Tag: competition

Mendeley Brainstorm – Quantum Computing: Close to Prime Time?

Christian DeFeo3 Comments
Quantum computing promises a massive increase in processing power

Recently, PhD students at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology made a breakthrough in the field of Quantum Computing.  They successfully simulated a 45-qubit quantum circuit; this brings closer the day when current computers will be obsolete. Is quantum computing an evolution or revolution? What will be its effects? We are looking for the most well thought out answer to this question in up to 150 words: use the comment feature below the blog and please feel free to promote your research! The winner will receive an Amazon gift certificate worth £50 and a bag full of Mendeley items; competition closes September 13, 2017.

A Revolution?

Quantum computing has been on the lips of computer scientists and computing enthusiasts for years.  By utilising quantum states, it promises to liberate computing from the traditional bounds of binary processing. This means that quantum computers, theoretically, will be massively more powerful than existing machines.

The Future is Near

It still remains challenging to build a quantum computer, however; the breakthrough by the Swiss students is a momentous occasion.  They’ve approached a milestone referred to as “quantum supremacy”, at which a Quantum Computer’s performance surpasses that of any current computer.

Effects?

The arrival of vastly more powerful machines could have a substantial impact on the field of artificial intelligence, certainly it will help in data processing.  How will this new technology affect us?  What is your view?  Tell us!

About Mendeley Brainstorms

Our Brainstorms are challenges so we can engage with you, our users, on the hottest topics in the world of research.  We look for the most in-depth and well thought through responses; the best response as judged by the Mendeley team will earn a prize.

Quantum Computing Funding Opportunities

Opportunity Link
Ideas Lab: Practical Fully-Connected Quantum Computer Challenge Link
Development of single cooper pair boxes for quantum computing and photo-detection Link
Rolf Landauer and Charles H. Bennett award in quantum computing Link
Development of single cooper pair boxes for quantum computing and photo-detection Link
Quantum networking and processing with quantum memories and integrated components Link
ORNL Quantum networking post-bachelor’s position Link
PhD Studentship: Developing a trapped-ion quantum computer demonstrator device (2017) HURRY! AUGUST DEADLINE! Link
Dan Hunt PhD studentship: Quantum technology for finance and other commercial applications HURRY! AUGUST DEADLINE! Link
PhD Studentship: Advanced microchips for quantum technology devices HURRY! AUGUST DEADLINE! Link
PhD Studentship: Developing a portable quantum sensor HURRY! AUGUST DEADLINE! Link
Quantum networking -post-bachelor’s associate Link

References

Ward, T. (2017). Two Students Just Broke a Quantum Computing World Record. Futurism. [online] Available at: https://futurism.com/two-students-just-broke-a-quantum-computing-world-record/ [Accessed 6 Jul. 2017].

Mendeley Brainstorm – Science and Politics – We Have a Winner!

Christian DeFeo
When politics and science collide, is it time to go on the march?

Many thanks to all those who entered the Mendeley Brainstorm related to Science and Politics; picking a winner given the well thought out answers was particularly difficult this time, however in the end, we selected Isaac Alcón Rovira’s post:

To me the problem is a bit deeper. I think something that must change in science today is the capacity to reach people who is out of science. By “reaching” I mean being able to transmit what science is. Out of the scientific world, people have no idea what science is, and I believe that if everyone would have a scientific point of view (even not being a scientist at all) that would be very beneficial in their life in many senses. However, scientists, at the moment, have not idea about how to transmit science. In fact, to all conferences that I have been so far (not many, but some) around 80% of talks have been so opaque that I have not got more than a glimpse of what that person tries to achieve with his/her research. As a consequence, I come back home with the feeling I have wasted 80% of my time. Now, if scientists are not able to fully transmit, even to the colleges of their own field, their research, then, let’s forget about transmitting our science to the rest of the world, to people who are not familiar with what an atom, or a molecule, is (now thinking in Chemistry, of course).

In my opinion, the day scientists are capable of transmitting what science is to the rest of the world, we will get the power to reach people, to touch people and, eventually, to move people. That day, probably, we will not really care what politics do or whether they believe in science or not, because 80% of people will do care of science, and that will be far enough.

Isaac is a PhD student at the Universitat de Barcelona, He wrote:

My research is not about communication skills, or politics, I am a chemist and I am designing 2D materials for possible future applications in organic electronics. What inspired me? … I have become quite passionate with Beatles during the last year and, to me, there is a common factor in all most successful songs by Lennon and McCartney: all of them are tremendously good but, at the same time, tremendously simple. I am sure many scientists would tell me that Science cannot be transmitted in such a simple way as Music, because of its more complex nature. Well, I think it is possible, and it is just a matter of caring about it, and putting the effort to make it happen.

Thank you, Isaac!

Those who didn’t win this time are encouraged to respond to the latest Mendeley Brainstorm, regarding Cloning. Thanks again to all our participants.

Mendeley Brainstorm – Send in the Clones?

Christian DeFeo15 Comments
Twenty years ago, the first sheep was cloned; there have been huge advances since.
Twenty years ago, the first sheep was cloned from an adult cell; there have been huge advances since.

Twenty years ago, Dolly, the first sheep cloned from an adult cell, was revealed to the world. Since then, cloning and genetic manipulation technologies have advanced considerably. Should we welcome a new era of genetic science? Or is our knowledge growing faster than our wisdom? We are looking for the most well thought out answer to this question in up to 150 words: use the comment feature below the blog and please feel free to promote your research! The winner will receive an Amazon gift certificate worth £50 and a bag full of Mendeley items; competition closes April 12, 2017.

Hello, Dolly

On February 22, 1997, the Roslin Institute in Scotland announced the arrival of Dolly, the first mammal cloned from an adult cell. According to the Institute, “in the week following the announcement…(we) received 3,000 phone calls from around the world”. Dolly had captured the public’s imagination about the potential of cloning, which at one point had been thought to be impossible.

Spinoffs

Dr. Shinya Yamanaka, the 2012 winner of the Nobel Prize in Medicine was intellectually stimulated by Dolly’s arrival. He subsequently investigated how the adult DNA which had been used to create Dolly had been revivified. The eventual result was “induced pluripotent stem cells”, which “have become a scientific workhorse, providing limitless supplies of differentiated cells and tissue for use in the lab” (Economist, 2017). They also are “an invaluable tool for modelling human diseases and screening drugs” (Economist, 2017).\

Moral Objections

Cloning technologies have always been controversial. Many ethicists and public figures have questioned whether scientists have the right to “play God” and alter the building blocks of humanity. Some countries, including the United States, have implemented restrictions on this research.

Send in the Clones?

Are these concerns overblown? Or is our knowledge growing faster than our wisdom? What is the future of cloning in your view? Tell us!

Need Funding for Your Research?

Here are some of the latest funding opportunities for biology researchers provided by Mendeley Funding:

Organisation Opportunity
Oak Ridge Associated Universities Molecular biologist research opportunity in plant viruses
University of East Anglia Cloning and expression of topoisomerase genes from Trypanosoma brucei
Developing methods for genetically encoded unnatural amino acids to develop novel proteins
National Institutes of Health Cancer and stem cells epigenetics
Ancillary studies to the NIDDK intestinal stem cell consortium
Spermatogenic stem cell culture systems to preserve and restore reproductive capacity in males
Stem cell-derived blood products for therapeutic use: Technology improvement
John Templeton Foundation Genetics – Large grant
Genetics – Small grant

About Mendeley Brainstorms

Our Brainstorms are challenges so we can engage with you, our users, on the hottest topics in the world of research.  We look for the most in-depth and well thought through responses; the best response as judged by the Mendeley team will earn a prize.

References

Gene editing, clones and the science of making babies. (2017). The Economist. [online] Available at: http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21717035-ways-reproducing-without-sexual-intercourse-are-multiplying-history-suggests-they-should [Accessed 23 Feb. 2017].

Hello, again, Dolly. (2017). The Economist. [online] Available at: http://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21717028-twenty-years-ago-world-met-first-adult-clone-sheep-called-dolly-her-legacy-lives [Accessed 23 Feb. 2017].

The Life of Dolly | Dolly the Sheep. (2017). [online] Dolly.roslin.ed.ac.uk. Available at: http://dolly.roslin.ed.ac.uk/facts/the-life-of-dolly/ [Accessed 23 Feb. 2017].

And the winner is… Jonathan Peelle!

Paul Foeckler

Last month, we decided to reward loyal referrers who invited at least 3 colleagues via the Mendeley invite tool and entered them into a prize draw to win an ipod shuffle.

Last week we’ve randomly drawn the winner and it is…. Jonathan Peelle from Cambridge University! He is a postdoctoral fellow at the MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit researching speech and language processing in the human brain.

Here’s what he thinks about Mendeley:

Jonathan Peelle“There are three things that drew me to Mendeley. The first was the combination of desktop software and the web interface both of which are excellent and support the way I work. In particular having the web interface means my library is always accessible, wherever I am.

Second, the ability to share papers with co-workers is fantastic. It enables me to see what my colleagues are reading and saves me the trouble of typing in or searching for references they have.

Finally, being able to organize my articles by topic/folder and tags is very handy, and helps me to find those slightly more obscure references I’ve read and filed but then promptly forgotten.”

A big thank you to Jonathan and all other loyal users for spreading the word about Mendeley!