Evaluating creativity in computational co-creative systems | Ingrid Fadelli

Three main trends in creative systems: creativity support tools, fully autonomous systems and co-creative systems. Credit: Karimi et al. Aug. 8, 2018 (TechXplore) -- Computer programs assist humans in a variety of ways, including in their creative endeavors. Researchers at UNC Charlotte and the University of Sydney have recently developed a new framework for evaluating creativity in co-creative s ...

Global warming may be twice what climate models predict | Alvin Stone

Sunset. Credit: Patrik Linderstam, Unsplash July 5, 2018 (Phys.org) -- A new study based on evidence from past warm periods suggests global warming may be double what is forecast. Future global warming may eventually be twice as warm as projected by climate models and sea levels may rise six meters (20 feet) or more even if the world meets the 2°C target, according to an international team of res ...

Eight Things I learned About Palestine While Touring Eight Western Nations | Ramzy Baroud

Ramzy Baroud -- World News Trust May 30, 2018 On February 20, 2018, I embarked on a global book tour that has, thus far, taken me to eight nations. The main theme of all my talks in various cultural, academic and media platforms was the pressing need to refocus the discussion on Palestine on the struggle, aspirations and history of the Palestinian people. But, interacting with hundreds of people ...

Physicists invent flux capacitor, break time-reversal symmetry | Jared Cole

Schematic representation of the proposed circulator. Credit: FLEET May 28, 2018 (Phys.org) -- In the popular movie franchise "Back to the Future," an eccentric scientist creates a time machine that runs on a flux capacitor. Now a group of actual physicists from Australia and Switzerland have proposed a device that uses the quantum tunneling of magnetic flux around a capacitor, breaking time-rever ...

Earth BioGenome Project aims to sequence DNA from all complex life on Earth | Harris A. Lewin

The Earth BioGenome Project aims to sequence all eukaryotic species. This superkingdom of life includes all organisms except bacteria and archaea. Credit: Mirhee Lee. April 23, 2018 (Phys.org) -- An international consortium of scientists is proposing what is arguably the most ambitious project in the history of biology: sequencing the DNA of all known eukaryotic species on Earth. The benefits of ...

How young children run around all day without getting tired | Sébastien Ratel & Anthony Blazevich

Credit: Robert Kraft/public domain April 24, 2018 (Phys.org) -- Children not only have fatigue-resistant muscles, but recover very quickly from high-intensity exercise -- even faster than well-trained adult endurance athletes. This is the finding of new research published in open-access journal Frontiers in Physiology, which compared the energy output and post-exercise recovery rates of young boy ...

Seeing is believing—precision atom qubits achieve major quantum computing milestone | Michelle Simmons

A scanning tunnelling microscope image showing the electron wave function of a qubit made from a phosphorus atom precisely positioned in silicon. Credit: UNSW March 7, 2018 (Phys.org) -- The unique Australian approach of creating quantum bits from precisely positioned individual atoms in silicon is reaping major rewards, with UNSW Sydney-led scientists showing for the first time that they can mak ...

Gene variants identified that may influence sexual orientation in men and boys | Bob Yirka

Credit: CC0 Public Domain Dec. 8, 2017 (Medical Xpress) -- Scientists have found two gene variants that appear to be more prevalent in gay men than straight men, adding further evidence of sexual orientation having a biological component. In their paper published in Scientific Reports, the large team of researchers from several institutions in the United States, and one each from Australia and th ...

Study sheds light on the voices in our head | Wendy Van Zuijlen

We spend a lot of our time talking to ourselves in our heads. Credit: UNSW Science Dec. 8, 2017 (Medical Xpress) -- New research showing that talking to ourselves in our heads may be the same as speaking our thoughts out loud could help explain why people with mental illnesses such as schizophrenia hear voices. As far our brains are concerned, talking to ourselves in our heads may be fundamentall ...

How Antarctic ice melt can be a tipping point for the planet's climate | Chris Turney, Jonathan Palmer, Peter Kershaw, Steven Phipps and Zoë Thomas

Melting Antarctic ice can trigger effects on the other side of the globe. Credit: NASA/Jane Peterson Sept. 13, 2017 (The Conversation) -- Melting of Antarctica's ice can trigger rapid warming on the other side of the planet, according to our new research which details how just such an abrupt climate event happened 30,000 years ago, in which the North Atlantic region warmed dramatically. This idea ...

The accelerating expansion of the Universe may not be real | David Wiltshire

The difference in the magnitudes of supernovae in the ΛCDM and Timescape cosmologies and the magnitudes the supernovae would appear to have in an empty universe (horizontal dashed line). Both models show recent apparent acceleration following earlier deceleration. In the Timescape model this is not a real effect, however, and the curve is flatter than the ΛCDM case. Credit: Lawrence Dam, Asta Hei ...