Interview Leslie Valiant on The Importance of Being Educable March 26, 2024 We are at a crossroads in history. If we hope to share our planet successfully with one another and the AI systems we are creating, we must reflect on who we are, how we got here, and where we are heading. Read More
Reading List 快色直播 by (and for) women in STEM February 09, 2024 A significant gender gap has long plagued all areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines across our global community. While progress has been made in increasing women鈥檚 participation in these areas of research and higher education, they remain under-represented in STEM fields. Read More
Podcast Listen in: Free Agents November 27, 2023 Scientists are learning more and more about how brain activity controls behavior and how neural circuits weigh alternatives and initiate actions. As we probe ever deeper into the mechanics of decision making, many conclude that agency鈥攐r free will鈥攊s an illusion. Read More
Essay How life evolved the power to choose October 27, 2023 In recent years, more threats to our notions of agency and free will have sprung up, from diverse areas of science. If we come prewired in ways that influence our decision-making, how free can we really be? Read More
Podcast Free Agents October 11, 2023 Scientists are learning more and more about how brain activity controls behavior and how neural circuits weigh alternatives and initiate actions. As we probe ever deeper into the mechanics of decision making, many conclude that agency鈥攐r free will鈥攊s an illusion. Read More
Essay What Hollywood gets wrong (and right) about neuroscience December 23, 2022 Become a martial arts expert by uploading the ability to fight directly to your brain.聽Build a new body and insert the mind of a lost loved one into this newly created person. Read More
Essay Is the human brain a biological computer? March 14, 2022 Electrically, the brain remains largely a black box. We send electrical signals in and we get electrical signals out, but what it all exactly means is open to a lot of interpretation and some intense controversy. Read More
Essay Why are habits so sticky? December 23, 2021 Nearly all of us have habits that we would like to get rid of. It might be as innocuous as saying聽鈥渦m鈥澛爐oo often when we speak, or as serious as a pack-a-day smoking habit. Either way, we know that changing our behavior is really difficult, even when the stakes are high. Read More
Podcast What Makes Us Smart: The Computational Logic of Human Cognition October 08, 2021 At the heart of human intelligence rests a fundamental puzzle: How are we incredibly smart and stupid at the same time? No existing machine can match the power and flexibility of human perception, language, and reasoning. Read More
Essay The loneliest neuron June 04, 2021 There it lives, the loneliest neuron. The neuron that lies furthest from the outside world. Furthest from the inputs from your senses; furthest from the outputs to your muscles. Read More
Essay Is artificial intelligence today where brain research was 100 years ago? June 02, 2021 Babies are not born with randomly connected brains and turned on to learn. And yet, 100 years ago, neurobiologists were not so sure. Read More
Essay The dark neuron problem, or mind reading at 90% accuracy March 30, 2021 I鈥檓 going to read your mind. Right now. Ready? Don鈥檛 get freaked out. Deep breath. Here we go鈥� Read More
Podcast On Task: How Our Brain Gets Things Done March 24, 2021 Why is it hard to text and drive at the same time? How do you resist eating that extra piece of cake? Why does staring at a tax form feel mentally exhausting? Why can your child expertly fix the computer and yet still forget to put on a coat? Read More
Podcast Listen in: The Spike March 19, 2021 Traversing neuroscience鈥檚 expansive terrain, The Spike follows a single electrical response to illuminate how our extraordinary brains work. Start listening to chapter 1. Read More
Essay What鈥檚 it like to be a spike?: What we鈥檙e learning in the Golden Age of neuroscience March 14, 2021 It began as an idle thought. I stood on a chill dimly-lit platform one early winter morning, waiting on my regular, no-doubt delayed train to emerge from the tunnel and pull up with a screech of brakes, ready to convey me through the snow-topped hills from the grey, snowy city where I live to the dark, damp city where I worked. Read More
