Cognitive Computing - chips to supplement brains

Those days are not far behind.
Remember Johnny Mnemonic?
Well,  we seem to be trending in that direction, ...
Read on.

IBM pursues chips that behave like brains

SAN FRANCISCO — Computers, like humans, can learn. But when Google tries to fill in your search box based only on a few keystrokes, or your iPhone predicts words as you type a text message, it's only a narrow mimicry of what the human brain is capable.

The challenge in training a computer to behave like a human brain is technological and physiological, testing the limits of computer and brain science. But researchers from IBM Corp. say they've made a key step toward combining the two worlds.

The company announced Thursday that it has built two prototype chips that it says process data more like how humans digest information than the chips that now power PCs and supercomputers.

The chips represent a significant milestone in a six-year-long project that has involved 100 researchers and some $41 million in funding from the government's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA. That's the Pentagon arm that focuses on long-term research and previously brought the world the Internet. IBM has also committed an undisclosed amount of money.

The prototypes offer further evidence of the growing importance of "parallel processing," or computers doing multiple tasks simultaneously. That is important for rendering graphics and crunching large amounts of data.

The uses of the IBM chips so far are prosaic, such as steering a simulated car through a maze, or playing Pong. It may be a decade or longer before the chips make their way out of the lab and into actual products.

But what's important is not what the chips are doing, but how they're doing it, says Giulio Tononi, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin at Madison who worked with IBM on the project.

The chips' ability to adapt to types of information that it wasn't specifically programmed to expect is a key feature.

"There's a lot of work to do still, but the most important thing is usually the first step," Tononi said in an interview. "And this is not one step, it's a few steps."

Technologists have long imagined computers that learn like humans. Your iPhone or Google's servers can be programmed to predict certain behavior based on past events. But the techniques being explored by IBM and other companies and university research labs around "cognitive computing" could lead to chips that are better able to adapt to unexpected information.

IBM's interest in the chips lies in their ability to potentially help process real-world signals such as temperature or sound or motion and make sense of them for computers.

IBM, which is based in Armonk, New York, is a leader in a movement to link physical infrastructure, such as power plants or traffic lights, and information technology, such as servers and software that help regulate their functions. Such projects can be made more efficient with tools to monitor the myriad analog signals present in those environments.

Dharmendra Modha, project leader for IBM Research, said the new chips have parts that behave like digital "neurons" and "synapses" that make them different than other chips. Each "core," or processing engine, has computing, communication and memory functions.

"You have to throw out virtually everything we know about how these chips are designed," he said. "The key, key, key difference really is the memory and the processor are very closely brought together. There's a massive, massive amount of parallelism."

The project is part of the same research that led to IBM's announcement in 2009 that it had simulated a cat's cerebral cortex, the thinking part of the brain, using a massive supercomputer. Using progressively bigger supercomputers, IBM had previously simulated 40 percent of a mouse's brain in 2006, a rat's full brain in 2007, and 1 percent of a human's cerebral cortex in 2009.

A computer with the power of the human brain is not yet near. But Modha said the latest development is an important step.

"It really changes the perspective from 'What if?' to 'What now?'" Modha said. "Today we proved it was possible. There have been many skeptics, and there will be more, but this completes in a certain sense our first round of innovation."

Chocolate, Ice, Salty Food, Lettuce, Tomatoes , Carrots - Evaulate your addictions

what your food cravings say about your health

Lettuce craving: Elsie Campbell found out that she had cancer when she realised she couldn't get enough lettuce

Cheese on toast, a square of dark chocolate, or a spicy tikka masala — we all get cravings for particular foods.
But while these are often to do with your mood at that moment, a long-term craving could be more significant.  
The Mail this week reported the story of 59-year-old Elsie Campbell, whose breast cancer was detected after she developed an unusual appetite for salad.
The mother-of-two was eating four lettuces a day, prompting her husband Jim, a research scientist, to investigate.
He worked out that lettuce contains a natural chemical called sulforaphane, which can attack cancer cells and which breast cancer sufferers often lack.
He correctly guessed his wife’s addiction meant she was suffering from the disease. Jim has since set up question myhealth.com, providing information about other odd symptoms.
So, what could your craving be trying to  tell you?

A craving for Marmite could mean you are suffering from heart arrhythmia or atrial fibrillation

CRAVING: MARMITE

Possible ailment: Heart arrhythmia, atrial fibrillation
Marmite is rich in B-vitamins, which are essential for breaking down carbohydrates for energy. B-vitamins also maintain nerves, skin and brain.
There are eight different types of B-vitamin and a deficiency of any one of them can result in a range of conditions, including heart palpitations, arrhythmia or fibrillation (an irregular heartbeat), chronic fatigue, irritability and poor concentration.
So love it or loathe it, a craving for Marmite could be your body’s way of trying to make up for a deficiency.

CRAVING: CRISPS, CHIPS AND SALTY FOODS

Possible ailment: Thyroid or adrenal gland problems
Shona Wilkinson, head nutritionist at The Nutri Centre, London, says: ‘Severe stress affects the adrenal glands.
‘If someone is very stressed, they stop producing the correct amounts of hormones such as adrenaline, cortisol and aldosterone. This can disrupt the salt balance in the body and explains why some people have salt cravings.’
It might also mean you have an iodine deficiency. This is linked to thyroid problems, says Jeannette Jackson, a nutritional biochemist.
An underactive thyroid can cause lethargy, constipation, weight gain and depression, while an overactive thyroid can cause weight loss, anxiety and irregular periods.

Cravings for ice could point to possible anaemia

CRAVING: ICE

Possible ailment: Anaemia
A craving for ice may be linked to anaemia, which is when the body lacks red blood cells because it does not have enough iron to produce them.
The main symptom is a lack of energy. According to scientists at the Mayo Clinic in America, people crave ice as a way of numbing the tongue pain and inflammation that can be caused by anaemia.
Research has found ice tastes good to some people who are iron deficient, although why is not clear.

CRAVING: FIZZY DRINKS

Possible ailment: Calcium deficiency
Dying for a can of something fizzy? There could be an unexpected reason. It may be due to craving calcium, says Shona Wilkinson.
‘Fizzy drinks leach calcium from the bones, so if the body needs calcium quickly, a fizzy drink is a quick way to get some released into the body.
‘This is very detrimental for bone health, however, so it’s much better to get your calcium from dark green leafy vegetables or low-fat dairy products.’

CRAVING: CURRY

Possible ailment: Parkinson's, zinc deficiency
Zinc is important for your skin, as it promotes healing. It has also been linked to our sense of taste.
When zinc was given to rats deficient in the mineral, it increased the number of taste buds on the tongue.
So it’s thought that if you’re craving strong flavours such as curry, you may be deficient in zinc and as a result not have a good supply of fully functioning tastebuds.

Possible ailments for the apparent addiction to curry include Parkinson's and zinc deficiency

Low zinc has also been linked to conditions including Parkinson’s. According to scientists at the National Institute of Health and Science on Ageing in Italy, this is because Parkinson’s disease has been linked to oxidative stress — damage to the body’s cells from the toxins found in everyday life.
Zinc is thought to protect against this damage, and so a lack of it may hamper the cells’ ability to deal with these poisons. Smoking has also been shown to deplete zinc, which may be why some smokers also crave intensely flavoured foods.

CRAVING: BREAD  AND PASTA

Possible ailment: depression
People who cut back on carbs are susceptible to mood swings, according to researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston.
High-protein diets can lower levels of the feelgood hormone serotonin, but carbs raise them, helping you feel happy and combating low mood.

A desire to eat soil could point to low minerals in pregnancy or coeliac disease

CRAVING: SOIL

Possible ailment: Low minerals in pregnancy, Coeliac disease
A craving for soil or clay is part of a syndrome called pica, sometimes seen in pregnant women, explains dietitian Nigel Denby, of grub4life.co.uk.
‘If a pregnant woman has pica, it suggests she may need more of the minerals found in her particular craving. Iron tends to be the most craved mineral at this time. Iron, copper, magnesium and zinc are all found in soil, for example,’ he says.
Other research published in the American Journal Of Clinical Nutrition has linked pica to undiagnosed coeliac disease (a malfunctioning gut) in children and it has also been linked to poor diet and heavy periods.

CRAVING: CHOCOLATE

Possible ailment: Depression, stress, premenstrual tension
So why do you crave the sweet stuff when you’re working on a deadline or feeling down in the dumps?
Well, compounds found in chocolate called alkaloids may help to raise the levels of serotonin — the mood-boosting hormone.
Chocolate is also a source of magnesium and B-vitamins, which are used by the body in energy production, meaning it can help give us energy when we’re under pressure.

Chocolate can point to problems of depression, stress or premenstrual tension

A small Swiss study in the Journal of Proteome Research found eating 40g of dark chocolate every day for two weeks reduced levels of the stress hormone cortisol in people who’d been battling with pressures.
Craving chocolate may also be a sign of premenstrual tension. Some women also find themselves lacking in magnesium at this time, and chocolate is high in the mineral, says Shona Wilkinson.
Magnesium is vital for everything from your nerves to your bones and immune system.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2021741/After-Elsie-Cambells-addiction-lettuce-food-cravings-say-health.html#ixzz1U6NFChcA

Original article here

Saved by lettuce

Hubby spotted salad craving revealed cancer

By ANDREW PARKER

Published: 02 Aug 2011

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LUCKY Elsie Campbell beat cancer — thanks to her addiction to LETTUCE.

She was baffled when she suddenly found herself scoffing up to four of them a day.
Her husband Jim, who is a forensic scientist, realised there must be a reason for the craving and suspected her body was seeking vital nutrients it needed.
Then to his horror he discovered that lettuce and other green veg contain the compound sulforaphane — and a lack of it can be associated with breast cancer.
He urged Elsie to see a doctor and her tests were positive. She DID have breast cancer. But thanks to the early diagnosis she recovered after an op.
Elsie, 59, said: "I'd always eaten lettuce in salads but suddenly I just couldn't get enough of it.

Iceberg

"I could eat three or four a day. I'd eat a whole iceberg lettuce at work and sit on the bus on the way home, thinking about eating more.
"I'd get home and cut one into chunks and eat it like a watermelon.
"I knew something wasn't quite right."
She went on: "Jim started investigating which nutrients and minerals were found in lettuce. He realised they were the same ones your body can be deprived of when it is fighting cancer.
"Not long afterwards, I discovered a small dimple on my breast and my doctor confirmed I had cancer."
She added: "Strangely, as soon as the lump was removed, the craving vanished. I haven't wanted to eat a lettuce leaf since."
Elsie's lettuce addiction was the condition known as Pica, where the body craves unusual and sometimes inedible things. It is usually pregnant women who have it.
Jim said at their Derby home: "As a scientist, I know that everything has a cause and effect.

Cured ... Elsie with hubby Jim

"Elsie didn't start eating lettuce for no reason, so I did some research. "I discovered lettuce contains sulforaphane, which can attack cancer cells. I suggested that she visited the doctor.
"We were devastated when the doctors told us she had cancer but relieved that they managed to catch it so early.
"Her lettuce cravings were a warning sign."
Elsie added: "I was so lucky Jim spotted the signs when he did — my lettuce addiction probably saved my life."
Jim has now developed a website, questionmyhealth.com, so people can check if they have a nutrient deficiency that could be a sign of illness.

Kill-A-Watt

Had this one running for a few weeks and decided to check out the results.

Very astonishing - you can get a true pulse over what is leading to those charges you see on the PG&E bill. A single unit, can be rotated around the house and identify 'culprits'.

Wood pulp in your diet?

Did you know that you have been eating a lot of wood pulp lately?
Read on...

15 Food Companies That Serve You 'Wood'

By Miriam Reimer 03/02/11 - 04:58 PM EST

• Add Comment

Stock quotes in this article:PEP, K, WTW, GIS, MCD, SLE, YUM, JACK, KFT, WEN, SONC, DOLE, NSRGY.PK  

inShare26

( Wood pulp, or cellulose, in processed food report updated with the addition of Pepsi, Kellogg and Weight Watchers International.)

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Are you getting what you pay for on your plate?

•   

The recent class-action lawsuit brought against Taco Bell raised questions about the quality of food many Americans eat each day.
Chief among those concerns is the use of cellulose (read: wood pulp), an extender whose use in a roster of food products, from crackers and ice creams to puddings and baked goods, is now being exposed. What you're actually paying for -- and consuming -- may be surprising.

Cellulose is virgin wood pulp that has been processed and manufactured to different lengths for functionality, though use of it and its variant forms (cellulose gum, powdered cellulose, microcrystalline cellulose, etc.) is deemed safe for human consumption, according to the FDA, which regulates most food industry products. The government agency sets no limit on the amount of cellulose that can be used in food products meant for human consumption. The USDA, which regulates meats, has set a limit of 3.5% on the use of cellulose, since fiber in meat products cannot be recognized nutritionally.

>> Jump Directly to the Slideshow

"As commodity prices continue to rally and the cost of imported materials impacts earnings, we expect to see increasing use of surrogate products within food items. Cellulose is certainly in higher demand and we expect this to continue," Michael A. Yoshikami, chief investment strategist at YCMNet Advisors, told TheStreet.
Manufacturers use cellulose in food as an extender, providing structure and reducing breakage, said Dan Inman, director of research and development at J. Rettenmaier USA, a company that supplies "organic" cellulose fibers for use in a variety of processed foods and meats meant for human and pet consumption, as well as for plastics, cleaning detergents, welding electrodes, pet litter, automotive brake pads, glue and reinforcing compounds, construction materials, roof coating, asphalt and even emulsion paints, among many other products.
Cellulose adds fiber to the food, which is good for people who do not get the recommended daily intake of fiber in their diets, Inman said. It also extends the shelf life of processed foods. Plus, cellulose's water-absorbing properties can mimic fat, he said, allowing consumers to reduce their fat intake.
Perhaps most important to food processors is that cellulose is cheaper, he added, because "the fiber and water combination is less expensive than most other ingredients in the [food] product."
Indeed, food producers save as much as 30% in ingredient costs by opting for cellulose as a filler or binder in processed foods, according to a source close to the processed food industry who spoke with TheStreet on the condition of anonymity. 

Inman said that in his 30 years in the food science business, he's seen "an amazing leap in terms of the applications of cellulose fiber and what you can do with it." He said powdered cellulose has a bad reputation but that more of his customers are converting from things like oat or sugar cane fibers to cellulose because it is "snow white in color, bland and easy to work with."

>> Jump Directly to the Slideshow

Most surprising, said Inman, is that he's been able to remove as much as 50% of the fat from some cookies, biscuits, cakes and brownies by replacing it with powdered cellulose -- but still end up with a very similar product in terms of taste and appearance.
"We're only limited by our own imagination," Inman told TheStreet. "I would never have dreamed I could successfully put 18% fiber in a loaf of bread two years ago."
He said cellulose is common in processed foods, often labeled as reduced-fat or high-fiber -- products like breads, pancakes, crackers, pizza crusts, muffins, scrambled eggs, mashed potato mixes, and even cheesecake. Inman himself keeps a box of Wheat Thins Fiber Selects crackers, manufactured by Kraft Foods(KFT_)' Nabisco brand, at his desk, and snacks on them daily, clearly unmoved by the use of wood pulp in its ingredients.
"Most consumers would be shocked to find these types of filler products are used as substitutes for items that they believe are more pure," Yoshikami said. "We would expect increased disclosure to follow increased use of cellulose and other filler products as the practice increases in frequency."
To that end, TheStreet rounded up a list of popular foods that use cellulose. It's by no means an exhaustive list, and we suggest consumers read food labels carefully. Still, click through the slideshow to find out if your favorite foods contain the "all-natural" wood pulp...
(Please note the following lists are not exhaustive. Some companies list all ingredients on their Web sites. Other items were found in a local grocery store near TheStreet's headquarters on Wall Street in New York City.)

California FasTrak - from Costco

Ever been stuck in the toll lane with no cash?
Well, it is time you got yourself FasTrak.
Costco has an excellent deal - where you are paid $15 (effectively) to get one.
Absolute no brainer.
The reason I got this?
I was actually stuck in a toll lane with no cash. The toll both agent took my information down and I got a notice a month later for a $25 fine + the $5 toll. But guess what, getting a FasTrak would nullify the fine, as long as I used it to pay for the $5 deficit.
I got one quickly at Costco. Spent $30 and got a $45 FasTrak.
Have you seen a Win-Win situation as good as this? 
 



With all good things in life though, there is a price to pay (see below)

FasTrak toll system exposed, could use a serious dose of security

By Darren Murph posted August 7th 2008 6:39AM

Ah, Black Hat. How we adore you. Each year there's always one speaker who shows up and completely undermines something that most people assume is rock solid. This year, our pals at Hack-A-Day were in attendance to hear Nate Lawson expose California's FasTrak toll system for the security hole that it is. Essentially, toll transponders that are purchased and slapped onto vehicles offer up exactly no authentication, meaning that anyone with an ill will and an RFID reader could wander through a parking lot and lift all sorts of useful information. Think it can't get worse? The transponders reportedly support "unauthenticated over the air upgrading," which means that each tag could be forced to take on a new ID if the right equipment was present. We don't have to spell out "potential disaster" for you, now do we?