Artificial Spin Glass Containing Nanomagnets, Likely To Be a Breakthrough in AI
Artificially manufacturing a rare kind of substance known as spin glass, according to a new study, might usher in a new era in artificial intelligence by enabling algorithms to be printed as physical hardware. The peculiar features of spin glass allow a type of AI that, like the brain, can distinguish objects from incomplete images and possess the potential for low-power computing, among other things.
Our work accomplished the first experimental realization of an artificial spin glass consisting of nanomagnets arranged to replicate a neural network. Our paper lays the groundwork we need to use these physical systems practically.
Michael Saccone, Study Lead Author and Post-doctoral Researcher, Theoretical Physics, Los Alamos National Laboratory
The study was published in the journal Nature Physics.
Spin glasses are a mathematical approach to thinking about material structure. Saccone explained that being able to alter the interaction within these systems using electron-beam lithography for the very first time allows for the representation of a range of computing issues in spin-glass networks.
Spin-glass systems are a form of a disordered system of nanomagnets that arise from random connections and competition between two types of magnetic order in the material. They are found at the junction of engineered materials and computation.
When their temperature decreases, they exhibit “frustration,” which means they do not settle into an evenly ordered arrangement, and they have different thermodynamic and dynamic properties that can be used in computer applications.
Theoretical models describing spin glasses are broadly used in other complex systems, such as those describing brain function, error-correcting codes, or stock-market dynamics. This wide interest in spin glasses provides strong motivation to generate an artificial spin glass.
Michael Saccone, Study Lead Author and Post-doctoral Researcher, Theoretical Physics, Los Alamos National Laboratory
The study team integrated theoretical and experimental investigation, to build and analyze the artificial spin glass as a proof-of-principle Hopfield neural network, which mathematically simulates associative memory helping regulate the instability of the artificial spin systems.
Both spin glass and Hopfield networks have evolved in a symbiotic relationship, with one field feeding the other. Associative memory connects two or more memory patterns associated with an item, whether in a Hopfield network or other types of neural networks.
The network can recollect the entire face if only one memory is activated — for example, by getting a partial image of a face as input. Associative memory, unlike more standard algorithms, does not demand a completely identical circumstance to detect memory.
These networks’ memories are similar to the ground states of a spin system, and they are less affected by noise than other neural networks.
Saccone and his team’s research verified that the material was a spin glass, providing proof that will enable them to explain the system’s attributes and how it processes data. Spin glass AI algorithms would be “messier” than standard algorithms, but more versatile for particular AI applications, according to Saccone.
The research was funded by the Laboratory Directed Research and Development program at Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Signals are processed only if they reach the brain during brief receptive cycles. This timing mechanism explains how attention filters information and may inform therapies and brain-inspired technologies. It has long been recognized that [...]
Is time something that flows — or just an illusion? Exploring space-time as either a fixed “block universe” or a dynamic fabric reveals deeper mysteries about existence, change, and the very nature of reality. [...]
Most bacteria cannot be cultured in the lab-and that's been bad news for medicine. Many of our frontline antibiotics originated from microbes, yet as antibiotic resistance spreads and drug pipelines run dry, the soil [...]
The story of the princess and the pea evokes an image of a highly sensitive young royal woman so refined, she can sense a pea under a stack of mattresses. When it comes to [...]
Scientists at Gladstone Institutes uncovered a surprising reason why dopamine-producing neurons, crucial for smooth body movements, die in Parkinson’s disease. In mice, when these neurons were kept overactive for weeks, they began to falter, [...]
Development of highly robust superhydrophobic anti-corrosion coating using recycled tire rubber particles. Superhydrophobic materials offer a strategy for developing marine anti-corrosion materials due to their low solid-liquid contact area and low surface energy. However, [...]
Mind reading: Long a science fiction fantasy, today an increasingly concrete scientific goal. Researchers at Stanford University have succeeded in decoding internal language in real time thanks to a brain implant and artificial intelligence. [...]
Cold plasma penetrates deep into tumors and attacks cancer cells. Short-lived molecules were identified as key drivers. Scientists at the Leibniz Institute for Plasma Science and Technology (INP), working with colleagues from Greifswald University Hospital and [...]
Lemborexant and similar sleep medications show potential for treating tau-related disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease. New research from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis shows that a commonly used sleep medication can restore normal sleep patterns and [...]
A team of researchers at the University of Mississippi has discovered that coating cancer treatment carrying nanoparticles in a sugar-like material increases their treatment efficacy. They reported their findings in Advanced Healthcare Materials. Over a tenth of breast [...]
In a study published in OncoImmunology, researchers from the German Cancer Research Center and Heidelberg University have created a therapeutic vaccine that mobilizes the immune system to target cancer cells. The researchers demonstrated that virus peptides combined [...]
Lipids are difficult to detect with light microscopy. Using a new chemical labeling strategy, a Dresden-based team led by André Nadler at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics (MPI-CBG) and [...]
Scientists have confirmed that the Justinian Plague, the world’s first recorded pandemic, was caused by Yersinia pestis, the same bacterium behind the Black Death. Dating back some 1,500 years and long described in historical texts but [...]
Opaque AI systems risk undermining human rights and dignity. Global cooperation is needed to ensure protection. The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) has changed how people interact, but it also poses a global risk to human [...]
First introduced in 2004, nanomotors have steadily advanced from a scientific curiosity to a practical technology with wide-ranging applications. This article explores the key developments, recent innovations, and major uses of nanomotors today. A [...]
Researchers found PFAS in 95% of tested beers, with the highest levels linked to contaminated local water sources. Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), better known as forever chemicals, are gaining notoriety for their ability [...]
