not a fan of that don't follow!

My Ao3 is EntropyHours !!!

My ask box and messages are very open and if you ask me about any of my AUs I will be sososososososo happy, so unbelievably ecstatic - i have many thoughts on all of them!! i also take lil writing requests for scenes/snippets from AUs if you have any :]

Tags wot I use:

entropy.pdf | for my published fics!

entropy.txt | for yapping! my thoughts! my textposts!

entropy.img | infrequently i post art

I'm an autistic adult with anxiety, which is kind of why I've gone with the making a whole gosh darn new account to separate my identities, so if you do know what my main is and my name shh no you don't, and please don't publicly associate the two, thanks! :>>

Fic/AU Masterlist Under-cut:

The Malignant Clockwork

Murder Mystery / Everyone's monsters AU - crack-fic Hot Scarian Summer idea that got out of hand and keeps developing weirder and weirder worldbuilding.

Cleo’s throwing a murder mystery party to celebrate her deathday, Grian gets far too invested in his role as detective and Scar wants to take their situationship and make it a relationship. Oh and also they’re all Halloween monsters, that’s probably important.

Murder Most Timeless (17.8k words, multi-chapter, ongoing)

Reluctant Watchers

General life series / watchers worldbuilding setting.

Watchers as entities without physical bodies that haunt the disconnected reaches of the void, unable to communicate with the world and others, unless their essence manages to latch onto the stochastic creation of a player.

Disconnected one-shot collection currently, full length multichapter fic centring Watcher Scar in Secret Life haunts my dreams.

Curved Glass (1.7k words, complete, a bit outdated)

Observations on a Binary Star System (3k words, complete)

Aria in H. Micacea

F/F scarian indie musician AU. One-shot collection.

Grian is a pretentious experimental techno music production girlie, and has absolutely no interest in spending time with Scar, a woman who's music taste seems to extend about as far as radio top 20 hits and will get famous anyway cause she's hot, has a nice voice and can play guitar. Too bad Scar needs someone to master her auditioning EP.

Moths to a Fluorescent Flame (4.2k words)

Moth Seeking Moon (Will accept candle as subsitute) (12.4k words)

Canon Universe Stuff:

A Tale of Birds and Bread (2.7k words | Grian 3rd Life being oblivious while baking)

His Stillborn Swan Song (8k words | Scar 3rd Life Character Study)

Misc AU fics:

I don't wanna die in June (5.2k words | modern AU britfic)

Daybreak at the Outskirts of a Prism (2k words | weird unreality, what if Hermitcraft was just a beautfiul dream AU)

Does Sabrina Scarpenter is Gay? (12k words | April fools, Gaylor conspiracy AU, Epistolary, told almost entirely through formatted social media posts)

[glasshalftrue]

as both an artist and a programmer (though not one working in machine learning so i won't claim anything close to expertise), the anti-ai takes i see from artists are really frustrating to me. the two most common criticisms i see about it are that it's 1. stealing 2. not art regarding the first point, it's clear that most artists don't understand the general technology behind it at all. they constantly claim that it does stuff like just collage different parts of images together, when that's very much not what it's doing! the process that neural nets use is incredibly complex and it's much more about pattern matching than storing and replicating exact sets of pixels. i definitely don't like it when ai artists specifically target an artist who voices their discomfort with having their art being used that way, if only because it's simply mean and rude, but unfortunately, i can't say that i'd consider it plagiarism. and for the people who want stronger copyright laws to protect artists' rights: believe me, it will not at all be helpful to "the little guy" like you think it will. regarding the second point, it seems like there's a couple things going on. one part of the critique seems to come from the quality of the art itself, which is an obviously losing battle. remember a year ago, when people were making fun of how bad ai was at generating hands? they seem to have pretty much solved that now, and whatever little nitpick you might be able to point out next, it's almost certain they'll eventually figure out that one too. i see a lot of tips floating around about how to tell if a piece of art is ai-generated, and while the tips usually do work well, the fact that the people need to use these increasingly specialized perceptive skills makes it pretty clear that it's becoming more and more indistinguishable. i've seen plenty of cases at this point of real artists having their work being accused of being ai-generated, which to me seems like the logical conclusion of people's assumptions that they can always tell when something is real or not, and i think it's only going to get worse and worse. the other part of the critique is about the artist's intent, an appeal to some illusory idea of "the soul", which seem like transparently bad arguments to me, and are clearly motivated from an emotional-driven place. because it seems so obvious to me that prompters do, in fact, have an intent when they're generating ai art, some sort of vision of what they want to create. it doesn't matter that their idea is vaguely defined rather than fully-formed in their head; plenty of existing art forms involve a creation process that is similarly stochastic, from Jackson Pollock-style drip paintings to experimental generative digital music. hell, even when i draw i often don't know exactly what i want to the end product to look like and figure it out as i go along! now, the incredibly low-barrier to entry and the general motivations and sensibilities of a lot of typical ai art enthusiasts mean that, in practice, a lot of (maybe most) ai art is indeed dumb garbage. but just like how the reality that most mainstream superhero movies these days are boring and soulless doesn't mean that the superhero genre is inherently without merit, the existence of bad ai art isn't good evidence of the medium itself being creatively bankrupt.

ultimately, i do agree and sympathize with a lot of artists' concerns and criticisms about ai art and what its possible effects on the world will be. like i said, in practice a lot of ai art really is soulless trash, but the ease of creation means that i can very easily see a world where most of the art we see today in our everyday lives is replaced with bland, insipid ai generated shit that is just good enough for the general public, and i really don't want to live in that world. and for that same reason, it'll also likely have a very bad impact on the art industry and people's abilities to do art as a career, and while the disruption of industries due to technological innovation is a tale as old as time, the potentially rapid pace of this disruption will certainly lead to a lot of suffering along the way. i just wish that artists had a better idea of what they're actually fighting against.

[hybridmindthoughtsreloaded]

DTN routing in body sensor networks with dynamic postural partitioning

This paper presents novel store-and-forward packet routing algorithms for Wireless Body Area Networks (WBAN) with frequent postural partitioning. A prototype WBAN has been constructed for experimentally characterizing on-body topology disconnections in the presence of ultra short range radio links, unpredictable RF attenuation, and human postural mobility. On-body DTN routing protocols are then developed using a stochastic link cost formulation, capturing multi-scale topological localities in human postural movements. Performance of the proposed protocols are evaluated experimentally and via simulation, and are compared with a number of existing single-copy DTN routing protocols and an on-body packet flooding mechanism that serves as a performance benchmark with delay lower-bound. It is shown that via multi-scale modeling of the spatio-temporal locality of on-body link disconnection patterns, the proposed algorithms can provide better routing performance compared to a number of existing probabilistic, opportunistic, and utility-based DTN routing protocols in the literature.

Keywords: Body area sensor networks, Multi-scale link locality, Probabilistic routing, Utility based routing, Delay tolerant networks

[codingprolab]

EE 381 – Probability and Statistics with Applications to Computing Project 1

0. Introduction and Background Material 0.1. Simulating Coin Toss Experiments As mentioned in class, there are many ways to model stochastic experiments. The following two programs simulate the toss of a fair coin N times, and calculate the experimental probability of getting heads (p_heads) or tails (p_heads). Both programs provide the same results, but they differ in the way the models are…

[govindhtech]

ETH Zurich’s QPD: Redefining Quantum Energy Calculations

Quantum Prolate Diagonalisation is

A new spectral method changes quantum system frequency estimation

Scientists at ETH Zurich have developed a novel spectral technique that could revolutionise molecular energy calculations by eliminating the need for complex wave functions. The innovative Quantum Prolate Diagonalisation (QPD) method ensures accurate Frequency Estimation even with minimal signal information.

Markus Reiher, Davide Castaldo, and Timothy Stroschein of the Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences lead a hybrid classical-quantum approach that focusses on a system's autocorrelation function instead of its wave function. Focussing on the autocorrelation function, which evaluates the resemblance between a signal and a time-delayed version of itself, is a powerful tool for evaluating a signal's frequency content without a Fourier conversion.

Autocorrelation Overcoming Computational Challenges

Computational quantum chemistry has long struggled to precisely determine molecular energies, which often increases computational cost exponentially with system size. Traditional variational quantum eigensolvers (VQE) are powerful but require precise and efficient energy expectation value evaluation on quantum computers due to noise and qubit coherence.

The innovative QPD method predicts the eigenvalues of a Hamiltonian operator that reflects a quantum system's energy levels through its autocorrelation function and gives a compelling result. This allows accurate Frequency Estimation even with limited data, which is important for brief signals or few samples.

Prolate Spheroidal Wave Function Power

Prolate spheroidal wave functions are key to this breakthrough. These functions' entire orthogonal basis set makes them ideal for bandlimited signals. Researchers use their properties to develop an optimal basis set that fits the observed time span and captures the signal's important frequency components. Without extrapolating beyond the observed data, this innovative strategy reduces the risk of erroneous frequencies or artefacts in the study.

Use of the technology shows hybrid computing's strength. A quantum computer measures the system's autocorrelation function, revealing its frequency content. After receiving this data, a classical computer diagonalises a matrix representation of the Hamiltonian operator to get the eigenvalues. This dual approach may enable the modelling of increasingly complex systems by ensuring the efficient use of quantum and conventional resources.

Unmatched Precision and Strength

The team's 99% consistency in recognising signal main frequencies is promising. They meticulously showed that signal characteristics and observation time affect frequency estimate accuracy. This trade-off understanding allows experimental parameters to be optimised for accuracy.

QPD is computationally efficient, noise-resistant, and decreases the dimensionality of complex problems by projecting onto a smaller subspace of essential states since prolate spheroidal wave functions filter out noise. Such resilience is crucial in the noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) future of quantum computing.

Time to Frequency Spectral Estimation

The new method advances spectral estimation. After translating noise data from the time domain to the frequency domain, power spectral density (PSD) can be used to investigate power at different frequencies. This technique is called spectral estimation. The issue is estimating a stochastic process's power spectrum using insufficient data, generally few autocorrelation function samples.

MEM and FFT are prominent approaches. The easiest way is to Fourier transform the autocorrelation function's known values. Parametric spectral estimating, a model-based technique, can make precise estimates with extremely little data lengths if the data fits the presumed model. For spectra with strongly defined peaks, Autoregressive (AR) models function well, whereas Moving Average (MA) models work better for clearly defined notches. Signals with both should use the broad Autoregressive Moving Average (ARMA) models.

Future prospects and information limitations

Spectral estimating also considers spectral complexity (C_s), the total amount of information needed for an accurate estimate. Longer stationary signal observation times improve estimates until convergence, when no more power spectrum information can be gained. Time support of the autocorrelation function affects spectral complexity. Frequency Estimation for non-stationary signals is constrained as spectral dynamics rise since data from multiple periods can only be significant if correlated with spectrum information during the instant of interest.

The QPD technique handles these problems by maximising scarce data and understanding precision-observation time trade-offs. This discovery advances molecular simulations and changes quantum chemistry and computational science by allowing molecular energies to be determined with unprecedented precision, possibly approaching the Heisenberg limit.

[ixnai]

AI is not infallible. Beneath the veneer of sophisticated algorithms and neural networks lies a labyrinth of potential pitfalls. The Achilles’ heel of artificial intelligence is its reliance on data—a dependency that can lead to catastrophic failures.

At the core, AI systems are statistical engines, driven by vast datasets. These datasets, however, are not immune to bias. When training data is skewed, the model inherits these biases, perpetuating systemic errors. This is not merely a technical oversight; it is a fundamental flaw. The GIGO principle—Garbage In, Garbage Out—remains a stark reminder that AI is only as good as the data it consumes.

Consider the black box problem. AI models, particularly deep learning networks, operate in a realm of opacity. Their decision-making processes are inscrutable, even to their creators. This lack of transparency is not just a technical challenge; it is a profound ethical dilemma. When AI systems make decisions that affect human lives, the inability to audit their reasoning is a significant liability.

Moreover, AI’s deterministic nature is at odds with the stochastic reality of human behavior. Algorithms are designed to optimize for specific outcomes, yet they lack the nuance to navigate the unpredictability of human contexts. This misalignment can lead to unintended consequences, where AI systems enforce rigid, binary decisions in a world that thrives on ambiguity.

The harm extends beyond technical failures. AI’s deployment in critical sectors—healthcare, criminal justice, finance—amplifies its impact. In these domains, errors are not mere glitches; they are breaches of trust with tangible repercussions. An AI misdiagnosis can endanger lives, while biased algorithms in judicial systems can perpetuate injustice.

Furthermore, the rapid pace of AI development outstrips regulatory frameworks. The absence of robust oversight mechanisms allows for unchecked experimentation, where ethical considerations are often an afterthought. This regulatory vacuum exacerbates the risks, creating an environment where AI can cause harm before safeguards are in place.

In conclusion, while AI holds promise, its current trajectory is fraught with peril. The technical limitations—bias, opacity, determinism—are not just hurdles to overcome; they are intrinsic challenges that demand a reevaluation of how AI is developed and deployed. Without addressing these foundational issues, AI’s potential for harm will continue to overshadow its benefits.

[renee00124]

Historic research laid the foundation for what is happening today and ongoing on a massive scale. Mind Control and brainwashing capabilities are no joke using the civilian population across the USA and globally for nonconsensual experimentation. No one is exempt, men, women and children.

Patents

https://www.bigbrotherwatchingus.com/official-mind-control-patents.html

[compneuropapers]

Interesting Papers for Week 28, 2024

Hierarchical control over foraging behavior by anterior cingulate cortex. Alejandro, R. J., & Holroyd, C. B. (2024). Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 160, 105623.

Dissociable encoding of motivated behavior by parallel thalamo-striatal projections. Beas, S., Khan, I., Gao, C., Loewinger, G., Macdonald, E., Bashford, A., … Penzo, M. A. (2024). Current Biology, 34(7), 1549-1560.e3.

Active reinforcement learning versus action bias and hysteresis: control with a mixture of experts and nonexperts. Colas, J. T., O’Doherty, J. P., & Grafton, S. T. (2024). PLOS Computational Biology, 20(3), e1011950.

Alignment of brain embeddings and artificial contextual embeddings in natural language points to common geometric patterns. Goldstein, A., Grinstein-Dabush, A., Schain, M., Wang, H., Hong, Z., Aubrey, B., … Hasson, U. (2024). Nature Communications, 15, 2768.

Optimal reaching subject to computational and physical constraints reveals structure of the sensorimotor control system. Greene, P., Bastian, A. J., Schieber, M. H., & Sarma, S. V. (2024). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 121(14), e2319313121.

Maturation of cortical input to dorsal raphe nucleus increases behavioral persistence in mice. Gutierrez-Castellanos, N., Sarra, D., Godinho, B. S., & Mainen, Z. F. (2024). eLife, 13, e93485.

Antipsychotic drugs selectively decorrelate long-range interactions in deep cortical layers. Heindorf, M., & Keller, G. B. (2024). eLife, 12, e86805.4.

Perceptual learning changes the amplitude not the shape of the temporal window of visual processing. Lin, L., Ruan, X., Liu, R., Zhu, J., Zhang, W., Lu, Z.-L., … Hou, F. (2024). Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 50(4), 523–534.

Learning leaves a memory trace in motor cortex. Losey, D. M., Hennig, J. A., Oby, E. R., Golub, M. D., Sadtler, P. T., Quick, K. M., … Chase, S. M. (2024). Current Biology, 34(7), 1519-1531.e4.

A role of frontal association cortex in long‐term object recognition memory of objects with complex features in rats. Masmudi‐Martín, M., López‐Aranda, M. F., Navarro‐Lobato, I., & Khan, Z. U. (2024). European Journal of Neuroscience, 59(7), 1743–1752.

Predictive coding networks for temporal prediction. Millidge, B., Tang, M., Osanlouy, M., Harper, N. S., & Bogacz, R. (2024). PLOS Computational Biology, 20(4), e1011183.

Unravelling the multisensory learning advantage: Different patterns of within and across frequency-specific interactions drive uni- and multisensory neuroplasticity. Paraskevopoulos, E., Anagnostopoulou, A., Chalas, N., Karagianni, M., & Bamidis, P. (2024). NeuroImage, 291, 120582.

Collective sensing in electric fish. Pedraja, F., & Sawtell, N. B. (2024). Nature, 628(8006), 139–144.

Stochastic attractor models of visual working memory. Penny, W. (2024). PLOS ONE, 19(4), e0301039.

Brain mechanism of foraging: Reward-dependent synaptic plasticity versus neural integration of values. Pereira-Obilinovic, U., Hou, H., Svoboda, K., & Wang, X.-J. (2024). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 121(14), e2318521121.

Space as a scaffold for rotational generalisation of abstract concepts. Pesnot Lerousseau, J., & Summerfield, C. (2024). eLife, 13, e93636.3.

A midbrain GABAergic circuit constrains wakefulness in a mouse model of stress. Ren, S., Zhang, C., Yue, F., Tang, J., Zhang, W., Zheng, Y., … Hu, Z. (2024). Nature Communications, 15, 2722.

A machine‐learning tool to identify bistable states from calcium imaging data. Varma, A., Udupa, S., Sengupta, M., Ghosh, P. K., & Thirumalai, V. (2024). Journal of Physiology, 602(7), 1243–1271.

Ocular surface information seen from the somatosensory thalamus and cortex. Velasco, E., Zaforas, M., Acosta, M. C., Gallar, J., & Aguilar, J. (2024). Journal of Physiology, 602(7), 1405–1426.

Causal functional maps of brain rhythms in working memory. Wischnewski, M., Berger, T. A., Opitz, A., & Alekseichuk, I. (2024). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 121(14), e2318528121.

[screenstretch]

From Sonsoles Print Studio @sonsolesprintstudio (Instagram) 💙

➡️ https://bookwhen.com/sonsolesprintstudio ⬅️ (link In Sonsoles bio)

This September 🛎️ Our first *EVER* CMYK workshop is finally here! Rory will be teaching you all you need to know + screenprint your very own 4 colour separation print from start to finish 😀 all materials included, more info below:

CMYK changed the image reproduction industry and has impacted printed matter thereon. Exploring how to push the boundaries of this foundational screen-printing method for surprising, experimental results.

In Part 1 we learning the rules in order to break them and get creative! A comprehensive understanding of CMYK’s limitations, potentials and reasoning.

In Part 2 we expand on ways to subvert CMYK norms into making exciting and different developments

Beginner to Intermediate

Wednesday 25th | 7pm - 9pm | Part 1 - Theory and Separations

Saturday 28th | 10am - 4pm - Part 2 - Exposing and Printing

What’s covered:

Digital art-working CMYK separations

Bitmapping

LPI - DPI

Angles

Frequency

Stochastic dots

Printing

Printing a square on a square on a square on a square

Inks

Moiré mitigation /exposing

🏃 Limited Spaces.

Led by @roryprints #cmykprinting #cmyk #cmyk_dots #screenprintingcmyk